One, two, three... Nine magic circles. It was an alarming number of buffs, because Diadora was already strong.
Makima didn't know what that meant, but Gasper was a profound connoisseur of magic and understood how concerning so many power-boosting magic circles were. Making just one was already very difficult, so it was hardly ever used in battle. Creating nine seemed almost excessive to defeat a novice devil like me.
Asia swallowed beside me, gripping my sleeve a little tighter.
Faced with this, I crossed my arms and let out an exaggerated sigh. "So your grand strategy was to let us clean up your base while you prepared a buff? I was hoping for a bit more originality, Diadora."
His smile didn't falter, but his eyes flashed with irritation. "Ah, Milicas, I wonder where your arrogance comes from. Perhaps it's your lineage? Or perhaps your privileged position?"
Diadora was a clever opponent. Naturally, he would try to discredit me to the masses watching us.
"Arrogance?" I laughed lightly. "No, I'm just pointing out a minor fact. After all, Diadora-kun, this is all just a cheap trick to compensate for your own low level of magic power, isn't it?"
The smile from before gave way to an annoyed look. "Weakness? I'm a genius! A prodigy of the Astaroth lineage! Do you think you can belittle me?"
The magic circles suddenly pulsed, and the three women standing next to Diadora were enveloped in a dark aura. Their bodies trembled for a moment, receiving a sudden surge of power.
"Now that's interesting," Makima finally whispered.
"Makima-san..." Asia murmured, worried.
But something wasn't right.
'Diadora couldn't have done this alone.'
My mind quickly analyzed all the possibilities.
'Power-boosting magic circles are hard to create. To make nine at once, and so quickly, he must have used something while everyone was busy watching Makima's and my battles. But what?'
A detail flashed through my mind.
Ophis Snake.
That was too powerful an artifact to be used in such a public way. But... what if it was a reduced version? A prototype, perhaps?
'Yes. That makes sense. He wouldn't use a full Ophis' Snake now; that would compromise Kokabiel's plans. But a smaller version, which still offers a significant increase in power, could have been used without anyone noticing.'
Then, as I stared at the black aura over Diadora's pieces, a second thought hit me like a punch in the gut.
'Those circles aren't for him.'
Diadora's magic circles weren't strengthening his own body. He was channeling all that energy into his three remaining pieces.
'That's... pure cruelty.'
The bodies of the three women were shaking. Not from excitement or adrenaline, but from pain. The power they were receiving was too much for them. Their muscles were stiffening, as if every cell in their bodies was being forced to grow beyond its natural limits. The black aura around them increased, and then one woman moved.
In an instant, one of them was already in front of me. A punch came toward me, and I only had time to raise my arms to block it.
'Too fast!'
The impact made all my bones shake, forcing me to slide back a few meters.
"So they got that fast?"
"Milicas-san!!!" Asia exclaimed.
Gasper tried to activate his power, freezing time around the one who had attacked me. The surrounding space shook... and then shattered like glass. Time returned to normal before Gasper's power could even hold her for two full seconds.
'What?! Even Gasper's power can't hold them for more than a few seconds?'
"Now, observe the power of the Astaroth bloodline!"
The aura around the three increased again. They were resisting, but the pain was clear on their faces under the hoods. It didn't matter to Diadora. He would sacrifice them for his pride.
'Bastard.'
When one of the three tried to advance on Gasper for attacking them, Makima suddenly appeared and punched the taller one in the face. The force was so great that it sank into the skin and made the dry sound of the impact echo loudly. But instead of being thrown back, the woman just turned her head slowly.
Makima's fist was still against the woman's face, pressing down hard. However, it didn't seem to have done any damage.
Then, suddenly, a wave of black energy exploded from the woman's body, pushing Makima away with a crushing impact.
*CRECK!*
Makima collided with one of the stone pillars in the throne room, cracking it with force.
At that very moment, the other two women advanced against me. I moved instantly, dodging the first blow, but the second hit me in the abdomen. Even though my body was reinforced, the impact made me choke on the air coming out of my lungs.
'Damn, that hurts!' I thought as I was thrown backward. 'They shouldn't be this strong!'
I had to surpass them in magical power or destroy these magic circles. My mind was working to find a solution to this, but then I heard Gasper's shout.
"Milicas-san! Asia-chan's gone!"
My head snapped up at the same moment.
The Diadora bastard had a victorious smile on his face, holding Asia in his arms like a groom carries his bride.
"What a fascinating fight, but I think my brief distraction was enough for me to get what I wanted."
Asia struggled in his arms, but it was no use. She didn't have the strength to go against him.
I felt my blood boil with rage, but then I saw Gasper's eyes glow an intense red and the surrounding air began to vibrate. If Gasper lost control here... If he showed the world the monster that existed inside him, he could never have peace again and would be hunted by people who wanted to harness his power. He would have to go back to isolating himself in some room, and I didn't want that.
I could see the aura coming from him oscillating violently. He was about to explode to regain Asia.
And I couldn't allow that to happen. The only solution was…
I sighed, relaxing my shoulders and letting out a slight smile.
"... So, it looks like I have no choice. I'll need to use that."
[The Entity Shop is open!]
'Search for techniques similar to Simple Domain'.
Simple Domain was a technique I knew from the Jujutsu Kaisen universe that was created for weak Jujutsu users. This technique created a barrier around the user that serves for both defense and attack, protecting them from enemy techniques and allowing them to automatically counterattack anyone who comes into their range.
Unlike the Domain Expansion, the Simple Domain was a more accessible and less demanding version, as well as being very volatile in terms of rules.
As I had already realized that this system took techniques known throughout the multiverse to sell to me, I had already researched some techniques that I would like to get and something like Domain Expansion was one of them. However, it was very expensive. So I looked up Simple Domain and saw that it was quite cheap, perhaps because it only allowed one hit and one simple rule.
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[Skill: Simple Mastery .]
Type: Barrier.
Description: A barrier technique designed to neutralize area effects. However, against more powerful area effects, Simple Mastery can only buy the user time, and is quickly destroyed in uneven clashes.
Effects:
Nullifies the enemy effect in a radius of 5 meters around the user.
Creates a rule from the user's first thought the first time they use the technique.
Cooldown: 5 seconds.
Price: 1500 credits.
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[Do you want to buy the skill 'Simple Mastery'? YES/NO.]
[1500 credits have been debited from the Balance.]
[The Skill 'Simple Mastery' has been obtained.]
The response was instantaneous. As soon as the purchase was confirmed, an instinctive knowledge of how the technique worked arose in my mind.
"What are you waiting for? He's looking at me funny! Do something, you good-for-nothings!" exclaimed Diadora to the two pieces of him standing near me.
[Most of the sponsors hate Diadora Astaroth.]
[The sponsors jointly demanded an Occasion Mission.]
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[Mission title: Defeat the Rat.]
Description: The sponsors don't like the attitudes and personality of the character Diadora Astaroth at all and demand his downfall quickly.
[Objectives:]
Defeat Diadora Astaroth as quickly as possible (0/1)
[Time limit: 5 minutes]
[Rewards: ???]
[Failure: ???]
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Diadora's pieces hadn't moved yet because they could barely breathe without feeling excruciating pain, but his command was so absolute that they preferred enduring immense pain rather than defying it.
The moment I activated Simplified Mastery, I created my rule. My two enemies advanced simultaneously, one aiming to kick me while the other attempted to slash me with a knife, but I didn't even flinch.
When their blows landed, they felt something strange... Pain? Why? Well, actually, they hadn't hit me; they had hit themselves. Their blows went through my body as if I were an illusion, and the force of their strikes made them collide violently against each other.
*DOOMM!*
They were thrown into opposite regions. As their magical power was very high, they wouldn't be defeated by that alone. So I wasted no time and started running towards Diadora.
Just then, the piece that had hit Makima turned toward me. She raised her hand, preparing to cast a spell on me. But then...
"Baang!"
Her body shot forward like a projectile as Makima emerged from the rubble of the pillar. Her fist hit the woman's chin, launching her upward with brutal force.
Makima looked up, seeing that the woman had gone through the roof and flown out of the castle.
"That's what you deserve, you nasty creature."
At the same time, Gasper, trembling with rage, held out his hand and, with a single glance, froze the other two women, who were already getting up.
"I WON'T LET YOU GET IN THE WAY OF MASTER MILICAS!"
Diadora's smile faded as he raised one hand to cast a spell at me.
"Standing still has never been my style."
In fact, Diadora Astaroth was very talented. He raised his hand, and two magic circles appeared quickly.
"I want to see you dodge these!" Diadora exclaimed.
I was counting the cooldown seconds.
'Three, four, five...!'
I activated Simplified Mastery once more an instant before a sphere of energy hit me head-on. My intangibility, provided by the rule I had created with Simplified Mastery, only lasted an instant—long enough for Diadora's magic to pass straight through me without causing any damage.
His eyes widened, and his mouth twitched. "W-What?!"
"Game over."
He tried to pull away, still holding Asia in his arms, but my spear pierced straight through his throat.
Diadora choked on the tip of the spear. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Then, with one last spasm, Diadora shattered into glowing particles.
However, just as I stepped forward to finish him, Diadora threw Asia into the air and let out a sadistic scream.
"Get her if you can, Milicas!"
My eyes went wide. 'You bastard!'
I had to decide: attack Diadora or help Asia.
Nevertheless, I went ahead. But Diadora had already imagined this might happen and, with an unexpected move, evaded my attack, grabbed the shaft of my spear, and pulled with all his strength. He turned his body and twisted the spear out of my grip, knocking it out of my hands.
For a brief second, he smiled, thinking he had actually beaten me physically.
"Hah! Now you—"
My hand moved before he could finish his sentence. A silver blade with a golden aura came out of a magic circle and I grabbed it with my right hand. This was Excalibur Rapidly.
Without a second's hesitation, I swung the sword like a whip and slashed with a perfect blow.
Diadora's head flew into the air with his eyes still wide in shock.
"Son of..." He tried to mutter, but his body quickly crumbled into glowing particles.
[You have fulfilled the Main Objective of the Occasion Mission 'Defeat the Rat'!]
[You have earned 2000 credits.]
[The entity 'Sorceress of the Black Flame' is pleased with your performance.]
[100 credits have been sponsored.]
[The entity 'The Firmament Exile' is amazed by your battle IQ.]
[200 credits have been sponsored.]
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