Paradigm Parasite

t before I know it, I'm fighting demons.

　How did it come to this?

 

　”Get that bug out of there.
Oh, and don't kill Mr.
Rothfeldt.
I wouldn't mind crushing at least one of his limbs.”

 

　Fatima backed up a little and ordered the demon.

　The expression on her face is unchanged, but sweat is beading on her forehead.

　The fight with Heidi was quite tough, I heard.
She seems to be worn out.

 

　The demon inhaled heavily and roared.

The sound would be “meh-eh,” but the pitch is so low that it sounds like the cry of a different creature.

 

　”…ggh.”

 

　Heidi is crouched with her ears covered.

　That sounded great.
Was it really that bad?

　Hmm?　I can't hear a sound.

 

　Oh, shit.
My eardrums must have ruptured.

　I'll fix it secretly.

 

“Even though I'm here…”

 

　Fatima is crouched behind the demon, her ears bleeding.

She was closest to the demon, so she took the brunt of it.

　Ah.
That was a complete mess.
Her ear will be useless.

 

　”Ugh…
my ears hurt…”

 

Heidi, next to me, stands up, holding her head.

 

　”Are you okay?”

 

When I call out to her, she smiles bitterly.

 

“Somehow…
I guess, I'm having a little trouble hearing.”

　”Can you do it?”

　”I'll do it.”

 

　Then let's go.

 

　I take my makana and sword and charge head-on into the demon.

　I swing at the demon's flank with the makana.

　The demon catches it with his arm.
The arm that was hit exploded.
The makana is effective.

 

　A black liquid sprays from the wound onto the ground.

The Zubel in its belly screams and its expression grunts in further anguish.

　The demon looks at me.

 

　I jump back as quickly as I can.

　The demon's eyes seem to light up, and I sense that I'm in danger…

　…Ge.

 

　Makana crumbled from halfway to sand.

What the hell did you do? I loved this…

I threw away the rest of the makana and held the sword with both hands.

 

　Meanwhile, the demon's arm regenerated at a visible rate.

　Not as fast as mine, but a hell of a regeneration.

　So, where do I have to crush this thing to kill it?

 

The best candidates I can think of are the head or the Zubel in the abdomen.

If possible, I'd like to keep the head because I'd like to see Zubel's memories, but…
that's a difficult task under the circumstances.

Before I knew it, Heidi was behind the demon and slashed the back of his knee with her kukri.

 

Was she aiming for the tendon? It's a humanoid, so it would be nice if it would collapse….

　It didn't.

　The demon looked at Heidi as if nothing had happened.

 

''You….”

 

　Heidi quickly holds out her hand.

　What happens is that the grass around Heidi turns to sand and floats in the air.

　I take that opportunity to thrust my sword into the back of the demon's head from behind.

 

　The sword feels a solid response and goes in through the back of the head, piercing through the head.

I didn't get him.

I let go of the sword as I thrust it in and move away.

 

　Heidi, perhaps sensing my intention, jumps back out of the line of fire.

　I hit him in the upper body with Explosion III.

　How's that?

 

　The demon slowly turns toward me with its sword-stabbed head, smoke coming out of its upper body.

　Then it roars again.

　At the same time, it flies toward me.

 

　Well, it has wings, so it can fly.

　And it's fast.

I slammed the wind III into the ground, blinding it visually, and stooped low to get in front of it.

 

　I'm going to duck under and take the rear.

The visibility is not good due to the dust and ice chips, but I can get a rough idea of where it is.

　I timed my dive just right, but then I felt a jolt in my stomach.

 

　I feel my body being blown away.
I feel like I've been hit.

　I regain my position in the air and land.

　I look at my stomach where I was hit by the fist.
The area where he had been hit had turned to sand.

 

My reserve brain had been damaged a little.
If I don't fix it quickly, it will hinder my chanting.

　I see Heidi rushing toward me.

　I quickly cover the wound with my hand.

 

“Are you okay?　You were blown away with great force…”

　”No problem.”

 

　I repair the wound while hiding it.
When it healed, I let go of my hand.

　My armor was now sand, so only my belly was exposed, which was a little embarrassing, but I didn't care.

　Heidi looked at my body, and when she saw that there was no wound, she turned toward where she thought the demon might be.

The smoke hadn't settled down yet, so I couldn't see it.

 

“Maybe, but if it grabs me, I'm done.”

　”I agree.
I'm afraid that strange attack was magical in nature.”

　”How do you know?”

 

　Heidi raised her hand lightly to show the ring.

 

　”It stopped it.”

 

　I see.

 

“It looks like it can use it freely, since it doesn't seem to be chanting to activate it.”

　”From the looks of it, long-range attacks will cause the eyes to light up before they are triggered.”

“Does that mean we just have to make sure it won't touch us?”

“Yes, it's coming.”

 

　Somewhat, share the information quickly.

　The smoke blew from within.
The demon was still in the air.

　Slowly, it moved its head, and when it saw us, it leaned forward and swooped down.

 

　We scattered to the left and right to avoid it.

　The demon plunged head first into the ground.

　It scraped the ground for a few meters and stood up.

 

　What the hell is this?

 

“He's moving weird.”

 

　I heard Heidi muttering from a little distance away.

　To be honest, I was curious too.

This demon seemed to be just attacking the attacker blindly.

 

In fact, there have been many opportunities for him to turn me into sand.

Is that what it's missing, unless they are doing it intentionally, or is it that kind of spec…?

If attacked, it fight back?

 

　…No.
Is it because there is no order?

 

　Maybe, but does this guy have to give detailed orders to work properly?

　If so, Fatima, who gives the orders….

 

She hasn't moved since a while ago, still collapsed.

From the looks of it, she is alive, but she seems to be unconscious.

Keep lying down.

 

　This might be the way to go.

　I can see a way to win.