Chapter 188: Trampling the Majin

◆ Mina ◆

“I will not forgive you for hurting my comrades, Majin!”

Rex, who I had finally managed to meet up with, shouted.

On his face was an emotion of anger, which was rare for him.

“You humaaaaaaan!”

The Majin emitted a reddish-black light of magic power along with his anger.

From that radiance, I felt a high density of magic power that couldn’t even be compared to the Majin we had fought so far.

“Hah!”

However, Rex easily slashed away such a terrifying mass of magic power.

“Impossible!? You cut my enhanced magic light!?”

“Haha, absurd as always.”

Seeing him so easily handle the attack of the Majin I had struggled so much against, I was made to realize that I still have a long way to go after all.

“I won’t let it end with just this!”

Rex lunged towards the Majin.

That speed was difficult to follow even with eyesight enhanced by physical reinforcement magic.

“Ugh! Wall!”

When the Majin raised his voice, the bracelet worn on his arm shone, and a wall of magic power was born.

“A magic item!?”

Moreover, the magic power felt from the wall was surprisingly dense, so much so that I thought magic power had materialized! Could that be a Lost Item too!?

“Haa!”

Slash!

However, even such a wall was easily and cleanly cut in two by a single flash of Rex‘s sword.

” “Wha-!?” “

“I-Impossible!? This Lost Item’s magic wall can withstand even a single strike of grand magic, you know!? What did you dooooo!?”

The Majin spoke on behalf of my astonishment.

“I just cut it! Like this!”

Closing in on the Majin, Rex‘s sword assaulted the Majin while generating mist.

“R-Run!”

At the Majin’s panic-laced words, this time his boots took on a glow, making the Majin step back in an instant.

“A magic item that automatically makes the user step back in response to a keyword, huh. I see, so you are enhancing yourself by wearing magic items all over your body.”

“Fu, fuhaha, that’s exactly right! I am enhancing my entire body with Lost Items bestowed upon me by that personage.”

“Lost Items all over your body, you say!?”

Lost Items; that is the general term for items that are even rarer among rare magic items.

All of them possess unique abilities not found in other magic items, or items with exceptionally high performance among numerous magic items of the same type are called that.

Rumor has it that the national treasures of various countries are actually Lost Items of a national secret level.

Such Lost Items all over his body!?

It wasn’t just that disposable defensive item from earlier!?

“Especially these boots, which boast the highest level of evasion performance in close-quarters combat. Their speed is just as you saw earli—gwaaaaaaah!?”

Just as I thought a diagonal red line suddenly ran across the triumphant Majin’s body, a spray of blood danced flashily in the air.

Wait, ehh!?

“Goh, gofu… I-Impossible!? It hit… me!? It’s a Lost Item that evades attacks at the speed of sound, you know…!?”

“Then it’ll hit if I unleash a slash that exceeds the speed of sound, right. If I just send the slashing wave flying, pursuit is also possible.”

Towards the astonished Majin, Rex explained the trick behind dealing damage to him as if it were nothing.

“A-A slash and slashing wave at the speed of sound…!? It’s not magic!?”

“No, this is pure sword technique. If you trim away the excess to the absolute limit, even a human body can unleash an attack at the speed of sound.”

“I-Is that so…”

Very naturally, Rex said it as if it were a matter of course.

I don’t know much about swordsmanship, but is that how it is?

“D-Don’t be fooled, little girl! A normal human cannot attack exceeding the speed of sound!”

“Eh? Ah, you’re right. Yeah, that’s right.”

At the Majin’s retort, I unintentionally came back to my senses.

Th-That’s right, I’ve never even seen an attack at the speed of sound.

Besides, even though the Majin is clad in rare Lost Items, there’s no way even Rex could deal damage with a normal attack, right!? …Right?

“I really can do it, though.”

Umm, you really can?

“Ku, kukuku… I see, so that’s how it is.”

However, the Majin asserted that he understood something, accompanied by a meaningful smile.

“Brat! The source of your power is a Lost Item, isn’t it!”

The Majin pointed at Rex‘s sword, pointing out that the reason he was injured lay in the magic sword he made.

“Slicing apart my magic, that abnormal speed, and the act of sending slashes flying, all of it must be the power of a magic item!”

“It’s true that this is a magic item, but other than things related to life support, I’ve only enchanted it with basic performance-enhancing effects. Because I was taught that if you enchant it with overly outlandish performance, you’ll end up fighting relying on that performance and actually become weaker.”

No, the moment Rex made it, it already had outlandish performance, though…

“Hmph, it seems you possess quite a powerful Lost Item. It’s vexing, but it appears the Lost Item you possess has higher performance than my Lost Items.”

“Then will you be captured quietly? If you honestly confess your schemes and swear to atone for your crimes, I won’t take your life.”

“No, I refuse.”

Though he received Rex‘s advice to surrender, the Majin immediately rejected it.

“Even though you said you can’t win, you don’t intend to quietly admit defeat? Even if you resist, you can’t win against Rex. Or are you going to run away? I won’t let you do that.”

If he can’t win against Rex, this Majin might try to run away no matter what.

But I’m also Rex‘s comrade. My magic power has decreased, but I still have enough left to pursue a fleeing Majin.

If I devote myself to supporting Rex, I can at least help defeat the Majin!

“Certainly, I cannot win against your Lost Item… However! If I use this, it will become meaningless no matter how strong your Lost Item is!”

Saying so, when the Majin took out a small black box from his breast pocket, it emitted a light.

The next moment, a rough sensation pierced my skin.

“Eh, what…?”

“Could that be!?”

Unusually, Rex raised a voice of surprise.

“That’s right! It’s a Magic Power Disturber meant to nullify magic items! With this, you are powerless! In that case, there is no reason a human can match the power of a Majin!”

An item that nullifies magic items, he says!?

The Majin floated a ferocious smile and lunged at Rex.

“Rex!?”

I was about to tell him to run.

If his magic items are nullified, no matter how much it’s Rex…

“Diiiiiie!”

The Majin swung a mass of magic power extended like a sword overhead.

The moment the Majin’s attack seemed as though it would slice Rex apart.

“Hmph!”

Rex‘s fist was driven into the Majin’s face.

“Huh?”

“Gwaaaaaah!?”

The Majin was blown away with a joke-like momentum, mowing down the surrounding trees.

And he finally stopped, half-buried in the ground.

“Gaha!?”

The Majin, buried in the ground, vomited blood.

“I-Impossible… I definitely should have nullified your magic items.”

The Majin directed unfocused eyes at Rex, looking as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Nope, you didn’t.”

“Wh-What did you say!?”

Told that the magic item supposed to be his trump card was of no use whatsoever, the Majin was dumbfounded.

“Isn’t it obvious to apply anti-nullification countermeasures to combat-use magic items? It’s the basics of magic item development.”

“Eh? Is that so!?”

Is that how it is!? But isn’t incorporating functions into magic items incredibly difficult!?

My grandfather, a former court mage, said that there still aren’t any successful examples even with simple magic tools, you know!?

Despite that, is a magic item capable of countering a magic item that nullifies magic items something that can be easily made!?

“I-Impossible!? Research on nullifying magic items only just began recently, you know!? And yet you humans had already prepared counter-devices!?”

Right! It’s not something that simple!

The Majin stared at Rex with a face of disbelief.

“A long time ago, yeah.”

“Im… possi… ble.”

Knowing that what they had been doing ended up being in vain, the Majin passed away with an expression of despair.

…Hmm, somehow it’s a strangely pitiful sight to call the death of a villain…

Ah, but thinking about it carefully, the magic items Rex made for us had multiple functions incorporated into them as a matter of course, didn’t they… If that’s the case, I suppose it’s not strange for them to have a function that nullifies a magic item that nullifies magic items incorporated into them…

Besides, thinking about it really carefully, there’s no way Rex would lose just because his magic items were nullified.

After all, back when we first met him, Rex sliced apart a Majin along with the dimension using magic…

I once again understood that I had been mistaken about the meaning of the word ‘basics’.

“That’s right, the basics for normal people and Majins, and Rex‘s basics are different, aren’t they. Yeah.”

Though I keenly realized Rex‘s absurdity for the first time in a while, at any rate, I was able to safely meet up with him.