"How dare you! ...... 'The Living Dead'!

　The cannibal roars as if to intimidate you. The cannibal's will to fight does not waver in the slightest even though its trump card, the poison needle, is flicked.

　No, it's not that it doesn't waver. I understand what he is thinking. I know exactly what he is thinking. He can't waver.

　The reason the cowardly Cannibal was number two in the Demon King's army was because he was strong.
　The Cannibal is a coward, but that doesn't mean he can't retreat. If he retreated now, his authority would be lost.

　On the other hand, I don't have as much time as I'd like.
　But I have more reach with my arm turned into a blade, and I have more leeway with my high regenerative ability.

　The cannibal stomps on the ground and lunges at me.
　The cannibal is huge. Its physical strength is probably equal to or greater than mine. It's hard to catch a body hit with its weight. It even has sharp claws. A tail that could be called a third hand.
　But his thrust is lower than that of Arbatos, who didn't care about any damage to himself.

　He steps back and swings the blade of his hand. The thick, sharply pointed blade that extended as an extension of his right arm was only one blade, unlike the claw, but it was very thick. It could probably pierce the fur of a tough manticore.

　The cannibal approaches. Its crimson eyes ripple with hatred and a slight awe. Its thin, open mouth is lined with sharp fangs that could easily bite through human bone.
　The bone blades and claws clash vigorously. A heavy impact is felt on your arm. The cannibal opened its mouth wide in front of me.

　The next moment, the black flames that had burned my body with the first blow burst into view. The spellfire licked my body. The cannibal's figure was completely hidden by the jet-black flames that reminded me of darkness.
　A meaningless roar shakes the world.

"Am I that terrifying?

　--But by then I'm flying sideways.

　But by then I was flying sideways. The spellfire only grazed the tip of my nose and did no damage.

　I had been living as a dog for a long time until recently. I can feel the weakness of a quadrupedal beast.

　In front of me was the body of a defenseless cannibal.

　The weakness of cannibals is their inability to maneuver. Their field of vision is also much narrower than that of humans.
　Its rush is powerful, but if it is avoided, it will leave a large gap. If I stepped forward, I could turn, but I could only do so if I intended to do so.

　The cannibal didn't mean to crush me. No, perhaps the curse flame is damaging itself?
　I jump in before it realizes I've been evaded. With great dexterity, I flicked my right blade firmly against the tail and poisonous stinger that swung down from the upper right, and kicked the body as hard as I could.

　The huge body of the cannibal, several times my size, flies through the air.
　I felt the kick of a hard object. A heavy impact is felt from my toes and runs up my spine. I feel an inexplicable sensation of pleasure, but I ignore it and kick the ground for a further attack.

　The two eyes of the cannibal caught me in midair. It changes its stance and prepares to land on the ground.

　It's tough. I'm better at regeneration, but the cannibal has the better defense. The kick that would have ruptured the flesh of an ordinary hexenbiest didn't do much damage. The skin, flesh, bones, and everything else is different.

　But the damage is not zero. As a living creature, it must have a vital point. ...... The target is the head. If not the head, the neck. If not the head, the neck.

　Aim for the landing. The power was coursing through my body in the form of heat. I'm sure my body temperature is as hot as a human's right now.

　A poisonous needle flies at me. The needles are thick, long, and scattered over a wide area, and I use the sword in my right hand to firmly flip them.
　He's a cliché. It might have worked on a human, but with a vampire's kinetic sight, he wouldn't fail to flick it if he knew it was coming.

　Right. As I said, let's cut off the tail first.

　The moment I raised the blade with all my might, my whole body suddenly relaxed.

　It was too sudden a change. I lost strength in my arms and legs and stumbled backwards.
　It was a feeling I'd had before. I looked at the ground. At the same time, my whole body felt a shock as if I were being torn apart.

　My body flew through the air and my head slammed into the ground violently. The bones in my neck snapped and my gaze turned in a strange direction. The cannibal's voice echoed in the sky.

It's not a problem.

　Damage is not a problem. But it's a nasty beast. It's strong, smart, mean, and careful.


　I can't let you face Senri. I want to kill her even more than before.

　I've already figured out the "trick" that made me suddenly relax. In fact, I had originally thought it might be possible.

　Just before I was blown away, I saw something. It was-- it was water trickling on the ground.

　Vampires can't cross running water. On flowing water, they lose their strength and all vampire abilities are nullified.

　The head had already regenerated. The head had already regenerated. He stood up and turned his reverted right arm into a blade again.

Still ...... going to fight? You are not so foolish as to not see the difference in strength. ...... Wretched dead.

　Where the cannibals stand.
　The ground glistened around it. It's very hard to see in the darkness, but it's flowing water. It's spreading little by little over a wide area.

　It's magic. It's magic, creating flowing water. It's a lot easier than shaping water into arrows and sending them flying.

　I knew someone would come for me when I felt the weakness, but yes, it's an effective tactic against vampires.

　It's a good tactic to use against vampires, though ...... it's only a tweak on a scale like this.

　This is why I wanted to learn magic. In the end, I didn't have the right attributes, but it was enough.

　The cannibal was waiting for me to enter its territory. I kicked the ground without hesitation and cast an unfamiliar spell at the same time.

　The only spells I could use were the life spells written in the rudimentary grimoire Senri had given me.
　You can't really use it to attack, you can only use it to produce a little bit of drinking water, create a fire, dry wet things, etc. ...... As the name implies, it is supposed to make life a little bit more convenient, but you have to use it for everything.

　The cannibal's eyes widened, as if he had been caught off guard. But it's too late.
　He stepped through the kill zone without incident and swung his blade down with all his might. The cannibal quickly lifts its body and defends itself with its paws, but the long bone blade doesn't hit the claw, but bites into the middle of its leg.
　You can feel it slicing through something hard.
　The cannibal flailed and flipped its body back, but there was a small, reddish-black pool of blood on the ground.

　It was shallow, but it hurt. He swung his sword wide, sending the blood flying.

　I used a rudimentary life spell, a 'dry' spell. Originally, this spell is used to dry wet clothes.
　The target is yourself. The vampire's vast magical power was poured into the spell and it was cast extremely inefficiently, immediately evaporating the small amount of water that flowed around my feet. It was the first time I'd tried it in a real battle, but it seemed to work.
　I might as well use it all the time in battle to avoid a similar situation in the future.

　The fear in the cannibal's face had grown to the point that it was now visible even from a distance. The cannibal's face was so human-like that it was quite obvious.

"Now, do you have a plan yet?　Do you want me to magically serve you some garlic next?

　I smiled naturally and jumped at the cannibal.


§ § § §


　The battle was so one-sided that everyone was at a loss for words. Before I knew it, the battle had been completely reversed.

　The Cannibal, despite its nature, is a powerful beast with the fighting ability of a phantom. Not only does it have physical abilities, but it also possesses numerous other abilities, and its power is comparable to that of an army.

　However, the Manticore, known as a fearsome monster, is now completely outmatched.

　In the end, he broke through the cursed flames that would not go out until the target was burned to the ground, and his right arm, which had been transformed into a blade, carved a shallow path through the crimson body of the cannibal.
　The face that had always been so arrogant was now twisted in fear and despair. The cannibals were hated, but no one laughed at their disgusting appearance.

　The venomous stinger of the blow had indeed melted his body, and the cursed flames had burned his flesh. I even broke his neck. But none of them were effective.

　Oliver shrank his large body and shuddered. But right now Monica doesn't feel like complaining about that.

　She should have put an end to it quickly. As soon as the cannibal had melted End's body, he should have gone after her without showing off his power.
　The abilities End is displaying now are different from what Monica has been observing. We don't know if it's something that End originally had or if it's something that grew during the battle.

　Cannibals are smart, but that's why they slow down when their opponents exceed their expectations.
　Needles have already failed to hit it, and flames cannot penetrate it. They're not seriously injured, but they have scars all over their bodies. And unlike vampires, the wounds don't heal quickly. The cannibals would no longer stand a chance.

　But End's attack showed no signs of stopping.
　His bloody eyes were shining. He hunted down the cannibal, who did not fight back well, and happily chopped its body. The attack was accompanied by a strong and extreme killing intent.

　I knew it was a little odd. I can't deny that I was caught off guard. But a vampire ...... is a scarier ...... monster than it sounds.
　I shouldn't have guessed the cannibal. Even if a fight with the cannibal was inevitable, we should have stretched it as far as possible.

　The cannibals are the leaders of the Linel army, and they are indispensable in terms of fighting ability. He couldn't be killed for nothing like this.



　But right now, End had the power to kill anyone who tried to stop him.

Oliver, go stop it.

"Go stop it, Oliver." "...... Don't be stupid. ...... I stopped it. I stopped you!　You're going to kill me. ...... You step in now, you're going to kill me. ......

　You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them. He's useless in a pinch.

　The only way to stop him is to stop Monica herself. It was Monica who suggested this fight.

　I'll be ready and I'll find the right moment. Unlike cannibals, Monica's flesh is soft, and unlike vampires, she does not have a high regenerative ability. If you go in carelessly, you could be killed before you can stop it.

　Finally, the cannibal wobbles and falls to his knees. End doesn't boast of his power, he just silently steps towards the cannibal and raises his blade wide.

　Here!
　Just as Monica was about to run out and shout loudly, a voice suddenly fell from the sky.


"That's it. The game is over. Both sides, hold your hands.

　My heart thudded. My heart thudded. The solemn voice stopped the murmur, and I almost fell flat.
　The blade of the end swung down and stopped just in time to slide into the cannibal's neck.

　A black mass crosses the dark, moonless sky for a moment.
　One of the great Demon Lords, and the strongest warrior in this army. The Demon Lord Rynell. At the sight of her king, Monica's legs relaxed in relief and she slumped to the ground.