Chapter 154: Now, Destroy Everything

The suspicious building discovered by the hero Conrad Williams—accompanied by the Flame Demon Tsubaki—stood along the Second Raikon Canal.

The canal flowing through the outskirts of Wango City was murky, a deep green that obscured the bottom. It seemed shallow, though—when Tsubaki playfully stirred the surface with a stick she had picked up, the mud at the bottom swirled up, forming brownish bubbles.

“Tsubaki, put the stick down for a moment. Focus. Do you see that building? The one with the large green roof?”

“Mi. Next to the white-roofed one?”

“That’s right. What kind of magical energy do you sense from it?”

At Conrad’s prompting, Tsubaki closed her eyes and went completely still, like a statue, concentrating. Even the flames flickering around her body calmed, as if responding to her focus.

After a short while, she opened her eyes again, the flames returning to their lively movement. Tilting her head curiously, she spoke.

“Normal. About thirty people’s worth of mana. But all normal. Feels weak.”

“Exactly. But isn’t it too normal? Try sensing again.”

“Mi? Mii-mi… …Mi! Got it—everyone’s mana is exactly the same. Exactly 1K!”

“Well done. They’re all suppressing their mana—in other words, we can assume they’re demons. There might even be mutants mixed in.”

Conrad smiled gently at her, like a teacher praising a student who had answered correctly.

It was a common mistake among mutants and demons trying to disguise themselves as ordinary people by suppressing their mana. In trying too hard to match the average, they ended up matching it too perfectly, lacking the natural variation individuals should have. Their mana became unnaturally uniform.

As Conrad carefully explained the reasoning behind the suspicion, Tsubaki looked up at him with sparkling, admiring eyes.

“Williams, smart. Like a spider. Are you maybe a company boss?”

“My main job is as an international investigator. Investigators aren’t allowed to have personal ties with companies—it leads to corruption. But putting that aside—how would you approach that building?”

“I don’t think about strategies like that. I have people who are good at thinking do it.”

“That’s fair—leaving planning to specialists is a good move. But don’t stop thinking for yourself.”

“Mi-mi-mi…”

Tsubaki chewed on the tip of her staff, frowning as she struggled to think.

From Conrad’s perspective, Tsubaki was an exceptionally well-trained and capable demon. The mana-sealing technique she had demonstrated earlier against a wild monster was outrageous, and her mastery over Abyss Gold manipulation was on another level. Against an average mutant, she would win easily. She was a reliable ally.

The problem was that their current enemy was anything but average.

This was a formidable foe that had concealed large-scale demon kidnappings for years. Assuming the earliest disappearance marked the start of their operations, they had been acting in the shadows for nearly a decade without being detected.

If it were ordinary human kidnappings, it would be easier to understand—targeting socially vulnerable individuals reduces attention. That’s plausible.

But this was demon kidnapping.

Demons were closely monitored in every country. To make kidnappings look like unrelated disappearances and bury dozens of cases as unconnected incidents required extraordinary skill.

From Conrad’s experience, cases like this were far more troublesome than those of high-grade monsters. They usually involved mutants, meaning unknown and dangerous magic was likely at play.

Even the suspicious building Tsubaki was pondering over couldn’t be assumed to be the enemy’s base. It might be a decoy—or a trap. They would need to observe the exterior, withdraw, compare findings with the Blue Witch’s intel, and plan carefully.

As Conrad thought this over, he noticed Tsubaki had overexerted herself thinking—steam practically coming from her head as she grew dizzy. He gave a wry smile.

“Was that too difficult? Let’s stop thinking for now and check the perimeter of that building—!?”

“Mi!?”

It was a perfect ambush.

Tentacles shot silently from the canal, wrapping around both their ankles.

With superhuman reflexes, Conrad drew his prototype magic sword and severed the tentacles. But Tsubaki failed to react in time. She tried to crush them with her hammer, but even under the powerful blow, the tentacles held fast.

“Mii!?”

With a scream, Tsubaki was dragged into the canal in an instant.

Then, as if replacing her, a massive creature burst forth from the water in a towering splash.

A foul stench spread, enough to make one gag. The creature was enormous—around six meters long—despite the shallow water.

Roughly humanoid, yet grotesque: its head resembled a mummy with seaweed for hair, and countless black tentacles sprouted where its arms should be.

Seeing the thin red, dress-like outer layer covering its lower body, Conrad’s eyes widened in shock.

“Bloody Mary!? —No, a mutant imitation!”

The creature bore the traits of an American mutant who had died five years ago.

But it couldn’t be her. She had perished through magical death.

Clashing the gauntlets on his arms, Conrad activated an emergency mechanism combining scroll systems and magical script. He decided to pour half his vast mana into the gauntlets.

Gripping a radiant white blade in his left hand and his magic sword in his right, he faced the storm of tentacles that attacked as if each had a will of its own.

Each clash sent sparks flying.

The shockwaves alone split the canal waters, exposing the muddy bottom.

Trees along the bank shattered, buildings were sliced apart.

“We are the fortress—get out of here!”

While battling fiercely, Conrad cast defensive magic to protect an elderly couple caught in the chaos. The old man, face red with strain, carried his paralyzed wife and staggered away.

Watching them go, Conrad raised his power with successive enhancement spells—

But the tentacles were strengthened just as much.

The balance wouldn’t break.

A bead of cold sweat ran down his face.

“This thing… even has the Demon King’s traits…!”

Memories of the battle 80 years ago resurfaced.

The same sickening sensation—hard yet soft, as if absorbing strikes. A storm of living weapons.

Weaker than the original, but unmistakably similar.

As the creature shrieked, it released rainbow-colored scales from beneath its red covering.

Recognizing them instantly, Conrad used wind magic to blow them back.

Hallucinogenic powder—a trait of a British mutant.

There was no doubt.

This creature was a grotesque culmination of magical mutation research.

Mutants often possessed unique traits. Attempts to artificially replicate them had long existed, with partial success. Even their superhuman physical abilities were now being understood.

But nothing like this had ever been seen.

A forced, unnatural fusion of multiple traits into something monstrous.

And Conrad knew—

Demons made ideal experimental subjects.

As that realization hit him, rage surged within him—and the canal began to boil.

The creature’s focus wavered for a split second.

At the same time, the canal exploded in flames, and a massive golden armored figure burst forth.

Burning away the tentacles wrapped around her, Tsubaki—now fully armored—shouted:

“It has multiple mana hearts! Even if I seal one, another sends mana right back—seal won’t work!”

“Tsubaki, fall back! Don’t fight it head-on!”

“Mi! And my body’s getting shredded! Even if I heal, it still hurts!”

“Don’t touch the red covering—it reopens old wounds!”

Using flames from her feet as propulsion, Tsubaki sped back beside him. As she clashed with tentacles using twin golden greatswords, Conrad placed a hand on her back and cast healing magic.

“…All healed, thanks! But I’m out of mana!”

“That’s a problem. Can you hold it off for three seconds?”

“Mi!”

Conrad stepped forward, merging his two blades into a single radiant sword.

With a powerful step that crushed the ground, he unleashed a full-force strike—

Severing three tentacles at once and turning them to dust.

The creature shrieked in pain for the first time.

But the severed limbs began regenerating at terrifying speed.

Seeing the familiar process, Conrad grimaced.

It reminded him of an old friend—of a saintly figure—and it made him sick.

“It’s losing mana when it regenerates! Should we outlast it?”

“No—we’ll run out first. We retreat.”

“Mi! Running means winning!”

Tsubaki unleashed a massive wall of flames.

Using it as cover, they fled at full speed.

The creature didn’t pursue.

After dodging a few thrown chunks of debris, it sank back into the murky canal.

The two raced through the city to regroup with the Blue Witch.

If even they had been ambushed so cleanly, she was in danger.

Unlike them, she had a non-combatant with her.

Their communication familiar wasn’t responding.

If it had been destroyed—or worse…

Following the trail of destruction, they arrived at her battlefield.

Ice spears embedded in the ground and walls told of a fierce fight.

But there was no sign of large-scale magic—she must have been ambushed and denied the chance to cast it.

“Mi… I smell the Blue Witch and Dairi. They were here.”

Tsubaki sniffed the ground and reported.

Conrad questioned a nearby officer, showing his credentials.

“The witch suddenly went berserk—and vanished,” the officer said.

“Vanished?”

“Yes… just gone. In an instant.”

“…Not moving at high speed? Not turning into golden particles and ascending?”

“No… just disappeared. The witnesses seem confused.”

Conrad was bewildered. What had the Blue Witch done? What had been done to her?

If she had turned invisible with illusion magic and withdrawn, she should have contacted him.

The fact that she hadn’t meant there was a high chance she was in serious trouble. And if that was the case, the safety of Dairi the Sage was also in doubt.

Conrad quickly ran through his thoughts.

If they pursued this further, they risked walking straight into another trap.

But if, at this very moment, the Blue Witch and Dairi were in danger somewhere, then it would be better to rescue them before things became irreversible.

More than anything, Conrad could not bring himself to turn his back on the enemy and flee without even trying to find his missing companions.

So how could they locate and rescue the two who had vanished?

Just as Conrad began to consider concrete methods, Tsubaki grabbed his hand.

“Williams, look.”

“Hm…?”

Following Tsubaki’s wary gaze, Conrad looked toward the center of the battlefield littered with bodies—

Something was happening.

The tiger-like monsters the officers had ridden in on also began to grow restless.

A moment later, Conrad noticed it too.

From empty space—cold air began to leak out.

A frigid white mist seeped from nothingness, spilling downward, spreading across the ground, forming frost. The temperature across the entire street began to drop rapidly.

Not only the sensitive ones—police and civilians alike began to notice something was wrong.

Something was happening.

Something was about to appear.

And then, the people heard a voice from beyond.

They heard the voice of a witch.

“O sea, O mountain, open the path. Bow your heads—the king returns in triumph.”

From the empty air—a single witch tumbled out.

She tried to steady herself, pressing down her crooked witch’s hat and using a blue staff with a flickering core as a crutch. But she staggered badly, tripped over her own feet, and collapsed—then began violently vomiting on the spot.

“M-mi! The Blue Witch came out! What about Dairi? Where’s Dairi?”

Tsubaki’s face lit up as she looked around, hoping a second person would appear.

Snapping out of his shock, Conrad rushed to the Blue Witch.

As he knelt to cast a healing spell, she stopped him with a hand. Her face was paler than ever before. Wiping her mouth roughly, she gagged.

“…Healing magic won’t help. Ugh… the fourth dimension… it’s like entering a bagworm’s cocoon… with your bare body. Anyway… Dairi’s safety mechanism… worked. If we use two tensegrity structures to complement coordinates… we should be able to trace him with a return spell…”

“What did they do to you? Where’s the enemy?”

“…Where’s Dairi?”

Though dazed at first, the Blue Witch gradually regained clarity, her eyes focusing again.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t know his location. However, we haven’t found a body either. Was he taken?”

At present, the enemy had consistently stayed one step ahead.

But it seemed the Blue Witch had managed to outmaneuver them.

As Conrad asked to confirm the situation, he saw her face—and caught his breath.

“Blue Witch… where’s Dairi? He’s not—mi—”

Tsubaki, who had run around searching, returned—and upon seeing her face, fell speechless.

Conrad understood the power of will.

Not as mere grit or emotion—but as a decisive factor in battle.

Morale could determine victory. Break the enemy’s fighting spirit, and you could win without fighting.

Even those stronger had lost after being overwhelmed by presence and resolve.

Of course, willpower alone could not overturn everything.

To accomplish anything, one first needed solid strength—and then, an unyielding will.

In Conrad’s eyes, the Blue Witch now possessed both to an extreme degree.

The sheer intensity of her cold fury was enough to make one’s knees buckle.

Onlookers and police alike fled in panic.

Even Tsubaki clung to him in fear—and if he’d had something to cling to, Conrad might have done the same.

To the two of them, trembling from the bottom of their hearts—

the Blue Witch, whose anger had surpassed its limit and turned into an expressionless mask—

said only one thing:

“Let’s finish this.”