Chapter 10: Let’s Challenge the Emperor of Sands , Part 6

「If my memory serves me correctly..」

Logan said when they were soaring through the sky.

「Master didn’t originally brought Spina with him to the New Continent because he feared that her clone might run away, yes?」

「Yeah, that seemed to be the case.」

Both Lilu and Spina were able to create clones of themselves but their methods of doing so were totally different.

The ones that Lilu makes are actually copies of her body made by the usage of magical tools and stored in the Demon World.

On the other hand, Spina’s clone are more like the effect of an ability that she herself created and developed. Her copies had the same abilities as her, but even if they were thinking and acting just like her, they lacked her soul and personality.

Therefore, there was always a possibility that they might try to run away if the chance presented itself.

Spina, being Spina as she was, would never act in a way that would cause harm to her master, but as for the clones, even she herself said that “She wouldn’t know how exactly they would act in certain situations”.

「So, you think she’s not going to try and run away under the current circumstances?」

「Even in her current state, I don’t really think she’d do that.」

Logan and Mari were exchanging glances as they witnessed the giant Spina decimating and devouring anything that came near her.

Of course, the soldiers tried to inflict damage onto her, but all of their attacks just bounced off of her. Even when more specialized units, just like that one horsemen form earlier, appeared before her, they ended up just the same like any normal grunts: they served as nourishment to make Spina even bigger.

「Mari, I can see the bastard!」

The appearance of the demon who was caring Sofia became visible through the now totally transparent body of Spina.

「Elder sister!」

「I know.」

She stretched her gigantic arm out, and captured the running demon with surprising swiftness.

「All right!」

Logan raised a victory cry, but at that exact moment..

.. Spina’s body exploded.

「Elder Sister!?」

The upper body exploded, in a myriad of pieces, and the lower body was engulfed by flames and burned down.

「So fire was this one’s weak point.」

Slimes always possess some kind of weakness. For example, Spina’s main body was weak to salt water, and if she was splashed with it, her body returned to its original state and was unable to utilize its damage absorption trait. In case of the carnivorous clone, it was fire.

「No Mari, it’s not as simple as you think. We all knew ahead that the enemy leader was a powerful Pyromancer. Do you really think that someone like Spina simply forget about such an important fact? No, this fire, it’s something much more.. sinister.」

It was definitely the same thing that eradicated the mountain summit.

And then it happened.

「Stealing from the emperor was very unwise of you.」

It would seem that the big bad has finally made his appearance.

「Bow down before me, my troops.」

As soon as he said that, all of his remaining troops kneeled down and bowed their heads.

He was a tanned, tall and handsome man. His eyes were filled with overwhelming confidence and power, and his aura was so intense that just looking at him made breathing difficult.

But he was just a man.

Compared to the Saint Melizand, Hero King Wolfe or Aur himself, that man was as easy to read as the blue sky spreading above his head.

Nevertheless, as she gazed at him, Mari felt fear even more intense than the one evoked by Spina.

She was truly terrified of him.

「Mari, we’ve got to get past him somehow. I’ll act like the decoy, while you go for Sofia..」

「Okay...」

Logan seemed unaffected, but Mari was so terrified that she couldn’t stop trembling. But nevertheless, they had to do it in order to save Sofia.

「Her we go. Don’t mess this up.」

He dropped Mari on the ground and approached Uzermart. However, he didn’t even looked at him, and directed his sights towards Mari.

「F*ck, to think that I’ll be the one to screw up so fast!」

Logan was truly shocked. But tis Uzermart guy was not wearing any armor whatsoever, and it was evident by his physique that he was not a warrior. Therefore, she should be at a disadvantage if Logan engages him in close quarters combat. He has never before seen someone foolish enough to ignore the danger that the battle against demons possessed.

But he was much more than that. Someone like him would surely stand no chance against someone like Logan, who was fighting to protect the ones that he cared about the most in this world and..

「Logan!」

Uzermart fired another fireball straight at Logan’s stomach. He stopped it with his three remaining arms, but lost the min the process.

「I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, you just go after Sofia, you hear me?!」

「O.. okay!」

Sending Mari off with his eyes, his mind was in a state of small panic. As he thought, this was no ordinary flame. It thwarted and extinguished Logan’s own flames, which were supposed to burn and melt anything and everything in this world. But in the flash of their flames, the one created by Uzermart kept getting stronger, while Logan’ was diminishing by the second.

「Hou, for a vulgar creature, you did quite well to survive against me this far.」

Uzermart pointed his cane at Logan.

「For that, accept your reward.」

And he fired another shot at him from a point-blank range.

「Sofia!」

When Mari finally caught up to the fleeing devil, she unfolded all of her swords and cut him down mercilessly with all of her four swords.

「Mama!」

She hugged her daughter tightly, inspecting if she was all right. Her clothes were torn apart, but other than that, she had no apparent injuries. However, it was still too early to be relieved.

A giant wolf appeared before them and caught Sofia in his mouth. It did not breathe fire like a hellhound, and unlike Cerberus, it only had one head. But just by looking at him, Mari knew he was bad news.

「GIVE SOFIA BACK!.」

Ugh, if only Mio was here, she would’ve been able to deal with him in seconds. But unfortunately, she was assigned to guard the Dungeon together with Ellen and Celes.

And she herself couldn’t go all out against him because she had to be mindful of Sofia.

「Mama!」

「Eh?」

Just when Mari thought that Sofia was done for, the wolf dropped her to the ground and then it disappeared. Mari came running towards her confused daughter and hugged her tightly.

Mari was puzzled at the monster’s strange behavior, but she decided not to think about it and hurry back to Logan now that their objective was complete.

Fortunately, now that the emperor of the Sands appeared, all that the soldiers did was to kneel down with their heads bowed, and they showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Mari used that chance to make her retreat, with her feet singing into the sand with every step.

「Logan!」

And then.

「I did not thought that something like you would endure three strikes from me. You have exceeded my expectations, I have to give you that, at the very least.」

「Ma.. riiiiii....」

What she saw when she returned to Logan’s side, was his mutilated appearance.

All of his arms were torn off, there were large, gaping holes in his belly, and his legs were still connected with his torso only by the single scraps of skin.

His expression was one of deep pain, and white smoke was raising from his entire body.

「He had no chance against my sacred fire. No demon had ever withstood its righteous fury. But fear not, I will free you from your suffering now.」

Uzermart raised his cane at Logan who was no longer able to move.

「I know... Who, you.. are. Mari, go and tell it to the boss.. this guy, he is....」

But before he could finish talking, his body was consumed by flames, leaving nothing behind