The tense atmosphere among the squires relieved a little when they saw Silvia cleave one of the demon’s arms. It looked like the knights had this in the bag.
"Those two are really excellent knights," Delicia muttered. As a former knight, she was far more aware than anyone here what kind of resolve, training, and talent was needed to fight on the level the two were displaying.
Although they made it look easy, hidden by their amazingness were days, months, years of gruelling training, life and death, and enlightenment involved.
Especially, Silivia, from what she could see, that girl was simply a bundle of talent. Her achievements were even higher than hers when she was a knight.
As the battle was slowly wrapping up, the squires sighed in relief, causing a momentary lapse in their guard.
Using this chance, a shadow slowly crept near them. Two pairs of arms sprang up from the ground, grabbed the child and the mother, and was just about to pull them into the shadows when...
"Not so fast!!" Kevin reacted at an unbelievable speed and swung his sword towards the demon.
CLANG... the sword hit the ground, and the mother who was about to be dragged away, fell off. At the same time, the squires’ attack also forced the demon to come out of its shadow.
Dressed in tattered clothing, with a muscular frame and purple skin, the figure that appeared was quite tall and big. It had a hunched frame, two large horns, and a goat skull with crimson lights flashing from its sockets.
Furthermore, chains protruded out from the arms and legs of the creature’s hand, and it had a goat like lower body that was melded with the shadows.
"What kind of demon is this one?" Rolan asked, his sword pointed at the foe, ready for battle.
"Everyone, don’t let your guard down, this is a middle ranking demon. You can judge the rank of a demon by how many horns it has. The creature in front is called a Creepycrawler. Although it isn’t as strong as the Darkjaw, it is still very difficult to fight at our level," Delicia informed the others.
"Oh no, it got the girl." Gwen arrived before the unconscious mother and got her away to safety.
"Release the little girl, you bastard!" Kevin charged towards the demon in an almost reckless fashion.
Seeing this, the Creepycrawler grinned and opened its mouth to fire a black ball of death. The magic was as big as a basketball and flew at the speed of a cannonball, barely allowing the squire to react.
Nevertheless, under the effect of those gleaming crimson lines, Kevin was not the same squire as before.
Reacting at a speed that was on the superhuman levels, he thrusted his sword forward. At the same time, he shouted at the top of his lungs... "Release [Tiamat]".
ROARR... as if responding to his intense desire, a deep gurgling noise far more terrifying than the demon, echoed out from the sword. The next second, the sword turned into a crimson maw that devoured the incoming magic.
A scene that was as shocking as it could be. However, it was not over. Emotionally charged, Kevin followed the gleaming light, his movements ethereal and swift, so much so that it did not look like a Squire’s movement anymore.
He was actually knocking on the doors of the superhuman level of knights.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the Creepycrawler and swung his sword. The demon responded with a swipe of its incisive claws, but the boy’s body moved in a way as if his mind, sword, and breath were one.
Dodging the attack, he struck with his sword.
"Release!!" At that very instant, the magic that was eaten by the sword earlier, reappeared, adhering and infused with the blade itself.
SLASH... Blood spurted out, and the demon gave a painful roar.
"KIEE... what are you human? How can you use demonic magic?"
The Creepycrawler pointed out. That dark blade on the boy’s hand was no doubt demonic magic and energy. However, a human shouldn’t be able to wield this power that was exclusive to the demons.
Kevin did not reply, nor did he know the answer. All at this moment he could see was the gleaming line that appeared and disappeared in his vision.
"Your.. body... cannot... handle... my power yet. Get stronger."
Suddenly, an extremely indistinct voice that seemed like it came from a very far distance or maybe from an era long gone, but the sword spoke again. Right after that, the mysterious state he was in disappeared.
The changes in the squire was also noticed by the demon. However, it did not charge towards the boy; instead, it used this opportunity to slip away, taking the little girl with it.
"Bastard, where are you going? Get back here!"
Kevin shouted and followed after the demon. His teammates shouted after him to wait and not to act rashly.
"It looks like they are in trouble there. I want to lend them a hand, but this Darkmaw is surprisingly proving more resilient," Silvia spoke, her eyes a little grave.
It was already over the seventh minute mark, and the demon was still not down.
Previously, they had defeated a high ranking demon by working in tandem in 10 minutes 29 seconds, which was their record. However, they were stronger now, so it shouldn’t take them that long.
"This thing is getting buffed by the Heavenly King’s presence. Of course, it’s tougher. Nevertheless, we still must do it."
Vangeance gritted his teeth. Then, he looked towards the impulsive boy who was running after the demon and shouted at the team.
"You all go after him, don’t let him go alone. Two minutes; no, one minute more at the tops, I swear we will defeat it and join you by then".
The squires nodded and heeded his orders.
"Wait, you bastard, where are you going?!"
Kevin continuned to follow after the demon, who flew out of the battlezone and into a relatively secluded park.