The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Cleath blasted out a Zenith Breath at Charlie.

Charlie, dodging it with a leap, wore a stern expression as he surveyed the ravaged earth.

“That one blast could have actually killed me…!”

“And look at us — we have to keep hitting him again and again! It’s soooooo not fair!”

Duncan’s powerful strikes were being deflected by Cleath’s tentacles.

“Excuuuuuse me, princess! Lend me your shoulder for a bit, eh?”

Melchi, using Duncan’s shoulder as a jumping platform, rushed straight at Cleath with her fist out.

Her strike managed to only graze Cleath’s cheek.

“Ngh…! You annoying little…!”

Melchi landed on her hands and deflected the tentacles with her legs

“Gah!? What the…!”

Cleath, attempting a counterattack against Melchi, was interrupted by the sudden emergence of an earthen wall.

“Tch! Earth Control!?”

Barun had invoked Earth Control with Swift Magic, forcing Cleath to step back. Subsequently, Charlie leaped and charged right at Cleath, delivering a full-force attack to the latter’s front.

“GAAAAAAHAHAHA! Thunderstorm Sword Dance! THOUSANDFOLD!”

A relentless barrage of sword swings, twisting in from all directions like a thunderstorm, assailed Cleath. Eating head-on the storm of Charlie the Thousand Morphing Blade’s expert swordsmanship, Cleath’s face distorted.

“DAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Charlie’s relentless assault continued, but that alone was not enough to end the confrontation. Faced with the Devil-transformed Cleath, everyone knew they could not afford to hold back.

“Heaven Strike!”

Duncan’s battleaxe swung down with tremendous force, severing Cleath’s tentacles.

“Rise, A-rise! Ice Lance: Convergence!”

“Rise, A-rise! Earth Lance: Convergence!”

Melchi and Barun cast spells to assist Charlie’s attack. After the direct impact of the magic, Duncan and Melchi unleashed numerous attacks on Cleath, with Barun providing support.

“Gah…! You damn pests! Kaaaaaah!”

Increasingly desperate,  Cleath expelled a potent poison mist.

“Duncan!”

“Boy, you really need to brush your teeth!”

Charlie leaped backward, and Duncan dispersed the poison mist with repeated swings of the massive battleaxe.

“Your combat experience is still lacking, man!”

Melchi delivered a powerful kick from above Cleath, shaking his head.

“Don’t give him a chance to heal!”

“Yes, I know! Rise! Fire Lance: Convergence!”

Following Charlie’s command, Barun unleashed more magic. 

With Cleath’s hands occupied, Duncan and Charlie’s charge became more effective. 

Despite their numerical advantage, however, Cleath’s Devil transformation made his body resilient. To reach his heart with blades and fists, they must prevent him from using recovery magic.

Barun, Melchi, Charlie, and Duncan worked together — at times trusting one another to have their backs — as they continued their assault on Cleath.

“”Rise! Magic Drain!””

To deplete Cleath’s vast pool of arcane energy, Barun and Melchi resorted to the Magic Drain spell, inevitably reducing their offensive maneuvers.

“Hehehe! You’re wide open!”

Before the tentacles that came at the two, two other robust fighters stepped forward.

“”Nnngh!!””

Charlie and Duncan, even with the tentacles piercing their bodies, blocked the attacks aimed at the two mages.

Ignoring their injuries, they grabbed the tentacles protruding from their abdomens, lifting them in unison.

“What in the–! –Gwoh!?”

As a result, Cleath was thrown up and slammed down into the ground. At the same time, Barun and Melchi unleashed a combination of magic and magecraft.

“Rise! Magic Point Reduction!”

“Rise! Demonic Acceleration!”

Their magic and magecraft converged, their effects intensifying against Cleath.

This diminished Cleath’s arcane energy — a crucial threat to the devilkin.

Despite Cleath having a minor level of natural recovery, his arcane energy steadily decreased, affecting both his stamina and accumulating wounds.

“”Ha ha hah…!””

Despite everyone having pushed themselves almost to their limits, however, they still fell short of depleting Cleath’s energy entirely.

And despite Cleath’s limited combat experience, enduring the onslaught from Charlie and Duncan naturally accustomed him to the attacks. Successful defense enhanced Cleath’s versatility, allowing him to redirect his defenses into a counteroffensive.

“HAH!”

A turning point was reached when Cleath, struck by Duncan’s battleaxe, managed to push back, creating a fair distance between him and Duncan.

With Duncan out of range, the burden on Charlie intensified. Melchi noticed this quickly, but Cleath’s attacks were faster than anticipated.

In an instant, Cleath deflected Charlie’s assault.

Cleath’s gaze fixed on Charlie’s vulnerable abdomen.

As Cleath smirked, assured of his victory, however, another mage also smiled.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”

Duncan, Melchi, Charlie, and Cleath — none were aware of the one move Barun, both warrior and mage, had kept concealed.

It was a move he had once been exposed to — courtesy of the Eternal Fool Asley and his familiar Pochi.

Indeed, Barun had declared that he would support everyone — and said support was not restricted to magic alone. He was both a warrior and a mage, and for mages, support methods extended beyond spells and magecraft.

And in this particular case…

“Sic him, Ricky!”

“WOO YEAH BABY! THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!”

Ricky’s voice resonated from somewhere, reaching Cleath’s ears only when he perceived the monkey lunging at him from his blind spot. That moment of vulnerability, however brief it was, was more than enough.

Clath’s attention was occupied as he attempted to strike Charlie’s exposed, injured abdomen. That brief moment of negligence — that was the perfect timing for Ricky’s strike.

A large mass of arcane energy gathered around Ricky’s mouth. The shimmer of the energy revealed Ricky’s presence vividly, enabling Cleath to notice the monkey’s presence — but only when it was too late.

[Invisible Illusion…!?]

By the time Cleath noticed Ricky, who had been keeping himself concealed all along, the blast was already ready to go off.

“GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

Ricky’s Zenith Breath pierced Cleath’s vulnerable side with absolute precision.

“Gwuaaaahhh!?”

Cleath grimaced in pain from his pierced abdomen.

This single blow determined the course of the battle.

All of Cleath’s subsequent attacks were thwarted, dodged, or deflected.

In contrast, Barun and the others’ assaults began landing, significantly depleting Cleath’s stamina and arcane energy.

“I… I cannot lose! Impossible!”

“You are being too noisy!”

“I don’t like guys who refuse to stay down, you know!”

“Die already, squiggly boy!”

“This party’s getting too heated! Well, not that I mind!”

“We’re in the home stretch, Boss!”

Charlie, Duncan, Melchi, Barun, and Ricky spoke in unison.

“”OOOHHHHHH!!!!””

Countless wounds eroded Cleath’s integrity.

At this moment, there was only one action Cleath could take.

“Gaaaah!”

Sacrificing all his tentacles, Cleath leaped backward.

Cleath had chosen to defy Devil King Lucifer’s orders, opting for an act of retreat.

Naturally, the five gave chase, but in the end, they could not catch up with him.

The Devil-transformed Cleath, having poured all his remaining physical capabilities into the escape, made it so that no one in this place could pursue him.

“Nyah!? What the hell!? I can’t believe he’s running away just like that!”

Melchi scratched her head and looked toward the direction Cleath vanished.

“At least his arcane energy is almost zero,” Charlie remarked.

“Yeah, it’ll take quite some time for him to come back to the front lines,” Duncan added.

“Sooo… now the left flank is clear,” Barun concluded.

As the five, Ricky included, let out a collective sigh of relief, a Spell Circle appeared before Barun.

“”…!!””

It was the proof of Asley’s wisdom and tenacity, and everyone’s defiance against the Devil King — the invocation of the Lucifer Break.

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