I warily watched the imp while I slowly stepped back, gonna let Miyako and Satomi be the vanguard on this one. Imps were a bit troublesome, I had to say. But still, instead of feeling unfortunate, I should feel fortunate! It was an imp, something I had already fought before. At least, this time, I wasn't completely clueless about my enemy.

Although, I did notice something different from the one I faced before. This one here had no wings. Interesting.

The demon briefly laughed, looking at the shaken Miyako.

"From the looks of it," the demon said. "This is the first time you saw our kind."

"What are you doing here?"

"What? You think we'll all be holed down there forever?" He shook his head. "No, no, no. Where's the fun in that?" He spread out his arms. "These islands are so amusing. How fun it is to see your debauchery, all the revolting things you would commit!"

At least his attention was mostly focused on Miyako and Satomi.

Now then, I shouldn't underestimate this imp.

"You shouldn't be here," Miyako said, clenching her sword tightly. "You shouldn't…"

"Who can stop us, huh? You don't know how fucked up you are. All of you."

Miyako charged towards the imp, and Satomi quickly followed. However, instead of dodging, the imp merely stood still, allowing the swords to slash and pierce his body. The two ladies looked on with shock as he still remained standing, not even bothered in the slightest. The imp merely laughed mockingly.

"You don't even know our capabilities. Pathetic."

He was then engulfed in a raging fire. Miyako and Satomi had to leap back. Fire blazed around his claws, and the imp waved his hands, sending waves of fire at the two, cleaving the floor as they went. One even got to me, and so I stepped to the side to evade it.

"Milady! He regenerates! There must be a way to stop that."

Miyako lowered her head. "T-There is. But… I… I don't know if it will really work."

"Try it!"

Miyako gritted her teeth, and she cut her finger with her own sword, blood immediately began seeping out of the wound. She wiped the blood to the broad of her blade, spreading it all over.

What is this?

She held her sword close to her chest and closed her eyes.

"I pray for your blessing, a drop of your divine blood. I pray you grace us with your compassion…"

A prayer?

"... May your presence protect me, may your touch drive away evil. Oh goddess of beginnings and providence, may your divinity shine on me, and I pray you lend me your strength. May your blood bless mine and sharpen my blade. Glory and honor to you, amen."

And the blood on her blade started to glow faintly. They didn't move at all, just glowed, as if enchanting her blade. It kinda looked familiar, which absolutely shocked me.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!

The imp frowned, staring at her sword with narrowed eyes. "Hmm. That still persist? Although, it looked different."

You mean to tell me they can do that shit? Oh hell nah, I thought I was special.

Judging from the prayer, did it mean that the sword had holy properties now? But still, it was good that she could use something like that. The question was, how effective would it be? That glow seemed quite miniscule. The church's holy magic was quite bright. But this may be different, using blood as a medium or some shit.

I don't really know…

That being said, I wanted to watch for the time being.

Satomi rushed at the demon, the latter sending a wave of infernal fire. The warrior swung her swords filled with magic, cutting through the blazing wave. Satomi reached him, and the demon blocked her swords with his blazing claws.

He noticed Miyako coming at him, and he looked worried.

"Keep your distance, human." He slammed his foot, unleashing a powerful burst of fire from the floor, breaking it apart.

The floor collapsed, and we fell to the ground floor. I landed on my foot and saw the demon backing away to a safe distance. As expected, imps were terrified of something that threatened their regeneration. Just like how the imp I fought reacted. They just kinda freak out.

Satomi violently cut through the debris and charged at the enemy, she moved incredibly fast. The imp blocked with one hand, and he swung his claws at her. She tried to dodge, but the imp relentlessly attacked. Eventually, she got a shallow cut on the side of her stomach. She grimaced in pain, it must have burned and hurt as hell.

"Hah! Got ya." The imp seemed proud the moment he damaged her.

But then, Miyako suddenly came in from his side. The imp became frantic, backing away and raising his arm to guard himself. Miyako brought down her blade and slashed the imp's forearm. The demon gasped in horror before moving his other hand in a sweeping motion, shooting out a wave of fire, forcing his opponents to back away.

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He glanced at his wound, it was steaming. I squinted my eyes. The cut was wide, but the steam rising was pretty minor, small. And immediately, a couple of seconds later, the steam dissipated as the wound healed. At that, the demon laughed.

"Haha… Hahahaha! What was I getting scared of?" He placed a hand on his head, finding it utterly hilarious. "That attack was weak. The holy magic in that is fucking pathetic!"

Miyako frowned. "... What?"

"With this weak of an attack, you'd be long dead before you could kill me with that."

"Lies."

"It isn't. Hahaha! Just how much mana did you put in that? No, you lack practice. Of course you are. This blood art has really lost its value, isn't it?"

"No, it has not."

"If not, then why doesn't your warrior there know how to cast it? You are no mere footsoldier." He pointed at Satomi. "You have forgotten about it, your people. Haha, good. Very good."

"Enough talk!" Satomi roared before charging towards the demon, along with Miyako.

I turned to Nira. "Support them. Don't let them die. I'll find the right opportunity to attack."

"But goddess, I can't use any holy magic yet." Yeah, when they were practicing, Nira couldn't seem to do it at all. And without holy magic, all attacks landed on that demon could pretty well be completely worthless.

"That's fine. I can kill him."

"Understood."

I stealthily moved. As Miyako fought the enemy, she managed to slash him on the back. However, it was pointless, as the imp immediately regenerated. With a grin, the imp lunged towards Miyako with claws extended forward. The imp was so fast, and he would absolutely hit her in the head. Satomi tried moving in to stop him, but she would be a moment late. However, a black fog suddenly wrapped around the imp's arm, turning into a little person covered in cloth.

"What?"

Nira leaned forward and pushed her claws into his chest. At the same time, Satomi hit his shoulder and torso. The imp blasted Satomi away with flames and grasped Nira before piercing her with burning claws. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. Seeing that Nira didn't seem to be dying at all, he threw her away. But Nira quickly recovered and stood up.

The demon stared at the little monster. "Black fog, regeneration. I know what you are. I didn't expect to see one of you here." He casually blocked Miyako's sword, his claws steamed ever so slightly as they made contact with the blessed blade. But he disregarded her and kept his eyes on Nira. "I don't reckon you would ever be here. Why are you here?"

I made a small cut on my finger with my dagger. Blood crawled onto both my blades, spreading apart like veins. While connecting a magical string to my daggers, I moved in closer to the demon. He blasted Miyako away, but fortunately, she had her shield on, but it was cracked all over.

"Your attacks are useless. You can't kill me with those."

I threw my dagger with tremendous strength and speed and it struck his back. In that instant, steam rose from his skin, and his wound started sizzling.

He looked at his back in confusion. "W-What— What is this?!"

I then triggered the technique I had been practicing. The blood on the blade was injected into his body.

"Aaaaaaah!" He staggered and pulled the string. I disconnected it from myself. His face contorted into intense agony, he cradled his head and body. "W-What did you do?!" His wound on the back started healing, but slower than before, and steaming hard. And he was still feeling pain inside his body.

My holy blood had mixed with his own blood. That gotta really hurt.

He raised his eyes to glare at me. "What did you do?!"

I pulled out another blade and touched it with the other blood enchanted dagger. The blood transferred to the other.

He gasped. "I don't like that. I don't like that at all!" He held out his hand towards me.

He cast his flames, but at the same time, Nira jumped in and pushed him. His magic misfired, hitting the ceiling. I swiftly ran at him and slashed his black. His wound sizzled and steamed like boiling water.

"Gah! Get off me!" He slammed Nira to the ground before throwing her away. He turned his focus on me. "You! How could you have something potent?!"

"Estelia…!" Miyako called.

"You and Satomi stay back. I'll end this imp."

The arrogance had disappeared from the demon. Now, he was more wary, wary of me.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked with gritted teeth.

I didn't answer and instead charged towards him. He frantically ran backwards. Considering he was basically on fire, it was risky to get really close for a long period. And I would rather not use too much mana. Thus, I should attack from a range as much as possible.

I threw my dagger at him, which he parried in the air. Subsequently, I threw the other dagger, and it pierced through his arm. He screamed in pain. I quickly pulled back both daggers. He grasped his wounded arm with a bitter expression.

He stomped his foot, sending a wave of fire from below. I jumped to the side and sprinted towards him. I swung my dagger, meeting his claw. I stabbed him in the side of his stomach and injected my blood.

He panicked and swiftly jumped away as he thrust his hand forward, sending a stream of flames at me. I dodged as his flames obliterated walls behind me. He staggered and leaned on a pillar.

"What kind of twisted holy magic is this? Fucking poison!" He clenched his fists. "Fuck this place." He blasted the doors open.

Indeed, my blood was indeed like poison to him. That was the point of it. My technique made killing demons way easier.

He started running outside, and I followed. I threw my dagger at his leg and it hit. While he frantically shook off my blade from his leg, he lost his balance and almost fell. He kept running, but the wound slowed him down. Drawing back the blade, I poured a bit of blood on my depleted dagger before pulling up next to him. I swung, and he blocked both my daggers with his claws.

He glared at me. "This is no blood art. This is different. Who are you?!"

"You don't have wings?"

The demon didn't answer.

I shifted to the side and slashed at his waist. Now, his wounds were not healing. I dodged his attacks and threw my dagger at his ankle. He fell to the ground. The demon gasped for breath, crawling away quickly.

But I stabbed his other leg, his flames all dissipated.

"I can't die like t-this! Years of work. Years! This can't be how I die!"

I slashed his back, and more steam rose from his body. He turned around and faced me as I stood above him.

He noticed my white hair waving in the air. His face crumpled for a moment, as though he was doing his utmost to remember something. The moment he did, his eyes widened.

"Y-You… I k-know you… You're—!"

I pushed my blade into his forehead. And he stopped moving completely.

I pulled out my blade and stepped back, and let out a tired sigh. A demon leading a big bandit group, huh? They're playing games with these people. How long have they been doing this? Been a long time, I presumed. How many were out there? A lot, likely.

I think I'm getting the gist of it now.

This archipelago only became shittier. Of course, the demons had been influencing this place from the shadows.

I dispelled all my magic and sheathed my weapons before returning to the keep.

"Estelia, you killed him?" Miyako asked tiredly.

I nodded as I went to retrieve my dagger from the floor.

"How did you do it?" Satomi asked as she looked around. Her wound was gone, Miyako likely healed her already.

I sheathed my dagger. "Similar to how you were doing it." I glanced at Miyako's blade.

She held it out. "... But it was not effective."

"... Apparently. Still, I didn't expect you to have a way to fight demons."

"Of course we do. At least… a few do. But… I don't understand why it didn't work with that demon."

"... Maybe you lack enough faith?"

Miyako blinked before awkwardly smiling. "I don't know if that's a joke or not."

Why would you think it's a joke?

"Let's set that aside for the time being. We should take a rest." I turned to Nira. "Nira, can you check around the building if there are still enemies left? If there is, you know what to do."

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