"What?! How did he arrive this early?!"

When we left, the defense line was on the brink of destruction but it was certainly still enough to hold him back for a few more minutes.

"Hahahaha... hahahahaha!"

The demon covered his face with his right hand.

"The amount of sacrifices here are a lot more than those of the others. This will be a good feast!"

"Ballistas, archers, mages, fire!"

Mikado yelled at the top of his lungs.

The demon made no move to block the attacks and simply stood there with his arm listless.

BOOOOOOOOM

All of the attacks landed, the rocks and arrows arrived faster than the magic attacks but the sound of rocks and arrows was instantly drowned out by the explosion.

The smoke cleared and everyone could see a crater. There were arrows and debris scattered all around the crater.

"Did we get him...?"

One of the mages muttered.

"We... won?"

"We did it!"

Everyone roared. Akane and Yoko were trembling but Juro and Akemi were calm. Mikado and the head elder were looking all over the place.

"Fools, don't be so relaxed! The power he holds is enough to destroy all those attacks many times over!"

Everyone fell silent after hearing that and looked around them as well.

"L-look, over there!"

Everyone looked at the man and followed his finger. At the direction he was pointing was the demon floating in the sky.

"This boy sure is amazing. Normally, wind magic could only help you walk in the air or levitate but this is true flight. Flight that lets me speed up to levels faster than running. Levitation would only help me float up and down and back and forth slowly. It also doesn't allow me to use spells in mid-air because I have to hold a certain posture."

The demon praised Kai while cracking his neck. Then, he flew towards the final defense line in front of the mansion.

"H-he's flying..."

"Oi, we can't shoot him like this!"

"Load the ballistas with spears!"

Some people who managed to regain their calm began loading the proper ammo for shooting down the demon.

When the demon's eyes landed on Yoko and the others, his brain pulsed once more.

Fuck, his family is right there! The blood that I used to enchant the control wasn't enough?!

I... won't let you...

"Stop it! Your body will be destroyed if I don't defend!"

Then let it be destroyed!

The demon roared and his left eye bled once more.

I need to end this quickly, he'd regain control if I were to make this go on a little longer. Sadly, I won't be able to slaughter them slowly and enjoy their blood to increase my power.

The demon immediately began charging with all of his mana.

"Hmm? It appears I can't use his strongest attack. Then, I'll just use this [Rend] thing."

The demon dropped down at a rapid pace from the sky to the front of the mansion whilst avoiding all of the attacks heading for him.

Mikado's instincts told him that the demon was heading for the ground to position himself for a huge attack.

"Everyone, we must stop him from going down! He's planning to wipe us all out at once!"

The mages gulped and began using everything in their arsenal without reservations.

Frankly, this barrage was more dangerous than every attack thrown at the demon before.

Even if he could use [Flight], he would still be attacked from all angles as he falls. He also can't swing the sword properly like he did on the ground.

The demon launched a [Dark Beam] while in the air to destroy the incoming attacks and maneuvered through the rest.

Then with a boom, he landed on the floor.

Crap, I can't let him get into position!

Mikado took Akane and leapt at the demon.

"[Ren-!"

The demon's left eye began bleeding badly. It was at a different scale compared to the previous times where the amount of blood was like tears.

Fuck, that man is bringing this boy's family! I planned to kill them all in one fell swoop but this man ruined it all!

"Get out of my way!"

The demon swung his sword but Mikado used Akane as a shield in front of him. The demon's brain pulsed once more and he was forced to stop his swing halfway.

Mikado didn't miss the opportunity and thrust forward with his sword.

Blood splurted out of the demon's stomach. Mikado couldn't aim for a fatal strike to the neck or the chest because the demon could still move his arm and pulling Akane towards himself took some of his balance.

Akane's eyes were wide open and she tried to struggle free from Mikado's grip.

There are different types of demons like there are for beasts. One type of demon is like the one that possessed Kai, they use blood for power and are addicted to killing other beings, specifically humans. They also possess a quality of quick regeneration when they have bathed in sufficient amount but regenerating lost limbs takes many more times the amount of blood.

When Mikado removed the sword from the demon's stomach, it immediately regenerated. But since they used power for blood, they avoided losing their own blood because that would make them weaker.

"Curse you!"

The demon roared and a shockwave of magic erupted from him which forced Mikado to stagger and let go of Akane. But since Akane's legs were bound, she only fell on the floor and couldn't run away.

The demon finally managed to break free of Kai for a bit and clashed swords with Mikado.

It was obvious the demon couldn't afford to lose anymore time and attacked over and over again. The crazed demon's power was no joke and Mikado kept moving backwards after each swing.

"This is the limits of your borrowed power, human!"

As the demon's words faded, he swung his sword from overhead. Mikado raised his sword and held it horizontally to block the demon's strike.

A large crater formed on the floor from the impact of the demon's sword. Mikado lost his footing and the demon's sword hacked into his shoulder.

"Just where I want you!"

It seems that Mikado's lost footing was a bluff and he immediately used his other hand to swing the sword towards Kai's neck.

Even if the demon could regenerate, losing Kai's body's head would immediately make him lose his host body. And it was obvious that nobody else in the clan would accept his deal nor would they have a suitable body to take over. The only candidates he could take were Mikado and the head elder but neither of them would be fooled. He only managed to take over Kai because Kai was dying and he manipulated his way of thinking.

I can't afford to lose this body!

The demon exerted a huge amount of mana to block the attack from hitting Kai's neck by a hair's breadth.

He didn't create a [Barrier] but instead used pure mana to block the attack, it would need quite a bit of mana but with Kai's unsealed reserves, it would take about an eighth. For a mage like Mikado, it would take at least half of his mana to block that attack.

Of course, control also has to do with that. Since the demon has only taken over Kai's body and blocked that attack in a hurry, it took more mana than expected. Right now, the demon couldn't expend any more mana if he wanted to wipe out everyone in a single attack. But if he uses Mikado's blood, he might be able to regain that lost mana.

He took that chance. He was going to expend his mana to kill Mikado and take the mana.

The demon forced his sword down to cut off Mikado's arm but...

BOOM

The demon was sent flying by an attack.

"Patriarch, I'm here to lend assistance!"

After getting up, the demon roared with bloodshot eyes and a left eye that was literally bleeding and charged like a mad bull towards Mikado and the head elder.

The demon raised both of his arms forward and fired [Dark Beams].

Mikado made a [Barrier] with the assistance of the head elder, they blocked the attack.

The demon didn't hesitate to launch another attack, this time it was...

"[Rend]!"

His voice sent shiver down the three's spines.

This time, Kai's interference couldn't stop him at all. The attack launched. Mikado's and the head elder's cooperative [Barrier] wouldn't be able to block it. Hence, they dodged. The head elder took Akane with him and was grazed by the edges of the attack.

But that simple graze managed to remove the head elder's outer skin layer on his back.

Mikado looked at the head elder's condition once before facing the demon who stayed there without moving.

"...Hurry!"

The head elder forgot his wound and stood there dumbfounded. Akane was looking with trembling eyes.

At the edge of their vision was the demon- no, Kai who had his right eye closed. He had his bleeding left eye open and was trembling all over that made it evident that he was struggling.

Mikado only hesitated for a bit before thrusting forward with his sword.

Just as Mikado reached striking range, Kai's left eye closed and his right eye opened.

"Fuc-!"

THUD THUD

Mikado's lower body fell down on its knees and landed on the floor with a thud.