Chapter 340
"You cannot be the only man who has ever managed to kill me . . . Gaias the Mage . . . ?"
"I'm not Gaias . . . In the same sense the current you not being Zadokilgias . "
Gaias was the name of my previous life .
I am now Mathias Hildesheimr, not Gaias .
In a similar sense, the demon in front of me may have inherited Zadokilgias's soul and memories, however it's a different demon in the strictest sense .
This demon probably has its own name . . . But it doesn't really matter either way .
Zadokilgias will die here regardless .
Utterly and completely for sure this time .
"My defeat comes from your hands yet again . . . I considered myself triumphant in term of techniques back then . . . But I have no excuses this time . "
Most of Zadokilgias's body has crumbled down into sands .
Zadokilgias turned to face me with a vexed look on its face .
My current mana is less than 30% of Zadokilgias's .
Physical strength wise, I'm far below demons .
Yet I won, thanks to the gap in our skills and support from my comrades .
In our previous fight, I was magically stronger than Zadokilgias but less in term of skills .
The situation is reversed this time . I'm weaker than Zadokilgias in magical prowess, but my skills exceed the demon .
For a demon who prides itself on its skills, it must have been a disgrace .
" . . . I'll come out victorious next time . "
Zadokilgias disappeared into sands, leaving those words behind .
Only a pair of horns that grew out of its heads remained .
However, I know that there will never be [next time] .
There is simply no way to reincarnate oneself once their soul has completely fallen apart .
. . . That's just how it is with souls .
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"Now then . . . How to proceed from here . "
A while later .
All of us have gathered, surveying the area where we fought Zadokilgias .
"I broke so many things . . . Will it be okay?"
Iris, back in her human form, asked me .
"It's fine . The town might be seriously damaged . . . But this is the least egregious method . If you hadn't fought, Iris, the entire town would have perished . "
What I said is true .
This town would have been lost for sure if we didn't kill Zadokilgias .
With Zadokilgias, the buildings themselves would probably be intact . . . but not the people .
After all, towns targeted by Zadokilgias in the past had tragic outcomes .
That demon was more efficient than your average demon . . . For example, after killing its suppression party, it would likely go on to spread poisonous gas where the refugees took shelter at, killing them .
People in the past wouldn't have regarded Zadokiligias as a risk if it was the kind of demon who would only attack back its suppression parties .
Demons are creatures that relish in killing humans no matter the means .
There were structural damages in the aftermath of this fight . . . and zero casualties .
It's undoubtedly all thanks to Iris .
"That said . . . Putting these back together would be daunting . "
Since Iris had to physically launch her attacks inside the town, the collateral damage was extensive .
At any rate, we probably have to rely on the kingdom's support to help with this town's restoration .
I guess I should first report what happened to the king and then ask him to send goods and manpower here .
I sensed mana reaction of a lone man coming here from afar while I was thinking .
"Someone's coming . "
. . . It's probably not a commoner .
No commoner would come back to this town right after the dragon vanished post a battle with a demon .
I observed the mana reaction while slightly upping my wariness .
Then . . . The man showed up from a street corner .
"It looks like . . . Someone from the Knights . "
"Ah, I've seen that person somewhere before, I think!"
Ruli and Alma said that when they saw the man .
Looks like it's a knight .
However . . . I've never seen his uniform and unit badge before .
Knights wear slightly different uniforms and badges depending on the unit they belong to .
Like say, you could tell which unit a knight belongs to by whether or not they're wearing a full plate armor, and their badge .
But Alma is right, the man's face looks familiar .
I can't recall his name, but he's probably someone affiliated with the royal capital's knights .