“That is as far as you go!” A silvery voice can be heard from afar.

 

“Crap, that voice is... Rick, hurry up and finish him, quickly!” Magnus shouts at Rick.

 

Rick jumps and swings his sword to sever the head of the black bear chief that is barely standing.

 

“Didn't I tell you to stop?”

 

A wall of ice emerges between the two and stops Rick's blow. Considering how much of the attack she was able to stop, it is clear that the water magic that blocked his attack was powerful.

 

“Who are you?” Rick turns to check the identity of the intruder.

 

A large majestic shape emerges from the trees. Walking on four paws, her entire body was covered in glossy orange fur, nine beautiful tails flutter in the air behind her.

 

“Nine-tailed fox... Sionna.” Rick mutters.

 

'So she came here by herself.'

 

She had always overworked herself whenever I checked on her. I had peeked at the documents she was looking at, and her stress seemed to be related to the beastmen. She must have been notified about this invasion through the reports she received.

 

But to be able to create a wall of ice of such rigidity from that distance… her water magic doesn't betray my expectations.

 

While approaching, Sionna looks at the bears engulfed in flames. With just a single glance, the burning area freezes instantly and encases the bears each in a block of ice.

 

At the place where the bear chief was, there is now a giant ice block matching his size, showing that her intention has been to freeze all the bears. Since most of them were still barely living, she must have done this to preserve their lives.

 

“No way...” One of the fire mages mutters.

 

“The combination of our magic must have made it even stronger!”

 

“Hey, you aren't supposed to say that.” The fire mage besides the one who just exclaimed whispers to him.

 

Yep, too late. I heard it.

 

“The bears... ignore the bears! Inferno division, aim for the fox! Fire!” Magnus cries desperately.

 

The fire mages gather their mana and cast their magic. Their target being a single entity, the output will be even further enhanced.

 

However, nothing happened. Sionna simply balanced out the heat with her water magic, and this is the result.

 

“No way...” A fire mage mutters.

 

“Change the magic formulation! She is able to counter our tactic!”

 

Well, even if they did, they won’t be able to do anything to her. Her raw output is simply too great for them. They would need hundreds of those fire mages to be able to match her. And the result is as expected.

 

“The compatibility is bad! Skirmishers, charge!” Magnus yells once more while raising his claws.

 

With Sionna already having reached the vicinity, the thirty other beastmen soon surround her, and charge forward.

 

Because of her size, a dozen of them are able to attack at once, and it would be dangerous to take that attack head on because of her low physical abilities.

“Tidal wave.” As Sionna's voice resounds, a large amount of water appears around her and sweep the beastmen away, as well as the bears imprisoned in ice. The only ones able to withstand the pressure are Rick and Magnus standing at a distance.

 

Water magic is known for its balance, being above average in all aspects. This particular spell that combines both defense and offense is proof of that. But for her to say out loud the name of the magic like that, it’s as expected of Rina's mother.

 

Witnessing her spell, I can somewhat understand why the Tail Foxes don't train themselves physically. Their all-round magic is able to compensate for whatever weakness they might have.

 

“Sionna...” Magnus grits his teeth.

 

“Heh, isn't this interesting?” Rick exclaims.

 

“Let's see if you can also defend against this one!” He runs towards her.

 

However, he suddenly stops and tumbles backward, and a spear of ice appears from the ground below him. He tumbles three more times, and each time another spear of ice appears where he used to be.

 

“Shay, why have you come here?” Sionna doesn't even glance at Rick. Instead, her form starts changing. Her shape changes to that of a humanoid, and her size decreases. In the end, what is standing there is a beautiful woman with long and glossy orange hair. It is the appearance she had when I saw her in the Tail Fox village. The only difference is her clothes, which is a tight-fitting dress that reaches her knees. Since it looks easy to move in, it must be her battle attire.

 

“Don't call me by that name! I am Magnus the third general of Expergis! And did you ask me why I have come here?” He chuckles.

 

“It's obviously to exterminate you monsters!” Magnus exclaims and prepares to charge towards her.

 

“Calm down, general Magnus. She isn't an enemy you can take on alone.” Rick gestures him to stop.

 

“Are you telling me to run away?” Magnus yells.

 

“That's not it.” Rick looks at Magnus and upon meeting his eyes, they seem to reach some kind of agreement.

 

“Hey, aren't you an interesting one? I'm sure you will be able to give me a satisfying fight. That bear was too weak, after all.” Rick turns to Sionna with a fearless smile.

 

How is he able to say that? He must have seen the extent of her power. Is he a fool to not be able to understand it? However, I then notice his hands, they are somewhat trembling.

 

I would have ran away in that situation. How is he able to stand and fight? His recklessness is something I don't understand. That bravery is something I long for.

 

“Young human, I am still willing to forgive you if you resign and run away now. How about it? Just take that boy over there and run, and all this would have ended without spilling anyone’s blood.” Sionna looks at Rick for the first time as she speaks.

 

“You deceptive demon! Are you trying to fool us once again?” Magnus barks.

 

“Hold on, I will go first.” Rick whispers.

 

“There is no need to talk any longer. Here I come!” With that, Rick charges towards Sionna.

 

Spears of ice appear from the ground to pierce Rick as if they won't allow him to approach any further. However, he steps sideways as he charges to avoid them.

 

“Same trick won't work twice!” Rick calls out as he swings his greatsword towards her.

 

A block of ice appears to meet the blow. Surprisingly enough, with a loud sound of metal resonating throughout the air, it successfully blocks the blow.

 

Rick continuously swings his sword. As if to represent his vast amount of combat experience, his sword creates a beautiful trajectory. Each one of his attacks would be fatal if it connected, especially because Sionna is in her human form where her physical strength is decreased.

 

However, that doesn't happen. Each and every one of his blows is perfectly blocked by chunks of ice that appear without fail.

 

'The confidence...'

 

Sionna didn't transform in her human form for nothing. She did it because she knows well enough that those attacks won't reach her anyways. I try to think of how one can get through that defense of hers that looks like an impenetrable fortress.

 

More power? Or more speed?

 

I don't think those would do.

 

It would be possible to simply overwhelm with power, but that wouldn't be elegant, nor possible at my current state.

 

How does that defense of her work anyways? If she is creating those as she sees the attacks, it should be possible to perform an attack from outside her perception, either by performing an assassination, or tricking her senses.

 

However, if it was an automatic defensive magic, then that wouldn't be possible.

 

As to respond to my question, Magnus, who has been silently observing the battle, closes in to her from behind.

 

With his claws engulfed in blue flames, he slashes towards her.

 

A loud crash can be heard as the ice appears without fail and meets the claws.

 

At the same time, Rick prepares himself for the next move, and gives a horizontal cut pouring in all his power. When I expected that to have the same result, I sense the mana flowing from Rick.

 

Sionna doesn't notice it. He must have used a directional concealment to deceive her.

 

Right before the blow connects, the ground below her erupts, and she loses her balance. As she is about to fall, Rick's slash connects to cut her body in half.

 

The ice that appeared to fend off the blow is now nowhere near where it should be. That move dislocated her defense so he can penetrate through.

 

When everyone expected her body to be separated into two, an unexpected happened.

 

The greatsword goes through her without fail. Without any resistance, and that is the problem.

 

Her body is completely intact. Realizing that, Rick jumps back.

 

“Just how...” Rick murmurs.

 

“Do you understand now? There is no way you can win.” Sionna announces as she regains her balance.

 

Fending off Magnus's claws, she continues.

 

“Now boy, won't you stop this and retreat to your home? I can still forgive you since you have done no harm.” Sionna calmly tries to convince him.

 

However, that has an opposite effect.

 

The flame on Magnus's eyes get lit once again.

 

“There is no way that I will!” Magnus exclaims.

 

“Wait, Magnus! We need to strategize!” Rick tries to stop him, but to no avail.

 

“The strategy is to kill the one in front of our eyes right now!” As Magnus shouts once again, Rick lets out a heavy sigh and joins in the battle.

 

“Enough.” Sionna declares.

 

With that one simple word, a tremendous amount of mana flows out of her.

 

“Watch out!” Rick cries.

 

However, it was too late to do so. With the temperature dropping drastically, everything stopped moving.

---

Since I always keep a distance when I observe, I didn't get caught in the crossfire, but if I was closer it could have been dangerous. Well, it also appears that she didn't want to kill the werewolves that got swept away earlier, so she limited the reach of her magic to her immediate surroundings.

 

Rick and Magnus who couldn't move anymore, fall on the ground as the spell ends.

 

It has to be the ultimate water magic that freezes everything, Absolute Zero.

 

However, the fact that they are still alive is the proof of Sionna's extraordinary control.

 

'So this is what happens when such a high level demon is specialized in intelligence.'

 

I knew that her abilities would be outrageous. The abilities increase exponentially as one's stat grows, and since she has most of her stats in intelligence, her magical power must be unrivaled. On top of that, she is of the Fox Tail tribe, famous for their powerful magic. Seeing how even Rina is pretty skilled in magic at a low level, Sionna’s level of water magic is obviously high.

 

Even though I knew that she would be powerful, seeing it with my own eyes have a different feeling.

 

However, that is not what I am the most worried about right now.

 

'Why is she keeping them alive?'

 

Now that I think about it, she has been trying to get them to run away.

 

In fact, she didn't kill any of the beastmen. Even though they showed a clear hostility and announced their intentions to kill her.

 

This world’s rule is survival of the fittest. And that means one needs to be ready to kill others in order to get stronger.

 

Because you gain levels as you kill, there is no other way, or at least that is what I believe.

 

It returns me to the question I had before.

 

Is this because they are born strong?

 

Looking at Rina, I wondered about this. How can they be so careless and forgiving?

 

I don't understand it. No, I can't understand it.

 

It would call into question everything I have believed in so far.

Magnus opens his eyes. Even though he can't move his body, his eyes are still expressing a strong emotion.

 

What is that emotion? I recognize it.

 

How can I not recognize it? It is such a powerful feeling that I can never forget about.

 

The wrath. The hatred toward the opponent he wants to take revenge on. The hatred to himself who is unable to do so.

 

That's right. I had those feelings once and also saw it multiple times on others.

 

I don't know what happened between him and Sionna, and nor do I care to know about it.

 

The only thing that matters is that he is unable to do anything, and Sionna is willing to let him live.