Episode 16

The countless swords conjured by Leon were hurled towards the demon, marking the onset of the massive assault.

Yet before the blades could collide with him, the demon employed its tentacles to encase itself in a dome, shielding from the swords' impact.

"Think that will stop my swords?"

Leon didn't pause, continuing to dispatch swords that relentlessly pounded the dome, generating shockwaves that whipped up dust in every direction.

The swords clashed one after another, but despite their persistence, they weren't enough. Tragically, behind Eliza, the demon materialized, launching an attack she narrowly dodged, retreating swiftly.

Watching this, Leon ceased the assault, and as the dust settled, the demon's dome revealed itself untouched.

"What?!!"

Eliza and Leon couldn't believe their eyes; after such a fierce attack, the dome stood unscathed, and worse yet, the demon had appeared behind them.

"Kukuku, truly naive. Did you honestly believe such meager powers could defeat me, a grand duke?"

As the dome vanished, it revealed the unharmed demon, stunning the duo.

"Clones!!"

Eliza, shocked upon seeing not just the demon behind her but now surrounded by a dozen more of its duplicates.

No time for astonishment, Eliza instantly grabbed her weapon, dashed towards one of the demons, and decapitated it with a single shot, the clone disintegrating instantly. Without hesitation, she continued her ruthless assault on the clones, desperate to annihilate them as quickly as possible.

Leon too sprung into action, wielding his sword, wrapped in a blue aura, swiftly vanquishing the clones before they could mount an offense.

The clones kept coming, but soon proved futile as Eliza and Leon destroyed them effortlessly.

And with intentions to bring everything to an end, they directed their ultimate attack at the demon, resuming face-to-face combat.

"Eliza, enshroud your bullets in aura, it'll make the strikes far stronger and prevent its wounds from healing!"

"And you're telling me this now?!"

Eliza glared at Leon and taking his advice, focused, her bullets getting cloaked in the blue aura.

Yet the demon, sensing danger, instinctively retreated, deflecting all the bullets with its block.

"Give me a shot!"

Eliza cried out to Leon, who immediately got the hint, stepping forward to engage the demon blade-to-blade while it countered and lashed out with claws and tentacles.

Eliza stepped back, her pistols disappearing only to summon her double-barreled rifle anew.

"Let's see... just as The Little Prince with his swords... I'll control the path of my bullets..."

Eliza sighed deeply, concentrating with closed eyes, her rifle now swathed in the blue aura.

Upon opening her eyes, which shone brightly, Eliza hoisted her rifle aloft and repeatedly pulled the trigger. The bullets however, hovered midair, amassing one after another, fulfilling her strategic intent.

The demon, acting on instinct, knew allowing Eliza to complete her act was dangerous, so it broke away from Leon, aiming for Eliza, but at that moment, Leon intercepted the tendrils with a massive sword barrier in front of her for protection.

"Your opponent is me, you filth!"

Leon swung his sword at the demon, hindering it from approaching Eliza, as more bullets gathered in the air above.

"It's impressive..."

Leon couldn't help but be in awe; Eliza had just awakened as a witch yet had such mastery over her power, she might even be stronger than him at this moment.

The bullets continued to accumulate above Eliza, resembling thousands of stars floating in the air, wrapped in the blue aura.

Without stopping for a second, after five minutes, Eliza had compiled more than 10,000 aura-enshrouded bullets.

"Alright!! Hey Little Prince, you'd better step aside!"

Leon grinned and retreated towards Eliza.

"Show me what you've got..."

"It will be a pleasure..."

With that, Eliza raised her left hand high only to swiftly lower it, pointing at the demon.

And suddenly, like shooting stars, the bullets fired simultaneously towards the demon which again sought refuge in its darkness dome, but this time the result was different. The bullets hammered the dome aggressively and it quickly shattered, allowing the projectiles to pierce through and descend upon the demon in a colossal explosion.

"Hahaha, now that's what I call a massive attack!"

Eliza beamed with excitement, her hair fluttering in the breeze kicked up by the powerful shockwaves from the blast.

Leon watched in wonder, never imagining that once again he would witness an attack of such magnitude from someone other than his father.

When the dust settled, nothing remained but a vast crater.

Suddenly, the demon reappeared behind Eliza, lunging with clawed strike, but Leon swiftly acted, slicing the creature in two, turning it to ashes.

"A clone? Where's the real one? Did it flee... no, don't tell me!!!"

A chill ran down Eliza's spine as a dreaded name crossed her mind.

"Christopher!!"

Eliza immediately dashed off, with Leon following her intuition, both returning to where they had left the children, only to be met with a gruesome sight that left them aghast – Eliza even more so at the sight before her.

As Christopher's chest was impaled by the demon's hand, appearing severely wounded, the other children lay on the ground, skewered by tendrils of darkness that siphoned their life essence.

"C-Cristopher...?"

Eliza's heart seemed to stop as she stood frozen in horror, unable to react...

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