The Bandit Leader retrieved another ordinary-sized silver axe from his [Item Box] and held it in his left hand. He then attacked with the two axes in hand. First, he used the smaller axe for precise slashes, followed by incorporating heavy strikes with the larger one, sending them toward the two of them.
Since there was no reason to engage these attacks head-on, Ai skillfully dodged them while carrying Tatsuro using [Air Walk].
During this time, Tatsuro left all the dodging to Ai and focused on creating a new spell, even though he was uncertain about his ability to perform unfamiliar magic. Somehow, he managed to complete it.
"What!…. Gah!?" (Bandit Leader)
It was a combination of water and light magic, similar to something like a highly compressed water release, akin to a "Water Cutter." Tatsuro created five of them simultaneously and directed them towards the man in front of him.
With extraordinary physical abilities, the man managed to evade three of them, but the remaining two pierced through his right forearm and left calf, leaving small holes.
"Is this water magic…? You can do that too?" (Bandit Leader)
"Just surrender already. I still have several means at my disposal, and you can't win against me." (Tatsuro)
"Can you be so sure about that? Ah!" (Bandit Leader)
"What's going on?!" (Tatsuro)
Suddenly, the man bent his body into a ‘k' shape and yelled towards the ground. Ai and Tatsuro watched in disbelief as the blood flowing from his right forearm and left calf stopped, and the wounds began to heal.
When the man raised his head, two fangs had extended both upward and downward from his mouth, and a single white horn had grown from his forehead.
"Weren't you a human?" (Ai)
"Well, to be precise, I'm a half-breed, a mix of human and demon." (Bandit Leader)
"So, you mean there are demons…" (Ai)
"Well, yeah, there are. It might be rare in these parts, though." (Bandit Leader)
In response to Ai's words, the man's arm muscles bulged as he swung both axes down.
"Ryaaaah! …Still not enough? Are you two really just regular humans?" (Bandit Leader)
"Well, who knows? We might be an extraordinary kind." (Ai)
"Good, that makes it more interesting!" (Bandit Leader)
"He seems like a battle maniac, doesn't he?" (Tatsuro)
Recognizing that Ai's barrier was impenetrable to long-range Energy slash attacks, the man, who had temporarily boosted his physical abilities through partial demon transformation, tried to handle the situation with his speed. However, Tatsuro's magic interfered with his plan.
Tatsuro released a large volume of water around the man and manipulated it to submerge him.
Despite the decreased speed due to the water's resistance, the man managed to strike the ground with both axes, creating a shockwave to propel himself out of the water. But in that instant, he encountered the tip of Ai's whip, with a weight shaped like a triangular cone, which struck and snapped the horn.
"Gaaahhhhh!" (Bandit Leader)
"I guess it really wasn't a good idea to break that thing." (Tatsuro)
"Why would you increase your own vulnerabilities? Seriously." (Ai)
While they bantered about, the two of them had heightened their physical abilities to the point where avoiding the broken horn should have been a simple matter. It was just the peculiarity of their teamwork that made it seem strange.
Unaware of this fact, Tatsuro and Ai gazed at the man, who was groaning in pain on the ground.
"Hah, haa… haa… I never expected to be humiliated …" (Bandit Leader)
"That's what we've been saying. It's futile no matter what you try." (Tatsuro)
"Yeah, if you just behave, it won't hurt any more than this." (Ai)
"Hah, you guys are naive." (Bandit Leader) Read complete version only at novęlfire.net
As he spoke, the man wobbled to his feet. Suspicious of what he might do next, considering his lack of dignity in defeat, Ai and Tatsuro watched him closely. Suddenly, the man's body began to change color, turning completely white.
"His complexion is not just pale; he's turned completely white!" (Ai)
"I don't fully understand it, but make sure you can move quickly!" (Tatsuro)
Since they couldn't predict his actions, Tatsuro decided to pin him down before he could do anything. He wanted to keep earth and wind magic hidden, as he didn't want the information to be revealed when they captured and interrogated him.
So, if he was already suspected, he decided to use all his elemental magic at once. First, he altered water with dark magic, making it even more viscous to the point where an ordinary person couldn't move it with a single finger. However, this bandit leader was no ordinary person, so Tatsuro used fire magic to raise the temperature of the water.
He directed the altered water toward the whitened man. The water's temperature reached 100 degrees, and within the highly viscous water, escape was impossible.
Fortunately, the parts of the armor that had fire magic protection were unaffected by the temperature, as Tatsuro had expected. However, the water penetrated every crevice in the armor and heated it from the inside. It seemed that the magical heat affected the entire body when wearing the armor, and there was no damage due to the water temperature.
"It seems that fire magic doesn't work overall." (Tatsuro)
"But the sticky water might help." (Ai)
"…No, it doesn't look like it. He's coming!" (Tatsuro)
"He's so persistent!" (Ai)
Just when they thought the man's body was swelling, his height remained the same, but his muscles bulged, increasing his volume by about twice, and his horns had regrown. Even his equipment, including his armor and cape, had grown to fit his enlarged form.
Afterward, the man moved as if there were no sticky water and launched energy slashes with the two axes in his hands. Ai dodged them for Tatsuro, but in the meantime, the man approached with surprising speed despite his massive size.
"Gaaaaah!" (Bandit Leader)
Ai used a single-handed control of her gem sword to parry the swings of the man's axes. While doing so, she put her whip into the [Item Box] and retrieved a pair of axes from three minotaur-like creatures, switching to close-quarters combat.
"Gaaaah!" (Bandit Leader)
"He's become like a real demon; he might be quite powerful now." (Ai)
"He can't stop moving, and he can heal minor injuries… There's no other choice. I didn't want to use it against a human, but…" (Tatsuro)
With the conflict between not wanting to reveal it to others and the ethical concerns, Tatsuro activated [Level Eater] which he had refrained from using so far.
{Ai, can you stop his movements even for a moment?} (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro sent a telepathic message to Ai, to apply the black sphere, invisible to others. And she complied, channeling her Ki energy into her gem sword before slashing the smaller of the two axes the bandit leader wielded.
The larger axe was deflected by Ai's own large axe, and as the man recoiled, she kicked him.
"Goha!" (Bandit Leader)
At the same time as Ai's signal, he blew the black sphere toward the man, allowing it to enter him. As a result, information about the man entered his mind.
Skills: [Human-Demon Transformation], [Demon-Human Transformation]
[Axe Arts Lv.12], [Unarmed Combat Lv.4], [Focus Lv.5], [Frenzy Lv.2]
[Body Strengthening Lv.7], [Ki Regeneration Lv.5].
(TL.Notes: Yes it is not a mistake, I translated it just as it is from the raw. There are two types of transformation skills. The author is to be questioned for that, I suspect that one is in charge of partial transformation and the other is in charge of the complete transformation)
(N-No, there are skills without levels. It can't be helped. If it wasn't for these, He might not have had a chance.) He thought.
Tatsuro started by reducing the level of [Axe Arts]. The man's movements visibly slowed down, and he could no longer release energy slashes that he had mixed with regular attacks.
Confirming the effects had significantly weakened the man, Tatsuro continued to lower the levels of the other skills as well.
Skills: [Human-Demon Transformation], [Demon-Human Transformation]
[Axe Arts Lv.0], [Unarmed Combat Lv.0], [Focus Lv.5], [Frenzy Lv.0]
[Body Strengthening Lv.7], [Ki Regeneration Lv.5].
In this way, not knowing how it would affect a human opponent, Tatsuro extracted only the essential aspects and swallowed the black sphere.
"Gah?… What is this? What have you done to me?" (Bandit Leader)
When [Frenzy] wore off, and his calm judgment returned, the man noticed the abnormality in his body. He deactivated [Demon-Human Transformation] and his body shrank like a deflating balloon.
"What is this? We may not fully understand, but you're back to your original state. Does this mean you're giving up?" (Tatsuro)
"Give up? What are you talking about? Even if you manage to capture me here, it's futile. The town mayor will pull some strings, and I'll be out again." (Bandit Leader)
"To prevent that from happening. Why don't we take you somewhere else and let others know that neither the town mayor nor the lord's son are good people?" (Tatsuro)
"You guys have the wrong assumption from the beginning. In that town, it's impossible to meet the feudal lord without the town mayor knowing about it. Even if you were to show me to someone other than the lord, the mayor's connections would ultimately prevail. If you claim there's a direct way to meet the lord, that's a different story." (Bandit Leader)
Tatsuro and Ai thought that's why the man was so confident, convinced that such a direct route didn't exist.
"Don't worry, we do have a way." (Tatsuro)
"Oh? What kind of way? I hope it's not that merchant you ran into on the way to Lyadas, Gillian Mac Dermott." (Bandit Leader)
"Well, well, I seem to be on the mark. Too bad for you. We met that merchant on the route you guys took, and we negotiated a bit. Right now, he's staying at our place." (Bandit Leader)
"By your words, it doesn't sound like you intend to kill him. Are you trying to stop us using a hostage?" (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro answered with determination, prepared to cut their losses if necessary. However, the man's disgusting smile persisted.
"No, I didn't think of that. But without him, do you think you can meet the lord?" (Bandit Leader)
"Through Lyadas' Adventurers Guild…" (Tatsuro)
"Oh, that's right. The head of that Adventurers Guild is an old friend of the town mayor, isn't he? Will you be able to establish a connection with the lord?" (Bandit Leader)
Certainly, they remembered him conversing amiably with the town mayor. It was not an entirely impossible scenario.
"If not there, then we can try other towns…" (Ai)
"Go ahead and try." (Bandit Leader)
They hoped that Tofas and Mimiris were hopeless cases, but in Obsul, they had Leela. She might be able to help, and they were hopeful. However, the man's confident laughter made them wonder if there was more to it than met the eye.
"What should we do?" (Ai)
The easiest and safest path right now would be to completely disregard everything and focus on Tatsuro and Ai returning to Japan. However, that would bring more misfortune upon Obsul. They wanted to avoid that if possible.
So, what could they do?
At that moment, the worst possible choice crossed their minds.