A few minutes after Sybil started fighting Marchosias.
“Huff, huff, huff…! How’s it going, Marco…!”
Sybil was gasping for breath.
The simultaneous operation of Mana and Aura. This inherently dangerous method was literally a technique only allowed for Sybil. However, even for Sybil, it wasn't without its burden.
Aside from the simple problem of consuming more than twice the amount of Mana she had, Sybil herself knew she was overheating.
It was similar to overclocking. Of course, the fact that overclocking was the only technique that didn't leave other humans as complete wrecks was amazing in itself.
Meanwhile, Marchosias, also known as Marco, whom Sybil was facing, was…
“……Huhu. As expected, you're amazing.”
Marco once again made a complacent and arrogant remark towards Sybil.
“Hey! Even a skeleton would be dead by now!”
Sybil looked down at Marco as if she were disgusted.
It was impossible for Marco to block Sybil's attacks.
The blade ignored the opponent's Aura and reached their body directly. Even for a devil, it was impossible to block both Aura and magic with their physical body.
And if he tried to dodge, he was slower than Sybil's ‘White’.
In other words, Sybil wasn't just superior here, her victory was already decided.
Except for Marco's regeneration ability.
‘What the hell is this?’
She tried burning him with fire and electrocuting him with lightning. Not to mention, she had dismembered his entire body in various ways.
Yet, Marco was still alive. Although he was now just a head.
His regeneration speed was quite fast, but Sybil's strikes were much faster, so she already had an absolute advantage.
Until all of her Mana was depleted.
‘Did the devil Marchosias have a regeneration ability?’
Sybil didn't know much about the devil Marchosias. She had only briefly looked into him while researching devils similar to her own characteristics. In her memories, Marchosias had nothing to do with regeneration abilities.
Sybil was currently using both magic and Aura simultaneously. In other words, the enemy was being hit by both magic and Aura at the same time. At this point, even the most unique monsters would reveal their weaknesses.
There were many monsters with regeneration abilities, but most of them weren't perfect.
They couldn't regenerate if burned by fire, or they could be defeated by destroying the core that regenerated them, or if they were undead, they could be dealt with by borrowing the power of divine power.
Sybil couldn't use divine power, so excluding that, she had already tried everything she could.
At this point, Marco's regeneration ability could be considered close to immortality.
‘Is his core hidden somewhere else like a Lich?’
The core of a Lich, also known as a Life Vessel. Liches, who possessed the characteristic of immortality until their core was destroyed, hid their core somewhere safe.
However, that was literally something only a Lich could do. A Lich was a being that had even placed their own body into their magical object.
The body wasn't the main body, but the Life Vessel was, and the body was merely being controlled by the Life Vessel. Naturally, it wasn't something a devil could imitate.
‘Besides, if it's that kind of regeneration, why would he bother ‘dodging’? He could just ignore any attack.’
The reason Sybil currently had the upper hand was largely due to Marco trying to avoid her attacks.
Monsters with regeneration abilities usually utilized their regeneration abilities. They would make reckless charges, deliberately get hit by the opponent's weapon to bind them, or even throw their own limbs around like crazy.
But Marco was different. If he had completely ignored her attacks, Sybil could have been in danger. Since he couldn't avoid lightning, if he got hit, it would be Marco's turn for a moment anyway.
However, Marco tried to dodge, and this was the result. Although Sybil's Mana continued to deplete, it was by no means a good situation for Marco.
Marco wasn't utilizing his regeneration ability. An ability that was as close to perfect as it could be.
‘……Did he obtain the regeneration ability recently?’
While Sybil was making her own assumptions…
“This is really… I have no choice but to escape.”
Marco sighed. It was unclear where a guy with only a head had a place to breathe and do such a thing.
“Who said I'd let you escape?”
“Don't push yourself. You won't have much Mana left either. But I wasn't originally after you, and I need to get away before other reinforcements arrive. We're both pressed for time.”
Marco originally intended to capture Aten.
Since Sybil had arrived and Aten had escaped, at this point, Marco had already failed his mission.
Sybil tightened her grip on the rapier.
‘……He's right. At this rate, all my Mana will be depleted. Then I'll be the one in danger.’
Aten had moved at a speed that Sybil couldn't follow with her eyes. Sybil could somewhat cope, but without Mana, she wouldn't last long either.
But she couldn't just let him go . Right now, Sybil had the absolute advantage, and if she could just buy a little more time, reinforcements would surely arrive. Elodie or Osprey might be able to come up with a solution to deal with this guy.
Just as Sybil's worries deepened, Marco suddenly breathed fire from his mouth. While Sybil stepped back in surprise, Marco's flames swept across the area in front of him.
Sybil raised her empty hand and chanted a spell. Of course, she could imbue her sword with magic, but that wasn't appropriate in this situation.
After becoming able to use Aura and magic simultaneously, Sybil had invested a little more time in magic.
She had shown glimpses of her talent for it since she learned magic from Aten at Tyburn.
Thanks to that, Sybil now had to invest more than twice the amount of time in studying compared to ordinary students. Swordsmanship and magic, she couldn't abandon either.
A gust of wind blew from Sybil's hand, sweeping away the flames in front of her. It wasn't easy to extinguish the flames, but Marco hadn't breathed fire in perfect condition either.
After Sybil had extinguished all the flames…
“Hmm, it seems I couldn't fully recover. Your judgment is quick, Sybil Forte.”
In the meantime, Marco, who had regenerated his body to some extent, stood before her. However, he was missing one arm and one leg. Of course, those were currently regenerating as well.
“Sybil, I have one question.”