The strongest sage of disqualified crest

Chapter 165 Strongest Sage, Sees Through the Ploy

I position myself relative to the demon while readying my sword.
Positions are important for the success of this plan.

Right when our positions are such that the trap is straight ahead of me, I run forward.
And then...

『Now!』

The moment I stepped on the installed trap.
I gave Ruli the order through the Dragon Vein on my feet.

There's not enough time to wait for her reply, but I'm sure it will go well with Ruli.

『Quickly--』

And the moment the other demon contacted this demon.
The surrounding mana fell into disorder, cutting off the transmission.
--It's the best timing.

『Eh, what just!?』

The demon is bewildered that he couldn't catch the order.
Outwardly, he looks ready with his sword pointed at me, but it's obvious that he can't focus on the combat.
This demon probably never expected that their communication magic would be jammed.

I'll use all the attacks I can use on this huge opportunity.

『Magic Debuff』, 『Barrier Breaker』, 『Anti-explosive Reinforcement』――
I augment three magic on the sword and swing it toward the demon.

And here's the important part.
There would have been no need to create an opening if it were just for one blow.

Right before the sword hit--I deployed a small attack magic on my left hand and shot it at the demon.
And then an explosion that's too big for the magic I shot occurred at the place the magic hit.

"Wha..."

The demon sounded shocked.

That's right. This explosion is the ploy to block my sword.

--Explosive Reactive Magic Barrier.
This barrier will create an explosion at the place my sword hit it to push it away.

Because blowing the sword away is the same as blocking the magic augmented on it.
However--there's no way this large of an explosion can be triggered in succession without a time lag.
Once it blocked an attack, it should need at least half a second for the second explosion to trigger.

That's why I purposely triggered an explosion right before the true attack, the sword, hit it along with the augmented magic.

And the sword hit the demon--
The barrier that wrapped the demon's body broke with a glass-like breaking sound.

"You monster!"

The demon who noticed the barrier's destruction activates the trap magic on my feet in a hurry.
My attack this time was for breaking the barrier, thus the demon could still move freely even after getting hit.
However--

"...Why doesn't it activate?"

The demon activated the trap.
Ruli used the 『14th』 magic, nullifying the activation.

"Activate? What are talking about?"

I swing down the magically augmented sword at the demon as I said that.
This time it's a genuine attack stressing on firepower.
I didn't have much time to prepare so it's not powerful enough to defeat a demon of this class in one hit, however--.

"Gu-GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

However, it's enough to cut off the demon's wings, preventing it from flying.
Now the enemy can't run.
This demon will have to die here.

『Oy, what's happening!』

『I don't know, the comm suddenly got cut off--my barrier has been broken! He got my wings too, I can't fly anymore!』

『...Do not panic! Go with plan B!』

The comm magic was restored and the demon received a new order.
It appears that these demons have prepared a second plan.
--However, they don't have anymore chance to win now that the barrier has been destroyed.

Next, I just need to have them show their cards and beat them.