The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

Crack—!

The Blood Wall failed to block Xiu Er's attack, but its delaying purpose had already been achieved.

Dracole had already raised his shield before him.

The blade of Gokurokugai slammed into the opponent's shield, its momentum carrying them both backward into the sky above.

As this demon flew, countless Spears of Blood, each a meter long, coalesced around him once more. Under his control, they all shot toward Xiu Er.

This blood—all of it had been accumulated by Dracole while slaughtering the townsfolk of this settlement—enough for him to squander for a long time.

Countless blood spears rained down upon Xiu Er below, all striking her position and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Within the smoke, Xiu Er simply deployed her defensive armament, [No Passage], and effortlessly blocked the entire barrage.

Flying in the air, Dracole used Flight Magic to steady himself.

He gazed silently below, then ceased the formation of spears.

But before the smoke could clear, several golden sword beams shot out from the mist, flying toward Dracole.

The latter kept moving through the air, dodging the incoming beams.

Then, a flash of golden light burst out from the side of the smoke.

It traced a straight line of Golden Energy across the ground, then arced perfectly into the sky. After a brief pause high above, it plummeted like a meteor toward Dracole below.

And during its descent, the energy trail behind it shifted into a beautiful crimson gold, like the tail of a shooting star.

Faster!?

At this moment, even Dracole could no longer track Xiu Er's speed. At this velocity, he was certain he couldn't dodge in time.

All he could do was rely on his battle instincts, raising his shield to block in that direction.

Along with it, he used all the blood he had collected so far to further reinforce his defenses, solely to withstand this attack.

But this time, things far exceeded his imagination.

The greatsword in Xiu Er's hand had vanished, replaced by a massive Crimson Gold Great Axe wreathed in roaring flames.

With its kinetic force, the axe's blade easily sliced through the barrier made entirely of blood, cleaved the shield in two, and finally slammed into Dracole's chest.

"Wha—?!"

[Pseudo-Codex: Great Flame of Destruction]

The [Gokurokugai] she had used earlier was swapped out by Xiu Er for this axe with greater destructive power. Against this demon, she didn't need to resort to Gokurokugai's final sword.

The great axe in Xiu Er's hand cut through every defense, ultimately lodging itself into Dracole's breastplate, carrying his body along as they both crashed toward the ground.

The impact point was the center of the town.

Boom, boom, boom—!!!

The earth split from the shock, triggering an earthquake. All buildings in the surrounding area collapsed entirely.

The ground at the epicenter was covered in dense, spiderweb-like cracks, eventually spreading far into the distance.

What's happening to me...?

His consciousness flickered out for a few seconds.

When Dracole came to, he found himself lying in a massive crater.

The Blood Armor that had protected him was now covered in cracks, eventually dissolving into blood that flowed around his body.

Only then did he realize.

He had been... no, that was definitely not a human girl. He didn't know what it was, but it was certainly not a creature like a human.

The pain wracking his entire body snapped him back to awareness.

In his vision, a blazing Crimson Gold Great Axe was firmly lodged in his chest. His heart had been destroyed.

The immense impact had left no part of his body intact.

That he could still regain consciousness was already the limit of a demon's powerful physique.

Flames like Judgment Fire began to spread across his body.

He looked at Xiu Er, who was gripping the axe handle with an icy expression, and at the halo above her head.

Could this be... what those humans called an Apostle of the Goddess...?

To that, Dracole would never know the answer.

He saw that she was clearly not using her full strength, while he was already fatally wounded.

The flames blazed fiercely upon him, ravaging everything inside his body through the wound carved by the axe.

So that's it... Is this why Leslie and the others were completely wiped out?

This creature is truly powerful...

As the corpse of this Great Demon dissipated, the battle finally came to an end.

Calculating the [Magic] he had harvested, Xiu Er sat in the crater he had created himself.

By now, the demons that had attacked the town had all been killed by him. At least, this could be considered revenge for the residents of this city, right?

Splash---

The sky suddenly clouded over, and within just a few seconds, a torrential downpour began.

[Pseudo-Codex: Rigel]

Xiu Er used Yoshino's ability—the power to control water and cold.

He made it rain in this area, extinguishing the flames still burning in the town.

Gazing at the ruins all around, Xiu Er didn't dwell on it much.

However, there was one thing that bothered him now.

That was what the Detector showed.

Up to this moment, there was still one life sign in this city...

Chapter 10: Picking Up a Kid, Folks

Blood Knight Dracole paid a heavy price for his arrogance.

The method of coating his body in a layer of armor using blood was originally meant to improve his survivability when facing warriors.

But while delving into magic, he also practiced warrior techniques.

Unfortunately, when facing Xiu Er, his usual arrogance meant he didn't even get the chance to use other applications of Blood Magic before being killed on the spot.

Among those, defensive uses—like conjuring armor—were common and just barely adequate, with low inherent strength.

The offensive methods, however, were each stronger than the last.

Dracole originally believed this level of defense was enough to handle most situations.

But what he never expected was that Xiu Er's attack could pierce through all his defenses in one blow.

This once-proud Great Demon, along with his servants, was all buried in this city.

The heavy rain continued until all the flames in the city were extinguished.

Rainwater washed the blood from the streets, and collapsed ruins lay everywhere.

Walking toward the direction indicated by the Detector, Xiu Er passed by corpse after corpse and ruin after ruin.

Finally, he arrived before a building that looked like a church. The entrance was destroyed, the main door blocked by fallen bricks.

And the life sign was coming from beneath this building.

Someone still alive?

Though Xiu Er wouldn't go out of his way to save people, if he happened to pass by and encounter them, he would still lend a hand.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Levitation]-"

This was the result of Xiu Er's analysis of the Flight Magic that almost every demon Magic User had used in his previous battles with them.

Because the data was abundant, he understood the specifics of this demon magic and was able to fully utilize it.

Now, he was casting [Levitation Magic] on the debris inside the half-collapsed church before him.

Bricks and fragments all rose into the air, revealing everything buried beneath.

A dried-up human corpse was crushed under the rubble, and the scan showed it was a male. His clothing indicated he was a monk of the church.

Xiu Er scanned the interior of the church, focusing mainly on the floor, because the signal showed that the life source was exactly underground.

Soon, Xiu Er discovered a door panel that seemed to be the entrance to a basement, but it was hidden beneath the base of a statue.

One look and he knew it was a Mechanism Door.

Wrapped around it was a power Xiu Er had never seen before—it wasn't demon magic, nor was it mana.

Could it be another kind of magic in this world?

Xiu Er knew that in this world, besides magic, there was another power system.

That was the [Goddess's Magic], a type of magic that only those with talent could use.

Among them, [Goddess's Blessing] was something every talented person was born with, granting the ability to resist or even be immune to curses.

There was also [Survival Magic] and [Stealth Magic].

The former allowed one to survive without oxygen or supplies, though its duration depended on the caster's ability; the latter could completely block Magic Detection.

Unlike the [Stealth Magic] used by that demon Leslie, whose effect mainly concealed physical form and still couldn't evade magical detection.

So why wasn't Xiu Er discovered by Dracole back then?

Because at that time, his body contained no [Magic] at all, and naturally couldn't be caught by Magic Detection.

It seemed, then, that the other party must have been blessed by a monk using the Goddess's magic, allowing them to evade demonic detection and pursuit, hiding themselves in a sealed underground environment while waiting for rescue.

Xiu Er crouched down, placing one hand on the floor.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Earth Control]-"

The floor beneath the statue suddenly bulged upward, lifting the statue and revealing the underground passage beneath its base.

Following the passage, Xiu Er stepped into the pitch-black darkness.

Tap... tap...

There was no light at all; as far as the eye could see, only darkness remained, accompanied by the continuous sound of footsteps on the stairs.

But Xiu Er's eyes were not troubled by the dark at all.

He descended the stairs to the bottom, and the first thing to catch his eye was a human corpse.

It bore obvious penetrating wounds, and beneath the body lay a pool of dried, dark red blood.

Based on the features, the gender was female. The closest female corpse had a massive tear in her chest; according to scan results, she had died from excessive blood loss.

The corpse's posture seemed as if it were protecting something.

And that life signal was precisely coming from beneath the woman's body.

Seeing this, Xiu Er could already understand what had happened.