Though the giant standing amid the moonlit sea of trees looked impressive, in such a massively enlarged state, Shade could not fight at full strength for even a minute, let alone three.
The instant the Moonbeam Greatsword appeared in his hand, he swung it forward, sending a streak of sword light flying. The Demon, also in giant form, raised a hand and summoned the six golden rings back onto its arms, then crossed them before itself in defense.
Amid a thunderous crash, the sword scar cut by the Moonbeam Greatsword ultimately failed to break through the defense of those six golden rings. But when the Demon lowered its arms, it saw not a sword thrusting toward it, but a blood-red whip arriving before its eyes in an instant.
The mist it exhaled from its mouth had no effect on the whip—this was Shade's blood. Then, with an explosive crack through the air, the whip struck its right cheek and left chest.
After a pained "Aah~!", the blue Demon spun twice on the spot like a child's top. Once it stopped, it covered its face with both hands and, with a boom, exploded into a vast cloud of rainbow-colored smoke.
That cloud of smoke flew wildly beneath the night sky, forcing the Church's Ring Arcanists to retreat. Within it, bone-chilling screams continued without end, until the smoke finally fell downward and reconstructed the Demon's enormous blue body after hitting the ground.
It knelt on one knee amid the sea of trees. This time, however, it did not attempt to attack anyone. Instead, it raised its enormous hands to its head and forcibly "pulled" off the string of white sacs growing there. Opening its mouth, the Demon tossed those white sacs inside, chewed them vigorously once, and swallowed them all.
Only after