Frilian: This Demon Isn't So Cold

"And then?" Sylvia asked nervously in her arms.

"And then...and then I won, nothing much to say." Carlos stroked her hair.

"The process is important! At least tell me how you won!" Sylvia said, somewhat exasperated.

"The process... he attacked and I dodged, I attacked and he dodged. Later, he realized something was wrong and tried to run away, but I kept chasing him and attacking. He had no choice but to compromise and agree to some of my unreasonable demands."

"N-That's all?"

"Hmm, a very boring battle, really nothing interesting." In the story he just told, Carlos omitted a lot of details.

Celia, who could see the problem, was now looking at him with a very strange expression.

"Alright, time for bed. We have a long journey ahead tomorrow."

Carlos took out a sleeping bag for five people from the suitcase and crawled right in.

As for issues like shelter from the wind and rain and warmth, Celia will use her magic to help them.

"Do you think I can sleep right now?" Sylvia crawled into her sleeping bag and lay down next to him, facing him. "There are so many details we haven't covered! And a lot must have happened afterward, right?"

"None of that matters. Look at me, I'm lying here perfectly fine in front of you. As for those details you want to know, do you think I would remember them that clearly?"

"But you made that so clear before!"

"That's different," Carlos explained matter-of-factly. "All of that was just the prelude to my show-off act. Now that I've already done the show, does anything else matter? As long as I know he can't beat me, that's enough."

Sylvia was dumbfounded. "You really like to show off, huh?"

She used slightly more civilized vocabulary.

"Of course, that's just the kind of creature men are, what did you think?" Carlos turned to the other side. "Go to sleep."

"Ugh... I'm so angry, but I like you so much, so I'll forgive you."

"I haven't done anything that requires your forgiveness, have I?" Carlos argued.

"Hmph, I'm just unreasonable anyway."

Women are such a hassle!

……

The part of the process that Carlos forgot—

"So that's how it is. You actually have so much magical power hidden within you." After exchanging blows with Carlos for a few rounds, the red-haired demon finally understood this. "Tell me your name, and I'll remember you."

He used his golden cloak to block the opponent's powerful slash.

"Shouldn't you state your own name before asking your opponent's name?"

Having failed in his first attack, Carlos sheathed his sword and leaped backward, creating a safe distance.

"That was my rudeness." Upon hearing this, the red-haired demon introduced himself first, "My name is Mahat."

"Carlos".

"Carlos..." Mahat pondered for a moment, only to realize he had never heard of this person before. "What was the name of that spell you just used that could reflect my [All Things Turn to Gold] spell?"

"【Curse Reversal Magic】." Carlos answered his question, then continued, "You seem quite different from the demons I've encountered before."

"What's different?" Mahat asked, pondering how he could beat the guy in front of him.

"You don't stoop to deceiving me with words, at least not on a combat level."

"It's simply because there's no need for it."

"Because the opponents we've faced have all been too weak?" Carlos stroked his chin. "That's true."

If no one can beat you, and the difference is overwhelming, then the necessity of lying is indeed eliminated.

Just then, his right hand, which was touching his chin, suddenly turned into gold.

"So sudden?"

The instant he was turned to gold, the flames representing [Curse Return Magic] around Carlos burned fiercely once more.

"As expected, maintaining that [Spell Reversal] requires a considerable amount of magic power, right? You can't be in that state all the time."

Immediately freeing himself from the golden transformation caused by the reflected magic, Mahat understood how to defeat his opponent.

"Our total magic power is about the same, so if this continues, I will win."

"Who knows?" Carlos glanced at his right hand, which had been turned to gold. Fortunately, the effect of the [All Things Turn to Gold Magic] only spread to his forearm, and his elbow was still able to move freely. However, his wrist was restricted, which would be a disadvantage in battle.

I need to practice making my left hand my dominant hand as well.

Carlos had this thought in his mind.

Then, magic surged.

[Lightning of Annihilation]

Deep purple lightning surged upwards, but was completely blocked by the golden cloak. During this time, Carlos once again used magic to condense a large sword, quickly circled behind Mahat, and slashed fiercely at the top of his head!

"clang--"

The greatsword struck Mahat's golden head with lightning speed. The force transmitted back through the blade made Carlos's hand go numb, but his hand still gripped the hilt tightly.

"This is the inspiration you gave me earlier. Since I can be transformed into gold, I should be able to use gold to block attacks, right?" Mahat deactivated his gold transformation, looked at Carlos who had retreated some distance behind him, and smiled slightly.

"Although it's called 'Goldenification,' real gold isn't this hard." Carlos showed no intention of backing down. "Again!"

He rushed over.

"You're strange. You already have [Spell Reversal], yet you still used that lightning spell just now, and the greatsword you're holding now was also conjured with magic."

The golden greatsword and the magic greatsword collided rapidly, then quickly separated, the clanging sounds of their collision building up in layers, making one want to cover their ears.

While fighting, Mahat analyzed, "You just said I'm different from other demons, but in my opinion, you're the more abnormal one."

They would specifically study human magic instead of focusing on researching only one type of magic. Mahat had only heard of such a demon once before, and he never expected that there would be another one now.

"That's the diversity of life," Carlos casually explained, also realizing that Mahat didn't know any magic other than the [Magic to Turn Everything into Gold].

"Yeah?"

The [All Things Turn to Gold] spell was activated again, and this time Carlos's right arm was completely turned to gold.

Mahat controlled his strength this time, so he was not turned into gold on a large scale. Because his right arm was damaged, his opponent's originally smooth movements became flawed, and he seized the opportunity to cut his body in half with his big sword.

However, just as Mahat breathed a sigh of relief after his successful strike, Carlos's counterattack came as expected, as if he had not been affected at all.

"How is that possible?"

Mahat was very surprised. Even if it wasn't a fatal injury, for ordinary demons, once they were cut in half at the waist, they wouldn't even have a chance to survive, let alone fight back.

Now, when he looked at the wound again, there wasn't even a trace of being severed on Carlos's body. His successful attack just now seemed like an illusion, as if it had vanished from the world.

But Mahat had no time to be surprised, because the enemy's attack had already come down in an instant, and he had already done his best to deal with it.

The more you struggle to cope, the bigger the flaws will become.

"clang--!"

The knife in his hand was knocked to the side by an astonishing force, leaving Mahat wide open. Carlos would not miss this opportunity, and with the force of thunder, he was about to deliver a swift and decisive blow to his opponent.

In this desperate situation, Mahat cast the [All Things Turn to Gold] spell on himself and successfully blocked the attack.

"You think this is the end?"

Carlos's movements were not affected in the slightest, and a barrage of attacks followed one after another.

In this extremely close situation, having lost the initiative, Mahat couldn't determine where to defend, so he simply turned his entire body into gold.

Carlos's greatsword struck Mahat's completely golden body with a series of clanging sounds, but it did not cause him even the slightest harm.

After hacking for a while, Carlos stopped attacking because he felt his hands would go completely numb if he kept hacking. He stood in front of his opponent and looked at the indestructible golden body.

"I'm standing right here. Do you dare to dispel your golden form at this distance?"

"But the initiative is in my hands, and you don't have that much energy to play against me." Mahat deactivated the gold transformation on his mouth and then withdrew it again before Carlos's attack could arrive.

"clang--"

"Tch." Carlos retracted the blade he had been slashing at the other's mouth, spat, "But I can just run away, you can't stop me."

"Indeed, so neither of us can do anything about the other."

"That's hard to say." This time, Carlos didn't have the intention of attacking the mouth. "What if that's the case?"

As he spoke, under Mahat's gaze, the gold on his completely golden right hand slowly faded, returning to its original flesh color.

"I've adapted to your [All Things Turn to Gold Magic]." Carlos gave a faint smile, but in Mahat's eyes, it was like a demon. "You're the one who should be running away, Mahat."

"..."

"Let's make a deal," Mahat said after a long silence, offering a peaceful compromise. "This would be beneficial for both of us."