Chapter 534: The Mischievous Demon’s Withdrawal
I glance over Beelzebub midair behind me, Howgrey on the ground below, and Lilixira levelling her staff at me from far away. It would be good if I could focus on Beelzebub and take him out first, but… I doubt things would go so well.
Howgrey has the [High Jump] skill. There's no telling when he’ll leap up at me and slice me with that shortsword again.
While I’m thinking what to do, I spot another zephyr flying away out of the corner of my eye. Riding it is Lilixira’s subordinate, Alphiss, carrying a bloodstained Aruane. Sitting behind them is a timid-looking man. His clothes look different to the Holy Knights garb, but I’m sure he’s another of Lilixira’s subordinates.
They're getting further and further away. I guess Lilixira wants Aruane away from the battlefield for now.
It’s a shame she's going to get away before I can finish her off, but… I’m glad Aruane won’t be taking part in this fight. Her fighting strength is comparable to an A rank monster. Rather than leaving her injured nearby while I have no idea when she’ll recover and rejoin the fight, I can feel more at ease knowing she's not here. More importantly, by the time she recovers and gets back here, I should have already been able to finish the battle.
Suddenly, Aruane jerks upright in Alphiss’s arms, no longer looking half-dead. Her eyes snap open, and then, appearing to notice her missing arm, smiles and licks her dripping blood. She looks towards me and opens her mouth.
“Dragon-san! Aruane’s off to go kill that spider girl now, okay? Since it doesn’t look like Saint-sama has time to use [Spirit Servant]. So, Araune’s going to make a puppet real quick.”
Aruane shouts that, then goes limp.
From Lilixira’s point of view, her side has already come out ahead in this exchange so far. Rather than let the tide turn against her as the battle drags out, she might want to use the atlach-nacha as bait to distract me while she retreats before attacking again with another strategy. Alternatively, she could set the high-speed human form Beelzebub to harry me as I chase Aruane.