Iron Heart

Yet again, Zack had to witness how the head of another comrade flew above them.

"..."

The feeling of arousal overcame Martha as she took a sitting position with her legs crossed in the air.

If they continued to let Martha do as she liked, then it would lead to all of them killing themselves amongst each other.

Mika was about to move his hand to his sword when he sensed the earth rumbling.

"?"

A rocky wall separating them from Zack and Martha appeared.

"Change of plans. I will fight her alone from this point on. You go and wait for reinforcement to come." Zack commanded behind the wall.

Under the current circumstances, nobody said anything back and quietly obeyed.

Everyone knew that they would just be in his way.

Furthermore, this way they could reduce the number of victims falling for her trick.

Bitterly, they headed to the carriages.

"Shouldn't we help Ms. Relaren?" someone asked.

"No. With our current numbers and strength, we would slow them down more than we would help them." Gustav replied.

"Ms. Relaren and that other woman will be enough to deal with that demon." he added.

The number of combatants in this troupe was initially 20 people. Without Carl, who was found dead in the forest, they were now 19.

Among those, three people were S-ranks, six were A-ranks and the rest B-ranks aside from Mika, who was officially still just an E-rank.

Even if this squad was sent out first to observe the situation before the reinforcements arrived, it was still wanton to think that this squad would suffice.

Handling a low A-rank demon would be possible, but two demons who were arguably both high B-ranks was another thing altogether.

From those 19 people, three stayed behind with the students, six went after Barnt and ten people were facing Martha.

And as of now, six people have been killed or rendered unable to fight.

"..."

Mika felt guilty.

Why was he running back?

Can Zack handle that demon alone?

Should he not fight together with him?

In the midst of his thoughts, someone slapped his back.

"Trust him. Zack Yorn is our leader."

It was Gustav, who smiled at him.

"Just for your information, that man is one of our nation's strongest!" he added proudly.

Mika smirked a bit.

He came to the conclusion that he may have thought too much.

Maybe he, too, should put his trust in Zack.

"Well, I said that he is one of the strongest, but compared to her he would still look like an ant, haha!"

It seemed like Gustav was joking to lighten the mood, but on the other hand, it did not sound like he lied.

"..."

Martha was staring indifferently at the wall, which was blocking her view of the group running away.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" she genuinely asked Zack.

Zack was stretching his arms and shoulders.

"You will find out the answer soon." he said in a deep and yet typical casual tone with a menacing grin as he slammed his right fist against his left palm.

Then, he loosened up his entire body.

He took multiple deep breaths and closed his eyes.

"?"

Martha felt that something was off.

The pressure Zack was emitting felt heavier than before.

And when he opened his eyes, his beige eye color slowly changed into a metallic grey color.

"..."

Martha witnessed that phenomenon with squinted eyes.

She had quite the knowledge about the human realm.

Therefore, she knew that one could tell a person's magic element based on their eye color.

She even knew that people with brown eyes were born with no magic power.

However, it was the first time that she faced someone with grey eyes.

"Is this perhaps..."

Before she could end her thought, she noticed that something was coming.

Zack stretched his right arm to the side with his hand open as if it was grabbing something.

"?"

The air around his hand started to shine so bright that Martha had to cover her eyes with her arms.

And when she was able to see again, her focus shifted immediately to the thing in Zack's hand.

"A spear...?"

Zack had a tight grip on the metallic spear and retracted his arm.

Instinctively, she was about to move away, but Zack already launched the spear at her.

"!"

The thrown spear, which probably broke sound walls, only struck her cheek slightly and pierced through her fluttering long hair.

Behind her, the sound of something akin to an explosion or something cracking was heard across the wasteland.

"..."

Baffled, Martha's eyes focused on the hole the spear created in the fortress' thick and sturdy wall.

Turning her eyes away from her enemy proved to be a fatal mistake on her part.

"Wha-"

She looked back at him, but he was already right in front of her.

The next thing she knew was that she was hit in the stomach by something hard.

Slammed onto the ground, she rolled over to the fortress' wall like a flickering stone over water.

Blood gushed out of her mouth as she gritted her teeth furiously.

"It was just one punch... How could it be so strong...?!"

Martha attempted to get up, but she collapsed again due to the damage dealt to her stomach.

"Argh...!"

She was pressing her fists against the sandy ground.

"Want to concede your defeat?" Zack, who caught up to her again, mocked Martha.

"Don't... Don't you dare look down on me!" she screamed enraged.

It was as if the roles got reversed.

"Hrngh!"

Enduring the pain, she managed to get up.

"I'm not a big fan of making my hands dirty, but..."

Martha rushed straight at Zack.

Her vile grin widened due to her utter confidence in her physical strength as she launched a punch.

However, Zack grinned back at her as he retracted his arm for a punch as well.

Their two fists clashed.

"What is this sensation...?"

Despite having abnormal strength as a demon, she was struggling in physical combat.

At first, she tried to push his fist away but then decided to back off.

She was grumbling at him as she rubbed her hand.

"So this is your relic, huh..." she muttered annoyed, while she stared at his arm.

The arm, he used to punch her, was turned into iron from his forearm to his fist.

"That's right." Zack replied relaxed as the iron disappeared.

"My relic Iron Heart allows me to switch my earth magic into iron magic." he added.

Martha had a grim look on her face.

"And this isn't just some plain iron. It's iron produced by my magic so hitting me may hurt you more than me." Zack stated with a wink.

"But let me ask you, are you a high-ranking demon? I thought in the beginning that you could be a real pain in the ass, but to me, it seems like you're a C-rank at most." he mocked her again, adding salt to her wounded pride.

Only a few people can stand on equal footing with a B-rank demon or higher on their own.

Most of those people would be a member of the Grand Order.

"Hah, don't make me laugh! Just because you landed some hits on me, doesn't make you a big shot, you fool!"

The vein on her forehead was about to burst by Zack's provocation.

But as a proud demon, she could not allow herself to let him insult her any further.

"Playtime is over now!" she shouted as the circle in her right eye started to glow again.

Zack turned stern when he prepared himself.

"!"

However, at the same moment, he sensed something flying his way.

When he looked back to see what it was, it flew right beside him and crashed against the wall.

Martha's bloodthirsty grin faded and she fixed her posture.

"Was that a person...?" Zack wondered suspiciously.

He threw a glance at the spot where the crash happened.

Rocks crumbled down from the wall and the dust slowly cleared itself.

It was now visible who was sent flying.

"M-Mika...?!" Zack murmured shocked.

An unconscious Mika was stuck in the wall and bled heavily from his head.

"Mika!" he shouted as he was about to rush to him.

"Don't."

Then, Ray Taker appeared and grabbed Zack's shoulder.

He was carrying Gerard on his shoulder like he was a bag of rice.

"Ray? What are you doing here?! And why is that student-"

"When will the reinforcement arrive?" Ray interrupted Zack coldly.

His tone was deeper and more threatening than before.

The eyes, which were usually brimming with kindness and harmony, carried maliciousness and disgust in them.

"Huh? They should be here any moment. But more importantly, Mika is-"

"I see. Your job is done here."

"Wait... Ray...?"

Zack noticed the change in Ray's tone and behavior.

"!"

However, it was too late.

"W-what are you thinking..." Zack said with a weak voice.

An ice pillar, which sprouted from the ground beneath them, pierced Zack through his chest.

He fell on his knees after the ice pillar shattered.

"..."

While he gasped for air and grabbed his wound tightly, he lifted his head up.

And the only thing he saw was Ray Taker's teeth-flashing smirk.