Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 73: Repel and Counter

Chapter 73: Repel and Counter

"?!"

Ilya’s eyes widened in shock upon hearing Xaren’s explanation.

She could already tell that this man was at a higher level than them. The sheer amount of energy radiating from him made that painfully clear.

Knowing what his skill did now explained why their magic had done absolutely nothing.

But that wasn’t the only reason Xaren’s expression had darkened.

The real problem was the layer of light coating the half-giant’s body.

Aura.

He was using Aura Skin, a defensive technique that involved coating the entire body in aura to create an extra layer of protection.

Naturally, to deal any real damage to him, they had to break through that Aura Skin first. And because of his Magic Resistance skill, their only option was to rely on demonic energy.

The issue now was that Xaren could tell, just by looking, that this man’s aura was of above-average quality. Its transparency was proof of that.

From what he knew, the more transparent an aura was, the weaker it tended to be. And this man’s aura was only about forty percent transparent.

That meant breaking through it would require a greater amount of demonic energy.

The question now, was that even if he managed to tear through the aura skin with his demonic energy, would his attack still have enough power left to deal substantial damage before the half-giant recreated it?

’...I doubt it.’

While Xaren was deep in thought, the large man stepped forward, still grinning as he spoke.

"I like seeing the despairing expressions on the faces of those demons who are so confident in their magic when they realize it’s useless against me."

His sadistic tendencies were clear as day, and Xaren couldn’t help but wonder if all Magic Resistance skill wielders were like this.

In his previous life, he had encountered two of them, both of which said similar things.

One of them possessed a dreadful energy that synergized all too well with the Magic Resistance Skill and had nearly wiped out his squad.

Anti-Magic. The complete antithesis of Magic.

The very nature of Anti-Magic meant that whenever it clashed with Magic, the result was often mutual nullification.

If the Magic Resistance skill was powered by Anti-Magic, then it could negate magic from opponents up to 50 Levels higher than the skill user.

What made it even more dangerous was that wielders of Anti-Magic could use it offensively as well, targeting and disrupting the internal magic infusions of their enemies.

’But although it’s far weaker than his aura, this guy has magic power, so he can’t have Anti-Magic.

That means I can still use my magic power for body strengthening... but I can’t infuse it into my attacks, since his skill nullifies it.’

For offence, Xaren would have to rely solely on his demonic energy.

Quickly activating body-strengthening magic, Xaren coated his blade in black fire and kicked off the ground, dashing towards the half-giant, who laughed and swung his blade down to meet Xaren’s sword.

The two swords collided with a shockwave that cracked the ground. Ilya followed up Xaren’s attack with one of her own, using magic to boost her speed while infusing her sword with demonic energy for the strike.

The man, still laughing, amplified the aura in his sword, forcing back Xaren’s blade before swinging to meet Ilya’s. However, Xaren used Gravity to pull his sword off course, making him miss his strike while allowing Ilya’s to land.

But despite the successful hit, Ilya only managed to crack his aura skin, and it quickly repaired itself.

The man reached out to grab Ilya with his other hand, but she unfurled her wings and flew out of reach, while Xaren lifted the rubble around them and hurled it at him.

In response, the half-giant swung his free hand through the air, unleashing a burst of aura that blew away the rubble before it could reach him. The force of the blast inadvertently sent Xaren skidding back just as he had been about to charge in under the cover of the debris.

"You demons all do the same thing. When you see your magic won’t work, you switch to using demonic energy alone."

Infusing his sword with a powerful aura coating its blade, he swung it down in Xaren’s direction as he bellowed.

"I wonder how long that one’s gonna last!"

A powerful slash of aura surged toward Xaren, forcing him to jump aside to evade it.

The man closed the distance at that moment, aiming to catch Xaren off balance. But before he could land a strike, Ilya zapped in from the side, her blade flashing toward his eyes, forcing him to redirect his sword to block it.

At the same time, Xaren landed on his feet and used attraction on the half-giant’s right leg, pulling it forward and sweeping him off balance, sending him crashing down onto his left side.

"?!"

The man’s eyes widened as Xaren closed the distance, bringing his sword down and forcing him to hold up his blade diagonally to block the grey demon’s flaming slash.

The attack, backed by the power of 4x gravity, slammed the half-giants back into the ground, and just as it did, Xaren conjured a Gravity Sphere and drove it toward the half-giant’s face.

’Dangerous!’

The man’s instincts screamed at him, and he immediately activated a skill, wrenching his left hand from under his body and firing a blast of aura that collided with Xaren’s Gravity Sphere, causing it to explode before reaching his face.

The man then pulled back his sword and stabbed toward Xaren, forcing him to jump back to evade. That gave him just enough space to roll to his feet—just in time to avoid Ilya’s wind sword as it carved through the spot where his head had been a moment ago.

But he had barely stabilized himself when Ilya closed the distance, activating her Unique Skill.

The vacuum created by the swirling winds pulled the half-giant forward, and the rapidly revolving wind blades of her Darkstorm slashed across his body. The strong demonic energy cracked his aura skin, forcing him to continuously reinforce it to prevent himself from being cut apart by the continuous attack.

Roaring, he unleashed an aura burst to disrupt the wind blades and fired an energy blast at Ilya, but she dodged the beam and instantly switched her skill to Repel Mode.

The man’s body was instantly sent flying, with wind blades crashing into him, and just as he struggled to regain his balance, Xaren flew in from behind, his flaming sword slashing down on his sword arm.

Xaren’s blade shattered the weakened aura skin, colliding with his leather armour and burning through it before reaching his actual skin and cutting deep.

The force of Xaren’s Gravity Amplified attack sent the half-giant’s body hurtling sideways through the air, and before he could recover, Ilya shot past him at incredible speed, her blade slicing toward his head.

The man reinforced his aura skin and raised his left hand to block Ilya’s slash, then swung his sword to counter. However, Xaren pulled his blade back with attraction, preventing him from attacking and allowing Ilya to land two more attacks aimed at his neck.

’Tsk...!’

The girl clicked her tongue as the reinforced aura skin stopped her attacks, quickly flapping her wings and darting away just as the half-giant fired an energy beam from his left hand.

The beam struck the empty ground, carving out a crater nearly a hundred meters deep.

Channelling his aura into his arm, he tore free from Xaren’s gravitational attraction and unleashed an aura slash at the grey demon before leaping into the air to create distance.

But just as Xaren dodged the slash, he amplified the half-giant’s gravity, pulling him back down to the earth with force.

He crashed onto the ground, cratering the earth beneath him, but to Xaren’s displeasure, he landed on his feet, perfectly positioned to counter Ilya’s attack.

’Should have pulled his upper body alone to make him fall on his back...’

The thought crossed Xaren’s mind as he dashed in to assist Ilya, but the half-giant roared and unleashed an aura burst, blasting them back with the shockwave and widening the distance between them.

’These kids are more dangerous than I thought!’

His evaluation of Xaren and Ilya had long since changed, and all thoughts of toying with them before killing them had flown out the metaphorical window.

The half-giant lifted his sword, the veins on his arm bulging as he flexed his aura. Then, he swung his blade down, unleashing a rapid series of aura slashes with enough power to carve through entire city blocks like butter.

Xaren didn’t hesitate to lighten his body with gravity, while Ilya boosted her speed to the absolute limit with her skills.

Yet, the two barely managed to dodge and weave through the onslaught.

And even as they evaded the worst of the attacks, the sheer force of the strikes sent shockwaves through the battlefield, upturning the ground beneath them.

Taking advantage of this, Xaren used his attraction and repulsion techniques to hurl chunks of debris at the half-giant. However, the man only adjusted his footing and cleaved through the airborne rubble with ease, before rushing forward with a burst speed, amplified by his light magic.

In an instant, he was in front of Xaren, his blade flashing toward the grey demon’s neck.

Xaren barely had time to react, using his skill to lighten the man’s sword whilst amplifying the gravity around himself to anchor his body and strengthen his defence as he brought his sword up to intercept the blow.