Taming The Villainesses

Episode 286.2

Episode 286.2

(EP-286.2) King #5

286 – Bandit King #5

A sense of bewilderment began to settle in Tefer’s chest.

This bewilderment wasn’t truly hers but rather an emotion reflected by the voice controlling her – the Demon King’s residual thoughts.

━The imps’ mana isn’t coming to me...!?

Tefer’s gaze shifted to the man sitting cross-legged in the corner of the cave.

He was at that ambiguous age, somewhere between a boy and a young man—a tense age, straddling the line between adolescence and adulthood, and a young mage.

The imps were sending their mana not to her, but to the boy. Why? Tefer couldn’t comprehend it.

━Useless creatures! I am your king! Give me your magic!

Tefer commanded.

But the imps’ tails remained pointed toward the boy. At the same time, the amount of mana being gathered by the boy was considerable.

━What, what is this? What the hell is going on...!?

Tefer’s fingertips aimed at the cross-legged young man.

Rank 6 great spell.

Catastrophe.

Although it lacked sufficient mana for completion, it was originally powerful enough to tear the world apart. Even incomplete, it could easily take off a human head.

Swaaaaash-!

“Where!”

Swaaaaash.

At that moment, something flew toward Tefer’s hand. It was a sharp arrow, shooting through the air and threatening to pierce her palm.

Of course, with her mana shield in place, it wasn’t enough to actually harm her.

But a brief opening had been created.

When Tefer came to her senses, she found herself staring into the piercing blue eyes of the man who had just finished his meditation. In that instant, she knew who the victor of this battle would be.

* * *

Power surged through my body.

It had been a long time since I felt this invigorated, and as a result, I was able to complete the spell combination much faster than the 5 minutes I anticipated.

The maximum power that I, who has reached the 6th Rank, can unleash.

This time, I wouldn’t hold back and would unleash it on Tefer.

With that determination, I pointed my tail wand at the puppet mage. Simultaneously, I began chanting.

─Great Spell, Chain Destruction!

This left her white, bare body exposed in the cave. Even in her unconscious state, Tefer seemed embarrassed by her exposure, instinctively covering herself as her face flushed red.

“... A-All of my clothes were magic tools....”

I see. A pure maiden’s reaction. She just met the first qualification to join my harem.

Anyway, does this mean the incident was finally over?

Stella, the strongest among us, carried Tefer on her back. I said as I draped a robe over Tefer’s exposed back.

“Tefer-yang, there’s a lot I want to ask you about the Crown of Dominion and everything that’s happened so far. But now isn’t the right time, so let’s get out of here first.”

━Ah...! Please take us with you...!

━We’re all escaping this wretched bandit den...!

At the same time, the imps eagerly followed us. Now that I think about it, I got quite a bit of help from the imps in this battle.

Were the imps external batteries for storing magic for the Demon King? That seems to explain why they sent me their power in the end, like some sort of wireless charger.

As I was recalling the fight, someone said with a cough.

It was Tefer.

“... Cough, the imps’ tails act as transmitters. Also, instead..., they handle complex calculations... or transmit messages to distant targets....”

“Did you just read my mind?”

“I’m confident in my mind-reading....”

Tefer fell silent after that, probably because her throat was sore.

「By applying mind-reading magic, you can do something like this too.」

Suddenly, her voice pierced directly into my mind. Was this what they call telepathy? I’m amazed that this was possible.

「Ah, ah-. Is this how it works?」

In response to my question, Tefer, who was being carried on Stella’s back, seemed quite surprised.

「... I didn’t expect you to do it on your first try. It took me a few days to master it. Impressive. You’re Sir Theo, right? The one who fought with Efside and in the trial by combat....」

「That’s right. Ah—.」

Now I understand.

Once you know the trick, it’s not too difficult. It’s an application of Rank 3 magic involving mana transfer and mental imagery. Wait a minute, if I apply this correctly....

With a thought in mind, I decided to try sending a thought to Marmar’s tail, which was wrapped around my left arm.

「Ah, ah, Marmar, can you hear me?」

「Ahh...! What...!? My tail is talking...!? What...!? Guys, my tail is talking...!」

I could vividly picture Marmar’s shocked face as she stared at her tail.

If this works well, I might be able to create something similar to a mobile phone.

This has turned out to be a pretty useful experience in many ways.