Because of the Hero Summoned from Another World, I Got Replaced and Made the Backup—And My Childhood Friend the Saintess… - Chapter 24: Besides… Even If He Could Read Minds, It Wouldn't Matter

Chapter 24: Besides… Even If He Could Read Minds, It Wouldn’t Matter

The Demon King’s magic was fast.

And terrifyingly accurate.

Not even the court magicians back at the castle could cast spells like this.

It looked like he had openings… but he didn’t.

He never used any flashy magic that left him vulnerable—

Only precise, lethal spells like Pierce, Slice, or Blind.

Every single one was meant to kill me—and nothing else.

But Arianna had blocked them all.

Thanks to her, I hadn’t taken a single hit.

But… that went both ways.

My attacks hadn’t landed either.

Every single one had been deflected by his magic barrier.

And as dazzling as Arianna’s divine blessings were… they barely left a scratch.

At this rate, we weren’t getting anywhere.

No—we were losing.

Our stamina and mana were slowly draining away, while the Demon King didn’t even look winded.

Maybe he was wearing down and just hiding it well…

But banking on a guess like that?

Yeah, probably not smart.

Safer to assume his magic wasn’t running out at all.

I backed off for a moment and called out to Arianna.

“I need to land a hit. At least one clean strike. To do that, we either need to stop his shield from activating—or smash right through it.”

“But his defenses are too perfect. He reacts the second you move. He might… be reading our minds.”

“Reading our minds?”

Arianna’s words got me thinking about that time the Demon King spoke to me.

He’d said things I’d never told anyone—

Thoughts I’d only kept inside my head.

He knew my situation… and twisted the knife right where it hurt most.

Was it because he could actually read my mind?

Now that she mentioned it… yeah, maybe.

And if that’s true—

Could that be why none of my attacks were landing?

Was he predicting my every move by reading my thoughts?

“If he really is reading our minds to anticipate our actions, there’s gotta be a limit. If he could fully read everything, then he’d also be able to land hits on me, right? But he hasn’t. That means there’s either a range to it—or he’s not reading minds at all. But even if he can, I’m guessing he can only focus on one person at a time. So maybe he’s reading me… but not you, Arianna.”

I was the one doing all the attacking.

Arianna was focused on defense.

He could read me—predict my moves and block them without fail.

But Arianna’s shields always landed in time.

If he could see into both of our minds, that shouldn’t be possible.

So maybe… that’s the catch.

“The mind-reading thing must have its limits.”

“Let’s hope I’m right. Anyway—tag, you’re it, Arianna!”

“Wha—hey, wait just a sec—!”

Without saying a word about my plan, I quietly moved away from Arianna.

If the Demon King really could read my thoughts, then discussing any kind of strategy out loud would be pointless.

Sure, maybe he couldn’t read minds that precisely…

But assuming that would just be wishful thinking.

Better to expect the worst—and plan around it.

“Done with your little strategy talk already?”

“We’re good.”

“You were talking about my powers, weren’t you? But I didn’t catch an actual plan in there. Bit of a waste, wasn’t it?”

The moment I stepped back in front of him, the Demon King spoke—calling out to me directly.

No effort to hide that he could read my thoughts.

Honestly, he probably didn’t even see it as something worth hiding.

Saying it out loud like this… was probably just another way to throw me off.

If he really wanted to, he could just stay silent and attack—reading my moves without giving anything away.

So this whole conversation?

It was likely just more mind games.

“Never fought someone who could read minds before.”

“Join me, and you’ll gain that power too. Imagine how much easier everything would be.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Sounds like a headache.”

Reading people’s thoughts all the time?

That sounds exhausting.

I’m the kind of guy who’s better off not knowing what others are thinking.

Besides… I don’t need mind-reading.

Even if I can’t do something like that—

Arianna already knows exactly what I need.

“I don’t need some fancy plan to beat you.”

With that one line, I charged at the Demon King again.

I’m counting on you, Arianna—!

Just like before, the Demon King blocked every strike like he could see the future.

He was putting up defensive magic before my sword even got close.

Nothing I did was getting through.

For a moment, I considered attacking without thinking—just emptying my mind completely.

But trying that in the middle of a life-or-death fight?

Yeah… way too risky.

I’m not some kind of battle genius. I know my limits.

I slashed in from the right, then followed up with a downward swing.

In between, I tossed in a quick Explosion spell—not to deal damage, just to stagger him with the flash.

Maybe… just maybe, one of those would break through.

Yeah… no such luck.

He blocked them all. Effortlessly.

“Still no good, huh…”

This time, the Demon King went on the offensive—

Tentacles shot at me like angry snakes.

From the right. The left. Above. Below.

Thin, sharp, and fast—coming at me from every direction, all aiming to skewer me.

I tightened my grip on my sword.

Sliced through the ones on the right.

Twisted my body to dodge the ones on the left.

Slashed down the ones from above.

Blasted the ones from below with a quick spell.

—Seriously?! They’re part of your body, so why the heck don’t you take any damage when I cut them!? That’s totally cheating!

But I didn’t have time to complain.

A glowing magic circle lit up right in front of the Demon King.

The spell etched into it? Restraint.

—Ugh. I can’t dodge that!

After fending off all those tentacles, my stance was off.

There was no time to recover—no way to move in time.

Magical cuffs clamped tight around my wrists and ankles.

“Looks like the Saintess’s protection spell doesn’t block restraining magic. Good to know.”

Frozen in place, completely immobilized, I could only watch as the Demon King slowly approached—

Tentacles creeping forward again.

This kind of spell?

It’s not even meant for battle!

It’s the kind of thing you use to keep prisoners from escaping—not something you toss out mid-fight!

If that actually worked in real combat, everyone would be spamming it!

“You really are the Demon King, huh.”

Even though I was caught, I wasn’t panicking.

“Still pretending to be calm? This time, I’ll make your body mine.”

Sure, I couldn’t move—thanks to the restraining spell.

But that wasn’t because Arianna’s protection magic had failed.

No—Arianna didn’t cast her shield on me on purpose.

She probably didn’t have enough magical bandwidth to defend me and pull off what she was about to do.

“Close your eyes! It’s gonna be super bright!!”

“What!?”

A massive magic circle lit up beneath the Demon King’s feet.

Arianna’s strongest monster-purging spell—Holy Light.

Most monsters would’ve been vaporized on the spot.

The spell takes time to prep and can’t be used alongside other magic, but in terms of raw power?

It’s off the charts.

From directly beneath the Demon King, a towering pillar of light shot into the sky.

Pure, cleansing light rained down inside it—meant to burn the Demon King to ash.

No regular monster could survive that.

This should’ve been it.

“—But a spell like that won’t be enough to take me down.”

When the light faded, the Demon King was still standing.

Wounded, sure—but definitely not finished.

And knowing him, he’d probably heal it all in no time.

But that was fine.

That was more than enough.

Because Arianna’s spell had shattered the magical restraints binding me.

And now—I was no longer in the Demon King’s line of sight.

Which meant…

He probably couldn’t read my thoughts anymore.

“The Hero… is gone!?”

The moment the restraints shattered, I launched myself forward with everything I had.

The Demon King was wide open—this was it.

This was the opportunity I’d been waiting for.

Arianna had carved out this perfect opening for me.

“This ends now, Demon King!”

So I didn’t hesitate.

As the blinding light faded and the Demon King’s form came back into view—

I drove my sword straight into him with every last ounce of strength I had.