When I Tried Strengthening 【Rusted Sword】, It Evolved Into An Overpowered Magic Sword

Chapter 22 Ultimate strike

The purple lightning attack was unleashed toward the cat demon.

It traced a zigzagging trajectory, rapidly closing in on the cat demon, but just before impact, it was skillfully sidestepped.

“Nya-ha! What a stylish magic, nya! You really do look delicious!”

“Guh…!”

Amethyst involuntarily gritted her teeth.

Indeed, the demon displayed incredible reaction speed and agility.

If it had known about the attack beforehand, that would be one thing, but effortlessly dodging the first strike on sight was truly commendable.

(This is a demon…!)

Amethyst keenly felt the terror of the entity before her once again.

However, she didn’t falter.

To defeat the demon in front of her—or rather, to protect the two behind her—Amethyst readied her right hand and aimed it at the cat demon.

“【Purple Lightning】!”

Once again, she rapidly fired off the purple lightning. Shot after shot, she continued to unleash the electrical assaults, attempting to effectively target the cat demon.

However, the demon effortlessly evaded each strike with agile movements.

Amethyst, determined, kept her aim fixed on the cat demon, but the demon continued to dodge with graceful ease.

(This isn’t getting anywhere!)

Thinking so, Amethyst, after a while of firing purple lightning, suddenly stopped her right hand.

Falling for the feint, the cat demon, despite nothing being launched, dodged dramatically to the side.

(If it’s in the air, it can’t evade an attack!)

As the cat demon’s feet left the ground, Amethyst finally released the purple lightning.

At last, the attack struck the cat demon’s abdomen with a solid impact.

“Ouch…nya!”

The cat demon cried out, slightly blown backward, wincing in pain.

…However, that was all.

(Gah, it’s resilient!)

While she managed to push the demon back slightly, the damage was close to zero. There was a sense of pain, but the magical armor didn’t appear to be damaged.

It became apparent that the magical armor of the demon surpassed Amethyst’s magical attack power entirely. The standard 【Purple Lightning】 wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the magical armor. Even if she continued hitting the same spot multiple times, it seemed unlikely to wear down the armor, given the demon’s agility.

(If that’s the case…)

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. In a battle against a demon, when unable to pierce through the opponent’s magical armor, two choices were presented.

One was to first destroy the opponent’s artifact. By reducing the benefits received from the artifact to zero, the opponent’s endurance would be significantly lowered, enabling penetration of their magical armor.

And the other option was…

(Maximum firepower unleashed!)

Extremely simple. If she couldn’t pierce through, she would simply release a “penetrating blow.” Given the sensation from the lightning strike earlier, it was unlikely that breaking the opponent’s artifact would surpass her magical attack power.

Deciding on this course of action, Amethyst secretly clenched her left hand tightly, hidden behind her back. Meanwhile, her right hand continued to target the cat demon without change.

“Purple Lightning!”

Purple lightning was emitted from her right hand. Dodging it once again, the cat demon leaped out, seemingly impatient.

“I guess it’s about time to get serious, nya!”

With all the agility allowed by her abilities, the cat demon sprinted at full speed. With incredible leg strength, she threaded through the purple lightning and rapidly approached.

In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of them, readying her claws to kill Amethyst and her companions.

(Not gonna let you!)

In an instant, Amethyst swept her right hand to the side. As if caressing the space in front of her, she swung her right hand…

“Purple Lightning!”

The purple lightning, which had been flying in a straight line until just now, expanded like a protective “wall” for the three of them. An improvised wall using lightning magic—the “Purple Lightning Barrier.” To put it plainly, it was just a makeshift trick.

However, the cat demon, who had it deployed right in front of her, involuntarily widened her eyes.

“Nya-nya! You can use it like that too, nya!”

At that moment—

Amethyst’s “left hand,” hidden behind her back, suddenly tingled with a sensation.

(It’s here!)

The sensation she had been waiting for.

It felt like the blood circulating in her hand was accelerating violently.

This was the signal that her magical power had accumulated to the maximum.

This was Amethyst’s skill—【Electric Charge】.

It was the key to unleash the maximum-power magic.

【Electric Charge】: A skill that concentrates magical power by tightly closing the hand.

- - - After using the skill, it greatly consumes durability.

This technique is a double-edged sword, significantly depleting the already fragile durability of the catalyst-type artifact. However, thanks to this skill, it allows Amethyst to cast a more powerful 【Purple Lightning】 than usual. It’s an attack with incomparable speed and power.

Moreover, the cat demon is right in front of her now. She noticed the “Purple Lightning Barrier” right in front of her and appeared to be momentarily stunned, experiencing a temporary stiffness.

Now is the chance… she can hit her.

(Pierce through with the lightning attack!)

Amethyst aimed her tingling left hand at the cat demon.

“Purple Lightning!!!”

In an instant, a flash of light so intense that it hurt the eyes emanated from her left hand. Vision was covered in purple light. Simultaneously, an ear-piercing roar and a shock similar to a lightning strike shook the surroundings, and a burning smell stung the nose with a delayed reaction.

「But… Ah…!」

Looking ahead, the cat demon that should have been in front of her was blown away to a distant giant tree. It lay there, emitting smoke, occasionally twitching and convulsing.

This was evidence of a direct hit from the maximum firepower of the purple lightning. Likely due to continuously casting magic with her right hand, her left hand seemed completely defenseless. Nevertheless, it was possible to unleash the purple lightning with her left hand.

Whether due to this or other factors, she succeeded in delivering a full-throttle lightning strike to that troublesome cat demon.

“Haa… haa…”

As a consequence of the momentary massive magic power consumption, Amethyst was overwhelmed by heavy fatigue. She felt a burning pain in her left hand, which had released the purple lightning, causing her to grimace involuntarily.

“Dangerous, indeed, these skills…”

The strain on herself was expected, but above all, the destructive power of a single strike was unbelievable. Since she couldn’t yet finely adjust the power, it was too risky to shoot it at someone else.

Amethyst, catching her breath, approached the fallen demon. Observing its condition, she sighed with relief upon seeing that it showed no sign of movement. Although she couldn’t completely defeat it, the fact that it didn’t disappear meant that it had lost consciousness.

Now was the time to leave this place. While she could consider finishing it off here, she had almost no magic power left to do so. Therefore, Amethyst hurriedly signaled to Spinel and Lapis, who were watching nearby, that they should quickly leave this place.

“I-I told you, both of you are safe now. I’ll handle the demon…”

However, just before she finished speaking—

From behind Amethyst, a rumbling sound, resembling a cat’s throaty noise, reached her ears.

“Ouchiee~ That one really got me, nyaa~”

“—!?”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard, a voice that must not be heard.

Amethyst turned around fearfully.

There, standing with a laugh, was the cat demon that she believed she had just defeated with the purple lightning.

“Uh… th-that…”

Wide-eyed and trembling, Amethyst faced the black cat demon.

This eerie grinning demon, now looking down at Amethyst up close, had veins bulging on its forehead, burning with intense “anger” directed at the human before it.