231 - Those Who Move
――A large crater had been carved into the ground, and there lay Mei, motionless, with two golden branched horns.
Blood spilled from her mouth, and her eyes were vacant.
Marina, the one responsible for creating that crater, leaped toward Mei's position with heavy breaths. She landed and swung up a hairy hand with extended claws to finish her opponent off, but――.
――She leaped backward, putting distance between herself and Mei.
She narrowed her eyes and let out a growl.
"Grrrrrrr."
Extended canines, and a form like a beastman, a beast walking on two legs. Marina's instincts in her second form, brought about by her skill, were pure wilderness.
Mei slowly stood up, her golden horns glowing. She spat out blood, wiped her mouth, and brushed the dirt off her clothes.
"You have good instincts, big sister. You could make a living as a wild animal. Though..."
A single red line had appeared on Marina's cheek.
A Kirin horn protruding from the ground. Mei had extended a horn from her right hand, stabbed it into the earth, and waited for Marina to approach before launching her attack.
"...Even I have a trump card. Fredricks taught me. He said one should always keep a secret weapon in reserve."
Retracting the horn, Mei performed a flip on the spot and transformed into a Kirin.
From a petite girl to a large, scaled horse. A golden mane and sharp horns extended from her forehead. Simultaneously, golden branched horns grew, extending backward.
Instead of the ground, she created a foothold in the air and landed, as purple lightning crackled around her more intensely than ever before.
"Now, shall we begin!"
Kicking off the air, Mei charged toward Marina. Unable to dodge in time, Marina decided to cross her gauntlets to block Mei's attack.
However, upon impact, she was sent flying, crashing into a tree and knocking down several others before finally stopping. Marina was embedded in a giant tree, her body battered.
"You're sturdy. Normally, you'd be mince."
Mei was exasperated by Marina's durability, yet impressed. In her original non-humanoid form, she could exert this much power.
Then, while still embedded in the tree, Marina began to laugh toward the sky.
"Aha, ahahaha!!"
Had she gone mad? As Mei watched, thinking this, Marina's body began to change once again.
"...The third stage, I suppose? Fine, I'll play along."
Mei observed Marina's condition. Her outer coat burst apart, and her muscles swelled so much that her shirt became tight. The injured parts—and even the broken bones—regenerated rapidly.
Her boots were blown off, and the belts of her gauntlets and greaves snapped and fell to the ground, sinking into the earth as if they were heavier than they looked.
"Hmph!"
Just as it seemed she had become a monster with growing body hair, she was suddenly enveloped in flames, and Marina erupted in fire. Emerging from the flames was not the monster from before, but a well-balanced beastman—taller than the usual Marina.
Intelligence could be felt in her eyes, and she further reinforced her physical body with magic. She placed a hand on her neck and rotated it, making a cracking sound.
She was dressed only in trousers and a shirt.
"You look quite good now."
At Mei's words, Marina laughed.
"Right? You absolutely have to pass through the second stage. Usually, by the time you get there, the opponent is dead and it's over. But only when you realize you can't win do you regain your reason. This skill is great――I can actually enjoy the fight. It doesn't just end before I realize it!"
Marina leaped, closing the distance to Mei in an instant. However, Mei lowered her body and attempted to stab Marina with her horn.
But Marina was smiling, and despite lacking her reliable gauntlets, she made no move to dodge.
At the moment it seemed she would be pierced――.
"――Look, you're wide open."
Twisting her body in mid-air, Marina left a scratch on Mei's flank with her sharp claws. The scales were pierced, grazing the flesh, and red blood flowed.
Leaping skillfully through the trees, Marina seemed to have decided to wear Mei down with hit-and-run tactics. Just as one might think she lacked a decisive blow...
"Tch!"
Mei dashed into the sky. As she passed Marina, Mei saw her slam her foot into the ground, creating a crater.
Perhaps she had more power than in her mindless state, but the way the earth was gouged was abnormal.
A massive crater had been formed just for Marina. From the crater, which exceeded ten meters in diameter, Marina looked up at the sky and leaped to close in on Mei.
Moving her body freely in the air, she punched Mei and then kicked her away.
She didn't seem human.
As she was blown away, Mei created a foothold in the air to recover her posture. Marina, falling back down, laughed upon seeing Mei.
"Little girl... you're not all that. At this rate, the dragons were stronger."
Among monsters, the dragon race held a specific significance. They were counted among the strongest of all monsters, and defeating a dragon was the image of the hero that children longed to be.
Moreover, Marina was a solo adventurer. To slay a dragon alone made her a human who could truly be called a monster.
Mei spoke.
"...A Dragon Killer, huh. But do you really think I've never fought someone like that?"
Mei's body began to emit light――.
――That was where the mercenary group's rear guard was located.
Tents had been set up, and nearby, adventurers were excitedly looking at the Valkyries' equipment that had been brought in.
Blacksmiths and those with other jobs were extremely busy maintaining the broken armaments.
In one of the tents, the Valkyries, stripped of their equipment, had been thrown in. Those recovered by the mercenary group were tossed aside in a heap.
The Valkyries recovered by adventurer parties were lined up neatly. Even among fellow adventurers, there was a difference in treatment.
Into such a tent entered a pair of adventurers.
The two had poor equipment. They were laborers for the mercenary group, and it seemed they had come to the tent while stealing a glance at their surroundings.
"Hey, if we take some of their parts back, they'll sell for a high price, right?"
"I heard earlier that a famous blacksmith made them. So it wouldn't be strange if they sold for a lot."
The pair could not be called very bright. When they saw the sight of the Valkyries, piled up like they were in their underwear, they gulped.
"H-hey."
"Yeah, you're right. No one will notice if we use them. Let's pick out some in good condition and enjoy ourselves a bit."
The two, who received only meager pay, didn't even have money to visit brothels. And the beautiful Valkyries, who were like raw flesh except for their arms and legs, were an irresistible presence to them. Ignored by their peers and mocked by female adventurers, the two pulled out one Valkyrie.
"T-this one looks good, doesn't it?"
"Then I'll take this one――"
As he said this and reached out, his arm was grabbed by the suddenly moving arm of the Valkyrie.
"――Eh?"
Grabbed, then crushed. Perhaps because it happened in an instant, the man was left stunned, unable to comprehend it. The eyes of the piled-up Valkyries opened, and as their red eyes emitted light, they began to move in swarms within the dim tent.
Some had necks turned in impossible directions.
Some were battered, with swords and spears piercing their bodies.
The Valkyries, whose arms and legs remained attached perhaps because the method of removal was unknown, stood up with awkward movements and attacked the pair before them.
Attacked by several units, the pair lost their lives without even being able to scream.
"...T-time... is..."
"Body movement... as expected... fluid inside... body..."
"Damia... n... Professor and... Master Ratata... re-pair..."
Making grinding sounds and moving eerily, the Valkyries produced metal cylinders hidden inside their arms to carry out their scheduled actions.
From those, they took out tubular tools filled with gunpowder.
"...East Branch... survivors... exist"
"Some... let... escape"
Clatter, clank... The Valkyries, who had been piled up as if entwined inside the tent, stood up one by one and headed outside.
Night.
On schedule, the Valkyries began to move.
Lighting the bombs in their hands, they blew up locations where important supplies were kept and attacked the adventurers. The place where the mercenary group and adventurers gathered quickly became a hellscape.
Adventurers began to flee in terror from the Valkyries, who continued to move even when pierced by weapons or burned by magic――.
――Sensing the anomaly, the commander looked back.
He felt as though he had heard a strange sound.
A subordinate nearby, while watching the mages cast magic in the same pattern as before to conquer the third fortress, said
"Oh, the other side has come up with countermeasures. I guess they've gotten used to it over the last few days."
Hearing the words of his laughing subordinate, the commander placed a hand on his chin.
A few days.
For the past few days, Marina had been fighting the Kirin. Since getting close meant being caught in the crossfire, he had definitely ordered surveillance from a distance.
Since the Kirin didn't flee, it was undoubtedly related to Liel's group. And after taking the first fortress, they had prepared sufficiently and conquered the second fortress.
By the time they started on the third, the opponent had seemingly seen through the mercenary group's tactics and established countermeasures.
"...Still, they sure can endure."
Not only magic barriers, but they were using magic tailored to each attack. Against water, they manifested ice to kill the momentum, and the rocks stopped right where the ice was destroyed.
Fire also seemed ineffective, no matter how many times they tried, it was blocked.
Repeating such actions, only time passed. The commander intended to wait for the opponent to exhaust themselves. After all, they had the advantage in numbers.
He thought it would be enough to let them endure until they were tired, and then overrun them. However, the leader reached his limit first.
"Isn't this strange? It's true that everything has been too smooth until now, but we've stalled here. Is it usually like this?"
For those who specialized in labyrinths and didn't work like mercenaries, they tended to prioritize information and conquest methods over the situation on the ground. Even if it seemed wasteful at a glance, they hated actions that weren't efficient, even if they were necessary.
"Then do you have any good ideas?"
"The attack is too monotonous. Why not try a more effective method? If ice comes out... just burn it with fire."
The adventurer party believed they would receive a satisfying amount of money by obtaining the Valkyries. But the commander was different.
To maintain a large-scale group, a small surplus was not enough. If they burned everything with fire, they might lose the important treasures as well.
"Rejected. We wait for the opponent to tire out like this."
The leader shrugged. Seeing that, the commander grew irritated. He thought that adventurers who didn't know the battlefield should keep their mouths shut.
As his irritation grew, the resistance from Liel's group became unlike anything they had faced before.
"Damn it, it's like attacking a fortified fortress. Are there really only a few dozen of them?"
The subordinate who had been listening to the commander's words laughed.
"Well, they'll hit their limit eventually. Isn't it about time they got tired?"
Since they showed no such signs, the commander couldn't help but feel an unpleasant premonition.
――A human form.
It was Mei, transformed into an adult woman whose arms and thighs were wrapped in blue scales.
Swaying her long golden hair, her form with golden horns was a fusion of human and beast.
Ironically, it was the same as the pinnacle of Marina's skill.
They punched and kicked each other, blowing each other away, being blown away――.
It was like a battle between non-humans.
Unlike the ecstatic Marina, Mei was perfectly calm.
"Isn't this great, little girl! That form is just like mine!"
With both of them colliding in a state where their power and speed limiters were removed, the surrounding forest was left in a wretched state.
However, seeing the places burning as night fell, Mei let out a sigh.
"...Well, I think I'll end this now."
Though she said 'I', Mei, who had become more bewitching than her usual human form, had also grown in height. Because her usual clothes were cute, she looked sexy in this form.
Looking at Marina, Mei spoke.
"It was fun. But as expected, you're not enough, big sister... I've fought at least four people like you before. This is the fifth time."
Marina kicked off the ground, and Mei kicked off the air, charging straight at each other. Marina twisted her body and unleashed a kick.
Against a kick that seemed capable of slicing through the air itself, Mei combined human martial arts and charged straight forward.
Upon impact, the surrounding air shook, and Marina was slammed into the ground.
It was an elbow attack intended to pierce, but she couldn't pierce Marina.
"...It was my special move, but I'll praise you for not dying."
As her body slowly shrank back into human form, Marina looked at Mei and laughed.
"K-kill me."
She seemed satisfied. She was a warrior who was selfish to the end, feeling she had no more regrets.
Mei also slowly returned to her small human form, emitting sparkling light around her. Returning to her usual self, Mei yawned.
"Sorry. You're from the East Branch, so I won't kill you. I fought with the intent to kill, but you really were strong, big sister."
When the smiling Mei said that, Marina closed her eyes with an expression of utter confusion――.