The mustachoed Leina (man, a pic of her like this would be hilarious :3) starts fighting the new threat!?
Enjoy!
“Should I do some warmin’ up now?”
Changing the subject - and slipping back into her cover - Leina swung her favorite sword a couple times, making sure her disguise didn’t interfere with her body’s movements.
“It’s surprisingly easy to move in.”
The loose costume didn’t constrain her movements, and it stored cool air without sticking to the skin.
“This might come in handy in the summer.”
Little skin exposure meant less chance of sunburn. It was quite the modest attire to the eyes.
“It might do the trick, but maybe you don’t need the mustache after all?”
“No. Desert men have mustaches!”
Trying not to laugh at the sight of Leina’s mustached face, Fio’s gaze ended directed at the night sky.
“Huh?”
He could clearly see a blue star in the moonlight sky.
[No, that’s not a star. Rather, it’s something flying slowly through the sky, leaving a bluish trail.]
“Looks like something’s flying over there...”
Leina’s eyes joined his.
“What’s that?”
“It sure isn’t a star.”
As they continued their leisurely conversation, the luminous point only grew bigger.
“Fio, hide!”
The heiress shouted, grasping her sword.
[Its speed is faster than I thought. At that rate, it’ll get here within seconds!]
The Vance girl didn’t take her eyes away from the looming light, glaring at it to confirm its nature. It seemed to be something in the shape of a person flying.
“That’s the devil, right?”
The silhouette’s head—resembling a cat—matched the description she had gotten from Lala.
“Here he comes?”
The devil remained silent, landing in front of Leina while releasing a pale light from his buttocks. At the same time, a gust of wind came and made her clothes flap.
Once the gust vanished, they were able to see his shape under the moonlight. His figure had the head of a cat and a black, shiny body. Round globes reminiscent of ears swelled out of him, with screw-like eyes inside. Strangest of all was the white teeth gleaming in his sturdy row of teeth.
“The messenger from the Amara dynasty, Devil Setra, crashes your party!”
He loudly proclaimed, white teeth shining under the moon.
“Devil Setra!”
Leina called out to him, in a deliberately deep voice.
“You fiend, I’ll make you return all the people you took away!”
The blonde clenched the sword she was holding, looking up at the giant body.
“Huuh? Who are you?”
Devil Setra looked down at her, moonlight only emphasizing that body radiating with a metal luster.
The screw-like slits that seemed to be acting as his eyes shone in a strange bluish black color.
“I have no name to give to a monster.”
With those words, Leina charged at him, thrusting with her sword.
[There’s no dodging at this distance.]
*Slaash!*
[That gave off a response...]
However, the feeling was different than she expected. Something had blocked her sword before it reached the devil.
“What!?”
The blonde exclaimed in surprise.
“Can’t be...”
What had caught the sword was a dog-headed sand doll that hadn’t been there until just an instant ago.
“Attacks at me art meaningless.”
The surface of the sand doll changed from rough sand to the smooth fur of a beast.
Leina removed her sword right away, as alarm bells went through her head.
[What should I do?]
It wasn’t the kind of situation one could handle in the spur of the moment.
[Should I observe his moves? Or should I run away?]
“Kinda late, Mister Nubia.”
The metal devil scolded the sand doll with the dog head.
“My apologies, Lord Setra. Re-amassing took time.”
Copies of the same sand doll that had caught her sword began spawning all around the oasis.
“Guess we don’t got a choice. This far, not even Milady’s curse will reach...”
The devil and the sand doll ignored the Vance warrior, and kept on with their conversation.
“Well, it should be fine. This is a female warrior, as Milady wants for tonight.”
“By your will!”
Nubia, the sand dolls with dog heads, replied all at once.
Leina was appalled to notice she was being ignored.
The hand holding the sword trembled, seeing the overwhelming difference in power.
[My sword might not work on that devil made of metal. Besides, a sand doll came to help my opponent. I'll have to rethink my strategy.]
“Leina, use that. You know, *that*!”
The blonde was taken aback by Fio’s voice.
“I thought I told you to hide!”
She shouted back at him, forgetting about her disguise.
“You can probably beat them with *that*!”
Fio shouted, then laid his hands on a nearby tree and climbed up it. Fortunately, he wasn’t bad at climbing trees.
There were stories of the ancient Amara dynasty having cast a curse on the sand itself to secure an army; that might be the origin behind the dog-headed sand doll Nubia. If those legends were true, a sword with the power to break curses and purify wraiths would be an advantage over Nubia. Just like the time they banished the lower spirits—Airi’s servants—back in Sheldan’s underground.
“Haan, so there was no need to look for one?”
The devil, who had been ignoring her so far, now set his eyes on the Vance girl.
“Female warrior spotted!”
Nubia’s party moved together to surround her.
“Hey... are you any strong?”
“Want to test me?”
[This fight is nothing like Queen’s Blade. For starters, it’s not even one-on-one. If so, I may as well use the serenading sword I forbade myself from using.]
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