Queen's Blade: Sword of the Unicorn, chapter 4-m

For the QB cosplay poll, "love it!" and "pretty good" won with 17v-50% and 14v-41%, with "meh" and "don't really like it..." trailing waaay behind with 2v-5% and 1v-2%, and no one voted for "not a fan at all!".
Hey, that's pretty good results! Guess they were on to something with that so-called Ko-rin project of theirs :D

Now, some Touhou poll, thanks to the Evil Overlord for bringing up the topic.

And we finish chapter 4 here! Basically only the epilogue missing now~
Also, technically the pic belongs to the battle in the previous part, but they were quite close together, weren't they now :3

Enjoy!




With Leina’s victory now secured, Fio allowed himself to collapse back onto the bed, a cold chill assaulting his body with intense force.
Whenever his other half caused a spirit orb to vanish, he felt their thoughts wash over him like a numbing chill but that… was nothing compared to when Airi disappeared. It felt as if his very soul had been yanked right from him.
He wouldn’t be surprised if he died by this point.
Not that he had any regrets, oddly enough. He’d finally made himself useful to Leina, so that was nice. It seemed only fair he staked his life for the partner who’d done it for him several times already after all. Feeling satisfied, he let his consciousness sink into a pit of darkness.

“You really gave it your all, kid.”
Gently patting the fainted boy’s head, Echidna slowly got up.
“Now then…”
The elf grinned, turning her eyes to the blond.
“How’s about we settle some business?”
[Looks like Leina got a little strong, I suddenly want to play with her now.]
Keeping that to herself for now, the mercenary instead tossed a pendant in Leina’s direction.
Sailing through the air, it flew straight for the blonde who caught it by reflex.
“Delivery complete.”

The pendant Leina held had a white tiger on it, the emblem of the Vance family.
“You won’t ever lack for food, clothing or shelter on your travels with that, will you?”
“Father…”
Leina whispered, before throwing the item back.
“I can’t accept it. I’m the Exiled Warrior, I don’t need the patronage of nobles.”
The dark elf silently nodded.
“Are you two quite done now?”
Having waited for the two to finish their exchange, Tomoe now called out to the elf.

“Oh right, I forgot you were here, Tomoe.”
“You ‘forgot’...?”
The priestess glared, hand on her sword.
“Naughty naughty, you’re just itching for another taste of my snake, aren’t you?”
Echidna vulgarly smirked, stroking the head of the serpent wrapped around her waist.
“Well, that suits Keltan just fine, he’s got fond memories of you too.”
“Wha-!? Do you honestly think I’ll allow you to have your disgusting way!?”
With a look like she was ready to kill, Tomoe challenged her, fury spilling from her voice.
“I mean, we could fight, but…”
Avoiding Tomoe’s killer gaze, the elf spun her fingertip.
“Everything’s about to collapse.”

*Rumble* The sound of the earth shaking reached their ears.
“Huh?”
“And getting buried alive isn’t really up my alley, so I’m outta here. See ya!”
The moment she said that, the elf dashed past Tomoe and bolted through the only exit with lightning speed.
“Wait! You accursed snake!”
“Ah, hold on, Tomoe!”
In the nick of time, Leina managed to restrain the foreigner before she could give chase.

“Don’t try to stop me!”
“I wasn’t planning on it, but I can’t handle all this by myself!”
“Mmh…”
The foreigner stopped to look between Leina’s armor--still lying on the floor--and the unconscious boy on the stone bed.
[He who chases two hares, catches none.]
Expecting her friend to leave behind her armor and flee with her breasts exposed would be beyond cruel.
“Understood, I’ll take Fifi.”

From the gaps on the cobblestone floor, hot steam began to rise.
The collapse coming ever closer, Tomoe swiftly carried the fainted boy on her back.
“Sorry, Tomoe.”
The heiress apologized, armor in hand.
She’d relied on Tomoe’s help so much already. She needed to make sure she paid back her debt in full.
“Let us focus on escaping for now.”
By this point, the tremors were more than just sounds, everywhere one looked the subterranean structure was cracked and the floors were bending.
At this rate, they really were looking at being buried alive.
“Got it! Hurry, Tomoe!”
“Likewise, Miss Leina! I won’t be looking back!”
Carrying the boy with them, they hurried back in the direction they came from.