Queen's Blade Unlimited Story: Chapter 5-1e(1)

While Elina is on her way, Catt and Alle inch closer to Echidna's lair...?

Enjoy!

Two Beautiful Fighters (1)

“Amazing.”
Cattleya noted her admiration as she chased after Alleyne. The tropical rainforest made the road quite difficult to walk on during the rainy season, and that’s why Alleyne was moving through the top of the trees--people called them tree crowns--as if she was flying.
The elf kept choosing the shortest, less difficult path. She rushed ahead, using branches that both hadn’t gotten too wet and were strong enough not to break even if two people stood on them.
From Cattleya’s perspective, it was like the forest was making a way for Alleyne.
“You are quite good as well, being able to follow me.”

The elf decided the way carefully, while stealing a glance backwards every once in a while to confirm Cattleya followed.
Rana, normally around his mother, was nowhere to be seen. To convince him to stay in the shop, Cattleya had needed to explain Alleyne couldn’t afford to waste any time.
If Echidna got serious, she wouldn’t mind taking Rana hostage without hesitation. And in that case, Cattleya would only be a liability.
“We have to finish this and go back soon, for Rana’s sake too.”
“Forgive me, I should have taken that into consideration.”
“Please don’t worry about it.”
“Just having you come, Miss Cattleya, is reassuring enough.”

It was quite formidable for Cattleya to consistently maintain a distance where they could converse. It was clear her name being among the best bets for the title of Queen’s Blade winner wasn’t only for show.
“If it had been just me alone, I wouldn’t have known where Echidna was.”
“We are the same in that regard.”
The talisman that stored the message had been left in Cattleya’s store. As soon as Alleyne had seen the plea for help from Michel—the boy who had been kidnapped and imprisoned by Echidna—she had quickly started taking action.
The blacksmith had also joined in, not only because Rana had asked her to, but because as a mother, she just couldn’t ignore a boy going through such a hard time.
It was widely known that besides her fame as a blacksmith, Cattleya was also a beautiful fighter with an extremely high ability.

As far as Alleyne was concerned, she didn’t know what the outcome of a fight alone with Echidna would be; their abilities were about even. Still, she had to set her straight, and was prepared to risk falling in battle if it meant taking the wild elf with her.
However, the situation had drastically changed with Cattleya’s assistance. That’s why, they wouldn’t be relying on a Queen’s Blade battle this time; they had to remove the one versus one factor from the equation.
[Echidna is sharp. She’ll quickly see she’s in a disadvantage here, and won’t try to challenge us. After all, she has this so-called ‘undefeated legend’ to uphold, and fighting battles she can’t win is not the way to do that. When she sees us come together, she’ll get the situation in an instant.]
“Hm…”
Alleyne stopped walking, having found something in the direction they were heading.

“What’s wrong?”
The elf silently pointed in front of them.
A serpent-like figure was there. Only, it wasn’t just a snake; it was a magical creature with metal scales shining in silver.
“Those are Echidna’s eyes.”
“Which means, our destination is close, isn’t it?”
“Seems so.”
[That said, I don’t plan on giving Echidna any time to prepare. The minute she notices us coming, she’ll call for reinforcements, and things could get messy.
Ideally, we’d rather stay under the radar as long as we can.]
“Let’s stop talking from this point on.”
 
***
 
Irma was leading the two, both hands by her waist. Usually, there’d be a distance of several days by foot to the rocky mountain where Echidna was located.
“Is this really the right way?”
“If you doubt it, how about checking it yourself?”
Irma couldn’t separate the hands from her waist due to a certain measure Elina had taken; while the assassin was restrained by Melona, unable to move, the Vance daughter had cut off both ends of her underwear. That way, unless she held it with both hands, she’d end up exposing her lower half defenselessly. As long as Irma felt shame, she wouldn’t be able to remove her hands.
At first Elina thought it wouldn’t work on Echidna’s disciple, but the moment she saw the other blush and scramble to hold her underwear, she knew her strategy had been successful.
[I’ve heard she also is Echidna’s lover... but she might be unexpectedly pure.]

The blue-haired girl stopped in her tracks.
“Did we arrive?”
“No, not yet. But…”
She gestured forward with her chin.
“What?”
Elina and Melona saw a huge muddy stream in front of them.
“There was a bridge here, but it seems it’s been washed away.”
“And other roads?”
“There are none.”
Irma declared, flatly. If she were to speak the truth, there were places further upstream where one could cross the river... but she was in no hurry to tell them.

“We’ll have to wait until rainy season is over. Give up and go to a nearby town.”
Elina moved before the other had even finished talking.
“Melona, you know what to do.”
“Yeah, yeah, my friend’s a slave driver, isn’t she.”
Melona’s body stretched like a rope, shooting off to the opposite shore.
“Y-You’re insane…”
“I get that all the time~”
Her body grabbed the tall trees on the other side, then spread thin, making a bridge.
“I did it~. But, I might not be able to keep it up for long.”
“Meaning, we have to hurry up.”
Elina urged Irma on. It seems they weren’t as easy to stop as the assassin initially thought.
“You really are terribly useful, aren’t you.”
“Nishishi, you can’t be without me anymore, can you?”
 
***