[This is okay.]
After confirming that Fio had begun running towards the hall, Nowa made the circle in her rod rotate even further. Until her little magic power ran out, the holy sound generated by it should be an effective strike against wraiths.
[Now’s when I have to use my trump card. If Fio can’t restore the spirit tree, everything will be over.
Although there’s no guarantee that the councilors are at the hall right now, it should be better than just keeping him here. He might even meet Captain there.
That’s why I have to defeat Airi here.]
“I won’t run away. It’s my time to fight here!”
Nowa screamed, reminding herself of her determination. Joining her, Lou let out a war cry.
“Unfortunately, I have no time to play with you, but...”
The maid warned her, summoning lesser spirits.
“If it helps dispel your anxiety, I can fight you just this once.”
Dim spirit orbs floated around her as she gripped the scythe more strongly.
“Forest Keeper Nowa.”
It might not be a preliminary, but the half-elf introduced herself again. It was a kind of ceremony to ensure one’s readiness towards the battle.
“Since you introduced yourself, it is only polite that I follow.”
Taking a suitable distance from the girl by slipping on the air corridor, the redhead raised her weapon.
“Infernal Temptress Airi.”
Following her self-introduction, the orbs integrated into the maid’s weapon. In the blink of an eye, it changed into a scythe of death with a pale glow.
“Let’s go, Lou!”
Making a signal to her partner riding on her shoulder, she kicked up the air corridor and jumped into the railing.
Even one misstep on the railing would make her fall headlong into the far bottom. However, succeeding in a first attack from an unexpected direction would take the wind from her foe’s sails.
“Captain’s Teachings #48: betray your opponent’s expectations!”
Nowa approached the maid, running through the handrail as if walking on a tightrope. Fighting on the air corridor as they were, footing was limited, and the directions they could attack from were limited as well.
[She surely won’t be expecting me to attack from the side. The reward should match the risk.]
Putting her whole strength into it, Nowa released a side blow.
“How about becoming an acrobat?”
Without looking at the girl, she moved the scythe to parry the blow.
“Did you see this coming?”
“I will tell you only one thing.”
As she talked, the redhead casually swung with the weapon clad in a faint shine.
“I don’t have only one set of eyes.”
The orbs drifting around her came close to her ear in turns, whispered something to her and then left.
“I see, if that’s the case...”
Nowa rotated the circle more intensely. The high-pitched sound, now outside the range a normal person would hear, blew away the orbs as if a strong wind had come.
“That item IS quite troublesome.”
That sound, a ward against evil, might work against otherworldly creatures, but it seemed the half-elf couldn’t hope for it to have much of an effect on a bigwig like Airi.
“This makes it one on one.”
“Oh my? Would you not say two on one?”
Without moving her feet, she turned toward the girl.
“Lou is one, mind and body, with me!”
*Kiki!*, he agreed, perched on her shoulder.
“Is that how it is!?”
Airi swung down her raised scythe.
[It’s not hard to deal with attacks I can see.]
Nowa raised her rod overhead, repelling the other.
An ordinary foe would lose her balance, but the maid brilliantly twisted her upper body, and using the recoil, swung her weapon again, now aimed at mowing down the other’s feet.
Nowa dodged the attack like usual however, and jumped back.
“Hyauh!”
Having focused too much on the fight, she committed the blunder of jumping back from the railing… and gave a scream when she saw she had nowhere to land.
And she was on her way to die from the fall.
[Captain’s Teachings #4: Always be aware of your surroundings.]
‘Don’t give up! Fight!’
Her captain’s rebuking voice sounded inside her mind.
[She’s right, it’s too early to give up.]
Nowa stuck out her staff, and as if he had been waiting for it, Lou ran towards its tip. Despite it having been just that motion, her center of gravity shifted considerably, and Nowa’s falling body started to rise.
“You really do make for a splendid acrobat.”
Seeing the skillful way she had changed the direction of her fall by cooperating with Lou, Airi couldn’t help but admire how her opponent had managed to remain on the edge of the corridor.
“But, I will not be holding back.”
The redhead’s scythe aimed at Nowa’s hand. The orange girl stepped back, her skirt fluttering, and got to a suitable distance.
This time around, her boots made a satisfying sound as they hit the corridor.
“I won’t hold back either!”
Nowa raised her rod up high, and from the very limit of the range of Airi’s scythe, swung it down. If it hit, it would be a deadly bash; however, such a big swing with plenty of openings was a double-edged sword.
“How naïve.”
As if the attack she had aimed at the other’s hand was a feint, the maid jumped forward at the retreating Nowa, keeping a close distance.
[She’s so fast!]
Without any footsteps, the scythe of the wraith gliding through the air crept under the girl’s feet.
“Kuh!”
The half-elf managed to dodge the blade by a paper-thin difference, but unable to absorb the backlash from her own downswing, she clumsily ended up falling on her backside.
“Auh!”
She let out a small scream when her small butt hit the corridor’s floor hard.
“Hurry and hide that unsightly appearance.”
Airi frowned upon the sight of Nowa sitting down with her legs spread open.
“I respect the culture of other races, but I shall not respect showing no modesty.”
The girl hurried to close her legs, and jumped back again.
“Only with the power of your ankles?”
The maid did notice that brilliant jump with no preliminary motion. It was but a casual movement if one had the physical ability and a light, flexible body that the half-elf possessed.
Nowa jumped into the air, and looked at the foe under her while rotating her rod.
After failing in her first attack, she was at a loss on how to proceed. She had been successful in backing away from the hall once and again, but she didn’t seem able to turn the situation in her favor.
“What should I do in this case again?”
Her whisper made Lou scold her: “Ki-Ki!”
He seemed to be saying: ‘don’t stop’.
[Rather than overthinking it, I should be turning to attack.
Captain’s Teachings #6: Don’t think, feel.]
Musing about her captain’s teachings, Nowa stuck out the rod right in front of her, towards the maid who approached without making a sound.
The direct hit transmitted a good response to her, plus Airi let out a yelp of agony, her stockings torn.
[I hit her!]
Joy showed all over her face.
[If I can keep up this rhythm, I might grasp victory.]
Encouraged by the result, the girl thrust in rapid succession.
“You are fairly strong.”
Avoiding the rod that kept attacking without a break, the redhead took half a step back.
Letting the stalemate continue for long wasn’t a desirable situation for Airi either.
“Let us finish this soon.”
She took a deep breath, and extended her left hand towards Nowa.
*Woosh!*
The girl’s eyes clearly saw those fingers, turned into transparent tentacles, closing in. Wraiths had no body temperature, so they always looked a shade colder than their surroundings.
“It’s me who will finish this!”
The tip of the rod fiercely knocked down Airi’s fingers.
“Ouch!”
Turning to offense, the orange girl went on to release a side blow, aiming at the other’s feet. If she could stop those feet that floated in the air, it would no doubt work to her advantage.
“You suddenly cheered up, didn’t you?”
The maid parried the staff—approaching with a sound of cutting wind—, and stretched her tentacles again. The only way she could avoid losing stamina during a prolonged battle was by frequently absorbing her opponent’s essence.
“If I had known this, I should have made sure to absorb essence from the elves like Hell Scream did!”
Indifferent to the other’s complaints, Nowa knocked down the looming tentacles again with a steely composure, and made a huge jump at the sky by using her staff.
Looking up at the jumping girl, all Airi could see was the light of the sun filling her view.
“I got you!”
With the sun on her back, Nowa forcefully brought her rod down on her foe’s head.
“Kyauh!”
With a cute-like cry, the maid wildly staggered for a moment, to end up collapsing in the air corridor.
[Keep this up!]
The half-elf raised her rod, intent on delivering the coup the grace.
***
[Rather than trees, these are more like mountains.]
Following the pulse she felt from the Sword of the Unicorn sandwiched in her cleavage, Leina ran up all the way to the tree city. Maybe due to her having become lighter due to Melona’s solution melting her armor, she wasn’t as tired as she expected to be.
She also had to thank the Sword for not having fatigue.
“How far should I go up?”
As she climbed the huge spiral staircase surrounding the huge trees that made up the tree city, she strained her ears; she had faintly heard a voice full of fighting spirit below her.
“Nowa?”
In that tree city invaded by wraiths, the only ones screaming could be themselves.
Leina ran towards the voice.
Halfway round a huge tree, an air corridor came into her view. Apparently she had taken a wrong turn somewhere on her way up and had climbed too much.
“I figure there are times when this just fails.”
She whispered towards the Sword in her chest, and tightened the cloth around her chest so the serenading blade didn’t shift around any further.
In turn, the Sword throbbed. It seemed Fio was okay.
“I have to hurry and join them.”
Leina looked towards the air corridor under her. A black shadow had huddled together in the corner of the corridor connecting the gigantic trees.
It seemed Nowa was surrounded by wraiths.
[She’s outnumbered, I have to rush to her as soon as I can!
But, how should I get there? I can’t afford to go back to the path.]
Looking around, she saw a vine hanging from the branches of a tree. The vine’s thickness seemed to be thicker than a normal rope’s.
“I should give it a try.”
From the side road she was on, she jumped out to the branch.
***
“This is it!”
Numerous shadows welled up, surrounding the half-elf with the raised weapon. They were more horrifying beings than the spirit orbs under Airi’s control; they were Hell Scream’s subordinates, the wraiths that had invaded the forest, now appearing to protect the maid.
“What are you doing?”
The redhead asked them with a voice full of anger and a gaze to match. It was the second time they had hindered her fight.
“No matter what orders Hell Scream gave you, I will not allow you to get in my way.”
Airi threatened them.
“That’s…”
“This wasn’t an order from Lord Hell Scream.”
“We were under instructions of joining you, Lady Airi, should he fall.”
That’s what the wraiths said, unanimously.
[Did something happen to Hell Scream? It couldn’t have been the young master, could he…?
No, that would have been too fast.]
“You are to withdraw. I am in the middle of fighting that girl.”
The moment the wraiths surrounding Nowa tried to comply with her order, something from above—obscured by the sun—fell directly into the air corridor.
“Teeiyaaaaaaaaaaah!”
*Bam!*, went a terrible vibration that shook the whole air corridor, together with that scream full of vigor.
“Who goes!?”
Airi pushed out her scythe towards the fallen figure.
Misunderstanding that as a signal, the wraiths pounced all at once on the newly arrived woman.
She, in turn, didn’t hesitate in pulling out a sword from her breast and swinging it horizontally, ready to mow down the approaching wraiths.
As she pulled the sword from her cleavage, her breasts shook violently up and down. By the time they started shaking left and right (matching her swinging motion), the wraiths had already vanished in a dim glow.
“It’s been a while, Airi.”
The one standing up gallantly was Leina, with the Sword of the Unicorn in hand—the weapon that had made the wraiths vanish in an instant.
“Kuh!”
Airi instinctively backed down. That Sword was one of the few weapons that could deal her a fatal injury.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Nowa. Let’s defeat them quickly, then hurry up ahead.”
***
As Nowa and Airi fought behind him, Fio ran towards the assembly hall. The air corridor connecting the huge trees was very long, but without anything in his way, it wasn’t a hard distance to run.
He finished crossing it in the time it took him to get some well-deserved mouthfuls of air, and when a green door appeared before his eyes, he pushed with such force he tumbled into the hall with the momentum.
“Uwah! Wo-o-o-o-oah!”
His balance completely lost, he almost fell down when he opened the door. When he stretched his fingertips to try and break his fall, he touched something soft: *boing*.
“Eh?”
That soft thing had absorbed the impact. A gentle smell of herbal plants tickled Fio’s nose.
“Are you okay?”
When he heard the voice of a dignified woman, he realized she was holding him in her arms.
“Yeah… I-I’m fine.”
“Good, that’s a relief.”
Saying so, the woman slowly let go of him.
Her costume was based on green, and although it looked modest enough for an elf, its feminine nature was strongly emphasized due to it.
For example, her waist: with only a fabric of short length and a belt wrapped around, it gave the impression like one would have a wardrobe malfunction when doing any intense motions.
Echidna only wore a snake, Nowa went commando; confused by the difference in aesthetics between elves, he couldn’t take his eyes off the waist of the female fighter in front of him.
“I am Alleyne, the captain who protects this forest.”
As if ignoring his gazes, she took a bow on one knee about three steps in front of him.
Fio kept a watchful eye on the inside of the exposed thighs. When he saw underwear in a shade reminiscent of green leaves, he gave a sigh, hard to tell if disappointed or relieved though.
“May I hear your name?”
Along her words, the stares from the elves trapped in the hall focused on him.
Feeling their gazes mixed with different emotions—confusion as if appraising him, enthusiasm as if worshiping him, apathy—, Fio puffed up his chest.
“Fiotiel Shelagleed. Upon the request of the Forest Keeper Nowa, I came to save the spirit tree to repay the favor I owe her.”
His words stirred up the hall.
“Ooh, sir Fio, will you save us?”
“We are thankful for the ancient covenant.”
The elven elders unanimously spoke words of gratitude.
“What ancient covenant?”
The boy asked the closest elf.
“Ooh, it is so pitiful… to part with your memories always is.”
“It is no wonder; taking the shape of a person must have been a burden on him.”
The place was surrounded by a buzz once again.
“Err…”
The dancer couldn’t help frowning at their strange behavior. If they got like this with a few of his words, he wondered how long this would all take.
“Sir Fio, my apologies.”
When he heard the captain, he put a hand to his brow and massaged it, as if smoothing his wrinkles. She seemed to be the only normal one here.
“Miss Alleyne, I want to go to the spirit tree, can you guide me?”
“The spirit tree?”
“With my power, we might be able to restore the spirit tree’s vitality.”
“If that is true, I would gladly guide you there, however...”
Alleyne glanced at the elves gathered there, Mother Elder included.
The spirit tree was the most secret place in the elven forest. Even in an emergency, it wasn’t a place where other races would be readily allowed in.
“His power is genuine, Alleyne.”
On behalf of the council, the elder chief walked to the boy’s side.
“A-Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”
He bent down a bit to talk to the elf girl, shorter than he was.
“My apologies, it’s all because of this abominable collar.”
She pointed to the collar fitted on her neck.
“Can’t you take it off?”
Alleyne shook her head.
“Unfortunately, it contains a strong curse…”
As he listened to her words, he looked carefully at the neck of the girl in front of him, and gestured at her to lift her chin.
“Wha?”
She reflexively screamed seeing his action.
“H-How rude! Do you know who she is?”
Even if he didn’t, to issue an order by gesturing to the chief of the elven forest—she who governed the council—wasn’t something they could easily overlook.
“Do not mind it, Alleyne. Sir Fio has lost his memories.”
Despite the other’s indignation, the girl slowly raised her chin.
“Would this be okay?”
“Yup, I can see it better now.”
He reached for Mother Elder’s collar, and casually pulled it out before the captain could stop him.
“Is this fine?”
Both Alleyne and the elder were stunned, seeing him with the collar in his hand.
“This came off too easily. Does it only affect elves?”
He asked the captain, his fingers toying with the collar.
“I don’t know if it’s a curse, but since I could remove this one, I can remove the rest straight away.”
His words rustled the elves in the hall anew.
“In exchange, bring me to the spirit tree.”
“Thank you very much, sir Fio.”
The girl made a deep bow, and looked at Alleyne, by Fio’s side.
“Alleyne, take sir Fio down to the spirit tree.”
“Yes, Mother Elder.”
“Sir Fio, that one is still a virgin, she will not become a bother to you.”
“Err, Mother Elder?”
He tentatively addressed the girl kneeling in front of him. Regardless of her appearance, she seemed to be the one calling the shots there.
“What is it, sir Fio?”
“You seem to know about me, but how much do you know?”
She seemed to be quite well-informed, not only about the ancient covenant, but also about his own power.
“I can tell you enough to make up for your lost memories, sir Fio.”
She bowed again.
“Can you tell me when I go back from the spirit tree?”
“I will be glad to, if you so wish.”
“Thanks. Now, even if it’s a bit shameless, I’d like to ask for a favor while I’m at it.”
He pointed to the crystal ball in the center of the hall. Reflected on it was Nowa fighting bravely against Airi.
“Won’t you send reinforcements for her?”
“That’s…”
Mother Elder fumbled for the right words. The elven counselors also kept quiet, waiting for her reply.
“Sir Fio, unfortunately, the only warrior we have here is Alleyne. With her leading you to the spirit tree, we can’t send any reinforcements.”
“Are you going to leave her in the lurch?”
“Sir Fio!”
Alleyne raised her voice, for a change.
“Nowa is the pupil of no one but me, the Captain. Casting doubt on her strength is the same as casting doubt on mine. She will certainly come out on top.”
Indeed, as the ball showed, she was keeping a good distance from the maid and was dominating the fight.
“Besides, it seems some reinforcements unrelated to us have just appeared.”
Fio smiled in spite of himself when he saw the figure of the warrior reflected in the ball; Leina had just shown up to save Nowa, Sword of the Unicorn in hand.
“Who is that?”
Mother Elder squinted at her. They couldn’t have the likes of humans entering the tree city.
“The Exiled Warrior Leina, she’s my partner.”
With Leina and the Sword backing her up, they wouldn’t have a hard time dealing with Airi.
“Is she your bodyguard, sir Fio?”
“Not my bodyguard, my partner. So, treat her the same way as me.”
“Understood. We will do as you say, sir Fio.”
“Nice.”
He nodded, satisfied, and looked at the other elders fitted with a similar collar as Mother Elder.
“Now, let’s do what I can before going to the spirit tree.”
***
“Saying that when it’s just the two of you on the attack, you must think me quite weak.”
Airi said, annoyed, sticking out her scythe at Leina.
“If you think so, want to try fighting?”
The blonde clutched her Sword. It was back to the size of a normal sword by now, but that posed no problem when dealing with wraiths.
“I am no longer in the mood.”
With a shrug of her shoulders, the maid sounded her heel as if sending some sort of signal. It was a pity that she couldn’t win against Nowa, but she wasn’t about to fight the Sword of the Unicorn.
“Ever since the beginning, I haven’t felt comfortable with this mission.”
A sigh mixed in with her murmur, and she drew back even further from Leina.
“What is your bidding?”
Countless wraiths gathered to surround the air corridor. Their numbers blotted out the sun, casting a shadow on the surroundings as if it was night.
All the wraiths that had invaded the elven forest were there.
“I-Isn’t this rather cowardly from you?”
The heiress’ voice trembled, her enthusiasm likely dampened with the overwhelming number of creatures.
“This is not a preliminary, there is no need to keep fighting one on one.”
The redhead snapped her fingers.
“Play with them as much as you like.”
No matter how excellent the Sword was against the wraiths, it was impossible for it to keep dealing with so many of them.
“As if we’ll just let you!”
Leina shouted, putting the Sword to her lips. The moment she—its owner—kissed the weapon, the shockwave it emitted blew away the wraiths… or that’s how it should have gone.
However, the wraiths calmly advanced, without incident.
[No sound is coming out!
Is this caused by the black ring that got attached in the fight against Melona?]
The Sword wasn’t producing the sound that drove away evil.
As if ridiculing the appalled Leina, the cold fingertips of the wraith touched her skin.
“Kuuh!”
Suppressing the scream that fought to rise through her throat, she swung the Sword. The evil spirit who got hit by pure luck disappeared in a pale flame.
“A truly… uninteresting job.”
Looking away from the blonde, who was being attacked by the horde of wraiths, Airi gave a sigh from the bottom of her heart, not finding the situation amusing in the least.
***
“That settles it.”
Fio removed the collar from the last one, and looked up at the crystal ball.
[I have to hurry. If I use the power only I have to resurrect the spirit tree soon, the members of the council will recover all at once, and we could pull a turnaround victory here.]
“Miss Alleyne, are you ready?”
The warrior nodded, resting her body on the staff as she was.
It seemed the exhaustion of the elves trapped in the hall was harsher than he had thought, Mother Elder included.
“Are you alright? Wouldn't it be better if I kissed you?”
According to the elder chief, she was the only maiden among all of them. Mother Elder knew his ability very well: he would suffer no exhaustion as long as he used his power on a virgin.
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m fine.”
Even as the captain said so, it was clear among all present that she was tired.
“Do receive his mercy, Alleyne.”
The warrior’s cheeks blushed when she heard the elder. Fio’s chest throbbed unintentionally with that unexpected gesture.
Imagining a kiss with that cool elf female warrior, his cheeks went red as well.
“B-But, Mother Elder… I…”
“It’s rather rude to demand what you’re imagining from sir Fio. Just think of it as some medicinal herb, close your eyes, and entrust your body to him.”
[My kiss is the same as a medicinal herb…?]
Even though he took issue with Mother Elders phrasing, it was true that if Alleyne recovered from her fatigue, her strength would definitely increase.
“What will you do? Can you guide me with unsteady steps? What if you encounter enemies along the way?”
The boy pressed the woman fiercely. He didn’t know where the spirit tree was; only the elves here and Alleyne could show him there.
Furthermore, it was only Alleyne who he could restore with his power. If he tried to restore any of the elders like the chief, he wouldn’t be able to move afterwards with the backlash—after all, removing the injuries from those who weren’t virgins would turn all the injuries and fatigue they felt into Fio’s.
The captain looked away from him for just a moment, then slowly bent her knees to level herself with his face.
“Please treat me well.”
The warrior closed her eyes, her body subtly shaking.
Fio overlapped his lips with hers, attracted by her red wet lips and her fine skin reminiscent of porcelain, unsuited for a warrior. His lips gently bouncing off those elastic lips of hers, his body reacted to the scent of plants tickling his nasal cavity.
“Guh!”
With the swelling reaction of his body came an acute pain at the part that was beginning to rise.
[This is no ordinary pain. This is a pain coming from my other half, the Sword of the Unicorn.]
He staggered away from Alleyne, and looked up at the crystal ball.
“What’s… going on…”
Reflected on the ball was Leina, struggling to get the Sword working yet unable to. Every time she tried to draw out the weapon’s power, a severe pain ran through his body, as if he was being cut by a sharp blade.
“Sir Fio?”
As he heard the voices of the elves, worried about him, the pain finally became too much to endure and he lost consciousness.
***
Her body reflexively quivered every time their cold hands touched her body.
“Kuh! Why you!”
The Sword of the Unicorn might have had its strongest ability against many wraiths at once—the holy sound—sealed, but direct blows from it were still able to vanquish them.
Even though she kept swinging her Sword, trying to drive away the looming creatures, she was outnumbered, and they moved around the blonde as if toying with her, poking her soft breasts and trained rump.
“Nowa!?”
“I’m, fine, over here!”
Rotating her rod behind her with bluring speed, Nowa was protecting herself by emitting the holy sound.
[We have to break out of this stalemate…]
Bearing the sensation of the uncanny fingers which fondled all over her body, Leina eagerly bade her time until the moment they could turn it around.
***
“A truly… uninteresting job.”
Airi sighed, resting her back on the railing of the air corridor.
[At this rate, both Leina and Nowa will get tired soon, and will fall prey to the wraiths.
It is regrettable that we couldn’t settle this in a Queen’s Blade’s battle, but there’s hardly anything I can do about that now.]
“Geez, don’t you look bored~”
A cheerful voice abruptly sounded at her feet. A pink liquid came spreading itself, like oozing out.
“What took you so long, Melona?”
“Well, that magic shishkebab was stronger than I thought.”
The peach-colored liquid trembled, taking the shape of a person.
“Oh my?”
Airi involuntarily smiled when she saw how Melona looked. Now in her human shape, it was like she was a child.
“Don’t you laugh. I’ll grow back to normal in no time.”
The slime girl sulked.
After growing beyond her limits due to the ultimate resilience of the Sword of the Unicorn, she had burst open like a balloon, unable to control her enormous body mass. A little carelessness and she might have been lost in the process, but in the nick of time, she somehow was able to secure enough volume to maintain her actual self.
“Do you have to get back to normal? You look cute enough this way.”
“Agh, it’s even more vexing when you say it, Airi.”
Melona turned her face away in a huff.
“Shall we go home now?”
The maid asked her, with downcast eyes.
[I succeeded in driving the stake through the spirit tree. There’s no point in staying here any longer.]
“That’s right~. I also succeeded in my mission of attaching the Devil Ring to the Sword of the Unicorn.”
Melona agreed.
“Devil Ring?”
“Yeah, that.”
Following Melona’s finger, Airi focused her consciousness on what the lesser spirits flying around Leina’s hands were seeing.
A jet-black ring was fitted on the handle part of the Sword of the Unicorn. Apparently, due to that ring, it couldn’t produce the holy sound.
“Now, my job is done, so I want to go back to the swamp and eat as much crayfish as I want. I get tired of eating nothing but salads.”
Melona said in a carefree tone, moving the tentacles fashioned after rabbit ears: *blip blop*.
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