[Stand up! Otherwise, everything will end.
Without having helped Fio.
Without having defeated the Master Swordswoman Maria, revived as a servant of the witch in the guise of a were-beast.
Without having participated in Queen’s Blade.
All would end here.
And I don’t want that.]
Leina stood up, hearing the scream her own body was letting out.
The repeated bruises made her body ache.
Without her armor or shield, there were no clothes to cover her half-naked body.
However, she couldn’t afford to let her cheeks blush in embarrassment; in front of her, the messenger of death was approaching. A were-beast with a body imitating the Master Swordswoman Maria, with the agility and the strength of a white tiger.
[How can I revive the memory of my mother Maria deep inside her? Is this even the same person my mother was in the first place?]
Just when she finally stood up, the beast’s claws bit into her neck.
“Gahah!”
She didn’t have the luxury of spending time to worry.
Bracing herself for an injury, she threw a kick at her foe.
“Gyafuh.”
The beast raised a short scream, her body staggering.
Momentarily free, Leina moved her hand to the neck, to the part that would have been torn apart by the claw.
“Huh?”
Yet, she couldn’t feel any scratches, nor any welt on her skin.
[What does this mean? I’ve been continuously attacked for the past while, but I have no noticeable wounds.]
Thanks to the strap left in her chest, the Sword of the Unicorn hadn’t fallen from her cleavage, though it had been close to at times.
[However, this phenomenon is different to the Sword’s healing power. In order to bring that one out, the weapon requires the user to kiss it.
Ever since I arrived on this island, I’ve only kissed it once, to drive out the skeleton soldiers.]
That’s what made her think she possessed a different kind of protection than the one the Sword granted.
“The Soul Drop…”
She recalled the existence of the elixir that she had smeared on her body to treat Fio.
It was said that it protected the user against otherworldly beings and evil. If the same went for the undead skeleton soldiers and Maria—revived from the dead—, their attacks not working made sense.
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
The were-beast charged with a roar.
“Kuh!”
She poised her sword right away, and parried the barbarian sword.
At the very beginning, she might have been bewildered by Maria’s appearance and quickness, but if she dealt with it calmly, her sword techniques could very well match the beast.
[It also goes for Risty’s strength, or Elina’s agility; I’ve beaten them in the past.
There’s no need to panic.]
Both swords collided with each other, throwing off sparks. Her long sword then slid over the barbarian one, aiming at Maria’s sword hand.
“Gaah!”
The other presumably noticed her aim, for she kicked the ground and jumped backwards.
[It’s the first time I’ve been able to make her retreat since the fight began.
Go!!]
Leina lowered her body, and pressed her foe. After losing her heavy shield and armor, her movement and reaction speed had increased intensely in exchange.
“Teeh!”
With a yell, she struck the other down with a side blow.
The strike shaved off Maria’s beastly hair, but the other still managed to dodge it by a paper-width difference. Attacks that only relied on physical strength were not fitting versus the one called Master Swordswoman.
“Mother, snap out of it!”
[I can’t afford to go easy on her. Even if she was brought back to life by the Swamp Witch, I have to avoid thinking I’m chopping up my very mother.
After seeing Menace, I could see that the dead revived by the witch still have memories of their previous life. However, this were-beast here only growls, she hasn’t said a word yet.
Maybe her beast half has overcome her human mind? Then, if I can bring her human mind back to the surface somehow…]
“Gaoh!”
Interrupting her train of thoughts, the beast barked and kicked the ground.
[A quick charge using her supple lower body half as a spring!
I might have fallen behind a while back, but I’ll be fine now.]
She jumped backwards in kind.
[I’m not retreating, I’m just keeping my distance.]
“Wha?”
Her eyes went round: she should have jumped back enough just now, but the distance between them hadn’t grown, it had even shrunk down!
Maria’s steps were too long and quick to just chalk it up to a difference in strides. That movement, that seemed to compress the space in front of her, made Leina both astonished and happy.
[This must be the Master Swordswoman’s skill, a secret technique that wasn’t handed down to us three sisters.]
Her smile didn’t last much though, because her face was distorted with pain.
The barbarian sword caught her abdomen, doubling her over then blowing her away.
“Gahah!”
The shock through her whole body made her breath stop for a second. Once again, she stopped when she hit another of the pillars.
[What kind of strength is this?]
“Gu… guhaah…”
Finally able to breathe out, she jolted her shoulders and gave a deep breath.
Strangely enough, the direct hit of the barbarian sword had only left her abdomen with a red bruise, it hadn’t been a fatal blow.
“Still, it’s not very… pleasant.”
Leina might have gotten away with escaping a lethal wound, but the thought that she was receiving protection from an unknown source made her feel queasy.
She then turned her eyes to Maria; after the beast blew her away, she was now standing calmly, looking at the sky.
“What is she looking at?”
Her gaze followed the beast’s.
And, she saw something sparkling.
“A star?”
Right after she muttered so, the object flying through the sky at breakneck speed pierced the ground near Maria.
A mountain of dust came up violently, obscuring the beast’s figure.
“W-What’s happening?”
Paying no attention to her, huge arrows weaved their way through the pillars. They were so thick, one could conceivably call them logs.
“Castle siege arrows? From where could they possibly…?”
That was something that couldn’t have been in the ship she took back with Ymir and the others. Propping herself up with the pillar, she stood up and turned to look at the bay.
“Ah…”
There was a warship displaying the Vance coat of arms in the main mast. Its huge ballistae disguised as masts were quite eye-catching.
“That’s the Erebus… it got completed?”
Back when Leina was still in the Vance house, she remembered hearing about a ship in one of the balls of the Kronenberg family, who governed the north of the Continent. At the time, the bizarre idea of attacking the coast from offshore was merely worth a chuckle… and yet, seeing the overwhelming power it was displaying now, she couldn’t help but admire Kronenberg’s foresight back then.
Anchored in the bay, the ship gave them no respite, and continued to fire arrows.
Every one of them was thick and huge. When they pierced the ground, the earth trembled, and dust came up.
Her surroundings quickly became a world without visibility.
“Why you… you big sham!”
Leina gasped when she heard a scream coming from the dust. The sounds of violent locking of swords were audible enough; even as the siege castle arrows were being fired, there were people fighting while skillfully dodging them.
“Don’t you bully my Big Sis!”
“Elina! Is that you, Elina!?”
Hearing that familiar voice made her yell despite herself.
“You got that right!”
Blowing away the clouds of dust that arose with her spear, Elina appeared dashingly, dressed in her tiger-striped battle uniform.
“Seems I made it in time somehow.”
Her sister smiled at her, standing on top of one of the arrows stuck on the floor.
“Elina… why did you come here?”
“Well…”
The moment the other tried to answer her question, Maria leapt out of the dust cloud, hissing:
“Shaaaaaaah!”
No longer carrying the barbarian sword in her hands, the beast approached the newcomer with sharp claws reminiscent of a tiger.
“Don’t get in the way when Big Sis and I are talking!”
Elina avoided her charge with a somersault, then got behind her. Her outstanding physical ability made it possible for her to follow Maria’s moves—even after having turned into a beast—, despite the disadvantage in footing.
“Amazing…”
Her younger sister’s ability made her stand in awe.
[Unlike me, who was just getting played around with, not even able to protect myself, Elina’s fighting on equal terms… maybe even winning.]
The elegant, sharp attacks from Elina—with no hesitation to them—cornered Maria in an instant.
“Go to hell, you accursed sham!”
She then proceeded to raise her spear high.
“Elina, it IS her!”
Leina cried out.
[I can’t begin to deny that Elina’s better than me in regards to decisiveness and ability as a warrior. If it’s with her skill, she’ll definitely deal a fatal blow.
But, even if the beast’s mind is winning out, I can’t let her kill someone with the same face as our mother.]
Upon hearing them, her sister’s hand—about to pierce the other from behind—came to a stop.
“Shaah!”
With a brief shout, Maria jumped towards Leina.
“Big Sis!”
Her sister kicked up the siege arrow and chased the beast.
In terms of jumping speed, they were about equal; considering how Elina had done so later, she wouldn’t easily catch up.
The heiress took her long sword and gazed at the upcoming tigress. Small wounds were clearly visible all over her body. Even this were-beast had exhausted her strength by continuously dodging that onslaught of castle siege arrows—enough to crush castle walls—that had fallen like rain; her rough breath was only further evidence.
Leina might be inferior in speed to both of them, but there was one area where she had them beat: the accuracy of her attacks.
If her sword thrust came too early, Maria would easily avoid it. Conversely, if it was too late, the beast’s claws would cut through her skin. So, she had to calculate carefully the timing of her attack.
“Big Sis! Move!”
[Now!]
As if responding to Elina’s shout, she thrust with her sword.
With a high-pitched sound like metal rubbing each other, Maria’s claws slipped over her long sword.
“Shaah!”
“Stop howling, you beast!”
The little sister’s spear approached from behind their foe.
“Elina, don’t!”
Once again, the spear stopped when she heard her older sister.
When Maria felt the bloodthirst from behind disappearing, she jumped up high.
“Tsk! Missed my chance, didn’t I?”
Clicking her tongue, the sister landed beside Leina.
“Why have you kept stopping me this whole time, Big Sis?”
She objected, pouting her lips. It seemed she didn’t get why Leina was getting in her way.
“Because… you saw it too, right? That face of hers…”
“I saw. So what?”
The other replied, her expression blank as if it didn’t bother her in the least.
“ ‘So what’?”
“Pull yourself together, Big Sis. Our Mother is dead. We had a funeral, and she even has a grave!”
She kept arguing, in a steady tone.
“But…”
[If I think about it rationally, Elina is right.
Still, she doesn’t know that the witch can revive the dead. The Maria in front of us might have the memories of our mother.]
It was because she knew that she tried to hold back when attacking, while Elina, unaware of those circumstances, was doing all she could to protect her.
Leina too would have had the same reaction as her sister if she hadn’t met with Menace.
“Besides, making you look like this, is an insult towards Mother!”
As she spewed forth her anger, she suddenly suffered a nosebleed.
“Elina?”
Leina’s appearance, liberally exposing her breasts now that her armor was gone, seemed to have been too strong of a stimulus somehow.
“I-In any case! I can’t forgive someone who made my Big Sis look this way!”
When her sister pointed it out, she realized again how suggestive her appearance was, and her cheeks went red.
“T-That’s why, I have to finish her quickly! I can’t let you stay that way forever, Big Sis!”
Wiping her nosebleed, Elina turned to look at Maria. Facing that gaze full of bloodthirst, the beast’s fur stood on end.
“A beast through and through. I’ll teach you what happens when a beast attacks Humans.”
She rotated her spear 180 degrees, pointing the tip at their foe.
“You can’t even begin to guess how many tigers I’ve tamed.”
A cruel smile peeked from her lips.
“The sin of hurting my Big Sis is worth capital punishment; I’ll carve it on your body!”
[This isn’t good. I can’t let Elina hurt Maria.]
“Stop, Elina!”
The older sister screamed at her to stop, remembering how the selection test had gone for the position of Captain of the Royal Guard. Back then, facing a lion, Elina hadn’t hesitated to pierce it between his eyebrows with her spear.
“You can’t kill someone who looks like our mother!”
“What do you want to do then, Big Sis?”
The other asked in turn, her gaze trained on the beast.
“I’ll do as you like, Big Sis. Want me to cut both her feet so she can’t move? Or maybe the arms that humiliated you? It wouldn’t be bad to cut all four limbs and have her walk four-legged on the stumps like a beast.”
Her tone wasn’t hesitant in the slightest.
“Just immobilize her.”
“Will that be enough?”
“Yeah, I think I can manage if you do that.”
“Then, I’ll cut the tendons in her limbs.”
“Let me correct that: immobilize her WITHOUT hurting her!”
“Eh~~~”
“Can you do it, Elina?”
She returned her long sword to its sheath, and pulled the Sword of the Unicorn—caught in her cleavage—, now shrunk to the size of a pendant head.
[Just once more. It’s time to use up the last time I imposed on myself a while back.
In the past, Menace’s hypnotism turned me into a marionette, and the Sword was the only thing that was able to turn me back to my senses; I have no choice but to bet on that power now.]
“Leave it to me. I’ll let you see my skills, Big Sis.”
***
The situation of the battle reflected in the crystal ball had taken a dramatic turn. Ever since the Captain of the Royal Guard Elina intruded, the trend of the battle had been leaning in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous direction towards the Beast Empress.
“Ooh, not bad, I see that intruder is quite dexterous!”
Stuck inside Melona’s body, Ymir cheered seeing how Elina fought.
“Crap~, if it’s like this, not much I can do but go out by myself?”
Melona knit her brows, troubled.
In addition to Melona, Airi—who had brought Fio with her—was also there in Fiend Island. However, she couldn’t move. Sure, if push came to shove it could be done, but they’d rather make sure they had the slightest detail taken care of first.
Similarly, she herself was in a situation where she couldn’t let Ymir go.
“Hm~, we’re deadlocked here.”
“Oh, it appears you’re in quite the predicament.”
The dwarf realized from the other’s voice that the situation was working against her captor’s wishes, and not willing to let that opportunity pass her by, spoke to her.
“I came to look for weapons made with God Iron, created in the age of the gods.”
Since the God Iron was made in such a distant age, no veins to extract it existed. And, with the manufacturing method being long lost, it was very difficult to obtain it anew.
“You mean you won’t interfere if you can just get that?”
“Hm. I won’t get in your way.”
The dwarf’s eyes glanced at the boy tied to the pillar for an instant.
[I did make a promise with Leina too, and I’d like to rescue him, but…]
“I can’t hand Fio over. He still has an important mission to accomplish.”
“I understand. The God Iron is enough for me.”
[If I want to rescue the boy, first I have to be set free.]
Ymir then looked back above her head, and gave one last push:
“So what’s your answer?”
***
“Gaaaaaah!”
With a beastly roar, Maria jumped, aiming at Leina.
“A one-trick pony, aren’t you?”
The younger sister smiled, and released the wire inside her spear.
“I have you now!”
Just with a slight motion of her weapon, the wire entangled itself around Maria’s body as if it had a mind of its own.
That was her restraining technique devised to capture Leina. Her wire manipulation had become more accurate and refined than back when she tied up Tomoe in the preliminary.
“Amazing…”
Leina found herself admiring her sister’s wonderful skills.
[If she had used that technique on me, I’m not that sure I’d have been able to dodge it.]
“Ehehe, were you surprised, Big Sis!?”
The other’s voice had a bounce to it now. It seemed she was very happy just hearing that casual word out of her.
“Grrrrr…”
Trying to break loose from the wire biting into her body, the beast lost its balance and fell down on the floor with an unshapely figure.
“I wouldn’t if I were you, this wire is made to bite more into you the more you struggle.”
The sadistic sister showed a brutal smile, looking down on the now motionless Beast Empress.
“You can thank my Big Sis; if it was up to me, I’d have dealt with you long ago by now.”
She then plucked the tightened wire, playing it like one would a string instrument.
*Twang*, with the vibration of the air, the body of the restrained woman convulsed as if she was being exposed to electric shocks.
“Once you’ve crossed swords, don’t loosen your grip until your opponent is completely immobilized. That was a lesson from our mother, the Master Swordswoman Maria.”
Enveloped in Elina’s technique—which numbed the opponent’s body by using the wire’s vibration—, the beast gave a rough breath, then her body went limp.
“How’s this? This is the secret technique I devised on my own, Vibration Bind!”
The other couldn’t answer. Completely unconscious, she was exposing her unladylike figure to the ruined scenery.
Hearing her sister, Leina straightened her back despite herself.
[It wasn’t me who inherited the spirit of the Master Swordswoman Maria. Isn’t Elina who has followed her lessons more to the letter?
And on the contrary, I…]
Her own cowardice made the heiress shed some tears.
“B-Big Sis!? W-What’s wrong? Are you hurt!?”
Seeing tears pouring from her eyes made Elina confused.
“I’m fine… I’m not hurt anywhere.”
Leina’s armor might be mangled, and she might have lost her shield, but oddly enough, there was not one blemish on her body.
The heiress wiped away her tears, and approached the beast while holding the Sword of the Unicorn.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“I’ll have her return to her senses.”
The Sword dispelled all sorts of curses and had a healing effect on wounds; it might be able to take away the animal nature from the revived Maria.
“B-Big Sis… that’s…”
The sister’s cheeks went red as soon as she saw the weapon the other held.
“That’s not something of yours, is it?”
Elina’s body wiggled, retreating one step.
“If you disregard its shape, you’ll see its effects are tremendous.”
The Exiled Warrior placed the rear end of the Sword against the lips of the again growling beast.
[Fio… lend me your strength just a bit more.]
Her prayers might have come through, for a dim light leaked from the weapon’s rear end.
“G-Gugaaaaaaaah!”
Covered in light, Maria began acting violently, with an intensity like she’d break the wire.
“Elina!”
“It’s fine! It won’t snap with just that!”
The sister pulled the wire, strengthening the binding.
“Ah…”
As both sisters watched, Maria’s figure started to change.
The white tiger fur that covered half her body disappeared and turned into a beautiful and smooth woman’s skin.
She had a swelling chest that pointed upwards at the summit—not losing to gravity even when resting—, a smooth waist around her trained abs, and legs which drew beautiful curves from the hip bones.
“You inherited the size of your boobs from Mother, Big Sis…”
With Maria’s breasts bound tightly by the wire, Elina gave her impressions when comparing them to Leina’s, who barely hid her nipples with the strap.
“You inherited the color of her skin. Such lovely, china-like skin…”
The heiress also muttered her impression when she saw her mother’s new appearance.
The restrained woman wasn’t a were-beast anymore; she was the very master swordswoman whose praises used to be sung throughout the Vance territory.
The Master Swordswoman in front of them was the one in her prime; the blonde woman lying there only looked slightly older than Leina. She wasn’t the disfigured self eroded by the disease in her later days.
How she looked right now was who the sisters had spent most of their time with.
“I’d like to let Father meet her, Big Sis.”
“Yeah…”
Leina made a complicated expression when she heard the other’s casual words.
[Seeing how strict Father is, will he readily accept Mother’s resurrection, even after holding a state funeral for her death?]
“So, if you agree, let’s bring Mother back quickly!”
“Eh?”
“If I come back with Big Sis and with Mother, Father will be so happy he won’t know how to react.”
In contrast with the fretting Leina, Elina was chatting happily.
“W-Wait a second, I still have something I need to do.”
“Something you need to do?”
“Yes, I have to save the person who caused this miracle, and I’ll have you help as well, Elina.”
The sister dropped her shoulders, crestfallen, when she heard that.
The gesture got a wry smile out of Leina… but when she looked at the Sword of the Unicorn in her hand, a surprised voice escaped her lips.
“Eh?”
The weapon was getting smaller in her hands.
“What’s wrong, Big Sis?”
“No, just a…”
It didn’t look like the shrinking was going to stop, and when the Sword became thinner than the inner diameter of the Devil Ring, the dark object slipped off it.
Making a sound like a water droplet dropping from a heated stone, the Devil Ring disappeared. Then, the Sword of the Unicorn also disappeared from her hands.
“No way…”
She firmly clenched her hand. Even so, it didn’t matter if she clenched it as hard and strong as she could until it turned white, she couldn’t feel the weapon anymore.
[The Sword of the Unicorn is Fio’s other half. The fact that it has disappeared means that his body is in a critical situation as well. Worst case scenario, he might have disappeared too.
This is all my indecision’s fault. If I had come to Fiend Island before he was taken away…
Maybe I could have gotten here before Maria was resurrected, and I’d have placed less of a burden on him.
Still… I can’t change the past.]
Tears spilled from her eyes.
“U-Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”
Leina hugged the fist that had held the Sword into her chest and cried loudly without reservation.
“Big Sis…”
The heiress kept wailing out loud, her shoulders shaking.
Seeing her sister like this for the first time, Elina couldn’t think of anything to say.
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