“Alright… there, that’s twenty!”
While Fue Toukouya was battling the Machine God, Fiss Mogsar was stacking stones.
Getting too close to the battlefield might make her a target for long-range snipers, so she was killing time by stacking stones.
Currently, twenty stones were stacked in front of her in a delicate balance.
Stacking more stones from here would require the utmost care.
“!”
Even so, she didn’t neglect her vigilance of the surroundings.
She used 〖Master Keen〗 more intensely than usual, staying alert to respond to even the slightest sound.
That’s how she noticed it. The presence of a man flying in the sky.
“That’s… a member of the Demon Beast Cult…”
Her vision, the pinnacle of human sight, clearly captured his figure.
She quickly hid behind a rock, but the Demon Beast Cult man flew past without even glancing at the world below.
“He’s heading towards… the direction Kouya is fighting…”
She didn’t know the fanatic’s purpose. But she couldn’t ignore it.
Fiss ran across the rocky mountain, following after him.
She easily leaped across the rugged rocky path, arriving at a place where she could see the plaza in just a few minutes.
She stopped there for a moment, observing the state of the plaza.
(That’s… a 〖Feral Beast〗? And it’s not a “Colossus”!)
Just then, the man summoned a skeletal 〖Feral Beast〗.
Fiss witnessed the book glowing and a Demon Beast appearing in the air.
Kouya, who had jumped in, was shot down by the giant arm made of intertwined limbs.
After that, two more 〖Feral Beasts〗 were summoned, forcing Kouya into a three-on-one battle.
(Unexpected, I didn’t know the Demon Beast Cult could control 〖Feral Beasts〗… This is too disadvantageous.)
Since she couldn’t see it, the “Colossus” must have already been defeated. That was good. It was easier to deal with fewer enemies.
The problem was that whether it was four or three, 〖Feral Beasts〗 were not something one person could handle alone.
In fact, Kouya appeared to be at a disadvantage in Fiss’s eyes.
He was attacked by a Dragon, then targeted by a skeleton after escaping, and then ambushed by a Black Shadow.
She thought that if things continued like this, he would lose.
“I…”
At this moment, Fiss had two choices.
That is, to act or not to act.
Fiss’s power wouldn’t allow her to directly assist, but she could target the Demon Beast Cult man who seemed to be controlling the 〖Feral Beasts〗.
But that was a very risky action.
Even if she didn’t act, Kouya might recover and win.
Fiss knew his strength well. If she hid and waited, she could secure her safety without taking any risks.
Furthermore, it would be okay (……..) if he lost.
Even if Fue Toukouya was defeated, she wouldn’t be harmed if she stayed hidden.
Escaping the Goronomua Mountains alone would be dangerous, but it was much less dangerous than attacking the Demon Beast Cult man.
Therefore, the safest option was to continue her stealth—,
“—But, I don’t want that.”
To Fiss, Kouya was a benefactor who saved her life, a mentor who indulged her whims and trained her, and a friend she had spent the last few weeks with.
For her, who had tried to avoid contact with others since losing her parents, he was the only friend she could call one.
Fiss Mogsar didn’t want to abandon such a person.
“…!”
But her feet wouldn’t move.
The last moments of her parents flashed in her mind. Stepping into danger would mean losing her life. If she didn’t want to die, she shouldn’t step forward.
The ingrained idea bound the girl to the spot.
As Fiss stood there, frozen, she suddenly recalled a past conversation.
‘—I just like fighting.’
It was when they were eating the meat after defeating the “Hanji.”
It was his answer to Fiss’s earlier question, “Why do you try to become stronger?”
‘I’m not just defeating 〖Feral Beasts〗 to raise my 〖Level〗, I also want to fight strong guys. And to fight and win against strong guys, I have to be strong, right? That’s why I analyze the materials of 〖Dire Beasts〗 every time. So, basically, I’m trying to get stronger because I want to fight.’
“That’s weird,” she had replied.
Jumping into danger on your own seemed very strange to Fiss.
‘That’s right, you shouldn’t do dangerous things. If you die, not only you but also your acquaintances will be sad. …But well, I’m strong. That’s why I can do whatever I want and still be in one piece.’
Kouya, moving his eight chain-like legs (?), then took on a slightly more serious tone.
‘—Fiss, you have the same kind of strength. You’re as strong as an advanced adventurer right now. So, when we get back to town, you should be a little more free, or rather, do what you want, or, well… I can’t say it well, but… you don’t have to hold back so much… you can live the way you want to live, right?’
Fiss blinked once, bringing her consciousness back to reality.
“Live the way I want to live, huh…”
She repeated the words she had remembered.
She had rejected them at the time, but there was also a part of her that was drawn to them.
She had heard about rare Mana Minerals and wanted to dig them up herself.
She had heard that a famous theater troupe was coming to the next town and wanted to go see them.
But every time, she remembered her parents’ death and stopped herself, worrying about the risks.
“But, right now, I am—”
She clenched her fist. In it was the double-bladed battle axe that had become like a longtime partner in the past few weeks.
Heat coursed through her body from the fist clenched with inhuman strength.
Her first step was taken easily.
(The biggest chance is the first attack…!)
She stared at the Demon Beast Cult man, her target. He was standing on a cliff on the next mountain.
The man’s gaze was fixed on the battlefield, and he hadn’t noticed Fiss yet.
No matter how gently she kicked off the ground, there would be a sound. Assassination was impossible.
Therefore, she ran at full speed the moment she got within the closest possible distance where her footsteps might be heard—fifty meters away.
“!”
The sound of her armor kicking against the rocks made the man’s shoulders jump. Forty meters left.
He hurriedly moved his feet, twisted his waist, and turned his head towards the source of the sound, thirty meters left.
He was overwhelmed by the girl rushing towards him and took a step back, twenty meters left.
He gathered strength in his legs to jump back, and at the same time, he began manipulating 〖Mana〗 for a defensive spell, ten meters left.
“Haa!”
“〖Book Wall〗!”
Just as the axe blade was about to cut the man, a giant book, at least two meters tall, appeared as if to protect him.
The book was destroyed by the axe’s blow, but in that instant, the man had jumped to the side, and the axe only managed to slightly tear his robe.
“Oh my, oh my, are you some kind of bandit? It’s dangerous with 〖Feral Beasts〗 fighting nearby, I recommend you leave quickly.”
“Demon Beasts fighting? You’re a bad liar. I saw you summoning them from that book. All of those over there are Demon Beasts you’re controlling.”
Fiss said, relieved that he didn’t seem to recognize her face.
The man narrowed one eye upon hearing that.
“All of them…? No, more importantly… you saw me summoning them. How careless of me.”
The man shook his head as if to say, “Oh well.”
“However, now that you know so much, I can’t let you go back alive. Let’s have you die here.”
The man’s 〖Mana〗 surged.
Fiss gouged the ground with her axe, sending pebbles flying. But they were intercepted by a 〖Dire Beast〗 that appeared around the man.
“You may have some skill, but you’ve chosen the wrong opponent this time. I don’t like to boast about my 〖Arcana Rank〗, but I’ll tell you anyway. My 〖Arcana Rank〗 is 〖Fourth Arcana〗, a power equal to a hero praised by the masses.”
“I don’t care.”
Fiss exhaled softly, tightening her muscles.
Now that she had decided to fight, the only thing she should think about was how to defeat the enemy.
In the first place, there was a fallacy in the man’s claim.
〖Arcana Rank〗 and strength were not necessarily the same. Fiss knew that better than anyone, and she had confirmed it in the previous scene.
(This is the real test. I’ll repay the kindness of my training…!)
Thus, the battle between Fiss and the Scripture Bishop Molten began.
◆ ◆ ◆
“(That’s definitely Fiss, isn’t it…)”
While parrying the attacks of the 〖Feral Beasts〗, he stole glances at the two figures fighting in the distance.
He couldn’t see their faces clearly, but judging from the armor and weapons, it had to be Fiss.
“(I really wanted her to stay hidden… but well, if she takes down the Demon Beast Cult man, there won’t be any more worries)”
He guessed her motives like that.
For a moment, I thought maybe he’d hit the command tower-looking guy because he was worried about me, but that was probably just me being self-conscious.
Also, seeing that the 〖Feral Beasts〗’ movements didn’t slow down even after the fight started, it seems the man isn’t giving them instructions every single time.
It seems that if he gives an order, the Demon Beasts can make their own decisions to a certain extent.
“(Good, it looks like Fiss is holding her own, if not better.)”
I knew Fiss was strong enough, but I was still worried.
After all, the Demon Beast Cult guy is someone who even controls 〖Feral Beasts〗.
However, it seems he’s throwing all his 〖Feral Beasts〗 at me, and in his fight with Fiss, he’s only using 〖Dire Beasts〗 and below.
At this rate, she won’t be instantly killed.
“(I should focus on my side then, 〖Leap〗!)”
A wide-range attack from the Dragon’s tail.
I jumped to dodge it and went into the sky.
The 〖Feral Beasts〗 looked up at me, trying to get ahead of my landing point.
However, their eyes soon widened.
At their line of sight, on my side, was a huge alloy club filled with dense 〖Mana〗.
“(Alright, this is the culmination of my activities in the mine. Let’s go all out, 〖Thousand Blades Burst〗!)”
Making sure not to hit Fiss and the others, I used my body as a wall, and countless knives rained down more fiercely than a downpour.