Field Battle (3)

This chapter shifts perspectives between

Naoto's POV

 

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Side: ××

 

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Naoto's POV

with the protagonist's viewpoint changing back and forth.

"Go, Bumir-chan."

"Shaaaa!"

A skeleton… where exactly was she talking from, with no throat to speak of? Mysterious, but Bumir-chan came charging in, screaming all the same.

She had four arms. By the look of it, four attacks per turn?

"Maika!"

"Yes. I'll dodge them all. Shadow Step."

"Guaranteed-Hit Bestowal."

As if mocking Maika's movement, Guaranteed-Hit Bestowal came down.

Aah, of course. A Master at S-Class or close to it would naturally watch the opponent's actions and respond after the fact. Whether you could pull that off was probably what decided whether you made S-Class.

Well, Kishilia wasn't a Master, she was a Garumon, but…

Still, "not unilaterally favored" was just that. The conditions ran the same on both sides.

"Maika, just hold out!"

"Mm…!"

Gas! Zan! Gas! Zan!

Maika guarded brilliantly against Bumir's four-strike combo. She wasn't shape-shifting wildly like Girolo; her motions were straightforward, so Maika could block them cleanly.

And yet they hit heavy! From full HP, more than halved by a single four-strike combo, she was already at death's door…!

"Shall we, then. Princess Veil!"

… Yeah, here it came, the all-party re-action!

"Kishaaa!"

Zan!

… However, Maika, in her Spirit Garb, endured properly.

Zan!

The second one didn't trigger Endure, naturally. But…

Poison Apple activated, and Maika's HP shot all the way back to full…

"Bumir-chan, Demon Order. Demons Shield."

At that moment, Kishilia broke in with a forced command. Bumir's four swords switched over to four shields.

And then she threw up a solid guard around Kishilia and herself.

That was a technique to protect allies… yet Klara was being left out to dry…

"Demon Art - Cocytus!"

Maika's all-target attack. Klara froze beautifully. Kishilia and Bumir took damage but weren't frozen.

"We knock down what we can knock down! Adelia, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw on Kishilia!"

"Nyaaaaa!"

Zan, zan!

"… Tch… from the freeze… Princess Cape's frozen up…"

"Leone, Gale Thunderclap!"

"Yes!"

Dogooooo!

Yes, Klara defeated!

"Ugh… this party, you don't protect anything but Demon-element…?"

"On both sides, dealing with freezing is something we'll need to figure out."

Thud. Klara fell. She'd offered all sorts of excuses, but with an unfamiliar party composition, it couldn't be helped.

That said, the flip side was that Kishilia was originally paired with Lizalind, and on top of that her party comp involved fielding her Magical Beast.

That she could hold her own solo had already been proven.

… In any case, the moment she put out Moruna, it was over. Would what we had be enough…? But… I'd take the gamble!

"Bumir-chan, attack."

It wasn't Guaranteed-Hit Bestowal!

"Shadow Step!"

Shutan, shutan, shuba!

With a brilliant set of steps, Maika dodged three of the strikes. She took one… but somehow held the damage to under a third.

Three more would mean game over.

"Bumir-chan, Demon Order. Demons Shield."

After attacking, switch to defender. The plan seemed to be to grind us down little by little.

We had little breathing room. With Moruna not yet out, our only option was to take down Kishilia first!

"Adelia, Fire Boost, Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw! Attack Kishilia!

"Leone, Thunder Aura, Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening, Demon Art - Gale Thunderclap! Attack Kishilia!"

Thanks to the guaranteed-hit and piercing granted by Awakening, the strikes slipped past Bumir's defense and converged on Kishilia.

"… Sorry, Bumir-chan. Demons Sacrifice."

Gashu, gashu, doshua!

In an instant, Kishilia and Bumir swapped places.

Even with their target abruptly switching from a beautiful girl to a weird skeleton right before their eyes…

"Gale Thunderclap!"

"Flame Severing Claw!"

The two of them, perfectly on point, slammed their claws and fangs (well, the equivalent of them) into the head, where they'd deal maximum damage.

Even so, against Bumir's high defense, even with Leone's re-action factored in, the damage fell just a touch short…!

"Wild Sword Dance!"

Then Maika's attack joined in. Yes, the high-attack-power Wild Sword Dance…!

"Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw!"

"Demon Art - Gale Thunderclap! Re-action!"

On top of that, the two girls' re-attacks piled on, and finally…

Zuun…! Just barely, we took Bumir down.

"… Sorry, Bumir-chan. It can't be helped… Magical Beast Summon, Moruna."

Once again, that beautiful blue Magical Beast appeared… or really, looking at her, you saw no Magical Beast at all, but a peerlessly beautiful girl.

… Despair clad in death.

For all that she was such an overwhelming presence… her sheer cuteness still made my heart leap.

"Moruna, you're so cute…"

The words slipped out of my mouth. Even I couldn't help myself.

"…"

But Moruna had come out, sure, and yet she just stood there in a daze.

Huh, hadn't she fired off Curse Mark of Death the moment she appeared last time?

Assuming her skill uses had run out would be too convenient… maybe she was just unstable and fickle.

"… All right, if I take Kishilia down and Moruna goes berserk, that's bad. We have to take Moruna down first. Adelia, Power Boost! Leone, Accel Boost! Maika, Neue Accel Mirage!"

The two of them stacked buffs while only Maika attacked.

… The damage was tiny! It came out to a mere few percent.

Moruna's actual stats had to be something absurd.

"Moruna-chan, please move properly!"

"Leone, Thunder Aura! Maika, Neue Accel Mirage!"

Leone's Thunder Aura made it in time. Awakening refilled by one. Maika moved too… Still no re-action.

"… Demon Art - Curse Mark of Death."

Moruna let out an adorable voice. Ohh, such a cute voice.

But you couldn't call the result cute. Maika, Leone, and Adelia were all bound by an aura, every one of their actions sealed.

On top of that, HP halved. Way too strong.

If Lizalind dropped firepower to match her looks on top of this, no matter who the enemy was, she'd wipe them out in one turn…

Still, Adelia and Leone could handle it.

"Adelia! Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening! Fire Boost, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw!"

"Leone, Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening! Demon Art - Gale Thunderclap!"

The two of them forcibly broke through their incapacitation and leapt out.

"Nyaaaaaa!"

Dogoooo! High-firepower Adelia. But only 10 dots of damage. So tough! Even though her body looked so soft… well, saying that would be sexual harassment. The way her breasts wobbled and bounced when she got punched stole my eyes. Her re-attack did 20 dots.

But…

"Haaaaa!"

Dogoooo! Leone's Thunder-element was 2x super-effective against Demon-element! Even with the firepower difference, she beat Adelia for 15 dots of damage.

A flowing three-hit combo, 7-3 dots, shaving off a quarter.

"Yaaaaa!"

Dogo-dogo-dogo! Leone's re-action. The damage to Moruna from Leone alone hit about half.

Together with Maika's attack, 25 dots remaining!

Down to her last quarter.

End-of-turn poison damage on Moruna. Even so, all three didn't fall together.

Next turn would settle the match…!

"Moruna-chan, Demon Order! Demon Art - Annihilation!"

"… Demon Art - Annihilation."

At that moment, Moruna-chan thrust her hand forward.

…? Nothing happening? Just as I thought that, a few seconds later…

Pishi!

The world cracked.

"… Eh?"

Gashaaan!

A shattering world. The illusion of utter destruction.

It captured the interior of the battlefield onto a single sheet of glass, then shattered that glass.

That was the only way I could describe the technique.

When the destruction ended, the only one left standing was Adelia, whose Endure had triggered. HP at 1.

"… Wha…!?"

What was that just now…!?

Something this far off the scale… wasn't on the level of dodging or anything like that. Nothing to do but pray for Endure to trigger, was there?!

Adelia's remaining HP: 1.

But… if it was Adelia, she could land at least one more attack.

Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening nullifies any state of incapacitation and lets her launch an attack.

That incapacitation includes even being knocked out.

Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening could be used in a 2-hit combo.

… But it wasn't enough. With Adelia's firepower, she couldn't carve through 5 dots.

We weren't wiped out yet. Luna and Lyuka were still in reserve.

But could Luna and Lyuka act? If Curse Mark of Death came out, nothing but Leone's and Adelia's Beast-Blood Awakening could break it, you know?

… Once again, all I could do was pray Moruna-chan stayed still.

If Demon Art - Annihilation came out, those two would fall too. Nothing to do but pray for Endure to trigger.

Aah, geez… we might not win.

"… It's fine, nya. Earlier… I just barely missed the vital spot, nya. This time… I won't miss, nya!"

Seeing through my anxiety, Adelia said that to me.

"… Yeah, I believe in you!"

The only thing left for me to do was trust Adelia.

"Moruna-chan, Demon Art - Curse Mark of Death!"

Bishi!

Adelia's movement stopped, and just like that her HP halved… half of 1 wasn't possible, so it just came out as 1 damage normally.

Adelia's HP hit 0.

"Demon Art - Beast-Blood Awakening, Fire Boost, Demon Art - Flame Severing Claw!"

"Nyaaaaaaa!"

"!?"

A supposedly knocked-out Adelia springing into action made for a great surprise attack.

Adelia closed in on a wide-eyed Moruna. And then…

Dogooooo!

Critical hit! 15 dots, carved away in a single strike.

"… Nyaaaaa!"

With the bonus follow-up combo, she pummeled Kishilia.

"Agh, gguuuu…!"

Naturally Kishilia didn't fall in one shot, but her HP halved.

"Well done, Adelia! Luna, Lyuka, member change! … Kishilia. If you can't fight anymore, won't you surrender?"

"… I'll do that. Well done."

Kishilia surrendered.

W-we won…!

Moruna-chan had stayed still for several turns, Kanan and Adelia had taken down Lizalind first.

And so on, and so on. Hard to call this a victory by sheer overwhelming strength…

Even so, we won…!

But just then…

"Naoto-san, far to the east… it's a signal calling for rescue from you, Naoto-san.

"Most likely… it's Colette."

"!?"

Far to the east…

What Lyuka pointed to was, from this map's central area… truly the eastern edge of it.

"What do you mean? When we aren't nearby, the rule is that she puts out the black signal to ask Haru for rescue."

"… It's a deliberate disobedience of orders, surely. Right now, Haru-san should be steadily cornering Shiraki.

"… Colette-san wants Haru-san to abandon her and defeat Shiraki.

"That said, for a Garumon, it's hard to commit a complete violation of orders by failing to put out a distress signal at all.

"So she did a half-violation, sending the distress signal to you, Naoto-san, instead."

Lyuka offered that analysis.

"… Wait a moment, then… Colette had been putting out signals somewhere all this time!?"

"Yes. Simultaneously with you, Naoto-san, both red and green signals were going up.

"Without being able to vertical-leap more than ten-odd meters, you, Naoto-san, had no way to confirm them.

"The opponent's aim must have been to split into two groups."

"Lyuka, why have you stayed quiet about that until now…"

"If I were in Colette-san's position, I would do the same thing. And I would not want you, Naoto-san, or Haru-san to come and rescue me.

"All of us feel the same way. So… I respected Colette-san's wishes."

"… I see…"

To win. I'd thought the same thing.

Colette actually had high solo sustained-combat capability. After all, with Guard plus Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield, she could block damage for fifteen turns. Layering Hero's Armor on top of that, she could survive four battles. That alone bought her forty minutes.

"… This is on me.

"Feeling sorry for Colette, having me think that way put Colette in a position to disobey orders.

"To do everything we could to win, all of us shared the same feeling…

"For my own sake, for our victory, I should have flat out told Colette to do this for me.

"I've done Colette an even greater wrong."

"… That's true. But reflection comes later."

"… Yeah, I'm going, Luna, Lyuka. If Colette is asking for help, we have to go!"

And so Luna scooped me up, and once again we soared through the sky.

To Colette.

 

*

 

Side: Colette

"Naoto-san…

"I understand. This is a violation of orders. But… this is the only way I can be useful to you, Naoto-san…!"

Colette agonized over it, and then…

She acted. The green signal flare Haru wasn't supposed to fire, she fired.

… With this, even drawing the enemy in just a little was good enough.

By that much, Naoto and Haru would be at an advantage.

And, hiding behind cover… in fact, for the first twenty minutes or so from the start, she was unharmed.

But that was an anxious stretch of time.

What if the opponent had ignored her.

What if they'd seen through her as a decoy, what if she wasn't even working as one…

Shouldn't she fire more signal flares? But if she fired them again and again, surely she'd be exposed as a decoy…

Colette spent a long stretch as a single, anxious girl all by herself.

But… that didn't mean she felt relieved when an enemy actually showed up.

"We've got a reaction, Koji-san!"

"Oh, found her, huh!"

C-Class rank 4, Koji Furuya, was the first to spot Colette.

"… Hah, just one little brat…?

"That bastard Akai, was he a lolicon? But hey, this kind ain't bad either, heh heh, blindfolded loli-girl get.

"That said, if she's ugly under those bangs, I'm gonna have to kill that bastard Akai or I won't sleep right."

"…"

The opponent was taking it easy, thinking he could win cleanly. If so… maybe he wouldn't lead with strong attacks.

"Greatshield."

"Tucking yourself behind a shield, huh… Hah! Going turtle and trying to hold out, that the plan? Heh heh, here, turtle, turtle… Come on, you guys, knock her down!"

"Yes, sorry about thiiis… Black Arrow!"

"Triple Thrust!"

"Heavy Strike!"

Dooon!

… However, Colette dodged most of them.

"… Compared to the techniques I saw you all use in mock battles, you're all super slow. Your attacks are easy to read, you don't feint at all…

"At this rate, they're easy to dodge!"

"… Huh? Hey, you guys, quit playing around. Get serious!"

"Y-Yes! Black Arrow!"

"Triple Thrust!"

"Heavy Strike!"

… However, the same actions produced the same result.

"Oi, you idiots! Quit holding back! Do it for real!"

"… But earlier, you said the strong techniques would be a waste…"

"Shut up! Don't talk back to me! Just get on with it!"

"… Then sorry about this. Aura!"

"Enchant Fire!"

"Guaranteed-Hit Piercing Charge!"

Gogogogo…

Next turn was charge time, and…

"Marginal Arrow!"

"Enchant Demon!"

"Here it comes! Our three-person fusion technique! Piercing, guaranteed-hit! Demon Art - Destruction Strike!"

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield."

Kakiin!

The trio's secret art, easily knocked aside.

"Y-You bitch, what the hell are you doing?! Your opponent's a LV36 trash Garumon!"

"Th-this kid's strong! Her defense won't break at all!"

"Then it's combos! Stack combos on top of combos and break her guard apart!"

Colette's Guard and Conqueror's Shield were both turn-based defenses, so they were strong against combos, but no need to point that out.

"Guard."

In silence, Colette deflected the flurry of combos.

5 turns passed.

Colette bolted from the spot.

"Ah, she ran! What do we do?"

"What do you mean what do we do, we chase her, obviously! After being made a fool of like this, I can't just sit here! I won't sleep right until I plow that loli pussy!"

Colette ran for all she was worth. Naoto's calculated travel speed for Garumon was roughly Speed × 2 km/h. With the Lesser Hero job correction halving her Speed, per her stats Colette could only run at 50 km/h or below.

"Aha-ha! You're slow, little miss, makes me yawn! Ten minutes and then another battle, huh…

"Bangs up, you're cute, eh, Colette-tan! You should cut those bangs, yeah?"

Riding on the back of a Garumon, Furuya jeered at Colette. As he did, perhaps to flag that he'd found his target, he kept firing signal flares.

For Colette, enemies gathering on her was exactly what she wanted.

Eventually…

"Oi, Furuya, what are you doing? At least take down one of them already!"

"Haida! Yeah, this brat, she's surprisingly nasty… three more minutes."

"Then let me have the next one! And in exchange, if I win, I'll be the first to have her!"

C-Class rank 5, Goro Haida, had arrived.

"Colette-chan, hang in there, all right? I'll plow you good, so don't go losing, all right?"

"Huh! You're going after! Watch and weep with your fingers in your mouth! Now, Hitomi, Blood Pain!"

"Mm! … Blood Pain!"

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield."

Gakiin!

The vampire girl came charging in, deflected by the shield. Blocking with a regular shield would have caused slip damage.

Colette had recognized it as the same family of techniques as Setsuna's Bloody Masquerade.

The damage itself didn't seem too serious, but the angle of dealing hard-to-block continuous damage was a bit nasty.

That said…

"Blood Pain!"

"Ugh!"

"Aha-ha! Finally took one! My Blood Pain, even if you block with a shield, the slip damage continues!"

"… So it seems. But with this, the battle ends."

"Huh…?"

"DRAW… what!? End of battle in 5 turns!? Are you kidding me!"

"Aha-ha! Loseeeer! You're useless too, Haida!"

"Shut up, Furuya!"

And with that, the members chasing Colette had grown to two. Just as planned.

No matter how many of them there were, the rule that you could only fight once every ten minutes stayed the same.

The more they massed around Colette, the more they idled their forces uselessly.

The two of them, oblivious, were getting worked up.

This… was going exactly as she wanted.

But…

"You bastards, what are you fooling around for?"

About thirty minutes from the start, the one who appeared was…

"…!?"

Colette felt a chill run down her spine.

"… Geez, you guys really are low-leveled. Don't you even realize that little lady over there is desperately trying to play decoy?

"What's the merit in taking her down?

"Leave the little lady be and go on and take down Naoto Akai or Haru Midoriya, already.

"… Haa, since we're nominally allies, I'd like you to put a little effort in."

"… Huh? Wait a sec. We've been getting played by this girl.

"If we let it lie, our reputation's on the line…!

"You don't have any standing as an outsider to tell us off!"

Furuya barked, and Haida nodded along.

"Huuh!?"

Griera snapped at the two's reaction.

For Griera, watching the two of them act like such monumental idiots was unbearable, and she'd butted in despite herself.

She was getting paid, after all, so she'd figured she'd impart the simple, sensible advice that they should at least put in a minimum amount of effort, kindly trying to enlighten them.

… By nature, Griera had a very short fuse.

She wasn't easygoing enough to stay quiet when her good intentions got thrown back in her face.

"Idiots who won't learn unless they die can die once!"

Pan!

Griera shot Furuya.

"… Gueh!? Wh-what're you doing… shit, in this world even getting shot doesn't kill you, but… it's still bad for the heart…!

"You bitch, are you kidding me?! On the take from us, doing this to your employers, you think you'll get away with it?!"

"… A-Class, so five minutes before he dies, huh. What a pain in the ass… shut up."

Griera plugged her ears.

"… Huh?"

"O-oi, Furuya, that…"

"H-huh!?"

The bullet Griera had fired was lodged firmly in Furuya's chest… and not only that, like a creature with a will of its own, it kept stabbing in to tear out his heart.

Each time, -1, -1, Furuya took continuous damage to his HP.

"Wh-what is this, what is this, ua, a, a, a… aaaah!?"

HP draining… HP draining…

Through Furuya's mind, the fates of the slaves he'd once tormented must have flashed.

The moment HP hit 0, the System's protection vanished, and… he died.

"Ua, a, aaaaa… hiaaaaaa!?"

"Ah, oi! Furuya!"

Half-mad, Furuya suddenly took off running.

"Wait up, Koji～"

His Garumon could do nothing but run after him.

"… Y-you, Furuya, how dare… how dare you do that to Furuya!"

"… Seeing what just happened, and still having the guts to bare your fangs at me, should I praise that? Damn fine guts.

"To me it just looks like a death wish, but… well, fine. If you want to die, I'll send you to hell, that's cheap enough."

Dan!

She fired the same bullet into Haida's chest.

"Eh…? Wha…? What're you doing… what're you doing, oi! I'm gonna die, gonna die gonna die! I'm gonna dieeeeee!? Uah-waaaaah…!"

Haida went half-crazed and bolted.

"…?"

Griera couldn't grasp Haida's depth of stupidity.

In Griera's mind, weak-looking Haida and his Garumon should have at least been capable of stopping her bullet.

If they didn't even have that much skill and yet had still bared their fangs at her, they were either suicidal or just stupid.

It seemed they were just stupid. Among C-Class Masters, especially the type fighting on the strength of their Garumon alone, types like that with delusions about themselves were hardly rare.

"… During a Garumon Battle, no one's actually going to die. Once HP hits 0, you faint, and that's the end of it.

"… If you're reassured, I'd like you to let me get going."

"I cannot allow it. I cannot allow you to meet Naoto-sama."

"… Fufu, well, I figured."

Griera laughed. For a Garumon who cherished her Master, after seeing what Griera had just done, of course that was the natural reaction.

After all, there was a possibility her Master would be knocked out in a single shot.

So Colette's response was completely correct.

"All right then. I'll take you on."

Griera challenged Colette to a battle.

"First then, let's see you take this.

"Demon Art - Desperate Magic Bullet."

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield!"

Gakiin!

Griera's magic bullet, the kind that once it dealt damage kept dealing continuous damage until you died.

In other words, it could be blocked with absolute defense, the Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield.

"Good reaction. Not bad at all."

"…"

"… That said, against absolute defense, all I can do is wait until you run out… how many uses you got? 5? 10?

"10, huh. Two battles' worth, then. That's a bit of a hassle. You're a clever girl."

"…!"

A baited question, judged by reaction.

Colette had fallen for the most basic-of-basic information war.

"… Desperate Magic Bullets, I've only got 5 of them. Just now I wasted 3 of them.

"… Now, my actual style is to pair with Irana, have her deliver the optimal bullet, and use that to take down my opponent.

"In other words, fighting solo, my room to maneuver isn't much, same as for both of us.

"… To a cute girl like you, my excuses for breaking out my hidden trump card and going all out, that's all of them.

"I'll let you see it."

So saying, Griera took off her eyepatch.

Her left eye, a blood-red iris. The right eye under the eyepatch, a vibrant, shining purple iris.

A beautiful odd-eyed pair… and not just that.

Even Colette, who had no aptitude as a magician, could tell an extraordinary amount of magic was packed into that purple eye.

"Demon Eye of Lightning. This is my trait. The effect is…

"I can imbue the attacks I unleash with the power of lightning.

"As for what that does, super-high-speed attacks, doubled attack power, and piercing.

"There. Without absolute defense, you'll die.

"… Infinite Magic Bullet!"

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield!"

Gakiin!

Colette blocked with her shield.

"… You're awfully honest, huh? You didn't believe what I just said was a lie, that it was a weak technique meant as a bluff to make you waste an important skill, did you."

"… There's no such thing as a bluff that scary."

So Colette answered. That just now had been about as scary as taking Leone's Gale Thunderclap.

"… You've got good instincts. A Defender has to be timid. Timid, but courageous.

"You have to balance both of those at once.

"The fearless type is no good. Well, that kind suits Attackers better.

"That's where I am. Aha-ha."

While gently lecturing her like that, Griera mercilessly poured bullets at Colette's vital points.

She was coming to kill, no holds barred.

Of course, even if HP hit 0, Colette wouldn't die. But Griera carried a presence suggesting that even in a world where dying was real, she would fire those bullets exactly the same way.

If the timing was off by even an instant, Colette would fall.

The bullets, accelerated by the Demon Eye of Lightning, came so fast Colette had to hold maximum concentration.

Griera's aim looked loose at a glance, her timing was anything but uniform, and even while chatting easily she folded feints into her shots, never once firing a simple straight-up round, forcing Colette into heavy consumption.

"Haa, haa, haa…"

"Hmm… you blocked five of them, huh. Not bad…"

So saying, just as Griera casually started to walk away as if to leave…

"…!"

Colette grabbed her leg in a flash and held her down.

"… Whoa. Hey, hey…"

"I won't let you go! Holding you up even a little is my mission right now!"

Colette clung to her tightly.

"… Heh."

Slurp. Griera licked her lips.

"You're still a kid, and I was thinking I'd let you off, but…

"You're a full-fledged warrior, aren't you.

"As you can see from my companions, I prefer big breasts… But you, I've taken a liking to.

"Well, I'll teach you one thing."

Gri. As she said it, Griera twisted Colette's arm.

"You're underestimating just how much pain you can be put through during a Garumon Battle, aren't you?

"… Hurts plenty, doesn't it? Within the range of not dealing damage, I can absolutely hurt you, you know?"

"U, gu, guuu…"

Eyes welling with tears at the pain, Colette desperately endured without voicing a single complaint.

"Of course, I can't break the bone or deal damage like this.

"But, leveraging that, I can also do this."

Griera twisted Colette's arm even harder. Hard enough that without the System's protection, her arm would have snapped.

The instant she did…

Bachiin!

'SYSTEM GUARD' was displayed, and the two of them were flung several meters apart.

"… Ah!"

"Attacking during a battle ban period bounces you off, see. Clinging on to stop me is pointless."

"…!"

… No good. This opponent knew the System even better than the Naoto she revered.

To begin with, fighting her here and winning, this wasn't an opponent she could ever beat.

"… E-even so… I won't let you go!"

Even so, Colette flung herself back at her.

In the 10-minute battle-prohibited window, with the firm determination that no matter what, she had to pin Griera down to this spot.

"… Geez. Cute girl like you clinging to me like that, I can't bring myself to shake you off…"

If Griera had really wanted to escape, escape was a trivial matter. Even so, she meekly let Colette catch her.

"… Well, fine. The instructions we got were to fire signal flares as decoys at the 10-minute mark.

"And then, target the enemy signal flares closest to us.

"You were the one closest to me, so as long as I take you down, I can claim I followed instructions.

"I'll take you down, then move on."

"… Y-yes, that's fine…"

Colette loosened her grip.

"… In exchange, if I win, I'll have my fun with you. The loser gets used however the winner pleases. That's only natural, isn't it?"

So saying, Griera licked her lips.

"…!"

Have her fun… that meant something sexual. To have that done by anyone other than her Master Naoto, Colette had strong resistance.

But…

"… G-go ahead!"

Colette's aim was to keep Griera here as long as possible. If being toyed with made her stay longer, nothing could be better.

"All right, that's the spirit."

Pat, pat.

Griera stroked Colette's head. Then, sat down.

"What kind of guy is this Master of yours?"

"Yes! Naoto-sama is a wonderful person!"

"Wonderful how?"

"He's extremely kind. He hates treating Garumon as slaves, and always uses 'companion' instead.

"And in fact, outside of battle, he never gives orders to his Garumon.

"Always calmly, in a soft voice, he tells me to do as I wish.

"He's a person who loves us Garumon dearly."

"… Hoh. That's an awfully convenient guy for us Garumon, like a fairy tale.

"Does a Master who lets you do whatever you want really exist?"

"He does! Naoto-sama is a wonderful person. To be that man's Garumon, I am so very happy! For his sake… my tiny life is no loss at all."

Colette spoke as if dreaming.

"Hmm… Well, you're an innocent little thing… I get how, being treated kindly for the first time, you're head over heels. But to be trusted by a Garumon to that extent, he must be a decent guy.

"… But, is he still safe right now?"

"Of course he's safe!"

"But the rule was that all five of us put up signal flares, right? But there was no signal flare from Kishilia. The understanding was that if the opponent's signal flare was nearby, we wouldn't fire ours so we wouldn't tip off our approach.

"That Kishilia hasn't come this way means… Naoto Akai's already been jumped by Kishilia.

"It's impossible for an A-Class Master to beat Kishilia. That girl keeps an incredible Magical Beast, you see."

"… Naoto-sama will absolutely not lose!"

"… You really trust him, huh. Cute thing… Well, on my end, I'm not the type to go easy on that sort.

"… Now, time's up."

"…!"

Da…!

Griera circled around Colette and…

"Demon Eye of Lightning, Infinite Magic Bullet!"

Daaan!

Unleashed her attack.

"…!?"

Misjudging the timing of the attack with Griera moving while shooting, Colette finally took a hit.

The tremendous damage shaved her HP away in one go.

"… Hero's Armor!"

But the skill she'd panicked into activating made it in time. HP held at 1.

"Hoh, you've got that kind of skill too?"

Dadan!

"Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield!"

Kaaan!

"Not bad…"

Dan!

Kaan.

"Ten times you said, right? Dealing with those guys, you used 1, 2 of them maybe?

"Which means you're about out. One or two more to go.

"… Using up your skill counts properly and falling after that, well, you can say you fulfilled your role as a Defender.

"… As an Attacker, if I don't take down the Defender before then, I can't say I beat you.

"… In other words, it's about time I finish you off."

So saying, Griera leveled her gun. Colette also raised her shield.

Going too soon was no good. Ultimate Art - Conqueror's Shield was a technique that imbued the shield Colette held up with the power of perfect defense.

In other words, if she got shot past the shield, it was over.

Griera had seen through that and was aiming for the gaps around it.

If Colette didn't time it right and block properly…

"… You're so honest."

Griera smiled wryly.

Pasu.

In that instant, Colette's HP hit 0.

"… Eh…?"

She didn't know what had just happened.

But, she'd lost…? Colette's arms, following Naoto's orders, moved to fire the signal flare.

But at least… Colette switched it to red.

This was the signal calling Naoto for rescue. From the position she'd seen earlier, if he'd moved north, it was very far.

Even if he tried to come, it would take plenty of time.

Don, don, don!

And so Colette fired the distress signal… and fell.

"When I fired the magic bullet, I fired two shots in one. Skill - Dual Shot. A skill that fires two consecutively.

"Did you spot when? One shot straight up, one shot straight at you.

"The shot fired straight up traces a parabola and hits you from above.

"Since you only had to defend yourself, you weren't moving your feet, just spinning in place. That was the spot to aim."

"… No way…"

"All right, the promise. I'll have my fun with you properly. Lively prey like you, you'll be worth tasting. Cute, too."

So saying, Griera gently undressed Colette, then stripped herself nude.

Big breasts, white skin… despite being a veteran warrior, that there was not a single scar on her was thanks to Garumon recovery.

That made the bizarreness of her right hand, refitted as a prosthetic with a built-in gun, stand out all the more.

"… Even with Garumon recovery, lost limbs don't grow back.

"This one, when I made it as far as A-Class, got eaten by a Demon God in the monster territory… To get my revenge and fuck him senseless, I'm honing my skills.

"Well, revenge isn't all there is to life. When it's time to enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, that's my creed."

So saying, Griera ran her hand over Colette's body.

"Fufufu, underdeveloped, but a properly soft body. Once you grow a little more, you'll fill out into a nice, erotic body, just to my taste…"

"…!"

Chu, picha, kuchu…

Griera took her time savoring the body of her spoils, Colette. And then…

"All right then, time for you to service this thing."

So saying, Griera presented her stiff, towering penis.

It wasn't quite as much as Naoto's, but it was a fine penis.

Knocked out and unable to put strength into her body, Colette had no choice but to obediently comply.

Servicing anyone other than her Master Naoto, she did have resistance to it, but… having lost, it couldn't be helped.

More than anything, while she did this, Griera couldn't go to Naoto.

… To protect Naoto, when she thought of it that way, even her servicing grew passionate.

"O, ohh, ohh… cute face, but you give a pretty good blowjob, don't you. Looks like you've been trained for this side too.

"Good, feels good… Fufufu, I wonder if you can make me cum properly?"

So saying, Griera's left hand, stroking her head, was unexpectedly gentle.

"N, nn… nn!"

"Aa, aaah… good, so good, Colette…"

Doku, doku, dokun!

Semen of a different flavor from Naoto's, thick and dense, was released. Colette did her best to swallow it all down.

"… Fufufu, you're skilled. You'll make a good Garumon, the kind who can satisfy her master in battle and in sex both."

So saying, Griera patted Colette's head.

"Now then, having lost in a serious match, I trust you're prepared.

"The moment a girl's virgin protection comes off is when you sincerely think you'd be all right being held by this opponent, and when you've lost in battle and been knocked out.

"… Being able to enjoy you whether or not you're a virgin, that's the winner's privilege.

"You really are a fine woman. A first-rate feast like you, I have no intention whatsoever of holding back."

Griera parted Colette's legs and slid her tongue along her crotch.

"Hi… aaah…"

Picha, kuchu…

She hadn't even been licked by Naoto yet…

Even thinking that, in no time her secret place was growing wet. The tongue technique was high-level.

… What was actually happening wasn't that different from what Furuya and Haida had been about to do.

And yet, that this somehow wasn't hateful was probably thanks to Griera's beauty, her skill… and her kindness.

Either way, knocked out as she was, there was no resisting.

If it was like this… if it was this opponent, then getting violated couldn't be helped, Colette gave up.

She'd dreamed of the day she would offer her virginity to Naoto, but if it was to protect Naoto…

Colette quietly let the strength drain from her.

"… Fufufu, good girl…"

Griera was about to insert her once-again fully erect member into Colette, when…

"Heh…"

She noticed a shadow approaching at high speed from afar, and grinned.

 

*

 

"… Colette tried so hard to protect her master, so very gallantly…

"Doing something to make her efforts a waste, it makes me want to scold you.

"… Right? Naoto Akai."

"… Looks like you've been giving Colette some trouble, Griera."

That was just about when. The moment I… arrived where Colette and Griera were.