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“What the hell, nya?!”

The battlefield had shifted all the way outside the orphanage.

As soon as she stepped out of the building, Noche let out a startled cry at the sight of the monster’s imposing form.

It was over ten meters long, most of its body consisting of a bone-like, serpentine torso extending from its lower half. At the tip of that torso was the body of the nun who had just attacked them, now with white skin.

The skin peeking out from her habit was as white as porcelain, and her eyes were red right down to the whites.

“Ahahahahaha! Is that all you’ve got!? You’re nothing but dust in the face of the power of the God of Light bestowed upon me directly!”
“Damned monster!”

As expected, the entire town was in an uproar over this situation; flashes of magical and martial arts lit up the sky as flames and blades of light flew through the air.

As if mocking them, the giant serpent’s body was swung about.

“Ah, ah…”
“W-what on earth is this thing…”

Zig, who had been leading the way, collapsed to the ground and stared blankly up at the creature that used to be the nun, now facing off against Sister. Nick had also fallen on his butt.

“Nick! Hurry and take Zig back!”
“R-right, Zig, hurry!”
“No, no! Sister, let’s get out of here! Quick!”
“I have to stop her! Please, listen to me!”
“I won’t go unless you come with, Sister!”
“Zig, please!”
“Let go! Are you going to abandon the Sister?!”

Zig seemed to be in a complete panic, driven by fear and anger. Nick managed to get to his feet and tried to drag Zig away, but Zig was crying and flailing his arms wildly, tugging at Sister’s habit.

A green light barrier emanating from the shield blocked all of the serpent woman’s attacks, but every time it did, the Sister let out a pained groan.

“Why do you have to fight, Sister?! Let’s run away!”
“Zig, please, just listen to me!”
“Shut up! You’re an idiot, Nick! You’re useless!”

Even when he tried to grab him and drag him away, Zig’s thrashing caused him to let go, creating a vicious cycle.

“What are you doing, nya!”
“N-not you guys too…”
“What the hell! Get lost! Go away! It’s all your fault that Sister’s—”
“Cut it out, nya! You’re getting in Sister’s way, nya!”
“Shut up! Just shut the hell up!”

Silently, I strode over and spoke to Sister.

“Sister, haah, it’s an emergency—please lift your protection from Zig for a moment.”
“Why are you here too, Alice?! Please, just go back!”
“We’ll take him back with, haah, so lift it—now.”
“Huh—!? O-okay, I get it! But stand back right away, got it?!”

Having received my reply, I swung the gun I’m holding toward the back of Zig’s head, who’s still making a racket.

“You—ghuak!!”

I put some spin on it and swung with all my might. There’s a satisfying clang, and Zig fell to the ground, twitching.

“Eh?”
“Haah, haah… he’s in no state, of reasoning. Just take him away.”
“O-ouch… what did you… Gah!?”

Once an impulsive type like him gets hot-headed, they won’t listen to anyone’s words.

He was still breathing, so I slammed the butt of the gun hard against the base of his skull, and this time, Zig fell completely silent.

“Nick, hurry!”
“O-okay… You guys better get out of here fast, too.”

Nick agreed, his mouth twitching, and hoisted Zig onto his back.

“Well well, you kids sure have it easy, enough to play around outside! Why don’t I crush you all down, half-beasts included!!”
“Guh, we’re serious here! Everyone, hurry!”

…Despite transforming into a Divine Soldier, I didn’t hear that odd overlapped voice coming from her. For now, whatever was lurking pulling the string behind the scene seems to have backed off after that.

The tail of a giant snake lashed out, shaking the Sister’s defenses. Unlike the Divine Soldier from earlier, the serpent woman had clear intent to kill.

We no longer had to face an unknown entity puppeteering a Divine Soldier, but in exchange, we were facing a Divine Soldier that wouldn’t hesitate to murder us.

Looking back now, it seems that *thing* avoided not only attacks that might have dragged me into the fray, but also anything that might genuinely unsettle me or make me feel repulsed of *it*.

It didn’t attack more than necessary, nor did it try to kill anyone right in front of me.
Above all, it maneuvered in a way that wouldn’t injure Sufi or Noche. I don’t think it was kindness; it probably just didn’t want to disturb my peace of mind.

“Hyaah!”

Sufi slashed at the snake’s body—which had been pushed aside by the Sister’s shield and was now thrashing on the ground—with the sword in her left hand. But it simply bounced off with a hard clang.

“Use the one in your right hand.”
“O-okay.”
“You stubborn mutt! Stop your futile resistance and just let me crush you!”
“I’ll hold it down somehow—hurry!”

Just as the serpent woman’s tail—which had been moving with utter confidence—was about to rise, the Ame-no-Murakumo in Sufi’s right hand swung through the air.

There were no visible wounds; to the naked eye, the blade seemed to have simply passed right through.

“Gah… Aaaaaah!?”
“Whoa!?”

But the serpent woman let out an exaggerated scream, writhing in agony as she clawed at her own face.

Sufi, who had narrowly avoided being swept away by the tail, hurriedly dodged and returned to my side.

“W-what happened?!”
“Can this sword… defeat her?”
“It works on these guys, but it seems only me and Sufi can wield it.”

This is basically only effective when Sufi and I are together; I don’t even know if it’ll hold if we’re separated.

By the way, my stamina is completely in the red zone—I’m barely moving on sheer willpower alone.

“Grrr, you half-beast! My power is bestowed by the Radiant One, how dare you?!”

Seeing the serpent woman in distress, the knights and adventurers facing her began to murmur.

“Nick and the others are back inside, nya.”
“Then we’re retreating too.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you escape!”

The moment she turned her palm outward, something resembling a white stake flew toward them.

There’s a flow of mana, but no incantation… it’s not magic?

“Tsk! ‘Gale Slash’!”
“‘Smash Wave’!”

Langbert’s wind blade and the green wave of light Sister generated by striking the air with her mace shoot down the white stake in midair.

“Don’t get in my way!”
“Don’t expect me not to! ‘Bone Crush’!”

Are there really spells that can be cast without incantations or activation phrases? Come to think of it, artifacts are similar.

There’s still so much I don’t know. Magic is said to have originated with the gods of ancient times…

“Alice! Not the time to get lost in your thoughts!”
“Okay.”

I’ll save that for later.