Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The wounds Joel had sustained from Magritte had already vanished completely. Placing one hand on her uninjured waist, Joel looked down at Magritte as she screamed and spat blood from her mouth, stomping her down beneath her foot with a sinister grin.

Joel kept Magritte pinned with her leg and grabbed hold of the armor covering her chest, attempting to rip the armor plate away through sheer strength. The armor creaked and groaned beneath her grip. The sounds of something breaking echoed through the area.

“Ugh! Guh… ngh…!”

The more strength Joel put into her grip, the more painful groans escaped Magritte’s lips. Eventually, with a deafening metallic crash, the torn-off piece of armor was thrown aside.

“Uwaaaah!!!”
“Hm. I wonder if Lord Halbert would be pleased with this?”

Looking down at Magritte’s increasingly pale face and her exposed chest, Joel murmured coldly.

“Captain!”
“Damn it! Take this!”

Having recovered from their injuries, Djimon and Raisa activated their enhancement magic and charged toward Joel from opposite sides, attempting to surround her. As she moved, Raisa thrust out her left fist and immediately activated an offensive spell.

“Magic Bolt.”

Projectiles of condensed magical energy shot toward their target, each carrying enough destructive force to tear through an enemy. Multiple bolts of light were fired from Raisa, while cartridges were continuously ejected from her gauntlet one after another.

One after another, the glowing projectiles struck Joel as though being drawn toward her. Yet the instant they reached her body, they burst into sparks and vanished.

“Tch!”

Each cartridge allowed Raisa to fire five bolts. Against the undead creatures that had attacked them earlier, even a single hit would have been enough to kill them. But this vampire’s resistance to magic was extraordinarily high. Raisa stopped firing Magic Bolt and activated Quick Step, a spell built into her boots, instantly closing the distance between herself and Joel.

At the same moment Raisa stopped firing, Djimon unleashed his own spell.

“Magic Cage.”

A cartridge was ejected from his round shield. The activated spell caused a pentagonal magic circle to appear beneath Joel’s feet. The magic circles unfolded one after another, assembling themselves into a cage shaped like a regular dodecahedron. The cage surrounded Joel. But Joel simply swung her greatsword as if the thing were an annoyance. The magic circles shattered and scattered into fragments before disappearing.

Joel had been restrained for only an instant. But that instant was enough for Raisa to reach her.

Using Quick Step, Raisa zigzagged toward Joel, changing direction repeatedly as she twisted her body left and right like a dancer. The moment Magic Cage shattered, she poured Mana into the large daggers equipped in both hands and launched her attack.

“Cross Blow.”

Holding the daggers in reverse grips, she unleashed a succession of slashes from both sides, the blades rising upward from a low position. An unbroken barrage of metallic impacts rang throughout the forest.

“Get away from the captain!”
“You two are still a little lacking. Hehe.”
“You!”

Joel’s lips curled into a grin, her eyes narrowing with amusement as she continued parrying Raisa’s relentless attacks with her greatsword. Then Djimon abandoned his shield. Gripping his knight sword with both hands, he raised it overhead and poured all his strength into a single downward strike.

The knight sword, faintly glowing with blue holy energy, descended toward Joel’s dark-skinned shoulder as though being drawn straight toward it.

The blade struck the earth.

Djimon stared at his knight sword embedded in the ground, his eyes widening. There had been no resistance. Following the trajectory of his swing, he raised his gaze. Along the path where his sword should have struck Joel, something black was swirling around her body like a band of dark mist. The black substance spread across the entire right half of Joel’s body. No. It wasn’t merely spreading. Her body itself was changing. Joel’s flesh was transforming into black mist, becoming an incorporeal existence. Yet the left half of her body remained solid. With her left hand still holding the greatsword, she continued parrying Raisa’s daggers.

Joel glanced back at Djimon. Her red lips curled upward, revealing sharp white fangs. She grinned. Then… Joel’s entire body transformed into black mist and vanished from the spot.

The daggers that had suddenly lost their target sliced through empty air. Raisa’s eyes widened as she stumbled forward.

“GUAAAH!”

The next instant, a cleaver-like greatsword was buried deep into Djimon’s right shoulder. Behind Djimon stood Joel, having brought the massive blade crashing down. She remained there, swaying slightly, a grin spread across her face.

Joel pulled the greatsword out of Djimon’s shoulder. Djimon coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth, before collapsing to the ground. Joel then kicked him away as though he were nothing more than an obstacle. His body was sent crashing into the trees of the forest.

“Djimon!!!”

Raisa screamed. At the same time, she realized Joel had once again disappeared from her field of vision. She raised her daggers and carefully scanned her surroundings, searching for Joel’s presence.

It felt as though the only sound echoing unnecessarily loudly through the area was her own breathing. Even the slightest shift in the position of her feet made the sound of her boots pressing into the soil seem unnaturally loud. Beyond the trees, she could hear Djimon groaning.

(Thank goodness… he’s still alive.)

Relief washed over Raisa. Then, a chilling presence suddenly emerged from her left.

Raisa immediately swung her daggers toward it without hesitation. But the blade merely cut through empty air. At the same instant, a tremendous impact exploded against Raisa’s right side. She heard her equipment creak. Then came the horrifying sound of her right upper arm bone breaking in a way it never should have.

“Ahh! Giiihhh!”

Joel’s devastating roundhouse kick sent Raisa flying. Crying out in pain, she bounced repeatedly across the ground before tumbling uncontrollably. She rolled across exposed rock, bounced off tree trunks, and finally came to a stop. Raisa lay sprawled across the earth, letting out a faint, broken groan.

Joel approached her. Grabbing Raisa by the shoulder, she hauled her upward before driving a knee into her torso. The armor around Raisa’s midsection crumpled inward. Joel’s knee sank deeply into her body. Several ribs were likely broken, and some of her internal organs had probably been damaged as well. Raisa’s body bent into a sharp curve. A strangled groan escaped her as she vomited blood mixed with the contents of her stomach. Whatever consciousness she had managed to retain disappeared completely.

Joel grabbed Raisa by her short honey-blonde hair and lifted her unconscious body until her face was level with her own. She slowly examined Raisa’s limp face. Then she leaned closer and sniffed her.

“Hmph. She’s for Lord Halbert too. He’ll be able to enjoy her quite well.”

With that, Joel casually threw Raisa’s body aside.

Joel lazily waved one hand. The shadow beneath her feet began to spread. From within it, figures dressed entirely in white emerged, rising from the darkness as though being pulled upward from beneath its surface. They wore outfits resembling maid uniforms, their heads bowed submissively.

“Patch them up enough that they won’t die.”

The white-clad maids bowed their heads once more. Then, dragging Magritte and Raisa’s bodies behind them, they sank back into the shadows and disappeared.

Once the maids had vanished completely, Joel turned her gaze northward. Far in that direction, the fluctuations of magical energy from the ongoing battle involving Howard and the others could still be felt.

“The sky’s beginning to brighten… About an hour until sunrise, huh? Still got a little time. I’d really like to fight that old man, after all… I’ve already secured my souvenirs, so there shouldn’t be any problem with playing a little before the end, right? …Ahh… fuh… hehehe…”

Joel wrapped her arms around herself, slowly running her hands over her own body as her eyes grew moist. A sultry breath escaped her lips. Eventually, she melted into the shadows of the forest, her figure disappearing as though she had become one with the darkness itself.