"Haa, haa, haa—damn it, you're stubborn! Your whole body is covered in wounds, so why won't you die!"
Mirene gripped her long sword, glaring bitterly at the Cyclops ahead of her.
She had already slashed through its skin countless times. The blade of her long sword had torn the Cyclops's body apart not ten or twenty times, but far more—and still, bleeding from every inch of itself, the monster refused to fall.
"Mirene, what about that skill? It seemed to do quite a bit of damage."
Standing beside her, Yohanna asked while readying her spear.
Fortunately, the Cyclops whose single eye had been injured showed no signs of regaining its sight. It rampaged blindly, smashing the surrounding trees at random.
The fact that the enemy couldn't see meant that keeping their distance gave them a reasonable window to recover. In that sense, it was an opponent they could fight with relative ease, and that brought a measure of calm to both Mirene and Yohanna.
In response to Yohanna's question, Mirene steadied her breathing and shook her head.
"No good—I'm out of mana. I never had much to begin with. That's exactly why I developed Shock Wave in the first place."
"Useless, aren't you."
"...Excuse me? You're in the same boat—you can't deal effective damage to a Cyclops either. If you're going to call me useless, then—woah!"
Mirene had been about to lay into Yohanna, but her voice carried too far. Catching the sound, the Cyclops charged toward where it had come from, vision be damned.
"You idiot, keep your voice down!"
"Shut up! You're the one who started picking fights in the first place!"
Even as they argued, the two split cleanly to either side in perfect unison—a display of coordination that proved they were completely in sync.
A fist slammed down into the spot where Mirene and Yohanna had been standing just seconds before. It was a blow powerful enough to kick up dirt and debris, but if it didn't connect, it meant nothing.
"That's enough—just die already!"
Thrusting forward with evident exasperation, Yohanna's spear pierced the flank of the Cyclops that had just swung its fist down. At the same moment, Mirene's long sword came from the opposite direction, tearing through the monster's side, splitting skin and severing flesh.
The Cyclops screamed in pain. But even hearing that cry, Mirene and Yohanna pulled back without lowering their guard.
The instant they created distance, both of the Cyclops's arms swept through the space they had just vacated. Even a missed blow was a chilling sight when the arms whistling through the air were as thick as either woman's torso—but neither let the terror freeze their legs.
A mere heartbeat after a blow worthy of the name Mighty Arm swept past their eyes, they seized the opening. Mirene stepped in and swung her long sword; Yohanna thrust her spear from a position where she could pour full force into the strike.
Their movements were so seamless it was hard to believe these were two people who did nothing but bicker.
Then, as the Cyclops shrieked in agony, a wind arrow from Surnin struck squarely into its open mouth.
Because it prioritized speed, the wind arrow's raw attack power was low. But it was more than enough to slash through the soft tissue inside the Cyclops's mouth.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Roaring in pain and fury, the Cyclops bellowed its war cry, ignoring the agony searing through its mouth. Blind, slashed and pierced all over, its frustration reached a breaking point—
"GAAGH!?"
Abruptly cutting off its roar, the monster crouched down, clutching its right foot.
Hearing what sounded like a scream, the three of them understood it was a cry of pain. But from whom? Mirene and Yohanna turned toward Surnin, their only companion with ranged attacks—but even he wore a baffled expression.
"Who was that?"
Mirene muttered, directing her gaze to the foot the Cyclops was clutching—and involuntarily furrowed her brow.
What she saw was a needle driven into the gap between the nail and skin of the Cyclops's right big toe.
Needless to say, piercing that gap with a needle caused excruciating pain—far worse than being slashed by a sword or skewered by a spear. And indeed, the Cyclops was hunched over its foot, completely immobilized.
"Nn!"
That short sound suddenly reached Mirene and Yohanna as they glanced around in confusion. It came from a tree branch some distance from where they were fighting.
There, perched on the branch, was a small figure who could be called a young girl—or, depending on one's perspective, even a little girl.
(Who!?)
Mirene wondered for an instant, but reasoned that any stranger showing up to help in this situation was probably an acquaintance of Yohanna's. She charged at the groaning Cyclops.
Yohanna did the same, concluding the child was probably Mirene's acquaintance, and attacked with her spear.
Long sword swinging, spear thrusting. Surnin launched a spear of hardened earth toward the Cyclops as well. The child on the branch—Byune—swiftly hurled needles in support.
"The star of the show always makes their entrance at the very end!"
Deetz's strike joined the fray, a long sword swung in a wide arc from behind the Cyclops. From there, concentrated fire rained down on the monster, and it accumulated damage without being able to mount any response.
Ekril, a comrade from the Scorching Wind party, was absent—but in her place, Yohanna with her spear, Byune with her Needle Throwing, and Deetz with his raw physical strength provided more than enough firepower to compensate. It was only a matter of time before the blind Cyclops's life ran out.
The Cyclops collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. Knowing the tenacity of a Cyclops's life force, Mirene and the others kept their eyes locked on it, refusing to let their guard down.
Several seconds passed. Then a dozen. Then several dozen. Facing the Cyclops, which showed no movement whatsoever, Mirene turned her gaze to Yohanna beside her, spear at the ready.
Yohanna had looked her way at the exact same moment. Their eyes met in midair.
They both wanted to say the same thing: Go confirm whether the Cyclops is actually dead.
"Yohanna has a spear, so you'll be fine. Just give it a little poke."
"Mirene can confirm it by punching it bare-handed. Don't push it off on someone else."
Even as they exchanged those few barbs, Byune, who had been holding her needle ready on the branch, jumped down and approached the Cyclops.
"Hey, little girl, it's dangerous!"
"Don't get close to it!"
But Byune couldn't have cared less. She walked right up to the Cyclops and gave its head a light kick.
The Cyclops didn't move at all. It was completely dead.
"Yohanna's acquaintance has quite some nerve."
"...Huh? She's your acquaintance, isn't she, Mirene?"
It was only then that they realized neither of them knew who Byune was. Both turned toward Deetz, who was standing off to the side as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
"Who is she?"
A simple question, delivered in perfect unison.
Watching the two of them, Deetz thought to himself that they got along better than they let on, then turned his gaze toward Vihera, who was still fighting the Cyclops.
Only two Cyclops remained. One of them had both arms broken at the elbows and was now trying to crush Vihera underfoot.
"Hey—!"
Mirene cried out in alarm, but Yohanna, Deetz, and Byune showed not the slightest sign of concern as they watched Vihera fight.
Surnin was momentarily startled as well, but seeing how composed the other three were, he concluded it was fine. She clearly had enough strength to face five Cyclops alone.
The proof was right there: three Cyclops corpses already lay at Vihera's feet. And one of the two survivors had both arms rendered useless.
"Who... is she?"
"I'd like an explanation about that child over there, too."
Surnin and Mirene's words made Yohanna hesitate. Should she reveal here that Vihera was the former Second Imperial Princess of the Bestia Empire?
After a few seconds of deliberation, Yohanna decided to defer the question and turned her gaze toward Byune instead.
"More importantly! What in the world is that child?! Despite how she looks, she's incredibly skilled, and she casually drives a needle between someone's toenail and skin!"
Trying to deflect Mirene's question, Yohanna asked with deliberately inflated volume.
Deetz, now on the receiving end, scratched his head and spoke.
"That kid is Byune. Apparently Vihera-sama's partner."
"...Vihera-sama's!? What? No, she's certainly skilled, but a child like that?"
At Deetz's explanation, Yohanna turned back toward Vihera in disbelief—and in that instant, froze.
Sensing something wrong, Mirene followed Yohanna's gaze and stopped as well.
Because at the end of that line of sight was—
"GRRROOOOAAAR!"
—the being Mirene and Yohanna loved more than anything, letting out a thunderous roar.
And the moment it roared, multiple Wind Arrows materialized around Set and fired toward the Cyclops.
"GAAGH!?"
The Cyclops with the broken arms screamed as several Wind Arrows struck its back. But that scream likely came not only from the pain of the arrows, but from the sight of a Gryphon—a creature far above it on the predatory chain.
The one remaining unharmed Cyclops must have sensed the powerful presence approaching too. But whether it instinctively knew that dropping its guard for even a second would mean death at Vihera's hands, it couldn't afford to stop moving.
It didn't stop—but with a predator like a Gryphon present, its movements inevitably slowed. And as if exploiting that very opening, Vihera's fist struck squarely into the Cyclops's right knee.
She wasn't using Magic Impact Palm—simply because she was enjoying the fight.
But once the opponent's movements dulled, the battle rapidly lost its appeal.
"That's enough. Go to sleep."
With those words, she released Magic Impact Palm into the Cyclops whose right knee had already been shattered, taking its life in a single strike.
Then she turned to the armless Cyclops. A Magic Impact Palm to the right knee pulverized it in one blow, and as it buckled, she delivered another—effortlessly ending its life.
And with that, the battle was over.
"Gurururu."
Set purred, flapping its wings as it descended to the ground.
Seeing it, Mirene and Yohanna were about to cry out in joy—but stopped when they noticed Set was carrying something in its front legs.
The first to shout was Mirene, who immediately understood who it was that Set held so gently, careful not to cause further injury.
"Ekril!?"
At her words, Surnin—who had been riding a wave of relief after surviving the nightmare of facing seven Cyclops—also turned toward Set.
And there, sure enough, was Ekril.
Set, which had been flying, flapped its wings and slowly lowered Ekril to the ground, cradled in its front legs, ensuring no shock reached her.
"Ekril!"
Mirene sprinted toward her, with Surnin, Yohanna, and Deetz close behind.
"...She's alright. She's injured, but it's not life-threatening. She appears to be simply unconscious."
After checking Ekril's condition where she lay on the ground, Surnin delivered the report. Everyone who heard it let out a collective breath of relief.
"Good grief... acting as a solo rear guard all by herself to let the rest of us escape... She always does such reckless things."
Mirene's murmur—tinged with anger yet unmistakably full of relief—echoed through the clearing.