—A massive crater had been gouged into the ground, and there lay May, motionless, her two golden forked horns gleaming dully.
Blood trickled from her mouth, and her eyes were vacant.
The one responsible for creating that crater was none other than Marina, who had bounded over to where May lay with ragged breaths. She landed, raised her beastly, clawed hand to deliver the finishing blow—
—and leaped backward, putting distance between herself and May.
She narrowed her eyes and let out a low growl.
"Grrrrrrruuuh…"
Her elongated canines, her posture of a beast walking upright on two legs—she resembled a beastman. This was Marina's second form, granted by her Skills, and her instincts were as wild as any untamed creature's.
May's golden horns began to glow as she slowly rose to her feet. She spat out the blood, wiped her mouth, and slapped the dirt off her clothes.
"You've got good instincts, sis. You could probably survive in the wild. Though…"
A thin red line traced across Marina's cheek.
The Kirin horn had jutted out of the ground. May had extended the horn from her right hand, driven it into the earth, and waited for Marina to close in before springing her ambush.
"…Even I've got a few trump cards, you know. Fredricks taught me. Always keep your best move in reserve."
She retracted her horns, executed a flip in midair, and transformed into her Kirin form.
From a small girl to a massive, scale-covered horse. A golden mane flowed from her head, and a sharp horn jutted from her forehead. At the same time, the golden forked horns pointing backward had appeared as well.
Instead of landing on the ground, she created footholds in the air, and when she touched down, bolts of purple lightning crackled around her—more intense than before.
"Come on, let's get started!"
May kicked off the air and charged straight at Marina. Unable to dodge in time, Marina crossed her gauntlets to block the attack.
But upon impact, she was launched skyward, slamming into a tree and tearing through several more before she finally came to a halt—her battered body embedded in the trunk of a great oak.
"Pretty tough. Normally that would've turned you into mincemeat."
May was both exasperated and impressed by Marina's sturdiness. This level of power was possible even in her human form, but in her true form, it would be far greater.
And then, Marina, still embedded in the tree, began laughing up at the sky.
"Aha, ahahaha!!"
Has she lost her mind? As May watched, thinking this, Marina's body began to change once more.
"…The third stage, huh? Fine. I'll play along with you."
May observed Marina's state. Her coat burst apart, and the muscles beneath her shirt swelled until the fabric was stretched taut. Injured parts, and even broken bones, regenerated at an astonishing rate.
Her boots flew off, and the straps of her gauntlets and greaves snapped, falling to the ground. The pieces, heavier than they appeared, sank into the earth.
"Hyaaah!"
Her body hair grew, making her look like a monster, and then, in the next instant, she was engulfed in flames and began to burn. Emerging from the fire was not the previous monster, but a beastkin taller than the normal Marina — with a well-balanced physique.
Intelligence gleamed in her pupils, and her physical body was further enhanced with magic power. She placed a hand on her neck and twisted it, producing a series of pops.
Now she stood clad only in trousers and a shirt.
"Now that's much better, isn't it?"
Marina grinned at May's words.
"Right? There's no reaching the second stage without passing through this. Usually, by the time you get there, the opponent is dead. But it's only when you're certain you can't win that you regain your rationality. This skill is great — it lets you enjoy the battle. You won't end up with that 'I didn't even realize it was over' feeling!"
Marina lunged, closing the distance to May in an instant. But May lowered her body and thrust a horn towards Marina.
However, Marina was laughing. Despite lacking her reliable gauntlets, she made no attempt to dodge.
At the moment the horn was about to pierce—
"—See? You're wide open."
She twisted mid-air and raked sharp claws across May's flank. They pierced through her scales, grazed her flesh, and drew a line of red blood.
Nimbly leaping between the trees, Marina seemed to have adopted a hit-and-run tactic to wear May down. Just as May thought this meant Marina lacked a decisive blow—
"Tch!"
May dashed up into the air. As she and Marina passed each other, May caught sight of Marina slamming her foot into the ground, carving out a crater on impact.
Was she even stronger now than when she'd lost her reason? The way the earth was torn open was unnatural.
A massive crater had formed from Marina alone. Over ten meters in diameter, it yawned beneath her as she looked up toward the sky, then launched herself after May.
She moved her body freely through the air, punching May and then kicking her away.
It was hard to believe she was human.
May was sent flying but conjured a foothold in midair to regain her footing. Marina, dropping back down, looked up at May and grinned.
"Little miss... you're not that impressive, are you? At this rate, even a dragon was stronger."
Among Monsters, the dragon species carried weight. They were counted among the very strongest of all Monsters, and slaying a dragon was the kind of feat children dreamed about — the stuff of heroes.
And Marina had done it alone — as a solo adventurer. Single-handedly taking down a dragon... she truly deserved to be called a monster among humans.
May spoke.
"...A Dragon Killer, huh? But hey — don't you think I've fought humans like you before?"
May's body began to emit light.
That was where the mercenary company's rear unit was stationed.
Tents had been set up, and around them, adventurers were examining the Valkyrie equipment that had been brought in, buzzing with excitement.
Blacksmiths and those with other specialized tasks were busy repairing the damaged weapons and armor.
In one of the tents, Valkyries stripped of their equipment had been tossed inside. The ones recovered by the mercenary company had been thrown together into a heap.
The Valkyries recovered by adventurer parties, on the other hand, were neatly lined up. Even among adventurers, there was a clear difference in how they were treated.
Into one such tent, a pair of adventurers slipped inside.
Neither of them had much in the way of equipment. They were low-level workers doing menial tasks for the mercenary company, and they appeared to have snuck in while no one was watching.
"Hey, if we take these parts home, we can sell 'em for a pretty penny, right?"
"I asked around earlier, and apparently they were forged by a famous smith. So it wouldn't be weird if they fetched a high price."
Not exactly the sharpest pair, the two of them. When they saw the sight of Valkyries in their underwear-like gear piled up before them, they swallowed hard.
"H-hey..."
"Yeah, you're right. No one'll know if we use 'em. We'll just take the ones in the best condition and have a little fun ourselves."
Earning only pittance wages, the pair couldn't even afford a brothel. The beautiful Valkyries, who were essentially flesh-and-blood except for their arms and legs, were an irresistible temptation for such men. Shunned by their own comrades and mocked by female adventurers, the two dragged out a single Valkyrie.
"Th-this one looks good, doesn't it?"
"Then I'll take this one—"
As he reached out, the man's arm was suddenly seized by the arm of a Valkyrie that had just moved.
"—Huh?"
It grasped his arm and crushed it. Perhaps the comprehension didn't come in time—it happened in an instant—the man was left dumbfounded. The eyes of the Valkyries piled up snapped open, and when the red pupils glowed, they began to stir fitfully in the dim tent.
Some had their heads twisted at impossible angles.
Others were tattered, with swords or spears embedded in their bodies.
The Valkyries whose arms and legs couldn't be detached were still attached as they had been. They rose stiffly to their feet and lunged at the pair before them.
Attacked by several of them, the pair perished without even a cry.
"...Time... is it..."
"The body's movement... as expected, the internal activat...or..."
"To Professor Damian... and Master Rata...ta... we will... report..."
With a creaking sound and eerie movements, the Valkyries retrieved metal cylinders hidden inside their arms to carry out their predetermined actions.
From within, they pulled out tube-shaped devices packed with gunpowder.
"...Eastern Branch... survived..."
"Some... escaped..."
With clanking and creaking, the Valkyries, which had been piled up inside the tent like they were entangled, stood up one by one and went outside.
Night.
Right on schedule, the Valkyries began to move.
They lit the bombs in their hands, detonated locations where important supplies were stored, and attacked the adventurers. The place where mercenaries and adventurers gathered quickly turned into hell.
Some adventurers, terrified by the Valkyries that continued to move even when stabbed with weapons or burned by magic, began to flee.
—The commander, sensing something was wrong, turned around.
He had heard a strange noise.
A subordinate nearby was watching the magicians cast spells in the same pattern they had used so far, aiming to capture the third fort, and said:
"Well, it seems the other side has prepared countermeasures. I guess they got used to it after these few days."
Hearing his subordinate's words with a laugh, the commander stroked his chin.
A few days.
For these past few days, Marina had been fighting the Kirin continuously. She was definitely having it observed from a distance to avoid being drawn into the conflict.
Since the Kirin hadn't fled either, it was clear it was involved with Lyle's party. And after taking the first fort, they had fully prepared and captured the second fort as well.
By the time they were starting on the third, the opponent seemed to have figured out the mercenary group's tactics and had established countermeasures.
"...Still, they're putting up a good fight."
Not only were there magical barriers, but they were also using magic tailored to counter each attack. Against water, they conjured ice that could kill its momentum, and against rock, they stopped at the point where ice could break it.
Fire seemed ineffective too; no matter how many times they tried, it was always blocked.
They repeated such actions, and time simply passed. The commander intended to wait for the opponent to become exhausted. After all, they had the numerical advantage.
He had been thinking they should let the enemy exhaust themselves and then crush them. But the leader was the one who started to crack first.
"Isn't this strange? Sure, things had been going smoothly up until now, but we've hit a stalemate here. Is this really how things normally go for you?"
As dungeon specialists who didn't take on mercenary-style work, they had a tendency to prioritize information and strategies for conquest over assessing the situation on the ground. Even if something appeared useless at first glance, they disliked committing to actions that weren't efficient.
"Then do you lot have any better ideas?"
"Your approach is too monotonous. Why not try something more effective? If ice keeps coming… just burn it away with fire."
The adventurer party had been under the impression that acquiring the Valkyries would net them a satisfactory sum. But the guild master saw things differently.
To sustain a large-scale organization, a small profit wasn't enough. If they burned everything with fire, they might lose the valuable treasures in the process.
"Rejected. We wait for the opponent to tire out, just like this."
The leader shrugged. Seeing that, the guild master seethed with irritation. He thought, These adventurers who know nothing of the battlefield should keep their mouths shut.
The more irritated he grew, the more intense Lyre's group's resistance became—like nothing they had faced before.
"Damn it, it's like we're assaulting an impenetrable fortress. Are there really only a few dozen of them?"
The subordinate who had been listening to the guild master's words laughed.
"Well, they'll hit their limit no matter what. They should be getting close to exhaustion, right?"
Since they showed no signs of that whatsoever, the guild master couldn't shake the dread gnawing at him.
—— A human figure.
It was May, transformed into an adult woman—her body wrapped in blue scales from her arms down to around her thighs.
Her long golden hair swayed, and with golden horns crowning her head, her form was a fusion of human and beast.
Ironically, it was the same endpoint that Marina's Skills had reached.
They struck each other with fists and kicks, sending one another flying, being sent flying——.
It was a battle between beings that were no longer human.
Unlike Marina, who was in a state of ecstasy, May remained composed all throughout.
"Not bad at all, little lady! That form of yours — you look just like me!"
The two of them, with their power, speed, and limiters removed, clashed against each other, reducing the surrounding forest to a devastated wasteland.
However, when May saw the places that had caught fire as night fell, she let out a sigh.
"...Well then, I suppose I should wrap things up too."
Even as she said "I," May had taken on a more alluring form than her usual human appearance, and she had grown taller as well. Because her usual outfits were so cute, the effect was surprisingly sexy.
Gazing at Marina, May spoke.
"That was fun. But as expected, it wasn't enough, big sister... I've fought people like you at least four times before. This makes the fifth."
Marina kicked off the ground, May kicked off the air, and they shot straight toward each other. Marina twisted her body and launched a kick.
May combined human martial arts into a straightforward charge, meeting a kick that looked like it could slice through the very air.
The moment they collided, the surrounding air shuddered — and Marina was the one who had been driven into the ground.
It was an elbow strike delivered with the intent to pierce clean through, but Marina couldn't be pierced.
"...That was my trump card, you know. I suppose I should commend you for not dying."
Marina's body slowly shrank as she returned to her human form, looking at May and smiling.
"K-kill me."
She seemed satisfied. An utterly selfish warrior who had no remaining regrets.
May, too, radiated sparkling light as she slowly shrank back into her small human form. Once she had returned to her usual self, May yawned.
"Sorry about that. I won't kill you since you're with the Eastern Branch. I fought with the intention of killing you, but as expected, you were strong, big sister."
With a smile on her face, May said those words — and Marina, wearing an expression that said she couldn't understand what had just happened, closed her eyes.