15th day of the month of the Green Elf (February) 8:15 PM

  The cave was damp and visibly abandoned. The Nexian Empire had numerous copper, silver, and gold mines. Obviously, the miners' conditions were inhumane; the nobles only wanted to see results, nothing more. It didn't matter if someone died; they could be easily replaced. This mine was located near the city of Arel and had been abandoned after it ran dry. It was the perfect lair for human traffickers like them. The Guild had learned of the location through a tip from one of the victims, who had managed to escape and hitch a ride to Arel City. The only reason the city's soldiers hadn't been sent yet was political. The City of Arel was within the Emperor's territory, but that mine wasn't. The ruler could have used his authority to call for an investigative expedition, but that would have angered the noble who owned that fiefdom.

  It was for that very reason that a request had been made to the Guild; it was not a state body, so the adventurers had freedom of action compared to the Imperial soldiers.

  However, this didn't rule out some sort of problem: first, given the large number of enemies, the mission was available to adventurers of Platinum rank or higher; second, there was the fear of retaliation from the noble who governed the fiefdom. If he were in league with the traffickers, the destruction of the mine would cause him considerable losses. This exponentially decreased the chances of a group choosing this assignment over other more advantageous ones.

  Until then, at least.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Cigarette smoke rose high into the sky, fading into the starry night.

  The man took another drag and exhaled smoke from his mouth. He had to be careful, though—he only had one. It was really good for calming the nerves and helping him stay awake during night shifts. A drunkard had caused one of the women they were holding to escape, alerting the Guild.

  The guilty idiot had been severely punished. They were no ordinary traffickers; they worked for the criminal syndicate called Dark Calling. Everyone in the Empire knew about it, but no one dared speak its name out loud, for fear of repercussions.

  That organization, commanded by ten sections, was so large and powerful that it was said to be ruling Nexia from behind the scenes, and was considered the reason the state was on the verge of collapse.

  As soon as I earn enough, I'll take a nice vacation somewhere remote. Maybe the Bashad Federation.

  Leaving Dark Calling was like condemning yourself to death; executions among members deemed traitors were the order of the day. If he fled far away, they wouldn't easily track him down.

  “Hey! You're finally here!”

  He shouted to one of his colleagues, named Setrim. Like all the men in the mine, he was armed with a leather vest, a brown cape, and an iron sword. The prisoners weren't a danger , but potential adventurers were. There were about thirty of them in that mine, but they weren't trained or particularly skilled, so even adventurers of Gold rank or higher would be a problem.

  “Calm down, Taro! You’ve been so irritable lately!”

  The other answered him, putting his arms behind his head.

  “Maybe it’s that thing you’re inhaling that’s making you so angry.”

  Setrim declared, pointing to the strange smoking object Taro held in his hand.

  “It has the opposite effect! Plus, it helps me deal with your stupidity!”

  “How bad you are!”

  “Fuck you! Can’t you be serious for five minutes?”

  Taro hated when Setrim acted like that. They were wanted criminals, yet he always acted like he was just an innocent citizen.

  “Anyway, what’s that thing in your mouth?”

  “Huh? You mean this one?"

  He raised his hand with the white stick and showed it to his companion.

  "It's a cigarette. I stole it from the pocket of a merchant from the Bashad Federation. It seems to be one of their new products, like that prototype magic rifle we have."

  “Really? Can you let me try it?”

  “No way! Do you know how much it costs on the market?”

  He waved the cigarette in his face, as if he wanted to make him smell it.

  “This stuff is for rich people! And it's the only one I have! If you want a drag… I can give it to you for a hundred gold coins.”

  “One hundred gold coins?! You're kidding, right?!”

  "No!"

  “Hey! You two! Be quiet!”

  He and Setrim were silenced by a tall, bald man with a scar running down the right side of his forehead. He had a grim look on his face.

  “S-Sorry, Fangus!”

  They stammered in unison. It was best not to argue with a former soldier. It was rumored that the scar had been received in a fight with Captain Gareth, but that was a rumor of dubious veracity.

  "We must avoid attracting attention. If Dark Calling deems us useless, then they will eliminate us!"

  The big man declared, banging the tip of his hammer on the ground. He never went without it, for some reason.

  “Y-Yeah, sorry…”

  Setrim said, bowing his head.

  “Don't worry, Fangus! We've got plenty of ways to deal with intruders.”

  He was referring to some countermeasures they had taken. Now that the mine had become a target of the Guild, they had to prepare for the worst. Even if they managed to escape an attack, Dark Calling would execute them for their failure and the loss of the goods.

  The nine families who ran that organization were ruthless and brutal, even among themselves.

  “Exactly! We’re sure that…Huh?”

  Setrim fell silent abruptly, watching something approach. He raised a doubtful finger toward some trees in the distance.

  “B-But…Who is that?!”

  Taro turned with Fergus, looking in the direction the other was pointing.

  “A woman?”

  About ten meters away from them was a tall, thin figure, covered in a dark cloak.

  “Is she an adventurer?”

  “No! What are you talking about?! Why would she have come here alone? That's crazy to me! Could it be one of us from a different district?”

  "It does not matter!"

  Fangus roared, raising his great mallet.

  “Call the others! If she came alone, she might be a strong one, though I doubt she's tough enough to beat us all.”

  "Right away!"

  Setrim shouted, entering the cave, as the large man stood before the hooded figure. Despite his size and bulk, the other figure towered over him.

  It can't be human…

  Taro was certain. That woman was definitely of some semi-human race.

  “Can I know what you want?”

  Fangus roared, gripping the mallet in his hands.

  “My name is Alcina…Oh! Sorry, I made a mistake! I got too into character…”

  “Huh?”

  For some reason, the hooded girl's voice sounded amused. It was clear she wasn't at all concerned about the situation she found herself in.

  It was then that he heard her speak again:

  “My name is Almodea! Almodea Fearterror! There’s no point in using a fake name, since you’re all going to die-"

  “Huh?! You have some courage, you idiot girl!”

  Fangus gritted his teeth and raised the mighty hammer high in the air - and his head exploded into a thousand pieces.

  What Almodea had done was use a simple spell, but no one had noticed, not even her target.

  “H-How…?”

  Taro instinctively took a step back. Fangus's lifeless body had fallen to the ground. There was no longer any doubt: he was dead.

  “Who will be next?”

  His gaze met the girl's. She had removed her cloak, revealing a clawed red hand and long crimson hair.

  “A-A vampire?!”

  From what was said around, vampires were superior undead, similar to humans. They typically had fiery red eyes and hair, and sharp fangs. They looked like people in appearance, but in reality they were monsters in their own right.

  “Will it be you?”

  “D-Don’t come any closer!”

  Panicked, Taro ran, turning his back on the monster in the form of a girl.

  “Do you want to play hide-and-seek? Fine!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  -Setrim Schettini.

  Born in a frontier village of the Empire, he was immediately sent to war against the Kingdom as soon as he came of age. Working the land and fighting at the front, this would have been the course of his existence, if he had not run away from home at the age of twenty-two.

  But that type of life wasn't for a carefree person like him. He found himself surprisingly comfortable in the underworld, however. Having fun with women, and enjoying the power of money delighted him. The only downside was his overly serious partners in crime, but he could put up with it.

  He was now advancing toward the cave entrance, assisted by about twenty men. Their base was under attack, and they had to defend it, or they would be killed by Dark Calling.

  I wonder how Fangus fared?

  He thought the number of troops deployed was too many for a single woman, but he had been ordered to call on every man he could find, and he knew what happened to those who disobeyed Fangus's commands.

  That guy has a bad temper…

  He clicked his tongue, thinking back to the leader of his group. He was always scolding him and doing everything he could to torment him. How he would have enjoyed it if someone had put him in his place.

  “Run away!”

  “Huh?”

  He snapped back to reality, seeing Taro running towards him.

  Why was he coming to them? Was it on Fangus's orders? The girl had managed to kill him in some way?

  “T-Taro? What’s going on?”

  “Run the fuck away! That's a monster!”

  “Huh? Hey! What are you saying?!”

  As Taro strode past them and ran away without hesitation, laughter echoed through the cave. It was cold and distorted, as if produced by a being beyond human.

  “There you are! I was wondering where you were!”

  Setrim shifted his gaze toward the source of the words and was horrified when he saw a red-haired figure approaching. For some reason, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

  “A-Attack!”

  He shouted in a doubtful voice, drawing his sword at the girl.

  Some charged with heroic impetus, but…

  “Death.”

  …They all fell to the ground, like puppets whose strings had been cut.

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  “D-Did she kill them with one word?”

  Setrim couldn't believe it. A dozen men had just died in less than a second. How was it possible? Had it been a spell? If it was true, then they were doomed.

  We're done for! I-I have to run!

  His allies must have come to the same conclusion as him, so much so that they threw their weapons on the ground and ran away as fast as they could.

  “H-Hey! Where are you going?!”

  “Oh, are you running away? Hmm…Let’s try something new! Absolute Cruelty! ”

  Those words were enough and everyone, except Setrim, fell to the ground… They were dead.

  “Wow! What a devastating effect! I love it!”

  The girl laughed heartily at that sight, like it was the first time she had used it.

  “H-How can the death of so many people please you?”

  “You don't like it? I mean…You're a smuggler, right? You kill and sell people for money. You had so much fun raping those women, didn't you?”

  “W-What?”

  The girl pointed her finger to her own temple.

  “I see it clearly in your mind-“

  A smile appeared on the face of the female-like monster.

  “-Every. Single. Time.”

  Could she read minds? That was too much for him. Setrim turned on his heels and began running in the opposite direction.

  “Are you running away? Again?”

  He heard the bored voice of the monster girl behind him- she was less amused than the last time.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

  Setrim reached a large, spacious room filled with cages – this was where the prisoners were kept.

  There were both human women and men. They had been taken from all over, kidnapped from various cities and villages across the Empire. Some had been taken because they were good-looking, while others had been taken because they had incurred huge debts with Dark Calling.

  “Where is it?! Where the hell did they put it?!”

  Setrim moved among the various cages, as if searching for something. What was he looking for among the prisoners?

  "There it is!"

  Setrim smiled when he found himself in front of a huge cage. It was larger than the others and didn’t contain a human, but a magical beast. It had been captured thanks to the use of some of Dark Calling's finest prodigies.

  He took a stick and started poking it.

  “Wake up, you idiot creature!”

  An Electro Lyon. It was a fairly rare and extremely territorial monster, capable of generating electrical discharges from its thick golden fur. Its fangs were so sharp they could pierce steel, and its roar was so powerful it would scare any opponent.

  “Wake up, damn it! She’s here!”

  To defeat one monster, you needed another one.

  “Hey? Where are you?”

  An amused little voice made its way into the room - the monster girl had entered.

  “Ugh! Wake up, you beast!”

  He opened the cage, then hid further back.

  “Huh? What do we have here? A magical beast?”

  The lion barked, visibly annoyed at being woken up.

  Yes! Kill her! Kill her!

  The two monsters stared at each other for a few minutes. Electro Lyon let out a mighty roar, but only Setrim trembled. The girl remained completely unfazed and simply smiled, which was enough to make the lion retreat.

  “What is it? Do you want to fight?”

  The magical beast seemed unwilling to hear of it. It retreated and grew smaller and smaller.

  “Ohhh! Are you scared?”

  The girl approached the lion, as if she were approaching a kitten. She smiled and stuck out her tongue at him.

  “Bulabulabula!!”

  That stupid, childish gesture was enough to make the Electro Lyon flee; it entered one of the caves and fled through the tunnels, gripped by enormous fear.

  “W-What happened?”

  Setrim was astonished. An aggressive and territorial beast like the Electro Lyon had fled a fight? If he hadn't seen it, he would never have believed it.

  “Now it's your turn!”

  “Huh? But when?!”

  Before he knew it, the girl's clawed hand was already wrapped around his neck.

  “No! Please! Don’t kill me!”

  “Are you asking me for mercy? Seriously? I know it's normal in your situation, but—”

  The monster girl shifted her gaze towards the various cages, filled with chained humans.

  “-isn’t that what they did too? It doesn’t look to me like you freed them.”

  “Huh? Yeah, but…What does that have to do with it?”

  “What does that have to do with it? Dude, I’m no saint, but you aren't better than me, are you?”

  Setrim didn't understand what he'd done to deserve that treatment. He'd always just had fun; wasn't that the point of life?

  “W-Wait! C-Can I give you something in exchange for my life? What do you want? Money? Men? You can get someone to take away with you!”

  "What?!"

  The girl's voice had become furious. She seemed annoyed by his proposal, but Setrim didn't understand why.

  “You're nothing but scum! You dare offer me some men?! How brave of you!”

  He felt the grip on his neck tighten. It was hurting more and more.

  “You dare offer me disgusting human men?! Did you take me for a prostitute?!”

  “Hey! W-Wait! I-”

  His words had been stolen from him, and his headless corpse fell to the ground like a sack of garbage. He hadn't been deemed worthy of even a last, futile attempt to beg for mercy.

  This is how Setrim Schettini died.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  -A miserable life.

  As he ran away at full speed and overtook his companions, Taro Igal Valfarone thought about how miserable his life had been.

  He was born into a noble family in the Ashen Kingdom, but his life had not been a happy one. He was born as the second son, so he would have inherited nothing. He would likely have become a butler in some allied noble family, had it not been for the sudden change in his country.

  A little less than ten years earlier, a new king, nicknamed "Crown of Blood," had ascended the throne. Due to his various reforms, most of the nobles had been stripped of their wealth. Within months, the dignitaries had panicked; some were killed for rebelling, others decided to sell their children to earn a living.

  Among those families was Taro's. If he hadn't fled to the Empire, he would have ended up in cages like the women they had kidnapped. His first option had been the Bashad Federation, more advanced and with better prospects than Nexia, but for economic and logistical reasons he had to abandon that idea.

  He didn't mind the life of a gangster. It was hard, but a thousand times better than working in the fields. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the best of circumstances now.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  At her heels was a monster of unprecedented power, capable of killing a seasoned soldier with a single blow. They could not defeat her.

  Why? Why did this happen to me?!

  He stopped to catch his breath. He looked around and noticed he had reached the room where the various women were being held captive.

  “Wait…it’s here!”

  He passed the Electro Lyon's cage and opened a small door, entering a small room. It was the armory.

  He eyed the various swords, but none of them seemed useful to him.

  “I doubt a normal weapon could do anything! If only I had a magical weapon…Wait!”

  It was then that he remembered their secret weapon: the experimental magic rifle.

  He approached the emergency box and broke the lock with his sword. He picked up the device and released the safety catch as instructed.

  “I've never seen anything like it…”

  It was a strange kind weapon; similar to a crossbow, but with a long barrel at the front.

  “The Federation is really ahead of the curve!”

  As he examined the contraption, Taro heard a roar from the Electro Lyon coming from the cage room.

  Who is the madman who freed it?!

  That monster had been hell to catch. There would have been trouble if it had escaped.

  Taro expected screams and barking, but…

  “Huh?”

  …Nothing was heard.

  Has it gone away?

  Taro approached the half-open door and peeked out the other side.

  “W-Wait! Can I give you something in exchange? What do you want? Money? Men? You can get someone to take away with you!”

  "What?"

  He heard the voice of his companion, Setrim, as he tried to bargain with the monster girl who introduced herself as Almodea, who held him in check, squeezing his throat in a powerful vice.

  “You're nothing but scum! You dare offer me some men?! How brave of you!”

  It didn't seem to be going well.

  For some reason, she seems to have gotten pissed off…

  “You dare offer me disgusting human men?! Did you take me for a prostitute?!”

  “Hey! W-Wait! I-”

  Setrim's head burst like a balloon.

  “What a disgusting human being…”

  Taro was terrified. That monster had done it again! She'd killed someone with a single blow, and then she'd started looking at the various prisoners in the cells.

  Got you, bastard!

  Taking advantage of Almodea's distraction, Taro emerged from his hiding place and aimed the rifle at the target in front of him.

  “Die, you ugly monster!”

  He pulled the trigger and shot his target. The magic bullet fired, hitting Almodea point-blank.

  “Yes! I managed to kill her!”

  He cried out in joy as the magical blast connected, raising a gigantic curtain of dust.

  “…”

  “...”

  “…”

  Taro had already lost himself in glories, but was brought back to reality when he saw a red hand grasping the barrel of the rifle.

  “Oh! I didn't think there were guns in this world!”

  Almodea's amused voice echoed in her ears; she had survived.

  “H-How did you do that? You don’t have any armor or anything! W-What are you?!”

  "I?"

  The barrel snapped under the girl's grip, and she smiled happily at the question.

  “I am a demon!”

  He couldn't believe it. Was she really a demon? A real demon?

  “A demon-Wah!”

  Taro felt a stab in his heart. He looked down and saw what looked like a dragon's wing piercing his chest.

  A wing…of a dragon?

  “A demon who likes dragons!”

  “W-Wait…I-“

  Before he could even beg for mercy, Almodea swept her wing upward, tearing his body in two. Despite being split in half, Taro was still alive, in a world of pain and blood.

  “N-No…I don’t want…To die…”

  Those were the last words out of his mouth before his lifeless carcass collapsed to the ground.

  That's how Taro Igal Valfarone stopped breathing forever.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Almodea moved her right wing, wiping away the boy's blood.

  "Disgusting…"

  She snorted softly, smoothing her ponytail, which was slightly stained with blood. Then, she looked at the corpse of the man who had freed the Electro Lyon.

  “Thinking that you wanted to offer me men make me vomit, you scum!”

  It was clear she wasn't happy with that proposal. Why would she want a man? Had he proposed that to her just because she was a girl?

  What disgusting idiocy!

  Had he taken her for a prostitute? Yet, she didn't seem to dress or act like one. Almodea didn't care about having men; they didn't interest or delight her.

  “Let's see what we have here…”

  She glanced at the various cages, trying to calm herself down. The prisoners were men and women, ranging in age from fifteen to thirty-five. They were in pitiful conditions, poorly fed, and visibly beaten bloody. Through her Demon Eyes, Almodea could see that the women were practically brain dead, while the men had been sedated with some drugs.

  In practice, none of those present would have been able to say that it was a demoness who had saved them, rather than the sorceress Alcina.

  “They're in a bad shape, but…”

  She approached the cages of some women with more sinuous shapes. Since those poor girls had been stripped of all their clothes, Almodea could enjoy the view without any problems.

  “They’re beautiful, even in this condition.”

  They were not in good condition at all, but Almodea tried to imagine them in their pre-abuse state.

  “Maybe I could cure them and keep them for myself.”

  She muttered to herself, raising a hand to her chin. Almodea could use them as friends or personal servants. There was nothing better than a dozen women dressed as maids, ready to pamper her whenever she asked.

  However, it wasn't a problem-free solution. First of all, Almodea wasn't yet able to fully heal mental damages. Furthermore, those women weren't exactly her type—she liked them beautiful, strong, confident, and even a little cocky.

  Those before her were beautiful, she didn't doubt it, but was sure they wouldn't be happy serving her, not to mention that she would have to spend weeks -if not months- making her servants understand that she wasn't a danger to them.

  Simply put, it would have been a real pain in the ass.

  “Huh? What do we have here?”

  Her eyes shifted to a cage smaller than the others. Inside was a small girl, probably fifteen years old. What made her stand out from the others were her features: She had two raccoon ears on her head and a furry tail sticking out from behind.

  “A demi-human? A half-raccoon...Wow!”

  The little girl had large eyes of a different shade of red than Almodea's. Her long brown hair was messy and reached her hips. Her gaze was so dull that some might have thought she had been dead for some time.

  “This is a real rarity! A demi-human like this is truly hard to find!”

  In their world, therianthropes were not something exceptional in general, especially in Hell, where it was full of Minotaurs, Oni or Hellhounds.

  However, species like the little one in front of Almodea were quite rare. Raccoons were good at cleaning and preserving food, but not at fighting, and therefore were often killed by stronger predators.

  I wonder if the same thing is true in this world?

  She had no idea if the same logic applied in the new world. Still, she would have taken the girl anyway. The mere fact that she was the only demihuman there made her rare, and she was like her father: a collector.

  “Maybe Dad can heal your weak mind.”

  Almodea muttered, grabbing the cage and lifting it with one hand as if it were a basket of apples. She would take her to the Fear Tower, then deliver the others to the City of Arel and collect the reward.

  As she carried it as if weighed nothing, Almodea began to think of all the different demi-humans she might encounter in that world. She immediately imagined how many strong females she might face. It didn't matter much what race they were, as long as they weren't cowards who would run away at the first encounter with someone strong.

  She began to drool slightly. A dazed expression on her face at the mere thought of being surrounded by tough, strong women. It was her weakness: beautiful, tall and strong women.

  I could get them on my side and-

  “I see you always find something to take home.”

  A cold voice behind her made her stop. Someone had appeared behind her without her noticing. Of all the people who could have done it, only one had such a voice without emotion.

  “Hirashi! Weren’t you supposed to defend Mom in Arel?!”

  “Exactly, dear sister. But your mother wanted me to come and see if you had left anyone alive…”

  The white giantess looked around, examining the various corpses present. Some were immaculate, while others had been mercilessly torn to pieces.

  “I see you had fun, dear sister.”

  “Yeah! One of them wanted to sell me men! Do you believe it?! Did he take me for a prostitute, maybe?”

  "That’s asking for certain death on your part.”

  “Yes! But look what I found!”

  Almodea handed the cage to her sister. Hirashi leaned toward the smaller girl to examine it.

  “A demi-human?”

  “Exactly! It was the only one of its kind! Do you think we can keep it?”

  “Dear sister, she is a person, not an animal…”

  “I know! But she could be useful!”

  Hirashi grabbed the cage, holding it with one hand.

  “I'll take it…”

  “Hey! I wasn't struggling!”

  Almodea complained.

  “I know, but it would be disrespectful to the future heir of Almodeus to carry her luggage like a porter.”

  “You too are an heir! You will become a Queen!”

  Hirashi shook her head. She seemed unconvinced.

  “No, dear sister. I'm just a low-quality clone, not-”

  “Oh, shut up!”

  Almodea interrupted her, scolding Hirashi severely.

  “Don’t you dare talk about yourself like that in front of me, okay?!”

  She hated it when her sister belittled herself for silly reasons. She couldn't blame her, given her past, but Almodea didn't like hearing Hirashi call herself a "clone" at all.

  “As you wish, sister.”

  “Enough of this sister! I have a name, use it!”

  “Okay, Almodea.”

  “Good girl! I like you more when you are badass!”

  Almodea replied, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out the chest, proud of herself.

  “You need to have more self-confidence than you do now, Hirashi.”

  “You say so? But i-"

  “Of course! You're a fantastic woman! I can count on one hand the women who can be badass all the time!”

  “And you know a thing or two about women, right?”

  “LitRPG and Harem anime help you gain culture, big sis!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The two emerged from the abandoned mine, with Hirashi carrying the cage and Almodea hopping like a child.

  From a distance, they didn't look related—and they weren't, but it didn't matter to them. They saw each other as sisters, and would have considered themselves such, blood relationship or not.

  “Can I know what happened to this little girl?”

  The white giantess asked, looking at the little demi-human, who hadn't even realized she'd been taken away. It was as if she were dead.

  "From what I've seen in her mind, it seems she was torn from her home village at the age of ten, enslaved, beaten, and otherwise abused. It will be hard to bring her back to normal."

  Almodea brought her hand to her chin, then looked at Hirashi.

  “Could you cure her mind? You know… With your Void Magic you can do everything, right?”

  “Maybe. I don't like bending the laws of reality like my mother does, though.”

  “And why? In this way don't you limit yourself? I mean, you are OP as fuck even without it, but…”

  She was silenced by a gentle wave of the other woman hand.

  “There's always a price for changing reality. There's the risk that someone dear to me will be hurt. Like you...”

  “I understand. So you can't cure her?”

  “As I said...maybe.”

  Hirashi placed the cage containing the little raccoon girl on a mine cart. She leaned toward her, placing a hand on her chin and examining her with cold, purple eyes.

  “I can completely heal her physically, but her mind is practically shattered.”

  She tried touching the demi-human's cheek with a large, pale finger, but there was no reaction. Usually, those observing Hirashi or in her presence were overcome by an overwhelming aura. It wasn't an ability or anything of the sort, but simply the pure sense of inferiority brought on by seeing someone so superior to themselves. Even Almodea wasn't immune to that- the terrible feeling of being inferior in every way to someone as perfect as Hirashi.

  However, that little girl hadn't reacted in the slightest.

  “She is in a very bad state. I'll see what I can do; maybe C or Almodeus would be better fitted for this.”

  "I agree."

  Almodea nodded, approaching Hirashi. It was then that the dark-coated giantess whirled around, assuming a fighting stance and summoning a long purple katana from nowhere. It was an enchanted weapon forged by Hirashi herself, called the Void Katana.

  The giantess was skilled with every single weapon, but that was her favorite – the one she used practically all the time.

  “Huh? What’s going on?”

  “Someone is approaching us.”

  “Huh?”

  Almodea whirled around. She too had sensed someone, but Hirashi had been able to do so long before her; that was the proof of the enormous gap in strength and experience between them. A dark aura emanated from the forest; it was a far cry from that of the humans or the Theocracy soldiers they'd faced weeks before. Those were considered strong for that world, but something definitely more powerful was approaching them.