The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"Sorry, but this is where it ends for you, okay?"
Mona thrust her hand forward, and in sync with that motion, Nina charged.
Unlike her previous straightforward attacks, this time she incorporated teleportation, making her movements unpredictable.
She appeared right in front of me, only to vanish instantly and reappear to the side.
I barely avoided her surprise attack from my flank, but then she teleported above me and came down with a strike from directly overhead.
She kept appearing and disappearing all around, making it incredibly hard to predict her next move.
And perhaps because she was being controlled, I couldn’t feel any hostility from her.
It was like fighting a puppet.
Even so, Nina’s movements disturbed the air.
I could read her motion from that and try to counter... but—
"Damn it, how could I possibly raise my hand against Nina?"
Ideally, I wanted to knock her out without injuring her.
That would be the best outcome.
But while that’s easy to say, actually doing it is a whole other matter.
It’s easy to underestimate her because of how she looks, but Nina is one of the most powerful species.
She’s still very young, but even so, her strength far exceeds that of an average person.
On top of that, she’s been through numerous battles, and her combat ability has improved greatly.
Trying to restrain her without hurting her is incredibly difficult.
It might be possible if I take my time and wait for the right opportunity...
"Ahaha, are you in trouble? Hey, are you? Aww, that look on your face is just delicious! I love it~"
This one’s in the way.
Mona, clearly having fun, joined the fight herself.
Her right hand melted, changing shape...
Then reformed.
It turned into a sharp blade and slashed at me.
She could transform parts of her own body?
Mona had also disguised herself as Chocolat.
This free transformation must be part of her ability.
"Come on, come on, let’s go!"
"You—!"
Mona turned her other hand into a sword as well, slashing at me with both hands.
A storm of blades raged, trying to engulf me.
But I didn’t feel that much threat from it.
To borrow how Suzu would put it: she had power, but no technique.
She was strong and fast, yes—but she was just swinging wildly, so there was no real danger of getting hit.
First, I focused on dodging Mona and Nina’s attacks.
Perhaps because Nina was being controlled, their coordination was poor.
I quickly spotted an opening.
I slipped out of their attack range at just the right moment and circled around behind Mona.
Then, with my dagger, I went for her back—
"...!?"
A shiver ran down my spine.
An alarm went off in my head.
I trusted my instincts and leapt backward.
Just then—
Mona’s hair extended like a spear and pierced the spot I had just been standing in.
"Even her hair!?"
"Tch, I missed. Good reflexes, huh?"
"Tch… what a pain."
Not just her hands—even her hair could transform?
Better assume her whole body was a weapon at this point.
"Oh, and by the way, that’s not all my power."
"What?"
"Since you’re here, how about I show you everything? Hehe… feast your eyes on all of me."
Suddenly, Mona sliced off her own left arm.
Her limb fell from the shoulder to the ground.
But no blood flowed.
The severed arm on the ground twitched grotesquely, swelled up, and began to take shape.
Eventually... it formed into the shape of a beast.
"Grrrrrr!"
"You’ve got to be kidding me…?"
"Nope~ Totally real! I can do things like this too, you know~"
Mona's ability was undoubtedly one of transformation…
But that wasn't all.
There was something else—something hidden that went beyond the bounds of mere shapeshifting.
"Well then, shall we go for another round?"
"Tch..."
A simultaneous attack from Mona, Nina, and the beast—three against one.
With such a difference in numbers, it didn’t matter whether they had skill or not.
I was being overwhelmed by sheer force.
"Fufu, looks like you’re struggling. Compared to before, you’re clearly running out of steam, huh?"
"You...!"
"But even in this situation, you still won’t lay a hand on that divine girl. Yeah, yeah, very noble. At this point, it’s not even hypocrisy—it’s clear proof that you truly care about her, huh? Good boy, good boy."
"Coming from you, that means nothing to me!"
"Aww, that hurts. But hmm... you still look like you’ve got plenty of fight left, don’t you? Normally, someone would be down for the count after taking this much punishment. You’re pretty impressive."
"And like I said, I don’t care for your compliments!"
"So cold~ But... hearing that just makes me want to be even nastier."
The attacks stopped for a moment.
Just as I was starting to wonder what she was up to...
Mona moved next to Nina and held a blade to her neck.
"Nina!?"
"No moving now~"
"Tch..."
"As you can see, this girl’s life is in my hands. If I put just a little force into this, her neck will go slice. And even if I just order her to, she’ll slice her own neck, you know~"
"..."
My head threatened to boil over with rage...
But no—I had to stay calm.
If this were just a fight, I could unleash everything.
But the priority here is rescuing Nina.
If I let my emotions cloud my thinking, I’d fail.
I needed to calm down... and wait for an opening.
I sharpened my focus, observing every detail of the surroundings, preparing for anything.
And then... I noticed it.
"Well then, it’s not like I dislike you or anything, but a command is a command. Hm? ‘Command’? That makes it sound like I’m beneath someone, and I really don’t like that... Oh well, doesn’t matter. Point is, I’ve been told to kill all obstacles—so you’ve gotta die now."
"..."
"Alright, no funny ideas, okay? Don’t move, don’t think, just stay there exactly as you are. And then... let me devour you."
The beast let out a deep growl as it slowly crept forward.
One step. Two. Three.
It came close enough to tear out my throat at any moment.
"Well then—bye-bye."
Just as Mona was about to give the order—
"YOU BASTAAAAARD!!! ROT IN HELL, YOU FILTHY MONSTER!!!"
Tina’s furious roar echoed across the battlefield.
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