The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“……”
Altera blinked wide-eyed in surprise.
“Huh?”
Then she tilted her head slightly. Her expression was full of confusion — the kind of face that said she had no idea what was going on.
“Hm? …What did you just say?”
“I said no.”
Yuki once again rejected Altera’s invitation.
I also glared at her, making it clear from my attitude that I had no intention of accepting.
“Whaaat? What’s that supposed to mean? I seriously don’t get it. You’re refusing my invitation? How does that make any sense? For a human, you’re pretty full of yourself!”
“I’m honestly amazed you thought we’d accept in the first place.”
“Sorry, but we’re not going to sell our souls to demons. We’ll fight…”
“…to the very end!”
That was, in a sense, a declaration of war.
We wouldn’t let Altera have her way.
We would crush her ambitions.
Once again, we made our intentions clear.
“Hmph…”
The smile vanished from Altera’s face, and her eyes grew colder and colder.
The pressure grew so intense the air itself seemed to creak and scream.
“So you’re really rejecting me. And after I went out of my way to give you a chance… ahh, humans are so dumb. You kick away the only path to survival all by yourselves. Seriously, so stupid.”
“That’s not exactly the case.”
“What do you mean? Don’t tell me you think you can escape in this situation.”
“No. Obviously that’s impossible.”
“Right? At least you understand that much. You’re idiots, but it seems you can think a little.”
“We can’t run… so we’ll just beat our enemy.”
“…?”
“We’ll defeat you and break through.”
Saying it aloud only strengthened my resolve.
Altera had defiled Luie’s soul.
She toyed with Gray’s life.
She had hurt countless people.
There was no forgiving her.
She was the enemy we absolutely had to defeat here and now.
“…Ah.”
She stared blankly—and after a moment, a twisted smile spread across her face.
“Aha… ahahaha!!!”
She doubled over with laughter.
She laughed so hard her eyes filled with tears.
“You’re gonna defeat me? A human? Me? Aha—no no no, stop, kyahahaha! What is that joke? It’s too good. I might actually break something from laughing too much!”
After laughing her fill—
“…Don’t get carried away, okay?”
Her laughter stopped instantly, and murderous intent burst out of her like an explosion.
Flames erupted from beneath Altera’s feet and wrapped around her small body—both armor and blade.
Wreathed in fire, she took her stance.
It was strange to say “safely,” but we had succeeded in drawing her into battle.
A troublesome foe, but defeating her would turn the tide.
“I’ll kill you. I’ll burn you until not even your bones remain.”
Altera raised her palm—
And whoosh! crimson flames roared upward.
“Reez-chan and the others, stay right there, okay? They’re my prey.”
“Understood. But the enemy’s strength is considerable…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if, like Reez-chan says, those humans have that blood in them, humans are still humans. Trash is trash. Besides…”
The flames grew, and the temperature rose sharply.
“I’m going all out.”
Altera’s eyes turned crimson — a fiery, burning red.
“So don’t worry. Reez-chan, you guys just make sure they don’t escape.”
“Yes, leave it to us. If Lady Altera is going all out, there’s no need for us to interfere… we’ll focus on blocking their escape.”
“Mm, I’m counting on you, Reez-chan.”
I kept hearing the name Reez…
Was that demon woman the same Reez Iris had told me about?
There were so many things I wanted to ask —
About Arios, Monica, and the schemes she’d been pulling behind the scenes.
But—
Now wasn’t the time.
If I didn’t focus on Altera, she’d kill me in an instant.
“Yuki… can you keep going a bit longer?”
“Of course. As long as I’m with you, Rain, I can do anything.”
“Thanks. That really reassures me. I’m glad you’re here with me, Yuki.”
“That’s my line.”
Even now, we smiled at each other.
A deadly battle was about to begin, but there was no fear.
Together, we could do anything.
No wish was impossible; no enemy unbeatable.
Yes—there was nothing we couldn’t do.
“I don’t like it… I really don’t like it! Laughing in front of me when I’m serious? How dare you! You should be crying, screaming, begging for your lives!”
“We’ll never bow to you.”
“Aaah—seriously!! You’re so insolent, insolent, insolent!!!”
Altera stomped her feet—each stomp cracking the ground.
Her power far surpassed that of a Gigabrand.
She was likely the strongest or second among the Four Heavenly Kings.
“Burn!!”
Wrapped in flames, Altera charged—
And the battle began.
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