Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers - Chapter 100



99 – Life-Saving Measures (1)

The old woman frowned, her already deep wrinkles deepening even further.

It was surprising enough that a fox beastkin, radiating divine power, could speak Hui-eon, but she clearly called a man from the enemy nation of Mado, ‘her man.’

Could he have charmed the women of Sungreung with that sculpted face of his?

[“Keu keu keu.”]

She could picture what happened in the past.

[“Right, a man is a man and a woman is a woman. Were they stranded on a desert island and reduced to nothing but instinct, perhaps?”]

Riyo didn’t answer. Only, her gaze was fixed on Erich and Rachel, their entire bodies being consumed by spores.

Honestly, she felt like absolute shit.

A fox beastkin in heat becomes as violent as she is lustful. She has to fight and win against other rivals, after all.

Such violence usually manifests in male beastkin, but it sometimes appears in female beastkin as well.

Just like right now, when it seems like they’re about to lose someone they like for some reason.

“You…”

[“…You’re as good as dead.”]

The fox sisters took out monkey wrenches and twirled them around.

If those were ordinary tools, she could take a few hits.

The problem was the dense divine power infused in them.

The sephirah, chilled to the bone, was so dense it was almost liquid. A wrong hit from that tool and it’d be a fatal wound.

[“So, not just your average beastman, huh.”]

“…Sign of Dismemberment.”

Niemi and Adora murmured in turn.

Adora chuckled dryly.

Like the sisters Riyo and Miyo, Adora owed her life to Erich.

She couldn’t coldly cut down the man who had saved her from a life worse than death, or the other Holy Nation female soldiers who had assisted Erich.

A debt must always be repaid.

It was against the Gifford family’s military code.

[“Hey, you know what to do, right.”]

[“You take the front. I’ll support you.”]

Hwi-eon, the language of demons. And mages borrowed the language of demons. Miyo could communicate with Adora.

Niemi hadn’t expected this at all.

No matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t make sense. How could a b*tch who wielded divine power also wield magic? If mana and sephirah reacted the wrong way, her soul could be ripped to shreds…

[“…No way?”]

Just as Niemi realized something, Adora and the fox sisters charged in from both sides.

Niemi had a grasp of the enemy’s strength, at least to some degree.

The moment those two could communicate and were unified for one man, her chances of winning vanished.

Then she’d just have to separate them.

[“Earth, rise up.”]

As before, the Calamity Witch erected a wall, severing Adora and Riyo.

Crack!

Riyo stamped her foot and leapt. Anticipating Niemi’s move, she scaled the mushroom before the wall could rise fully. Then, in one go, she vaulted over, joining Adora’s side.

Gotta use yer head, eh?

Niemi thought, casting a spell of vengeance.

[“Dust to dust, ash to ash. Let the officiant raise the flowers and scatter them upon the coffin.”]

One was a massive calamitous magic that spread spores of poison on contact across the wall.

The other, a summoning magic that dredged an earth giant with eight arms from the ground.

The former for the fox, the latter for the traitorous Marshal General of the Magic Kingdom.

However.

“Oh, Goddess of Craft.”

Riyo whispered a prayer and pulled a rope from her back, throwing it. Securing the wall with a grappling hook, she kicked off the ground. As a result, she leaped over the wall several times, avoiding the spores entirely.

At the same time, Adora, watching the giant charge towards her the moment it was summoned, quietly chanted.

[“Release of Power.”]

Summoned creatures can, in some cases, be seen as aggregations of mana.

In other words, magic.

If it was magic, it could be parried with a basic technique, and Adora had the eye for it.

Sizzzzzzzz!

Adora’s *Jin* slashed through the giant’s skin, ringing sharply.

In an instant, all eight of the giant’s arms were severed, and the spores scattered like ash.

* * *

Whoosh, thud.

Adora brought her flame-infused sword down, and at the same time, Riyo landed beside her.

[“This maze is a pain.”]

[“We don’t have time. At this rate, Valkyrie and Major will die.”]

They’re deflecting the attacks but can’t even land a meaningful counterattack on the main body.

Niemi, who had his head cleaved by Riyo’s axe earlier, had almost completely healed with the power of the spores.

[“We need one more. Just one more.”]

[“If that woman came, we could definitely turn things around……”]

*

“Ugh.”

Tilia was still wandering the maze.

“Is this the same place again……”

She could confidently say, Tilia wasn’t bad with directions. It’s all because of this damn maze. It changes its appearance after only a little time, so she can’t even trust the path she already took.

The maze is alive.

She had figured that out a while ago.

She learned how to deal with large-scale magic like this when studying at the church. Large-scale magic requires a huge amount of mana, so either there are multiple practitioners or totems are set up to assist with remote control.

It seems like there’s only one enemy, so it’ll be faster to look for the totems.

Tilia, who had been following Erich’s magical trail, turned her steps and focused her mind.

“——.”

She abandoned description and began the search.

And before long, she found a wooden stick, standing ramrod straight, covered in spores.

[“Heeheehee!”]

A wicked, spectral aura clung to it.

Tiria knew it in her gut. This soul was broken. Beyond redemption. It didn’t even have a body to return to, just a pitiful thing possessing a twig.

[“Heehee, heeheehee!”]

The laughter was chilling. Spikes of gooseflesh crawled up the back of her neck.

The Tiria of before would have immediately exorcised such a vengeful spirit.

But now she knew they were people too.

Instead of a banishment prayer, Tiria recited a requiem.

“May you rest in peace.”

[“Hee, heehee, heehuh, huh…”]

The laughter slowly morphed into sobs, and then ceased.

Tiria opened her Holy Sight and looked to the heavens. She clearly saw a swirling grey-white light ascending to paradise.

“May your next life be filled with only happiness.”

It was a strict taboo to offer a requiem to an evil spirit.

If the Order ever found out she’d done this, she could even be excommunicated.

But Tiria didn’t care anymore.

Even if she lost her title as a Saint, even if countless believers were disillusioned with her.

Because there was one person in this world who would still call her holy.

After that, Tiria deliberately sought out the totems, exorcising them all. Wherever she lingered, the spores vanished and flowers bloomed.

And, finally, she arrived.

At the battlefield she should have been reinforcing long ago.

*

[“No way.”]

Niemi was, for the first time, genuinely rattled. She couldn’t use maze transformation magic.

At the same time, a holy aura, unlike anything before, enveloped the battlefield.

Overwhelming divine power. It felt like a weight pressing down on my shoulders.

“Haa, finally here, are you…”

“It was rough, I tell you.”

Grayish-white eyes calmly scanned the surroundings. And soon, they turned crimson.

Tiria drew Bakulus, and spoke.

“What the hell happened here?”

Riyo answered.

“It’s as you see. The Major and Erich… were taken down, one after the other, by that monster.”

Riyo and Adora had beads of sweat on their cheeks. This was no easy opponent.

“Even mild-mannered me is pissed off.”

More than anything, what upset Tiria was the fact that two comrades, with whom she had fought alongside and grown fond of, were on the verge of death.

She was trying to hide her emotions, but Tiria’s irises were already not just red, but a glaring, furious red.

“Saintess.”

Adora said.

“Back it up.”

“Yes.”

Even when addressed with clear orders by an enemy soldier, she replied without a hint of displeasure.

Because right now, the hearts of these three women, no, four if you included Miyoh, were all the same.

Rescue Erich and Rachel, and take down Niemi.

Niemi’s lips twisted.

[“Hoh ho ho, you’re doomed.”]

Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were frantic.

She couldn’t use the maze-splitting function because of that saintess. And to make matters worse, with three of them gathered, the possibility of her, merely a division commander, being subjugated was overwhelmingly high.

Just like the hero party hundreds of years ago.

The hero alone couldn’t do anything. The elf priestess also couldn’t do anything alone. The beastkin scout and the shield paladin were the same.

Humans, humanity, cannot live alone. Because they are weak beings, they form groups and rely on each other to survive.

That grand principle remains the same even after centuries.

The moment those three gathered, Niemi’s defeat became clear.

Just as she was about to flee.

“The most honored goddess says, if there is no light anywhere, become a lamp yourself. I stand here today in a human body in place of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so those who love will be blessed with light, and those who curse will be destroyed with light.”

As Tiria’s prayer ended, Adora and Riyo tore into Niemi’s arms with twice their previous momentum. Conversely, Niemi’s physical abilities were halved, making it impossible for her to avoid them.

[“Kkyaaak!”]

The Calamity Witch, struck by the slash, screamed.