Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers - Chapter 101



100 – Life-Saving Measures (2)

Hundreds of years ago.

The 20th Legion, led by the Calamity Witch, once cornered a hero to his death.

The trapped hero was separated from his comrades, isolated, and all that remained was to take his head.

But the hero’s allies, defying death, shattered the Legion Commander’s barrier and charged into the deepest part of the camp.

An Elven Priest.

A Beastkin Assassin.

A Shield Paladin.

And even, a small force of elite troops reinforced to protect the hero.

A fierce guerrilla war ensued, and in the end, the 20th Legion was defeated by the power of the Goddess and the Holy Spirit.

They lost a war they should have won.

Why?

After the defeat, Hermione, commander of the 20th Legion and Niemi’s superior, pondered the loss countless times, but said she couldn’t figure out the cause no matter how hard she thought.

Niemi knew.

The power that humans possess.

It was the spirit to sacrifice oneself for others.

From that day on, Niemi learned humility. Instead of becoming arrogant just because she was a demon, she thought about how to win the war.

And realized.

Truly strong human bonds cannot be broken.

The affection between family members, the love between lovers, the resolve between master and disciple, the friendship of childhood friends. There were those who valued any of these things more than death. So, it was nearly impossible to emotionally break them.

So she decided to choose a method of physically separating them altogether.

After the legion commander Hermione’s head rolled for failing to capture the hero, Niemi started researching barrier magic.

A labyrinth using the souls of the dead as totems, replenishing mana to change its positional coordinates moment by moment.

[“My garden…”]

Garden.

The magic she had spent ages grinding out was collapsing.

A half-elf saint.

A beastfolk sapper.

A general-rank officer from the magic kingdom.

Of all things, three women with such similar positions.

*cough!*

Niemi spat out blood and hastily retreated. With her last bit of magic depleted, the barrier shattered.

The distorted space straightened. Returned to a dense forest.

[“Heh heh, not bad.”]

Catching her breath, Niemi pretended to be calm. She was already quite a distance from Adora and Liyo. The distorted space had cleared, normalizing their positions.

[“It would be best to withdraw for today, I suppose…”]

The wound is deeper than she thought. If she doesn’t get back and heal quickly, she could die.

Niemi ran without looking back.

“Ah! She’s escaping!”

“Wait!”

Adora stopped Liyo, who instinctively wanted to pursue. She switched to High Speech so Miyo could hear and continued the story.

“Goal achieved. Found Valkyrie, now we need to heal them both.”

Riyo nodded.

Tiria was already checking on Erich and Rachel’s conditions. A shadow quickly crossed her face.

“How is it?”

“Major Rachel is…still alright. The problem is…”

Before Tiria could even finish her sentence, Adora and the fox sisters’ hearts plummeted.

“…Erich isn’t breathing.”

“What?”

There was no time to waste. Explanations could wait. Tiria immediately began emergency treatment.

It wasn’t cardiac arrest.

His airway was blocked by poison and spores.

Unlike when dealing with someone who’s drowned, CPR wouldn’t do any good. In this case, the only option was to clear his airway with divine power while performing mouth-to-mouth.

Yeah, there’s no other way.

I have to save his life.

Tiria’s eyes held a complicated light. Even so, she didn’t hesitate and pressed her lips to Erich’s.

Exhaling to remove air on the inhale, pushing oxygen on the exhale. Expanding divine power to cleanse his lungs. In her heart, she prayed like this:

Please, Goddess. Don’t take this man.

If it’s fate that he has to be taken, then take me with him.

“……”

“……”

Adora and the fox sisters were speechless.

Seeing Tiria kissing Erich felt strange. She knew it was a lifesaving act, but strangely, one side of her chest ached.

Riyo understood this phenomenon well, but Adora didn’t.

She just didn’t want to see her savior die before her eyes.

Because of that, despite feeling doubtful about Tiria and Erich’s spectacle, she found herself rooting for the saintess of the enemy nation.

“…Ancestor Jeriem.”

The Gipold family had been atheists for generations, but today, she couldn’t bear it without praying.

The two women weren’t just standing idly by either.

They painstakingly removed the spores attached to Rachel, helping her regain consciousness.

How long had that time of such anxiety lasted?

“Cough, cough!”

The sound of the man’s cough made the birds flutter away.

Erich was awake.

*

It was like waking up after general anesthesia. When he came to his senses, the scenery had changed.

I coughed like someone choking and opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was the saintess’s face, her light blue eyes looking melancholy.

Close.

It was incredibly close.

“Haa, haa, Erich!”

The saintess’s irises are changing, little by little. From blue to yellow.

“Finally, you’re awake…”

“…What, cough, what on earth happened?”

“You were struck with a serious poison and collapsed. You stopped breathing, and, well, I…”

As consciousness returns, the saintess’s face comes into sharper focus. Tears well up in the corners of her eyes. A clear liquid glistens on her lower lip, about to fall.

A strange sensation lingers on my lips. Moist, and a good smell. Almost the same scent as the saintess’s hair.

Could it be?

But just as the thought begins to form, another barges into my mind.

Rachel.

“Where… where is Valkyrie?”

“Ah, you mean Major Rachel?”

I hastily looked around.

Niemi had disappeared.

And then, Valkyrie’s hair, as she lies surrounded by General Adora and the fox sisters, enters my view.

Her hair… has gone white.

Don’t tell me… she’s dead?

No. It’s too early to say. I have to see her face. Maybe she’s still breathing. But her condition was so severe back then.

“You shouldn’t get up! We haven’t finished the treatment yet!”

It’s an uninhabited island crawling with monsters. It wouldn’t be strange if anyone died at any moment. Partings can come suddenly. Just a few months ago, I wouldn’t have given that a second thought.

But now.

Rachel, who I’d crossed the line between life and death with countless times, because I wanted her to not die. Because even though I hated you for killing my comrades, I felt more sorry for you, and it was worse than hate.

Knowing it’s messed up, I still wanted to save you, if I could.

So.

“Get back…”

I groaned, feeling like my lungs would explode, but I still moved. I pushed Major and Riyoh out of the way and checked Valkyrie’s face.

Eyes closed.

A face covered in white spores.

Limbs that didn’t even twitch.

She looked like a embalmed corpse, and I just lost my balance and fell.

“Major!”

Major Adora caught me as I stumbled.

“I’m alright. She’s still breathing. The Saintess will take care of it.”

“I-Is that so?”

My gaze went to the Saintess. She gave a small sigh. Her eyes turned green for a fleeting moment, before changing back to yellow.

“Yes, Erich. Don’t worry too much. I’ll find a way, somehow.”

The Saintess said that with a somehow melancholy air.

*

“So, you got your ass kicked and came back?”

[“I have no excuses.”]

“Haa.”

From noble mtl dot com

Silver-haired, red-eyed Vepisha ran a hand through her hair, her face twisting in displeasure.

“No, I suppose it’s good you came back alive.”

[“Still, this old woman managed to sink at least one of them.”]

“You said you knocked down two just now? Niemy, are you perhaps trying to deceive me?”

[“I’m not trying to deceive you. This old woman only speaks of what she’s sure of. The man might somehow wake up, but that woman, the one said to have power like a hero… this old one made certain she’s dead.”]

“What, how? Did you use cordyceps or something?”

Niemy’s wrinkled lips curled up in a grin, and she nodded.

[“Cordyceps is just another secret art of this old woman. In summer, she becomes grass, but in winter, she finally becomes our servant, is it not? Even if the one healing is the Pope, they won’t be able to fix it.”]

The vampire, Vepisha, crossed her legs with a languid expression. She made a humming sound and tapped her foot.

“Good. You have skill, so I’ll trust you one more time.”

After all, labor’s scarce. If I execute someone for every little mistake like in the old days, we’ll be short-handed. Vepisha didn’t want to be a rigid vampire like her progenitor.

Still, I can’t give up the dresses.

Vepisha rose from her seat. Her dress, with alternating black and white ribbons, fluttered as she walked.

One of the deepest parts of the nest.

The communication room.

“Niemy.”

[“Still here.”]

“Look at this.”

Vepisha pointed to the magic stone tablet. Small letters had already appeared on the tablet.

[Things are settled. Returning within five days. 28th Legion Commander Salvira.]

Bephsha laughed.

“You kept saying you’d come, dragging your feet all this time. Looks like you’re actually coming now? If you don’t show this time, we’re just proceeding with the ritual immediately. I already sent word we can’t wait past the fifteenth, so you’d better be here by then.”

[“Well, that’s just splendid.”]

“You focus on blocking the entrance for now. Just have her deal with the scraps.”

A smile crept onto Niemi’s lips.

Someone like her, merely a division commander, might not be able to handle it, but if a naturally powerful legion commander took the lead, they could easily crush those kinds of b*stards.

*

A wave-swept coast.

A monster, human in the upper body and spider in the lower, stretched and blinked. Its overall appearance was black, but the skin of the human part was fair, and its eyes were a chilling crimson.

Very beautiful, yet.

Precisely because of that, its appearance was unsettling.

Men who saw such a form would invariably lose their minds and either be captivated, or flee in terror.

[“…I wonder, what will this human be like?”]

Arachne, Salbira.

Having arrived on the island, she wriggled her four pairs of legs and entered the forest.