“Damn… Three slipped through!”
“All yours, Ruri.”
“Yes! On it!”
Outside of town, on a plain bordering demon territory, Maha, Ney, and Ruri engaged in combat with around fifteen demons. Maha took the front with Ruri in the rear while Ney watched and helped where she was needed. This too was part of Ruri’s training.
Fifteen wasn’t a small band, but they couldn’t all attack at once. Maha dexterously positioned herself on the battlefield, dipping in and out of range, fighting no more than a few enemies at a time. However, limiting herself like that meant some would occasionally get past. Three demons circumvented her now and charged for Ruri. The girl took a deep breath and raised an arm toward them.
“That which crushes, ferocious fangs of the dragon. Come forth and devour my prey—Dragon’s Maw!”
Ruri’s chant brought forth a great mouth of stone from the ground that clamped down on the demons, crushing them. This was an alchemy that utilized earth, similar to golems.
“My! Not bad, Ruri,” Ney said.
“Thank you. Miss Maha! Using wide-range alchemy next!”
“Go for it!” Maha replied without looking back, but she seemed to understand what Ruri was up to.
“You’re basically on the same wavelength now. Since when did you two get so close?” I teased.
“I’m busy right now, so be quiet.”
“Aww. Don’t be such a wet blanket.”
Work-mode Maha was too serious to poke any fun at. Begrudgingly, I let her focus and watched on quietly. She cut down another demon, then moved to tangle with the remaining dozen, dancing around them with light steps. While they were kept busy, Ruri, standing in the rear, grabbed a vial from her hip and threw it forward.
“That which is hollow inside, vessel of black rot. Come forth and putrefy my prey!”
The vial traced an arc in the air before smashing against the ground, releasing powdered rust. A pitch black ring began to form around Maha and the demons. Maha was waiting for this moment and charged, tackling a few demons further into the center of the ring before quickly retreating herself.
“Ruri, now!”
“Jar of Decay!”
The pitch black ring around the demons began to shrink towards the center. As it passed through them, their bodies began to crumble like they were turning to rust. The ring eventually shrunk to a point, leaving only piles of unidentifiable organic mass in its wake.
“Splendid. Well done to you both.” Ney clapped her hands and praised the two. She was brought along for insurance but wasn’t even needed for this pack of demons.
“This isn’t anything worth celebrating. You would’ve been able to annihilate them yourself in half the time, Ney,” said Maha with her customary low self-esteem.
“Wooow! Captain Ney must be strong! Like that time we played tag.” Ruri, on the other hand, was simply impressed by how strong Ney sounded.
“Want to find out just how strong I am? Let’s have ourselves a little mock battle,” Ney said.
“Wait, what?”
“With you? Captain Ney?”
“Why not?” From empty space, she drew out a crude, massive blade resembling a hunk of metal. The sight of such a petite woman wielding that massive weapon would never not be jarring, but I definitely saw the appeal. Every woman would love nothing more than to swing around a giant sword at least once in their life, I’m sure. It’s just cool, you know?
“How about it, Ruri?” Ney asked.
“I want to try fighting you. To test myself, yes. But to see how strong you are, too.”
“Well said. How about you then, Maha?”
“I don’t know…” Maha didn’t seem nearly as enthused as Ruri.
“How about I throw a prize in the mix?” Ney suggested. “If you two win, I’ll make dinner tonight.”
“Let’s do it.”
“No hesitation?!” Ruri exclaimed.
“Ney’s cooking is…sensational.”
“Th-that good?”
Though you wouldn’t guess it from how cold and aloof she acted, Maha was a bit of a chowhound and was crazy about Ney’s food. She recently offered up her memories of all the food she’d ever enjoyed, so she was probably ravenous for some good food right around now.
“In exchange,” Ney continued. “If I win, you’ll have to do one thing I ask.”
“…Ugh.” Maha sighed for the third time that day. It was understandable; she had an idea of what Ney’s request was likely to be.
“Is something wrong, Miss Maha?” Ruri asked.
“It’s nothing. Let’s do this.”
“Okay!”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll take you both on at once. Don’t hold back on me now.” Ney spun around and darted off.
“Whoa…” They hadn’t even begun and Ruri was already in awe. She thought to attack while Ney had her back turned—audacious little thing, that homunculus—but Ney showed no openings even from behind.
“This should be far enough. Let’s begin.” Ney stood with her massive blade resting on her shoulder and rooted herself. As for the two girls…
“Let’s go with the same positioning as before. I’ll take the front, you’ll stay back,” Maha said, her gaze fixed on Ney as she adjusted her glasses.
“Okay!”
“I would normally say play it safe here…but that probably won’t be enough against Ney.”
“What you mean?”
“She can read minds.”
“What?!” Ruri exclaimed. “Th-then how we beat her?”
“Do you know chess?”
“I do.”
“It’s kind of like that. We’ll checkmate her. Attack her in a way she can’t avoid.”
“O-oh… I’ll try my best.”
With their discussion over, Maha and Ruri readied themselves. The first to move was Maha. Warily, she inched forward at a crawl.
“…You’re taking too long. I’ll start,” Ney said.