“Excuse me, are you Aria?” As Aria and company return to the inn, an elderly gentleman calls out to them. Judging from the tailcoat he’s wearing, he must be a steward for an aristocratic family… “Yes, I am…” Aria responds reluctantly to the man in the tailcoat. And for good reason. This city’s aristocracy only makes her think of the infamous earl she heard about from Joey. “Hmm, very well. The lord of this city, the Earl of Gladstone, has summoned you to his estate. You shall follow me.” The steward is a servant of the earl after all. His face is expressionless as he commands Aria indifferently, obviously expecting her to obey without question. It would seem that in such a short time, word of Aria’s incomparable beauty has reached the earl. As she glances around the inn, she realizes that all the patrons are looking at her sympathetically. They know the fate of those who catch the earl’s eye. Tama’s face reads, Like I would ever let my beloved master go with you! as he glares at the steward. “…?! You have no right of refusal. In this city, if you do not comply with the earl, you will be brought to justice as a criminal.” The steward is frightened by Tama’s scowl but quickly recalls the earl’s authority and becomes obstinate. Even in public, he’s brazenly threatening to arrest Aria on false charges if she refuses. “And you there—you’re quite stunning as well. I’m sure the earl would like you, too. Come along.” “I don’t know what you’re saying, but I refuse.” Hearing the steward’s demand to accompany him, Stella turns away with her usual haughty “hmph!” Not too long ago, Stella would have been enraged at being told what to do and would likely have ended the steward’s life on the spot. However, thanks to meeting Aria and the others, she has become much calmer. There’s no concern of her recklessly attacking another person anymore. “Stella, let’s go with him.” “Meown—!” Master?! Tama cries out in shock. Yet, seeing Aria’s expression, he quickly thinks, Oh, I see what you’re up to! and is convinced. If Aria rejects the steward now, she will be tried on false charges. In that case, she plans to visit the earl of her own accord, see whether the rumors about him are true, and then bring him to justice in the name of righteousness when she finds an opening. Aria is smart as a whip. The ace in the hole to make the plan succeed is Aria herself—and she knows it. Tama now realizes what she’s up to. He stops glaring at the steward and pretends to let Aria scoop him up peacefully. “Very good. In that case, our carriage is waiting out front. Get in promptly.” Aria and her friends do as they’re told. Stella resists at first, but Aria promises her as much delicious food as she wants when it’s all done, and she follows suit. “Ooh! What incredible beauty! I’ve never seen such gorgeous ladies before in my life!” Just minutes after bumping back and forth in the carriage, Aria and her crew arrive at the earl’s estate and are led to a guest room. After waiting for a while, they hear a voice accompanied by a massive, ugly man with a face like a pig’s. His gaudy robe is indicative of his overall poor taste. This man could only be the Earl of Gladstone who has deprived so many individuals of happiness and defiled so many women. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am an adventurer named Aria. This is my partner Tama and a member of our party, Stella.” Aria replies formally, for good measure. The earl nods in satisfaction and sits down heavily on a sofa with a tremendous thud. He silently appraises Aria from her breasts to her legs, like he’s licking a plate clean, before turning to Stella sitting next to her and repeating the entire process. “Forgive me, my lord—what business did you have with us when you requested our presence?” “The answer is simple, Aria. You shall become my lover!” “…I’m sorry, but that is not possi—” A knock at the door interrupts Aria’s refusal after she pauses for a moment at the demand she knew the earl would make. “Pardon me. I’ve prepared us some tea.” With his head bowed low, the steward from before enters the room. He has a tea set in his left hand. The steward skillfully pours tea while the earl watches with a smirk on his face. “No matter, then. First, you should have some tea and relax. It’s a luxurious brand that commoners can’t acquire, you know?” Aria assumed the earl would fly into a fit of rage at her refusal, but rather, he looks even more pleased than before and orders the girls to drink the refreshment provided by his servant. It’s almost as if…this was his plan all along. This tea… Could it be poisoned?! Aria has a realization, but she reaches out for her cup anyway and brings it to her lips. She has an idea. The moment before she puts the tea to her lips, she whispers, “Tama, now.” Of course, Tama knows what to do. The instant the teacup touches Aria’s mouth— “Meown—!” Tama cries out and activates Divine Lion Protection. Seeing Aria suddenly enveloped in sparkling golden light, the earl cries out, “What the—?!” She pays him no attention and downs her cup with a smile. “Hee-hee, that is good tea, my lord.” The earl’s eyes grow even wider as Aria continues. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve resisted the poison you laced it with thanks to Tama’s skill. The drug contained an aphrodisiac and a hypnotic, right?” Aria bores her gaze into the earl. Her hunch about the poisoned tea was correct, it seems. However, Tama’s Divine Lion Protection means that all forms of poison are rendered null. What’s more, thanks to the resistance, she’s able to tell exactly what type of poison she’s imbibed. “Wh-what is the meaning of this?! I have not poisoned your tea whatsoever!” “Is that so? Well then, why don’t you try a sip yourself?” “Wow…you’re really doubting me, the earl? What insolence… Enough to throw you in jail for treason.” Aria is convinced: We’ve cornered him now! However, the earl stays cool and feigns ignorance. If anything, he thinks he can throw Aria in jail for treason and claim her for himself. It’s likely that, up until now, he’s used his privilege to silence anyone who opposes him and to murder any witnesses, not leaving a shred of viable evidence of his many crimes. “In that case, I’m afraid we’ll have to rough you up a bit…” Aria crouches down, ready to pounce. “You swine! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you think you can get away with laying a hand on me?!” “It sounds like a stupid move, right? But not today—because we have an ace up our sleeve that will prove your crimes to the world.” With an ice-cold gaze, Aria speaks indifferently to the enraged earl. In response, the aristocrat thinks, This little bitch…, and looks like he’s just bitten down on a pernicious, bitter bug. He has no idea what the ace up Aria’s sleeve could be. However, because she is so calm and collected in the face of his haughty threats, he realizes she could indeed have something on him to bring him down. “So will you admit what you were planning to do? Or else…?” “Shit…! Guards! Get them—!” Backed into a corner by Aria, the earl is thrown into consternation. He quickly flies into a frenzy and calls out to his guards, likely waiting just outside the door, to sic them on Aria and company. In that moment… “My lord, I have grave news—!” The door to the room flies open with a bang and the earl’s servant appears. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. “What the hell?! Now is not the time!” “It’s undead! An army of undead has suddenly appeared in the city center!” “What did you say?! What on earth is going on?!” The earl’s reply reveals his obvious fear. Judging from his reaction, it doesn’t seem to be a ploy to escape the corner into which he’s been backed. “Oh no! Tama, Stella, let’s head to the city center at once!” “Meown—!” Of course, master! “I dunno what’s happening, but it looks like I’ll get to go berserk on some people!” They have the earl’s back against a wall, just where they want him, but if what’s supposedly happening is true, that takes precedence. Aria and Tama, with their strong sense of righteousness, cannot ignore this plight. Stella’s interest is piqued, and for that reason, she joins them in flying from the earl’s estate. Clack-clack-clack-clack— A horde of undead monsters—skeletons—swarms in the city center, giving off an inorganic rattle. Every one of them is holding a blade made from bones, which they use to slash down any humans they come across. It’s a mess of blood, shrieking, and wailing— —the city center of Gladstone has become a scene straight out of hell. Clack-clack-clack-clack—! The skeletons’ bones clatter together like laughter while they swing their blades at the city’s denizens. They’re approaching a lone young girl. She’s frozen immobile and silent, crouching. “Not on my watch!” Just as a skeleton rears back to strike her— A beam of light erupts in tandem with Aria’s powerful voice, disintegrating the corpse into thin air without a sound. Aria speaks reassuringly to the cowering girl. “It’s okay now. But get out of here as fast as you can!” The source of the beam came from Aria unleashing Sacred Blade. “U-ummm… Thank you!” The girl somehow manages to stand as she speaks and dashes off on shaky legs to an area void of skeletons. “My goodness, this is an inordinate number of skeletons… But we have to protect the people of this city! I will focus on the undead attacking people. Tama, support me, and, Stella…go wild!!” “Meown!” Understood, master! “Gah-ha-ha-ha! Now you’re speaking my language!” Faced with a veritable sea of skeletons, Aria provides instruction to Tama and Stella, respectively. In reality, she wishes she could use Stella as a tank to slowly and surely whittle away at the skeletons’ numbers, but right now the creatures are attacking the residents in succession. For the moment, they need to cull their opponents’ ranks, and quickly, as opposed to prioritizing the safest fighting position. It’s extremely fortunate that Aria just acquired her holy elemental skill, Sacred Blade. Skeletons are weak to fire elemental, holy elemental, and blunt attack damage. They are now Aria’s prey. “Sacred Blade—!!” Aria unleashes her new skill again on a skeleton bearing down on a bystander. The silver-white beam of light blasts the undead’s head off, and in the same moment, another skeleton raises its blade to slash Aria from behind. She realizes this but remains focused on another target in front of her. Aria has faith. She believes that Tama, her beloved pet (knight), will protect her. “Meown!” No way you’ll hurt my master! Just as Aria expects, the little cat quickly jumps into action. He howls adorably, and his equally adorable tail burns a bright, deep crimson. A pillar of flame immediately rushes from his tail with a ferocious whoosh, converging on the skeleton that attempted to attack Aria’s rear. It’s a veritable longsword made of fire. Shrrring—! The blade of flame rips the undead in half from the skull downward. In the same moment, Aria obliterates the skeleton in front of her. “T-Tama… Did you also have a close-range attack skill?” “Meowr—!” Aria is shocked that her pet would display another new skill at this juncture, but Tama simply replies with a cute little mew. He’d activated one of his innate skills—an Elemental Tail Blade—called Flame Edge. Tama determined that using skills like Summon Tentacle to support his master would be insufficient to protect the city. To this end, in order to drive down the number of skeletons, he decided to reveal the close-range attack skill he’d been hiding. In terms of obliterating the enemies’ ranks, the best choice would be the Elemental Howl Flame Howl—given its superior range and span—however, because of the people and buildings nearby, he can’t use a skill that could cause a fire. “Could it be?! That is the flame blade that defeated me in one fell swoop. I won’t let you beat me again!” Seeing Tama activate the ability used to defeat her with a single attack in her previous life as an earth dragon, Stella is more eager than ever to jump into battle. She rushes into an area flush with skeletons for an ambush, using her Mega Shield and greatsword in tandem to blast through droves of foes with ease. As stated earlier, skeletons are weak to blunt damage attacks. Stella’s shield-bash yields instantaneous success, and attacks from her greatsword—which is really more geared toward smashing than slashing—are equally effective. “Look! The adventurers are fighting! All reinforcements on deck!!” “““Yessir—!!””” As Aria and company manage to decimate the skeletons’ forces, a powerful voice resounds through the city center. “Danny!” Wiping sweat from her brow, Aria’s expression instantly lights up. Danny stands before her, along with Howard, Keni, Marietta, and what appears to be a gathering of troops from the Gladstone knight squadron. At Danny’s command, the knights rush in unison toward the undead horde. “Geh-hya-hya-hya! Attack all you want—it’s no use!” Howard bashes through skeletons with his shield and deflects attacks to protect his comrades. “Sheesh, skeletons are a real pain in the ass!” Danny steps in with his sword to deftly block the attacks that Howard can’t deflect himself, driving the skeletons back. Slash attacks aren’t supposed to be effective against skeletons, but a single swipe reduces them to a heap of bones. “Oi! I’ll slice you to bits!” “I’ll pulverize you!” Keni and Marietta swoop in from the flank for a sneak attack on some stragglers that have let their guard down. Keni takes advantage of the weight of her battle-ax and aims for the skeletons’ joints as she brings them down. Marietta uses her bo to smash their skulls. This squadron is filled with proper troops after all. The skeletons are driven back, one by one. “We may not be knights, but we’re here to help, too!” Several more voices echo from another direction. “No one asked us to be here, but if the city is destroyed, we’ll lose our jobs! Let’s go!” The group rushes toward the invaders. It’s Joey—he’s arrived with his comrades as reinforcements. Joey and his crew are skilled adventurers. They aren’t exactly on par with the knight squadron, but through their combined efforts, they make quick work of the skeletons and reduce their numbers. We might just have a shot…! Aria is now convinced, thanks to the reinforcements. Just as she drinks down a potion to restore her mana, Aria hears someone saying, “This is less than ideal. If everything had gone according to plan, by now, all the people in the city center would be dead, and we’d be storming the earl’s estate…” Looking toward the source of the voice, she realizes it’s coming from Leis’s company storehouse. Leis stands in the doorway, his eyes burning with rage. “Leis…is that you? What are…? Wait, why are they with you?!” Aria’s eyes grow wide in shock as she addresses Leis. Lily and Feri are paralyzed at his feet, their eyes blank and vacant. “They are under the control of my magic item. I call it the Spirit Slave Bell…” Leis holds the item in his left hand, showing it to Aria—it’s a small bell that emits a chime. Pale ripples emanate from Lily’s and Feri’s bodies in sync with the sound. “That noise… And Lily and Feri don’t look right… Leis, you kidnapped them in the labyrinth, didn’t you?! Just what do you plan on doing with them?!” “Heh-heh… That’s exactly right, Aria. I was the one who abducted them. My plan is…this!” Aria then realizes that the chime she heard in the forest labyrinth was the sound of Leis’s Spirit Slave Bell. Leis smiles menacingly, and this time, he raises his right hand, showing the arrow-shaped item he’s holding. ““Ahhhhhhhh—!!”” When Leis holds up the arrow, Lily and Feri scream in pain. At the same time, beams of light fly from their bodies and gather into the magic item. “What are you doing?! Stop it right now!” “Meowrn—!” You heathen! Aria and Tama don’t know what he’s doing, but it’s obvious Leis has paralyzed Lily and Feri and is causing them pain. That’s all the reason they’d ever need to spring into action. “Create Skeleton!” As Aria and Tama move to attack, Leis yells out an attack of his own, and a flash of purple light erupts in front of them. Just as the light dissipates, a number of skeletons appear in the same location. “Summoning the undead? Leis, are you a necromancer?” “Very astute of you, Aria. I have skills that can create undead beings. I will use them to destroy this city and get my revenge on the earl—!!” Spittle flies from Leis’s mouth as he screams with rage, his eyes bulging wide. Revenge… So that’s what this is about. Tama remembers the story Joey told them—about Leis’s fiancée being defiled at the hand of the earl and coming back to him as a corpse— Leis intends to take everything from the earl by destroying his city. Just like his fiancée, who he loved, was taken from him… “I wasn’t able to have my revenge until now because the mana I held was simply too weak. I could only summon two skeletons at most. But thanks to these fairies, I was able to acquire a vast amount of mana…!” Releasing years of pent-up rage, Leis dispatches more skeletons to attack Aria and Tama. Leis kidnapped Lily and Feri as part of his plot to exact vengeance. Fairies contain massive amounts of mana. To acquire it, Leis subdued them with the Spirit Slave Bell, and using the magic item in his right hand—the Mana Drain Arrow—he was able to absorb their mana. “Fairies have the most incredible mana—as you can see, I was able to summon enough skeletons to raze this city to the ground!” Leis’s tone is completely different. In that moment, Stella reconvenes with Aria and Tama to regain her stamina after rampaging against the skeleton army. All around them, the knight squadron and the party of adventurers are engaged in battle with the remnants of the undead. “All that said, your plan will end in futility. We are going to stop it—just watch!” Aria points her knives at Leis with a bold challenge before dashing off toward the group of skeletons he just summoned. “Hmph! Just when I thought I’d take a breather!” Seeing Aria rush off, Stella runs up behind her. “Sacred Blade—!” Aria brings down her blade of light against the undead blocking her path. Three of their bodies are sliced completely in half as they crumble. Whroosh— A number of new skeletons crowd in to replace the ones that have been blown apart. The first lashes out with its sword to pierce Aria. “No chance!” With her Mega Shield in one hand, Stella springs out in front of the elf, whose knife remains pointed downward from her previous slash. Stella’s transformed into her dragonewt form, and a skeleton’s swordplay is useless against her. She charges forward with her Mega Shield and bashes into a number of its brethren at once, sending them flying. “Meown—!” Don’t even think of touching my master! Now that Stella’s in the vanguard, it’s Tama’s turn to show his might. As Stella mows down one group of skeletons, others keep attacking in succession. Although Aria’s Sacred Blade is strong, she can’t quite deal with this many enemies at once. In order to protect her, Tama unleashes Flame Edge and burns through the approaching minions. Grrr… I can’t deal with this many, either, even with Flame Edge… In that case— Even Tama’s Flame Edge isn’t putting a dent in the enemy’s vast numbers. That means Tama will need to unleash a different skill. While attacking with Flame Edge, he slashes with his front paws. In the next moment… Slash—! A skeleton crumbles to bits as a piercing sound rings out. The tiny behemoth has unleashed his newly acquired skill Dragon Claw. An invisible claw appears out of thin air and rips through the skeleton, shattering it completely. Stella continues blocking with her Mega Shield and obliterating enemies with her greatsword. Aiming for gaps in the skeletons’ movements created thanks to Stella, Aria begins to unleash Sacred Blade again. Activating his behemoth skills and relying on his competency as a knight in a previous life, Tama supports them both perfectly. “Pant, pant… Leis! This is the end of the line!” Over ten minutes later, Aria levels the tip of her knife at Leis again, having managed to clean up the skeletons with Tama and Stella. She’s breathing heavily, her shoulders heaving, expression strained. Sacred Blade boasts a powerful fiery beam of light, but using it requires a large amount of mana. Having unleashed it over five times to successfully drive back all the skeletons, Aria’s mana is almost wholly depleted. However, that shouldn’t be a problem given current circumstances. Leis no longer has a wall to protect him… At least, that’s what Aria thinks. Hearing the elf, Leis responds, “Unfortunately, that won’t be happening. I have an ace up my sleeve…!” Leis holds both his hands to the sky. In that moment— Dwo-goooooooooooon—! An explosion erupts and Leis’s company storehouse is blown away. A massive, hulking figure appears in its place. “What the…?!” “Meow!” It’s the earth dragon skeleton! “You bastard! You think you can manipulate my body?!” Aria and Tama cry out in surprise. The gargantuan figure is the skeleton of the earth dragon they were tasked with escorting safely to Gladstone. However, it’s obvious it’s no longer just a regular skeleton. It seems practically alive, and black miasma emanates from its enormous form. The same obsidian fog is also pouring from Leis’s body. Just as Stella said, Leis is now manipulating the skeleton of an S-ranked monster—an earth dragon. “Now! After them! Earth dragon—no, undead dragon! Death to anyone who stands in the way of my revenge!” Gwo-ooooooooooooh—! In response to Leis’s call, the earth dragon skeleton—now an undead dragon—roars viciously. “Urgh…!” Aria is paralyzed with fear. That much should be obvious, given the vicious roar that tore through the atmosphere and shook her to the core—a roar of the first S-ranked monster she’s ever confronted. However, Aria is still bestowed with the power of Tama’s Divine Lion Protection, which also gives its target increased resistance against fear. Aria feels paralyzed for a moment, but her heart quickly ignites with a sense of confidence, and she looks at the undead dragon with resolute fortitude. “Meow?” Master, are you going to fight it? A cry involuntarily escapes Tama as he watches Aria stare down her enemy. Aria gives Tama a slight nod in response. “It might only be my body from a past life, but I’ll put you to certain death for manipulating it!” Stella cries out gruffly as she hoists her greatsword. She’s clearly furious that her remains are being so blatantly abused. Blue veins pop from her forehead. “I don’t know what it is, but this thing is terrifying! Half the squadron—focus on attacking! The remaining half—fall back to evacuate the citizens!” Seeing the undead dragon appear, Danny gives the knights orders. Joey also deploys his adventurer comrades. “I won’t let you touch it! Create Skeleton!” Leis screams, and as the adventurers and knights both rush toward Aria and company to lend their assistance, another horde of undead appears before them. Grrr… I don’t know how much fighting this body of mine has in it, but I’ll give this all I have! Tama readies his Flame Edge and bores his gaze into the undead dragon—an S-rank monster resurrected. Last time he faced the earth dragon, Tama was able to defeat it because he evolved to his next form. However, the words Evolution Possible: Behemoth (second form) no longer appear on his status display. How far will he get in battle without evolving…? Gwo-ooooooh—! The undead dragon lashes out with its front claws, and Aria and Tama both jump back to avoid them. But Stella doesn’t move. “Wrhoooooooaoh—!” Stella screams and holds her Mega Shield over her head. Zzzrrring—! The undead dragon’s claws collide dramatically with her Mega Shield. Stella has already changed into her dragonewt form. She thought she would show the undead dragon that she can withstand its attacks, but in that moment— Leis holds the Mana Drain Arrow high and screams, “Mana, enter the undead dragon now!” A plume of black miasma erupts from the arrow and is absorbed into the undead dragon’s body, turning it a shade darker. “Grrrr?!” Stella cries out awkwardly. The beast has clearly gained a measure of additional power from the mana Leis granted it. Stella is unable to withstand the pressure and swings her Mega Shield to the side, escaping from the undead dragon’s front claws. “Stella couldn’t hold it back?! This S-ranked undead monster is truly something else…!” Seeing Stella overpowered, Aria cries out in shock. Meanwhile, Tama is already on to his next move. “Meown!!” Tama gives a brief mew and rushes directly toward the undead dragon. Its reaction is delayed from exerting energy after trying to crush Stella, giving the little behemoth an opportunity to close in on it. Tama pushes his Flame Edge into the dragon’s chest and rushes even farther forward. “You goddamn elemental cat! You’re after me, aren’t you?” Leis realizes what Tama is doing—he intends to attack the necromancer Leis at the same time he deals damage to the undead dragon. “Do you really think I’ll allow that? Undead dragon, finish off this elemental cat now!” Gwo-ooooooh—! The undead puppet replies to Leis with a vicious roar and uses its powerful tail to lash out at Tama, now beneath its chest. “Meown!!” Oh shit! Tama takes a massive sidestep to avoid the undead dragon’s tail attack, but he’s too late—the tip of the tail grazes him. “Tama…!!” Aria screams, rife with worry—Tama was thrown with considerable force. “Meown—!” Don’t worry, master! Tama pays Aria’s concern no mind and sticks a perfect landing while mewing nonchalantly. The second before Tama received the tail attack, he activated the Iron Body skill he previously acquired from a golem in the labyrinth, causing his body to become rigid and protect him. But that isn’t all he’s got. As he lands, Tama activates Summon Tentacle. Whoooosh— Two tentacles fly out from beneath Tama’s feet and slip through the undead dragon’s legs, reaching Lily and Feri. The tentacles instantly wrap around the two fairies and pull them toward Tama. “Shit! He’s taken the fairies!” Leis curses in vexation. Hmph, it seems like I was right all along. Seeing Leis’s reaction, Tama is convinced of one thing. Why is Leis keeping Lily and Feri so close to him, even though they’ll surely be endangered? Tama guesses it’s because there’s a certain range of effect necessary to absorb mana from them with the Mana Drain Arrow. Of course, Tama has other reasons. He wanted to save them as quickly as possible, knowing that Leis would try to kidnap them again when the tables turned. Tama uses his tentacles to set Lily and Feri down somewhere safe. “Nice one, Tama! Now we don’t need to hold back!” “Meown!” With Lily and Feri’s safety in mind, Tama had also been hesitant to unleash his full fury. Now there isn’t a lick of worry. “Let’s go!” Aria rushes forward. She activates her skill Acceleration, combined with Divine Lion Protection bestowed on her by Tama, and reaches top speed in an instant, closing the gap between her and the undead dragon’s legs like a speeding bullet. “Kill her! Crush her dead!” Leis shows no mercy as he shouts orders at the dragon. His complete change in disposition belies the friendly way he interacted with Aria during their quest. He clearly had his guard up the entire time. “Meown—!” No way! The undead dragon slashes at Aria with its front claws, but Tama activates Summon Tentacle again to trap its legs. It’s not enough to completely rob the S-ranked monster of its strength, but Tama is successful in altering the course of its attack. Aria twists her body in the air and displays a risky, superhuman flip to land directly on the creature’s front legs. “Sacred Blade—!!” A silver-white beam erupts—Aria’s blade of light extending from her knife bores into the enemy’s forelegs. Aria puts every last ounce of her mana into this single attack. Gwo-ooooooh—! The dragon roars, this time sounding like it’s in agony. Every monster in existence is weak to holy elemental attacks, and they’re especially effective against undead monsters. An ancient skill imbued with the holy elemental attribute is enough to elicit an anguished shriek from even an undead dragon. “Tama, Stella, it’s time to finish it off! We’ll only have one chance…!” “Meown—!!” Understood, master! “It’s time to pull the ace out! Tama and Aria, I need you to give it your all!” Tama and Stella are quick to indicate their readiness. At this juncture, Aria and her party are working together almost effortlessly. Even without detailed explanation, each member understands what they should be doing. “Get ready! Dragonic Power—Full Drive!!” Stella roars, and her dragon-form arms audibly swell and emit a faint glow. “Rarrrwwwohhhhhhhh—!!” Stella rushes toward the enemy in the blink of an eye—incomparable to any speed she’s displayed thus far. The creature flips over and lashes out with a horizontal tail sweep. Stella looks like she’ll get sideswiped and blasted sideways—and all the knights and adventurers gather as much. However— “Gwo-ahhhhhhhhhhh?!” The undead dragon’s roar is tinged with surprise, and rightfully so—Stella used her Mega Shield for a charge attack that forcefully blasted its tail sweep back. Stella’s innate skill, Dragonic Power—Full Drive, is something she acquired when she reincarnated. It grants a five-times boost to the physical strength of her entire body when she’s in dragonewt form. As a proud dragon being, Stella hasn’t yet revealed her most powerful abilities. But now she’s up against her former self. Only Stella can understand this enemy’s true power, and she was compelled to demonstrate her hidden strength, the anger arising from seeing her body used for ill-gotten gains goading her. The creature begins losing its balance— Now! —and using the opening that created, Aria grabs a potion from her garter belt and chugs it down before rushing forward. Tama follows suit and charges toward Leis. “Come, undead dragon!!” Leis swings his right arm through the air in an attempt to manipulate the beast. In response, even unbalanced, the puppet twists its body and slashes at Tama and Aria. “Meown—!” This is it! Just as the enemy’s claws approach them, Tama swings his tail of flame and slices through the air. Shrrrrrring—!! A powerful, shrill blast accompanies the undead dragon’s right-front leg being cleaved in half. This is Tama’s third time facing this enemy, including the two times he fought Stella before her reincarnation. Even though the earth dragon is now undead, its general move set has barely changed. Tama is a storied warrior, and he sees through the beast’s movements to cleave its leg clean off. Aria is flabbergasted by Tama’s superhuman swordsmanship maneuver but remains focused as she runs toward Leis. “C-Create Skeleton!” His voice panicked, Leis summons a group of ten skeletons as a shield. “Sacred Blade—!!” Aria doesn’t hesitate, reaching Leis without dropping her speed and ripping through every last skeleton trying to stop her with a single horizontal beam of light. Aria sensed that Leis still had the power required to summon additional undead, and immediately before, she drank a potion that restored just enough mana to activate Sacred Blade one more time. The skeletons hit with the holy elemental blade strike turn to dust before they can emit a single sound. “You’re finished, Leis.” Aria leaps over the lifeless skeletons and unleashes a jump kick at Leis. He might be a powerful necromancer, but in terms of physical strength, he’s nothing more than an average man—he has no technique to avoid Aria’s kick, which has been buffed by both Acceleration and Divine Lion Protection. The impact rocks him to the side, where he crumples on the ground in a heap, incapacitated. “Dogwohhhhhhhhhhh…” A thunderous roar erupts from behind Aria. Whipping around, she sees that the undead dragon is falling apart. “What the—?” “The skeletons have stopped moving, too!” Danny and Joey cry out from behind the undead dragon. Just like they said, the earth dragon is crumbling into a pile of bones. Hmm, it appears the creature lost all its power when Leis, the one controlling it, fell unconscious. Tama realizes what’s going on. Aria approaches the incapacitated Leis and says, “I will not allow you to do anything like this ever again.” She proceeds to rip the two magic items out of both his hands before throwing them high in the air and destroying them with Sacred Blade. This prevents Lily and Feri from being further controlled by him, and he can no longer absorb their mana. “Okay—first order of business is to nurse Lily and Feri back to health, along with anyone else who was injured during this struggle.” Aria is exhausted from the fierce battle but asserts her intention to help anyone injured and begins doing so. Stella is resting with her eyes closed as she recovers from unleashing her secret attack. Tama has summoned tentacles to bind Leis in place, making sure he can’t escape even if he wakes up. Lily and Feri, who everyone was worried about, are still unconscious, but they don’t appear mortally wounded. Realizing this, Aria sighs in relief. In that moment—a voice reverberates throughout the city center. “Come now, what are you waiting for?! This man is the mastermind behind this whole ordeal, right? Kill him already!” It’s the Earl of Gladstone, accompanied by his steward and a number of guards. He must have realized the coast was clear as he comes out from behind his entourage and goes to kick Leis’s unconscious body. Aria approaches the earl without a word and sweep kicks his feet out from under him, throwing him to the ground. “Gyahhh—!” “My lord!” The earl cries out grotesquely, and his steward and guards rush to surround him. “A-Aria, that probably wasn’t very smart…” Watching Aria, Danny makes a candid observation. No matter how obviously guilty the earl is, a commoner injuring a member of the aristocracy will not go unpunished. Danny rushes to restrain the elf, even if only to make a show of it, before the earl can set his guards on her in a fit of psychotic rage… However… “Danny. Please listen. You see…” “What…? Aria, is that really true? Okay—Keni, Marietta! Restrain the earl immediately!” “Wha—?! Just what are you doing?! I am the lord of this domain, the Earl of Gladstone!” Aria whispers into Danny’s ear, and Danny quickly orders his reluctant subordinates to seize the earl. He screams furiously at Danny and not Aria—who caused him harm—but it’s no use. “I’m sorry, but we are knights of the Marquis Estate. Defying our orders is equivalent to defying the House of Marquis. Further, our captain is the eldest son of the Marquis family, the hero captain Cedric Ruiné. For your own benefit, I suggest you comply with our orders.” “Gah…! The Marquis Estate?!” Hearing “Marquis Estate”—the lords of Labyrinthos—and the family son’s name, “Cedric,” the earl’s face turns white as a sheet. They are both aristocrat families, but the Marquis Estate outranks the Earl of Gladstone. Just as Danny said, his comrades comprise the number one knight squadron of the Marquis Estate. Defying their orders is tantamount to defying the Marquis. The earl looks sickened but cooperates with Danny and the others’ orders. “Now then, Earl, it’s time for you to get some sleep…” “Gwa? Just what on earth are you—” —talking about? the earl starts to say but loses consciousness before he has the chance. A strike to the neck from Danny puts him out instantly. Of course, the earl’s steward and guards—as well as the other knights and adventurers—are shocked by this continuation of violence that started with Aria. “Aria! Let’s give the earl a drink of that stuff you mentioned earlier.” “Thank you, Danny. This is it—the Teardrops of Truth.” Aria takes a small, glowing bottle out from her breast—the Teardrops of Truth that she acquired from the treasure box in the labyrinth. When she told Danny exactly what atrocious acts the earl has committed, she also told him that she possesses this rare elixir. Danny had also heard foul rumors of the earl. To test their validity and bring the earl to justice if necessary, he asked Aria for her help. After taking the Teardrops of Truth from Aria, he brings the vial to the earl’s lips. Howard, Keni, and Marietta block off the earl’s guards, who attempt to stop the procedure, refusing to let them interrupt. Both the guards and the earl’s steward turn white as ghosts. The earl proceeds to reveal every last detail during Aria and Danny’s interrogation, though not of his own volition, and to confess all his sins. “Wooow! This is so incredibly sweet!” “This honey-preserved fruit is amazing, too!” A few days later, two girls can be found at the bar in Gladstone, stuffing their cheeks with sweets, looking happy as can be—of course, it’s Lily and Feri. The two of them were severely weakened after Leis stole their mana but today have fully recovered at last. In celebration, Aria is treating them to as many of their favorite delicious sweets as they want. The last few days have been filled with adventure. Leis was apprehended by the city’s knights for his actions. However, once it came to light during his interrogation that his fiancée had been captured and murdered by the earl, the extenuating circumstances spared him from being put to death. Instead, Leis was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes. Now that the earl’s numerous atrocities were out in the open, he was stripped of his status and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life, just like Leis. Apparently, Leis looked extremely contented when informed of this in his cell… “Munch, munch! Meat is the best food, after all!” Next to Lily and Feri, Stella holds a huge bone-in chunk of meat in one hand, stuffing her cheeks like it’s her last meal on earth. And next to her… “Okay, Tama, open wide—!” “Meown—!” Aria pushes a forkful of food toward Tama’s mouth to feed him. “N-no fair! Let me feed Tama!” “Yeah, I wanna feed Tama, too!”
Chapter 18
33 min read