“Al! Al, wake up!”
As Al awoke from his terrible nightmare, he sluggishly sat up in his bed. It had been a while since the last time he remembered those events from years ago, so it was almost like reliving the experience once again. Beside him, Kanon anxiously watched him get up.
“Thank goodness. I’m so sorry, I knew you were slow, but I figured you could dodge that.”
“Do you have to berate me the moment I get up?”
Waking up from a bad dream caused him to glare intensely at Kanon, but then he realized something.
“Ummm, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that you were with me while I was out, but could you tell me what your hand is doing down there?”
He lowered his gaze to his crotch—more precisely, to Kanon’s hand resting on it.
“Huh!? Oh, I figured you’d get up earlier like this.”
“Something is gonna get up early, that’s for sure! Stop rubbing me, will you!?”
Al tried to shake Kanon’s hand off, but she didn’t care much for it, instead trying to divert his attention.
“Ah! I have terrible news, Al! The girls all went berserk after learning that you’d collapsed!”
“What now!?”
Fuming with rage, Al looked around, only to find the once-blooming fields transformed into a hellscape.
“Ahhhhh!”
A savage cry echoed across the land. Al turned his head toward the voice and watched as Sharon blasted multiple enemy soldiers away with ease.
“Thunderstrike! Glacier! Destroy them!”
Feena was unleashing a barrage of spells against the enemy troops. Some of them were blasted away along with a good chunk of the ground; others were frozen in place.
“Are you kidding me!? Why do you have to ruin this beautiful land!?”
The state of the land hurt him even more given that they had just finished repairing it after the battle a couple of days ago. Seeing the countless craters almost made him want to turn around and go back into the castle; he was in no mood to deal with it all.
“Anyway, Al! You have to stop Cecilia!” Kanon pulled Al closer and pointed ahead.
“Why? She’s out stripping the enemy general down to their underwear, isn’t she?”
It wasn’t clear if it was some sort of hobby for her or if she’d awoken to a new fetish, but it wasn’t Cecilia’s first time stripping someone down to their underwear. However, Al wasn’t aware of just how much Cecilia really cared for him, nor of the wrath one would incur for injuring her little brother. She was standing close to him, emanating an air of authority and power. Her usual smile was intact, but her cheeks were twitching nervously. Then, she opened her mouth.
“Sealed, nameless gods, hear my prayer! Curse the insolent savages who dared to kill my beloved Al with eternal suffering! May their souls be subjected to eternal torment!”
Her clear voice boomed across the battlefield, carrying a dangerous wish. An orb appeared in front of her, purple as the deadliest poison. Tormented shrieks swirled violently inside it, as if they were cursing every living thing in the universe.
“What the hell are you doing, Cecilia!? I’m alive, so stop that! Besides, what ‘nameless gods’!? Do you mean the devil himself!? Why does a priestess know how to form a contract with the devil!?” Al shouted while rushing up to her.
“Oh my, you’re alive! Thank goodness! I’m really happy, but could you give me a moment? I have to get rid of these foolish, cowardly brutes who dared to lay a finger on you!”
“Well, they may be brutes, but I mean, look at that thing! It’s a ball of death and suffering!”
“Oh, but I’m a priestess. I would never take a life. This orb will simply rot their flesh, making them go insane.”
“That’s worse than death! Cancel it or something, please!”
“Oh my, if you say so. It’s a bit of a shame, though.”
She must’ve been relieved to see that Al wasn’t dead, so she canceled the spell. In the meantime, Al himself decided to ignore her last comment and merely turned toward Kanon.
“Kanon! Go bring Sharon back!”
“Whyyy? There are so many men there! It’s scary!”
“Wait, seriously?”
Al stared at Kanon in complete disbelief after hearing what Eshantel’s strongest warrior had just said. He considered going in himself, but approaching Sharon, who was surrounded by enemy soldiers, alone without the use of Heavenly Surge would be impossible.
“I know! In exchange for overcoming my deadly fear and bringing Sharon back, I want a kiss!” she proposed while Al was lost in thought.
“You know, this isn’t exactly the time for—”
“No, this is the perfect time to ask for compensation! Besides, it’s not like I’m asking for sex, so what’s with all the fuss? It’s just a kiss!”
Kanon was overly excited about her idea, while Al was stuck on how she had casually thrown in having sex as well. But while he was weighing his options, horrific screams kept coming from the battlefield. He didn’t believe a kiss from him would hold that much power, but he decided to go along with the idea.
“All right, but it’ll be a l-light kiss on your cheek!” he whispered bashfully, like a little boy who had just confessed to the first girl he ever fell in love with. But the moment he said that, Kanon disappeared from sight.
“I’ll bring her back! I swear it!” Kanon’s voice came from way outside the tent. She propelled herself far away with a single kick.
Why’s she so hyper all of a sudden?
Al watched her go, only to spot an ice sphere speed her way the moment she touched the ground. Kanon was ready, however, and sliced the ice sphere into pieces before it could do any damage. She looked at her best friend, the blue-haired Diva standing a bit further away.
“What are you doing, Feena!?” Al shouted.
“I heard your agreement. I won’t let Kanon get a head start on me.”
“What are you, a dog!?” Al poked fun at Feena, but he was too embarrassed to speak up, so his voice didn’t reach her.
“Oh my, that really is an issue we can’t ignore.”
“What do you mean you can’t ignore it!?”
“You’re not getting a head start either, Boing-Boing!” Feena said, completely ignoring her own hypocrisy as she conjured a fireball.
“Don’t call me Boing-Boing!” Kanon shouted while jumping backward to avoid the fireball, but...
Squish.
...she jumped right into two squishy mounds.
“Oh my. Cheaters must be punished.”
She had walked right into Cecilia’s breasts.
“Nh! I see, so it’s two-on-one!?”
Kanon jumped away from Cecilia and drew her sword.
“No. It’s a battle royale!”
Feena conjured her next spell and unleashed a barrage of fireballs, targeting both Kanon and Cecilia.
“Oh my, you wish to take me down with her?”
Cecilia, with a swing of her khakkhara, deployed an invisible wall that protected her from the danger. Al shrugged as the fireballs repelled by Cecilia’s ward flew toward the Imperial troops.
“Oh, your feeble magic can’t break my—”
Shing!
Cecilia’s unbreakable smile twitched for a second.
“Ahaha! Magic barriers are useless against physical attacks!”
Kanon slashed through the barrier with ease.
“Now’s my chance! Lightning Ball!” Feena unleashed another spell when the ward went down.