If she was an ordinary person, she would not have been able to stand. But Ninon was also an A-rank adventurer and a member of the Scarlet Shield. She wasn’t about to give up just because she was suffering from an internal wound now. She placed her palm on the injured area of her belly and sent healing waves into it.
"H-Heal..."
After the green illumination disappeared, the pain and nausea vanished as if they never existed. But the cold sweat on Ninon's face did not go away. This was because of the fear she had of the monster, the beautiful woman standing in front of her.
An enormous amount of magic was leaking from her body. The various mysterious weapons she unleashed on them. Her sturdiness was such that she was unharmed in a suicidal attack. In every single way, she had overwhelmed the A-ranked adventurers. She was a force that surpassed even the dragons they once fought.
They had no idea such a monster lay dormant inside the ruins. This situation was already beyond what an A-ranked party could handle. If the highest-ranking adventurers from each country did not join forces, they might not even be able to challenge it. Such fears crossed Ninon’s mind.
"Marvelous. My admiration. To think that all of you could survive even after all those attacks."
Fem glanced at where the smoke had cleared.
The survivor of the Apostles of the Dawn, who had been captured, tortured, and now abandoned in the corner, was struck by stray bullets and was drawing his last breath. His body, full of holes, was like a piece of paper torn to shreds without caring about the dotted guiding lines. This was what usually happens when a person was hit by the sweep of the Gatling cannon. The Scarlet Shield enduring it and fighting back was the exception.
Unusual. Yes, the Scarlet Shield was an unusual group of adventurers. The explosion of the grenades summoned by Fem. The three vanguards were caught up in it, but they were still alive. Blackened here and there, with burns and lacerations all over their bodies, and yet they were still breathing.
"Gah..."
"Oh, that was a close one..."
"Oh, yeah. If Gerald hadn't instructed me at that moment, I'd be dead right now..."
Not only that, they stood up, cursing and swearing while stretching their limbs. If Fem was a monster, so were they. An adventurer was a monster who kills monsters. And the A rank was the extreme north of that. It's no surprise that they stood up to an attack that would have killed a normal person ten times over.
What was more astonishing was their intuition in combat that allowed them to take the best defensive action immediately. As Gotsch said, they were following Gerald's command to "get down". They were from the continent of Ithuselah, where sword and sorcery reign supreme, and the grenade was completely unknown to them, yet they managed to find the best solution to counter it. This was what made them extraordinary.
Of course, this was no baseless guess, or divine intervention. Fem's attacks have all been fast, linear, and piercing. But when the three men closed in on her, her attack was more relaxed than ever. Perhaps she could use some explosive attack? If that was the case, by lowering bodies to the ground, the area exposed to the blast would be minimized — such logic played out unconsciously in Gerald.
A strong instinct towards the best answer, the guts to surrender his fate entirely without hesitation to the instinct and the party members faith in their leader. This was what made it possible for these men to survive. These were the kind of warriors that should be admired.
Fem laughed further at the scene of the men raising their battered bodies while the woman was preparing another healing prayer.
"I am happy. This is fun. This is what it means to have a fight. What it means to have a battle. This, this... is the joy of fulfilling my mission! Ah! Is this what everybody else has been feeling?"
Her eyes narrowed in fascination, her arms outstretched as if welcoming a lover, her whole body expressing her joy.
In the meantime, the Scarlet Shield was steadily preparing to resume the battle.
"What are we gonna do? She is one heck of a monster..."
"As soon as we recover, we'll have to fight to the death again..."
"It’s about our approach to attacking her that is the problem..."
"Hey, I’ve got an idea—"
Gotsch then turned his shrewd gaze behind where Fem stood.
The crystal in the centre of the hall shone brightly in the ruins.
"When Cedric threw the axe earlier, she stopped for a second and then shot it down, didn't she? It was as if she hesitated to avoid it when she should have."
"She showed hesitation in avoiding?"
Gotsch remembered a scene from the earlier attack. When Cedric threw his axe out of the blue, Fem certainly hesitated in making her decision. There was no reason why she couldn't have avoided it. Her agility was such that she could dodge Gotsch's continuous slashes. Even with all the momentum, she could have at least avoided the flying projectile.
If she did not do so, then there must be a reason why she chose not to do so. For example, if she avoided it, it would have hit something behind her that she didn’t want damaged.
"That giant crystal?"
"Guardian, that’s her role here right? If that's the case, then I think it's reasonable to assume that she's trying to protect it."
"But, all the flying bombs and weapons she has been using indiscriminately..."
"Hmm..., but the whole time, that crystal has not been scratched even once. If she was confident in the accuracy of her attack, then it wouldn’t be absurd for her to choose flashy attacks?"
Cedric used his chin to motion towards the radial black soot on the floor. It was the leftovers from the grenade explosion. It was an attack that could have engulfed the crystal behind him, but there was enough distance between the explosion traces and the crystal. In addition, from the markings left in the traces, it seemed that Fem had prevented the shockwaves with her own body.
It seemed that Gotsch's reasoning was highly probable.
Gerald nodded in agreement.
"Let’s do it. Gotta try it out."
"Are we really all good on it?"
"Either way, we don’t have many options. As long as there is a chance, then it is worth a shot."
Gerald then readied his stance..
The first thing was to dodge the enemy’s attacks, then aim for the crystal in the middle of the hall. If defending the crystal was a priority for the monster, she would be conscious of possible stray bullets hitting it and thus, her movements would be slower. The Scarlet Shield would take advantage of the opening to slay her.
It might seem like a cowardly move, but this was a battle of life and death. They were not as naïve to think that they could pick between fair and unfair moves. So long as the fight ended in their favour, any strategy they chose was appropriate...
And now that they steeled their resolve.
"...Hm, so that’s how it is?"
Fem gave a small nod.
"Certainly, it would be troubling for the things I am protecting to be damaged.."
She removed the weapon on her left hand.
"Then I shall initiate a change in routine."
The weapon vanished into thin air like a magic trick.
"What?"
The whole of the Scarlet Shield frowned at the incomprehensibility of her actions. Why would she be willing to give up the weapon that had destroyed Gotsch’s breastplate and struck Ninon in the stomach? Moreover, there was no attempt to call in new armaments. She had been fighting with firearms all along. Would she actually be going for hand-to-hand combat now?
"The Firearms Operational Test Phase has ended. To continue, I declare the start of the Hand-to-Hand Combat Test Phase."
And there she declared it.
As if to ridicule their expectations, Fem clenched her fists, bent her knees slightly, lowered her hips and took a new stance.
A fighting stance.
It was true that a knuckle brawl would not be likely to damage the crystal. But how could she give up that advantage without hesitation, when she had been dominating the fight with it? Then the only reason must be obvious.
She was confident that she could beat the four of them in close combat.
"——Wide Heal"!
In the meantime, Ninon had finished her prayer and released a wide area healing magic. Gerald and the other vanguards were healed from their injuries and their stamina replenished.
Fem watched on in silence.
"...This is our only choice! Let's do it!"
Gotsch showed his determination. Even if the opponent was confident in her combat skills, there were plenty of ways to get around it. First of all, they had to get close to the crystal, and so, he sprinted to it.
