章 226: Keep your head cool
"!!!"
"!!!"
The conversation between Doyen and Norn had to wait as both turned to the side in perfect sync and froze up.
Away in the distance, two silhouettes were standing over the body of the dead monstrous archer.
More accurately, one was standing, the other one was kneeling by the corpse, weiling in despair.
"If I die and you survive, it will be better for all of you to not know my actual name. Haste."
"...!"
Norn clearly changed his mind about coming clean and instead reapplied the buff on himself, making Doyen stare at him in disbelief.
"You see it too, right? Both of them are at a higher level than the archer, and it would be wishful thinking to believe that he was the only one with freakish powers. Get the hell away from here."
"If you are who I think you are, then… you know what? Fine."
The platinum-haired man scoffed, taking out a couple of arrows from the quiver and placing the first one on the bowstring while gripping onto the others to which the green-haired woman shook her head.
"I can't give you any head start. You must try to excape now while they don't pay attention. Sorry."
Norn said apologetically, steadying his aim, already full focused on his target so he didn't even notice that Doyen wasn't waiting for any additional parting words and was already ordering her subordinates to leave everything behind and scatter.
"..."
Waiting anymore would be a waste of the element of surprise, and Norn wasn't a wasteful person - he bit his teeth and steeled himself…
Six arrows were shot in succession at such ridiculous speed that all of them were in the air at the same time, even before reaching the halfway point.
They weren't targeting the same target. Four were shot at the person standing, taking into account their ducking and dodging, and the two were aimed at the mourning individual.
*ting* *ting* *ting* *ting* *ting* *ting*
"...!"
And all were struck down by the one standing person who took out a sword and parried every single one of the enchanted projectiles…!
They turned their head and maybe said something to their comrade kneeling over a corpse.
Whether they got an answer or not, it didn't seem to matter as the next moment, the swordsman kicked off the ground and charged at Norn with a speed equal to or even exceeding that of arrows they knocked away.
"Shit! One-handed single-edged Bone sword!"
Norn cursed, reaching to the quiver for the two last arrows and aiming them at the one opponent kneeling by the corpse before tossing the bow away and retrieving something more appropriate for the close range…
*ting* *ting*
In a showcase of excellent swordsmanship, the approaching opponent knocked both arrows aimed at their comrade out of the air without as much as sparing them a glance and winded up their sword for an upward strike.
At the same moment that Norn could say that the enemy was a grim-faced middle-aged man with steel-gray hair tied up in a short ponytail, he could also tell that the light gathering around the edge of the blade he wielded was a sign of a ranged skill activating.
It was either Advanced level Shockwave skill or, worse, Master-level Aura Strike…
*SQUELCH*
…and with the steel-gray-haired swordsman's sword arm beginning to swell to the point of his skin bursting apart and spouting blood, it wasn't difficult to assume that what was about to be displayed was on the level of the caravan-eradicating shot of the already dead archer.
"!!!"
To make matters even worse, the one kneeling by the corpse stood up, taking something blue from within their clothes and putting it up high above their head.
*WHOO-BLUB*
The blue item shone with a cold light, and the sky above the stouty woman turned into water.
Let's clarify one thing about that sentence.
It wasn't just some water bubble or a massive cube.
The SKY above her turned into water.
If the swordsman's attack wouldn't kill the platinum-haired man, the watery grave follow-up would do the job.
It was o…
*STAB*
…ver…?
"Hhgh…!"
The stouty woman coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But unlike her teammates, what was happening to her wasn't caused by going over the limits of her physical body.
"...?"
As she turned her head to the right, she saw an eerie black blade with the tip slick with her blood.
"...hhgh…"
As she turned her head to the left and lowered it a little, coughing more blood, she saw more of the blade protruding straight from the jet-black shadow that crept its way toward her all the way from deep within the forest.
Of course, the blade wasn't just nicking her, the stouty woman has been skewered from the side, with her left hand, waist, torso and right shoulder pierced through.
She couldn't even lower the hand she was holding a blue orb over her head with.
*SPLASH*
"!!!"
All the water that the orb created cascaded down, and the created wave smashed against the back of the swordsman, sweeping him off his feet and ending up ramming into Norn, who was too slow to attempt to escape.
The impact of the outpour was rather devastating. Tens of hundreds of trees and other vegetation were brutally uprooted, creating a new, city-sized clearing in the forest.
As for the black sword and the woman skewered by it?
The sword was still there, but the woman's body wasn't - first pushed through the blade and sliced open and then crushed into a bloody pulp by the water pressure - a pulp that then got washed away by the current.
Suddenly, the enormous sword moved…!
It emerged from the ground, revealing the crossguard and the handle gripped by a gigantic hand clad in oxidized black armor.
The hand was followed by an equally gigantic forearm, elbow, arm, shoulder, and then…
"Glacier Head…?"
"No Head, only the Core…"
"Not Head, but still must have get it…!"
Three half-rotten frost-covered human-sized heads, looking disproportionally tiny on the massive shoulders, all speaking in turn as if having a conversation…!
Well, one male human head, one female half-elf head, and one male wolf beastman head, to be specific, all steaming from and crammed into a stumpy neck oozing with greenish-black blood or some other viscous liquid.
The abomination then emerged from the shadow completely.
Three rotting heads on the armor-clad torso of a giant fused into the back of the body of a truly humongous horse that originally must have been headless too.
Originally, was the key phrase because, at the moment, the almost completely rotten head of a Shadow Stalking Ripper Panther was showing its teeth in a skinless grin.
The abominable creature shaped like a horse-mounted-knight, equipped with a jet-black sword and a carriage-sized shield, was taller than the surrounding trees that survived the onslaught of water.
"The core was used…"
"The human used it…"
"We killed the human, must find the core…"
The heads spoke again, although their jaws flapping wasn't quite matching the words that were coming out and seemed more similar to movements of puppets moved by unskilled puppeteers during their first show.
"Must find…"
"Love… I love you…"
"I love you… More…"
The rotting head of the beastman spoke up but got interrupted by the sudden confession and reciprocation between the rotting half-elf head and the rotting human head.
"Core… Have to find the core…"
"Core…"
"Glacier Core…"
The beastman's head scoffed and declared, which seemed to work as the other two groaned in agreement.
"Where is it…?"
"Human dropped it…"
"Not here… other humans might have taken it…"
"..."
The three heads looked around while mumbling to each other, and even the almost completely rotten head of the Shadow Stalking Ripper Panther began to move in search of the blue orb.
"I'm scared...! Scared...! The tree is in danger...!"
"Shh... everything is okay..."
"The core...!"
The half-elf head rattled in sudden panic, and the human head reassured it while the beastman head growled at both of them.
"There were other humans…"
"Humans, not here…?"
"They are hiding…? They ran away…? Took the core...?"
*plop*
The heads focused back on their original goal and expressed their belief while the lower jaw of the Shadow Stalking Ripper Panther head fell off as the skin, muscles, and tendons holding it attached to the rest of the head dissolved in their own juices.
クリエイターの想い 
Sound_Hammer
Sound_Hammer O_O
And so, the 5th volume came to an end.
See you back on December 1st with the start of volume 6!
Probably.
Hopefully...
章 227: It turns out, that was never the case
"Yes, yes, I'm coming."
After someone knocked on the door to her private room, the retired but still best healer in the Emeraldios Empire, Lady Seth, called out as she approached the entrance.
The elderly woman was keeping herself upright and with vitality hardly expected out of someone with her looks.
"...I'm sorry to bother you…"
As she opened the door, she was shocked by the slouching gold-haired girl with a downcast expression, muttering apologetically while holding her stomach.
The girl seemed so fragile that despite the most characteristic part of her being on full display, Seth needed a minute to comprehend who was visiting her.
"Young Lady Fenrioette?! Sweetie, come on in, please, what's bothering you?"
After the initial bewilderment, the elderly woman approached the girl, gently grabbing one of her arms and leading her inside, greatly worried about the displayed behavior.
"What happened, sweetie?"
Seth closed and locked the door before seating the girl on the edge of her bed and then sitting right beside her with a greatly worried expression.
"...because… Lady Seth, you know about Lidia En'vegio, don't you?"
"The young lady who will be taking time off because of a pregnancy. Yes, of course, I was the one to advise her to spend the next couple of months in the relaxing atmosphere of her own home instead of the Academy."
Melinda Fenrioette asked and Lady Seth nodded attentively, adding some context that she expected the gold-haired girl not to be fully familiar with.
"What about her?"
The elderly woman added, wondering whether the health of her classmate would be enough of a reason for the gold-haired girl to act in that peculiar way.
"You see… her stomach grew…"
"..."
Melinda spoke up awkwardly, making Seth blink a few times trying to figure out what sort of scenario was playing out in front of her.
"That's how… pregnancy works… You know that, don't you…?"
"Ah…! No, no…! Sorry, that's not what I…!"
The gray-haired woman pointed out slowly, making the gold-haired girl flinch and blush while hurriedly waving her hands in exasperation.
"You see… The thing is that when Lidi only suspected that she was pregnant, my period was already late… and I didn't have a period since… And since I have a lover and we… you know… do act like a married couple wanting children… you know… What I'm bothered about is that Lidia's stomach grew… but mine is…"
Melinda's face turned crimson red from embarrassment and she squirmed in her spot, as if expecting the elderly woman to scold her for her actions and the results she expected of it, getting more and more anxious as she spoke.
By the last words, Melinda's usually sharp eyes were already full of tears.
"Lady Seth… could it be that… that because of my strength… could it be that my muscles… harmed… our baby…?"
The gold-haired girl leaned down, protectively holding her stomach, trembling at the mere thought that the terrible hunch he had was actually correct.
"Oh, sweetie…"
"...!"
Lady Seth let out a soft sigh and reached out, ending up hugging the girl and gently caressing her back, making her flinch as she clearly didn't expect any reassurance.
Then the elderly woman leaned away, moving her hands alongside the gold-haired girl's arms until she ended up grabbing her hands reassuringly.
"First of all, relax. Don't worry, and do not assume the worst. I must ask you, though, have you used any other methods to confirm a pregnancy other than tracking your periods?"
"...I… I didn't…"
Lady Seth asked calmly, keeping eye contact with the troubled Melinda, who opened and closed her mouth before admitting in an embarrassed voice.
"B-but I mean… I was feeling bad in the morning… I had rather emotional mood swings… I was more needy than usual… a lot more… and the periods… isn't it weird that I wouldn't have them for a couple of months if it wasn't pregnancy?"
Melinda fidgeted and muttered, putting up her shoulders and almost whimpering defensively.
"It's okay, sweetie. I'm not scolding you or trying to tell you off."
"..."
Lady Seth smiled and assured Melinda, gently holding up her hands and lowering her head so that the broken eye contact would be restored.
"You are a very strong girl, and I'm not just talking about physical strength. I've also noticed that you are quite good at bottling up your feelings and braving through tough situations. You are under a lot of pressure, even more so since a couple of months ago, aren't you?"
The elderly woman asked, making an encouraging expression.
"...yes… but please, don't tell Adi or Zane about it…! It's better if they think I'm just always doing things my own way without being bothered about anything…!"
"Oh, sweetie..."
Melinda's chin trembled and she nodded defenselessly before crying out barely able to hold back tears, making Seth smile gently with understanding.
"You see, pregnancy isn't the only reason for late or irregular periods. A lot of stress can very well mess up your cycle as well. Yes, even for months in some cases. So, is it okay for me to use a spell to make sure whether you are pregnant? Nothing unusual, something only a bit higher level than the regular check-up we had so many times before. I will not see your stats, if it still even bothers you."
"...okay…"
Lady Seth explained patiently, and Melinda nodded sheepishly, agreeing with her in a hoarse voice.
"Medical Analysis."
After receiving the permission, Lady Seth cast her spell, and her expression turned serious as the information flowed into her head.
"...h-how does it look…?"
After a couple of terribly long moments, Melinda squirmed in unease and asked timidly.
"Sweetie. You aren't pregnant. You are very, VERY stressed instead, and your body barely knows how to handle it, hence the symptoms you've experienced so far."
"Oh...!"
Lady Seth announced, causing Melidna to let out a breath of relief…
"...o-oh…"
…only for her to then let out a confused and dispirited voice as her shoulders dropped.
"Wait… but… but Zane and I were…. d-doing it a lot… and neither of us was using any… c-contraception… How could I not get pregnant yet? Is it because I'm so stressed and my body is messed up, so I can't even conceive?!"
The gold-haired girl flinched and let go of the elderly woman's hands to hide how much she was blushing from embarrassment, but still not only said everything but also found something new to worry about.
クリエイターの想い
Sound_Hammer
Sound_Hammer
Hello,
The story continues, after all~!
Although the uploads might change later on, for now the updates will come out as usual!
:3
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