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The battle was still raging.
But just as the others in the group chat had said, Miko Yotsuya and her team were struggling hard.
Part of it was their lack of raw power. The other part was that this so-called mountain god was no pushover.
In truth, its real identity was that of a powerful evil spirit. Long ago, when drought plagued the nearby village, the desperate villagers sacrificed a young girl to it in exchange for rain. After that, every so often, another girl would be offered up as tribute.
Over time, the spirit devoured the essence of countless victims, growing stronger and stronger. Worship and rituals at the shrine further twisted its nature until people began calling it the "mountain god."
Centuries had passed. Its strength had only grown.
That was why Miko and the others were on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Even so, Rosen believed they could handle it—if they worked together and made good use of their skills.
Boom!
The human-faced, fox-bodied monster lunged at Yurikawa, jaws wide.
Her life force was the weakest, so the creature marked her as its first prey.
But before the bite could land, Miko shoved her holy spear between its upper and lower jaws, holding them apart. At the same time, she drove her holy light blade into its eye.
"Raaaagh!"
The mountain god shrieked in pain. The air shuddered with the force of its roar, shockwaves rippling outward.
Its massive arm swept across the battlefield, but Miko had already scooped up Yuri and leapt clear.
Mai Sakurajima flashed in to cover the opening. Fighting down her revulsion, she stabbed out and popped the monster's remaining eye.
Thick, stinking black ichor oozed from the ruined sockets. The mountain god staggered, clutching its face, moaning in a woman's voice.
[Shut-in Angel: "Damn, that was intense! Good thing it's daytime—if this thing popped out at night, I'd straight up die of fright!"]
[Busujima: "Even if you didn't, you'd lose half your lifespan."]
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters: "There are undead in the labyrinth too, but compared to this? They're adorable."]
Labyrinth undead might be ugly, sure—but they were still basically just human corpses turned monsters.
Marushir thought those had been scary enough, but after seeing the undead in Rosen's world, she realized her own wasn't so bad after all.
Even Faline, tough as she was, probably wouldn't last a second against these horrors.
…
Just as Yuki Suou was about to charge in for a finishing blow, the monster's belly split open. From within, multiple women's arms unfurled, shaking the cluster of bells strapped to its body.
The clear chime rang out.
Instantly, heavy yin energy smothered the battlefield.
The girls doubled over, straining against the corruption seeping into their bodies.
Then darkness swallowed their vision.
Inside that pitch-black world, each of them saw a pale hand holding a bell, dangling it in front of them.
With a gentle shake, the bell rang again. The sound was sweet, alluring—like a song whispering directly into their souls, coaxing them to reach out and accept it.
This was the mountain god's power.
If anyone took the bell, they would be bound as its slave.
In ancient times, a bell was considered a token of agreement. Accepting it meant you had promised yourself to the one who offered it.
Even Rosen saw a bell extended toward him. But instead of falling under its spell, he calmly took it—and yanked the monster itself out of the darkness.
What emerged was grotesque: a woman's giant head atop dozens of slender, mismatched legs.
Her expression twisted in shock. How had Rosen accepted the bell yet not become enslaved?
"If I wasn't busy training my followers," Rosen said coldly, locking eyes with her, "you'd already be gone."
The mountain god's body trembled violently under his gaze.
From the depths of its soul, fear took root.
It let out a strangled, inhuman scream before fleeing back into the dark.
The girls snapped back to themselves, freed from the bell's hypnosis.
When they looked at Rosen, realization dawned—he had saved them. Shame burned in their hearts. And their hatred for the monster only grew.
"I can't believe it made me look bad in front of the god himself!" Yuri puffed her cheeks in frustration, then stuffed every last snack into her mouth until her face bulged like a squirrel's. Her life force swelled, surging outward like an explosion.
Meanwhile, Yuki Suou watched her teammates unleash one skill after another. Compared to them, she felt like dead weight—and it gnawed at her.
Come on, brain, work!
She wracked her mind. Then—an idea sparked.
Projection magic! She'd only been thinking about guns and modern weapons, but if those didn't work… why not cold steel? Not only that, projections didn't have to form in her hands. She could create them in midair—and launch them.
And if she coated them in holy light—
Yes! That was it!
Behind her, the air rippled like water.
Blades of pure imagination shimmered into existence. Yuki wrapped each one in holy light, then fired them forward.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The glowing weapons sliced into the mountain god, tearing open its hide and sinking deep.
Its fur was shredded, the bell-straps around its stomach severed. Dark ichor spurted from the wounds like blood.
The other three girls gawked.
Projection magic could do that?!
Rosen gave a small nod. This was why real combat was the best teacher. Taking them into the field had been the right decision.
The mountain god howled in agony, thrashing wildly. But Rosen knew it was already finished.
Battered by Yuki and Yuri's relentless long-range attacks, its body was falling apart.
At last, Miko let out a sharp cry. Her holy blade blazed, swelling several times in size. With a single, decisive swing, she severed the monster's head.
"..."
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