For a moment, she was so aggrieved and uneasy that she wanted to cry.
Seeing the little girl sitting on the ground before instantly springing back up, desperately glaring at it while shakily raising her sword, the Gundarut Lizard seemed to sense her fear. A low growl came from its throat, as if mocking her weakness. It then quickened its pace and charged fiercely toward Eris.
Its speed was far greater than before, kicking up a cloud of dust like a small sandstorm.
"U-U-WAAAHHHHH!", Eris, who had only just worked up her courage, immediately became so frightened that her lips began trembling.
Although she was already an Advanced Sword Saint, this was her first time facing actual combat, and the opponent was a monster that clearly looked impossible to defeat... Wasn't this a bit too much?
Even though she had initially tried to fight, the pressure brought by the enormous creature's frontal attack caused Eris's courage to collapse rapidly. In the next instant, under the control of her survival instinct, she turned around, pulled her legs into motion, and ran.
This sudden reversal from fighting to screaming and fleeing for her life even left the lizard stunned for a moment. But in the next instant, it also quickened its pace and let out a loud roar toward her back:
"ROAAAAAAR!"
"Ghislaine! Ghislaine!! It's so scary! Come save me, Ghislaine!!"
The roar frightened Eris so badly that her body jerked. She stumbled, and the thin ankle of hers sent a burst of pain through her as it twisted, nearly making her fall.
But she had no time to care about any of that. She instinctively strained her voice and cried out loudly for help toward the sky.
Her tearful voice echoed across the empty wasteland, sounding especially miserable and helpless.
At this moment, she desperately hoped that Ghislaine, who usually followed her around, protected her, and taught her swordsmanship, could appear before her like a heavenly soldier descending from the sky as she always did, helping her drive away this terrifying monster. However, at this very moment..
BANG!
A "meteorite" suddenly fell from the sky and accurately struck the Gundarut Lizard's head, instantly producing a tremendous crash.
The lizard's lower jaw slammed into the ground, and the resulting impact sent sand flying everywhere, making the earth violently tremble.
The sudden shock wave directly sent the girl fleeing ahead flying forward, as if an invisible giant hand had shoved her from behind, causing her to fall flat onto the ground.
Before she could get back up and continue running, she heard a voice behind her that was more familiar than anything:
"Sorry, I'm not Ghislaine."
"...Huh?"
At this moment, Eris had no time at all to figure out what had happened. The fear filling her heart was still tightly gripping her, and her body instinctively wanted to keep running.
But that familiar voice seemed to possess some kind of magic, causing her body to instantly freeze in place. Unable to help herself, she cautiously turned her head, as if using up all the courage in her body, and slowly looked back.
What she saw left her completely stunned.
Ash was crouching on the enormous lizard's head like a hero stepping out of a myth, silhouetted against the setting sunlight.
He wore a gray robe that fluttered in the wind with a rustling sound, seemingly blending into the fierce wind and sand. The long blade in his hand had precisely pierced through the lizard's head, extending far beyond the length of the blade itself and piercing through the lizard's lower jaw.
Black blood was still continuously flowing from the lizard's lower jaw, dripping onto the ground and gathering into a small dark-red pool.
The originally ferocious Gundarut Lizard was now completely motionless, lying there quietly like a small hill that had suddenly collapsed.
Standing atop the corpse, Ash slightly raised his head and calmly looked at Eris.
This was a child who was normally so competitive that she might as well have changed her motto to "None Above or Below Me," who was not only willful and rough but also always acted first and thought afterward. Yet now, she had been scared out of her wits by this lizard. When he jumped down from the lizard's head, he had been about to tease her properly, but...
Before he could even open his mouth, Eris's little mouth turned downward, her eyes instantly reddened, and she rushed over, pounding his chest continuously as she loudly complained through her tears, "You're too slow! Why did you only get here at the very end!! I really was going to die!"
"Wasn't anything wrong with you? Well... even though you were scared into crying."
Seeing this child who had finally regained her sense of safety, relaxed, and could not help crying, Ash ultimately decided to act a little more like an adult. He gave up on teasing her and gently stroked her head with a smile.
But Eris did not appreciate it at all. She raised her head and angrily retorted through tear-filled eyes, "I wasn't crying!"
"Then what's at the corners of your eyes? Ah, forget it. Let's just say that's what happened."
Mocking a child while they were down might be good for one's mental and physical health, but it was bad for one's moral development. [T/N: Words to live by.]
While stroking Eris's head, he looked toward the man in the distance, who had likewise been attracted by Eris's shouting and was walking toward them.
Looking closely, the man had only a strip of cloth draped over his upper body, basically the same as wearing nothing, while his lower body was paired with something like work pants and sandals.
The man's very distinctive ethnic clothing somehow gave off an chic style, while his muscles were developed within the normal range.
But compared with these things... the most eye-catching features were his bright green hair and the ruby in the middle of his forehead, which looked like a third eye.
All these characteristics reminded Ash of the race Roxy had repeatedly emphasized to him before, the Superd.
If absolute evil existed in this world, it would definitely be the Superd, the most vicious existence among the demon races. One must not talk to them or approach them. They even especially liked eating children. Even other demon races were afraid of the Superd... At least, that was what Roxy had emphasized.
But... Ash was not a local, and he also possessed sufficient strength, so he really was not afraid.
As for those rumors that had already been exaggerated to the point of being almost like superstition, he even deliberately patted Eris's back with a hint of mischief, then pointed toward the man in the distance and reminded her:
"....Eris, look, there's a strange old man over there."
"There's already a strange o-o-o-o-o-old man right in front of me?!", When Eris reluctantly turned her head to look, her entire body instantly went rigid like a cat whose fur had stood on end.
All her body hair seemed to stand up in an instant, making her look like she had completely puffed up. This left Ash staring in astonishment.
"Oh my, what are you..."
"D-don't tell me... S-S-S-S! Supe....rud!"
Before he could finish, Eris's voice had already changed pitch from excitement. As she instinctively pointed at the old man, her slender fingertip trembled uncontrollably... Because she was so nervous and afraid, she could not even get a complete sentence out.
"That's right. He should be a Superd."
"N-no...."
"Not?"
"Not 'should be'! Run! Run away! Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
His completely tension-free question caused Eris to completely lose her reason, and she screamed.
The shriek was so sharp that it seemed as though it could pierce someone's eardrums. Even Ash, who was accustomed to her shouting, could not help covering his ears.
But before he even had time to react, the red-haired little girl in front of him had completely forgotten about appearances. Without thinking about anything else, she slammed her head hard into his stomach.
"Huh?"
Before he could recover from the sudden attack, Eris's hands had already quickly pressed against both sides of his thighs. Then, using all her strength, she forcibly lifted him with her head and, in this extremely strange and comical posture, proceeded to carry him on top of her head.
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