Swordsmaster Fox-girl

“That crazy bitch really did it.”

Eileen, the demon that met Esther at the casino, let her eyes widen at the sight before her. Someone the size of an ant compared to the Colossal Golem actually managed to repel and attack and cut off an arm.

“I get that it’s old as shit and lost most of its power, but still….”

A psychotic smile blossomed on Eileen’s face.

“Khahahah! I get why Dark’s so interested in her.”

She licked her lips.

“Fuck Dark. I’ll kill you, Esther. Ahhh~ I wonder what kind of face you will make right before death~”

Eileen laid on her stomach on a wooden rafter at the highest floor inside the Grand Clocktower; her feet dreamily kicked the air when the door below opened.

Soldiers rushed in. All 34 of them wore hoods that obscured their entire figures. It was to the point that from up here, she couldn’t see who Esther was.

“Mmmm, trying to hide yourself, Esther? How cute.”

All she simply needed to do was to look out for the person that barked out orders.

“Bingo~”

With Esther now identified, Eileen observed the soldiers carefully. They were pushing through the high stairs of the clocktower, clearly intending on reaching the top.

“Goblins~ Your turn~”

From the massive gears that scaled the inside of the tower came a small army of goblins. They hid themselves behind any protrusions and ambushed the soldiers with arrows and darts.

[Shields! Quickly!]

The voice amplifier Eileen placed all over the tower allowed her to hear every command Esther made. While watching the soldiers slowly inching up the stairs and blocking every arrow without even a single injury, she made her next command.

“Ehehe, do you think you can handle them, harpies?”

From above, harpies with sharp talons flew down. Esther was the first to recognize this. She crouched down and covered her head while she shouted her order.

[Half of you point your shields to the sky! Pikemen, poke through the gaps. Archers, continue shooting the goblins!]

It would’ve been an amazing formation if it wasn’t for the narrow stairways. Since not all of them could squeeze in one place, some soldiers were completely exposed to both the goblins and harpies and died.

“Not fighting yourself, Esther? Mmm, I’m disappointed.”

But she could understand. Cutting off the Colossal Giant’s arm would take a lot out of even her.

The soldiers were half-way up the stairs now. Eileen sipped the drink a goblin had just brought her and snapped her fingers.

“How are you gonna deal with this, Esther?”

From a hidden corner, a boar walked out. It was adorned with armor so heavy that the stairs shook with each step. Its eyes glowed red as it spotted the soldiers.

It began running down the stairs. 

But in just a step, it lost its footing and began rolling down.

Still, it was a ball of sure death. Esther made a split-second decision and abandoned the soldiers. She hurled herself off the stairs and clung onto the ledge.

As expected, the boar wiped out all the soldiers even if it died itself. Esther looked at the pile of corpses with a gulp and climbed up again.

She ran.

And she ran.

And she ran.

Even amidst the rain of arrows and talons so sharp that they could pierce layers of flesh, she ran. Her body was so riddled with injuries and her clothes had so many holes that Eileen could see her hair, which was dyed red by her own blood.

It’d gotten to the point that Eileen had to order the monsters to take it easy.

“Tch, how disappointing.”

Eileen sighed, but she was already committed to this. As soon as Esther reached the top of the stairs and was about to take the elevator up top, Eileen jumped down.

She grabbed Esther by her face and slammed the back of her head into the ground.

“Now then, l— …! Who are you!?”

This wasn’t Esther. Eileen ripped the entire hood off, only to see a normal human with red hair and golden eyes. 

Even in death, the girl calmly answered.

“Lieutenant Becky.”

The weird devices stuck to her body suddenly glowed.

“I was really hoping what Miss Esther said wasn’t true, but here we are.” 

She clung to the demon tightly. Even when elongated nails were dug into her sides, she didn’t let go.

“Curse you for attacking my beloved city, blasted demon.”

The girl exploded. Fumes and flames and debris flew everywhere as a section of the wall was blown off.

Emerging from the smoke and fumes was Eileen. She was half-dead. Bones sticking out of her chest and both her arms blown to smithereens.

She stepped on the red blob that once was Lieutenant Becky and staggered toward the hole in the wall. If she was quick, a harpy could carry her to Dark and she would be healed.

“...!”

But instead of a harpy, she found Esther scaling the tower with thick wooden branches.

The Nogitsune and the Demon made eye contact, and the latter didn’t even notice it when her heart was pierced by a bright red sword that sucked all her blood.

***

 

“Hey savage, what—”

“Don’t look in there.”

I covered the treehugger’s eyes and continued climbing. What I feared had actually happened. The commander of this horde of monsters was inside the clocktower all along.

The soldiers were supposed to serve as a distraction. If there was no commander here and they all got to the top, then everything was good.

Unfortunately, everyone died.

I’m not good at consoling people, but I won’t let your sacrifice be in vain, soldiers.

The short climb from then on to the top roof of the clocktower was uneventful. If this building was just a little bit higher, it could poke most low-altitude Airships. For once, I appreciated this city for its showmanship and lavishness.

“Now then, I’m counting on you, treehugger.”

The roots that sprouted from the top of the clocktower could only go so high. After 3 adults worth of height, they couldn’t go any higher.

I took a deep breath and stepped on the treehugger’s hands.

“Savage, are you sure about this?” Dinva looked down in fright. “If you fail….”

“Then I’ll have to succeed.”

Dinva sighed. “Don’t come haunting me later if you’re dead.”

“We’ll have to see.”

And with that, the final stage of our plan began. Dinva focused all of Mana into her hands until they almost burst with blisters. She then boosted me into the air while almost stumbling and falling to her death. Luckily, some roots caught her.

I was in the air. The Giant’s shoulder was definitely within reach. Just a bit more. Just a little bit more!

But I fell short by just one inch. Panic set in for a split second before I felt Aerin knocking me out of it.

I instead pointed my right arm down below and let me Mana flow into it.

Flames erupted. The force of the blast blasted me right up to the Giant’s shoulder. I staggered a bit to catch my balance and threw Aerin until there was a dent large enough for me to grab on..

I hung off the ledge and dangled right before the Giant’s eyes. As expected, my gamble paid off. This things’ weakness was in its eye.

“An old wound from an ancient battle? You’re out of luck, bastard.”

One strike.

The crack widened.

Two strikes. 

The fleshy interior of the Giant could be seen. Even though its exterior was of hard stone, it seemed that it was still part-organic.

Just as I landed my third strike, a heavy pressure bore down on me.

It was familiar, this swirling of Mana.

{Master! It’s using its weird beam attack again! Please finish it quickly, one more strike will do!}

“...”

{M-Master?}

“Aerin, you’re no longer bound to me.”

[Eliminated {Kirion, the blood-drinking sword} from your Transposed weapon slot. It will now become a Relic]

Before Aerin could raise a protest, I smiled.

“If I die, please don’t weep too much. You’ll have your whole life in front of you, yeah?”

I tossed her down below.

{Masterrrr!}

Now alone and at the brunt of the soon-to-be devastating attack, I summoned Nira and pointed her broken blade toward the Giant’s eye.

“‘David and Goliath’ was it, Ihwa? Watch over me from Heaven. Let’s see if I am the David of this battle.”