"We've been told by Tricia to send reinforcements to the barrier, but there's no sign of fighting...?"

"You're right... There's no traces of blood anywhere. There are no bodies either...? In either case, we can just follow these slash marks on these fallen trees. It should lead us to where the intruder is."

"You're right, let's hurry along. And see, this is what I mean! The higher-ups are getting too riled up because of a single person~ What a useless leader, why don't she step down and let me handle matters~"

"H-hey, if she hears that... you're getting sent to the mines as well!"

"Hah, as if I'm afraid of that. We need someone fresh, someone like us to steer the village in a new direction. The lack of men is also due to the changed policies by the grannies above... Just thinking of that makes me sick."

"You're not the only one who thinks that, b-but Karna, you shouldn't say this too boldly in the presence of other people...!"

"Well, don't worry about it. I'm saying it here because it's you. I'm just releasing my pent-up stress away from the village, y'know?"

"If that's the case... then it can't be helped..."

"...Say... ...Arglav. How about you, as a male elf, what do you think...?"

"What do I... think...?"

"How do you feel... about our unsettling matriarchal society right now?"

"I..."

The two elves stopped talking as they came to a wide clearing in the nearby forest.

There was not supposed to be something like this around the village at all.

"..."

"..."

"Say Arglav... it was supposed to be just one person... right?"

"... That is so, and assuming that is the case... that person... must be extremely dangerous to topple trees and destroy landscapes this easily..."

As they approached cautiously, they began to inspect the intruders.

In the middle of the conspicuous clearing, they could make out 8 figures. 9, if they counted the one who was lying down on the ground unconsciously.

The pinkish red haired woman in the reports was being held down by 6 skeletons on the ground and another woman whose skin appeared to be extremely white like a corpse; even her outfit complemented the ghastly look that she had.

It seemed like the woman the two elves were ordered to eliminate had been restrained by a stranger they did not know.

But putting the two aside, Arglav the male elf was the first to notice the identity of the guy near the action.

"...Sir... White?!"

Hearing these words, Karna the female elf who was partnered with Arglav noticed it as well.

"!!! He's stuck in a crossfire, we can't involve him!"

"...You sure are relentless, I'll give you that~ Not sparing mana at all even, looks like you've even trained to handle your normal swings properly heh~"

"I! Don't! Need! Your! Compliment! Get off my Master, you thieving cat!!!"

Soma slashed the 6 skeletons quickly in succession, blowing apart a few trees that obstructed her swings as collateral damage.

But she had already realized something very quickly when she had destroyed the skeletons summoned via necromancy for the 32th time.

She assumed that the only drawback was the slime woman losing a portion of herself each time her summon was revived. She was right on the mark about this point, as she had noticed this pattern quickly; the fact that the slime woman had to compensate this flaw by drinking something that was procured out of her body.

It might have been something akin to potions for humans. And potions had stock; They would run out eventually.

But she was slowly realizing that with the slime woman's calm and unchanged demeanor, she might perhaps have an infinite stock of them or a way to continuously generate them without any issues.

Soma found a small opening this time once all 6 summons were rendered immobile for a few seconds.

The skeletons were destroyed thoroughly for the 54th time, and the slime woman proceeded to drink a flask of green liquid again as expected.

But appearing to have calculated the amount of time that action took, it seemed like Soma had the edge in speed this time as she capitalized on this opportunity with a sword skill.

"Sword Lunge!"

The slime woman suddenly smirked, as Soma caught the woman's expression just as she came really close to landing a hit on her defenseless body.

"!!!"

The skeletons' usual slow regeneration was suddenly bypassed at this instant, as the individual parts of each skeleton flew towards their summoner, and Soma's unguarded back.

Realizing this, Soma immediately canceled Sword Lunge and casted another skill.

"Blade Current!!!"

She used the updraft of the skill and did a flawless backflip to dodge the approaching bone splinters.

Her Ignore Inertia LV3 was also the second reason why she could chain her movements seamlessly like this to avoid attacks.

The trajectory of the flying bones did not stop until it reached the front of the slime woman and created a wall of bones.

The agility of the surprise attack was not enough, as the slime woman revealed another skill she could use.

As expected, Soma knew that necromancers prioritized their own safety, and had a number of protective spells and escape abilities when the situation becomes rough. But she had not expected the slime woman to deal with every single one of her fierce attacks so rationally that it took this long to reveal another one of her concealed moves.

It was probably something like a Bone Shield. Paired with a necromancer's ability to freely move their summons around and in the air to a certain altitude, the slime woman had shown that the skeletons also acted as a very flexible wall that could serve double as attack and defense.

"Tch..."

Soma clicked her tongue, as she thought that it might've been better if she chained 1 or 2 more skills to secure a blow on her opponent. She had wasted another portion of her limited mana again on two skills.

Perhaps it was also due to her underestimating her opponent by basing her prowess off her level. Truly, it might have been downplaying it a little. Soma became a little alert.

She had recovered naturally during the period of time she spent wandering about near the barrier, but it was finite; Close to 10,000 at best, and that meant the use of only around 10 heavy-hitting sword skills before she completely ran out again.

"You don't seem too powerful at all? Is this the extent of your abilities...?~"

The slime woman stopped drinking the liquid, as Soma stopped moving momentarily at her provocation.

Brushing aside her light blue hair, the woman leaned over closer to to White's face.

Soma noticed this immediately.

"DON'T YOU D-"

The slime woman planted a french kiss relentlessly on White's lips.

"YOUUU FUCKINGGG BITCHHH!!!"

Soma started to break into a run towards the slime woman; She could hardly resist her murderous urges right now.

But the woman was unpeturbed, as she basked in the afterglow of the taste of White's saliva; She opened her mouth to speak, revealing strings of sticky saliva stuck to the insides of her mouth.

"Aaah~ I can't get enough of this. If being a human already feels like this, I can't wait for how he tastes like when he becomes just like me~"

"!!!

GET OFF OF HIM, YOU THIEVING CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Soma became hysterical, as she wore an extremely ugly face distorted with uncontained rage towards the slime woman who had stolen her man right before her eyes, twice.

She felt extremely irritated, that the slime woman was doing whatever she wanted to her Master and she couldn't stop it on time.

I AM THE ONE SUPPOSED TO OWN MASTER'S LIFE, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHTS...!!!

UNRELATED WOMEN SHOULD STAY OUT OF OUR RELATIONSHIPPP!!!

The Sword of Bloodwell had no actual effects that benefited from these kinds of emotions despite being a demonic blade, but it seemed as if the red gems on its guard were resonating with its user as it begun to shine even more red.

"Hmm~ That sword doesn't seem very normal, does it~ Looks like I'll have to get a little more serious too~"

?! Are you telling me... that she wasn't serious the whole time?

Soma clutched her sword with both hands fiercely as the distance began to close substantially with her sudden spurt.

She glared at the slime woman agitatedly.

She felt like she was being insulted and looked down upon the whole time.

Then she noticed the slime woman beginning to open her mouth.

She doesn't open her mouth to talk. Opening it at this point... an incantation?!

Realizing this, Soma sped up her dash to stop it.

But she didn't make it, because it wasn't a chant.

"Become STRONGER, my friends!!! Truimph over this woman, and you shall receive the joys of Evolution!!!~"

Soma leaped backwards due to the amplified voice of the slime woman. It was so loud that it would actually be possible that Soma's ears would have been punctured if she didn't take a step back here.

It was not a chant for a spell at all! It was... a Battlecry!

And Battlecry was a support skill that was usually learnt by leader-type classes like Paladins and Warlords.

She was incredibly confused at the vast array of skills the slime woman had.

Although she herself had many skills as well, they were mostly all Sword Skills.

But in the case of the slime woman, she held attributes of a slime, a necromancer-type, and now enforced with support-class skills. The unnatural synergy of the skills she had was making the difficulty of the battle several times harder.

Soma was contemplating internally if the slime woman actually rivalled the strategic strength of a Dragon she had fought against before.

"Here we come~"

The elite skeletons, buffed with the shout from the slime woman suddenly accelerated towards Soma without warning.

But Soma did not appear flustered at all; She was used to all kinds of dirty tactics and situations as a veteran adventurer.

She instantly attempted to slash the skeletons vertically through their vulnerable ribcages again, but this time a different outcome occured.

?!

The bones became extremely sturdy than before, as if it was made of some kind of metal. It deflected the swing from Soma's demonic blade and made her unable to stop flinching for a moment from the recoil.

N-no way, Battlecry doesn't raise stats to this amount! Not even Battle Roar had this kind of effect!

12,486! The Sword of Bloodwell had a 12,486 attack stat! I've never checked it after absorbing the blood of the 6 elves, but it is impossible that a mere elite skeleton can withstand my sword!!!

Are you telling me that her Battlecry was an entirely different skill that held a multiplier effect?!

Soma had Ignore Inertia, but she had to be aware of the actions that she wanted to take before it could trigger. Thus, she lost balance for the first time against the slime woman.

And it was a fatal mistake against a necromancer.

Without any hesitation, the skeletons reacted to push Soma down.

"Khhh!!!"

Soma was pinned down to the grass in an instant. She suffered a light concussion from the impact on her head.

But it did not stop her combat reflexes from being attentive to the situation.

Immediately reacting to her perilous position as she was currently being surrounded by the elite skeletons, she quickly tried to cast a chantless spell.

Even though it had a weaker effect than when chanted, she needed something that she could use instantly to escape.

Breakmoon!

An expulsion force was emitted from Soma's sword gripped on her right hand.

But the two elite skeletons which were pinning her hands down barely budged at all.

N-no way...

Soma could not cast anything else to follow-up, as she suddenly felt something cold pointing at her throat.

The slime woman was right in front of her with her left hand materialized into a sharp sickle. It pricked the surface of Soma's skin, as blood trickled down her neck.

It was a checkmate.

The slime woman had suppressed her from start to finish.

Without the leeway with mana, nor any blood to supplement enough power for her demonic blade to escape from this constraint, Soma was thoroughly defeated.

"He he~ You seem like a good addition to my circle of friends~

You get to be rehabilitated from your disgusting human emotions as well.

Aren't you happy~?"

Soma tried to cast something again without a chant, but the slime woman noticed the flow of her mana and threatened her with her hand blade plunged a little deeper into her throat.

!!!

Soma felt an inconceivable amount of pain supplied to her brain, as her eyes widened in shock.

Luckily, her endorphins could work this time without the presence of the Chaos Serum. It sated a portion of the unbearable pain, but Soma realized that she could no longer do something like that again.

Her life was in the hands of this monster.

"Ah ah~ You shouldn't do that~ This is why you need rehabilitation, your human shell is corrupting the ideal form that I see in you~ Being a little mischievous like that, isn't really my thing~

After all, friends are existences that should only talk when you need them to, right?"

This woman, she's crazy like me. I can sense the madness within her...

"Just like that boy. You two..., just need a little bit of tinkering, and you'll be back to being my friends~"

Hearing the suggestive words, Soma recalled why she had fought her in the first place.

Her master.

Her master that she failed to kill.

Was now in the hands of another woman.

And she had not even realized her intent for doing so.

Why and how did she restore White's body.

Why is she here in this place.

Who is she.

Staring at the woman weakly, Soma inquired slowly to avoid further hemorrhage in her throat.

"W...wh...y... are... y...ou... d-...oi...ng... th...i...s... to... m...e... ... ...T...o... m...a...st...e...r..."

"-And why are you talking without permission...?"

...Looks like she... doesn't like negotiations... either. What did I expect... from a monster...!

Soma bit her lips so hard that it bled.

She could not accept this ending. She absolutely could not.

But she was powerless.

Down to the very end, she never closed her eyes and continued staring murderously at the face of the slime woman. She was grinning ecstatically, as if she'd gotten a new toy to play with.

A face full of madness and peaking with exhilaration, as she used her other hand in a posture ready to sever off Soma's head, like a pair of scissors.

Ah, I see now.

This thing.

It loves death.

"Sir White!"

"?!!"

The slime woman stopped her blade right in front of Soma's bleeding throat, as Soma and her heard someone calling out towards the person behind them.

"Who dares interrupt-"

This moment of distraction was enough for Soma to keep her life, as the slime woman prepared to dash towards the man she was saving for last. A moment of inconsistency had occured within her plans, and it made her a little uneasy.

Arglav and Karna had arrived beside White.

"Sir White! Sir White! Wake up!"

"This fella', is he dead?! We need to move now, she's coming over here! Hey you, wake u-...!!!"

And something occured, interrupting Karna's sentence.

"Noisy. It's been so noisy since a while ago."

The boy called White woke up abruptly, as he began opening his eyes.

It was seething red.

"!!!!"

Soma missed that voice.

That commanding tone of his.

As expected, it was like that...

A split personality disorder-

Aahhh~~~ My Master, he has returned to me~

Did he come back to save me again?

Ah...

Master...

As expected, I love you so much.

So much. So much. So much. So much. So much. So much. So much. So much. So much. So much.

"You're not... him...

Wh-who... who are you..."

The slime woman appeared slightly flustered for the first time. She felt like the human she had originally intended to cull, was no longer there.

Even though he was there physically, the atmosphere around White turned extremely cold and hostile.

Ignoring the woman who was questioning his foreign identity, and the two elves that was right beside him, White narrowed his eyes displeasingly as he felt blood coming out of both of his eyes with his right hand.

But when he did, his hand suddenly moved on its own.

It pressed down his right eye with the palm as blood continued to stream out of it profusely.

His left eye was bleeding as well, but he didn't seem to care about that at all.

Rather, it was his action of covering his right eye that seemed a little robotic and shaky.

It felt like each hands were being remotely controlled, as if being separated by two different entities.

Forcefully dragging away his right hand with his left, White's eyes were now unhindered as they gazed over the surroundings.

His eyes then stopped before the earthen ball a distance away from the clearing, where it was housing a certain individual.

Then, he spoke out in a powerful tone.

"Closing your eyes won't help at all.

Look closely, White.

Before you regress even further, let me show you. The consequences of your inaction."