Chapter 147: Monster Lily

A short while before Ryu and Lily would crash into the battlefield, the forest stood suspended in a tense, unnatural quiet. The wind had stilled. Even the birds seemed to have fled. It was the kind of silence that pressed against the ears — the kind that warned of blood about to be spilled.

Lily let out a long, exaggerated sigh, her breath misting faintly in the cool shade beneath the trees.

“I wonder when they’re going to make their move… At this rate, I’m going to get tired of waiting…”

She kicked lightly at the dirt, clearly lacking the patience for drawn-out strategy.

Ryu, by contrast, remained composed, his gaze fixed ahead as if he could already see the invisible lines of the coming battle.

“As demons, they likely want to fight a little deeper in the forest,” he said calmly. “If an A-rank—or higher—battle breaks out here, the sound could carry beyond the forest. They’re cautious. Calculating.”

“Yeah, seriously…” Lily muttered, puffing out her cheeks. “If it were me, I’d lose patience and charge in already. Honestly, it makes sense they managed to slip through the First Special Division’s investigation net for months.”

“That’s a separate issue,” Ryu replied flatly. “Their commander was just incompetent.”

“You called them incompetent again! I’m doing my best too, you know! Again with the incompetent!”

Ryu found himself thinking quietly.

(Lily’s personality is admirable, yes… but the real reason her subordinates revere her so deeply must be her strength. She boasts combat power surpassing even the S-Rank Thunder Emperor. Just what kind of fighting style does she use?)

He turned slightly toward her.

“Hey, Lily.”

“Mm? What is it?”

“What kind of fighting style do you prefer?”

“Ahh, you’re curious after all! About the First Special Division Captain’s combat style!”

“It would be strange not to be curious. …So? Magic? A sword? Or both?”

“Heh heh heh… Since you asked so honestly, I shall enlighten you!”

Lily cleared her throat dramatically.

“You see… I’m fast.”

“Fast…?”

“Yeah. I’m clumsy, so I actually can’t use magic. And I can’t use a sword either. …But I’m fast. Faster than anything in this world.”

Her eyes, as she said it, held no trace of doubt. They were genuine — unwavering and absolute.

“…I see.”

Lily blinked, stunned by his calm response.

“Wait… you’re not going to laugh? I can’t use magic or a sword, you know.”

As she herself admitted, her clumsiness made it impossible for her to wield a blade properly, and she possessed not a shred of magical aptitude. How many times in the past had others laughed at her for that? When she was first appointed captain, even her own subordinates had sneered behind her back. Only after proving her overwhelming power in a mission did they acknowledge her.

She hadn’t wanted to say it this time either. But since Ryu would be fighting alongside her as an ally, she believed he deserved to know.

And yet what she received was neither ridicule nor scorn — only simple affirmation.

“Why would I laugh? You said you’re faster than anything, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Speed and power are proportional. If you’re faster than anything, then you possess more power than anything. …Where exactly is the ‘weakness’ in that?”

“….”

Ryu met her gaze directly.

“—That’s incredible.”

“—!”

Her breath caught in her throat.

◇◇◇

The swordsman Louise and the two demons locked eyes.

In that instant, the tension spiked sharply. What had moments ago been nothing more than a quiet forest had transformed into an unmistakable battlefield.

In the few seconds before combat erupted, Louise analyzed coolly.

(They have the numerical advantage. The blue one’s a mage. The red one’s a brawler. Magic has a casting lag. If that’s the case, I eliminate red instantly, then close distance with blue. …That’s the only path to victory.)

As an A-rank adventurer, Louise could gauge their strength.

Both were likely high A-rank.

One misstep away from S-rank.

…That formidable.

He tightened his grip on his sword.

And then—

“Okay, stooop! Sto-op! Don’t start fighting just yet!”

“Ohhh. So they really do have horns. Could be useful for some kind of drug.”

The unexpected voices shattered the tension.

The red demon turned, scowling.

“Hah? Who the hell are you two?”

“Assassins sent to kill you! …Demon-san?”

“Tch. If you know what we are, then you’re serious, Blue.”

“Indeed. The numbers have turned against us… but nothing changes. There will simply be two more corpses.”

“Hah! That’s the spirit!”

Louise glanced at Lily.

“So you’re Lily, Captain of the First Special Division. I appreciate the reinforcement.”

“You know who I am? I’m so happy! Ummm… and you are…?”

“I am Louise.”

“Right, right! Swordsman Louise! Sorry, I’m terrible with names…”

(Right. She really is awful with names. She calls her own subordinates ‘hey you’ half the time. Well, whatever. According to plan, I’ll let Lily handle this.)

Ryu stepped back.

As Lily had insisted, she and Louise would cooperate first. If things became dangerous, Ryu would intervene as a last resort.

The red demon cracked his knuckles.

“Heh heh… I can feel the power surging.”

“May I use a grand spell?” the blue one asked coolly, gathering mana into his palm.

“Louise, could you handle the blue-haired one?”

“Understood.”

“Good boy. I like obedient types.”

Lily grinned and leaned forward into a sprinter’s stance.

(I talked big in front of Ryu… I can’t embarrass myself now.)

She exhaled slowly, centering her mind.

Her already superior five senses sharpened further, honed to their utmost limits.

To refine her physical abilities to absolute extremity.

(I can’t use magic. I have no talent with a sword. …But in exchange, I’m faster than anything.)

Her vision shifted.

One second stretched into ten… into one hundred…

…into one thousand.

—This was the one-thousandth world.

A world where only Lily was permitted to move.

She kicked off the ground.

In an instant she was before red.

Her fists drove into his torso and face, punching two massive holes clean through him.

(If I erase the heart and brain… there’s no regeneration, right?)

The world snapped back.

Time corrected itself.

—A thunderous explosion roared across the battlefield.

Wrapped in a sonic boom, Lily tore across the ground like a bullet, carving a trench as she harvested red’s life.

The shockwave from her punch continued onward, toppling tree after tree, carving a straight path through the forest.

“Huh…? R-Red…?”

Blue’s mind froze. The mana he had gathered dissipated uselessly.

Louise was equally stunned.

Ryu called out sharply.

“Louise. Don’t waste the chance Lily created. Demons regenerate — split him vertically. You can do it.”

“…Yes!”

Louise surged forward.

“W-Wait—!”

“No discussion! Die!”

“GAAAAAHHHH!”

He cleaved blue clean in two.

—Thud.

Both red and blue corpses collapsed simultaneously.

No regeneration followed.

Lily flashed Ryu a triumphant peace sign.

“Yaaay! Peace, peace!”

“First confirm there’s truly no life reaction.”

“R-Right!”

The three checked the bodies. Satisfied, Ryu retrieved the demon horns and a mana-concealing cloak.

“Hey, hey! Did you see? I was cool, right?!”

“Yeah. You were unbelievably cool. You’ve trained yourself well.”

“…I don’t think that’s something you can achieve through training alone…” Louise muttered, staring at the gouged earth and fallen trees.

(To create a road through the forest from sheer wind pressure of a punch… that’s not something a human should be capable of…)

The real problem began now.

“So… what do we do with the bodies?”

“I accepted an investigation request from the Adventurer’s Guild. If they’re the culprits, they should be submitted. …But I could also pretend I saw nothing.”

“As expected of you, Louise! Let’s leave them for now and have my subordinates collect them later. Ryu, sound good?”

“No. Better not collect them. That killing method clearly wasn’t meant for capture. If submitted to a research institute, it’ll likely cause complications. But leaving them risks monsters feeding on them. Burying them would be best.”

“Got it! Louise, help dig!”

“…Understood.”

“I like obedient boys~”

The A-rank adventurer reluctantly dug a hole, and the bodies were buried.

The three turned to leave, discussing how to explain things to the Guild.

But of course—

It wasn’t over.

Lily’s ears twitched.

“Hmm? Wait a second.”

“What is it, Captain Lily?”

Louise tilted his head.

But Ryu was already looking skyward.

A deep rumble echoed.

GOGOGOGOGOGO.

Lily and Louise followed his gaze.

““Eh… a meteor…?””

“Seems that way.”

(Meteor…? The duchy’s hero who wielded ‘Meteor Magic’ was supposedly slain in Hinomaru by Ryoma… So whose doing is this…?)