71 Chapter 9 (12): Three sides, parts 1 and 2

***** Haru's PoV *****

Despite my having the formidable strength of a beastkin and being the only one of the three to be a vanguard, my speed wasn't any faster than that of my present companions. Charlotte used her lightning magic to bolster the strength of her muscles and her reaction speed, while Elise relied on the innate agility of the high elves and her longer (and more attractive) legs to keep up with my pace. Of course, none of us were going at our maximum speeds, as we had to conserve our stamina for the fight to come. After half an hour of running, we spotted a patrolling group of orcs, just before they spotted us.

"Elise, save your arrows as much as you can. Charlotte, blast them once with magic as we approach, to thin out their numbers a bit. Then, switch to the sword and help me cut them down at close range" (Haru)

"Nn. I'll try to avoid attracting attention" (Elise)

"Understood. Just tell me when" (Charlotte)

"Okay... Now!" (Haru)

"Spatial Rift!" (Charlotte)

With that, half of the three dozen or so orcs got bisected at the waist, the others out of the range of her void magic. Immediately after, she drew her sword and we crashed into the group of startled orcs. My twin swords danced, reflecting the light of the setting sun as they brought a spray of green blood into the air with each slice. Charlotte's sword was powerful and steady, splitting orcs in twain, one of them cut from crown to crotch, soon followed by one separated along the line between its right armpit and left hip. A third then died to her blade, its head flying into the air alongside half of its crude stone greatsword. My attacks were faster, more numerous, but much weaker, taking three or four hits to kill, however, I could fight several at once with ease. She had to dodge their attacks until she could find an opening, while I dodged and counterattacked at the same time. That's the difference in our styles, it would seem.

"Is that all of them?" (Charlotte)

"Nn. None ran away. All are dead. Let's keep going" (Elise)

"Elise, your bad habit is back. You've gotten better at talking recently, don't go back to your 'Nn's and short sentences, please. Ryuu would kill me if I caused you to regress like that" (Haru)

"No she wouldn't... sorry, I'm just a bit nervous. It's been a long time since I've fought monsters without Ryuu being with me... not since I met her, actually" (Elise)

"I'm sure she'd say 'the author wanted to give people other than me a chance to be in the spotlight, so cheer up, and shine as bright as you can'... or something like that, anyways" (Charlotte)

"What does that really mean though? Like, who is this author person? What role do they even have in what happens in the world?" (Haru)

"Don't ask me, I don't know either" (Charlotte)

With banter like that, we proceeded towards the settlement, which was built into a dead end in the ravine. When we got there an hour later, the sun had set, but we could still see it clearly once Charlotte bombarded it with fire and void magic, erasing large chunks of buildings, then setting the ruins on fire. Elise was sniping the fleeing orcs with her bow, and I guarded the only exit as well, my swords getting covered in the blood of hundreds of orcs and then letting it all slide off in the next second. Sometimes, I used that to my advantage by flinging it onto the eyes of a particularly strong individual, blinding them as I cut them to ribbons. After two hours of fighting, there wasn't a single soul left besides the three of us. The settlement was naught but a sea of flames and gaping holes in the rock dug out by void magic. As such, we rested for a few minutes, then made our way to the orcish city where the love of our lives was fighting on her own... probably. She might have been joined by one of the other groups already, or perhaps she's finished them off by now. Who could know?

***** PoV of someone who could know, but back in time a few hours: Ver *****

After allowing everyone to disembark from my back, I flew to the settlement to the east, a collection of large huts that I just crushed underfoot, and then I sat in the middle of the central road, with a clear view to both exits of the settlement. I launched a fireball at any who tried to escape, but let everyone else cluster a fearful distance from me, until I was more or less sure that everyone was either dead or in my close vicinity. At that time, I shifted to my human form, one with a bare and fully matured body, complete with wide hips, large breasts, and so on, and watched the orcs fight their natural urge to forcibly mate with whatever had the right kind of hole due to their fear of my overwhelming power. After a few minutes of that, one of them with a massive bulge in the bit of wolf fur that served it for a loincloth charged at me, and I briefly shifted back to my natural form to eat him in one gulp. I was a wyvern for all of two seconds, before I shifted back to the matured human form.

"Tastes like pork! I mean, I knew it would, but it's just so tasty! Still... I wanted to save this form for Ryuu, so I'm not going to let you bipedal pigs sully it with your filthy gazes any longer. Die" (Ver)

With that, I spun around a few dozen times, each revolution increasing the length of the blades of wind I held in each hand, until all of the orcs had been sliced, or perhaps diced, into fine pieces. After that, I torched the remainder of the settlement, and flew towards the orcish city to join Ryuu in her quest to kill as many orcs as she could. It only took me a total of an hour and a half to get to the settlement, kill everyone in it, and then meet up with Ryuu at the city, so I was the first one there besides Ryuu herself, by over an hour and a half.