The Dark Jade Forest was known to be extremely dangerous, not only because of the various demi-human tribes, but also because of the magical beasts that inhabited the area. Given the enormous amount of magical force—also called miasma—in the forest, it teemed with powerful monsters, whose flesh fetched a high price on the market, and their fangs were a must-have in the halls of nobles seeking to prove themselves warriors.

  One of the most feared magical beasts in the Dark Jade was the Thousand-Pierced Bear, a creature similar to a normal ursine, but over twelve feet tall and capable of standing erect on two legs. The name came from the countless cuts on its skin, visible through its fur. Those scars weren't just for show: on command, the bear could unleash razor-sharp blades rivaling adamantium in hardness, making the beast a kind of impervious porcupine. Any adventurer below the rank of Emerald would flee from such a monster—few could face it and return with all its limbs attached to them to tell the tale.

  Defeating it would be a feat worthy of a group of Diamond-rank adventurers, considered the pinnacle of the human race, second only to the heroes of the past. In the Empire of Nexia, which contained the Dark Jade Forest within its borders, only a handful of individuals could claim to be capable of defeating such a creature, which hovered around level 40. Gareth Stronghold immediately came to mind when thinking of those aforementioned individuals. Beyond him, only a few specific members of the various Diamond-rank groups would be capable of such a feat: Akiza, the Black Rose enchantress, and Fern, the little-known elven sorceress.

  In essence, a creature of that level was a feat for almost anyone—from the human race's point of view, at least.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  1st day of the month of the gray dragon (March) 15:33 PM

  A specimen of the mighty creature known as the Thousand-Pierced Bear lay dead behind Almodea and Hirashi. The two were advancing through the forest, following a map held by the eldest. They seemed intent on walking through the thicket with an incredible calm and disregard for their surroundings.

  "Wow! Interesting monster, huh?"

  Almodea commented, wiping the creature's blood from under the claws of her right hand, with which she had earlier severed its neck in a single blow. There was nothing in her tone but mild surprise, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  "I wish I could have taken it home, you know?"

  Hirashi muttered calmly, not looking up from the map. Despite her stoicism, she was a lover of bizarre monsters. If she could, she would have had some as pets, but avoided giving vent to that desire of hers to not be distracted by her most importan work: carring for her younger sister.

  "Yes, yes, sorry! It just popped out of the blue! I acted on impulse!"

  Almodea justified herself.

  "As you always do. Make sure you don't do it during the mission, we need the Oni alive. "

  The way the pale giantess had emphasized the word "alive" made Almodea snort. She thought it was an overstatement. Not even she was stupid enough to purposely abort a mission.

  "I get it! I get it! You've told me twenty thousand times! I won't kill them all! If they don't submit voluntarily, I'll kill a few of them and that's it, right?"

  Hirashi shook her head slightly at those words. For her, Almodea's tactics were too simplistic and would risk yielding neither stable nor satisfactory results for them. However, she knew that Almodeus wouldn't have the courage to criticize her daughter, even though she'd been sent on a mission specifically to learn to use her head, instead of just killing blindly.

  "I think you should try offering them something. Perhaps appeal to their greed and pride."

  "What do you mean? Explain yourself better..."

  "Try to study them carefully. Understand what they desire and make them believe that you are the only way to obtain it with certainty."

  Almodea raised her right hand to the chin and considered the proposal. It was a brilliant plan; there was no doubt about it.

  "Damn, that's brilliant! You have brains, big sis!"

  "Obvious..."

  The young demon laughed. The giant woman's stoicism and calm always amused her, especially when she could tease her without getting a reaction.

  "And there you are, I thought you were the kind of person who only thinks about your fantasy books and workouts! You've made me think again!"

  "I detect some irony in your tone... anyway, you should train more too, so you don't let a mere human escape while you're monologuing like a B-series villain."

  Struck and sunk. At those words, Almodea frowned, irritated—not by her sister- but by the memory of her failure with the El Kaiser affair. She hated remembering how she'd let that damned human slip away.

  Maybe I exaggerated...

  Hirashi thought she had taken too much liberty and immediately started to apologize, but Almodea beat her to it and spoke first.

  "Well, even the best make mistakes! But I found that cleric and brought your mother home!"

  A light, almost imperceptible smile formed on Hirashi's face, and she nodded slightly at that statement.

  "True...and for that I will be eternally grateful to you, Almodea."

  The demoness opened her eyes slightly in surprise—she hadn't expected such a response, not in such a warm and friendly tone. The two were like sisters and spent a lot of time together, but seeing Hirashi smile was as rare as the birth of a three-legged baby.

  "I'm glad I made you happy!"

  Almodea declared before stopping. She moved her right hand to the opposite arm, massaging it lightly. She didn't know how to continue the conversation; she wasn't used to an emotional Hirashi, at least not during a mission. Moments like that usually happened when they were watching an anime and Almodea would start crying wildly over the death of a character she liked, prompting the giant woman to speak to her in a loving tone to calm her down.

  "I have to thank you too, Hirashi. My mother loves spending time with you; you're like a second daughter to her. Thank you for watching over mom."

  "I care a lot about C. If something happened to her I wouldn't forgive myself, you know."

  "Yes, I know that very well...Seeing you angry would scare me too."

  Silence fell again between the two. Almodea was so focused on not failing another mission that she had no idea how to proceed. She had to rely on Hirashi to continue the conversation and ease the awkwardness of the moment. Usually, they seemed like two people who complemented each other, but now they seemed like two different sisters who hadn't seen each other in years.

  "Almodea, I wanted to ask you something...may I?"

  "Of course! Thanks for breaking the ice, by the way!"

  "You know, lately you and I have been training together with various weapons, and in your opinion... am I doing a good job?"

  Almodea was surprised by the question. She'd recently decided to train with Hirashi to pass the time—she didn't take those sessions too seriously—but the giantess seemed to have the opposite idea. For Hirashi, every training session, whether weightlifting or sword fighting, was something that required 100% commitment.

  "You're amazing as always! If I had your skill with weapons, I'd be OP as fuck! More than I already am, at least."

  The girl declared, smiling smugly.

  “Also, I love seeing you in a kimono! It shows off your body so much better than your usual jacket.”

  Almodea laughed at her own words. Were spoken ironically, but completely true. Hirashi was skilled with every single weapon and could use them with incredible mastery, making it seem like child's play. It should be noted that training sessions were one of the rare times the white giantess didn't wear her dark jacket, in favor of a white training kimono with purple butterflies on it.

  Nikusa had chosen it for her, and Almodea would never deny that she had made an excellent choice. Truth be told, anything would have suited Hirashi, who was the living embodiment of otherworldly beauty and infinite power fused together. Being a fan of anime and the Japanese culture of their world, Almodea herself had several kimonos or traditional dresses to use for her own amusement. Despite her bewitching beauty, Almodea had to admit with a touch of jealousy that Hirashi looked a hundred thousand times better than her in every way. She was so envious.

  "Thanks, but I meant something else with my question."

  The giantess pointed out.

  “Do you think I'm good at teaching you?”

  "Oh, yes! You're a great teacher! Your stoicism makes you patient enough to deal with an asshole like me! So...I'd say you're fine! I only have one criticism."

  "That is?"

  The question was rhetorical. Hirashi knew where Almodea was going with that—she could tell by her expression that she was going to pick up something she often was mocked about.

  "Next time, don't make me use black holes as barbell weights and pass it off as a warm-up. I'm strong, but not at your level! In the end, I only managed to do one rep, which is nothing compared to your hundreds...and it was just a warm-up, I repeat!"

  "I already apologized to you."

  The other replied, lowering her head.

  “I should have adjusted my schedule to you, not the other way around. I ask your forgiveness again..."

  "Don't worry, I'm not angry! Did I seem like someone who gets angry over such a small thing?"

  "Yes..."

  Hirashi's curt response struck Almodea like an arrow—making her lose the composure—especially since the giantess was completely right: the demoness would have gotten angry over so little, or even less, under the right conditions.

  "Let's change the subject, okay?"

  "Sure."

  There was another moment of silence as the two decided on a topic to discuss. Almodea wanted to avoid any topic regarding training or the like, as Hirashi might cancel and deflect any barbs back at her. The white giant, for her part, was okay with any topic, as long as it didn't remind her of her childhood—or lack thereof.

  "Hmm...how about we talk about the mission? I mean, it might seem strange to you too that Dad sent us for this. We're not exactly the best at it, are we? At least, not me..."

  "I think he does it to teach us. We live in a hostile world, and we need to be able to do a little bit of everything. Besides, it's not like your father's choices were that strange."

  "Shaco also was sent..."

  "Okay, I take that back. His choices seem random in this circumstance."

  Almodea laughed at that correction. This was one of the many things she loved and envied about Hirashi. No matter what happened or what the topic was, she always landed on her feet, never losing her composure. She wanted to be a badass like her sister.

  "We've arrived."

  "Huh?"

  Hirashi's words brought Almodea back to reality. The giantess showed the other the map and pointed out a route.

  "We need to split up here. The lizardman swamp is to the north, while the Oni village is to the east."

  "I don't understand why they call it a village, though. From the information Soundwave gave me, over ten thousand Oni reside there. It would fit the categorization of a small town, rather than a country village."

  “It's human terminology.”

  Hirashi replied, with a confidence as sharp as a spear.

  “The nobles of the Empire consider the demi-human races inferior, so they define every inhabited area as a village. Using the term "city" would be too respectful. We use "village" because we're basing our reference on the nomenclature adopted by your former comrades. After all, we gleaned a great deal of information from Annie's diary.”

  "Don't talk about them to me, please."

  Almodea's face immediately darkened when she remembered Fiora and her friends. Hirashi noticed, and secretly regretted her choice of words. She had seen firsthand how much her sister had suffered long ago, yet it had reminded Almodea of her dead friends.

  I was indiscreet...

  Hirashi hadn't done it maliciously, but because she was lost in her thoughts. She was hating herself immensely for that poor choice of words.

  "Forgive me, sister. I didn't mean to-"

  "It's no use, it's not your fault!"

  Almodea replied, trying to put on her usual smile-mask that made her look like an immature little girl.

  "It's not like we could resurrect them, anyway. Besides, Camille's gone now, so I've gotten my revenge! All I ask is that you never mention them to me again..."

  “Certainly, dear sister. It will be done.”

  Hirashi nodded at those words, holding back from hugging Almodea. She knew that beneath her spoiled eighteen-year-old demeanor, the girl was having her own crises: some small, some colossal. She was one of the most powerful beings in existence, but at heart, Almodea remained a simple teenager still discovering herself and what she wanted to do in the world. In this, Hirashi understood her very well; she too had no idea what to be or become.

  Mother has already decided for me, though...

  Hirashi shook her head and turned to her sister.

  “Thank you for your understanding.”

  “You're welcome, sister.”

  Almodea raised her arm and began waving it, greeting Hirashi without looking at her face, trying to maintain a tough stance.

  "Well, now we need to split! Good luck with the lizardmen! Show them that your muscles aren't just for show!"

  Hirashi paused, watching the other slowly walk away. She wanted to follow Almodea to protect her, in case she was attacked again by the same people who had surprised her last time. However, her orders required to do otherwise.

  "You too with the Oni, dear sister."

  She simply replied, before adding another ironic remark in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “Just don’t sleep with every well-endowed woman you meet, okay?”

  Almodea laughed at that joke, more because it was true. There was a risk of something like that happening; she couldn't help but find attractive those women who were friendly, strong-willed, and possessed captivating curves—if they were muscular, even better.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Don't worry! I'll be single until I'm twenty-one... I think!"

  One of the few rules her parents had imposed on her was that she couldn't marry before turning twenty-one. They wanted to prevent their daughter from marrying the first woman who came to the convent. However, she wasn't prevented from having sexual relations or flirting; Almodea was even allowed to form a harem if she really wanted—but nothing official until she reached the required age.

  It was her mother C who pushed for that rule in particular. She didn't want Almodea to see romantic relationships as merely a means of satisfying carnal pleasures, or something to be abandoned immediately when a partner tired her and no longer provided a sense of fulfillment. She wanted her daughter to understand how complicated love was; how important it was to have a healthy relationship based on that feeling, and not just on momentary lust.

  "See you later, Almodea. Call me if you need help."

  Unfortunately, the other girl was too far away to hear Hirashi and give her an answer.

  “If anyone dares to hurt you...I will tear them to pieces.”

  Hirashi muttered, clenching her right fist with such force that it sent a small shockwave that bent the nearby trees. It was only when Almodea disappeared from the sight that Hirashi turned on her heel, continuing on the way, heading toward the lizardmen's swamp.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Approaching the Oni village, Almodea summoned her dragon wings and soared into the sky with the grace of a butterfly, maintaining the speed of a fighter jet. Reaching what she deemed to be a high altitude, she stopped abruptly, then plunged headlong into the town's entrance, creating a great din that no one could ignore.

  "I am Almodea Fearterror! I bring you my father's words! Submit or—"

  The girl stopped suddenly, observing a sight she had not expected in the least.

  “Eh?! Where...Where is everyone?!”

  Lost in her villainous moment, Almodea only later noticed that the village before her was not only empty, but completely destroyed, reduced to a pile of smoking rubble.

  "What the fuck happened here?! Come on! What bad luck!"

  The girl snorted, looking around and surveying the village with disgust. The area was strewn with broken arrows, still-burning rubble, broken armor, and shattered weapons. It was clear there had been a clash, but what kind? Civil war? Invasion? Almodea didn't know, and she was determined to find out. She was beyond irritated that she would risk another mission failure, this time through no fault of her own.

  "Let me get this straight: if I have to kidnap a guy, he'll run away at random and I'll lose him because I have to fight last-minute people! If I have to subdue a village, it's already been destroyed by someone! If I have to kill someone, what happens? Do I find out he was under a fake name? Or that he's already dead on the toilet and I won't have the satisfaction of enjoying the kill?!"

  Almodea grumbled, wandering through the remains of the town, looking around with an irritated expression on her face. Everywhere she went, Almodea found the same scene: dried blood on the ground, shattered weapons, destroyed houses. There wasn't a soul in sight, and surprisingly, not even a single body. That surprised her quite a bit; she'd expected some bloody spectacle, and instead...

  How strange...

  ...There was nothing she hadn't seen before. Almodea walked until she came to a ruined stone structure, which looked like a church from its construction. The few banners that remained intact depicted a reddish, serpentine dragon twisting around itself.

  "Cool! What a beautiful dragon! Do monsters also worship God? Or more than one God... Will there be Christianity here? I doubt it, religions will be different in this world..."

  She passed the church and continued walking through the village. The silence and desolation would have made anyone uneasy, yet Almodea walked among the destroyed houses as if she were a child on a school trip. She didn't have the attitude of someone walking through what could now be described as a fully-fledged necropolis.

  "There's absolutely no one left."

  She commented softly, before noticing movement in the distance. Hoping to find some Oni survivors, Almodea headed toward where she'd glimpsed the movement. Thinking about it, the situation wasn't so bad for her: subduing a divided and fragmented people, their pride wounded, would be easier than subduing an entire town of proud warriors ready to die. She smiled at the thought, but at the same time wondered what could have reduced a village of over ten thousand inhabitants to that state; Oni at that.

  As she headed toward the affected area, Almodea tried to recall what she knew about the Oni of that world. They were different from the ones she knew. In the hell she came from, those creatures were reddish-skinned monsters, whose size varied based on accumulated energy. They were usually considered a subspecies of giants, but more precisely, they descended from the same race that gave rise to orcs, ogres, and trolls. They were like different cousins.

  In that reality, however, the Oni seemed more modest in size—still larger than the average human, but not so much as to be considered giant-esque. Honestly, they were more akin to beastmen, if they were no different from the ones Almodea had pictured.

  "Come on with those bags! King Yeddu wants his food!"

  A troll thundered, swinging his sword up and down, warning four orcs to speed up whatever they were doing.

  A troll and some orcs? What are they doing here? And why are they working together?

  It wasn't uncommon for ogres, orcs, and trolls to collaborate, being similar species. However, they were always loosely organized alliances, based solely on survival. What Almodea was seeing, however, seemed like a well-structured coalition, with the troll as the expedition's leader. Another detail that intrigued her was what they were doing: the orcs were loading a cart with a large number of dirty sacks, stuffed with something. What could motivate a troll and orcs to do all that work? Food, of course.

  "Well, we might as well show ourselves..."

  Tired of speculating, Almodea approached the group, her usual cocky grin on her face. She thought quickly and realized that perhaps she could subdue these monsters, as a bonus for having "partially" failed the mission. It wasn't her fault that the Oni weren't where she'd been told they'd be.

  "Hey! Excuse me!"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Faster! Faster!”

  Ryu roared, waving his saber up and down. Normally, he would have tried to be calmer in a situation like that, but they had to finish clearing out those corpses before beginning searching for any surviving Oni.

  What an inglorious victory...

  He looked around in disgust. They had won against the Oni, who, being skilled in fire magic, were their natural enemies, but he didn't see it as something to rejoice over. Both he and his master would have preferred a more honorable and even fight, to demonstrate their strength against a formidable opponent.

  “Hey! Excuse me!”

  "Hmm? What?!"

  The troll's eyes widened at the sight of Almodea. He was completely stunned; a girl was approaching them so casually he couldn't believe it. He hadn't expected such a direct and bold move. That lack of fear reeked on him.

  "And who the hell are you?"

  "My name is Almodea Fearterror! I was here on business at the Oni village, but I see you beat me to it!"

  "What is doing here a vampire?"

  One of the orcs beside him muttered, grunting like a pig. In that world, it was common belief that vampires had red eyes and hair, as well as being taller than average humans. Almodea fit the bill perfectly, but it was just a coincidence, and it should be noted that those traits were merely a common stereotype, not an absolute truth. However, the orcs certainly couldn't have known this last part, since they relied on the little human knowledge they'd absorbed during the various invasions by the Empire's nobles.

  "I'm not a vampire! I'm a demon!"

  A demon with a name?! Is she...?

  Ryu was shocked by this revelation, but his face remained calm as he continued to study the girl. Perhaps she wasn't someone they were supposed to fight, but everything depended on Almodea's answer to his next question.

  "Are you a subordinate of the Great Gerud?"

  "Great Gerud? I have no idea who he is..."

  "Then you are an enemy!"

  Ryu shouted, raising his sword and pointing it at Almodea. She simply raised a hand to her face, sneering as if she'd just been threatened by a child, not a four-meter-tall colossus.

  "Look...I came to subdue the Oni, to be totally honest with you. But since they're not here, I'll settle for you!"

  "What!?"

  The troll's eyes widened, firmly believing the girl was joking. Ryu shifted his gaze, scanning the surroundings, making sure their enemy was alone. Normally, a demon was accompanied by its summoner, but since the girl before them had a name, it was possible she was truly alone, and could be as powerful as the demons now serving their King. They had to be careful.

  "Submit to me! Otherwise I will make you know agony!"

  She wasn't joking. Almodea was deadly serious; she had just issued a simple and clear ultimatum: bow or die. The troll laughed in his head; they had no reason to submit. It was true that demons could prove formidable adversaries, but there were five of them and she was only one; how could they lose? The same reasoning would apply if the girl turned out to be a vampire posing as a demon just to scare him and feed him false information.

  "So? Do you accept my offer?"

  "No! We reject it!"

  He declared, roaring fiercely. To accept without a fight would be an insult to his master's teachings.

  “Kill her!”

  Ryu raised his sword, ordering the orcs to attack. They obeyed and charged at Almodea. It was all in vain, as the girl dodged the attack using her dragon wings.

  "Normally I would kill you with a spell, but this time I'll try something different!"

  The girl declared, sounding amused. Almodea opened her right hand and materialized a long spear with a dragon's mouth at the tip, from which a sharp blade protruded.

  "I present to you the Dragon Blade! Ready to lose?"

  It wasn't Almodea's style to use any kind of weapon—she preferred to fight with magic or barehanded—but now she wanted to put her training into practice with Hirashi; and what better volunteer than an enemy intent on killing you?

  "Her weapon may be shiny, but that doesn't mean it's strong! Take it!"

  Ryu thundered, urging his men to charge a second time, certain they would surely strike now that the girl seemed to have completely abandoned her defenses. What the troll didn't know, however, was how wrong he was in believing he had a physical advantage. The spear summoned by Almodea had been created by her own hands, and it was on par with a legendary-class item. In addition to a base stat increase and passive regeneration, the Dragon Blade also possessed some active abilities, such as creating mini-tornados or generating columns of flame in a straight line. Essentially, the perfect recipe for a weapon that would make even a level 1 human a threat.

  "Now let's have fun!"

  Seeing the orcs approaching, Almodea acted unexpectedly: instead of trying to dodge, she charged at them head-on. The troll, the only one left behind, opened his mouth wide. All four orcs had fallen to the ground, motionless like puppets with broken strings. They were all dead, and it had all happened in the space of a few minutes.

  "I-Impossible!"

  He roared in confusion, seeing his henchmen on the ground. Their lifeless bodies were bleeding, forming reddish pools before him.

  Who the hell is this girl is?! Could she be a half-dragon vampire? But she said she was a demon! Could she have tricked us to surprise us? Even if so, she shouldn't be this strong! Could she be a Vampire Lord? The great Hyo-Zan-Ryu told me about it once...

  Some of his master's stories came back to him. He had told him how an ancient kingdom in the Bashad Federation had been destroyed by a vampire of indescribable power. A monster of that caliber, equipped with lifesteal and immune to fatigue, would have easily held its own against a group of orcs and trolls. Ryu was completely lost in his thoughts. He didn't know what to do, stuck between insecurities and fears.

  "Sooooo? Are you going to face me now?"

  Almodea asked him, pointing the orc-blooded spear at him.

  "Don't think it will be that easy with me! I am one of the students of the great Hyo-Zan-Ryu!"

  "And this guy with the long, difficult name would be?"

  Ryu's eyebrow twitched at those words; it was clear he'd taken the ironic question worse than an insult to his own mother. He gritted his teeth, answering the girl with such fury that he spat everywhere beside him.

  "The great Hyo-Zan-Ryu is the strongest and most valiant warrior of our mountain troll tribe! He is second only to His Majesty Yeddu! You're lucky he's not here, otherwise he would have torn you to pieces and eaten you long ago!"

  "Hmm...interesting! Thanks for the information! For that, I might give you a quick death as a reward!"

  "What?! Hey! Wait a minute!"

  Without giving him time to understand, Almodea used her wings to propel herself toward him. Ryu tried to block with his saber, but was too slow and was impaled through and through like a skewer. Thanks to his regenerative ability, he wouldn't have died, despite the severity of the wound, but the pain was still unbearable.

  "Ahhhhhhhh!"

  The colossus's screams could be heard throughout the forest. He even shed tears, so much did his torn flesh ache. His enemy felt no pity for him, and simply smiled in amusement.

  She's…a sadist!

  Ryu tried to remain calm. His opponent was strong, but the fight wasn't over yet. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve, and she would do anything to avoid bringing dishonor on her master's name.

  Come on...Attack me again!

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Goodbye, troll!"

  Almodea reached for the spear and began to pull it from the troll's belly, intent on decapitating it with a second blow and setting the corpse ablaze to destroy its regenerative ability. It was then that she saw a green aura form around him.

  "Hmm? What are you doing?"

  "Superior Reinforcement!"

  Somehow, the troll seemed to recover from the blow more quickly, and even though he was impaled like a skewer, he was suppressing the pain to try to fight back. Almodea guessed it was the result of a Battle Art. She wasn't sure what they did, since they were still something new to them, native to that world, but she was sure she would have no problem countering them.

  "This is what happens when you face one of the disciples of the great Hyo-Zan-Ryu!"

  The colossus declared proudly, roaring to charge himself.

  “Bloody Slash! ”

  In a lightning-quick movement, Almodea's opponent raised his sword and attempted to strike her, but she vanished from before his eyes- as if she had never been there in the first place.

  "What the hell?!"

  Startled, the troll tried to turn around, but stopped when he felt a sharp pain in the arm holding the sword. He looked down at his own limb and saw that it had been cleanly severed by Almodea. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal for a troll like him, except that his wound was burning—an effect applied by the girl's blade, which effectively made it impossible for him to use the regenerative ability.

  "Ghnnn!"

  Forced to the ground by the pain of his lost arm, the troll reached for the fallen sword with his only remaining upper limb.

  “Don’t try to be the clever one.”

  He stopped abruptly when the tip of Almodea's spear pricked his neck. Knowing the girl's strength, he was well aware that she hadn't yet beheaded him just for pure and sadistic fun.

  "You trolls believe yourselves to be immortal, because of your regenerative ability. But that's a double-edged sword! You feel pain like all other living things..."

  Almodea removed the spear from the troll's neck. He looked up and saw her with the weapon raised, ready to decapitate him with a single blow. It was at that moment that something clicked within the troll; he seemed to have finally understood the only logical course of action in the situation.

  "Please...Spare me!"

  He begged, bringing his head to the ground and trying to make himself as small as possible in front of Almodea.

  "And why should I? You've already had your chance, and you wasted it..."

  "It was a false choice! We were superior in numbers, and I didn't know how strong you were! Who in their right mind would have submitted at that moment? You should have killed one of us as an example before facing us! Then all the others would have bowed immediately!"

  The colossus expected everything from the girl: from insults to derision, but none of it came. Instead, Almodea lowered her spear and seemed to consider his words, tapping her forehead.

  "Damn, you're right! That would have been more effective! You're smart for a troll, you know?"

  "It must be because of my training!"

  He began, trying to gain prominence in the girl's eyes. Ryu was gambling his survival on those words.

  “I am one of the few disciples of the glorious Hyo-Zan-Ryu!”

  “You've been saying that for a while.”

  Almodea muttered boredly.

  “Is that rare to be his disciple?”

  "Yes! Absolutely!"

  "Then I think I'll spare your life. If you're truly a rare piece, my father will like you."

  “Y-Your father?”

  As the troll racked his brains to understand the meaning behind Almodea's words, he noticed that she had regenerated his arm with a spell. The girl had also made her spear disappear into thin air, a sign of ceasefire.

  "M-My arm!"

  "Consider it a gift for submitting! You are now at my service, understood?"

  "Y-Yes, Lady Almodea! I will serve you without holding back!"

  "Very good. Do you have a name? Or should I give you one?"

  "My name is Ryu! I named myself after my master..."

  Almodea seemed visibly surprised by the response. The trolls of her world would never have spoken that way; it was new to her.

  "Okay, Ryu...you have a lot of explaining to do."

  "Of course! I'll tell you everything I know! But I warn you right away that I'm just a soldier; I don't have any particular information..."

  "It doesn't matter. Whatever you have will be enough for me! Now speak!"

  The troll nodded and began to sing like a canary. He told how an alliance had been formed between the troll tribe and the orc tribe, with the latter occupying a weaker position within the coalition. The goal of all this was to fulfill the dream of Yeddu—the Troll King—that is, the conquest of the entire Dark Jade Forest. To do this, they had the orcs attack en masse the village of the Oni, an extremely powerful tribe skilled in magic—especially fire magic—the trolls' main weakness.

  Ryu concluded by saying that he had been sent there to recover the last corpses of the fallen in battle on both sides, which would be used as food for the army. He was also to search for any surviving Oni and exterminate them once the loot was delivered.

  "Okay, I think I understand the situation..."

  Almodea muttered, absorbing the vast amount of information his new servant had given him. There were still so many questions, but one thing was certain: his father wasn't the only one eager to conquer the forest.

  "But I have some questions for you. First: who is this Gerud you told me about?"

  "I don't know much about him, but it is said that he is a demon who empowered our King. I know nothing else, sadly. It seems that others have also been subjected to the empowerment treatment, but my master has refused me and his other disciples the gift of the High Gerud."

  "A demon?"

  Almodea began to think about it. It wouldn't be her first encounter with a demon in that new world, but the fact that this Gerud had been able to empower trolls certainly made him equal to those two idiots who had tried to kidnap her on behalf of a certain Lord Black.

  What would Hirashi do in this situation? Use her head or smash everything like a gorilla?

  There was no doubt about it: the best option would be to gather information, even though she doubted that this Gerud could pose a real threat.

  "You said there are surviving Oni, right?"

  "Exactly! We've been looking for them since the village fell! It must have been about a week."

  "Understood. You'll help me find them, then!"

  Almodea put her hands on her hips and turned toward the village, noticing the setting sun.

  Is it already evening?! Damn, I've wasted a lot of time...

  "We'd better camp for the night..."

  She commented, before generating 5x5 ink cubes, greatly surprising her new subordinate. Creating things from nothing wasn't a thing everyone could do.

  "Now go inside and rest, Ryu. Tomorrow we'll search for the escaped Oni."

  The troll simply nodded and did as he was told, closing himself inside the cube.

  "Sigh...What a waste of time."

  Almodea sighed, entering her own cube. The interior of those small rooms was spacious, with a bed, a wardrobe, and a bookshelf with a few manga to read in her spare time. It had all been brought there from her pocket dimension. There was always time to read some manga.

  "What a difficult day..."

  She grumbled, throwing herself onto the soft bed. She immediately called her mother to report, complaining about the lack of Oni and everything that had happened so far. Nothing had gone right; the only consolation was Ryu, who had provided important information. From her discussion with her mother, she understood that her father had already conquered one of the goblin villages and was turning it into a mini-operations base. She wasn't surprised; her father was the best in everything.

  Instead, she was surprised that Hirashi hadn't reported yet. It seemed impossible to imagine she'd had difficulties or bad luck; her sister was the one who was always perfect, after all. She didn't care much about Hirashi's tardiness; there was no set time to report, in the end. The most plausible explanation was that she was still finishing subduing the lizardmen in the most profitable way for their faction.

  Oh well...Now I have to worry about something else.

  Almodea broke the spell that kept her in touch with her mother and closed her eyes. She wasn't tired, just irritated. Things shouldn't have been that way; that was supposed to be the mission that would allow her to prove to her parents that she was a mature girl worthy of the Fearterror name. Instead, it was becoming yet another demonstration of her incompetence.

  If there's a creator God in this world, he's clearly angry with me.

  Almodea clenched her fists as she searched for a manga to read that would help her relax.

  If there really is one, I swear I'll kill him...her, or them!

  Her anger suddenly vanished when she picked up one of her favorite mangas. It was the third volume, and she'd read it dozens of times, so much so that the cover was visibly worn. It was one of her favorite volumes, where the character she most adored in the series was introduced. Among the many female fighters, she obviously cheered for the one who punched the hardest. She wasn't the protagonist, but was definitely Almodea’s type.

  "Nothing better than a good evening read! Especially with punches and pro-wrestling!"