Actually, when you think about it, it was an overwhelmingly advantageous condition for us.
Two on their side. Three on ours. They were in a hurry. We were relaxed.
And to top it off, we even had the ultimate undead-slaying weapon: Sacred Magic.
Perhaps it was inevitable that a fatal opening would appear for the anxious Veta sisters at some point.
And of course, Alice and Tamamo, with their genius battle instincts, weren’t about to miss such a golden opportunity.
Tamamo broke through their solid defense, while Alice deflected sharp sword strikes, boldly aiming a daring slash at their necks!
There was no need to see anything more. The outcome was decided right there.
“Th… this can’t be… Me, losing to such inferior beings…. Morty… sama….”
Veta’s eyes widened in disbelief as a thin white line appeared around her neck.
Soon after, her head slid off her neck and rolled limply across the floor.
This was a truly fatal blow – even if Morty himself, the necromancer, were to come, he wouldn’t be able to reattach it.
Perhaps because they had witnessed this victory with their own eyes,
Tamamo perked up her ears and joyfully called out to Alice.
“Alice! You did it!”
“Hahh, hahh… Yeah, we did it.”
Beastmen apparently show their emotions vividly through their tails when they’re excited.
Just how happy was she? Her fox-like tail was wagging wildly.
Well, it’s been almost a year since she last saw her precious childhood friend showing off such an amazing performance.
It’s only natural she’d feel deeply moved. Plus, our relationship is quite complicated too.
“Oh, now that I think about it, I have a tail too. Could it be…?”
Suddenly struck by this thought, I subtly turned my head toward my butt.
My tail stood straight up as if asking “What are you looking at?” and just swayed its tip gently.
What does this mean? No, just stay still for a moment. This is giving me a headache.
As I glared at my disobedient, sleek tail like I was having a staring contest,
Beritha, who probably never expected things to turn out this way, muttered quietly while standing in place.
“I never imagined it would come to this. Never thought my sister and I would be overpowered.”
It wasn’t strange for her to think that way.
After all, on Earth where there’s no Sacred Power, the Veta sisters – an unyielding knight and a magician with infinite mana – were an almost cheat-like combination capable of defeating high-ranking enemies.
She probably never dreamed they’d be so easily tripped up here.
Especially not by two high school girls who were merely promising rookies, not famous Fixers like Victor or Raven. The shock must have hit twice as hard.
But even so, it seems she wasn’t ready to give up yet.
Beritha pointed her sword at Alice and exuded murderous intent, preparing to continue the fight.
“Heh, you’re still not planning to give up? It’s three against one now!”
“That’s something you’ll only know if you try.”
Whether intending to avenge her sister, Beritha sharpened her sword and charged at Alice.
But if we didn’t falter even with Veta around, without her, Beritha had no chance of winning.
Still, Alice, not letting her guard down, strongly parried Beritha’s attack, determined to finish her off here.
“That’s right! Come on… Ugh?!”
However, at that moment, something unexpected happened.
Just as their swords were about to clash fiercely, Beritha suddenly threw away her sword and leaped back!
Naturally, Alice’s attack, aimed at Beritha who had been exuding murderous intent, cut through empty air.
Retreating like she was running away, Beritha scooped up Veta’s rolling head into her arms and created considerable distance.
But what exactly did she plan to do with a head whose neck had already been severed?
Alice looked at Beritha with questioning eyes, her sword still pointed.
“The head…?”
“I admit it. Even with Sacred Magic, our weakness is why we lost. For now… you’re stronger.”
Beritha spoke in an emotionless voice, as if reading from a book.
Was she planning to escape? The murderous intent that had been so clear just moments ago had completely disappeared.
This made finishing her off rather difficult.
Beritha’s physical abilities were so exceptional she could be called a Death Knight.
If the opponent was prepared to sacrifice themselves to retreat, stopping them would be nearly impossible.
Moreover, although civilians had already evacuated, unconscious or incapacitated Fixers remained on the scene.
If we chased Beritha too far, we wouldn’t be able to handle another ambush.
In that case… we had no choice but to let her go.
As Alice and Tamamo watched Beritha cautiously, who clearly showed signs of wanting to flee,
Suddenly, Veta’s head, which had been lying lifelessly in Beritha’s arms, opened its eyes wide and shouted.
“Guh… Don’t admit defeat! How could we, created by Lord Morty, lose to such inferior beings!”
“Wh, what did you say?!”
A talking disembodied head – now that’s nightmare fuel.
But wait, shouldn’t the vocal cords be gone if the head’s detached? How was it speaking?
As I pondered this curious phenomenon,
Tamamo, seemingly expecting this, calmly said without much surprise.
“…So that red-haired one’s an undead magic user, a Lich, huh? Since they’re already dead bodies, they can talk just fine even when separated from their heads.”
“Eek… So Liches can survive even with their heads cut off? Persistent little buggers.”
Alice looked at Veta, who could still speak despite being decapitated, with a horrified expression.
Ordinary zombies or ghouls controlled by vampires stop moving once decapitated.
Guess this was her first time experiencing the tenacity of real undead created by a proper necromancer.
But something seemed to bother Veta.
Only her head cradled by Beritha, she shouted angrily.
“Hey! You flat purple fox! I’m not a Lich! I’m a High Lich! Do I look like some measly skeleton to you!”
“Urk, w-who’s flat?! I-I’m average!”
“Sister. Stop struggling, it’s hard to hold you.”
“Ta, Tamamo? Calm down!”
Did Veta’s words hit a sore spot for Tamamo?
Her tail puffed up thicker than usual as she wore a rather fierce expression.
This was a far cry from her usual composed self – clearly, her nerves were frayed.
Hmm, indeed… Tamamo isn’t particularly tall.
But she’s pretty and cute, so it’s alright, isn’t it? What’s got her so riled up?
I quietly shook my head as I watched Tamamo, ready to unleash all sorts of spells at Veta any moment.
‘Anyway, this situation is practically over. Ultimately, Veta’s become incapacitated after losing her body. Beritha, who adores her sister, won’t fight anymore.’
The situation hadn’t changed at all.
The opponent had completely lost their will to fight, while we still had plenty of strength left to continue.
In fact, calling this battle at Enigma Auction a victory for the Fixers wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Who knows what’s happening on the other side, but this should be enough to make a positive impact.
Then my role here is sufficiently done. Time to escape before my identity is revealed.
Just as I finished this judgment and was looking for the right moment to retreat,
Kugooong…!
With a chilling sensation like my body was floating, the ceiling suddenly collapsed!
“Urk…?!”
“The, the ceiling!”
“…!”
Fortunately, our reactions weren’t slow.
I scattered the remaining sacred power within me and covered both Tamamo and myself with a sturdy barrier.
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In that brief moment, I prayed for protection from harm.
Sharp, threatening fragments slid off the barrier and fell around us.
We narrowly avoided being crushed under the debris.
Startled, Tamamo with wide eyes bowed deeply to me in thanks.
But unfortunately, I couldn’t return her gratitude.
When the ceiling collapsed, something absurdly dangerous fell along with it.
‘This is… could it be…!’
A dangerous enemy appearing from the hotel at this timing…
No matter how you think about it, there’s only one possibility.
Instinctively sensing great danger, I broke into a cold sweat, my back drenched.
Just being in the same space as that presence felt like my heart was being squeezed.
“This unpleasant sensation… it’s been quite a while…”
Beyond my now sharper senses as a beastman, an extremely unpleasant male voice echoed.
It felt like something inhuman imitating a human, involuntarily making me want to choke.
Soon after, the thick gray dust from the collapsed ceiling settled.
Beyond it, the figure of an unnaturally thin giant over two meters tall came into view.
My uneasy premonition had become reality.
The appearance before my eyes matched what I remembered seeing in the original work.
There was no way I could mistake it. There was absolutely no doubt.
‘That’s… Morty the Plague!’
His identity was none other than Morty the Plague, one of the Seven Great Generals of the Demihuman Liberation Army.
The strongest necromancer who personally created the Veta sisters we’d been fiercely battling just moments ago.
Unfortunately, this terrible monster must have immediately noticed that I was wielding Sacred Power.
With his disgustingly bony finger pointing at me, he muttered lowly.
“Die.”
Crack.
Something emerged from his fingertip.
No, my eyes couldn’t follow it precisely.
Of course they couldn’t. Morty’s level was among the uppermost tier of Double Number Fixers.
Even with Sacred Power, at my current Triple Number level, the difference was simply too vast.
Therefore, this meant death.
My instincts, sharpened since becoming a beastman, told me so.
No matter how much I struggled in this moment, there was no escaping this predetermined fate.
“That won’t happen.”
But suddenly, something abruptly intervened between me and the unavoidable death.
It was a bullet made of shadows, infinitely faster than sound.
Kaduddeuk!
The sound of something invisible being forcibly torn apart was heard.
Or perhaps, did I just imagine hearing it?
Because shortly after, a loud gunshot rang through the air.
And then, thud.
Something dropped from the ceiling and turned to look at us with a mischievous face.
“…!”
“Mr. Jin!”
“Yo, am I late?”
In this chaotic mess, the protagonist of this world whom I desperately wanted to see… Raven had arrived.
