With an especially loud crash, the barricade was breached.
A thug forced his way through the gap, squeezing his body into the house.
Lyra frantically tried to flee...
But the house was surrounded by thugs.
There was no hidden passage for escape.
It was checkmate.
"A woman! A woman! Aaaah! She's mine! She's all mine!!"
"Hngh...!"
Lyra had dedicated her life to the study of beastmen, but she was still a woman.
Being stared at with such raw, beastly desire—it was impossible to stay calm.
Tears welled up as she thought about how much she despised the idea of being attacked by someone like this.
"Ugh... kuh..."
She couldn't run.
She couldn't fight back.
There was nothing she could do—only despair remained.
And yet, Lyra refused to scream or wail.
She wouldn't allow herself to show such a pathetic sight. It was her last act of defiance.
Maybe it was meaningless. But even so, she could still protect her pride.
With tears in her eyes, Lyra glared at the approaching thug and—
"Divine Dragon Sword Style, First Blade—Mountain Breaker!!"
Suddenly, the entrance exploded.
The thug was blasted away along with it.
"Lyra! Are you alright?!"
――――――――――
Like ants swarming their prey, multiple thugs had surrounded Lyra’s house.
Looking inside, they had already broken in, and Lyra was moments away from being attacked.
With no other choice, I blew away the entrance, taking out the thugs in one go.
"Lyra! Are you alright?!"
"..."
Lyra stared in shock, her eyes wide.
"Lyra?"
"...Huh!?"
After a brief moment, she snapped back to reality, her eyes refocusing.
Then, she turned to look at me…
And with tears streaming down her face, she suddenly threw herself into my arms.
"Uwaaaah! I-I'm safe! I'm really safe! Thank you so much!!"
"Eh? Uh… um… well…"
I could understand that she was emotionally unstable after such a terrifying experience…
But she was still a full-grown woman.
Being hugged like this, well… how should I put it…?
I had no idea how to react and just stood there frozen.
"Licorice-chan, Ultra Mega Fire!"
With a graceful flip, Licorice leaped into the air and cast a fire spell.
The thug who had been sneaking up from a blind spot had his face engulfed in flames.
He let out a scream, writhed in agony, and collapsed unconscious.
"Hey, Fate! Stop getting all mushy over your lucky accident! Focus on what you need to do right now!"
"S-Sorry!"
Licorice was right.
I felt bad for making Lyra push herself after what she had been through…
But calming her down could wait. Right now, our top priority was escaping.
"Lyra, can you move? Are you hurt?"
"A-ah… yeah. I think I'm okay."
"Then let's get out of here. Licorice and I will clear the path, so follow Aisha and Snow!"
"G-got it! Huh? Snow… is this little one? Wait, could this be…?"
"No time! Move!"
"O-Okay!"
Once I confirmed that Lyra was steady, we rushed outside.
The moment we did, more thugs lunged at us as if they had been waiting. But—too slow!
Compared to my training with Sophia, their attacks were like a baby’s tantrum.
I sidestepped a thug’s magic sword, dodging it effortlessly.
As we passed, I struck the flat of my blade against his ribs, shattering them.
Even though they had lost their reason, they still felt pain—he screamed and collapsed.
"Pretty Licorice-chan, Hyper Mega Fire… fire away!"
Licorice also blasted thugs away with her magic, but…
Despite shouting fancy names like “Hyper” and “Mega,” she was just casting a basic Fire spell.
It was honestly a waste of time and left her open to attacks.
I really wished she’d just chant normally, but…
It was Licorice. That was probably impossible.
"Everyone, this way!"
Clearing a path through the remaining thugs, we made our way into a nearby forest to hide.
With their minds clouded by madness, their thinking seemed to be dulled.
Eventually, the thugs lost track of us and wandered off in another direction.
Seeing that, Lyra let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto the ground.
"W-we made it…"
"Are you really okay?"
"Yeah… I’m fine. Thanks to you all. Really, thank you."
"Glad to hear it."
"But… why were you here in the first place?"
"It’s thanks to Aisha. She suspected you might be in danger and told us."
"I see… thank you, little hero."
"Ehehe~"
As Lyra patted her head, Aisha beamed with happiness.
Damn, we're getting a manga. Nice.
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