"Mmhmhmhmhm~"
"Uhhuhuhuhuh~~ Ahahahahaha~~"
The stifled laughter of a young girl gradually turned into a wild, frenzied cackle.
Less than 200 meters from the "Gate of Ginza," on the battlefield camp, a black-and-red blur spun like a high-speed top, darting back and forth among the soldiers of the auxiliary corps.
Wherever it passed, a storm of blood and gore followed—countless severed limbs flung into the air.
"What vibrant lives… what enticing souls~"
"So, not every one of you is all that strong after all~"
"The Goddess tells me that She is quite pleased with your offerings… but She wants more~ more~~"
Rory Mercury swung her deathly scythe, trailing streaks of violet-black afterimages through the air.
Her petite figure danced gracefully amid the spurting blood.
A flush of alluring pink spread across her cheeks in excitement—it was plain to see how much she was relishing this slaughter.
For each soldier who died on the battlefield, their soul was drawn into her body, then offered to the unseen Goddess Emroy.
In the process, those souls made her body shudder with a pleasure as intense as coupling after drinking the strongest of aphrodisiacs.
In other words—the more she killed, the more pleasure she felt.
Her magic surged along with her heightened spirit, her power climbing until it reached its peak.
The drawback was that such a state was fleeting; once the battle ended, her strength would soon return to its normal level.
"Enough!!"
Suddenly, a furious shout thundered across the field.
[Crackle—!]
With a sharp metallic clang, a golden flash shot forward, forcing Rory to a halt.
When the light faded, the soldiers saw a familiar officer, his katana locked firmly against her scythe.
"Colonel Rommel!!!"
The nearby brigade of soldiers cried out in shock.
"This woman is mine—the guards and I will handle her. You keep pushing forward!"
Rommel gritted his teeth, throwing every ounce of strength into resisting the increasingly heavy scythe.
"This…"
The soldiers hesitated.
From the trembling of his arms and the flush rising rapidly in his face, they could tell their commander was struggling to hold his ground.
"What are you waiting for!"
"We're the vanguard! If the Second Battalion catches up behind us, it'll be a disgrace!"
Rommel roared in fury, channeling that surge of emotion into raw strength as he shoved the scythe away from his blade with all his might.
Instead of retreating after forcing the scythe back, he stepped forward, closing the distance with Rory. His katana flashed, unleashing five golden slashes shaped like bolts of lightning.
But his seemingly fierce onslaught was effortlessly evaded by Rory Mercury, her nimble footwork carrying her out of reach.
And whenever she swung her massive scythe in counterattack, Rommel was forced to parry frantically, stumbling back again and again, his defense strained to the limit.
The guards surrounding them could no longer hold back. One by one, they pulled their triggers, opening fire on Rory.
Yet the girl didn't even bother to dodge. She simply stood there, letting the bullets strike her body, where they were stopped cold by the defensive magic that shimmered across her skin.
"Mmhmhmhm~"
"This magic of yours is quite amusing. It looks like lightning, but carries none of the qualities of the element. An illusion, then? Still—the speed isn't bad."
Rory laughed lightly as she spoke, then casually hurled her "Halberd Scythe."
It spun at blinding speed through the air, slicing the guards in its path cleanly in half.
The sight made Rommel's eyes burn red with rage.
By now, he knew full well he had no chance of defeating her.
Victory was not the goal.
What mattered was keeping her occupied for as long as he could, clinging on no matter what.
Yet even that was far from easy.
Veins bulged across his body, muscles swelling, his face flushed red, yet his eyes remained razor-sharp.
In that instant, his whole form became streaks of lightning, circling Rory at blistering speed.
From all sides, it looked as though dense bolts of lightning were assailing her at once.
Yet no matter what angle Rommel struck from, he could not break past the violet-glowing scythe in Rory's hands.
"So this is your full strength? How amusing. Thank you for the effort—you can go meet my Goddess now."
But just as her words fell—
The Halberd Scythe suddenly accelerated.
Suspended in midair, lightning crackling all around him, Rommel couldn't even register the blade's arc.
At the very instant the blade was about to carve into his chest, a burst of blazing flames crashed against the scythe, knocking it aside, accompanied by a fierce, angry shout.
Seizing the opening, Rommel immediately tapped into the speed of the Breath of Thunder, retreating more than 20 meters in an instant.
Only then did he clearly see the face of the one who had saved him.
"You?!"
Rommel stared in shock at the man now standing before him—Schörner.
Full name Ferdinand Schörner, currently the commander of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division.
At this moment, the soldiers of his 2nd Brigade were pouring out from the "Gate of Ginza."
Yet neither Schörner nor Rommel let their gazes waver. Both eyes were fixed squarely on Rory before them.
"Another swordsman using 'illusory flame'? Does everyone in your world enjoy this kind of fake magic?"
Rory Mercury tilted her head in puzzlement as she asked.
Rommel and Schörner both noticed the instant she grew distracted.
They exchanged only a glance—then moved in perfect unison.
One became a streak of golden lightning, the other a blazing inferno, both striking with full force at Rory.
But Mercury's reaction was faster still.
The Halberd Scythe split the air in an instant, carving out a streak of dark violet lightning that crashed into the golden flash head-on, blasting it away.
The light of thunder around Rommel scattered at once. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was hurled backward—
just as he crossed paths with the flames surging forward.
And in the next instant, a thunderous boom exploded across the field.
Schörner too was effortlessly knocked back by Rory, a long, diagonal gash carved across his chest—his injury far worse than Rommel's.
[Bang! Bang!]
The two men crashed heavily to the ground in turn, groaning in pain.
The soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, rushing up from behind, immediately opened fire on Rory.
But the bullets were useless.
"Time to head off, my two otherworldly swordsmen~~"
With a sharp whoosh as the air split apart—the girl in a black-and-red gothic dress blurred into a streak and appeared in midair before Rommel and Schörner.
Her massive, ornate scythe tore through the void, cleaving down toward their heads!
[Clang!!!]
A sharp metallic clash rang out across the field.
A strangely shaped blade blocking the Halberd-Scythe.
On both the upper and lower ends of the blade, to the left and right, protruded curved spikes like the branches of a tree—clearly, it was an unusual weapon.
"Seiji, get the two of them back to the 'Gate.'"
Kurosuki Raiga, wielding his twin Lightning Blades, spoke without turning, his eyes fixed on Rory Mercury's astonished gaze.
As for the current situation—
This group of shinobi had actually arrived ten minutes earlier.
But they had only watched from the shadows as the Auxiliary Corps clashed with the Ground Self-Defense Force, with no intention of intervening.
Because their mission targeted the supernatural beings of this world—monsters or magicians.
So when Rory appeared, they had sharpened their focus, observed her for a time, and gathered some temporary intel.
As captain, Raiga had originally intended to see what other abilities Rory could display.
But with Schörner and Rommel—both colonels and brigade commanders—caught in danger, he had acted decisively to save them.
On the other side—
Rory Mercury was shaken.
Her jewel-like eyes, red and crystalline as rubies, stared wide as Seiji snatched up the two officers and sped away.
At that very moment—
Gunfire roared, artillery thundered.
The air thickened with choking smoke and the stench of blood.
And Rory Mercury now found herself surrounded by Kurosuki Raiga, Yuki Yasuhiro, and Kaguya Kazushi.
"Huh… three more powerhouses at Demigod level?"
Rory Mercury stared around at them in disbelief.
Though neither side had yet clashed, the strength of that thick-browed man who had blocked her earlier strike—and the speed of the one who had just departed—were already proof enough of their might.
[Bang!]
At once, the most battle-hungry of the squad, Kaguya Kazushi, stomped the ground hard beneath his feet.
The earth split open, smoke and dust erupted.
His entire form blurred into an afterimage as he charged straight at Rory Mercury.
Rory Mercury raised her Halberd-Scythe just in time to block Kazushi's strike.
But what truly shocked her were the five sharp white bones jutting out from his knuckles.
"What incredible strength… and what kind of magic is this?!"
"Controlling your own bones?"
Rory Mercury—nearly a thousand years old and proud of her broad experience—had never once seen anything like this.
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