With the Giant Zombie's hand looming over them, Arianne moved fast. If she delayed, then not only she, but even Axel, would be in danger, after all.
"HAAAAAP!"
She swung the sword she had just gotten fast, holding the hilt on opposing ends for better balance and control. It was a simple upward slash, aiming to simply interrupt the incoming fist. However...
"OOOGH!"
The sword Axel gave her ended up swinging straight up with no resistance. The zombie's arm flew forward with momentum, barely missing Axel's face by an inch before crashing to the empty ground behind him.
"W-Woah..."
Even Arianne couldn't believe what had happened.
After all, with her sword, the best she could do was injure the zombie lightly. With desperation, great timing, and more than her full strength, she could cut an arm off. But this time, she had just swung the sword with the intent to divert or block the attack, not to counterattack.
"Unbelievable sharpness...!" she gasped.
If possible, she wanted to inspect the sword further. However, now wasn't the time for such an act. They were in the middle of a fight, after all!
Disregarding her curiosity, she jumped forward, closing the distance.
Now that the Giant Zombie had lost both its arms, the danger it posed was greatly lowered. After all, it could no longer "catch" Arianne. At most, it could kick or bite, but those weren't anything she couldn't dodge!
"TAKE THIS...!"
With all her frustration and anger backing her swing, she slashed horizontally toward the Giant Zombie's leg. The sword became a silver flash as it went, and as she expected, it cut right through the thick leg as if cutting through tofu!
"OooOh...!"
With one leg suddenly gone, the Giant Zombie lost its balance and fell.
A dust cloud rose, lowering the visibility. If it were Axel who was fighting the enemy, he would definitely wait for the dust to settle before finishing the enemy off. However, Arianne didn't dare delay any further.
"This is as far as you can go, you monster...!"
She shouted as she stood on the Giant Zombie's back, barely visible on top of the dust cloud, raising the sword high in reverse grip.
"This is for my fallen Knight Order! For the Kingdom! And for the Princess...!"
Then, in one fell swoop, she stabbed the sword down. A wet sound echoed as the blade sank deep. It embedded itself in the Giant Zombie's body, as deep as the blade could go, even piercing through the ground behind it.
Not a groan echoed from the monster as its body began to melt away into goo.
Arianne slowly fell toward the ground, with the sword stuck in position, stabbed into the hard ground. Within moments, nothing remained of the Giant Zombie but a foul-smelling pool of green goo.
"Great work."
Axel walked forward, extending a hand to the kneeling knight. A faint smile on his face, barely visible against the light at his back.
"For now, let's go back. The defense isn't over yet."
"...Right."
Arianne sighed, standing up.
Her emotions were in turmoil, unsure of what kind of expression to show. After all, she had finally managed to "kill" a Giant Zombie, one of the monsters that wiped out their kingdom's knights. She felt as if she had achieved something, but at the same time, felt empty.
Seeing her expression, Axel moved to her side and...
"CHEER UP!"
He slapped her back as hard as he could.
"...!!!"
It was a painful gesture, but one that managed to chase away the idle thoughts Arianne was mulling over. "That fucking hurts!"
And as if to get back at him, she too slapped Axel's back.
"ACK!"
But the difference in strength was obvious.
Axel ended up flying forward from the back slap, crashing onto the dry ground painfully. He felt as if his soul flew out for a moment!
"Y-You... don't you know how to hold back?" Axel groaned, trying to reach his aching back. "I'm no knight, you know?!"
Arianne, seeing Axel's genuine complaint, couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Rather than pain, her back felt warm now. She held the sword Axel had given her in her left hand while extending her other hand, offering to help him up.
"Sorry, sorry. I forgot that Sir Axel's a mage and not a knight," she whispered in a sweet voice.
The cheerful grin and her coaxing voice made Axel frown, but he still reached toward the offered hand. With a powerful tug, he was pulled to his feet... and more.
"..."
He was pulled even closer, until his lips overlapped with Arianne's.
It happened without any warning or signs at all, leaving Axel dumbfounded. Although they separated a second later, the playful grin on Arianne's face never faded.
"Just a little gesture of thanks. Don't think too deeply about it!" she winked before walking ahead, leaving the stunned Axel behind.
Axel could only watch her fading back, slashing the few zombies coming her way along the path. His finger slowly moved, touching his lips, which still had a lingering warmth.
[Should I enter private mode tonight? Wouldn't want to disturb my contractor's harem-building, after all!]
Only to be interrupted by a little penguin floating within his view, showing a sleazy grin.
"Shut it," Axel sighed. "It's not like that."
It was true that he was surprised by the kiss, but it's not like that was his first. In the first place, he had been married back on earth... although he got divorced right before coming to this world. And learned right after that his former wife had framed him for the embezzlement she committed.
Axel was aware that he was a "weak" man. But that's only when it came to relationships with other people, especially females. Right now, he couldn't help but doubt any woman trying to approach him. But as a "businessman," he could be quite heartless.
Woman or not, he'd use whatever he could use.
And right now, he wasn't acting as a single human being in this world but rather as a businessman out to survive in this hellish, zombie-filled wasteland.
He pulled out the system panel once more, reading the name written in bold letters on it.
"Harem Settlement System..."
Ignoring the Harem part, he could judge he was doing quite well on the latter section. As to whether he'd truly build a harem for himself or not, he was still unsure.
"...Well, let's think about all that later."
Axel shrugged, closing the window, and walked back the way he came.
This was merely his second day, after all.
It was way too early to conclude anything.