Quickly, I turned around my brain, formulating a plan on how I should fight this man that chased after me. First of all, I have to find a way to protect myself from his slashes. Their power is extraordinary, and the range is long, so even though I should have the advantage from our distance, I really do not. If he was the same level as Sherry, then I could just block his slashes via Nysa’s fortified wood, but clearly, that wasn’t enough. 

How about this? If I can’t block his attacks, then maybe I can prevent him from attacking in the first place. That, or to somehow grant the ability to our carriage to dodge his blows.

“Nysa! Can you manipulate the wood of the carriage? Make it grow legs that can make it jump around!”

“Jump around?” The dryad looked at me as if I had gone mad. “R-right! I’ll try my best!”

“And wrap Erika inside with your vines so she won’t get thrown around as well! My legs as well, so I won’t fall off!”

“Alright, Miss!”

Another vertical slash went flying towards us. “Left!” I yelled. The carriage immediately grew spider-like legs that pushed it just in time out of the way of the attack.

“Neiiighhhh!”

The horse! Can it handle the burden of the jumping carriage on its own!”

“Owlbear, come out! Pull the carriage forward together with the horse! Nysa! Link the carriage with the owlbear using your vines!”

“Roaarrrr!”

To think I would ever be using my owlbear as a beast of burden like this…

Our poor horse, completely shocked by the sudden appearance of the owlbear in front of him, tried to stop, only to end up being dragged forward as my owlbear forced both it and the carriage forward.

"Nysa! Cut the harness to the horse!" I ordered.

The moment she did, the horse hurriedly freed itself from the formation, running off to a different direction entirely. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness as I saw it going further and further away. We had been together for quite some time after all.

This is better. It would just be a dead weight in this combat.

Another slash came flying towards us. This time however, to my horror, it was a horizontal slice.

"Nysa! Up!"

The carriage jolted as I felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness, before crashing back down once gravity took in.

"Well well well, you're pretty good, aren't you, witch?" The swordsman shouted, still with a grin on his face.

“Leave us alone! We don’t have any desire to fight with your kingdom!” I shouted in response.

“Then why did you make a mess out of our capital city? That is a crime punishable by death. If we let you go, how would we answer to our angry citizens, huh?”

“It’s your fault for letting child kidnappers roam free on your streets,” I fired back. “I would do anything to protect my little sister. Even destroying half a city.”

“You’re a feisty one! I like you, witch! So how about you stop running and fight me one by one like a man!”

“I’m not a man!”

“Ha! I can certainly see that! Really though, you remind me of the missus back home! Same taste in undergarments too!"

"What!"

I instinctively pressed my dress down, blushing as I did. What is this man saying, comparing me and my panties to his wife all of a sudden?

"Well, if you're not gonna stop, then I'll just have to make you stop."

He began twirling his greatsword above his head. He didn't even need to keep his hands on his reins, showing how much of an expert he was at riding his horse.

That is—!

"Thunder Strike!"

Conjuring a thunder cloud above him, I sent off a powerful blast of lightning right at him. I need to stop that attack, even if I end up killing him in the process.

"Greatsword Style—Tempest Strike!"

The spell struck, but the technique went off nonetheless. Just as I predicted, he sent a whirlwind made out his blade slashes right towards us. Due to the much larger radius, there was no dodging out of it.

Me, Erika, and the entire carriage would be shredded into pieces.

I have no choice! I have to use that spell now! My trump card! Now that Nysa has become my familiar, it should work!

Nysa Eucalyphis! By the power of our contract, I beseech you! Call upon my power and evolve to a higher level!

Rank up magic!

A blindingly bright green light enveloped the area, emitting out of Nysa’s body. And then, what manifested out of it was…

“You will not harm Master!”

The voice echoed across the battlefield. It belonged no longer to a human-sized dryad, but a gigantic one, easily dwarfing the carriage she had been protecting and even her own master. And she wasn’t even standing, kneeling on all fours, leering towards the cavalry. Her dress disappeared, replaced by the combination of her long green hair that reached all the way down to her feet and the leaves and moss stuck onto her wooden body. A giant flower grew on top of her head. She was beautiful, but in a terrifying, monstrous sort of way.

Colossal Dryad. This was the next stage of her evolution.

“Aaaaargghhhh!”

With a monstrous roar, she covered her head with her arms, blocking the Tempest Strike completely. But not without any damage, as bits and pieces of her skin fell off in the process.

“W-what the hell is that?”

“A-a giant! I-it’s a she-giant!”

"She blocked the General's special technique, just like that?"

The normally well-disciplined soldiers were starting to take a blow to their morale, as they questioned whether or not they could even win against such a creature. The general, having struck by my lightning spell, was still recovering. His horse on the other hand had fallen dead, the poor thing.

And what he saw terrified him to his core.

"M-men! Do not falter! Fire your flame arrows and spells! This monster shall never best us!"

At this point, the chase had stopped. I had ordered the owlbear to stop. As for myself, Nysa carried me to the top of her shoulder using her vines.

"T-the witch! The witch is up there!"

"So this is the extent of her true power?"

"Aargh, we're all going to die!"

My hair billowed in the wind as I stood there with my staff in her right hand. Perhaps I looked impressive to them down there, but honestly, I was still concerned with the fact that my panties remained visible, thanks to the very same wind. I don't believe you can look heroic or terrifying if you're showing your undergarments at the same time. It reminded me of a certain statue of Mira back at the Magocracy. The statue wore such a short skirt that you could actually look up underneath it. Of course, there wasn't anything up there, only darkness, but it didn't stop curious, slightly perverted people from doing it.

I wonder if Mira actually wore that short of a skirt when she was still alive.

Ah, look at my mind wandering. Let's finish off this battle, shall we?"

"It's over! Go home! I don't want to hurt you if I don't have to!" I yelled. I truly wished they would just turn back and leave, especially since I couldn't keep Nysa's ranked-up form for long. Even now, my Mana is being drained rapidly to feed her. If I take too long, I will fall unconscious and that will be the end of it.

"M-men! What are you doing? Fire everything at her pet giant! Or even better, fire at the witch herself!" The general yelled, his desperate tone being all too obvious.

"R-right! Everyone! Fire at will!" His aide yelled.

Well, I've asked nicely.

"Insolent humans! Your presence dirties the soil my mistress walks on!"

With that uncharacteristically angry yell, Nysa slammed both of her palms to the ground.

And then, what could only be described as a miniature forest popped up, swallowing the entire cavalry before they could run or do anything. Whatever fire arrows or spells that might hit her, they didn't have any effects on her. They and their horses were lifted off the ground, wrapped by the tree branches. Their heavy armors only served to hinder them, instead of aiding them in the fight.

"You! I thought we would be able to have an honorable battle. But now that you've brought out a monster like this, you are no better than that cheating elven scum who humiliated me all those years ago!"

Cheating elven scum? What is he talking about? Has he gone mad?

"I had enough of you mage scums! I'll bring your head back to the capital and regain the honor I had lost!"

And then, he did something unthinkable. He jumped up onto Nysa's hand and began climbing upwards. Thanks to how rough and jagged Nysa's body was in this form, he was able to do consecutive jumps using the bumps on her skin. To think that he could do it while wearing heavy armor as well…

“Nysa! Shake him off!”

Her hair immediately went after him for a grab. Now that I got a better look at it, her long green hair was actually vines so that’s another body part she could freely manipulate. The swordsman didn’t surrender however, as he protected himself by swinging his greatsword in an arc, cutting the vines before it could get to him.

I wasn’t idle while Nysa did her assault though.

"O spirits of ice! Grant me your strength!”

I didn’t need to tell her anything. She already knew that she had to buy me time for my chant to finish.

“Envelop my enemies with your cold embrace!” 

He was now already on her upper arm. He too made his offense, as he used his greatsword to cut through Nysa’s skin, earning even more groans of pain from her. However, she didn’t break that easily. She retaliated by firing off wood splinters the size of stakes towards him from her skin. Some managed to hit, but his heavy armor did a pretty good job protecting him. 

“Wrap them in ice and snow and deliver to them a freezing grave!”

With one final jump, he was now on top of Nysa’s shoulder. Grinning, he could see me in the middle of my chanting on the other shoulder.

So he’s going to attack me from there. With his range, there’s no doubt he would be able to do it.

Nysa, sensing my thoughts, reacted by turning her head to face him with an almost sickening crack. Opening her mouth, she fired off what could only be described as a beam of growth, as when the general blocked it with his greatsword, small plants started to grow out of it. I imagine if the beam actually hit his skin, plants would grow on it as well. I heard there are certain types of molds that could grow on human skin. Perhaps this is based on that. Hmm, I wonder if I could make it so that the plants would grow inside as well. That would be a sneaky and devastating way to defeat your enemies.

“Shatter them and break them like the foolish beings they are! Cold Nova!"

The fool had chosen not to retreat, and this was the price he had to pay.

My Master-level Ice spell enveloped his entire body, freezing him to the bone. Combined with the nature beam, even he couldn’t withstand the onslaught. His greatsword shattered, weakened by the plants growing on it.

And then, he fell.

...No, I can’t let you die. Not when you have a family waiting for you back home. You are simply doing your job. I will not take your life and bring misery to your wife and children just because of that.

And so I ordered Nysa to grab him before he hit the ground, softening his landing by growing a bed of mushrooms on her hands.

It doesn’t necessarily mean he would stay alive though. It is up to Fate, I suppose. If his subordinates can thaw him out of my spell in a good way, then his life would be saved. 

But I certainly wouldn’t stick around to find out.

---------

When the general woke up, the battle was already over.

It was a total and complete defeat.

He could only stare into the dusk sky as he let his cleric subordinates heal him, wondering what went wrong with his life.

He left the Order in his youth as a Champion-rank swordsman. Only a little ever reached that level. Returning home, he quickly found out that he was completely indomitable. Undefeated. No other swordsman or mage ever hoped to match his strength. He quickly became the nation’s hero, married the love of his life, and even had a pair of twins of that. He was on the top of the world.

But then, that fateful day, he met her.

He was in the middle of a monster subjugation campaign, going after a dragon that had descended from Gordillis Peaks. He and his battalion received a hero’s send off, almost as if he was the Legendary Hero himself. He already dreamed of returning with the dragon’s carcass, parading it all around the capital.

Only to find out that an elf, a single elven mage had killed it when they arrived.

That was already enough of a blow to his ego, but when the elf boldly said that she would be taking the spoils, carcass and all, it hit him even more badly.

This knife-eared little shit! She’s underestimating me!

With a confident grin, he challenged her to a duel, intentionally setting it up so the distance between them would be short, giving a swordsman like him a massive advantage. As a disciple of the Lancelot Order, he was taught over and over that to defeat a mage, a swordsman simply had to strike first and fast. And he fully intended to do that.

Only for him to end up humbled and humiliated—all in front of his men.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t land even a single blow. He didn’t even know how she managed to be so agile. She’s a mage, goddamnit! It shouldn’t be like this!

The battle ended with her standing on the tip of his sword, before hitting his face with her staff. And just like that, he was knocked out cold.

And now it happened all over again. Some no-name, random mage came out of nowhere and bested him in combat.

He chuckled. At the very least, it ended in a dramatic fashion. So it wasn’t as humiliating as his first defeat.

He suddenly remembered the words of his old master. “Never become satisfied. Never grow complacent. Once you do, you will truly become weak.”

He grinned bitterly. He had indeed become just that. He remembered when he left the Order, how some of his peers were still yearning for more power—to reach even further to the skies. He used to think of them as fools who were drunk and greedy with power, but now, they must have surpassed him a long time.

I apologize, Master. I really am not cut out to be a real swordsman like you. I am a failure as your disciple.

“...Ah, to think she gave me mercy as well. Just who was that girl anyway?”

-----------

Marina

We escaped the battlefield using the owlbear as a replacement for our horse. He couldn’t be pulling our carriage forever of course, but for now, we just had to leave behind this place and lose those people. Though after what I just showed them, if they had any common sense, they should decide to turn back and stop chasing after us.

Once the owlbear couldn’t go any further, I dismissed him, and gave him a healthy treat of meat. Thankfully, I had restocked in the bazaar before the incident happened.

For the rest of the way, we decided to walk. Nysa could probably use her power to move the carriage, but it would be a waste of her mana. Both she and I were extremely tired from what I just did, to the point that I nearly collapsed once the fight was over.

Erika was crying terribly when we reunited, first from fright but then from relief that I was safe. “I told you, didn’t I?” I smiled at her, hugging her at the same time. “Your Big Sis is a really strong mage. No matter who the enemy is, she’ll be able to fight them and win!”

We walked onward, constantly looking behind our back for any signs of the cavalry from before. Fortunately, it seemed they had learned their lesson indeed.

Our next destination was the Kingdom of Aja, which would be located just beyond this forest we were about to enter. Hopefully, once we were on the other side, we would be able to find a village where we could buy a new horse.

The carriage? With Nysa on our side, we didn’t need to buy one. She could create it herself. Or so she said. I worry that she won’t be able to get how human engineering works, resulting in a carriage that would fall apart easily or even not move at all. We’ll see.

I took a deep sigh. We’re still nowhere near Ferus and yet we’re already involved in an incident like this. There’s no doubt the Magocracy would soon catch wind of it, and they would know where I decided to flee.

Another reason why I should train myself to become even stronger. So if we meet their agents, and I have a hunch that sooner or later, it will occur, I will be ready for them.

Hmm, so many things I could work on though. Which one should I focus on first?