Sherry

“Tell me. If two warriors were to duel each other, which warrior would come out on top?”

“Eh? What kind of a question is that? Isn’t it obvious? The one who’s stronger, of course!”

“Stronger? You’re mistaken. The one who wins is the one that can endure their wounds better.”

❇❇❇

Pain.

It was all that Sherry could feel.

It took everything she had to remain conscious. Her head felt like it was split open, her skin was burning all over her body, and blood was leaking out of her nose and mouth.

And, to her annoyance, it seemed she had lost control over her bladder as well.

She couldn't hear. She couldn't see. She could scarcely think. The pain was just too overpowering. It took everything just for her to stay breathing.

And yet, she still wanted to keep fighting. Not even a glimpse of the desire to surrender appeared in her mind.

She could feel her fingers touching her sword. Good. At least she could swing it if the enemy got close to her.

The… enemy? No. Enemies. There had been more than one person, right? With this amount of injuries, she had to have been attacked by multiple people.

And yet, she couldn't… remember… what had just happened to her… Did they hit her brain too hard?

For now, she needed to recover.

Just like in that training her grandmother gave her.

Concentrate… gather the ambient demonic mana into your body… let it flow through your skin…

Slowly, her hearing returned. She could hear voices… voices talking about her.

Voices… many of them. There really were more than one person.

And then, using some sort of trickery, they made her fail to notice them. Even in her own memories.

I have to… do something… to counteract that…

…My hair… I can use my hair…

Slowly, and sneakily, she spread her hair across the room. Not in the usual manner, however, as she only spread them as thin, single strands, almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Her goal was simple—to use her hair as a sensor. If any of them were to touch it, she would know that they were there. And she would be able to attack.

In the meantime, she decided to pretend that she was dead. Until that arrogant dullahan stepped close enough for a simple sword slash to finish her off.

❇❇❇

“She’s still alive!”

Seeing the death of her friend, the orcess quickly covered herself with the cloak once more. The arachne followed suit, hiding themselves from Sherry’s mind once more.

Ah, I knew it… an Izurd like you wouldn’t die from a simple ambush like that…

The arachne smirked. She was the perfect specimen to test her weapons at.

The one-eyed lamia slithered forward, though still keeping her distance from the Izurd. She readied her axe once more.

Slowly, Sherry stood up, her legs shaking and wobbling. She grinned, wiping the blood on her face with her sleeves.

“That monstrous endurance… truly, a demon amongst demons.”

"I've endured worse," Sherry answered. "I studied under the Demons Lord of Blades after all."

"... Impossible. She perished when the succubi-incubi alliance defeated the Izurd."

"Really now?" Sherry smirked. "Are you sure about that?"

Stabilizing her legs, Sherry took her combat stance. Her vision was still blurry but she could tell where the lamia was and that was good enough for her.

"...No matter. I will show you why I am superior to you. As the "Bethel" of the Demon Lord of Wisdom, I shall strike you down."

The lamia charged forward, once again utilizing her tail as a spring to move across the room in an instant.

"Mountain Crusher!"

Sherry did not hesitate.

She wrapped her legs to the ground with her hair before blocking the axe swing entirely.

This time, she didn't move an inch. Even though the floor shattered under her from the impact.

"Using the same attack… aren't you a bit too naive?"

The arachne and the orcess… Sherry could already feel their presence.

And her hair blocked their attacks.

"Oh? What's this? You have invisible friends helping you out? Fascinating."

The lamia's blood froze.

She swiftly retreated, bouncing off the air with her tail.

A wise decision.

"Izurd Art. Life-Slicing Blade."

A single swing of the sword.

It was all it took to kill the orcess, who was just a nanosecond too late to back away.

The ogress exploded in chunks of blood and ogre. The sword slice didn’t just cut her in half. It also destroyed the flesh around it, just from the sheer force Sherry used in her swing.

As for her warhammer, made out of the highest quality mithril, she cut through that as well.

She didn’t even get to scream.

The arachne retreated, her breath heavy, almost as if she was ashmatic. Her face was as pale as it could be.

The only reason she was still alive was that Sherry had chosen to attack her friend instead of her.

That warhammer was of her construction. She designed it so it would last a thousand years.

And yet, she cut through it that easily.

Sherry, after staring for a short while at the pool of blood that was a person once, turned to face the lamia once more.

“Is that it? Is that every one of your allies that you have hidden away?”

The arachne had covered herself with her cloak so naturally the Izurd would forget she had ever existed.

And yet, she couldn’t stop shaking under it.

That terrible presence… that bloodlust… the only time I ever felt something like that was from Darling…

I… I don’t want to die! I can’t do this! I’m not a fighter! I’m just really good at making things!

And so, the arachne ran away.

Leaving her friend behind without a single word.

❇❇❇

Tira

Theo… my dear… Theo…

My adorable son…

I’m… sorry…

As she laid down on the floor, unable to do anything other than seeing the life of her child taken by the demoness, Tira weeped.

She had made a terrible, awful mistake.

They shouldn't have come here. To this place.

They shouldn’t have come here. They shouldn’t have joined this… this war…

Hugo had told her that she, her son, and Tama could sit it out if they wanted to. He knew that fighting prowess-wise, they couldn’t compete with him and his wives.

And yet, they agreed to go anyway. Even Tama, who used to be against these kinds of risky things, was willing to go along with it. They thought Hugo would be there to protect them if things turned to the worst.

They thought wrong.

Now, they were all separated from each other. There was no Hugo or Sherry to keep them safe.

They only had their own strength to rely on.

And that strength—it had failed.

It all happened in an instant.

She was walking down a long corridor along with Tama, whom she just met a while back.

They had yet to find anyone ever since they were transported here. Even though they knew they were inside the enemy's lair, without noticing it, they were letting their guard down.

And that led to their downfall.

The ogre jumped on top of them. Literally. He knocked out Tama in a single blow before attacking her. She tried to fight him to her best capability but he was just too fast and durable for her spear to be able to cope with him.

She lost. Terribly. And when she woke up, she was here.

Just in time to see the death of her dear Theo.

❇❇❇

She remembered like it was yesterday—that day when she found him.

She was a private in her elven kingdom's military—a mere foot soldier, tasked to patrol their borders for anything that might threaten their land. Especially since lately, human bandits had set up shop in the mountains nearby. And they were well-known for kidnapping elves and selling them as slaves in their own land.

That day, her squad saw smoke rising up from the sky. And her squad leader decided to investigate, not realizing that it came from outside of their territory.

It led them to a human village, burned to the ground by the very same bandits they were told to be wary of.

The bandits, however, weren't there. They had already ransacked everything. And killed anything else that they couldn't take.

The only thing they found—no, Tira found—was the baby a human mother had managed to hide.

"Uwaaaa! Huwaaaa! Uwaaaa!"

The sound of the baby's cry led her to him, even if it was muffled by the blanket the mother had put on him.

A miracle. There was no other word that best suited what happened that day.

The house was burned to the ground. The mother, who was hugging the baby, was dead.

And yet, the baby survived.

"A-a baby?!"

Tira's heart skipped a beat. That couldn’t be right, could it? Why was a baby here?

Gently, Tira pried the mother's arms away from the blanket she was hugging. It was the source of the crying sound she heard ever since she entered the room (or what was left of it). She was sure of it.

"Hnnnnngg… hnngggghh… why… is it… so stiff…"

To her surprise, the corpse’s hold was stronger than she had anticipated.

“Hnngg… hah!”

Only after some struggle did she manage to loosen her grip enough to snatch the blanket from her embrace.

And sure enough, after opening the loosely-wrapped blanket, what was underneath really was a baby.

“Oh… oh my…”

The baby stopped crying. His tears disappeared, replaced by raw curiosity as his tiny hand reached out to touch Tira’s face.

She didn't know it back then but that moment… was the exact moment her heart was stolen by him.

❇❇❇

"Leave it. You know very well that we can't bring back a human child to our kingdom."

"But, he'll die if we do that!"

"Then so be it. He's a human. His kind breathes death every day."

As she feared, her squad leader wouldn't allow her to bring back the baby with her.

They were now standing in the middle of the ruined village, with her cradling the baby in her arms. Her gaze looked upwards, staring unflinchingly at the questioning glare of her squadmates and leader.

"No! I won't do it! I'll never abandon him!"

"Then bring him! And see if Lady Kalfiel doesn't throw you and him out of the knights for your foolishness!"

Lady Kalfiel was the name of their division leader. Her squad leader reported directly to her. She was a stern and no-nonsense woman. She'd punish you in a split second if you disobeyed or just made a mistake running her orders.

Tira never liked her. No one did.

And so, she returned with the baby in tow.

And it happened exactly like her squad leader predicted.

"Cadet Tira Elfiel! I command you to hand over that human baby at once! What kind of nonsense do you have swimming in your head, bringing filth like him here?"

"No! You're going to kill him! Let me take care of him! I promise he won't be a bother!"

"You will come here and hand him over! Or I'll write you up for insubordination!"

"No!"

"Then you leave me no choice. Cadets! Grab her and bring that baby to me!"

Tira ran.

She ran and ran and ran. Until she could run no longer.

She was no longer in her kingdom's territory. She was back in human land.

Ah, I really went and did it… i don't think I can go back now even if i want to… insubordination to your military superior means banishment after all…

But that's fine… I always want to see the world anyway… I hate being stuck in the barracks, obeying the words of that stuck-up woman…

I can do this! I can survive in the outside world! I just need to become one of those adventurers!

She looked down, smiling at the baby she had in her arms.

The baby laughed, his tiny arms reaching for her face yet again.

It was all the reassurance she needed.

She would raise this child as if she was his own mother to his dying breath.

❇❇❇

“Stay… away… from… my son!”

Gretchel Naturia was surprised.

Her scythe—it was being stopped in mid-air before it could land on the human’s neck.

The culprit? The jelly-like block of water that blocked the blade of her scythe from touching the human's neck.

She turned to look at the caster—the supposedly unconscious elf that her subordinate had brought into the room.

Supposedly being the keyword. After all, that very same elf was glowing right now.

Literally.

She was glowing with a white light, covering her body from top to bottom.

And not only that. Her body—it was growing as well.

The child elf? She's maturing?

When the light receded, Tira was no longer the short, young elf that Theo knew.

She was now a full-grown adult, looking in her early twenties if going by human age. Her short, silver hair had grown to reach her waist.

Unfortunately, you couldn't say the same for her bust. It was still as tiny as ever.

"What is the meaning of this?" She looked at her ogre subordinate. "You're supposed to knock her unconscious."

"I-I did, Miss, but she must have recovered somehow…"

"No excuses. Take care of her, will you?"

"Right away, Lady Gretchen!"

The ogre slowly walked to where Tira was. He manifested a club made out of shadows in his right hand, fully intending to beat her to death with its spiky end. He was a shadow magic user, just like his mistress. And he could cast it without a wand, utilizing the ring on his finger instead as his magic focus, though he was limited to conjuring weapons and melting his body into the shadows.

When he arrived in front of Tira, she was still struggling to get up. She didn't have her spear with her as the ogre left it behind after he knocked her unconscious.

He swung his mace downwards, aiming to bludgeon her head.

Only for it to stop in mid-air.

Once again, a jelly-like water had appeared out of thin air, blocking his weapon.

And before he could say anything, Tira fired a jet of water to his abdomen, piercing it completely.

"Gu-guwah!"

He stumbled backwards, holding his wound with his hand. His mace fell to the ground, melting back into his shadow once more.

Tira didn't hesitate. She finished him off by firing another jet of water, this time aiming for his head.

"Gaarghh!"

He fell to the floor, blood pouring out of his head and stomach.

And just like that, she won against the ogre that had dominated her beforehand.

All thanks to her "growth".

When a dark elf evolved into their adult form, they gained a significant boost to their physical strength. For an elf like her, on the other hand, it was her magic that was enhanced. Not only was her magic capacity increased, she also gained a stronger affinity with an element—in this case, water.

Her spear failed to combat the ogre. Her water magic succeeded.

Gretchen was, naturally, quite taken aback by this sudden development.

"Oh my, you're a surprise." She walked towards her, leaving Theo behind. "You grow up. In the middle of a fight. I have to admit—this is the first time I see your kind's transformation."

Tira was now back on her feet, glaring at the horned girl with pure hatred in her eyes.

"I wonder… How are you capable of casting that spell? You don't carry a wand or a staff with you. And I don't see any rings or books either. What type of magic focus do you use, hmm?"

Tira did not respond. In truth, she didn't know either.

Still, she was glad.

The horned girl had left his son. He was safe now.

And the sooner she finished her, the sooner she could go to his side!

The elf conjured water out of thin air, fashioning it into a spear. She then grabbed it with both hands, giving it a twirl before aiming it at the horned girl.

The horned girl made the first move, swinging her scythe downwards in one big sweeping move. Shadows burst forth from the edge, its tendrils all charging towards Tira.

The elf countered by conjuring her own tendrils made out of water, sending them to meet the shadows in the middle.

“Fascinating! You can match my shadow magic! Then, how about this?!"

The horned girl charged forward, raising her scythe for an overhead swing. Instead of retreating, however, Tira stood her ground, readying her spear to block her attack.

CLASH

Her spear head clashed with the scythe's sharp end. Conjured weapon vs conjured weapon. And neither was giving in.

Unfortunately, as an elf, she had a disadvantage against the demoness. Her strength simply couldn't keep up against her superhuman strength. After all, an elf's physical capability was just as weak as a human's.

Fortunately, she had her magic to compensate.

The water spear she conjured sparked with life, as thunder wrapped itself around its tip, channeling its raw strength right into the horned girl’s scythe.

Electrocuting her on the spot.

“What?! Dual Casting?! That’s impossib— Gyaahhhhh!”

Darkness shouldn’t have conducted the electricity. And yet it did anyway.

It wasn’t conduction after all. The spear—it simply fired lightning right at the horned girl’s face.

The horned girl lost her grip on her spell—the scythe dissolving back into her shadow.

And Tira, without any hesitation, used the opportunity to stab her on her heart.

“Gggg… gah!”

Blood spurted out of her stomach.

The wound that Theo had made before— Tira had finished it with her spear.

The elf pulled the spear from her body. She fell down to the floor.

Her vision slowly darkened. As she looked up, she could only see the furious yet beautiful face the silver-haired elf had.

That, and the panties she wore that day, not covered in the slightest by her now far too small skirt.

She chuckled. What a fortunate human that kid was, having such a beautiful, doting elf as his mother. Adopted, for sure. An elf couldn't birth a human before they matured. How that could’ve happened—she couldn’t even imagine.

She wondered… if she had adopted some child from the slums of her city, could she have the same expression? That undying love that a mother had?

…Ahh… This feeling… I really am… going away…

It’s not bad… it’s not… bad at all…

Brother… if only… I can bear your child…

I pray… that you… can find… your happiness…