Fury Unbound

Seeing Alexia blown away in an instant made everyone doubt their eyes.

She had never been so thoroughly overwhelmed before.

"Alexia doesn't lose in raw strength to even large monsters. Guess Apostles are the real deal."

The Ent readied her slender sword and ran a fingertip along its blade.

She was clearly full of openings, yet no one could capitalize on them.

The next moment, chunks of quartz exploded from where Alexia had been buried.

Her right leg emerged from where the chunks had been.

Apparently Alexia had forced her way out by kicking the quartz off.

Blood trickled down from her head, but she ignored it, fixing the Ent with a blazing glare.

"In the way."

She grabbed the tattered soldier's uniform and ripped it off.

Now in just her underclothes, she chanted something and transformed into her usual dress armor.

Azu was about to call out to her in relief, but froze and stopped.

She'd sensed Alexia's killing intent and reflexively stepped back.

Mana seemed to be pouring off her, warping the air around her.

Her crimson hair whipped about.

As if her rage had taken physical form, the battle-axe in her hands began to glow red-hot.

"It's been a while since I blacked out mid-fight. This is going to cost you."

"My, how durable. You would've been better off staying unconscious."

"Don't underestimate me!"

Alexia dropped low and launched herself.

An explosion sounded as she leapt. She'd used magic to accelerate.

Carrying that momentum, she raised the battle-axe glowing red with magic.

Vines extended to stop her, but the axe's heat burned through them.

The Ent caught Alexia's blow with one hand on her sword.

The shockwave rippled outward, cracking the quartz at the Ent's feet.

The impact should have been tremendous, yet she didn't budge.

"You've trained well. That wasn't bad at all."

"You—!"

Alexia put even more force into her two-handed grip on the battle-axe.

Slowly, the Ent's sword began to tilt under the pressure.

As the battle-axe drew close enough to nearly touch the tips of the Ent's hair, she reluctantly placed her free hand on the blade.

That alone stopped Alexia's battle-axe again.

No matter how much force Alexia put in, it wouldn't advance further.

"Then how about this!"

She triggered the magic imbued in the battle-axe, unleashing fire magic point-blank.

It struck the Ent's face dead-on.

The fire magic continued to burn her.

But the Ent swung her sword upward into the flames, and they scattered.

At some point, a lit cigar had appeared in her mouth.

"That was some nice fire."

With that, she kicked the enraged Alexia away before she could swing the battle-axe again.

Elza was there at the landing spot and caught her.

"Alexia-chan, calm down. You're seeing red."

"Ugh…! Sorry. My head's a bit clearer now that some blood's drained."

"Good, good. I can heal this much easily."

Elza healed Alexia, and then everyone raised their weapons.

"Not a single hair singed. Even monsters take some damage from that. What is she made of?"

"She just blocked it, that's all. Divine Apostles aren't invincible, so stay focused."

"I hope you're right."

They began closing in, surrounding her.

Despite being encircled, the Ent showed no concern, casually straightening her hair that had been slightly disheveled by the magic.

Finn and Alexia exchanged a glance and moved simultaneously.

Alexia's battle-axe swept horizontally, cutting through the vines that extended to block.

Timing her attack, Finn again brought both daggers down on the Ent.

The Ent dodged by arching backward, and their eyes met.

She spat the cigar at Finn's face and thrust her sword at the same time.

Finn twisted to avoid both, but her balance broke and a hand was pressed to her stomach.

With just a light push, Finn's body went flying.

Azu took her place, swinging her sword down.

The Ent tried to catch it but changed her mind at the last moment, leaping backward instead.

Elza swung her mace at the airborne Ent.

It only grazed her shoulder, but left a small wound.

It was the first time they'd damaged the Ent.

"That sword… An inexperienced successor to Justitia alone wouldn't have scared me, but…"

The Ent had seen through the Sealed Sword Grungaus's nature; she knew that merely blocking it would deal significant damage.

Azu wished it had connected, but if the Ent was wary, that alone had value.

The kind of opponent who could take on Alexia head-on and win.

If she acted recklessly without caring about damage, they'd have no chance.

If she wanted to avoid a blow from the Sealed Sword Grungaus, there were ways to fight.

The Ent scooped up blood from the wound with a fingertip and licked it.

"Oh dear, my beautiful skin is marred. Worth more than a kingdom's treasure, you know."

"If you care so much about your skin, just let us through without a fight."

"I'd like to, but… being an Apostle isn't that simple. Besides, it's been ages since I've had someone to torment, so I need to enjoy myself."

With that, the Ent began to move with measured steps.

Once again, she was so fast she nearly vanished, but Azu's dynamic vision just barely kept up.

She ducked under the sword aimed at her neck and simultaneously released the power of the Apostle.

A big swing with her sword now would be dodged.

So she took the shortest route and kicked the Ent in the stomach.

The Ent's body folded along with her vines. But then she grabbed Azu's leg.