The Yeti Assault and the God's Challenge
The full-body prosthesis, radiating heat from its muscles to boost output, paid no heed to the intense cold and propelled me across the snowy plain at full speed. As I covered considerable distance and drew closer, the sounds of battle and human shouts grew clearer. ‘What language is that?’‘At least it’s not one I recognize.’ “Since they’re from another dimension, wouldn’t they speak an entirely different language?” ‘Whoa~ You can really feel the other-dimensional vibe.’
At that moment, a warrior-like figure was knocked down by a pincer attack from two Yetis and found himself in danger. Without hesitation, I planted my foot hard into the ground mid-stride and hurled the spear in my right hand with all my strength. Pa-ang! The moment it left my hand, wings unfolded from the spear and flames erupted as it began to spin. Propelled by both rotation and thrust, the spear tore through the air with a piercing whistle and blew the Yeti’s head clean off before finally coming to a stop.
In an instant, everyone’s gazes turned toward me before snapping back to the fight against the Yetis. The man who had nearly died rose beside the fallen Yeti’s corpse and shouted something at me, but I couldn’t understand a word. Ignoring him, I charged straight into the Yetis’ flank and swung my axe. The massive battle axe, over a meter long, carried the full momentum of my sprint and weight; it punched through the Yeti’s thick fur and hide, severed its arm, and buried itself deep in its torso.
Kuuuuaaah! The Yeti howled in agony. I yanked the axe free while dodging its flailing opposite arm, added spin to the motion, and brought the blade down hard on its relatively thinner neck. The head flew off in a spray of blood, and the enormous body collapsed to the ground. As expected, the neck remained a fatal weak point for most living creatures.
Retreating from the falling giant’s radius, I felt an explosion and a blast of hot wind from behind. I spun around to see a Yeti engulfed in flames, clutching its missing arm and thrashing as it burned. Before I knew it, the surrounding humans had formed a disciplined formation and were fighting the Yetis alongside me. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?’‘At the very least, we don’t have to worry about the Yetis attacking our backs.’
One of the female warriors tossed the spear I had thrown back to me. She gave me a respectful nod before immediately rejoining the battle. I too lunged at a Yeti and thrust the spear forward. The creature blocked with its arm, but I used the embedded spear as a pivot, leaped up, and swung the axe with added centrifugal force to decapitate it. My body moved exactly as I envisioned, and a gasp of admiration escaped me.
“Whew, a body that moves exactly as I think is incredible.” ‘The full-body prosthesis was designed to surpass human limits from the start. Still, your adaptability is remarkable even though the modifications are so recent. The Abaddon brain truly does surpass a human one.’‘Elisha’s brain was painstakingly remodeled by Maria. It’s superior to a standard Abaddon brain, so that makes sense.’‘It’s believable that Abaddon Queens excel at biological modification.’ “More importantly, let’s focus on killing the Yetis right now.”
I leaned back to dodge a swinging Yeti fist, simultaneously kicked its arm upward to create an opening, then drove the spear into its side while speaking. Using the impaled spear as a foothold, I kicked off its back and buried the axe into the back of its neck, nearly severing it. With its cervical vertebrae cut, the Yeti collapsed and twitched before finally dying.
I continued dispatching the creatures one by one, beheading and stabbing with spear and axe. A large man who had been watching my fighting style shouted something to the others, and their tactics began to shift. Instead of maintaining distance in formation, they split into three-person teams. Two would restrain a Yeti’s arms and legs while the third targeted its neck. Their coordinated movements—clearly practiced—quickly reduced the Yeti numbers.
Finally, my axe severed the neck of the last remaining Yeti, ending the battle. On the blood-soaked snowfield, cheers of joy erupted from the humans. When the large man who appeared to be their leader bellowed orders, they began harvesting trophies from the Yeti corpses one by one.
“Whew, that went smoothly.” ‘Without the humans from the other dimension, we might have struggled considerably.’‘Whew~ How many were there? Easily over a hundred.’ Looking around, the sheer number of Yeti corpses was staggering. If I had been alone, I would have had a much harder time fending off attacks from all sides. “Seeing this, it really is better to handle dimensional gates with a group rather than alone, isn’t it?” ‘The God would prefer situations like this.’‘Forget that pervert for a moment. If multiple gates open simultaneously—even in distant locations—there’s no way the God could handle them alone.’‘We definitely need countermeasures for that.’ “The gate will close soon, so let’s head back.”
I retrieved my blood-soaked spear and axe and started walking in the direction I had come from. The large man who seemed to be the leader approached and spoke to me. Though I still couldn’t understand him, his friendly demeanor suggested there was no issue. When I continued walking without responding, he looked flustered and removed his helmet, revealing his face. Scars crossed his eyes and mouth; a rough beard and sharp gaze gave him a fierce impression. He bowed his head to me, removed his thick gloves, and extended his bare hand. ‘He wants to shake hands, right?’‘He doesn’t seem hostile, so yes.’
Figuring a handshake wouldn’t hurt, I planted the spear in the ground and reached out—only to hesitate at the sight of my blood-covered hand. The gloves made it awkward to grasp a bare hand while covered in blood. Uriel spoke up. ‘There’s a locking mechanism on the wrist. Unlocking it allows the glove section to detach.’ “Oh, thank you.” Following her instructions, I examined my wrist and found a zipper-like lock. Opening it let me remove the glove. I extended my pale bare hand and took the man’s. His tense expression finally relaxed into a smile as he gripped my hand firmly. His palm was calloused and scarred, proof of a warrior’s harsh life. He released the handshake, pulled a short dagger from his robes, and offered it to me. The antique decorations and patterns made it look valuable at a glance. It felt rude to refuse a gift given in gratitude, so I accepted it quietly.
Satisfied, he bowed once more, donned his helmet, and began shouting orders to the people who had been watching. Leaving them to busy themselves harvesting materials from the corpses, I crossed the dimensional gate and returned to our own dimension. “It was freezing cold on the snowfield just moments ago, but now it’s a warm forest after crossing one gate. It really is amazing.” ‘That’s how much of an unknown the dimensional gates still are.’‘Even our Succubus crossing over would be believable. Actually, now that I think about it, weren’t the Abaddons also a race that crossed through dimensional gates?’ “Somehow that doesn’t sound like a joke.” Experiencing the gate firsthand made me wonder how many monsters on this continent had originally crossed through one.
While we chatted, the gate gradually shrank until it finally vanished completely. “It’s over.” ‘Directly entering and dealing with them is definitely faster.’‘Now let’s go meet that man.’ “I need to wash up first.” I had to clean the blood that had dried onto my combat suit and weapons. Finding a nearby stream, I waded in fully clothed and washed the blood away. The suit’s waterproof design meant the blood hadn’t stained, so it came off easily. I then headed toward the next gate where the God was.
Pushing through dense forest, I arrived at a gate where a fierce battle was underway amid thunderous roars. The God, wearing the same white combat suit as me, was fighting a two-headed Ogre. Laughing with evident delight, he traded blows with the massive monster that stood at least four meters tall—an overwhelming sight. The area around the gate was already a mess of uprooted and broken trees. “Goodness, how could anyone think of fighting a monster like that bare-handed?” ‘Whoa, taking punches from something that size and that strong with just his body? Even with a full-body prosthesis, is that possible?’‘With techniques to disperse and redirect force combined with the prosthesis’s superior impact resistance, it’s possible.’
Each punch carried enough force to snap trees thicker than a human torso, yet the attacks were surprisingly slow. With proper timing, I thought I could manage it too. Still, at that speed, dodging seemed far preferable. Why deliberately take hits? The two-headed Ogre itself was new to me; I had never even heard of such a variant, which made it all the more fascinating. “I’ve never seen a two-headed Ogre before. Is it a new species?” ‘Unless it’s a deformed Ogre with two heads, we should consider it a new species.’‘How about calling it a Twin-Head Ogre?’‘Very straightforward. I like it.’
Now bearing the name Twin-Head Ogre, the monster swung a broken tree to pressure its opponent. The God charged forward, smashing through the wildly swung trunks with his body, then delivered a powerful kick straight to the Ogre’s dangling, enormous genitals. The moment the common weak point of all males was struck, the Ogre froze, then let out a scream and dropped to its knees clutching its groin. ‘Ugh~ Even as a fellow male, that’s merciless.’‘A highly effective attack.’ “Well, there’s no need to show manners to monsters.”
Despite the sympathy the kneeling giant’s pained cries might evoke, the God paid no attention. He leaped onto its back and grabbed the left head. Maintaining perfect balance on the thrashing Ogre, he used the full power of the prosthesis’s artificial muscles—visible beneath the outer shell—and wrenched the head backward. The left head snapped with a sickening crack and went limp. Driven mad by pain, the Ogre entered a berserk state and began thrashing wildly, forcing the God to jump off its back.
As the Ogre rampaged and destroyed everything around it, the God—who had been gradually pushed back—spotted me watching from a distance and shouted. “How about that? Worth watching? I’ll show you something even better.” Putting more distance between himself and the raging Ogre, he placed both hands on the ground and gathered power. The outer shell split open, revealing the interior. The white artificial muscles inside glowed bright red and began radiating intense heat. Steam rose visibly around him as he charged energy, then he kicked off the ground with a thunderous boom and launched forward.
“Uryaaa!” Leaving a deep crater where he had stood, he closed the distance in an instant—almost flying—and delivered a flying kick that buried itself straight into the Ogre’s abdomen. Per-eong! With a sound like a bursting water balloon, his body punched clean through the Ogre and landed on the ground. A delayed spray of blood followed. I was speechless at the incredible sight. ‘I hate to say it now, but… could we even beat that human?’‘The objective specs of the full-body prosthesis are similar.’‘Does that mean we could do that too?’‘Yes. The principle is to artificially release the limiter on the artificial muscles, accumulate power, and release it explosively in a single moment. It requires preparation time for accumulation and a change in external form for rapid cooling, but it allows output beyond normal limits.’‘It feels like some kind of ultimate technique. Pretty cool.’
Thud. The Ogre’s massive body collapsed, sending tremors through the ground. After venting steam through the open sections on his arms, legs, chest, and back for a while, the God’s body reassembled into its normal form. Although only one monster had crossed over, its strength had apparently been sufficient; the gate began to close. Thinking it was over, I approached him—only to feel an ominous pressure and stop in my tracks. Standing with his back to me, motionless, he spoke quietly. “Not enough. Just one is far too little.” “Excuse me?” “Your body should be warmed up by now. How about we have a proper match?”
The moment he finished speaking, he charged. The flying kick he swung was faster than ever, but I dodged it safely and created distance. During the fight with the Yetis, I had noticed my perception and reaction speed steadily increasing. The more I dodged the God’s attacks, the slower they seemed to become. It was a strange sensation, as if the world itself—except for me—was slowing down. I grazed past his fist and landed a counterpunch on his face. Crack! “Ugh?” He seemed genuinely surprised that I, who had only been dodging, would counterattack. “I was going quite seriously, but you dodged everything and even counterattacked. Impressive.” “If this is your idea of serious, aren’t you tired from fighting the monster?” “Ho? Even taunting me? Kheheh, good.”
Suddenly, Kyubey seized control of my body and taunted him. ‘Wait, sis! What are you doing suddenly provoking him?!’‘Ta-da~ It worked wonders!’ Kyubey released control just as quickly and slipped back inside, speaking in a sly tone. “Don’t do unnecessary things!” “Calling my attacks unnecessary, are you?!” Whoosh! Truly enraged, he began moving at normal speed within the slowed world. I could hear the deadly whistle of his attacks by my ears and barely managed to evade, but I had no chance to counter. ‘Why do unnecessary things?’‘We have to settle things with the God eventually, don’t we? If you fight seriously and lose, the effect will be greater, right?’‘What if we lose?’‘Then just service him once? The best way to soothe an angry man is with pleasurable sex!’ “Shut up!”
I was busy enough as it was without the noise inside my head. Damn it, look at that man’s eyes—he’s completely flipped. He’s seriously pissed off, isn’t he? Boom! His fist slammed into the ground, shaking the earth. Having carved a crater with his tremendous destructive power, he shouted with a distorted face. “Stop running around like a scared little girl and fight me properly!” “I’m a woman!” “Out of your three egos, you’re the most masculine one, and you still call yourself a woman?!” ‘That part I agree with. If you were in a male body, you’d just look like a man.’‘Elisha does have androgynous aspects.’Smack! “This guy’s got a mouth on him!”
Having worked so hard to act like a proper woman since my angel days, being told I seemed like a man made me feel my very existence was being denied. Furious, I swung back with my fist. A fierce exchange of punches and kicks followed, and inevitably, sexual pleasure welled up from the struck areas, heating my body. “Ugh, it’s hard to fight because of the arousal!” ‘Why not just enjoy it honestly? It feels good, right?’‘It’s a bit weak, but even we can feel the uterus throbbing and tightening.’ “Hah, it feels more like being filled up than tightening. Hngh!” “Uraaa!” Thud! Thud! Crack! Trading solid blows while taking hits head-on with his body, he suddenly reached out with an open hand instead of a fist. I twisted my body to dodge it.