Adaptation (2)
To return to this place, and to survive in this other world, I had endured so much.
I had killed countless monsters just to stay alive, slaughtered lawless bands that preyed on the weak, and burned with Holy Fire those cultists of evil who sacrificed others—and in the end even themselves—for nothing but power.
After going through all of that again and again, until not long ago I could have faced anything with calm acceptance.
Yet when I thought of what had happened yesterday, the self I had been until now vanished once more, leaving only the girl called Charlotte Magnier.
Of course I had no intention of collapsing here and simply weeping.
Just as I always had, as the apostle of Partruna, Goddess of Love and Purification, I swore to walk once more the path of saving this world.
The next day I began exploring again.
This time I used my holy power from the start, so I was able to descend quickly to the first floor.
"Phew, finally the first floor. I glanced around on the way down, but it doesn't look like there's anything more worth taking from the building."
Stepping out through the entrance, I found a little grass growing right in front of me. Not far beyond that, however, lay only barren earth or dull-colored ruins, and behind them a forest of withered old trees bearing nothing but bare branches.
The nearest tower stood within that forest—probably one of the ones I had seen from the terrace.
"For now, rather than going far, it would be better to slowly circle the surroundings clockwise."
I didn't think I was weak at the moment, but you never know. Even if the quantity and purity of my holy power surpassed what I had possessed in my former male body, the body itself was not particularly strong, and though the equipment performed well it still did not feel fully unlocked. This cautious approach was the only choice.
As I walked on, a playground came into view, the sort that suggested this place had once been an apartment complex where children could play. The structure with the slide had already rotted away until only the posts remained; the slide itself, being metal, still sat firmly on the sand without tilting. Beside it the swing hung with one rusted chain broken. The pavilion where children and their guardians must once have rested in peaceful times had a completely collapsed roof and was now nothing more than firewood.
"Just in case, if I ever need wood later, maybe I can cut that down and haul it back."
Passing the playground, I soon reached the entrance to an underground parking garage. It had not yet collapsed, but cracks already ran through the walls and ceiling, so I decided to go in only a short way and come straight back out. There was nothing worth seeing anyway; even if cars remained, I neither remembered how to drive nor saw any that looked intact. I briefly considered whether I might extract some fuel, but I had no tools, and with a body that had no real need to start fires with gasoline there was little point.
Just as I turned to leave, a low growl reached me together with a wet, slapping sound.
"A wolf? Or... a monster?!"
I poured holy power into the rosary at once, summoning my armor in its complete form, and gripped Durandal in both hands, waiting for whatever was coming.
Listening carefully, I realized the wet sounds were coming from several directions at once, accompanied by heavy thuds and impacts. Something sizable was about to appear.
"Tch, roughly five or six of them? I don't know yet if I can move this body the way I want, but I'll manage somehow!"
I formed several small orbs of Holy Fire and launched them toward the sounds. I had no precise locations and was simply firing in the direction of the noise, so none of them hit, yet the brief light let me catch a glimpse of the enemies.
Just as I had expected, they were wolf-like monsters. Four of them were about the size of a compact car, and one leader-class beast nearly as large as an SUV stood with a pair of long, sharp fangs jutting from its jaws.
"Ha! You've got to be kidding me! Already facing things like this?! Talent or no talent, this body is still better than before, but this is a bit much, isn't it?!"
Two of the smaller ones had already sealed the entrance with swift movements. The remaining two flanked me on either side, while the leader-class monster stared straight at me with its four eyes.
Contrary to my expectations, the two guarding the entrance behind me and the leader in front simply sat and watched. Only the pair on either side charged.
"Looking down on me, are you?! Fine! Let's see what you've got!"
I said it aloud, but inwardly I was relieved. Scared? Of course not. It was simply that no matter how much holy power I could use or how good the equipment was, right now I was still a girl experiencing her first real battle. So the handicap these creatures were giving me was their fault. Anyway, that was the story I was sticking to.
I slipped backward as the two on either side lunged with jaws open, then snapped the tip of my sword up from the ground and swung at the one coming from the right, aiming for its rear. Unfortunately I only clipped a few tail hairs; the beast turned with unhurried grace and prepared to charge again.
"Tch! Missed?! Hss, even with holy-power reinforcement the balance of this body is still off...!"
Whether from the sword's weight or something else, I had stopped a little short of where I intended. Now both the one in front and the one behind were charging at me once more.
"Can't dodge this one!"
I quickly formed Holy Fire and flung it at the beast coming from behind, while against the one leaping from the front I held the blade level at head height and thrust at the exact moment it sprang.
This time both attacks landed. The rear beast rolled and whimpered as the Holy Fire set it alight; the one that had leapt was skewered clean through the open mouth and out the neck, dying instantly.
"Durandal... this sword is even more incredible than I thought!"
I had already known it was no ordinary blade simply because I could wield it in this body, but it pierced the supposedly tough hide of the monster with ease and, with nothing more than the natural motion of my hand, severed head from body in a single stroke. The weight still made swinging a little awkward, yet if I focused on thrusting I could seize the advantage.
Turning to finish the burning beast, I glanced at the one whose head and body now lay separate. Its fur was scorched, and the cut surface looked melted, as though seared by intense heat and flame.
"Good! Let's keep going, you mutts!"
After I finished off the one still thrashing behind me, the remaining two that had guarded the entrance also charged. I used the same method—keeping them at bay with Holy Fire while finishing them with swift thrusts—and cut them down quickly.
Only the leader-class beast remained. My body felt a little tired, but holy power still overflowed.
"Hah... hah... hhk...! N-now... you're the only one left! Big guy!"
I leveled Durandal at it. The creature gave a snorting sound like a derisive laugh, then rose with a heavy thud.
"You're really huge! Damn it!"
In the next instant—though not so fast I couldn't see it—I was too slow to dodge. Its charge slammed into me and sent me flying into a nearby car with a solid crash.
"Ghk! Kuh!"
The impact was so violent the vehicle crumpled inward with a deep dent, yet the armor the goddess had granted me proved its worth; I was not so badly hurt that I could not move. Or perhaps the adrenaline was simply postponing the pain...
"Hss... haah... this is insane..."
I circulated holy power to heal while blood from somewhere on my head made one eye hard to open. Planting the sword in the ground, I was just starting to rise when a sharp whoosh filled the air and a car came flying straight at me.
"Goddamn it! Enough already!"
There was no more time to waste on healing. I poured holy power into Durandal; Holy Fire coiled around the blade, turning it into a sword of pure flame, and I barely managed to cleave the oncoming car in half.
With a twin crash the severed halves fell aside. I sprinted straight at the beast, holding the hilt against my chest so the blade trailed behind me, ready for a horizontal cut, and reinforced my legs with every scrap of holy power I could spare to raise my speed.
Startled by the sudden burst of velocity, the monster raised its right foreleg and brought it down toward me. In that same instant I switched feet, spun, and reversed the trailing tip so it now pointed at the creature's chest. Then I thrust my arm forward with all my strength and drove the blade home.
A wet puncture and a spray of fluid accompanied the beast's agonized howl. It tried to shove me away with its foreleg, but I had already prepared dozens of Holy Fire orbs while running and now unleashed them all.
"Try blocking these too!"
I poured every last drop of usable holy power into more and more Holy Fire, hammering the creature without pause so the explosions never stopped. After several minutes nothing remained of it but white ash and a single black stone that fell to the ground.
"Hah... hah... finally over..."
I tried to sink down, but the drain must have been greater than expected; I collapsed flat on my back instead. Sweat-soaked hair clung to my face, and the blood that had run into one eye mixed with sweat into a thin red stream that trickled past my ear like tears.
After the fierce battle I caught my breath for a while, then picked up the black stone that had fallen to the ground. It was large enough that even my small palm could not completely cover it.
"What is this? Something that came out when I killed it?"
It looked rather like the "magic stones" that appeared in novels and games after defeating monsters. Just in case, I searched for the remains of the other four; they too had crumbled into white ash, each leaving a smaller stone that my hand could easily hide. Apparently the size varied by rank.
"Ah, whatever! I'm exhausted—time to get back and wash up... Huh? What's that sound?"
Small fragments of stone began pattering onto my shoulders and head, and with a series of sharp cracks the pillars and walls of the underground garage started to split.
"Ah, shit! Seriously?!"
I scrambled out of the collapsing garage and, dragging my weary body, headed back toward my shelter.