Operation White Flame (2)
Faster than Claire could land, Riana's Divine Bow unleashed a streak of blue starlight that cleaved through the air and slammed into the ground. The pure shockwave generated a gust of wind, meant to blow away the aphrodisiac gas. To squeeze even a little more time out of her five-minute limit.
Aerial support from the Star Beast. Aerial bombardment via Divine Bow. Riana's body burned hot, like she was sprinting at full throttle. This was a short, decisive battle. Holding back would only get her killed in turn. If Claire didn't deliver as expected, even Riana could be in danger.
The starlight beast guzzled mana like crazy— just summoning it for a bit steadily drained her stamina. If she dropped from this height, Riana was motherboard fodder too. The black moth's special ability was that tricky.
'Confirmed.'
Claire strode out from the fan-shaped scorch mark on the ground with majestic poise, slicing through the black moth camouflaged against the wall. The national treasure, White Dragon Sword. The peerless blade she'd wielded against the Demon King, its trait the unique skill Dragon Down that expanded the user's attack range. In other words, Claire could unleash wide-area ranged strikes like Riana's Divine Bow or holy sword with basic attacks alone.
"Hup!"
And if she layered on White Flame? Claire's monster-slaying power was off the charts.
One breath's slash cleaved the black moth in two, its corpse swept away in a blaze of white flame. Ambushes were pointless. From Claire's landing zone, a full kilometer out, white flames overturned everything.
Riana's Divine Bow cleared the path. Claire turned her eyes to the next operational zone and broke into a sprint.
Operation White Flame. Even this simple sweep-everything-with-White Flame plan had its details. Riana pinpointed the positions of black moth tentacle types spewing aphrodisiac gas via aerial scouting with the star beast... then relayed those spots to Claire, who moved along the shortest route to liberate the southern sector.
Riana nocked another Divine Bow shot as she thought.
The tentacle monster's likely to hide and drag things out. Controlling this sector buys them time, tilting things in their favor bit by bit.
Then she'd just force it out. Eliminate all the gas-spewing black moths to free the southern sector. From the tentacle monster's view—needing to protect its wives—this was an unwelcome development. Their numbers weren't that high. Wipe out the black moths, and the trickiest condition vanished. The tentacle monster couldn't just sit by.
That explained the monsters lining the black moths' paths... but.
You know that, right, tentacle monster? In this setup, no one can stop Claire~.
"Haaaah!!"
Claire cleaved through charging Red Lotuses and launched herself forward, ignoring distance entirely. Such concerns only mattered against equals. Even faceless monkeys charging in didn't make her blink.
Sometimes her charge hit a snag. The faceless monkeys' physical prowess was that insane.
It dodged my attack!?)
A half-hearted swing, sure, but still impressive. Dodging a strike even Eskalia's clone couldn't evade. Surrounded by faceless monkeys, Claire spotted incoming tentacles with her eyes alone, evaded, and unleashed slashes.
Boom!!
The tentacle monkeys' bodies couldn't withstand the sword pressure and exploded, raining bits of flesh into the sky. White Flame incinerated every scrap.
"This time... I won't leave a single trace behind!"
Riana shuddered watching Claire advance amid a rain of white fire.
She's incredible. The protagonist of the White Flame generation.
Overwhelming breakthrough power. The star of that assault that toyed with the guards and kingdom knights, rampaging through the streets... Even faceless monkeys looked like plain goblins before her.
Riana hurriedly prepped the next Divine Bow. She found herself mesmerized by the monsters scattering from Claire's elegant sword tip.
Shuuuuk!
The next black moth locked on. Claire paled and froze for a moment. The second black moth lurked in the heart of a flesh-covered street. Not just tentacle monster types. Beneath the black moth's torso squirmed thick-furred cocks and balls, swarmed by countless women. Riana's comrades among them.
"Sluuurp... slurp... Cock... cock tastes so good..."
"Cock... wanna lick balls too..."
"Lick lick lick... So happy... lick lick..."
The female intel agents assigned to tentacle monster hunts mindlessly stuck out their tongues, lost in balls and cock worship. And that was just the start. An orgy in full swing. At the nest's core Claire had entered, depravity unfolded without restraint. Young, busty women rolled on the ground, tenaciously mating with tentacle dogs and monkeys.
Claire's breath hitched. She'd steeled herself not to falter at anything, but this vulgar scene dizzied her mind. A sight no innocent maiden could endure.
"Ohohoo♡"
"Lord Tentacle Monster's cock is amaaazing♡♡!!"
"Pussy popping♡ Pussy popping♡"
Claire gripped her sword tight. Target: black moth. But... women flanked it like attendants, gently shaking their plump asses as they sucked cock.
This is...
White Flame meant a massacre. The moans were disorienting, but she was confident she could turn them to screams.
"Claire! Don't forget the objective. This isn't the time to stand around gawking!"
"But there are too many people."
"That's their plan. They gathered them on purpose since direct combat's a losing fight."
Too many people. Gathered here deliberately, it seemed. Not half monsters, half humans... Hundreds of females the tentacle monster had scooped up in its raid crowded the street's center, fellating the black moth in "protection" that was anything but.
A knight sworn to protect people couldn't swing her sword here. The tentacle monster's first trap. It knew Claire's character well. Unable to strike freely, Claire could only defensively parry the faceless monkeys swarming her. No effective counters.
Meanwhile, the aphrodisiac gas began tainting her purification mask.
I expected this. Knew it'd play dirty.
Anyone who'd seen Claire's patterns in the grand raid could devise this. But Riana looked ahead. Where was it hiding? Inside one of these pussies? Then the odds of Claire finding and killing it plunged.
Worst case, we abandon them.
The tentacle monster was tightly linked to specific women, but it had never moved to reclaim those captured in the sewer fights. Meaning it played favorites. These pussy livestock were disposable. No getting swayed. The operation's core was hunting the main body. Black moths were just steps toward that.
But...
If White Flame Knight Captain Claire got polluted into a cock-and-balls chanting slut, the op was over. Riana's optimal call here...
I'll do it.
Kill them. Once polluted, pussies couldn't be saved. Just rain starlight down on the cock-crazed women!
"Urk, grrr...!"
Claire struggled, surrounded by dozens of faceless monkeys. Couldn't attack.
"Oh hooot!! Pussy tightens♡"
The faceless monkeys impaled women on cock mid-fight, pounding away as they battled. So Claire couldn't strike.
"Nngh...! Kgh!!"
They herded her with pussy-pounding. She wouldn't kill innocents or spout naive justice. If cornered, she'd swing—but as a powerhouse with a national treasure weapon, she knew what happened striking defenseless women. Like popping an overinflated sack, guts would spill refreshingly.
Only fight while dodging as much as possible!
Claire repelled the tentacle beasts with precise swordwork. Barely thirty seconds. She struggled to steady her mind, but her breath kept faltering. Not fear of not swinging—it was terror of the excuse "no choice" leading her to unleash White Flame-wreathed blade here.
"Claire!"
Claire snapped to at Riana's shout.
"Captain Riana!?"
Riana had descended, aiming at the black moth and her subjects.
"Swing your sword!"
"But...!"
"We'll split it half and half!"
"Huh!?"
"We'll bear what happens here together!"
"Captain Riana...!"
Riana spurred Claire on, leading the assault. Share the burden half-half. Overcome this together.
"Ngh!"
Blue starlight rained down. But White Flame faltered short of full blaze. Instead, Claire blasted sword pressure to shove people aside.
"Rrrgh!!"
It'd take extra time to clear monsters. No mass slaughter. Mission or not, a knight couldn't openly kill people!! That was Claire's justice. Her chivalry.
Gas lingered, but fine. Perfect swap time. Claire snatched a fresh mask from her pouch, swapped it, and looked skyward.
"Captain Riana! Thank you...!"
The star beast flitted about.
"Captain Riana?"
No reply through the bellycon.
"Captain Riana!!"
It happened in a flash. Even Claire, focused on her attack, noticed late. As Riana dropped altitude to target the black moth and took aim, a faceless monkey lurked, waiting.
Faceless monkey arm-tentacles stretched to 14 meters max, perfect for ambushing Riana atop her star beast. Timing flawless—right in that split second as she poured focus into starlight rain, watching monsters fall.
A 'whoosh' around Riana's slender neck.
"Guhk!?"
Riana plummeted, dragged earthward.
"Heading to rescue now, Captain Riana!"
Into a gutted building. Probably a trap. Even choking, Riana didn't forget the objective.
"Don't come!"
"You okay!?"
"I can escape on my own."
Riana's blue eyes gleamed in the dark. She'd already diced the faceless monkey that dared wrap her neck and drag her here with her holy sword. Shaking off the filthy flesh, she radiated killing intent.
"Move to the next target point. Three gas-spewing tentacle types left. Get this one, and the gas clears."
"Got it!"
Gas filled the ruined building too.
One more in here...?
Planted here meant... Riana chuckled.
Looks like I'm not the only one eager for a reunion~.
Five-minute limit. But that was plenty to demolish a building and bust out. Riana's composure had reason.
"Nice aim at my opening, dragging me down. Props. Now show yourself."
She shielded with Guardian Holy Law, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. Bluffing a bit. Fresh off lavish support fire atop the star beast and starlight barrage. Guardian Holy Law: three uses left. Holy sword: four....
...This is bad. No doubt.
Riana steadied her breath. Keeping her head in this mess came from her experience as kingdom knight captain. But even she broke a cold sweat surveying her surroundings.
......
Tentacle beast Blasphemy. From the fourth-floor ceiling she'd punched through down to the first floor, walls, ceiling, floor—every inch crammed solid.