Fury of the White Flame
If you won't fight for me, that's fine~
Claire felt her mind go blank with terror. The monster's fluids were slithering into her body, draining her strength bit by bit—the fear of that was overwhelming. She'd seen plenty on the way here what happens to females stripped of any means to resist. That made it all the more terrifying.
Claire let it be for a moment. The fear sank into her like plunging into the ocean depths. She surrendered her body to it. That was courage. Before being ruled by fear, she watched herself being devoured by it. It wasn't about mustering the strength to overcome. If she just let the fear invade her body, her soul, down to the roots...
Memories bubbled up as byproducts.
'In the end, not only did I fail to protect people—I got a lot of them hurt.'
'Special ops like that... weren't something I should have taken on.'
The weakness in her heart.
'What's the point of good skills? I'm not like Captain Riana... I can't make the necessary decisions.'
'Everyone who followed me either left or died. I don't have what it takes to be a knight captain.'
...What am I?
She regressed to that wounded girl from the day she wanted to deal with the Demon King. Maybe nothing had changed at all.
Still, Claire focused on the one untainted truth that remained. It couldn't be wrong to strive to protect people. Always making the best choices she could. Even if it seemed pointless at first glance, the struggle itself...
There was definitely value in what we call goodness. Justice that shines brilliantly because it's so hard to uphold.
Yes. It was all because of that vile monster. The ugly beast that preyed on humanity's goodness to find a way to survive.
Tentacle Monster. We could never understand each other, accept each other, mesh together!
Tentacle Monster!
Claire was still pinned under Glova. The Red Lotus and Faceless Monkey, who'd been waiting for an opening, lunged at her in unison. A desperate crisis.
"Haaaaah...!!!"
Claire's body moved. At a glance, she looked hopelessly outmatched—smaller than the adult male Glova, paralyzed with numbing fluid, no way to block the Tentacle Monster's horde attack.
But right then.
With her shout, a sword flash gleamed.
Squeeeeal!
The sound of her swing was unnaturally dissonant for a battle cry. It was simply the lump of metal breaking the sound barrier.
BOOM!
With a ferocious sword cry, the surrounding flesh clumps exploded. The immense pressure Claire unleashed with her sword tip dominated the space around her. Her White Dragon Sword, which had ground down the walls of nearby buildings, left an irreparable scar on the ground and flashed again, plunging into Glova's neck.
As all the other Tentacle Monsters disintegrated into flesh fragments, only Glova flopped like a fish with a spike through its torso, half its neck severed. It wasn't dead because Claire's strike had been shallow on purpose. She'd pulverized only the interfering Tentacle Monsters, creating a one-on-one standoff with Glova.
In that split-second instant, compressed into fourteen sword strikes.
Crackle-crackle!
The sharply surging White Flame discharged like lightning, scorching the air and warping space itself—the aftermath of her One Flash technique.
Claire trembled, shoulders shaking, her sword still buried in Glova's neck.
What had just happened? First, she'd moved despite the paralyzing fluid. She'd exerted more strength than usual. Purely through force of will.
If she had to pinpoint a reason, Flesh Incarnation was already a known Tentacle Monster type... Her undershirt protected her skin around the neck, so the spines hadn't penetrated deeply—but the fundamental reason was the difference in caliber.
"Don't underestimate me!"
"Guh, guh."
Glova's face sprouted tentacles; he was on the verge of death.
"C-Captain... Where... is this...?"
"Glova!!"
Real or fake? It didn't matter. Claire burned with murderous intent, her face twisted in a savage expression she'd never shown in her life.
"Diana... Ugh...!! Dying is... scary... Ah... Ahh... Gah...!"
Glova frothed blood with the sword in his neck.
"Captain... Am I... perhaps... to the Tentacle Monster...?"
"Glova! Your enemy... I'll avenge you!"
Claire shouted, tears streaming down her face.
"Captain...!"
"Glova! Who are you? Declare your allegiance!"
"Ugh, heuk...!"
Cough, cough.
Glova spat bloody foam, smiling feebly on his dying face. His life was nearly spent.
"Vice Captain... of the White Flame Knights...!"
"I'll... definitely avenge you!!"
"...Please save Diana, Captain."
Slash!
Claire severed Glova's head outright. Tentacles sprouted from the stump, wriggling like it had legs.
Whoosh.
Before the Tentacle Monster could further defile his body, Claire incinerated it with White Flame. At the same time, she activated True Sight.
The Tentacle Monsters lunging out seized the moment—but she sliced them all down.
'Only my left arm's working properly. They're aiming for that.'
But Claire was invincible. Especially now—no one in this world could stop her.
Dozens of Faceless Monkeys leaped across building roofs like their own backyard, raining down on her from above.
"Hup!!"
Another fierce sword strike cleaved the air. The shockwave from Claire scattered them into the sky, where they extended their tentacle arms!
Claire swiftly dodged, slashing tentacles coming from all directions, nullifying every binding attempt... and showered forward sword strikes, butchering the monsters.
Flesh chunks rained down like precipitation. Her murderous aura seemed to scream.
"Come out! Come at me, Tentacle Monster!"
Red Lotus charged in. Such beastly rushes couldn't stop this white knight.
Her sword strikes became flashes of light, the tip thunderbolts.
Pouring down like heavenly punishment on fallen debauchery!
KABOOM!!
The air roared. Every swing of Claire's sword sent pressure waves rippling like shockwaves, making buildings tremble uncontrollably.
Claire ripped apart every Tentacle Monster trying to grab her ankle even for a second, activated True Sight to hunt the Tentacle Monster. No—not the Tentacle Monster. She was seeking his wife.
She had to be nearby. She'd drag her out for sure!
Even rampaging, Claire advanced toward the spot the enemy instinctively protected. No logic needed now. It was her intuition.
Whenever she spotted movements guarding vitals, Claire only grew more ruthless. She burrowed in. Burrowed in. Burrowed in.
"Haat!!"
Bang!
Sword pressure exploded outward, scattering flesh fragments into the air.
Roar!
The fragments became a white fire rain, purifying everything! The White Flame of Genesis God Nimyuel.
Even Faceless Monkeys that could wipe out the kingdom guard alone tore apart like paper scraps before her.
Claire's overwhelming inaction turned all the enemy's attempts into pathetic pranks. Aerial pounces—failed. Flank ambushes—failed. Bursts from the ground—failed.
When the white sword tip went berserk, everything turned to ash and vanished.
The more desperately they tried to block Claire's existence, the greater the Tentacle Monster side's losses. Over a hundred Tentacle Monsters had already died.
"Hup!"
She'd already slain over a hundred Tentacle Monsters. Where she passed, only white embers remained.
The White Flame blazed hungrily, as if devouring the horrific monsters wasn't enough.
Now, who was the predator?
'Already fled somewhere else?'
No way. The kingdom knights wouldn't miss even one person escaping south ward. Sewer routes were the same. They'd leave such obvious escape paths?
To put it bluntly: escaping south on two legs while shaking off Claire's pursuit was impossible.
'Where are you hiding? Tentacle Monster!!'
Finding him was just a matter of time.
Then.
From somewhere, like a beacon fire.
A red tree bloomed nearby. A tree of flesh.
'It's... calling me?'
Grind.
Claire gritted her teeth. Trap or diversion—bring it on. She'd crash right through!
Claire burst through a shattered building roof and laid eyes on the flesh tree directly. Its surface gleamed transparently like glass.
Inside, a familiar face.
"Diana?"
Asleep inside the tree? Claire glanced around. Nothing there. The swarming Tentacle Monsters had vanished.
Eerily quiet. As if the world had suddenly met its end.
"......"
Mission unchanged. The Tentacle Monster was hiding inside. Claire cleaved the tree with her White Dragon Sword, extracting Diana.
Sticky fluids poured out, steaming.
"Ngh..."
The Tentacle Monster's sturdy-breasted motherboard, Diana, slid limply to the ground. Unconscious, it seemed. No sign of the Tentacle Monster.
"......What the hell?"
Alone. Claire stood, goal lost.
With one immobilized motherboard.
'Acting independently?'
No way. The Tentacle Monster didn't move separately unless his motherboards' safety was 100% guaranteed. That was the analysis.
Yet?
'Ugh!!'
Seeing Diana's defenseless face, Claire suddenly realized. The one guaranteeing her safety... was right here.
The silver-haired knight standing with the national treasure White Dragon Sword.
'Ngh...!!'
She'd been used. The Tentacle Monster had neatly shaken her off.
As if there was no reason to clash head-on with a fired-up Claire.
Tricked. What to do with this aimless rage? Trembling...
'Calm down. If the Tentacle Monster's moving with Tia, he's still nearby.'
With Captain Riana? They'd isolated her from the start, so probably targeting Riana first. Failing to read that was the blunder.
Claire grabbed the beeping Vericon and spoke.
"Captain Riana! If you hear me, respond. I'm coming to help right now!"
No reply.
As Claire turned to leave.
The unconscious Diana clung to her body.
"Ah!"
Claire startled as if caught off guard.
"Diana? Are you awake?"
"......"
No words. Probably instinctually grabbing the nearest thing. She was naked now... Leaving her here...
'......'
Claire's True Sight detected vital signs. Surviving Tentacle Monsters were peeking out everywhere, eyeing the female flesh covetously.
Abandon Diana and go... she'd definitely... get gang-raped...
'Diana...'
Was Diana a traitor? Had she turned like Tia long ago? No way to know. Except for blatant cases like Tia.
No method to tell if an interspecies victim woman secretly sided with the Tentacle Monster. Especially unconscious.
[Please save Diana]
Glova's words bound Claire's heart tight.
"Kuh..."
Shake off the clinging Diana... and she'd get raped. Surrounded by those monsters, thoroughly gang-raped.
Knowing that... could she still leave...?
'No. I can't abandon her...'
Claire sheathed her White Dragon Sword and hoisted Diana onto her back.