Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

112 – Awakening (5)

Deepest within the nest, the altar of resurrection.

Befisha, having finished the first preparation to welcome the Supreme Being, burst into endless laughter upon hearing Salvira’s words.

“So, you’re telling me after you said that much, he said he’d turn himself in?”

[“Stupid, right?”]

“Only the most utter idiots have gathered.”

[“They were calling me ‘master’. The lowest of humans, not knowing their place…”]

Bepisha’s laughter wouldn’t stop. Salbira also wore a subtle smile on her face. The magicians of the Eight Shadows Association didn’t know what was going on, but they joined in the chuckling anyway.

Only Admiral Abraham Dietz and his officers silently observed the atmosphere.

[“Since I’ve already built up trust, bringing them will be easy. You just need to come to meet them. They’re completely convinced I’ll take care of everything.”]

“Yeah, yeah. Honesty and lies are just separated by a hair.”

Bepisha shrugged.

“Actually, I was suspecting you a little. Wondering if you’d forgotten the grace you received from Him. Turns out it was a needless worry. I hadn’t even considered the thought that the kids being offered as sacrifices might kill themselves in battle rather than die to the demons.”

[“Could happen. Don’t care.”]

“Anyway, to even account for that, the vision of the one who chose you is, as expected, never wrong, wouldn’t you say?”

Five days passed after that conversation.

Three Holy Spirit Nation soldiers and one Magic Nation soldier, tied up in spider webs, were dragged to the entrance of the cave.

Beside them walked the spider demons, Salbira, and a Magic Nation general.

“Can’t you move faster?”

Adora whipped the Holy Spirit Nation female soldiers who were lagging. Rachel, who resisted the most, was hit the most. Rachel glared fiercely at Adora.

In the midst of that, the blue crystal cave that was the entrance to the nest appeared.

Bepisha, who had been waiting on the crystal, landed lightly.

“Hello?”

“…Hazukail…?”

“Looks like we have a friend who speaks the language? Nice to meet you.”

Bepisha approached the female soldier wearing the nun’s habit and slowly stroked her face.

“So, you’re the Saintess of this Grand Order, huh? Luminas by race, and white hair like mine. Beautiful, too. It’s been ages since I’ve seen a woman like this.”

The next moment,

SMACK!

“You b*tch to be slaughtered.”

Bepisha slapped Tyria’s face hard.

“I heard all about you from Salbira. Your family name is Casten, right? So you’re a distant descendant of that elven priestess. My blood ran dry from her divine power. I’ll never forget that day. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Impious creature…”

“For someone captured, you’ve got a lot of spirit. Fine, let’s see how long you last.”

Bepisha slapped Tyria across the cheeks several times. Tyria closed her eyes tightly, not uttering a single groan. Both her cheeks flushed red.

“Don’t clench your jaw, open your eyes. Oh, look at that? Does your pretty face need to be covered in blood before you know your place?”

“You should probably stop there.”

One of the Eight Shadows’ mages stopped Bepisha, who was about to slam her fist into Tyria’s face. Not for any humanitarian reason about international law prohibiting the abuse of prisoners…

“If the sacrifice is too badly damaged, the pyre might fail.”

“I know. I was just trying to scare her.”

Bepisha brushed her hands off. As soon as she turned her head, another commotion broke out behind her.

“Hyaaagh!”

A fox beastkin fell face-first. She didn’t just trip, someone had kicked her shin and knocked her over.

“Where does a lowly animal like you get off walking on two legs like a human? I told you to crawl on all fours, didn’t I?”

Adora forced Liyo to her knees and stomped on her back with a military boot. Bepisha wore a deep smile on her lips, seemingly pleased with the sight.

“Hey, aren’t you that messenger who was supposed to come earlier?”

“Victory. This is Major Adora Gepold.”

“So courteous. What took you so long?”

“My apologies. I unexpectedly sustained severe injuries on the way. If it weren’t for Commander Salvira’s assistance, I wouldn’t have been able to carry out the mission entrusted to me by the Führer.”

“All healed up now?”

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

“That’s certainly fortunate. Shall we move along together for now?”

Bepisha and Salvira led the prisoners deeper into the cave. Monstrous-looking creatures stood guard at every turn.

Adora thought to herself. The security is indeed as tight as the Führer described. It was an incredible stroke of luck to be able to pass through here without any hardship.

“We’re here. This is the place of the ritual.”

An altar comes into view.

In the center, a creature resembling tree roots grew, and in front of it, three large cauldrons that seemed to be made of bronze were placed. Below them, hundreds of corpses wrapped in hemp lay scattered about.

The smell of death is thick.

“The Great Sacrifice will begin here. The ritual will be completed by offering the souls of those hard-won sacrifices and the three you brought today. Ah, I’m so looking forward to it!”

“When does the sacrifice begin?”

“In fifteen days, during the fourth full moon.”

“What am I to do until then?”

“What else…”

Bepisha’s gaze lingers on Adora’s waist. Although it was concealed by her overcoat, her hand was ready to draw her weapon at any moment.

Bepisha chuckled and continued.

“Prepare to die.”

There wasn’t even time to register the pain. In the blink of an eye, Adora was slammed into the dirt. A delayed wave of agony crashed through her head.

“Ugh!”

“A low beast like you, trying to walk on two legs, huh?”

Befisha ruthlessly stomped on Adora’s back with her boot.

“Gck, ugh! aaagh!”

“Now that’s a nice cry. Got a much better kick to you than the Saintess.”

“Why… why are you doing this…?”

“Why? You know the reason better than anyone else, don’t you?”

Only then did Salbira reveal her true face.

[“It’s been rough. Playing house with you lot.”]

[“…What?”]

[“I was a little surprised when you two came back alive after I left you to die in the snowy mountains… but I guess I should thank you for being so easily fooled. Anyway, tending to humans was absolutely disgusting. I hope I never have to do that again.”]

Erich, who had been listening to everything, spoke in a cracking voice.

[“Are you saying… you were deceiving us from the very beginning?”]

[“You’re just figuring that out now?”]

[“Why are you doing this! You clearly said you would help us! You said what you’re doing was wrong…!”]

[“Well, that was a lie. Do you trust monsters?”]

Salbira said it like this. From the start, all she wanted were the offerings to the Holy Spirit Nation. She’d been worrying about how to get rid of clueless soldiers from the Magic Nation, and decided to do it this way.

[“Master!”]

[“Funny. Who said I was your master?”]

[“Then everything you taught me until now… was it all a lie?!”]

[“Do I really have to spell it out for you to get it? You’re such a dullard. Everything I taught you was useless, a complete fake.”]

[“…Ha.”]

Erich’s face seemed to have caved in, like he hadn’t eaten in days. Beppisha giggled and clapped her hands.

“Oh, I love that expression. But I won’t kill you, since you’re working with Hazkael now. We’ll take you two to their command headquarters after this ritual, got it?”

Salbira bound Adora with spider silk as well. That made five prisoners in total. Salbira, looking around, asked Beppisha,

[“Where is Admiral Dietz?”]

“He went down to inspect the lower levels. He said it’ll take him a few days to check everything for flaws, with the personnel he has. He’s a real hard worker, isn’t he?”

[“So I’ll have to watch the prisoners until he comes back up.”]

“I’d appreciate that.”

The spreading threads encased Erich and Adora in a cocoon. The two thrashed about, but soon went limp, as if dead. Dozens of large spiders gathered to carry them away.

“Have fun working.”

Beppisha waved goodbye. She stared at Salbira’s head, relentlessly, until she left the center of the altar.

“She’s such an honest kid.”

*

I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m going to die.

But I have to hold on.

Just as my consciousness was fading, the threads covering my face finally came loose. The Captain and I suppressed our urge to cough as much as possible, gasping for the air we had been missing.

[“I’m sorry! Are you alright? Did I do it too tight?”]

[“I, I’m fine. More importantly, where are we?”]

“This is the inside of the cocoon I made beforehand. It’s surrounded by layers and has soundproof magic cast on it, so it should be safe unless you scream really loudly.”

I continued with my question.

“What happened to the women from the Holy Spirit Kingdom?”

“Don’t worry about that, your master will find out soon enough.”

Salbira’s betrayal, which I feared the most, didn’t happen. I’d prepared a teleportation magic stone just in case, but it turned out I didn’t need it. Not yet, anyway.

“Chief, are you alright?”

“Damn it, that vampire. Hits like a goddamn truck…”

Even revealing the Chief Adora’s defection was part of the plan. Training must continue. My master said the more mana you have, the easier it is to reach the level of the Surgeon.

[‘Phew, holding my breath was tough.’]

I managed to bring all the stones without getting caught.

About two weeks left. The women soldiers from the Holy Spirit Kingdom will be sacrificed at the end of the ritual. I have to maximize my mana pool and reach a higher level before then. This is the harshest training I’ve ever gone through.

I sat up straight and started breathing.

Slowly inhale, exhale.

I’m in the second week of fasting, so my body is weakening, but the progress has been incredible. My mana has increased eightfold. The speed is picking up nicely.

“I’ll be going now. Staying here too long will only lead to unnecessary suspicion.”

Taking Salbira’s place is the Chief, and a small spider monster. The cute spider that goes ‘Bbeep-bbee’. You’ll be our supervisor in name only, huh?

Over time, the Chief got the hang of making mana water, and now he can make negative water in less than 30 minutes. The Chief poked my thigh and asked if I wanted a drink.

I nodded, and our lips met once more.

If you just count the number of times, this was exactly our two-hundredth kiss.

“Ooh, Bbeep-bbee…”