Ch.2Holy Maiden Punch

The structures pass by in an instant.

“Waaaaaah!!!”

“Please be quiet, you might bite your tongue.”

“W-we went too far! We’ve come too far!!!”

A sudden stop. Impact.

The shockwave from the abrupt deceleration sweeps across the road.

“How far have we come?”

“J-just a moment… time…”

Released from Eila’s arms, the man promptly emptied the contents of his stomach.

Even roller coasters at amusement parks aren’t this intense.

If just going in a straight line was this bad, what if there had been curves or steep slopes?

Cold sweat trickled down at the thought that his internal organs might have been turned to mush.

“Huff, huff… Not that far. We just need to go down there.”

“Go down, you say?”

The place the man pointed to was a staircase.

Stairs leading underground.

She had heard of it before. Trains that run underground. The name was definitely…

“Subway?”

“Come on, let’s hurry inside.”

The man descended the stairs.

Eila followed.

The staircase was short.

At the bottom of the stairs was a passageway lined with shops on both sides.

No train was in sight.

“Where’s the train?”

“Why are you looking for a train in an underground shopping mall?”

What’s an underground shopping mall?

“Hurry up and follow me, we need to go straight that way.”

“Wait a moment, I still haven’t heard your explanation. What’s happening?”

“I already explained earlier. Besides, aren’t you a hunter who came in response to the support request?”

“What is… a hunter?”

Automatic translation magic isn’t perfect.

For example, proper nouns remain untranslated, appearing as they are.

So Eila’s confusion was understandable.

“What?”

Of course, it sounded different to the man.

The man became confused.

He slowly examined Eila standing before him.

A build that suggested she had just reached adulthood.

Her hair was white, but hair color no longer served as a means to distinguish people, so that was irrelevant.

Attire resembling a nun’s habit, with a sword fastened at her waist.

She didn’t seem like an ordinary person, considering the human rocket display on the road earlier and the sword at her waist.

And she couldn’t be a foreigner who didn’t understand, since their conversation was going smoothly…

“A hunter is, well… someone who hunts?”

A literal translation was the best the man could offer.

He had never really thought about the dictionary definition of a hunter.

A profession that involves beating up monsters that come out of dungeons?

It was difficult to explain.

The term “hunter” probably originated from novels anyway.

But Eila seemed satisfied with that explanation and replied:

“I’m not a hunter. I’m a Holy Maiden. Please address me correctly.”

Is she crazy?

Holy Maiden?

It seemed like a joke, but her attitude was confident.

The man sighed.

Well, she seemed skilled enough.

In the current situation, he didn’t care if she was mentally unstable as long as she was helpful.

“Fine, now hurry and move forward—”

SCREEEECH!!!!!

“Damn it, are we too late?”

The man drew his gun.

If he had known she could move that fast, he would have brought proper weapons.

How much help would this emergency backup weapon be…

Kirrrrk…

A nerve-grating sound.

It was coming from ahead.

Something was approaching.

“Damn, did the containment line break? Surely they haven’t gotten outside the underground mall…?”

The man backed away while loading his gun.

To maintain distance from whatever it was.

And then that something came into view.

“Shit, it’s a Hellbiter.”

A curse escaped the man’s lips.

Hellbiter.

A C-grade monster.

With its large mouth and four legs, the monster was fast and difficult to subdue with a gun.

Even if you hit it with bullets, a pistol’s firepower couldn’t penetrate those massive teeth.

If there was any chance, it would be with a sword.

“Why, here of all places.”

“H-hey?”

“Ah, hahaha, HAHAHAHA!!”

What the hell? What’s going on?

Why is she suddenly laughing like a maniac?

And so loudly too?

Doesn’t she know these things are sensitive to vibrations?

“Ah, Lord! Forgive this humble servant who doubted Your will even for a moment…”

“Fuck.”

Has she lost her mind?

The woman was praying with her hands clasped, facing the sky.

Though being underground, she couldn’t see the sky.

Regardless, this wasn’t a normal situation.

“The Lord sees all things and always prepares the way, and I believe that the path will open to those who believe, and the Lord’s will shall be done.”

She’s insane.

Looking at her behavior, she was going to be more hindrance than help.

He pulled the trigger.

Bang-!

And.

Clang!

“Grrrr…..”

“Shit. Damn…”

The bullet hit its mark, but unfortunately struck the teeth.

With a metallic ring, the deflected bullet embedded itself in the floor.

“KIRRR–!!”

“Hey, get out of the way!”

The creatures are charging.

Four of them.

Too many for two people to handle.

Especially when one of them is busy praying.

“I believe, I believe, Lord. The Lord always watches over everything in the world from the lowest to the highest places, and His mercy and grace shall never run dry…”

“You crazy bitch! I said move!”

The man shouted.

At the same time, a monster lunged at Eila.

“…However.”

BOOM–!!!

“W-what?!”

What just happened?

Dust, thunderous noise, explosion.

And.

The smell of blood.

As the dust settled, the scene gradually became visible.

“However. Why. Why are you not satisfied?”

Eila stood unharmed in the midst of the dust.

“The Hellbiter…”

With a splashing sound, Eila walked toward the monsters.

Blood.

The sound of flesh being stepped on.

The Hellbiter’s… corpse under her feet?

She killed it?

In one strike?

But her sword was still sheathed at her waist.

“Not content with our world, now you even touch the hero’s homeland.”

Slowly, forward.

“Thou, be not proud. The Lord is greater than anything in the world, and all things in the world are equal under the Lord.”

Black blood dripped from her tightly clenched fist.

“Thou, do not covet too much. Before the Lord, you come with empty hands and return with empty hands, so think first of what you can give rather than what you can receive.”

With each word she uttered, the air grew heavy.

“KIAAAK!!!”

“KRRAAK!”

“KIRRRRRK–!!”

“D-danger–!”

The three remaining creatures, seemingly sensing danger instinctively, charged toward Eila.

Facing three Hellbiters simultaneously would be challenging even for a B-grade hunter.

If bitten once by those solid teeth, that part of the body would be torn off.

No matter where you’re bitten, it’s over.

But Hellbiters have their teeth as shields.

With a crunching sound, two Hellbiters bit into Eila’s body.

One on her left leg. The other on her right arm.

Fortunately, the third one was circling around.

No, that’s not fortunate—once those two parts are torn off, it will go for her neck.

This opportunity couldn’t be wasted.

The man quickly reloaded and aimed his gun at the Hellbiters.

The moment they completely bite through and turn their bodies would be his chance.

The man waited patiently.

…Wait?

Hold on, why are they still biting her limbs?

That’s when it happened.

“It’s been a while. Eritiksona. It’s been so long that I forgot how to fight you.”

Sensing something was wrong, the creatures tried to open their mouths to escape.

But that was a poor choice.

BOOM!!!

Once again, an explosion, dust.

And blood spraying in all directions.

“Ha, haha, insane…”

The man let out a hollow laugh.

He hadn’t seen it before, but this time he did.

In an instant.

The moment they released their teeth.

The one biting her left leg was crushed under her left foot, and the one biting her right arm was grabbed with both hands and torn in half.

“What kind of physical enhancement…”

“Lord, I see, so this is why I was brought here? Yes, of course… The hero came to save us, so I must save the hero’s world!”

“KIEEEK—!!”

CRUNCH!!

The last Hellbiter, rushing in to avenge its comrades, pathetically became a lump of meat stuck to the floor.

Normally, this would be the moment to sigh with relief, but not now.

As mentioned earlier, Hellbiters are sensitive to vibrations.

Fighting them while stomping on the ground would lead to predictable consequences.

Click!

Click!

Click! Click!

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

“We’re fucked. Seems like we’ve summoned every Hellbiter in the vicinity.”

The threatening sound of large teeth clashing together.

That sound echoed countless times.

The number was roughly… no, it was pointless to count. There were too many.

Everything turned black, with flashes of white appearing and disappearing.

The clicking sounds reverberated from all directions.

But it didn’t matter.

No, this was the intended situation.

Why are there monsters in this world too? That’s not important.

What matters is the opportunity for atonement given to me now.

Clenching her fist, she slowly gathered the energy flowing within her body.

From the heart to the legs.

From the legs to the head.

From the head to the abdomen.

From the abdomen to the fists.

Gathering power.

It had been an arduous journey.

Against monsters, just providing blessings and healing from behind wasn’t enough.

So she learned.

She had to learn everything, without discrimination.

Though she had no talent for swordsmanship or archery, fortunately, she could handle basic magic and martial arts.

“Detection.”

With a tingling sensation, she gained an overhead view of the world.

Straight ahead, there were no living people in the direct path.

Eritiksona (the biting ones).

Here they call them Hellbiters.

It doesn’t matter. Their weaknesses and ecology were the same.

She looked at them filling the corridor.

Heat emanated from her fist.

Memories surfaced.

Memories of times that had become nostalgia, times that could never return.

‘Remember, keep your fist straight! And your stance firm!’

That short, stocky dwarf who was always shouting and boasting about being a great warrior.

Still, she didn’t dislike him.

Fist straight, stance firm.

She unleashed the gathered power with her fist.

“W-wait! What are you doing–!”

The man’s voice couldn’t finish.

As Eila thrust her fist forward, an explosion and flash of light swept through the underground mall.

When everything settled, what entered the man’s eyes was:

“…Insane.”

No corpses, no buildings.

Nothing remained but an empty corridor.