[V8C10] Escape
Translated by Jodas 8: The Witch of the BoundaryThe mantis Monster that jumped out from the bushes furiously flapped its wings and leapt, aiming for Oliver’s neck.
Oliver immediately moved to shelter Romy behind his back and lunged with his spear.
The spear missed its mark and the scythe-like front legs cut shallow gashes into Oliver’s biceps.
Oliver made many more attacks with his spear, but none of his strikes landed. Thanks to the mantis’ thin body, it was much harder to land a solid hit.
While it looked like it would be more effective to swing the spear rather than use lunging strikes, the trees around here were too densely packed to do that.
“Oliver, run! Let’s get back to where the incense is!”
In response to Wren’s shout, Oliver nodded “Alright.” and pulled on Romy’s hand as he ran.
Tia and Wren followed after him.
Waddling furiously, Tia raised her voice.
“Everyone, cover your ears for a bit!”
Without many options for combat, there was one thing Tia could do. This was it.
Tia sucked in a deep breath, then projected her voice.
“MONSTER—! THERE’S A MONSTER OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE—! A BIG MANTIS MONSTER—!”
While it was nothing compared to her voice in Harpy form, Tia could still make such a big voice even in human form.
While it was questionable whether her voice reached the Lange manor, at the very least Sevil and the others should be able to hear.
For a brief moment, the mantis froze at the sound of Tia’s voice. Mantises had surprisingly sensitive hearing.
Its intelligence was low, so a song with mental interference capacities wouldn’t work, but she could startle it with a loud voice.
(But I can’t do anything but startle it…!)
In her pocket were the candies that let her return to Harpy form.
In the worst case scenario, she could return to Harpy form and use the songs that worked as a Harpy’s weapon. — But Oliver and Romy were here, so there was no way she could turn back now.
Eventually, the stockade around the village came into view. If they ran along the stockade, they could seek shelter inside the village.
‘Just a little more,’ she thought. And the moment she did—
“—Pyofu!?”
A gasp escaped Tia’s throat. A little after that, she felt a pain between her neck and shoulder.
There was still plenty of distance between her and the mantis Monster behind her. However, another one jumped out from a nearby bush.
The thorns on the inside of its scythe-like front legs cut through Tia’s flesh.
“Tia—!”
Wren shouted Tia’s name. Along with that voice, Tia heard something else. A rustling sound in the bushes to Wren’s left.
(A third one!)
Another mantis Monster jumped from the bushes and raised its scythes high.
With blood dripping from her neck, Tia dashed to shove Wren out of the way.
The thorny scythe ripped through Tia’s side, from her right shoulder to her waist. Unlike a well-sharpened knife, it was not a clean, straight cut. The thorns got caught on her skin and tendons as it tore through her flesh.
“Gyafu!” Tia let out a strained gasp and collapsed onto the ground.
But a Harpy was not so weak as to pass out from this kind of injury. Tia pulled the lever on her Magical Flying Device and activated its wings.
She got into a low stance, set her sights on the nearest mantis… Then jumped into a leaping headbutt.
Then, a different mantis closed the distance and swung both of its scythes into Tia’s back. As if trying to pull her into an embrace.
Its pointed jaw bit into Tia’s neck. The slashing wound on her neck opened up even further, and Tia’s body convulsed.
“Wheeze… Aga– Ah– Ahh…!”
“Let go of Tia—!”
Wren shouted and threw something. It looked like one of the incense burners that had been hanging on the village stockade. He must have run off to grab it at some point.
The mantis recoiled in fear from the smoke seeping out of the incense burner.
The moment its jaw released from her neck, Tia slipped out from the mantis’ grasp.
“Luuuaaaaaaa!!”
Tia grabbed the mantis by the neck and put her whole body weight on it. The mantis collapsed over onto its back.
Bug Monsters had good senses of balance, so it would probably just spring right back up. So, before that could happen, Tia stomped on its head with as much force as she could muster.
While it was inconvenient that human feet didn’t have talons, those flat feet were very handy when you just wanted to crush something.
Tia put all of her weight into the soles of her boots and shattered the mantis’ head beneath her feet.
“…Hah… Ha… wheeze… Hah…”
After confirming that the mantis was dead, Tia stood up.
On her neck, her back, and from her right shoulder to her waist, she’d been cut to shreds and was bleeding all over. She was in a terrible shape.
Wren ran up to her, looking on the verge of tears.
Tia tried to tell him ‘It’s okay,’ but she failed. Instead of words, only strange wheezing breaths came out.
Near the village stockade, Oliver was engaged in combat with the other two mantis Monsters while carrying Romy on his back.
Monsters like them wouldn’t stop moving just because you tore off one or two legs, or because you stabbed its body. Rather than uselessly swinging around a spear, it would be far more effective to take a big rock and smash its head.
As her gaze darted around in search of a good rock, Tia noticed.
Once again, two more mantises emerged from the bushes. This was too much for them to handle.
With blood pooling from her mouth, Tia screamed.
“Oliv… er! … Get… out… of here… wheeze … I… ‘ll… take Wren, so… go!!”
Between coughs and wheezes, Tia activated the Magical Leaping Device and ran towards Wren.
Oliver must have read her intentions.
While keeping the enemies at bay with his spear, he chanted. Flight magic.
Oliver would take Romy, while Tia would take Wren into the air, over the stockade, and into the village. By doing so, they could buy themselves a little bit of time.
(I can’t escape immediately. Then all the Monsters would just go to Oliver. I need to buy time until Oliver finishes his incantation.)
Wren could intuit what Tia was thinking.
Once he checked to make sure there was still smoke coming from the incense burner he threw before, Wren took a big swing and lobbed it towards Oliver.
“HEY! YOU UGLY MANTISES! WE’RE OVER HERE!!”
The incense burner rolled up to Oliver’s feet, causing the mantises to recoil away from the rising smoke.
A few of them, deciding that Tia and Wren who were no longer in the incense smoke looked like good prey, flapped their wings and closed the distance.
At just the right timing, Tia activated the Magical Leaping Device.
“Wren, hold onn…!”
“Got it!”
Wren took care not to put pressure on her wounds and latched onto Tia from the front. Once he was secure, Tia kicked off of the ground and leapt.
One leap wouldn’t be enough to reach the stockade, so first she landed on top of a nearby tree.
As she did that, Oliver activated his flight magic and took to the skies with Romy.
Since Oliver was already right beside the stockade, he was able to soar over it with just that one leap.
“Oliver’s made it so he can go three steps forward now, huh?”
Wren muttered as he held onto Tia from the front.
It wasn’t a very elegant look, but this was the most secure way for them to leap. If they were flying long-distance, she would have him dangle from her feet. But, if she didn’t have free use of her feet when just jumping, she ran the risk of landing on Wren and the whole thing ending up in a disaster.
(Just one more time to cross the stockade…)
Just as she was about to leap over the stockade, four mantises beat their wings and jumped at once, aiming for the tree where Tia was perched.
“Pevuvu…!”
She couldn’t cross the stockade like this. With no other choice, Tia jumped in the opposite direction — leaping away from the village.
As she did, her vision went dark for a second.
Unable to land on the next tree branch, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
“Tia!?”
Wren looked into Tia’s face with concern.
Tia coughed out the blood that had pooled in her mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Vuvu… My wounds… are worse than… I thought. If I don’t recover… in a place with lots of mana… I might be… in trouble…”
“A place with lots of mana…?”
“Vuvuu… Vu…”
The closest place to here where the mana was abundant. And a place where Wren would be safe… She had one idea.
Tia quickly moved to strip off her shirt and boots, pressing them into Wren’s arms. Then, she shoved her hand in her pocket and pulled out the small bottle of candies.
“Wren, grab my legs.”
The mantises were approaching from behind. There was no time left.
Wren grabbed Tia’s ankles. Tia tossed the candy into her mouth.
With the Magical Leaping Device, Tia soared high, high into the air. Then, without any hesitation, she bit down on the candy.
With that intoxicating feeling, white wings emerged from her spread out arms.
They were already a ways away from the village, but still, she could only hope that Oliver hadn’t noticed her doing this.
“Luuuaaaahhhh!!”
She sang out to the spirits of the wind. ‘Lend me your strength. Let me ride on your wind.’
Then, the white-winged Harpy, with a pretty boy hanging from her feet, glided towards the North.