“Is it Sister Leya? That’s wonderful! Sister Leya, you’re the first human friend I’ve ever made! So, am I the first elf friend you’ve ever made?”
Clearly, the young girl had automatically filtered out any mention of ‘Saber.’ Yet, in her heart, she pondered with confusion, ‘What a strange name that is. I’ve never heard a language like that before. It must be a codename, right? I’ll just stick to her real name. Hmm!’
“…………”
Leya gazed at Erica, whose eyes brimmed with hopeful anticipation, and an inexplicable flicker of fear suddenly stirred within her. This wasn’t a fear born of a disparity in strength, but rather the overwhelming pressure one felt in the presence of someone utterly beyond their ability to handle.
Yet, unwilling to disappoint Erica, Leya deliberated for a long moment before finally, truthfully, saying, “Yes, that’s right.”
“Really? Oh, that’s truly wonderful! I’m so happy! If we’re friends, then it’s only natural for us to live together, adventure together, and share our lives, right?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right… er…”
“Yay!—This is great!”
“No, that was a slip of the tongue, Erica. You can’t take a slip of the tongue seriously!”
“Oh—but I heard that knights in your human society are supposed to be people of their word, aren’t they? And besides, I’m still so small. What if I get captured by bad people again…”
‘A knight… a knight!’
“Indeed, Erica, you are right. As a knight, I should not have spoken so rashly just now. Therefore, I apologize for my previous words and actions!”
‘Ah!—’
‘I’m going to die! What kind of damn knight am I? Reject her, me! This is a conspiracy; an elf who can cry on command is absolutely not normal! And why does she know so much about knights? This is clearly no ordinary elf. I should escape this trouble as soon as possible and get out of here quickly!’
“Hehe, I knew Sister Leya wouldn’t abandon me! This is truly wonderful!”
“Mm…”
‘I feel as though my body is becoming less and less under my control…’
“Speaking of which, Sister Leya, why are you here?”
“Me? I just wanted to see how powerful I was, er…”
Though Leya wrestled with intense inner turmoil, truly wishing to confess, ‘[I just wanted to see how powerful I am in this state, damn it! You fiend!]’
In reality, however, her words were cut short. Immediately, after a correction by her ‘Knightly Spirit,’ she blurted out, “I saw traces of carriage wheels on the road. As I was also heading to the nearest city to settle, I followed the tracks and then came upon this situation.”
‘How many minutes are left? Ahhh… I wish this would end quickly. My compatibility with this Saber persona is truly terrible. Please, can we stop dwelling on these trivial matters!’
‘And you didn’t even tell the whole truth, did you?!’
‘No… wait!’
‘If I’m being honest, after transforming into Saber, I really… I really did think that way, and I acted on it! It’s completely disconnected from my previous thoughts!’
‘Does that mean, in that unconscious moment, my Saber self overruled my original self’s intentions!?’
“…………”
“To the nearest city? Is it a human city?”
Leaving aside Leya, who was utterly terrified by her own conjecture,
It was evident that Erica, at this moment, looked truly disappointed, her small head drooping, her words growing significantly fewer.
[Rustle—]
Just then, a sound like rustling branches emanated from behind them.
However…
Leya, whose danger intuition was exceptionally powerful at this moment, immediately sensed something amiss. This feeling was all too familiar to her now; it was…
The prelude to an ambush!
Thanks to Saber’s formidable war-sense, Leya’s gaze instantly turned cold. She drew her sword in a flash, spun around, and slashed upwards into the air.
[Clang—]
Indeed, as the sound of metal clashing reverberated, Leya confirmed that what she had struck down was a long metal arrow, though it now lay severed in two.
The ominous truth, however, was that judging by the force, this enemy was likely far stronger than Sherman. Moreover, the time she could maintain Artoria’s form was rapidly dwindling. Once that time elapsed…
The consequences were unimaginable!
“Who’s there!?”
…………
However, the opponent offered no response. Erica, seeing that the situation was dire, reached out a small hand and clutched Leya’s cloak in fright, shrinking her head back, no longer daring to glance around.
“You have the audacity to ambush me, yet you lack the courage to face me directly?”
Leya’s expression was exceedingly grim. As a swordswoman, anyone facing such a situation would hardly be pleased. She couldn’t fight them directly, nor could she pursue them. What in the world was happening?
“Scum, scum scum scum… scum scum scum…”
Suddenly, from the dense, seemingly endless jungle that covered the mountains and plains, countless goblins emerged, each about 1.2 meters tall and armed with a variety of weapons.
A glance revealed thousands of them, at the very least!
“Hiss—”
‘Holy cow! No way! This formation suggests ill intent! Are these bastards trying to kill me?’
[Ding-dong—Temporary mission activated: Defeat the goblin army and successfully behead the goblin leader within the remaining three minutes of transformation time. Mission success rewards one intermediate divine power storage card. Mission failure carries a 99.99% chance of being captured by the goblin army after the transformation ends.]
Leya: “…………”
‘Are you kidding me, System… Do you really have to be like this?’
Thousands of goblins! While she could certainly handle them in her Saber state, even if they were all useless and stood still for her to cut down one per second, it would still take an incredibly long time!
‘Tsk tsk…’
‘I hadn’t wanted to use this move, not when I wasn’t holding Excalibur. I had planned to save my first use for Excalibur, after all…’
‘However, since things have come to this, I can no longer hesitate.’
Gripping the Sword of the Victor tightly, her gaze, sharp as a torch, swept across her surroundings.
“Then… you shall personally experience the might of the sword I bear!”