* * *
I had to recover my magic power no matter what.
Unlike me who was starting to run out of breath, the queen was a stamina freak, still seeming quite comfortable.
I picked up one of the mud-caked topopolock corpses lying around and brought it to my mouth, but…
“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The queen immediately attacked me with her claws.
No time to eat!
BOOM BOOM, her sharp claws gouged the ground with thunderous impacts.
I had no choice but to keep evading, fatigue gradually accumulating.
<Let’s flee from the queen for now!>
No, I can’t do that, Extra-sama.
The only reason the queen hasn’t headed for the mansion yet is because her attention is on me.
If I flee, she might start attacking the mansion instead.
Then Sara-chan would be in danger.
<…However, at this rate, Emi is the one in danger. Do you realize? Your 【Body Strengthening】 is losing precision as your magic power depletes. Your movements are lacking sharpness.>
I’m getting pretty tired too.
If I let my guard down for even a moment, I might black out and collapse.
…Whoa, she’s going for a bite attack this time.
I evade, landing a punch to her face in the process and creating some distance.
But yeah, it doesn’t seem very effective.
<Emi, it’s no use. It’s futile. At this rate…you’re the one who will eventually exhaust yourself and collapse. You’re the one who will be killed. …Please, stop fighting further.>
…Extra-sama has started sounding resigned.
<There’s no shame in fleeing. Of course, I understand how important your newfound friendship with that baroness is. But…>
No.
<You have no finisher! No decisive blow that can defeat that queen! Continuing to simply pummel her as you have been won’t be enough to beat her!>
No, no! I absolutely won’t flee!!
<Have you been able to inflict any major damage on her so far!? You haven’t, have you!?>
Shut up!! Just shut up!!!
<No, I won’t be silent!! You have no moves left!! No weapons!! You cannot defeat her with what you have!!!>
…………………….
<Ah…That’s…Emi, I’m sorry. I may have gone too far there, but I…>
…A weapon, huh?
<?…..?……Emi?>
I dashed towards the queen once more.
* * *
The queen was enraged. Furious with rage.
The invasion of the human world.
The construction of a new, comfortable village.
The prosperity of her clan.
This small, scrawny black human wandering around had shattered all her visions of a brilliant future.
No matter how furiously she swung her claws in anger, they wouldn’t connect.
Her 【Poison Breath】 was evaded as well.
A single hit would likely kill this puny black one instantly.
To the queen, she was merely a weak foe.
Or so it should have been, yet she wouldn’t fall. Couldn’t be killed.
And she wouldn’t flee.
Scurrying about in that annoying way, clinging to the queen and refusing to separate.
The queen had never encountered a creature so infuriatingly vexing before.
FWOOSH!
The black one suddenly accelerated again, closing distance to the queen.
And then nimbly scaled up her back once more.
“MIGYAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The sensation of having her own body climbed over was extremely unpleasant.
And if left alone, this black one would start pummeling her back again, just like before.
Painful enough that it needed to be stopped.
“Kkakak!”
Immediately, she prepared to unleash her 【Poison Breath】.
Maneuvering her long neck to glare at the black one clinging to her back with all three eyes.
“!?”
Then the queen’s three eyes flew wide open in shock.
The thick, sword-like spines protruding from her back – her prized spines – several of them had been snapped off!
Naturally, the one who broke them was the black one.
Even now, she was rapidly striking the base of the spines over and over.
In no time at all, cracks formed in their bases, and then…
KIIIIN!
With a solid clang, they broke off.
“BUSHWAAAA!!”
The queen unleashed her 【Poison Breath】, blasting the black one off her back.
Then she stared dumbfounded at her now spineless back.
Topopolock spines never regrow once broken. Once snapped, they’re gone for good.
The spines are armaments to protect them from larger beasts in their youth. For the queen who had grown so massive, they served little purpose anymore.
However, they weren’t completely useless appendages either.
To reiterate – topopolock spines never regrow once broken.
That’s why they cherish their spines so deeply.
Their spines are their treasures, their pride, even symbols of sexual allure.
A topopolock with beautiful, magnificent spines attracts potential mates.
The queen, with her thick, sword-like spines, was naturally the most desirable female in the herd.
So desirable that she even formed her own reverse harem of sorts.
Powerful, the boss of the herd, and highly desired – she was truly a winner in topopolock life.
Yet those prized spines had been snapped off.
No longer could she see any trace of her former glory on her back.
Just a few bare spines left, standing solitary like withered dead trees on a barren hill.
“MII, MII, MIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
Enraged by this, the queen let out an furious scream!
That little black one had…
Shattered her pride, her dignity, utterly disgraced her!!
Going out of her way, further and further, to completely humiliate me!!
Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!!!
Screaming wildly, she stomped the ground, swinging her claws about wildly in blind fury.
…This represented the queen’s biggest mistake in her prolonged battle against Emi.
Emi, that little black one, would never let such an opportunity slip by.
Focusing 【Body Strengthening】 into her legs, she simultaneously used 【Solidify】 to forcibly harden the muddy ground beneath her feet, borrowing the repulsive force generated by her magic power to leap high into the air – the true use of 【Grasshopper】.
In her hand was one of the queen’s own snapped off spines, wet from the rain and dully gleaming like a sword.
When the queen’s massive body shrank to around the size of Emi’s tiny clenched fist, Emi began her descent.
Reinforcing the spine-turned-sword in her grip with 【Solidify】.
Applying an offshoot of 【Mantis】 to imbue it with “cutting” magic power.
Pointing the sharpened tip straight down as she fell directly towards the queen’s back.
Finally managing to rein in her boiling rage, the queen searched for the black one she had momentarily lost sight of.
The very moment she turned her head left and right…
“MIGGYAAAAAAAA!?”
A tearing sound accompanied an immense jolt of pain that ran through the queen’s entire body.
Hastily checking the source on her back, she saw a new “spine” had appeared there.
However, it was upside down.
Topopolock spines are hard and sharp.
While the bases are relatively brittle to allow detachment as an escape if lodged in an enemy, the tips are tremendously durable.
Durable enough to pierce even the queen’s sturdy hide, impale her flesh, and draw blood!
Writhing from the intense pain, the queen rolled about.
How!? Why!?
Having completely lost herself to rage, the queen had left an opening for a sneak attack, now looking around in bewilderment.
That’s when she saw the culprit.
Of course, it was that black one.
Emi had thrust the spine down onto the queen with the force of her descent, then used her magic power to cushion her own landing safely on the ground.
And in her other hand…
She gripped yet another of the queen’s broken spines.
What the queen witnessed next was the black one plunging that spine straight into her side.
“MIGGYAGGYAAAAAAAAA!!!”
Pain! Pain! Stop it, stop already!!
The queen was a remarkably sturdy creature.
Her hide had shrugged off every attack before this.
As such, she was unaccustomed to true pain.
Desperately, desperately, she pleaded for her life.
Any anger from before immediately forgotten.
GUSSHARI
“MIGGYAGGYAGGYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”
Yet the black one showed no mercy, relentlessly continuing her assault!
Repeatedly picking up the thick fallen spines and plunging them into the queen’s writhing, pained body!
Alas, the black one could not understand the topopolocks’ cries – her pleas for life would never reach!!
After driving every last spine into her, the black one leapt onto the prone queen’s back, raining down punishing blows as the final insult.
“MI, MIGYA, MIGYAA…..”
Each strike was a 【Magic Strike】 with the devastating power to shatter rock.
With every blow, blood sprayed from the wounds where spines had been driven in.
Gradually, ever so gradually, the queen’s consciousness began to fade.
The final sight she witnessed was…
The small black human clinging to her immobilized body, then clamping down with 【Body Strengthening】-enhanced jaws to greedily drink her spilled blood.