It's here

Whenever Vish wasn't busy tinkering around turrets, she would seek Catherine with enough tenacity to call it a homecoming instinct.

As she decided that Catherine was the only other being who appreciated the runes on a similar level, the tiny Kobold that seemed to seemed to top growing completely.

Catherine enjoyed the company of the enthusiastic Vish, not only gaining a lot of proficiency with the rune magic constructs but also coming to greatly like the tiny Kobold.

Although that positivity didn't extend to a particular group of Kobolds to the same degree…

"Winner is Ross!"

"Whoa~! Even against Kaze and Jira!"

"Fufufufu~! Me… umm. I told you that Ross is the best!"

"Eeeehhhh?! How is he so fast?!"

A group of sandstone-scaled kobolds was cheering on a massive Pigkin Orc, Ross, with excitement, all with their eyes sparkling as they watched him race another one of their brethren.

The loudest and most enthusiastic supporter of the Pigkin Orc was Otti, the young Kobold who was the first to meet Melinda's group almost two weeks ago.

"Ross~! Ross~! You're the best!"

As the race concluded, she rushed over to Ross and offered him a towel.

"Tsk."

"Catie, you're making that face again."

Catherine, having a lunch break by the benches in the square's corner together with Vish, glared at the group of guardian Kobolds and clicked her tongue, making the tiny Kobold crunching mana crystals next to her poke the human girl's side with her elbow.

"Wheew… Hmm? Oh, umm… much appreciated, Otti."

The Pigkin Orc stripped down to his waist, trying to cool down and showing off his burly torso glistening with sweat, before noticing the young Kobold and taking the towel off her hands.

"Kyaah~!"

The sight alone made Otti squirm happily as she let out an amazed voice while staring in awe at the powerful muscles move under the Pigkin Orc's skin as he was wiping his face and then neck, chest, and back.

"Tsk!"

"Catie…"

Seeing that, Catherine straightened her back and clicked her tongue louder, while Vish poked her side a bit harder.

"Umm… R-Ross… Can… Can I touch your muscles?

"Muscles?"

Otti fidgeted before timidly asking a very bold question, making Ross tilt his head in confusion.

"Y-yeah… muscles… you know…"

The little Kobold didn't back down at all and instead flexed her scrawny arm to show what she meant.

"Sure."

The Pigkin Orc furrowed his brows for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaning down and flexing his only full arm.

"Fu… fufufufu~ Ufufufufufu…~"

Instead of enjoying it from her spot, Otti ducked under Ross's arm and pressed her back against his leg, and only then did she reach out and pull his arm closer while letting out a rather dubious giggle…

…she sure made it seem as if the Pigkin Orc was holding her close in a possessive manner…

*WHAM*

"TH-THAT LITTLE V-VIXEN!"

That was way too much for Catherine to handle calmly, and she slammed her fists against the table and stood up, all red from fury.

"CATIE!"

Vish ended up calling out the human girl's name and grabbed onto her shoulder, even shaking it urgently.

"D-d-don't hold me b-back, Vish! Th-that th-th-thiving cat is g-g-getting grabby with my m…!"

"Catie! There is something odd going on with the turrets!"

Catherine continued clenching her fists and hissed through her teeth, but the tiny Kobold by her side shook her head and pointed at all the turrets, both those alongside the mountain range and those surrounding the valley's edges.

"...!?"

Catherine, initially thinking that Vish was simply trying to divert her attention, glanced at the magic defense systems that should be stagnant, only to freeze up as her eyes widened.

All turrets were active, moving together as if tracking a certain target…

"!!!"

That target, appearing to be none other than Ross!

"V-Vish…?! Wh-why are they t-ta-targetting him?!"

"I don't know! His signature should be registered as friendly! I double checked it!"

As the light of the runes didn't come on - which would mean that the turrets were about to fire - there was time for Catherine to ask and for Vish to respond anxiously.

But then…

Each turret had three runes, one shooting out fire spells, one for ice spells, and one for electric ones. They were set to alternate between them at different intervals each, so that all three types of magic would seek their target at the same time…

And at that moment, red, blue, and violet lights began to shine from all of them…!

"R… ROSS! WATCH OUT!"

"!!!"

Catherine was in such panic that she defeated her stutter and shouted, causing the Pigkin Orc to flinch…

"Bu-hi!"

At the next moment, without even looking for the danger he was being warned about, Ross let out a low growl and rushed forward, grabbing not just Otti, but all of the sandstone-scaled Kobolds approaching him, and charged forward…

"SHING*

And not a second too late....!

"...wh-what the…?"

…but what he managed to dodge wasn't the onslaught of spells from the magic turrets - they didn't even begin to fire properly after all - and it caused Catherine to stagger back.

No, what Ross dodged was a massive black blade protruding straight from the ground - the exact spot he was just a second ago!

The black blade that pierced the empty air didn't sink back into the ground. Instead, it began pushing forward, revealing itself to be a sword as the crossguard emerged from the puddle of deep shadow, followed by a handle…

…held firmly by an arm clad in an oxidized black armor…

The hand was followed by equally gigantic forearm, elbow, arm, shoulder, and then…

*WHOOO* *ZAAAP* WHOOSH*

As three half-rotten frost-covered normal human-sized heads pierced the veil of shadow and reached the outside world, the onslaught from the turrets began in earnest, and fireballs, electro orbs, and frost spheres cascaded towards the emerging monster.

"GRAAAGH!" "BU-WAAAGH!?" UGHAAAAGH…!"

One male human head, one female half-elf head, and one male wolf beastman head, to be specific, all steaming from and crammed into a stumpy neck oozing with greenish-black blood or some other viscous liquid cired out at the same time, hurriedly puling up its other arm quipped with a carriage-sized shield in attempt to defend itself.

Alas, it seemed the volley of spells was nothing more than an annoyance as the abomination did not even attempt to retreat, instead pushing forward until it emerged from the shadow completely.

Three rotting heads on the armor-clad torso of a giant, fused into the back of the body of a truly humongous body of horse with a fleshless skull of a panther. A skull missing its lower jaw, but with empty eyesocket burning bright with an eerie greenish-blue light.

"""EUGHNOUGH!"""

*THUMP*

The abominable creature shaped like a horse-mounted knight howled, and despite the three heads on his neck being almost completely rotten, their command sent a shockwave filled with magic power sweeping through the valley and up the mountain slopes.

"BOOOOM*

For a moment, the active runes in the turrets shone brightly as if supercharged, only to explode simultaneously, rendering the defense system useless.

"It… IT OVERLOADED THE CIRCUITS WITH MANA?! HOW MUCH MANA DOES IT HAVE?!"

Vish was the first to recover from the shock, and her high-pitched screech pierced the heavens.

"Choghes…"

"Ohur choghes…"

"Ghey ghagh gheghe…!"

As if to respond to the tiny Kobold, the Frenzied Deep-Dusk Dullahan turned around, and the three heads spoke up something unrecognizable before taking a step towards Vish.

"Ch-charge…"

Catherine grabbed one of the mama crystals that the shockwave knocked from Vish's plate and mumbled while clenching it…

"HMPH!"

Then she scoffed while tossing it towards the beast.

The creature was so massive that even with a weak throw, the mana crystal that turned from pale blue to murky red ended up beneath it.

"Whoa?!"

The next moment, Catherine grabbed Vish and rushed towards the building, causing the tiny Kobold to cry out in surprise.

"H-hey! Let go!"

"We have to fight it!"

"Yeah! We're guards!"

"Enough! Don't be stupid! That's not something any of us can fight!"

Ross, carrying all the squirming sandstone-scaled Kobolds, followed after the human girl, scoffing at the Kobolds who complained loudly.

"Ghayght…!"

"Ghegh ghagh ghe choghs…?!"

"Ghough cho…"

*SHING*

The abomination's heads gurgled and tried to take another step, but at that moment Catherine's mana crystal shone brightly and dozens of murky-red spikes erupted straight up, stabbing into its abdomen.

"GHAAAAGHAGHAGAHGAAH!"

Most of them broke on the Dullahan's skin, but some penetrated it, and those shattered into fine splinters that dug deeper and deeper into its greenish-black flesh, causing an inhuman howl to emerge not from any of the heads but rather the creature's neck.

Pain.

Frenzied Deep-Dusk Dullahan wasn't even aware that it could experience it anymore.

"YHOUUUUU…!"

And it certainly didn't like it, as the ear-piercing growl erupted from its neck again, causing one of the heads to partially detach and slump down - hanging on to only by a disgusting viscous substance.

"..."

From the window of the room on the highest floor, Melinda was watching the boss monster with an indifferent expression.

As Catherine's attack infuriated it, the gold-haired girl frowned and raised her hand, winding up her finger for a flick…

"...tsk…"

Only to squint her eyes with a disgusted expression, click her tongue, and shake her head.

"I shouldn't aim down… also, it's Zane's kill…"

Melinda sighed and stood up, walking towards the door.

"Brightness! Where are you going?!"

Sarmi looked between the leaving human and the infuriated monster and cried out anxiously.

Just a moment ago, the two of them were having a conversation about the direction the Koboldia town was going, but that had to wait now.

"If I want to be a backup and not an even worse threat, I need to get down there so I can aim up."

Melinda shrugged her shoulders and explained already on her way out.

"But…!"

"Don't worry. Zane's already there~"

As the gray-scaled Kobold called out, all shaken, the gold-haired girl smiled reassuringly, motioned towards the window with her chin, and winked.