I picked myself up after that shameful incident, and when the Scythe-Man tried to impale me again, Floette shielded the scalding scythe with her forearms crossed.
"It's a man's duty to protect a woman, but it's the other way around. How could you wield a weapon against a delicate specimen? I'm not a dummy, I'm wife material."
"You're a Ghoul. Nothing more; nothing less. You're not like real women!"
"That cuts me deep! That's the cut that always bleeds."
"For the record, you're not as fragile as you think. You have the strength of a hundred redcaps!"
I saw her bleed, yet the more she's hurt, the more gratification she gets.
Women in this world are a force to reckon with.
She let out a menacing groan, and the repulsive force of her echo sent Scythe-Man rolling backwards.
I took a leap of faith and grabbed the scythe, and to break the curse passed onto it, I need to stab the blade with something sharp, more like hallowed, and there's no sharp and hallowed object in my possession other than the arrow, which is a total scam in combat.
When I retrieved the first ever fragment of the Diamond Oyster, Scythe-Man's body slowly turned to embers.
Whip-Man came to avenge his cohort, and when he lashed the thunderous whip, Floette snatched it and pulled the man closer to her.
"Are you any different from your co-juiceheads?" Floette asked him apathetically. "Or are you simply wanting to hurt me because it's your form of love language?"
"You're a sadist, freak!" Deriu retorted.
"Don't question why humanity loathes you, skin and bones. You're sick!"
"Funny," Floette said, bored. "I thought you were inflicted with a terminal uniqueness, but you prove that you're birds of a feather with Urben. You should flock together."
Floette grappled him until his body exploded, leaving chunks of flesh scattered on the ground.
Covered in blood, Floette picked up the diamond fragment.
"I defeated two of our enemies, and as your token of gratitude, the diamond fragments must be in my care," she demanded.
"Just because you've already proven how strong you are doesn't mean you're worthy of protecting it," I pointed out. "I trusted you to go along with me, but frankly speaking, I don't know if I can rely on you the fragments."
She fizzled when I grabbed the fragment from her grasp, and when she tried to scrape me with her claws, I commanded her to keep a one-meter distance away from me.
"Argh! If only I wasn't betrothed to this curse, I'd have slayed a notorious group of Ghouls Pinkswan-diving in a pile of cash. Moreover, I just can't take it that I'm enslaved to a mere mortal!"
I gasped. "If you keep talking like that, you'll deprive yourself of trust from us, as well as freedom."
When Agnos found out that his comrades were already defeated, he immediately receded, but doubtless he'll be back to avenge them.
In spite of that, I presume Rosenth willfully let him run away.
"First, it angers me that the only man in our group still needs saving from women and, not to mention, the puffed-ball bug, namely Kooki. Second, it angers me that this well-raised daughter, namely Rosenthale Lauvender, showed mercy when she could effortlessly slit Agnos' throat and acquire the fragments. Being a mortal and dumb at the same time is lifespan-reducing."
I gasped.
I must get used to Floette's ballistic mouth.
•••
Oshiri Glaze is the region outside the walled nation of Earthron.
The monks from Oshiki Temple have full authority over this vast area.
It is surrounded by towering trees and various plants. Various wonders of nature can be found here. Various Meadow Ferals live in this place.
Even so, Oshiri Glaze is no safe place, considering terror is also dominant.
If only I had my bicycle, I wouldn't be sweating myself up hiking a precarious route. I quenched my thirst with the water flowing by the river, and man, it tasted putrid! Floette just plunged into the water as I took a drink.
"It must be delightful that you just had a taste of me," she said beguilingly while washing her blue hair. It has come to my senses now that this Ghoul is conscious about hygiene, which is an irrelevant custom in this era. "Swim with me so you can have more."
"Your flirtatious antics won't work on me."
She glared at me as if I had bruised her ego.
"How come a youngster like you experiences erectile glitch beforehand?"
"I'm not what you think I am. I'm not a hedonist."
"Or maybe you just don't like girls."
"I don't like indecent girls, just to be clear."
"You're just as mediocre as the boys who are disinterested in me."
I've been reading Floette since the day she became a part of my team, and oftentimes she's like a pulp full of plot twists.
You'll never know what's her next trick. If she's trying to be seductive at this moment, the next minute she could be passive-aggressive.
What a total psycho.
But she's of great help. She caught enough Creamfish for our lunch. And she can make a real man out of me.
We took temporary shelter under the foliage of a Mongolian tree. While eating the roasted Creamfish, I saw her perching on a tree branch, seemingly lost in thought. I've never seen her so serious since the day I met her. Kooki suddenly sat beside me, munching his fish.
"What do you think she's thinking about?" he asked.
"Why would I bother unraveling what's going on inside her head?" I replied. "She has done a lot of terrible things, and she's probably trying to make peace with her past. Let's let her be and enjoy our food."
Although I enjoyed my meal, the Diamond Oyster let me catch a glimpse of her life.
She's been thinking about Kiosk: his build, his physique, his stance, his grin, his arrogant grin, his warm and tender smile. There's a part of her that blames herself for his death.
Kooki's ears flapped for a second as if he detected an incoming distress call.
We were ushered to our dining position upon the arrival of a group of men in robes and pointed hats—the warlocks.
A man with an arcane aura stepped out. He has whisker scratches on his cheeks, and among the warlocks facing us, his staff is the most intricate. He must be their leader.
Floette jumped off from the tree and faced the man heedlessly, wanting to mock.
"Gone are the days of your youth, and now you're looking like a battered cucumber, Shogun."
Shogun didn't flinch.
"We heard about your saunter," Shogun stated, but the look in his eyes implied that I'm the reason for it all, and that look disgusted me. "The Oshiki Temple monks made a foolish decision by sparing your life. The High Warlock, Kiosk, died protecting the Diamond Oyster from opportunistic Ghouls like you, and to offer him justice, we, the warlocks from High Range Hills, are designated to exterminate you. And as for the boy who helped you escape, we'll send him to the world where he fits in, assuring he can't return to Meadowglaze."
I got in their way because this Shogun in warcraft cosplay has no idea about my mission, and I don't intend to tell him about it.
I want to shake off all his gall for disturbing our lunch.
"Outsiders like you have no place in Meadowglaze. Having you in our world just intensifies the disorderliness," he added, sounding villainous.
"You don't know what you're talking about, male-witch!"
"Bite me if my proposition isn't entirely plausible."
Shogun was about to cast a bombarding spell when I took my bow and arrow, neglecting the fact that if propelled, it might fly in a different direction.
Still, I released the arrow; it turned into a broadsword, and commendably, it shielded us.
I obtained several grazes when the blade broke into shards.
"Don't you know that it's a universal malfeasance to use that weapon?"
When will this prickly turd refrain from talking? Aside from the fact that he's as green as a cactus, each time he throws a word, it spikes me. Must be one of his witchcrafts.
"Who knows? I once saw Grandpa use this to hunt deer in the forest, and no patrolling foresters objected, so I think it's legal to use."
"The possessors of the bones that made up that archer kit have had everlasting transgression to the universe. Luckily, Oshirin backed up those who wield it, and they're free to use it, but he can't erase the truth - that's a major key to planetary destruction."
"This archer kit a weapon to destroy the world? LOL. Dude, I had a hard time using it, and oftentimes it's of no use. Maybe this is a collector's item, which is why you're eager to have it. But, sorry, it belonged to my Grandpa, and it's priceless."
Floette, with her agility and sharp claws, withstood the attacks of the other warlocks, and due to her detestation, she couldn't be stopped from slaying them.
Blood covered her hands.
Rosenth, with his bone-made spear, helped push away the enemies as though she didn't want to hurt them.
Kooki used his cloud-summoning incantations to barricade us.
Shogun's uncomic facade made me twitch, but I held onto my bow and made eye contact with him.
Floette then came to my rescue and used her long, wavy, moving hair to fight back the warlocks' reigning leader. But the attack was advantageous for Shogun, because a single strand of her hair tied to a cornhusk doll put Floette under his control.
Shogun manipulated and played with the doll in order to make Floette bathe in her own sweat of anguish. He even pierced the doll with a needle, then finally summoned a boiling cauldron and drowned the doll in it.
Floette grappled herself on the ground, and I levitated for a second before I flopped beside her. Shogun's slap was so hard and mighty that it overwhelmed me. Grasping the bow, I crawled with all my strength but flew back again when Shogun walloped me.
"I have several assumptions about what got into you that made you release the Ghoul from its prison, but the most obvious reason is that you were convinced by your own self-righteousness."
His speech was a headache alleviator.
"You and Kiosk are alike in some aspects. If he's alive, he'll despise you and send you right back to your dimension, but I feel satisfaction in beating you, so I'll just let you stay for longer until you're unable to stand on your own two feet," he added, sounding calm but vile.
I witnessed torment as blood golted out of Shogun's mouth. Floette's arm came out through his chest. Clasping his heart, Floette seemed to have forgotten that lately she was being tormented. A cunning sneer could be seen on her face.
When Shogun fell breathless on the ground, his remaining comrades immediately retreated, poised their staffs, and were seen escaping up into the sky.
We spent all afternoon digging graves for the warlocks who lost their lives to Floette's claws. The sun is setting, and Rosenth offered her prayer to the late Shogun, whom we helped give a proper resting place.
It's getting darker, and we need to find shelter, or else we'll camp outside with the soul-sucking mosquitoes. We're exhausted and famished too.
We continued our journey until we arrived at a small village, but it seems like this village was deserted. Not only that, but if not abandoned, the houses were totally destroyed.
Suddenly, I feel a pang of eeriness.
"This was caused by a Ghoul," declared Floette.