Interlude

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Interlude

Within a forest──
A young lady was running.
She was out of breath, and came out from the gap between the trees.
Her silk dress got caught on leaves and branches which tore it to pieces.
Because they were hard to run in, she kicked off her high heels. She stepped on pebbles with her bare feet, making her face distort from the pain. Blood flowed out.
The one that was ahead of her was a female Holy Knight──Tolia.
「This way, Lumachina-sama! Once we get out of this forest, we will be able to reach the town!」
「Y, yes!」
「ッ!? Watch out!!」
The ground burst open.
Being held in the arms of the female Holy Knight Tolia right when things had become perilous, the young lady──Lumachina was saved.
「Hau!?」
「Kuh……S, so, they’ve already caught up……」
Tolia drew her sword.
Lumachina raised a scream.
An enormous worm appeared out from the ground. It had blocked their path.
Being emerald green and having a slimy epithelium, it had a mouth that looked like it could swallow a person whole. It looked like it had neither eyes nor a nose, but it accurately grasped their location.
「Lumachina-sama, please don’t leave my side!」
「E, even I can fight!」
She tightly grasped her holy symbol.
Tolia smiled, and nodded.
「Yes……I leave the healing to you. Though I don’t intend on taking any negligence against an opponent of this degree……!!」
She brandished her sword, and went forward.
The ground that she stepped on collapsed.
「Wha!?」
What was at the bottom of the ground that opened up like a pitfall, was a gigantic mouth.
──A large scale worm!?
Apart from the one in front of their eyes, it seemed that a second worm set up a trap.
「Tolia!」
Lumachina called out to her.
The female Holy Knight struck her long sword at the new worm that appeared. The silver blade cut up the monster’s mouth.
However, in defiance of that damage, the enormous mouth closed down on her.
「Uwah!?」
The lower half of Tolia’s body was eaten by the worm. Her armor was crushed, her flesh was torn, and her bones were broken.
「KUAAaAaAAAaaah──ッ!?」
Just like that, she was dragged underground.
Lumachina desperately frantically her hand out.
「Grab on, Tolia!」
However, the female Holy Knight did not grab that hand of hers. After all, if she were to hang onto her, both of them would probably be eaten by the worm.
「R, run away! Lumachina-sama!」
Those became the final words of the loyal female Holy Knight Tolia. Her figure disappeared into the dark, dark bottom of the hole.
「…………Tolia.」
Lumachina’s shoulders were trembling as she gazed at the gapingly wide open hole. She could no longer hear the voice of the female Holy Knight. Only the subterranean rumbling was transmitted to her.
That and, footsteps.
They slowly approached her from behind.

「Ara ara……Might our game of tag already be over, Lumachina-sama?」

「Kuh……」
Getting up, she turned around.
The figure that appeared from deep in the forest, was a “man” wrapped in Holy Knight armor──Geibalt. He had a tall stature and a muscular body type, and a long sword hung at his waist, but it wasn’t drawn.
Geibalt was a Summoner.
「Aran? What could have ever happened Tolia? Ah, could it be, was she eaten up by my 《Trap Worm》? Nfufu……In the end, she was just a woman. Could it be that the only thing splendid about her was her pedigree, oh dear.」^[1]
He was a man that spoke in a strange way.
Lumachina thrust her holy symbol out and asked.
「Are you able to swear to Kami-sama and declare that your own actions are righteous!?」
「I don’t know? But the big-wigs of the Church will give me money, won’t they? Cosmetics and dresses cost money too, you know.」
「Such infidelity……!!」
「Ufufu, I am quite devout, you know? I only believe in a Kami-sama that gives me money! Though it’s because the God that you revere is powerless that I’m not scared.」
「Did you say that Kami-sama is powerless!?」
「Well, I do think that your miraculous healing and prayers for good harvest are amazing but……Fights are all about strength.」
Holy Knights are people that work for the sake of the Church, and they normally have a deep faith for Kami-sama. However, it was clear that piety was nonexistent in him.
Lumachina tightly grasped her holy symbol.
「Kuh……Kami-sama……」
She knelt down.
「Nn? Ahaha, are you praying at a time like this? That I’ll vanish from some divine punishment? Kuhahah, that is way too funny! This is why you religionists are so! Ahyahya……Gehoh! Gehoh! Uhi～ Are you trying to make me laugh myself to death!?」
「O god in the heavens, may this voice reach you, and destroy this evil one. Bring about a purifying fire onto the earth, and save those that believe in you. ……」
Lumachina’s body was tinged with light.
However, nothing happened to Geibalt.
「That was so pointless. The one that ordered me to get rid of you, Pishas^[2], also prayed you know? He said “this is a sacred war” or something like that……In the end, God is pretty much something like that. Only a number of people have God.」
It was the name of someone that Lumachina knew.
Holding down her feeling of “──To think that it was him!?”, she continued to pray.
「O god, there is one that cannot hear your voice. Please display your great power upon the earth and illuminate it with your righteous light. Like how flowers bloom in a field, like how fish swim in a river……」
Geibalt came looking down on the kneeling and praying Lumachina. Those eyes were dull and cloudy.
「Nfufu……What beautiful skin……It makes me really jealous. Enough to make me want to tear it off!」
He took out a crystal.
He dropped it at his feet.
A *kiin* sound was made.
It was a Summoned Beast.
It was a Plant-type Summoned Beast. When it settled down into the ground, it changed into a large mushroom that was about twice as large as Lumachina.
From around the base of it, tentacles sinuously grew out.
Continuously praying, Lumachina’s body was engulfed in light.
Geibalt frowned.
「Th, this is……」
──Is this one of those genuine miracles? It’s quite something.
Someone that could bring about such a phenomenon that is visible to the eye just by praying, at the very least from what Geibalt knew, there existed no other.
There were no doubts that Lumachina possessed the outstanding power of miracles. She was believed to be “the daughter of God” by many believers.
It wasn’t hard to understand why the female Holy Knight Tolia betrayed the top brass of the Church and try to let this young lady go free.
「But orders are orders. And I’ve already accepted the money after all?」
Geibalt licked his lips.
Above all, breaking a young lady special enough to be evaluated as the daughter of God──He became excited from such a dark desire.
「Go and do it, my darling 《Beast Mushroom》!」
The Plant-type Summoned Beast extended out thin tentacles that grew out from its roots.
「Kyaaa──!?」
Lumachina’s wrists and ankles were grabbed by the thin tentacles, and her body was suspended in midair.
Geibalt became aroused and his breath became rough.
「Gufufufu……That’s good! Just like that! Go and tear off those bothersome clothes!」
「Wh, what are you doing!?」
「If there is a God in this world, he must be a prejudice shitty bastard. You were born pretty, and I have a tough man’s body……It really is unfair. That’s why, I’m thinking of defiling that body of yours into a messy wreck and sending it back to heaven.」
「Eh? Defile?」
「Ahahaha! Using a Summoned Beast! It seems to be surprisingly good, you know──!?」
「Hii!? Sto……Don’t do, something so stupid!」
「Ara, that’s good, that reaction. It’s so stimulating.」
Tentacles were able to slip inside of Lumachina’s dress. Her sensitive parts that were usually covered with clothes were rubbed by tentacles, and her body stiffened with a start.
「Hyah!?」
The muscles along Lumachina’s spine trembled from the disgusting feeling. However, since her limbs were detained and she couldn’t move, there was no way for her to use attack magic. She could no longer do anything.
Finally, the 《Beast Mushroom》’s tentacles pulled her dress and cut it to pieces.
「Noooo────ッ!!」
「Ufufufufufufu……It starts from here you know? You’ll get penetrated by the tentacles. To think the chastity of a young Holy lady would be taken by my Summoned Beast, I・can’t・get・enough・of・it!!」
Geibalt raised a vulgar laugh.
Lumachina’s mind went blank from the first disgrace she received in her live, and tears surfaced to the corners of her eyes.
「St, stop……St……op it……」
「You’ve got talent for being a prostitute, don’t you. If you make a face like that, you’ll be able to seduce any man.」
「I had no intention to do such a thing!?」
「Well, your first and last partner will be a Summoned Beast though! Now then, go do her, my darling 《Beast Mushroom》!!」
「D……Don’t……Kami-sama……Kami-samaaaaaaa──────!!」

Translator’s Notes:
[1] I’m not sure if I’m portraying it well enough but he talks like an anime muscular okama.
[2] Original: ビショス. I am willing to take better names.

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