But she didn't even have time to curse.

“Chirp, chirp!”

“Tsk!”

The white rabbit attacked, its swift figure like a flash of white light.

His bright red eyes narrowed, emitting a fierce aura, as if saying, "How dare you treat me like that! Wait till I show you how I'm going to punish you!"

Anger seemed to be the white rabbit's motivation, and it moved so fast that it left several afterimages.

The white rabbit spun three times in the air, giving its strong legs sufficient centrifugal force, and kicked Eri hard.

Speed ​​is power. Combined with the monster's inherent magic, which primarily relies on kicking, its power is no less than a blow from a certain bug rabbit's war hammer.

Huili could only let her superhuman reflexes take over, instinctively raising her sword to block. However, with two painful groans, her entire body was suddenly thrown back, as if hit by a truck.

"Chiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

"You...damn beast!"

Inaba kicked his feet in the air and rushed over with his rabbit ears swinging.

The skilled kicks came with great force and came from all angles.

First, he launched three flashing high-speed kicks from top, middle and bottom, then he turned sideways and kicked with another foot, and then spun like a top, performing a series of roundhouse kicks.

Each kick changed its trajectory like a whip, leaving Huili defenseless and her combat suit constantly receiving blows. The impact penetrated her body, making her feel like she was being churned through a blender.

Then, a crisp, crashing sound echoed. A visible wall of air emerged from the kicking foot, and a sonic boom occurred.

The speed of the kick increased with the rotation, finally exceeding the speed of sound.

Huili blocked the powerful kick with her greatsword, but it broke in half.

"This is ridiculous! Not even Freed can evolve a monster like this...!"

Even if Eri tried to distance herself, Inaba's speed in the air could still keep up with her high-speed flight, causing her expression to twitch nervously.

This is like a bad joke.

Inaba's continuous kicks were as fierce as a storm and as smooth as flowing water. Eri's battle suit was torn to pieces by the kicks, and the greatsword in her hand was already her third.

If she hadn't used the necromancy technique to acquire expert sword skills specializing in defense, that wave of attacks would have been enough to crush her into a pulp.

Thinking of this, Huili's anger exploded.

She took Inaba's kick with one hand, even if it meant being shattered, while simultaneously emitting decomposing magic power all over her body.

Even Inaba couldn't ignore this move, and he leaped up and retreated to Suzu's side.

Huili was panting heavily, lowering her head slightly, looking up, staring at Ling through the gap in her bangs.

As expected, the remaining Gray Corpses were still unable to break through Ling's "Fortress".

Not only that, more than a dozen injured Gray Corpses were trapped in the barrier, bombarded by the impact of the barrier explosion, and were finally completely subdued.

There are only about twenty Gray Corpse followers left.

"...What's going on? Why am I being beaten by her?"

Huili muttered subconsciously.

Hearing her voice, Ling's eyes turned to Eri again.

"My body has been transformed into something so strong, I've gained abilities, and I've even assembled an army of the Ash Corpse... but why? Why am I being forced into such a difficult fight, beaten like this? My opponent wasn't that monster. It was just Suzuya. That idiot with all the gibberish. But why? Why are you standing there!?"

Huili's expression twisted horribly, and she screamed hysterically, scratching her hair frantically, nearly tearing her scalp off.

She looked like a child throwing a tantrum over an unsatisfactory reality... No, that's probably not the right word. She looked incredibly crazy, as if anyone who saw her would go crazy too.

Even though Eri was emitting such a dangerous and crazy aura, Ling still looked at her calmly.

Her eyes were calm, clear as a windless lake, reflecting the other person's face clearly. Ling answered, her tone equally calm.

"Needless to say? Suzu is standing here to talk to you, Eri."

"……what?"

Eri couldn't help but utter a confused sound. Then, as she interpreted Ling's words on her own, her expression twisted.

"I get it. You're planning to ridicule and insult me, to make me crawl on the ground, right? I never imagined you'd go to such lengths for such a goal. Ahaha, it seems you really have a twisted personality. It's okay, go ahead and swear if you want. I'll listen."

Eri speculated about Ling's state of mind, a look of ridicule on her face.

Although they claim to be good friends, to Eri, Ling is nothing more than a tool for her to use. Eri betrays and tramples on Ling, and even mocks her trust in their relationship.

If Ling came for revenge, it would be easy to understand.

Huili realized that Ling was just a superficial person and felt a little more at ease when she saw her superficial behavior.

However, Ling was not at all shaken by Eri's words.

"Insult? Laugh? Impossible. How could I possibly do that? Because... Suzuya has been taking advantage of you, Eri, just like me."

“…What do you mean?”

Huili narrowed her eyes, seeming to be interested in Ling's topic, which was exactly what Ling wanted.

Inaba understood his partner's intentions and wisely focused on guarding against the Gray Corpse Disciple.

However, the Gray Corpse followers simply surrounded them, making no further moves. Perhaps Eri was telling them to wait.

The battlefield was so quiet that it seemed as if time had stood still. Ling spoke earnestly:

"Eri, as you said, Suzu is just giggling, very stupid, and has a wide range of social connections, but she doesn't dislike anyone... Suzu has always lived like this. Because Suzu doesn't want to be alone, she can't stand loneliness, and she always wants to be among people."

"You are indeed such a person."

"Yeah. Because Suzu is this kind of person, she needs a 'close friend' and is very grateful for it. Even if no one dislikes her, if she doesn't have particularly close friends, she'll still be considered a heretic."

Be fair and treat everyone equally, don't have any special preferences for anyone, and don't favor anyone.

This kind of person sounds good, but he can't be called ordinary either. What Ling said does make sense.

In other words, he is good at dancing and wants to please everyone.

"Of course, I didn't become friends with Eri to fulfill such a need. But now that I think about it, this might have been one of the reasons."

Ling tried desperately to pretend she didn't notice. But in reality, even before Eri betrayed everyone in the palace that night, she had begun to doubt the relationship between the two of them, which was called "close friends."

When the Orcus Great Labyrinth was in crisis, seeing Shizuku and Kaori sticking with each other until the very end, Ling truly realized that the relationship between herself and Eri was completely different from theirs.

"So? What exactly do you want to say?"

Ling looked straight at Huili, then... lowered her head.

“…What’s wrong with you?”

"I'm sorry. Although you said you were just using Suzu as a convenient tool, Eri, Suzu doesn't even have the right to feel bad about it. Suzu is just like you, using you as a convenient tool."

"You came all the way to me just to say something so insignificant? You think I care about such a trivial matter? Well, I can only say that your head is full of bugs. To me, as long as I can get the glory, you are completely worthless."

Huili twisted her face in disdain, feeling from the bottom of her heart that this conversation was meaningless.

Ling's expression finally changed in response to her reaction. She raised her head, narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, Ling knows. This is just Ling's self-satisfaction. After apologizing, Ling now feels much better."

“…I didn’t expect you to be so shameless. Is that all you have to say?”

"No, Suzu needs to ask you something. Eri, why do you like Kouki-san?"

"what?"

It was like a heart-to-heart talk between best friends. I think we've had similar conversations after school before.

Bringing up such a topic now was so inappropriate that Eri let out a surprised sound. However, Ling ignored Eri's doubts and asked questions one after another.

"Also, is there really something wrong with your family environment? You often come to Ling's house to play, but you never let Ling come to yours, so Ling has always thought that you may not have a place at home. Also, every time your parents are mentioned, you will intentionally or unintentionally change the subject, right? Do you have a bad relationship with your parents? Is it because of this matter that Guanghui-san helped you with?"

Ling kept asking sensitive questions, like she was tap dancing on a minefield.

Now, Ling was treading unceremoniously into the darkest part of Huili's heart. She had never done this before when she was with Huili.

And her speculation was very sharp and almost not far from the truth.

Taniguchi Suzu was a perceptive girl, able to detect many things. She hadn't spoken to Eri about these things because she had simply pretended not to notice them, to avoid a conflict. Even if she had noticed, she would have simply smiled and said nothing.

Perhaps he had chosen Eri to play his "good friend" because he unconsciously felt the same way about her.

Because Ling herself didn’t have a good relationship with her family when she was young.

Maybe she vaguely sensed the hidden meaning behind Huili's actions, which attracted her and made her decide to approach her.

In any case, to Eri now, Ling is simply a devil who is rubbing salt into her wounds with a smile.

Therefore, she only responded to Ling's question with a decomposition bombardment. Gray flashes pelted Ling mercilessly from the shortest distance.

However, Ling remained expressionless. Eri's reaction made her realize her suspicions were largely accurate, and she felt even happier. She joyfully replenished her "Fortress," completely blocking the decomposition bombardment.

The barrier master's iron wall remained completely unmoved by this rage-like attack.

"Tell Ling, Eri. Ling wants to know you better. She always claimed to be your good friend, but she never got into your heart. To make up for it, Ling wants to know now."

"I didn't expect your personality to become so bad, Suzu. No, I think this is your true nature, right? But, as for me..."

"Don't try to evade the question, Eri. What happened to you? What twisted your mind? How do you view Kouki? Please, tell me, Suzu."

"That's enough, you're so annoying!"

Calm down, concentrate on your thoughts. The opponent's body is, after all, just an ordinary human. No need for a massive attack. Just focus, compress, and deliver a sharp, concentrated breakthrough at a single point. That's enough—Eri told herself.

Gray magic gathered in the greatsword and began to glow.

"hiss!"

There was a faint sound of breath being exhaled through clenched teeth, and at the same time, Eri's whole body flew upward and above Ling like a cannonball.

She reversed her grip on the greatsword, flew in a U-shaped trajectory, and thrust downwards, accelerated by gravity. It was the greatsword technique of the Kingdom's swordsmen—"Great Drop." Originally, it involved using wind magic to leap into the air, from which point all weight, speed, skill, and magic were concentrated, piercing the barrier.

Adding the concentrated decomposition magic power—

“You can’t even do this!?”

"Concentrating one's strength on one point is something that even Ling can do."

Ling's calm reply angered Eri even further.

The depths of those orange-glowing eyes held neither mockery nor contempt, nor even anger or hatred. Instead, they were filled with a sincere desire to understand Eri. That look made Eri's anxiety uncontrollably fester.

"Also, although you've become a complete apostle, your power is 20% less than that of an original apostle... No, it should be 30%. I've seen Kaori's decomposition magic many times, so I understand."

"Are you saying I'm not as good as her!?"

"That's purely analysis. And you don't use the dual greatsword technique because you don't know how, right? It seems you can't replicate the apostles' experience. Your swordsmanship should be Mr. Meld's, copied through the spirit summoning technique. That person's greatsword swordsmanship is completely defensive. That's why you can barely withstand Inaba's attack."

Suzu's predictions were spot-on, and Eri felt as if she saw through everything about her.

"Don't, don't get carried away!"

A hint of fear emerged from Huili's heart.

She quickly convinced herself that the bell alone would never make her feel this way, so she ignored it. She mustered more strength and continued to push the sword forward, injecting decomposition magic power into it.

However, Ling's defense remained solid, showing no signs of crumbling, as if it completely reflected the mind of the caster.

"Suzu will never look away again. Because Suzu doesn't want to turn a blind eye, do nothing, and wait for loss. Suzu doesn't want to be powerless, watching herself lose! So, Eri! Please! Tell me about you!"

“Stop rambling! What good does it mean to know my story at this point?! It’s meaningless!”

Eri kicked the barrier, leaping back. Even though she knew she couldn't penetrate it, she continued firing disintegration shells.

She wasn't helpless. There was still a way to break through the barrier, and that was to engage in a protracted battle. The difference in magic power between the two sides was Huili's greatest advantage; she could patiently wear down her opponent's magic power until it was exhausted.

The Ash Corpses begin to move, so Inaba goes to deal with them.

"No, it does have meaning."

As if the gray light of murderous intent was also a bridge of communication between the two, while dealing with the decomposition bombardment, Ling continued to speak sincerely.

"Lin wants to truly understand you, truly see you, feel you, think about you, and then—"

—Once again, become friends with Eri.

Suddenly, the power of the decomposition bombardment involuntarily weakened.

“—W-What are you talking about?”

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