Gardenia’s Heart

Not a second had passed between Lily’s command and the deadly hail of ice in the forest. As the dark crystals sank into the dense greenery, two cries of pain echoed, allowing Lily to finally see her opponents.

From the top of a large tree a few meters away, two men tumbled to the ground, retreating quickly. Each bled from where the black ice had struck, their red leather gear dotted with light steel plates, and camouflaged cloaks draped over their backs. Both men seemed over thirty, their most notable features—besides their muscular build—were their short-cropped hair and unkempt beards.

“Damn.” One of the men yanked the black ice shard from his left shoulder, hastily tying a tourniquet with a belt before drinking a greenish potion.

After running a few meters, the men split, darting quickly in opposite directions. One disappeared into the foliage, while the other remained partially visible behind a tree trunk. Lily’s gaze honed in on the one who hadn’t fully concealed himself. Though visibly wounded, his expression held steady, unflinching as he completed his quick first aid.

“Don’t expose yourself!” he suddenly shouted, his command carrying through the forest as a flickering blue flame appeared in his palm.

Hearing the shout, the metamorph didn’t take long to assess the situation.

(I’m certain my attack hit them all, at least superficially, yet only two reacted. He must think the strike was random and that we’re unsure of their exact numbers.)

Although the men were mages, unlike those Lily had encountered in the city, they carefully controlled their mana, concealing their presence. Thanks to Nia’s mana-location, Lily knew that her beloved could pinpoint them despite the camouflage. Recognizing the skill level of her adversaries, Lily resolved to take this seriously.

“I’ll handle this one; Nia, can you take care of the others?”

Receiving a mental nod of agreement, Lily bent her knees slightly, gaining momentum, and with a single leap, closed in on the man.

Instead of her usual swords, she opted for something different. Channeling her mana to shape her magic, colorful lights formed in both hands, swiftly condensing into two ice blades. The swords were slender and long, curving slightly near the tip. To test the contrast between regular mana and dark mana, Lily crafted each blade with a different type.

In an instant, a flash of light shot through the forest as Lily’s blades clashed with the man’s flaming blue fists, splintering the tree trunk between them.

“Stubborn,” Lily muttered, frowning as her newly formed weapons met resistance.

Not wanting to be locked in a deadlock, she drew back, attempting to strike from various angles.

The heightened senses from the vast amount of dark mana in her body compensated for Lily’s lack of hand-to-hand combat experience. Though the man could block her simple attacks, each blow carried enough force to prevent him from countering. Unlike her usual opponents who focused on raw power or speed, this was the first time Lily faced someone capable of defending so effectively. To her, it felt akin to trying to move an immovable boulder.

“Being out in this forest alone must mean you’re confident in your strength,” he sneered, pushing Lily back as the flames in his hand burned hotter, evaporating moisture from the trees. “But everyone knows mages shouldn’t fight alone. You can’t take on the two of us. Why not surrender before you get hurt?”

“After you tried to kill me? No, thanks.”

A small explosion detonated as both of Lily’s blades imploded. Before the man could comprehend what had happened, he was thrown backward, crashing into a tree, his vision flickering as the impact jolted his entire body.

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and as he looked down, he noticed a thin layer of ice gradually eroding his fingers. Igniting his blue flames to burn away the ice, he reached for his pocket to grab a healing potion, only to be interrupted as the silver-haired girl leaped toward him.

Lily’s twin blades reformed, both aiming for his neck. He raised his arms to block, but as they met his skin, another explosion erupted.

“Aaagh!”

The man barely managed to fortify his body with mana before hurtling into yet another tree, which splintered under the impact and toppled to the ground along with him.

(Are you making your swords generate smaller-scale explosions like the one you used against the guardian?) Nia observed, watching Lily’s blades trigger explosions each time they struck his fists.

“Finding things I can’t hit is annoying, so I thought, why not blow everything up instead?”

Both girls chuckled lightly as they watched the man struggle to his feet. His clothing and skin were faintly frostbitten despite his mana defenses, while Lily’s body remained unscathed, surrounded by her red-violet aura.

Just as Lily considered pressing the attack, a tingling sensation crept over her skin—a warning. A thread of lightning was deflected by the dark shield that had materialized on her back.

Turning to locate the source, Lily spotted two figures hidden among the trees. One, a woman holding a curved bow, was likely the same person who had fired the earlier poison-tipped arrow. Beside her, a short-statured man sent intermittent lightning bolts toward Lily.

Lily couldn’t understand why they’d reveal themselves like this, but just then, a cold chill ran down her spine as she realized a blade was now aimed directly at her exposed back.

“What the hell!?”

A woman with her entire face wrapped in white cloth screamed in despair as her surprise attack from a blind angle proved futile. Before she could even consider retreating, two tentacles wrapped around her neck.

”!?!” She gasped in panic, trying to cut the purple tentacles tightening around her throat, but no matter how much force she applied, it was useless. Her vision started to blur from lack of air, and her whole body twisted in pain.

When a cracking sound was heard, her lifeless body fell to the ground. Staring coldly at the fallen enemy at her feet, Lily began assessing the surroundings.

”How many are left?” she asked.

(I confirmed that our initial attack managed to eliminate one of them. Counting this one, there are five left,) Nia replied mentally.

“You bitch! What do you think you’re doing?!” A female voice echoed from afar as a rain of arrows began to fall in Lily’s direction.

Through the gaps of her spherical black shield, Lily observed the woman shooting arrows with fury blazing in her eyes. Noticing the bluish tint of the projectiles, she realized they were likely infused with mana.

“I-Idiot! She’s already dead! Don’t attack recklessly—regroup with the others!”

Lily glanced at the man she had previously thrown against the tree trunk and deduced that he was likely the group’s leader.

”Now that I think about it, our opponents have avoided using area-of-effect spells,” she murmured.

In front of Lily, a small portal appeared, about the size of a ball, yet large enough for her arm to pass through. A scream of agonizing pain echoed through the forest as the woman firing arrows felt a blade of ice pierce her chest.

“Aaaaaaaaah! Help! Please!”

Hoisted by the sword impaling her, she desperately tried to remove the freezing blade embedded in her chest. The sword froze everything it touched, so no blood spilled from her open wound as she felt her organs burn from the extreme cold. The man beside her stopped casting lightning to try to help her, his face contorted with terror at the sight of her wound.

“Keep it,” Lily said, withdrawing her arm from the portal. The woman’s cries ceased as the blue ice sword flashed and exploded. Now, both the man and woman lay impaled by multiple frozen crystal spikes.

(Hm... They probably have to consider friendly fire. Mages usually specialize in certain types of spells, so they form groups to compensate for the limitations of their techniques,) Nia analyzed.

Hearing Nia’s conclusion gave Lily a better understanding of what group battles truly entailed.

She then recalled the two groups of mages she had encountered before. Oliver’s group, which she met on the dungeon’s second level, seemed one of the most competent, with both support members and mages focused on defending and buying time for the offensive casters to do their work. Agni’s group, on the other hand, although possessing undeniably powerful individual spells, lacked any semblance of teamwork and was therefore easily defeated by her and Nia.

Since her beloved wife was within her, the girls never had to worry about hitting each other. Additionally, with Nia’s mastery of versatile spells for both attack and defense, they didn’t need any more members on their team.

“W-What the hell are you…” The man struggled to stand, spitting out the blood pooling in his mouth as he stammered between coughs, barely able to keep his eyes open at the sight of his fallen companions.

Although he had cursed her, Lily couldn’t muster any anger as she watched the dying man fight to remain upright. Moving closer, one of Nia’s tentacles bent the man’s knees, forcing him down onto the ground. Reaching out, Lily grabbed his short hair and made him look up at her.

“What were you planning to do to me? And please, try not to lie. I know your last three companions are shaking with fear, too terrified to act without an order from you.”

Releasing the full extent of her dark mana, Lily watched as the man’s expression paled, his bloodstained lips trembling under her murderous intent.

“Th-This path is often used by small traders traveling between the two cities. They usually don’t have many mages as escorts,” he stammered, his teeth chattering with each word.

“You’re the leader of this group, aren’t you? So you ambush and capture easy targets passing through here?”

For the first time, the man glimpsed her crimson eye beneath her silver hair. The slitted, blood-red pupil looked like an abyss, ready to devour him if he dared lie.

“Y-Yes, I’m the commander. We have a base nearby. Please, spare us! We’ll give you all our money and equipment!” he blurted out. But as he finished his confession, something inside him snapped. Foam began to form in his mouth, and the intense pressure was too much, causing him to black out and collapse.

“Thank you for the information,” Lily said as she summoned another blue ice blade, cutting down through his neck in one swift motion. The man’s body slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Just then, Lily felt a small drop of water fall onto her shoulder. Without sensing any attack, she looked up and noticed that it had started to rain.

“This is rare; it usually only happens a few times a year.”

In the mist, Lily seldom encountered rain. With the fog obscuring the sky, predicting the weather was nearly impossible. Like an umbrella, a half-sphere of black mana appeared over her head, shielding her from getting wet as the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour.

(So this is rain? How interesting!)

Noticing that it was her beloved’s first time experiencing rain, Lily couldn’t help but smile. She wanted to finish this quickly so they could enjoy the moment together.

“I know you three are hiding. Just come out, and let’s end this quickly,” she called.

But, as expected, the last opponents remained frozen in fear, too terrified to show themselves.

(Do you want to get any more information from them, Lily?)

Placing her hand on her chin in thought, Lily shook her head.

“We have a general idea of the situation. The leader already told us what we needed, so we don’t need them.”

Understanding her wife’s wish to finish things quickly, Nia conjured three portals. Through each portal, one of her tentacles extended, and, without a sound, three threats were eliminated.