Foreword: We're back! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7
In the end, Filvis Challia accepts an outstretched hand.

As the 3 of us sprinted across Meren's cityscape, leaping over the tops of buildings in a display of physical ability that would've put any professional athlete to shame, Murdock's words floated to the top of my mind.

–"It's fine. I was planning to toss everything into the lake at the first chance that I could, anyways. Saves us some time since the Violas are being taken care of on their own."

The equipment that I had been looking for was gone, and so was Murdock. It wasn't hard to put 2 and 2 together. I hadn't expected Murdock to act this quickly; after all, the Berbera were still in Meren, which meant that the Violas weren't all gone yet. He had either been careless or desperate enough to take the risk, but in the end, it didn't matter.

As I pushed off again, I executed a forward dive, keeping my entire body parallel to the ground before slamming my hands down and pushing myself forward, allowing me to clear the entire building with ease. As I brought my legs up from underneath my body, I aimed and landed with a roll onto the next building, taking care not to break anything underneath me as I did so before glancing over my shoulder to see how the other 2 were doing.

Challia was keeping pace with me at less than half a building away, but Viridis was lagging behind by several buildings at this point. There wasn't anything I could do about that, though.

Mages weren't known for having a high Agility stat, since they were backliners, while both me and Challia were frontline fighters. Aside from waiting for her to catch up, there wasn't anything else I could do–and given the situation, that was impossible. The best I could do was get there first.

Dropping down from the building I was standing on, I made my way to the docks to see 3 Violas thrashing around wildly as people scattered, many of them shouting and screaming as they tried to run away.

However, they were being ignored in favor of the shards of glistening purple that were scattered across the pier. Magic Stones. As I watched, the Violas instead opened their mouths and dove downwards, throwing up scraps of wood and water into the air alongside countless Magic Stones as they hit the pier.

I hadn't been noticed yet, which gave me the chance to pull out a firebomb, aim at one of the monsters, and throw. The bomb hit the Viola's head with pinpoint precision and set it on fire, causing it to recoil with a shriek of pain, before I drew my sword and lunged in.

Behind me, there was a familiar chant as Challia joined the battlefield. "Purge, cleansing lightning." I deflected several tendrils, dodging away from a volley that stabbed into the wooden planks before cutting them down in a single swing. "Dio Thyrsos!" Golden lightning cut through the air before slamming into a Viola further down the pier, accompanied by the sound of sizzling as the spell burned against the monster's head before it shrieked and crumbled into ash.

A one-hit kill. For a spell with such a short chant, it sure packed a punch. That was expected, since elves were known for being magically inclined to begin with, but I was still somewhat envious.

Instead of firing off a spell like Challia, I was forced to get close, ducking past another tendril and away from the Viola's jaws before I thrust my sword forward into the side of its head, where its magic stone would be. The monster roared as the blade sunk in, but didn't go down, so as I sidestepped several attacks from the last Viola, I jerked the sword abruptly in my direction. There was a small crack as the blade hit something hard before the Viola stilled and turned into ash.

1 more Viola left. It was then that I registered the sounds of a chant in my ears, and I turned to see Viridis, staff pointed at the Viola. "–arrow of absolute accuracy. Arcs Ray!" As I watched, a beam of light fired out from her staff and engulfed part of the monster's body, continuing out past the water until it dissipated in the distance.

The spell hadn't connected with the monster's head, but it didn't need to. The Viola collapsed to the docks, clearly dead. Any place Viridis's spell had connected had been outright vaporized, leaving nothing more than the charred edges of green flesh.

I scanned the area, but aside from the dead monster remaining on the pier, there were no other monsters left. At least, not any on land. The water was a different story entirely.

"Ugh…" the sound of groaning caught my attention, and I turned to see Murdock sprawled across the ground, clutching at his arm. There wasn't any blood, but I knew a broken bone when I saw one. He had gotten off pretty easy, considering that he was a normal person without a Falna.

Next to Murdock were the remains of a wooden crate which had apparently been snapped in half, Magic Stones spilling out across the ground.

It was like I expected: Murdock had tried to dump the evidence in the lake, and the Violas had reacted to the Magic Stones that he was getting rid of. I didn't see any of the equipment that the 3 of them had been talking about, but I wasn't about to go looking through the water right now. Already, I could hear the distant sounds of something approaching rapidly through the water.

Pulling out a potion from my side pouch, I emptied it over Murdock's injured arm before picking him up and backing away, seconds before the water began to churn. As we retreated, I watched as tendrils whipped out from the water, turning the rest of the pier into a pile of scrapwood before lashing outwards.

"Viridis." Murdock grunted as I set him down next to the closest building, but his breathing had steadied, so evidently the potion was working. "Prepare a chant!"

"R-right!" The elf nodded before raising her staff, a magic circle made of shimmering golden light opening underneath her feet. "Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer. Shoot, sniper of the fairies."

There was movement in the corner of my eye, and I turned to fix Murdock with a look as Viridis continued chanting. "Don't move." He had been trying to get up, but my gaze stopped him where he was, and with a wince he sat back down, just as the water exploded and 3 Violas emerged.

"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy."

"Purge, cleansing lightning." Somewhere closer to me, Challia also began chanting, wand aloft. Her voice mingled and interlapped with Viridis's, their voices harmonizing as they gathered mana and I burst forward, sword at the ready.

3 separate heads undulated in the air as the Violas prepared to attack, but I made my move first. A firebomb smashed into the lead monster, setting its tendrils on fire before I was forced to deflect a series of attacks from a second Viola. I stumbled as one of them slipped past my sword and grazed the side of my leg, but pushed through the pain to deflect a follow-up that would've connected with my head.

"Arcs Ray!"
"Dio Thyrsos!"

A beam of light and a bolt of lightning erupted out from behind my left and right, slamming into the Violas on either side. The Viola that had been hit by Viridis's Arcs Ray died instantly as the spell struck its neck, disintegrating the monster's flesh and causing its head to fall into the water. Challia's spell didn't kill, but tore off several tendrils, causing the Viola to recoil reflexively with a shriek of pain.

That bought me enough time to slip past the tendrils of the Viola in the front before retaliating with a swing that tore out half of the monster's throat, causing it to gurgle as it fell back. Its tendrils whipped out again, but they weren't fast enough to stop me from inflicting another slash to the monster's neck and backing off. It wasn't long before the monster slumped to the ground, dying as its wounds caught up with it.

"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree." Behind me, Viridis began preparing another chant. I wanted to tell her that there wasn't any real need to, since there was only 1 Viola left, but with that Viola directly in front of me, I gave up and instead focused on taking it down.

"You are the master archer." 3 tendrils whipped at me from my right, forcing me to knock them upwards with my sword before I spun to avoid another vine that punched at me from my left. The last vine stabbed at my stomach, and I was forced to block the blow by bringing my leg up, the impact pushing me backwards as I did so. That would probably bruise later, but it was infinitely better than any broken ribs or ruptured organs.

"Shoot, sniper of the fairies–?!" Before I could reengage the Viola, however, there was an eruption of lakewater from off to my far left. Far behind me, as Viridis's chant turned into a stifled scream of surprise and I turned to see a Viola looming over the elf, her magic circle cutting out as the monster pulled its tendrils backwards, readying an attack.

I moved to intercept, but stopped to block a vine aimed at my shoulder from the Viola in front of me. I wouldn't make it in time.

"Viridis!" I watched as all of a sudden, Challia was there, shoving Viridis out of the way before her shortsword flashed out to intercept, cutting down the 2 tendrils that had been aimed at the younger elf. But that left her wide open to the tendrils that punched into her chest and stomach, the CRACK of bone audible even from where I was. Challia's eyes widened in the brief instant before she flew backwards, blood leaving her mouth as she ragdolled through the air and slammed into the side of a building with an explosion.

Time slowed.

"Filvis-san?! Filvis-san?!" Viridis was screaming, but it sounded like it was coming from far, far away. Challia lay motionless in the rubble. I could take those hits, but I was wearing armor. Challia hadn't been wearing anything other than her clothes.

I wanted to move, to do something, but I found my feet rooted to the ground by the realization that I had been too late, again.

–"Hey, Hikigaya." No. I didn't want to hear that right now. I didn't need to be reminded of that right now.

There was a flash of movement from the corner of my eye and I moved to dodge, but I wasn't fast enough as I felt a tendril slam into my side. Time resumed, and the world sharpened as it came back into painful clarity. I hit the ground as pain laced through my body before I came up in a roll, my free hand clutching at my side.

In front of me, the Viola snarled, vines whipping about as it crawled forward towards me. I got up, still clutching at my side as I tried to breathe in a way that wouldn't hurt as much.

Focus, Hachiman. Worry about Challia and Viridis later. Deal with the Violas now. If you get distracted, you die. Focus.

I was forced to abandon any other thoughts as the Viola began attacking, dodging away from several tendrils that stabbed into the ground before cutting down one that whipped at me from the left and immediately ducking beneath another one that was aimed at my neck. Backstep, left, left, and now.

As soon as the Viola paused to draw its vines backwards, I burst forward in a dash before swinging my sword outwards. My blade flashed in a half-circle before the Viola's jaw was cleanly severed from its body, falling to the ground with a fleshy thump as its Magic Stone was left exposed. The Viola shook its head aggressively, a wet gurgling sound echoing out from its throat, but instead of pushing forward and attacking, I dropped my left hand down to the holster at my side before drawing out a throwing knife and whipping it forward.

The projectile struck the exposed Magic Stone head-on, and with a crack, it shattered before the rest of the Viola crumbled into dust. With that done, I turned to focus my attention on the final Viola remaining. It was advancing on Challia's body, and next to her was Viridis, who had evidently also taken an attack head-on, judging by the way she was cradling one of her arms.

I reached for a firebomb and began moving towards them, but before I got into range–

"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree." I watched as Viridis rose to her feet, determination clear in her eyes as she held out her staff. "You are the master archer." The Viola roared as it whipped around to look at the elven girl, who was standing on top of another circle of golden light once more. "Shoot, sniper of the fairies!"

But despite how focused Viridis was, the Viola was–and would always be–faster than she was. I was still too far away.

Time slowed as 9 tendrils carved through the air, all of them aimed at Viridis. This was a lethal barrage she wouldn't survive.

"Dio Grail!"

In front of my eyes, a barrier made of white light sprung to life. The Viola's tendrils were repelled, bouncing off of the shield that had suddenly manifested in front of Viridis. I recognized that voice, and I turned.

Challia stood, proud and aloft, hand thrust outwards even as she shook with the effort of standing, blood leaking from her mouth.

"P… Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy!" Viridis's chant faltered for only a brief instant as she glanced over before she continued, flourishing her staff outwards. At the tip of her staff, a bright light began to shine outwards.

"Gh… kh!" But Challia's barrier gave out first, her hand dropping before the barrier flickered out of existence before she collapsed to the floor. The Viola's tendrils resumed their course.

But that was more than enough time for me to act. The firebomb hit the Viola's head with a whoosh as flames spread across its body and it reared back with a shriek of pain, its tendrils pulling back for a brief second–just enough time for Viridis to finish her chant. "Arcs Ray!"

The beam of white light tore through the air with a roar, crashing into the Viola's head before the monster's head disintegrated and it turned into ash that scattered into the nighttime air. I waited for more Violas to appear, sword at the ready, but when it was clear that nothing else was gonna show up, I started walking over to where Challia was.

Viridis was already there, potions in her hand as she knelt at Challia's side, but as I walked up, Challia's low voice reached my ears. "Your assistance is unnecessary." Despite the blood that had trickled out from her mouth and splattered across her clothes as well as the visible pain she was in, Challia shook her head as she attempted to get up.

However, midway through, her foot wobbled, and almost immediately the elf lost her balance and dropped to one knee with a hiss of pain.

"Filvis-san, I–" Viridis reached out and put her hands around Challia in an attempt to support, but as soon as she did, the other elf recoiled violently.

"Don't touch me!" The potion that was in Viridis's hands fell to the ground, shattering as its contents spilled out across the ground and Viridis herself stared, openmouthed.

Challia's words hung in the air, and I realized that even she looked a little surprised by her reaction. Pain briefly flitted across her face, but it wasn't long before it was replaced with a sad resignation. "There is no need for you to… trouble yourself, Lefiya Viridis. I will be–" this time, as Challia stood up, she found her balance and steadied. "–I will be alright."

I watched as Viridis's hand dropped to her side as Challia began stumbling and limping away. My fingertips twitched, but I forced myself to keep still. It had nothing to do with me, anyways. Challia would pick herself back up with a potion or something, and that would be the end of the matter.

Except–

"No." That quiet word seemed to slip out of Viridis's mouth unconsciously. But as Challia turned back to her in confusion, Viridis squared her shoulders, strength gathering in her voice with every word she spoke. "No. I won't let you do this to yourself, Filvis-san."

With a determined glare, Viridis marched up to Challia and grabbed onto her hand. Challia tried to shake Viridis off, to no avail.

"... let go."
"I won't."
"Let go!"
"I won't!"
"Don't you understand? I'm–"

"You're not unclean!" Viridis's words burst out of her mouth, echoing loudly in the ensuing silence before she continued. "You're kind and beautiful! You're just as deserving of care as the rest of us are!"

With a visible effort, Challia managed to wrench her hand free of Viridis's grasp. Her expression contorted as she looked down at her palm before whirling to face the other elf head-on. "Don't act like you could possibly understand me! What would you know about that?"

"Because you protected me!" Viridis's reply was fierce enough to make Challia flinch backwards for a brief second. "Even though you would've been fine otherwise, you jumped in to save me!"

I wanted to stop looking. This wasn't something I should've been seeing. But at some point, I realized that I couldn't look away from the two of them anymore.

Faced with Viridis's words, Challia winced, and as I watched, her leg buckled. She tried to turn around, but her leg gave out on her entirely, sending her crashing into Viridis before both of them went down in a wild tangle of limbs.

As they untangled themselves, however, both of the elves froze. Viridis had ended up on top of Challia in what could only be described as a 'compromising situation', and both of them stared back at each other for a long time without moving.

Viridis was the one to break the stalemate, letting out a squeak before she rolled away, her blush clear even from where I was standing. As she came up, she immediately began stammering out an apology. "M-my deepest apologies, F-Filvis-san! I-I did not intend to touch you so improperly…" the elf trailed off before somehow getting redder. What is your mind thinking about, Viridis? Here I was, being worried about the Berbera, but it seems that the true danger to this isekai's age rating was in fact in front of me all along.

In front of her, Challia only winced as she propped herself up, and Viridis's stammering only intensified. "A-ah, I must've aggravated your wounds! I'm deeply sorry about that, let me grab a potion…" she began fumbling around in her pouches, clearly panicking.

Challia's expression, however, seemed softer than before. As I watched, the corners of her lips turned up, and a small laugh left her lips. Her shoulders began to shake, and she put a hand to her mouth, but I could still hear her giggling. Viridis paused and looked up, still blushing, but as the two of them made eye contact with one another, they both smiled.

It was a few more seconds before both of them composed themselves, as Viridis gave up on looking for a potion and instead offered Challia a hand to help her up. Rather than declining or rejecting it this time, I watched as Challia nodded and grasped it, allowing Viridis to pull her to her feet.

"I was sure I had a potion… sorry, Filvis-san, I just can't seem to find it." Viridis sounded rather sheepish, but Challia nodded.

"That's fine. I'm sure we can–" she scanned the area, saw me, and fell silent. Next to her, Viridis made a sound of surprise. There was a moment of silence before Viridis and Challia realized that they were still clasping hands, hurriedly let go, and turned to fully face me.

"Hikigaya."
"H-Hikigaya-san."

I ignored both of them in favor of taking out some potions and proffering them to Challia, who accepted them with a gracious nod. With that done, I turned away. I didn't need to see anything else.

Instead, I began heading towards the place I had last seen Murdock, who was still laying there as I approached. There was still work left to be done.

Afterword: I started playing Elden Ring. So, uh, yeah. Next chapter definitely coming out in 2 weeks. Might do something for Hikigaya's birthday... we'll see. Hope you enjoyed! Remember to leave a review and let me know what you enjoyed about the chapter/I could work on! Thanks for reading!

See you in 2 weeks!