Chapter 911

Velmeria arrived to support us, but she wasn’t the only one headed in our direction.

『I sense a bunch of people coming our way. It’s gotta be reinforcements this time, right?』

「Nn. A lot.」

This new group had well over 100 members, maybe even reaching 300 or 400. Considering how all of them moved uniformly, they must be a well-organized force.

But it didn’t take long for us to realize their identity.

Because we recognized the presence of the one running at the head of the group.

「Mea! She’s here!」

『Hell yeah! Now we’re talking!』

Mea came to our rescue leading a bunch of outlaws from the Beastmen Union. All of them quickly slipped through the cracks in the wall, deploying into a line formation.

At their front was a girl with white hair, black armor, and a wide grin.

「Fuhahaha! I’ve arrived!」

「M-Miss! Is it okay for you to stand out like this?」

「Of course! Forget about such trivial matters and focus on defending the town!」

「Understood!」

Zefmate stood at Mea’s side. I guess he really became Mea’s full time sidekick here.

Well, he’s gotten a lot stronger too, so both were powerful allies.

「Saintess-dono, I believe this is the first time we speak face to face. I must apologize for the late entrance! I failed to realize the time after silencing our stubborn circle of elders, as well as dealing with the unexpected dragonkin assault!」

Like I worried, it seems the Dragon King interfered elsewhere too.

「So, uh, you know! That, that thing!」

「?」

「Miss, she has no clue what you mean.」

「Uh-huh. I know, but……」

This kinda reminds me of how Mea acted when she first met Fran. She probably wanted to say something like “a friend of a friend is a friend of mine”, but she felt too embarrassed to say it outright.

If Quina was here instead, she’d be able to push Mea’s back while easing her nerves with light banter…… Zefmate, you’ve got a ways to go!

「My name is Mea, and I am a friend of Fran’s! You’re her friend too, correct?」

「I…… certainly hope she thinks of me as a friend……」

「No worries! You’re already friends after fighting on the same side, and I’m sure Fran would agree! And if you’re Fran’s friend, you are also mine! We shall defend this town together!」

Mea! You said it perfectly! I’m feeling so proud for some reason!

「Heheh. That’s true. I’m glad to have you with us.」

Mea’s good point was always her ability to lighten the mood in any situation. Sophie seemed depressed after dealing with the holy knights and asshole dragonkin in succession, but now a slight smile appeared on her face.

「Fuahaha! Leave it to me!」

Mea also returned a big enthusiastic grin.

「Zefmate, time to go!」

「Of course!」

Mea drew her weapon, the Dragon Blade Lind, and leapt directly at the antidemons from the top of the wall. A flash appeared on her back, and she grew wings of flame.

That looked really cool, sure, but she just pulled off something ridiculous. Simultaneously activating and controlling four Verniers?

The fire spell Vernier was already difficult to control by itself, but Mea somehow managed four at the same time…… She must have gone through one hell of a training regimen too.

With the flames trailing behind her, Mea flew through the sky at a tremendous speed before collided directly with the antidemon horde. The antidemons got blown away by the huge explosion, as if they had been struck by a meteorite.

The force of the impact was so powerful that it almost made me shiver.

Please don’t tell me she blew herself up too. However, a cat beastgirl clad in white flames soon emerged from the crater.

Not a speck of dust on her. How did she remain unharmed through that? Maybe due to a combination of barriers and Fire Nullification……?

「Mea!」

「Fuhaha! Sorry to keep you waiting, Fran!」

Unlike me, Fran didn’t seem to have the slightest doubt about Mea’s safety. She simply cheered excitedly without hesitation.

「Now that I’m here, our victory is assured!」

「Nn!」

Indeed, she really saved us, but I needed to ask her about a different matter bothering me.

『Mea, did you know what’s going on at the other gates?』

「No need to worry! I gave the former heads of the Beastmen Union quite the beating, so they work for me now. Then, I sent the Bloodfang Brigade captains along with their men to defend the rest of the gates!」

「So we’re all good?」

『Despite their personalities, the Bloodfang Brigade is pretty good at what they do. As long as there aren’t too many antidemons, we should be fine.』

It probably took Mea a while to dispatch all those forces too.

『Mea, did you hear anything about other organizations?』

「I know the adventurers have already begun defending the gates, but nothing about the dragonkin or the Sanatorium!」

「Our allies in the Dragon King Syndicate have already reached the gates, each receiving one member of the “Three Claws”.」

After hearing Mea’s words, Velmeria dove down nearby and explained what she knew to us. Of course, she still kept blasting antidemons all the while.

It seems both of them ensured the other gates were well defended before coming to our rescue.

Since our battlefield was located right next to the east gate, we’ll be able to handle that one as well. Each gate had plenty of defenders, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

「Excellent! Then we can focus on the fight at hand!」

「Nn!」

And so, the girls in white and black set into motion. As usual, they matched each other perfectly, showing amazing coordination without any communication necessary.

「You’ve been getting stronger, Fran!」

「You too, Mea!」

「Hahaha! You’ve seen nothing yet! Just you wait, I’ve developed a secret technique to show you up!」

「Wow, a secret technique! Cool!」

「Of course! I’ll go all out when something a little more challenging comes up! Look forward to it!」

「Nn!」

Hold on just a second. I’d rather not have to deal with anything stronger than what we’re already up against……

「Turn to ash!」

「You’re mine.」

These two girls sure seemed happy in the middle of a raging battle.