It was already noon on the third day, and Claire had already reached the highest mountain range, Mount Xilei, and was about to reach the top.

"..."

Moreover, she also saw: there were the ruins of a building in front of her, and in front of the broken eaves and broken walls from who knows how many years ago, there stood a person with long blond hair, dressed exactly like her, and also holding the same hand.

Female warrior with a big sword.

"..."

Staring at the other person's increasingly clear and familiar face, Claire walked over step by step, and not long after, she stood ten meters in front of the other person, and then subconsciously called the other person's face softly.

name.

"Elena..."

Yes, she recognized it from afar. It was indeed Elena, who entered the organization at the same time as her and was the 150th trainee...

After entering the organization, whether it was training or transformation, it was painful. But when they encountered the most painful and difficult period, they both comforted and encouraged each other. No matter how much pain they endured in their bodies, as long as they could communicate with each other,

Hug each other and you can sleep peacefully.

Because they know each other that they are not alone, they rely on each other...

However……

Today, she, Claire, came here with a black letter from the other party, and what she had to do was the most painful, hesitant and helpless thing in the world.

"long time no see……"

"Claire..."

Elena spoke, and when the wind blew through her long hair, revealing her equally delicate and pretty face, she gave Claire a rare smile, just like when they were in the cell.

Hugging and snuggling together in the room.

"Elena..."

Looking at the friend she hadn't seen for a long time, but who had remained the same as before, and the most important partner in front of her, Claire widened her silver eyes slightly and called the other person's name again.

I couldn't say a word for a long time.

She saw it...

The other person, her Elena has not changed at all, just like back then, with long hair flowing, and a face that is both angry and happy, giving a smile that belongs only to them without hesitation...

"you……"

"Is it really to that extent?"

"I thought……"

"You will become very embarrassed..."

Looking at the partner in front of her who looked unchanged from before, Claire violated the organization's rules and did not take action immediately. Instead, she used her last glimmer of hope and asked softly in a trembling voice.

"Um."

"Yes, it can't be undone..."

Nodding, Elena, who looked very relaxed, responded to Claire immediately.

"I have been resisting..."

"after all……"

"I said I want to see you again..."

After saying that, the other party once again gave Claire a smile that rarely appeared on Da Jian's face, and that smile, Claire swore, she had only seen on one other person.

"..."

So, for a moment, Claire couldn't help but be obsessed...and the fog that shouldn't have appeared on their swords also began to cover her beautiful silver eyes, so that the originally firm gaze began to become blurry.

stand up.

"call!"

"How long have we been separated?"

"I can't remember clearly..."

Elena pretended not to see Claire's change, she just pretended to sigh and looked into the distance.

"It feels like a long time..."

"But it seems like yesterday?"

"Although, I have only been bitter along the way, and I have thought a lot, but I don't know why, now that I am with you, I can only think of those happy things."

"Although it's not much..."

Seeing Claire's unresponsiveness, Elena didn't mind and just continued to smile and talk to herself.

"I took over the mission later than you..."

"It was half a year too late for you to be organized into battle..."

"But……"

"Now I've reached the limit one step ahead of you..."

"ha!"

"Am I worthless?"

Having said this, Elena, who was smiling bitterly, stopped and turned to look at Claire again.

Unfortunately, Claire had lowered her head and pursed her lips tightly at this time. Her short hair and bangs completely covered her face. She could not see the familiarity that belonged to Claire and made her feel happy from the bottom of her heart.

's face.

"Speaking of which..."

"At that time, I always thought that as long as I got the flesh and blood of the demon, I would become stronger, very strong..."

"Can……"

"I just discovered now that the result is not like that..."

"You remember, right?"

"When we are together, I am the one who comforts you, right?"

"but……"

"At that time, I was actually just pretending. Didn't you find it surprising?"

Having said this, after seeing Claire's hand holding the sword begin to tremble slightly, Elena sighed softly again.

"I……"

"It obviously requires a strong will to control the power of demons. Now it seems that I am definitely unqualified..."

"I'm too weak..."

"Claire, promise me, you must become stronger and keep going..."

As she spoke, Elena's voice finally gradually became quieter, and then like Claire, she lowered her head gently and looked at the ground under her feet, then her eyes became distracted, letting her long hair cover her face, and she did not care.

Know what you are thinking.

"..."

"..."

that's all.

The two of them, two friends reunited after a long separation, former close friends, they just stood face to face, with no one wanting to break the silence.

It's a pity that what is supposed to come will still come.

"move……"

"Let's do it..."

"Claire!"

"I, I can't hold on anymore..."

"Don't let me become that kind of monster..."

"Please, please..."

finally!

The two of them were silent for a while, silently enjoying the rare tacit understanding, when Elena suddenly raised her head, and her originally cute and charming face had turned into a ferocious and terrifying one.

"Do it!!!"

then!

As if she was using up her last strength, she gritted her teeth, exposed her fangs and roared angrily, roaring at Claire with her horrifying golden vertical pupils that were full of bloodshot eyes and protruding from her eye sockets.

Crack!

"..."

Claire didn't talk nonsense. She raised her head and released her demonic power, turning her eyes into golden vertical pupils and her expression became ferocious. At the same time, she raised her hand to speed up, and then struck the critical part of the opponent's chest with a sword.

Cut it through.

Click!!

The big sword struck hard at a vital part of Elena's chest, and then, in an instant, the figure with blond hair and silver armor was carried upside down and flew out under the influence of huge force.

…

Plop!

"!!"

Although she flew out backwards and fell hard to the ground, Claire jumped up immediately and waited for Elena in front of her with a look of shock on her face.

because……

The one who just flew upside down was not Elena, but her, Claire!

Her attack failed to penetrate Elena's body at all, and then was directly ejected with energy as high as an invisible wall?

'Ouch...'

At this time, Elena had already lost her human form, her whole body had grown twice in size, her clothes and armor were torn, and two horns had appeared on her face.

There is no doubt that it is the Awakened One!

Elena, she has successfully awakened. Human consciousness has been completely defeated by the power of demons. Now there is no great sword Elena. There are only 'awakened ones', one that is comparable to demons, or even

The demons are even more powerful monsters!

"!!"

drink!!

Seeing this, Claire was extremely surprised and deeply blamed herself, and she no longer cared about anything else, but once again chopped off the opponent's head.

pity……

"Uh-huh!!"

She still screamed miserably, and then was knocked away by some invisible energy.

"Woo..."

"let me go!"

"Living entrails..."

"let me go!"

"I'm going to eat you!!!"

And the next second, what surprised Claire who jumped up again was:

The Awakened One that Elena turned into did not take the opportunity to attack her. Instead, it just stood there stiffly, still maintaining the same posture as before. It wanted to struggle to move but was completely unable to do so. There was only one

Just the head twisting and roaring?

"!!"

"This is……

That kind of scene certainly seemed familiar to Claire, and then, her originally frightened heart couldn't help but be startled, and she quickly looked around.

"Claire!"

"Claire, please wait!"

Soon, she saw behind her, halfway up the mountain on the way she came, a young boy running up staggeringly and panting, and then he was still saying something loudly from a distance, and looking at

After she looked at it, she kept waving her hands.

"Ah!"

So that’s it!

Seeing that it was the young Lackey, it was rare that Claire's face, which looked like a layer of frost, actually showed a smile of relief.

"eat you!"

"eat you!!"

"What is this and why can't I move?"

"No!!!"

At this time, the demon-like 'Awakened One' that Elena turned into was still yelling and roaring and struggling, but it was useless. Except for its neck and mouth, its whole body seemed to be imprisoned by space.

, I can only keep that funny posture.

"..."

After turning around and remaining silent for a while, Claire finally slowly put away her sword, then her golden vertical pupils turned silver again and she stood there and waited patiently.

A few minutes later……

"ah!"

"That, that's..."

After a long time, Lackey finally ran up and saw the appearance of 'Elena', and of course he was startled!

However, he subconsciously hid behind Claire and saw that the other party seemed unable to move, and Claire just stared silently without making any more movements. After that, he relaxed slightly, then supported his knees and pushed hard

Panting heavily.

"Hi~"

()

"Hello you all!

☆(*˙︶˙)

Finally, seeing Lucky arriving, Anne finally spoke up, and jumped directly from the tallest pillar on the broken eaves of the building not far away, and landed firmly on it.

In front of the two people.

As for when she arrived before Lackey and appeared on the pillar, not even Claire noticed.

"that……"

But now Claire doesn't want to ask about trivial matters like that. She just stares at Anne closely until Anne seems to have used some means to directly imprison the awakened person that 'Elena' has become.

Or, after making him stop yelling, she walked over nervously and asked anxiously:

"she……"

"It's become like this, can you still suppress it?"

She can no longer remember how Claire herself was suppressed back then, and whether she was fully awakened at the time. Therefore, facing Elena's current dire situation, she has no idea.

However, no matter what the final result is, it cannot be denied that the little girl with mysterious origins in front of her is indeed very, very powerful. Even Elena, who has fully released her demon power and awakened, can easily suppress it. That is really far beyond It reached the limit of what her mind could imagine.

"yes!"

"Annie, can, can you change back?"

Seeing that there was no danger, Lackey came out from behind Claire, looked at the terrifying and ferocious 'demon' and swallowed, then Lackey also asked expectantly.

"Of course!"

()

"People are very annoying!

~(ε｀)

Are you kidding? This is just a small problem of going crazy with power, losing your mind and being deprived of personality. Small problems like this can be solved with just a thought for Queen Anne, so there is no need to ask again. ?

(…)

(●￣￣●)

"!!"

"So……"

"please!"

Claire wasn't very good at talking, nor was she very good at communicating with a powerful being like Anne, and she didn't know how Lackey persuaded and invited her. Therefore, in addition to looking straight and giving a grateful look, Apart from hoping that Anne would take action as soon as possible, there was not much she could do.

"Oh, no need!"

(ω)

"Everyone has already agreed with him!"

ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ

After all, Annie said before that as long as the meat is delicious, she will definitely come to help, and the result is indeed very delicious, so it is natural for her to come here.

Anyway, no matter whether the other party says nice words of gratitude or not, she will always take action.

"Let's begin..."

(^-^)/

With that said, Annie casually cast a personality confinement technique, a cleaning technique and a quick recovery technique.

soon!

Under the horrified gazes of Claire and Laki, the surging boring demonic power of Elena, the "awakened one", who had just kept saying that she wanted to eat people, was actually suppressed.

Then, as the demon's power faded, the two of them saw that the demon-like awakener had slowly transformed back into Elena's appearance, and then completely returned to her original state, turning into a naked human being. After that, he fell directly to the ground as if he had lost all his strength.

"!!"

"Elena!"

Seeing this, Claire hurriedly swooped up to him before he could fall to the ground, and then hugged him into her arms.

"Elena?"

"Are you OK?"

Then, of course, Claire immediately reached out her hand to caress Elena's smooth and delicate face and called softly.

"correct!"

"I have a blanket here, cover her up?"

He saw a huge red sword lying in front of him, and his abdomen was still... Anyway, Lackey's eyes were wide-eyed and a little unbelievable at first, but soon he thought of something, and then hurriedly started from

He took out a blanket from the package he was carrying and handed it to Claire to cover her up.

Not long after, Elena, the great sword who was already physically very strong, woke up leisurely.

"??"

Then, when he saw Claire hugging him, when he saw that he still had human arms, and at the same time he discovered that the demonic power in his body could be controlled easily without being suppressed by himself, and there seemed to be no sign of backlash.

, Elena exclaimed, then jumped directly from Claire's arms and looked at her hands and body subconsciously.

"this……"

"!!"

"This is impossible!"

"Claire!"

"How is this going?

Elena, who felt as if she had been reborn, was so surprised that she didn't even care about the blanket on the ground or her naked state. She just looked at Claire in shock and exclaimed.

asked.

She remembered that at that time, her consciousness had been completely submerged by the demon power, and at that moment, Claire had to take action, but now... why can she still stand here well and have recovered?

Not to mention, it seems to be more comfortable than before?

"..."

"Elena..."

Claire didn't explain, but just stared at her partner silently, and then she suddenly showed a happy smile and called the other person's name for a long time.

"I know!"

"Here's the thing!"

Finally, seeing an opportunity to perform, Lackey jumped out and began to proudly explain the origin and process of how he ran to find Annie and then invited Annie to come here to help.

Of course, because Elena was not wearing any clothes, he did not dare to look directly at her, but turned sideways and spoke a little shyly.

"..."

"Thanks!"

After a while, after listening to Lackey's words and finally understanding the reason, Elena slowly turned around and looked at Annie, and then solemnly thanked her.

"You're welcome!"

o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

"Maybe I'll hate them even more later!"

(˙o˙)

Annie waved her hands, then hesitated to speak.

"??"

"??"

After hearing what Anne said, Elena took the blanket handed over by Claire and put it on again, then they both looked at Anne and waited for Anne's next answer.

"I discovered something very interesting recently!"

(灬ω灬)

"Do you want to hear it?"

()°

"..."

"..."

"..."

At this time, the three of them, including Lackey, seemed to be very curious, and then they all looked towards it, obviously wanting to know.

"People discovered..."

(｀ω)

"You and those demons seem to have the same manufacturing techniques!

╮(╯-╰“)╭

That's right, from Annie's point of view, they are all the same shoddy products, and they all seem to be just experiments and consumables?

"??

"What's the meaning?

Elena and Claire looked at each other, confused.

"actually……"

"The warriors of our organization are originally transformed from the flesh and blood of monsters. We have something in common with monsters. Isn't that strange?"

Then Claire spoke up and explained.

In fact, her body already contains the flesh and blood of a senior she respected very much. It was she who actively asked the organization to transform herself back then. And she, like Elena, will turn into a demon once she exceeds a certain limit.

!

And this may be the main reason why people always look at them warriors with strange eyes, and even regard them as monsters.

"No!"

(￣へ￣)

"What I mean is: Those demons and your big swords should be made by the same group of people!"

(*︶*):*

It was just some primitive and backward barbaric biological transformation technology. It would be strange if it could be hidden from Queen Anne's eyes. Therefore, Anne directly pointed out a certain key point in a positive tone.

"!!"

"!!"

If someone else said it, Elena and Claire would definitely not believe it, but if it was Annie, a mysterious and powerful person who had helped them, they would of course treat her differently. So, when they heard Annie say that

As soon as he said this, the two of them looked at each other in slight shock, as if they had thought of something.

"you mean……"

"demon……"

"Is it deliberately created and released by the organization?"

Then, Claire asked tentatively with an ugly face and a trembling tone, as if she was a little unwilling to believe the fact that Anne said.

"What?"

"No way!?"

Lackey was naturally shocked when he heard Claire ask that, and then he tried to analyze it with an ugly face:

"If that's really the case..."

"The organization creates and releases monsters, and then uses and transforms big swords to kill monsters to make money... Those who don't pay will no longer send big swords, and let the other party be slaughtered by monsters..."

"Then, after setting a few examples, you can keep releasing monsters and making money. When the big sword dies, new ones will be made, and the monsters will continue to flow..."

"By analogy, we have been searching for the wealth of various villages and towns. This..."

"this……"

As he spoke, Lackey's own face turned pale first. At the same time, in his trembling tone and eyes that widened again, the look of panic and disbelief was directly expressed, as if he had accidentally touched something indescribable.

So huge and terrifying.

"..."

"..."

After hearing what Lackey said, Elena and Claire looked at each other again.

Then both of them remained silent and did not make any random comments, nor did they deny what Lackey had just guessed. However, their expressions became a little unnatural, and their eyebrows frowned slightly.

"Annie!"

"Really, is that really like that?"

Finally, Lackey, who had never thought that such a thing would happen, couldn't help it anymore, and he couldn't wait to ask Anne again for confirmation.

His parents, uncle and brother all died at the hands of demons. It can be said that his life has been completely ruined by demons. The reason why he followed Claire was not only that Claire saved him, but also

I want to learn some skills from Claire and take revenge on the monsters all over the world.

If that's really the case, then what's the point of everything he's doing now?

"have no idea!"

()

"You need to investigate this matter yourself. I don't have time anyway!"

()

Anne said that the things she had agreed upon with the energetic boy Lackey had been completed, and they had just said it casually. As for how the three of them were going to deal with it and how they were going to investigate, she would not have to worry about it!

"..."

"..."

Claire and Elena looked at each other again.

"Ah!"

"Elena, it seems that your big sword must die today."

Then, Claire suddenly said with a half-smile.

"Yes."

"I also think so……"

"It would be better to die."

Elena also smiled in a tacit understanding, and then looked at each other tacitly and reached a certain consensus with Claire.

"??"

"etc!"

"Claire?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Elena, who had finally found Annie and begged her to be rescued, was about to die now. This made Lackey, who was already in a state of confusion, feel that his brain was a little weak.

"..."

"..."

Unfortunately, the two swordsmen did not explain, but once again looked at the troubled little girl who was about to leave.

————————
Chapter completed!