Chapter 33: Summer Event / The End of the Festival

"OOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!"

We threw all sorts of attacks at Clione-chan, who attacked us without a second thought, but neither swords nor magic seemed to have any effect.

The only thing that worked was Kizuna's lightning magic, which managed to paralyze her for just a moment. But that was it.

"What the hell is this thing!? I can't feel any impact when I hit it!?"

"Padron! I think the red parts are the actual body!"

"There are two of them, Tierra!?"

"Lady Liz! Though its form is grotesque, surely its head is still on top, as with any other creature!"

And for good reason. Aside from the red parts on Clione-chan's head and chest, which were her weak points, she was completely invincible.

That was also why she could remain perfectly fine even inside magma.

Don't say she looks like the core of a certain Angel.

"Hmm. If that's the case, then... Liz."

"...! Understood!"

"Rene!? Liz!? Wait, please—"

Rene's judgment was correct. It was absolutely necessary if we wanted to win.

But...

"Red balls... They're watermelons...!"

Just like on the first day of our vacation.

Liz used magic to send Rene flying into the sky. Rene shot upward at incredible speed, heading straight toward Clione-chan's head.

She was clearly planning to strike the head from above.

But that's bad! Really bad!

"That idiot girl...! There's no way a weakness that obvious wouldn't have some kind of defensive measure...!"

I flew after Rene using magic.

In my field of vision was Rene, just about to bring down her attack from the heavens.

That's bad! Especially in terms of popularity polls!

"Hmm. What is this...?"

The exact moment Rene's attack was about to hit—

Clione-chan's head split open with a wet, gaping crack.

"Eek! Its head just split wide open!?"

"Did we beat it, nyah!?"

"No! That is...!"

"Hey! Wait! What is Tierra doing!?"

Those writhing six tentacles were—

The dreams that every character ever drawn in every doujinshi throughout past, present, and future trembles before in tears; the ugly yet human-like dream, a crystallization of the prayer known as "desire."

Declaring that passion to be art, demanding that its story be drawn—

Now, the Angel of the Ice Floes cries out the scientific name of the tentacles it extends with a triumphant roar.

That is—

"BaKKaRuKOoooooooooooNnnnnnnnn!!!!"

"Ah..."

"Rene!"

"Mama!?"

Dammit! I really, really don't want to do this, but I have no choice!

There's no way I'm letting Rene steal the popularity in that direction too!

"I keep telling you, I'm not Mama..."

Immediately afterward, my body was swallowed up by the tentacles.

Well, WF isn't an adult game.

And since our species are different, we can't exactly become mating partners for producing offspring.

So, if you think about it normally, there shouldn't be any kind of "doujinshi-style" development.

"Tierra!"

"Mama... because of me..."

"Rene! Regret and reflection can come later, nyah! Right now, just focus on getting her out!"

"She's right! We've gotta do something!"

"...Yeah. I understand. I'll definitely save her."

It was simply an attempt to use me as a shield to protect the weak points. Presumably, the creature couldn't attack while its hostage was in the same place as its enemies.

What people who saw this scene might imagine and what they might draw afterward is another matter entirely.

My desire to do whatever it takes to return home hadn't changed in the slightest. Still, if I happened to see a doujinshi depicting me after I got back...

Well, that would probably leave me with some complicated feelings.

"But we cannot attack carelessly in this situation!"

"Kizuna! The lightning worked, right!?"

"I can stop its movements for just a moment! But I'll hurt Tierra too!"

"In other words, if we can free her even for an instant, we can paralyze it with lightning and rescue her! Tetoma! Don't you have some kind of plan!?"

『Recalculating. Recalculating. Recalculating... Impossible. We are one move short.』

Anyway.

It's not like the tentacles had any aphrodisiac effect or anything, and my clothes weren't melting or being torn apart either. There'd be no point in making ordinary food aroused anyway. I guess the paralysis was simply there to make it easier to eat.

In other words, it was just extremely disgusting.

The slimy tentacles crawling all over my body were simply unbearable on a visceral level. Still, it was within the range of what I could endure.

『The fierce assault continues. We must defend against it, free Tierra, and prevent her from being restrained again. No matter how many calculations this unit performs, we are one move short.』

"Just one move...!"

"Tch. Then we'll endure and wait for an opening...! Tierra, hang in there a little longer...!"

What should I do? Should I make some kind of moaning sound or something?

But, you know... this is a wholesome game and all.

Decisions, decisions.

Well, whatever.

If things really cross the line, the developers won't depict it anyway. I'll leave the judgment to the developers.

Hang in there, Tanaka.

"Ng...! ...Ah! Ha... ah...!"

"Mama!"

"Tierra...!"

The Spirit and Mother Earth were giving me deeply unimpressed looks inside my mind, but who cares?

If necessary, I'll do anything.

"――Honestly, what a troublesome idiot. Stop with the self-sacrifice already."

Immediately afterward, a single streak of light shot through the battlefield.

"Ooooooooooooooooo!!!???"

"...! Now!"

As expected of a ninja. He never let a sudden opportunity slip away.

Even when faced with an unexpected situation, he made a swift judgment and immediately took action.

Even without understanding what was happening, everyone followed his command and carried out their respective roles.

"Tetoma, Tatta, Saho! I'm counting on you to take care of Tierra!"

『Understood. This unit will protect Tierra.』

"Aye aye!"

"Understood!"

Tatta and Saho moved to catch me as I fell, with Tetoma apparently planning to protect me afterward.

While giving them their instructions, Kizuna ran toward Liz.

"Barbarian! You go too! We can't let this opportunity slip away!"

"Got it, nyah! And stop calling me a barbarian, nyah!"

Padron shouted while holding down one of the tentacles, and Piska also headed toward Liz.

"I'm launching you! Be careful!"

"Okay!"

"Nyah!"

"NEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!"

Liz used magic to launch Kizuna and Piska into the air.

At the same time, the tentacles moved toward me, trying to capture their hostage again.

But—

"You're dealing with me, nya!"

"She hurt Mama. I won't forgive her."

Pahal sealed two of the tentacles with magical explosions, while Rene blew another two apart with a single swing of her giant scythe.

Padron was already holding one down, while Nanashi stopped the remaining one.

And then—

"TAKE THISSSSSSSSSSS!!!! THUNDERBOLT――"

"CAT――"

Kizuna coated his fist in lightning magic and struck.

At the same time, Piska brought down her own fist.

"NYACKLE―――――!!"

For that single paralyzed instant, the timing was perfect!

The tiny difference in timing was so precise that the two attacks looked simultaneous!

Both fists slammed directly into the target—

"OooooooooooooooNEeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!????"

"Thunderbolt Knuckle" and "Cat Nyackle."

Those are special-move names you can only scream because of the swimsuit's effects, right?

While Tetoma protected me, I found myself thinking about something completely irrelevant like that.

Afterward.

"Mama! It's all my fault!"

"I did that on my own. Besides, Rene's decision wasn't wrong either. But next time, let's be a little more careful, okay? And I'm not Mama."

I comforted Rene, who was consumed by guilt.

"I suppose there's no way we can eat this thing, right?"

"It's a waste to throw it away. Want to give it a try?"

"Eh!?"

I responded to Padron's joke with a joke of my own, but Liz let out a genuine scream of horror.

She probably really hates slimy things and tentacles.

"Um... Tierra, you don't happen to have an elf boyfriend or anything, do you?"

"No, I don't. I've genuinely never had a boyfriend in my entire life. Why?"

"That's what I thought! So I was just mistaken, huh? There's no way someone like that would be here..."

Pahal had suddenly said something outrageous, so I denied it with all my might.

Walt's attack that saved me had been such an incredible feat that nobody else noticed it, but perhaps his little sister sensed something.

Even so, stop spreading baseless rumors and damaging my reputation.

There are a lot of people who don't want their heroine to be anything but "pure," you know.

Anyway.

And so, the Summer Event finally came to an end, bringing the first big festival-like celebration to a close.

Next comes Chapter 2 of the main story.

The Great Forest and the Machine City.

What awaits them there...?