......... Huh?

I, Narsena, couldn't help but make a dumb noise against the hydra that was coming towards me when the hydra turned to me.
I understand how attached Hydra is to her brother, as I was desperately attacking her until now.
That's why I couldn't hide my bewilderment when Hydra suddenly changed its target to me.

......... But when I noticed the skin-tight malice that was floating in those twelve eyes, did I understand what Hydra was after?

Judging your brother to be an intractable enemy, Hydra was the first to try to kill me.
In order to give your brother despair against him by killing me, the stronghold of his heart, first.

''Huh!''

The malice that Hydra has for her brother, it's hefty and alien like mud, makes me gasp.
I instinctively understand that the difference between after and before the mutation is not only the difference in ability, but also this malice.

But even after being exposed to that malice, I still didn't let my mind waver beyond the gasp and upset of my mind.
It's not that I wasn't afraid of Hydra's malice.
It's just that I didn't care about even that kind of fear now, that's all.

After all, I was feeling the excitement in my chest that made me not care about the fear.

The scene I had just seen. The image of your brother shrugging off that mutated Hydra's attack is still stuck in my head.
What would it really take to perfectly ward off the Hydra's attack, which a moment ago was completely unresponsive to it?
It's an impossible miracle, and yet your brother did it.

But for some reason, I was convinced that he would easily accomplish this miracle.

Now I understand how much I trust in my brother.
The reason I had tried so desperately to be strong all these years was because I wanted to repay and protect my brother, who had lamented his lack of talent.
For years now, I've worked hard to do just that.

But the reason I wanted to be strong at first was because I admired my brother's appearance as he defended himself and defeated the goblins.



◇◆◇



I still have the image of my brother, who was covered in scars years ago and still fighting desperately to survive, stuck in my head.
At that time, I didn't believe that I would survive at all.
At that time, my brother's fight was so close to the edge that I understood that.
Your brother was desperately trying to desperately draw the goblin to him, but he was only successful at the beginning when he had the physical strength to do so.
The brother's movements were lackluster, and soon he was being caught by the goblins and beaten and kicked by a large number of goblins as if they were teasing him.
Still, my brother was moving to try to attract the goblins to the end.

...... But a few minutes later, he was lying on the ground in a dying state, with no energy to even move at the earliest.

At that time, the reason I stood in front of the goblin to protect my brother was not because I had any chance of winning.
I was simply trying to increase the chances of my brother, who was desperately trying to protect me, surviving, as much as possible.
In other words, I was going to die then.


That's why I couldn't hide my astonishment at my brother who stood up in that dying state.


Even if I recovered with the 《Heal》, I didn't think he was capable of fighting at all.
He had only applied the 《Heal》 from a state where he wasn't even close to dying.
Normally, you would barely be able to stand up.



But the brother, with his back to me, killed the goblins one after another with his back to me.


To be honest, it was a scene that could be described as bizarre, and I can see now that it was.
A few minutes ago, a person who had been able to do nothing but run away was killing goblins one after the other in a wounded state.

But what I remembered about that brother's appearance was a strong love interest.
I knew better than anyone else that there was no way my brother could defeat a pack of goblins.

That's why I understood how many miracles happened when your brother defeated the goblins, and I remembered a strong love for him who had performed those miracles to protect me.

And that's when I needed strength for the first time.

Although I was happy to have him protect me, I still couldn't bear the thought of not being able to help him in his crumbling state.
So I held him right then and there.

He wanted to be strong enough to fight next to this man.

And why does that memory make me feel such a rush in my chest and why I trust my brother so much.
I understand the reason for it all.

Since that time, I've been convinced that my brother can perform miracles.
And it's because I can understand that the miracle was only possible because of my existence that my heart is so passionate about it.

Then this time I'll stand next to your brother and fight with him.


Narsena!


Because of that thought, I smile back at my brother when I hear him scream, and I smile back at him.
To tell him that I'm okay and that I asked him to take care of the rest.



FU───────u!



The hydra attacks me with an open display of malice.
But now I was neither terrified nor pressured by it.
Nor did I try to run away from it.

I knew that I had been unable to stop Hydra.
But I wasn't going to run away from Hydra for that reason.
The Hydra thinks I am weak.
That's why, if you can catch them by surprise, you'll be able to create a big opening.

I'm not going to be able to stand alongside your brother if you run away here, that's how I felt.

I didn't move at all when Hydra tried to attack me with its long tail.
I just concentrated and watched the hydra attack.

And in the next moment, I hit my own fist against the tail that had attacked us.

''Hah!''

FUUUUUUUUUUUU?

At that moment, Hydra's face contorts in anguish and she screams in agony.
In that hydra's form, I understand that I have finally found an effective attack.
With my ability, I can't deal effective damage to Hydra with my skills alone.
However, if I attack to match the hydra's attack, I can deal damage for the hydra's attack plus my skills.
The impact must have gone all the way to my internal organs.

And that attack seemed to be quite effective, and there was a clear hostile intent in the eyes that Hydra pointed at me.

Apparently, he finally recognized me as an enemy.

''FU──────u!''

Nah!

...... But that didn't stop Hydra from attacking me.

The Hydra's attitude made my face twitch involuntarily as I realized that the weakness of this attack had been spotted in an instant.
The only simultaneous attack I could use to damage Hydra had an effective but fatal flaw.
That is, the damage from Hydra's attacks would accumulate on me as well.

In other words, this method could never be used for long.

''Huh!''

FUUUUUUUUU!

Somehow I manage to deal with the next attack of Hydra's tail as well, but the pain in my fist that runs at that moment makes me understand that I can only stop the attack a few more times.
And from the way I look at him, I can see a sort of triumphant confidence on Hydra's face as he understands that.

'Huh. .........'

But at that time, I also let out a breath of relief and slumped down at the same time.

Seeing my condition, a look of alarm appeared on Hydra's face.
I smiled tiredly at such Hydra.

'I'm sorry. I was just stalling. ─ ─ I'm glad you got the message properly.

FU...?

At my words, Hydra finally sensed something and turned her back and noticed the person behind her.

But by then it's too late.

"I'll take care of the rest.

The next moment, the brother's dagger, which told him so, was swung down to Hydra: ......