For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Seeing the majestic sight of the meat tree grown from Mariell’s corpse, I couldn’t help but mutter,

“Damn, this is really fucked up…”

The true strength of the Grotesque Proliferation doesn’t lie in direct combat but in weakening opponents and buffing allies with buffs/debuffs.

And the fact that this meat tree had grown in the battlefield meant we were in a significantly disadvantageous situation.

Until now, we managed to take down quite a number without many casualties, but… that was because most of the dead were mere foot soldiers.

However, there were still many from the Grotesque Proliferation’s army left, and stronger ones than those we’d encountered so far remain.

They lived with the insane mindset of using their offspring as soldiers, and if they died, they’d just produce more.

Those with some power were either observing our strength from the back or waiting for us to weaken.

Who would protect Alfheim if we all died here? For that reason, I shouted without hesitation.

“Don’t fight, retreat!”

The allies paused momentarily. But since it was my command, Carla, who acted before thinking, pulled out a yellow potion bottle from her bosom and threw it with telekinesis magic, prompting others to start rummaging through their pockets.

Instead of relentless sword auras and magic, potion bottles now crossed the sky.

While lower priests and monsters, slow to react, got drenched in the yellow liquid, most were intercepted and spilled on the ground.

But it was fine. The smell only needed to spread; there was no need for direct contact.

A pungent smell of urine and hallucinogenic substances mixed with the nasty scent of the night flowers, spreading around.

This bizarre smell made even our allies frown, let alone the enemies. One of the priests of the Grotesque Proliferation shouted,

“You scoundrel! How dare you try to cover the blessing given by our Goddess with such a stench!”

A man with short hair, a body 1.5 times larger than an average person, and muscles to match, wearing leather bondage gear—an incredibly striking fashion choice.

His very existence was like a mental attack, but… his furious attitude didn’t last long.

“Trivial tricks! Look! Our children of Proliferation are still strong, while you struggle to even stand… huh? Get away, goblins!”

“Kyeeek!”

“Kikik!”

“Keruk!”

“What?! What is this power…? Stop! This… ahh, ahh, ahh!”

In an instant, the muscular giant was surrounded and subdued by goblins. Perhaps his strength was lacking compared to his appearance.

Or maybe the goblins had become excessively powerful.

From the moment they disregarded gender and attacked, something beyond my expectations had happened…

Was it due to the buffs centered around that meat tree?

Goblins, unlike other greenskins, had no sense of honor or fighting spirit; they lived solely driven by sexual desire.

And the Grotesque Proliferation’s typical buff ability enhanced physical capabilities in proportion to sexual arousal.

The disgusting aura emanating from that meat tree was exactly that.

That is to say, their strength increases manifold when they try to rape someone…!

With the effects of the urine potion overlapping with the meat tree’s empowerment, the goblins’ bodies, now in full erection, had become dramatically enhanced… and now, they couldn’t even distinguish between male and female!

What terrifying creatures! What have I done?

Well, it was good news for us.

Their formation began to crumble quickly due to the goblins going wild, willing to attack anything as long as they could thrust.

“Stop! The command of the Grotesque Proliferation comes first—ooh!”

“I-I like to thrust…!”

“This isn’t the time to enjoy yourselves sneakily! They’re escaping!”

The followers of the Grotesque Proliferation tried to suppress or even kill the charging goblins to pursue us.

But goblins, if nothing else, were numerous. No matter how many had been disposed of, more kept popping out, tying up the feet of those who could chase us effectively.

To be precise, only priests of archbishop level or higher and some monsters could chase us…

“Emergency Slash!”

“Boiling anger, become a great wall and burn my enemies! Fire Wall!”

“O Circulating Life! Bestow your power here…!”

As the saying goes, the protruding nail gets hammered.

They either fell to the ground from being hit by the sword aura or struggled against magical barriers. Some were even bound by the roots and branches that shot up from what was thought to be a dead tree.

Seeing some staying behind to hinder the pursuers, I decided to leave one last gift.

Thump.

A hot energy flowed through my heart. Mana, highly condensed, filled my entire body and even flowed into the staff I was holding.

Perhaps because it was a weapon in sync with me, it accepted the mana without resistance. The magical light at its tip drew a large magic circle in the air.

Patterns far more complex than any spell used so far, a feature of magic where calculation was more important than intuition.

… But I intended to gloss over that calculation with language.

“[O rift of void. O insatiable desire. I speak to the shackles bound to everyone’s ankles without their knowing. At this moment, break your own laws and gather at my call.]”

The magic circle began to color with a deep purple.

At the same time, my vision started to distort. But my eyes were fine. What was distorting was not my perception but the space itself.

An instinctive dread, unique to spatiotemporal magic, touching something that should not be touched. I forcibly suppressed this fear and focused my mind.

Then came the trigger word.

“[Gravity Fall.]”

There was no loud sound. The center of the magic circle just darkened as if someone had spilled ink.

A black stain, quietly expanding, consumed the entire magic circle to match its size.

Slowly aiming the raised staff at the enemies, the elongated magic stretched to block the way between us and them.

Not long after, when an incubus managed to break through numerous obstacles and touched the black barrier…

“Finally! Stop running and accept the touch of the Grotesque Proliferation—huh?”

It didn’t take long for its bewildered voice to turn into a scream.

“Guhhaaaack! No, this can’t be! Me… me being defeated…!”

Like a fly crushed under a giant hand, the creature was flattened to the ground.

No matter how hard it tried to get up, each attempt resulted in twisted joints and torn muscles, forcing it to slam back into the ground in bizarre positions.

After flailing a few times, it finally collapsed into a grotesque pose like a broken doll.

Considering the resilient vitality typical of cultists, that should be enough to kill it.

Gravity Fall. As the name might suggested, it was a high-level spell that concentrated gravity.

While its raw power might be lacking compared to other spells… it was quite tricky, taking considerable time to dispel. Even trying to break it by force would be difficult given the substantial mana I’d invested.

Of course, if they went around it, they could bypass it without issue, but by then, we would have already put distance between us.

Thinking this was enough, I shouted at those who were frantically preparing the next attack.

“That’s enough, fall back! We’re getting out of here!”

Only then did those who had dispersed their mana and aura join the others who were already ahead of them.

A few did pursue us afterward, but most were either defeated by us or quietly evaded.

Even though the life force was sucked dry, this was still part of the Great Forest.

No race was as free within the Great Forest as the elves. With a skilled guide, our movement speed was fast.

Thus, we somehow arrived at the nearby Nidhogg station.

The knights with sturdy bodies were okay, but the magicians and priests, sprawled on the ground panting, saw me release my dragonkin form.

“Ugh.”

I felt dizzy as the dragon features receded back into my body.

It was a mix of the backlash from the transformation and the reverse sensation from the expanded senses contracting, manifesting as a feeling of powerlessness.

Feeling as if I were carrying several heavy weights, I looked around with my weary body.

Everyone was a bit tired, but no one was dead or seriously injured.

It was all thanks to the priests of the Circulating Life, who were specialized in recovery despite their combat abilities being somewhat lacking.

Only then did I relax and sit on the ground.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escaped naturally.

At this, Grimhill and Tumila, representing the rest of the group aside from my women, approached me.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“Ah, we should. There’s a lot to discuss since things turned out this way.”

Saying this while still seated, they nodded and opened their mouths one after another.

“The enemy’s scale was larger than expected. What are you planning to do now?”

“More than that, I’m concerned about the Grotesque Proliferation actively intervening to the extent of using their followers as disposable tools. Count Lindelheit won’t betray us, but if he were to be captured…”

Their voices were full of worry.

Well, given that Alfheim could fall into the hands of those lunatics if we messed up here, their reaction was understandable.

For them, this place was both their homeland, where they were born and raised, and where the roots of their faith lay.

“Looking at the big picture, we did follow the strategy. After all, we unilaterally toyed with the enemy and escaped unharmed. But that was thanks to the urine potion we threw at the end. The next engagement won’t be as straightforward.”

“Ah, that…”

“Don’t fight, just fuck… ahem. You mean that?”

Both coughed, unable to fully say it, but now wasn’t the time to discuss my naming sense.

“It was effective, but we’re out of stock now. We need to come up with another method.”

“I also think so. But if we retreat now, we’ll gain nothing.”

“Yes. They’ll plunder the surrounding villages and push towards the World Tree. They’ll have an even stronger army by then. So, we must resolve this before they reach Yggdrasil.”

“…I agree, but even if we join forces with the reinforcements, I don’t think we can win.”

That was true. The initial plan was based on the premise that the Grotesque Proliferation hadn’t fully amassed their forces yet.

The snowball hadn’t started rolling, but to deal with a fully prepared army like now, we needed national-level forces on our side.

This wasn’t something that could be handled by a small elite group like we were now.

As Grimhill said, even if we joined forces with the reinforcements from the Levantin Empire, it would be meaningless if we couldn’t defeat them.

However.

“There’s a way.”

It’s just a bit risky, but then again, when was it not?