Meanwhile, Outside the Body

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Now, let us momentarily shift our perspective back outside the Land Whale's body.

The light snow that had been dancing under the cloudy sky had, at some point, turned into a blizzard that obscured the vision, and the forests of the Plateau of Behemoths had been painted stark white—save for one particular section.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"BOAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

And that one section was, in other words, the battlefield for the decisive clash between Emi and the Land Whale!

Here, the wind pressure whipped up by Emi's fists...

And the heat unleashed by the beams of the Land Whale's barnacles...

Continued to blow away and melt the snow!

"BOAH... AAAAAAAAH!!!"

At this moment, the Land Whale spun its mountain-like body around... and slammed its tail toward Emi!

Emi evaded the tail—which approached while scraping the ground and shattering boulders—with a leap powerful enough to clear an entire building!

Bi!!

Seeing this opening, the barnacles simultaneously fired their 【Barnacle Beams】 at Emi, who was floating in the air... but.

"RAAAH!!"

Emi instantaneously deployed her 【Black Wings】 and nozzles from her back!

Then, by spraying a massive amount of jet-black miasma—which undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the environment—she gained propulsion and began to maneuver through the air!

The 【Barnacle Beams】 failed to hit their target, instead punching small holes into the distant gray clouds.

"AAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Continuing to dodge the incoming 【Barnacle Beams】 by a hair's breadth, Emi aimed for the Land Whale's massive body.

A giant 【Black Greatsword】 had materialized in her hand; Emi added the momentum of her flight to her abnormal strength and slammed it down onto the Land Whale's crown!

"BOAH!?"

The Land Whale flinched from the pain and let out a scream!

However...!

"Tch...!"

Emi clicked her tongue.

Even with the 【Black Greatsword】's cutting power enhanced by the addition of the 【Great Mantis】... the blade stopped against the Land Whale's skull!

"RAH...!"

Emi immediately kicked the hilt of the 【Black Greatsword】 embedded in the Land Whale's head to distance herself.

The 【Black Greatsword】 dissipated into miasma.

The Land Whale's head... was healed instantly, repaired by flesh that surged upward.

In this manner.

To an outside observer, the battle between Emi and the Land Whale appeared almost equal.

If Emi were to take a hit from the Land Whale, she would undoubtedly suffer massive damage, but she continued to perform god-like evasions using her honed combat instincts.

On the other hand, the Land Whale's wounds were never fatal; it healed them immediately.

However, when comparing their magic power, the difference was obvious.

Emi's magic power was immense, far beyond what one would expect from a human.

Nevertheless, her opponent was a giant creature that had lived on the Plateau of Behemoths for thousands of years.

A demi-god, the Land Whale.

Even Emi could not overcome the "years of experience" possessed by this Land Whale.

When comparing their total magic power reserves, the advantage went... unfortunately, to the Land Whale.

In other words, if they continued to fight on equal terms, Emi would eventually lose due to the difference in stamina.

<Why not just run away already?>

Therefore, it was only natural that Omake-sama, the companion residing within Emi's mind... repeatedly made such a suggestion.

Omake-sama's top priority was, as always, Emi's life.

"...No."

But Emi would not budge.

"Dokugegon... finally got motivated."

In this Plateau of Behemoths... a small, weak, and ugly monster.

An eccentric coward who, despite being a monster, hated fighting... Emi's pet.

Picking him up had been a mere whim.

If it was a creature this ugly, it wouldn't be a loss if he died by being caught up in her own misfortunes... or if she accidentally crushed him.

And since he was covered in poison and looked disgusting no matter how you viewed it, she probably wouldn't accidentally eat him even if she were starving.

She had started keeping him thinking he might help her reintegrate into human society, as she had been living like an animal in the wild lately.

A practice dummy for communication, or for learning how to control her strength when interacting with others.

She had thought... he was nothing more than that.

"I have to cheer him on... as his owner."

But now, it was different.

Before she knew it, Dokugegon had become a precious "companion."

To Emi, Dokugegon was no longer just one of the nameless masses she could kill on a whim.

<You say "motivated," but... I think Dokugegon probably wanted to run away just a moment ago.>

"No way."

<No, I assure you, he did.>

"His form changed in a short amount of time. Even you said, Omake-sama, that it was 'because he had steeled his resolve to fight.'"

<Well, I did say that. Creatures with high magic power occasionally do things like that.>

"In other words, Dokugegon is full of motivation."

"BOAH, BOAAAAAAAH!!!"

While dodging the Land Whale's charges and the 【Barnacle Beams】 by a hair's breadth, Emi continued to wait.

"Do your best... Dokugegon!!"

For the moment when her companion... would show his grit and break through this situation!

"I'll... do my best too!!"

In the next instant!

Emi leaped with explosive power and punched the Land Whale's left cheek!

Then, while the Land Whale staggered, she punched its right cheek with a 【Black Arm】 she had extended without anyone noticing!

Furthermore, after descending to the ground and leaping once more, she delivered an uppercut that sent the shock straight through to the brain... and then, clasping her two extended 【Black Arms】 together as if in prayer, she brought them crashing down upon the Land Whale's head as a 【Black Great Hammer】!

Giving it everything she had... Emi's reckless, all-out rampage had begun!