🌐 Language / 言語
🇺🇸 [English Edition]
🇯🇵 [日本語版]
In the heart of the dark forest, the shadows of the trees stretched like long, grasping fingers as twilight deepened, swallowing the path. Lily, a young girl who had ventured into the woods to gather medicinal herbs for her grandmother, was trembling with fear, having lost her way.
Amidst the sound of her own frantic footsteps, she heard something else—a low, gutteral growl. She turned to find a monstrous, wolf-like beast, its eyes glowing with a predatory hunger.
Lily gasped, her legs frozen in place. “Help me…” she whimpered.
The beast lunged. Lily shrieked, but as her voice echoed through the trees, the air was split by the ringing clash of cold metal. The creature’s razor-sharp fangs were caught, not in her flesh, but against a massive, heavy shield that had appeared out of nowhere.
“You’re safe now.”
Holding the shield was a girl with golden braided hair. She offered Lily a gentle smile—a smile so warm it seemed to melt the girl’s terror instantly. This was Isdale, a Holy Maiden. Carrying a mace as tall as herself, she stood as an immovable wall between the girl and the monster.
The beast, maddened with rage, tried to strike again, but Isdale’s shield sent it flying back. Lily huddled behind the maiden’s reliable back, her heart finally beginning to slow.
“Stay behind me, little one. Let the ‘scary’ big sisters handle the rest.”
Isdale patted Lily’s head tenderly.
“I heard that.”
A cold, feminine voice drifted down from above, accompanied by the whistle of rushing wind.
Looking up, Lily saw another Maiden with flowing, water-blue hair soaring through the air. Zygna leveled her heavy firearm, unleashing a torrential rain of bullets.
The rounds, moving at the speed of sound, tore through the beast. It howled in agony, collapsing to the forest floor, yet it still struggled to rise.
Isdale braced herself to deliver the finishing blow, but it wasn’t necessary.
A third Maiden, Vyzoa, appeared, clad in a gown of pure white. She hoisted a colossal cannon—the Divine Armament, ‘Blitz.’ Blinding energy began to converge within the barrel, humming with a destructive power that rivaled a lightning strike.
A flash of searing light erupted. The blast struck the beast head-on, reducing its body to ash in a heartbeat.
“It’s over!”
The flood of light illuminated the forest, scattering the other monsters lurking in the shadows. Both Lily and Isdale watched in awe at the sheer magnitude of the power.
Silence returned to the woods. Isdale placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder, smiling once more.
“That was frightening, wasn’t it? But you’re safe now. We’ll take you back to the city.”
Tears streaming down her face, Lily threw her arms around Isdale.
“Thank you… thank you so much…”
Zygna descended from the sky to join them.
“Everyone is safe. You were very brave, little one.”
Vyzoa nodded with a soft smile.
“Come, let us go home.”
Lily looked at the three Maidens with profound gratitude. They didn’t just fight; they saved hearts. Gripping Lily’s small hand, Isdale began to walk. Their mission would continue—all for the sake of the people they swore to protect.
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