"Hoo... Let's get out of here quickly."
Letting out a long sigh of relief, Erica shouted to Liliana and Ena on the side.
Fighting the three divine beasts had consumed a lot of their strength, especially Ena, who had used the Authority of the Ame no Murakumo. It was obvious that they could not stay here any longer. If the Great Sage summoned a few more divine beasts, the sisters would be in real danger.
Nodding to each other, just as the three girls were about to leave quickly, a sound suddenly came—
Squeak squeak squeak... squeak squeak squeak...
A chorus of monkey squeaks, and then a large group of things flew towards Erica and the other two girls like a tidal wave. There were pebbles, cans, broken bowls—in short, all sorts of things!
"Ooh... these are..."
Raising their arms to protect their heads, Erica and the other two girls were almost furious. It turned out that all these things were thrown by the monkeys that had been transformed from humans by the Great Sage's divine power!
Although they had turned into monkeys, they were just ordinary monkeys. During the battle, these guys had long been scared and had hidden somewhere. It was unknown what was going on, but now they were all extremely agitated. Although they were afraid of the three girls' strength and did not dare to pounce on them, they threw whatever they could grab at them!
They all had a serious case of mysophobia. As beautiful girls, they had never been treated like this before. The three girls were super angry. If they hadn't thought that these were monkeys transformed from humans, they would have probably already been unable to resist exterminating these annoying and detestable creatures!
"What should we do, Erica? We're surrounded!"
"Deploy the barrier and block all this junk!" Liliana yelled to Erica, her voice filled with frustration.
With a grim expression, the intelligent Erica instantly understood that this had to be the Great Sage's doing, and a wave of anger washed over her as well.
Swarms of monkeys from all over the city were converging on their location. In a flash, the number of monkeys surrounding the three girls had exceeded ten thousand. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a dense, writhing mass of monkeys, a sight that made all three of them feel their skin crawl.
At first, they were just throwing things, but as their numbers swelled, the monkeys grew bolder. They surrounded the three girls completely, clawing and biting at the magical barrier.
"There's no other way. If they've lost their humanity and are now our enemies, then we'll have to carve a bloody path out of here!" Erica declared, a murderous glint in her eyes.
Erica was by no means a bloodthirsty person, but she was certainly not a soft-hearted fool. Since these creatures were threatening her and her sisters, she had no choice but to steel her heart and eliminate them.
Though they felt a pang of reluctance, Liliana and Ena ultimately nodded in understanding.
Just as the three were about to drop the barrier and slaughter the troublesome monkeys to forge their escape, a voice suddenly rang out—
"Ara, ara... Erica, Liliana, and the other dear Miko-san, it seems you've run into a bit of trouble!"
The voice was as clear as a spring fountain. The three girls looked up to see a figure slowly descending from the sky. It was a beautiful Caucasian woman with platinum-blonde hair that shimmered with light.
Her tone was elegant yet slightly playful. Dressed in high-class clothing and exuding an air like fine perfume, she was a beauty who, in some ways, bore a striking resemblance to Erica.
"An astral body! It's an astral body?!" Ena, who had apparently noticed something, couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
An astral body, also known as plasma in the world of magic, was, simply put, a soul doppelgänger created using spiritual power.
It sounded simple in theory, but creating one was exceedingly difficult. It required an immense amount of spiritual power. In fact, until this very moment, Ena had never seen anyone capable of such a feat.
Erica and Liliana, however, didn't seem particularly surprised, merely a little taken aback, wondering why this person had suddenly appeared here.
"Hehehe... As expected of Little Sora's knight, to see through it at a glance. The situation seems a bit dire right now. Why don't we save the chatter for later?"
The mysterious beauty, present in her astral form, smiled and touched her lips, an appreciative look on her face. She glanced at the ever-growing swarm of monkeys, the corners of her mouth curling into a graceful arc.
She didn't appear to do anything, yet an invisible ripple spread out from her. Wherever it passed, the rampaging monkeys froze, then clutched their heads and fell to the ground, writhing in agony.
"What's happening?!"
Utterly astonished and with no idea what had just occurred, the three girls instinctively turned their gazes to the woman beside them.
"Oh, that? I just sent some negative emotions like pain into their minds using telepathic waves. I can't hold them for too long, so if you're planning to escape, you'd better be quick!" the woman said with a playful wink.
"Incredible..."
Ena was in awe, having never witnessed such a method of fighting before.
"Let's go!"
Erica, glad to avoid being splattered with blood, quickly dispelled the barrier. She grabbed the still-dazed Ena and, along with Liliana, used "Leap" magic to burst through the monkey encirclement.
Seeing that the three had escaped safely, the mysterious beauty in her astral form nodded slightly. Her body dissolved into particles of light and vanished from the spot.
…
Having escaped the monkey horde, the three girls stopped in a deserted, remote street.
"Erica, who was that person who just helped us?" Ena asked Erica curiously, having formed a very good impression of the princess-like woman.
"Hmph, she is..."
Erica snorted, just about to say the name, when another voice suddenly chimed in from the side.
"My name is Alice. Sometimes people call me Princess, but it's so embarrassing to say it myself, hehehe..."
Princess Alice's voice appeared right beside them. She still possessed that noble and elegant aura, yet it was mixed with a childlike playfulness that made it impossible for anyone meeting her not to take an instant liking to her.
"From the Witenagemot—!"
"A... A VIP! Amazing!"
Ena gasped. Although she spent most of her time training in the mountains, as the heir to the Seishuuin family, she was required to know a great deal about the world. She had, of course, heard of the great name of the White Hime-Miko Princess, Alice.
A look of realization dawned on her. Legend had it that this princess was born with immense spiritual power, capable of conversing with gods and even seeing the future. Creating a soul doppelgänger would indeed be a simple matter for her!
"How adorable. I know about you too, Hime-Miko of the Sword, Seishuuin Ena-chan!" Princess Alice said, gently patting Ena's forehead like a kind older sister.
Flustered, Ena ultimately allowed Princess Alice to touch her. This wild girl, who was usually so carefree, actually blushed for a rare moment, a faint red tinge appearing on her cheeks.
"Princess Alice, thank you for your help just now. But why has the Princess appeared here?" Liliana asked, stepping forward and bowing respectfully, her face full of confusion.
"Liliana, it's been a while. You've become such a remarkable Great Knight," Princess Alice said, shifting her gaze to Liliana with a look of admiration. She smiled and continued, "I was having a nice nap at home when I suddenly felt a powerful wave of divine energy, so I came to take a look. I never expected the god who descended this time to be the legendary Great Sage Equaling Heaven. This is quite a mess. This incident wouldn't have something to do with you all, would it?"
A cunning glint flashed in her turquoise eyes as Princess Alice asked the question, a slight smile playing on her lips, fully aware of the answer.
"Er, well..."
Liliana looked awkward and was suddenly at a loss for words. To admit that they were the ones responsible felt a bit too embarrassing.
"Erica, if you keep looking at me like that, you'll hurt my feelings!" the slightly mischievous princess said, turning her attention from Liliana to Erica, who was watching her with a wary expression.
Seeing Princess Alice look at her, Erica instinctively took two steps back, the vigilance in her eyes intensifying.
Ena was confused by this, but Liliana seemed to know something, wearing an expression that was fighting back a smile.
"Princess Alice, it has been a long time."
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Erica performed a graceful, noble's curtsy for Princess Alice.
Whenever she saw this noble, elegant, and beautiful princess, Erica couldn't help but feel a sense of rivalry. Perhaps it was the old saying that opposites attract and likes repel. She remembered that it was after meeting this princess as a child that she had resolved to become an elegant lady herself, determined not to lose to her.
"Hehehe... Even Erica has her less-than-honest moments," Alice giggled. "I've been keeping an eye on your affairs too, Erica. You've been very active as Little Sora's Great Knight and First Queen. The entire Copper-Black Cross must be so proud of you now."
Princess Alice placed a slender, jade-like finger on her own cheek, which was as fair and delicate as a baby's, her expression sincere and full of praise.
"Th-Thank you..."
Receiving the princess's recognition and praise, Erica felt a mix of shyness and immense joy. Although she held a sense of rivalry towards the princess for various reasons, it wasn't a feeling of dislike or rejection. In her heart, the princess had always been someone she admired and strived to surpass.
As she was basking in this small moment of happiness, something suddenly clicked in her mind. Erica's eyes shot open.
"Princess Alice, you know our King? Since when? What is your relationship?"
A barrage of questions came from Erica, who had just realized that Princess Alice had called their King "Little Sora" when she first appeared. To use such an intimate nickname, could there be some relationship between them that she didn't know about?
At this thought, Erica's wariness returned, and the happiness from a moment ago vanished. Even Ena and Liliana looked on with curiosity.
"Ara, has Little Sora not told you? The truth is, he and I are..."
Looking at the three girls, Princess Alice elegantly brushed back her hair and then said something that left them all dumbfounded...