“And… that's it. You ready Luci?”

  “Yep! I'll just need to stock up on some more arrows before we go. Actually, I think I'll do that now.”

  “Alright. Just make sure you're back before we leave you behind.”

  “Mhm. See ya.”

  Luci went ahead and left while I made some final checks. Seeing everything was here, I headed down to breakfast. Since it's a C rank inn, the breakfast had a few options. I went with half a loaf of bread and a bowl of meat soup and joined the cat-girls of the Instigators. It seemed the two harekin weren't down here yet.

  “Heya! Nice of ya to join us!”

  “Thea. Morgan. Good morning. The other two are still upstairs?”

  “Eh? Yeah. Hey, Em. Can ya get them? They need to get ready.”

  “Okay… Yah!”

  When Morgan stood and walked to the stairs, it prompted Thea to casually spank her, resulting in a yelp followed by a brief ‘Don't do that in public’ before she actually left.

  “Well. Has anyone told ya yer hot? Cause you are.”

  “Um. Yes, actually. Thanks for the… compliment? I guess?”

  “It's even better when yer flustered like that! So, I know you declined yesterday, but what say ya come to my room once we're done on this quest? I'm sure ya heard st night how good I am.”

  She's clearly trying to hit on me right now… Hm, what would Luci do in this situation…

  “No thanks. Is taking a woman to bed all you think about? We have a really dangerous quest today, there's no time for that.”

  Hehe! I think that was about something she'd say!

  “Really? Man… yer no fun. Ah, Em. Back already?”

  Sure enough, the other girl had already returned.

  “They were still sleeping. They said they're getting now.”

  “Kay. C’mere.”

  Thea pat her p and Morgan obediently sat down with bright red cheeks. The clearly more dominant cat wrapped her arms around the other as if to say ‘She's mine.’

  “Those two really need to stop doing each other that te… You see though, Mira, this could've been you. I'll give you another chance if you want~”

  “She said no.”

  I turned around when I heard that voice and saw Luci behind me. Sure enough, her quiver was packed full now.

  “That was fast.”

  She sat down in the seat next to me.

  “Yeah, there was a smithy just down the street. I'm assuming you didn't give in to Thea's demands, right?”

  “Ye-”

  “Hey, come on now. If you don't want to give her up you're welcome to join too~”

  “No.”

  “Hah. Kay, whatever.”

  We spent the next few minutes eating until Elizabeth and Tristina finally came down here, clearly tired. After greeting them, the rest of us finished eating. I went over to talk with Leo about the pn for today.a

  “Leo.”

  “Hey! You here for the pn?”

  “Yes.”

  “Kay then. For the most part, our formation will have Donny in the front with you and Thea right behind him. Then it'll be me with Rick and Morgan to my sides. The backline will be Liz in the middle with the archers to her sides. Got it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Hey everyone! Let's get moving now!” Everyone else started leaving at those words. “One st thing Mira. The Goliath was st seen up in wolfkin territory, but that's the thing: It was only st seen there, the Guild told me it's been missing for about a day now.”

  “That's a little…”

  “Concerning? Yeah. We still need to check there first though. We'll be traveling by wagon until we're neat its st seen location, then we switch to foot.”

  “Got it. Let's go.”

  We quickly loaded the wagon, seating all of us women in the wagon itself while the men were on the driver's seat. Rick's really been getting along well with the other two. Only a couple short hours ter we reached the border checkpoint. We secured the wagon and a soldier stationed here said that the Goliath had been spotted already today, and that it was retively close to the checkpoint. At least compared to what we expected. We set off in formation towards where the soldier directed us. After searching the area for a while, we met no signs of our target.

  “Luci, you got anything?”

  “No, nothing. It's supposed to be really big right? Shouldn't it be easier to spot?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Y'know, girls, I've got a couple somethin’s ya can spot real easy~”

  “Thea… not interested.”

  “Thea, stop flirting with them, we don't need distractions right now.”

  “My bad, Leo~”

  “Hah… Seriously you guys… I'd really pref- Hm?”

  Leo suddenly stopped walking and signaled the rest of us to do the same. I could hear a faint whistling, slowly growing louder…

  “Shit! Scatter!”

  I'd recognize the sound of a flying projectile any day, and it seems Leo did too, as he made the call. We all ran to the sides, and after a second I turned back around and saw the two harekin girls standing like they didn't even know what was happening.

  “You two! Ru-”

  BOOM

  The earth began to shake, and a rge boulder suddenly repced the path we were just standing in. The two didn't make it out. I could see crimson liquid leaking out around the bottom of the rge stone.

  “NO!!”

  “Leo! Leave them! It's too te!”

  “Donny… You're right. Everyone! The rock came from the east, so-”

  No more words were said, nor were any needed. We all looked, and we all saw the creature. Towering over the forest was a humanoid creature with skin bcker than the night. Its arms were long, nearly touching the ground, and the cws on the ends looked like massive, bck razors. I noticed a strange dark energy swirling around its head in the shape of a crown, just over those red dots in the pce of eyes on an otherwise featurless face. The crown-like thing aside, it looked almost like any other Shadow, except we knew, this is the Shadow Goliath.

  It roared, and suddenly an army of Shadows appeared. There were hundreds, if not thousands of them.

  “Leo! The formations broken! What do I do!?”

  “What about that spell from the other night!?”

  “I'll need to get closer first!”

  “Go then! We'll support you!”

  “Got it! Oh Holy Goddess, creator of all! Head my call and grant me your sacred spear to destroy my unholy enemy! With your power in my hands, all evil shall be cleansed! 'Light Javelin!” I once again held the white spear in my hand, only this time, I didn't throw it. Somehow I feel like I can fight with it well, but not as well as a sword. Though since it's made of Light magic even stronger than a weapon under the effects of Divinity, it should be easy to clear a path. Just in case, I used the 2nd tier Mind spells I learned. “Strength! Speed!”

  I heard more chanting behind me, but it didn't matter anymore. With my buffs active, I could run in a straight path with the spear held in front of me and no Shadows were able to touch me. I could hear countless enemies being sin by my allies. I finally reached the Goliath, so I jumped into a nearby tree, and then into the air. Just in case, I used Burst to gain extra height. The giant beast swung its arm at me, but at the peak of my jump I threw my spear at it, also with Burst boosting it.

  My enemy managed to move to the side, but I still hit it, blowing off an arm and leaving a gaping hole in its side. Sadly, that wasn't enough.

  “Divinity!”

  I wouldn't have time for the full chant to make another Light Javelin, so I drew my katana and infused it with Light magic. Before I hit the ground, I used Burst to weaken my fall and rolled when I nded to guarantee I remain uninjured. As soon as I stood up I leapt to the side with another Burst, narrowly avoiding the Goliath's arm smming down. I swung at the massive wrist, but my attack wasn't as effective as it could've been, only cutting a little way through.

  I'm beginning to run out of ideas at this point. How can I kill it… A glowing arrow flew past me, burying in the ground before giant roots grew from below with a simir light, destroying a group of Shadows. Jumping over a sweeping attack from the Goliath, I realized what I needed to do. Wasting no time, I began chanting as soon SD I hit the ground and ran towards its legs.

  “Oh Holy Goddess, creator of all!”

  I didnt have the time to cast Light Javelin, but if I'm right…

  “Hear my plea and grant me your strength to remove this stain from your sacred creation!”

  This will work. I finished the incantation once I was between its legs.

  “Purge!”

  This is risky, but it's the only thing I could think of. I poured as much mana as I could into the spell, making sure to leave enough for one or two more Bursts if it didn't work, and a massive pilr of Light erupted around me l. Any scratches I had healed instantly, and there was a loud sizzling sound above me, like that of burning flesh. A deafening roar resounded through the forest, and as the light of my spell faded, I could see that the Goliath was dead. I had destroyed its head and torso, and its remaining limbs were quickly fading like the bodies of most Shadows. While my buffs were still active, I helped the others kill the remaining Shadows.

  We cleared the remaining enemies quickly enough, and just after the final one went down, my sword stopped glowing and I could feel my newfound strength leaving my body. At the realization of what just happened, I was hit by exhaustion and nearly colpsed. I would've too, if it wasn't for Luci running up and wrapping me in a tight hug.

  “We did it! Mira! We did it!

  I said nothing as I hugged her back with a smile on my face. We broke the hug after a minute and walked to where the others had gone. It was then that I remembered the cost of our victory. I've always known this was what happened to those who failed as adventurers, but I wasn't prepared for it to actually happen so soon. It was still a painful experience even if I didn't really know the people in question. The living members of the Instigators, along with Rick, had managed to move the boulder with tear-stained faces, and I could see the bodies clearly. At least, what was left of them. It was too gruesome to describe. I nearly threw up at the sight, and Luci actually did.

  Leo brought out a rge cloth to wrap the bodies in, and once he had finished that, he genty picked up one of them - Elizabeth - and Donovan carried Tristina.

  We walked in grim silence back to the border checkpoint, and after passing word of the Goliath's fall to the soldiers, we got in the wagon and Rick droplet us back. We turned in our quest to the Guild, and each of us received a ptinum coin along with enough points to reach A rank. I returned to the inn with Rick and Luci and payed to continue staying in the same rooms, unsure of whether we could really call today's ‘win’ a victory.