Bro, I'm not an Undead!

But Yuyui instantly killed the tautening tension with the simple raise of her hand. Both Franceesta and Grim were surprised.

The lime-haired girl had a look to her eyes that only Grim could have fully discerned meaning from. He sighed inwardly.

’You can’t be serious,’ he thought.

"Since I’m such a disappointment already," Yuyui said, "You must surely realise that I’m not opposed to the idea of allying with and befriending men. Grim just so happens to be a valued ally of mine. What do you think about that?"

Franceesta’s nostrils released a burst of steam. Her insides might have been boiling. It was a wonder how her opinion of Yuyui was fluctuating so much, and how it had departed to an extreme negative now. But Yuyui did not flinch.

"I think it’s a damn shame. Direction screwed us over with this one," the giant woman said before eyeing Grim. She grinned. "You speak of allies, but a loud character like him probably sees you as his pet."

Yuyui remained unfazed. She felt the giant woman’s words bounce right off her. If it had been Yuyui from the early days post her release from the Temple of Unlusted Tears, she might have absorbed these dark words, but now…

She tore her eyes from Franceesta’s lantern-like hazel eyes and turned to the long-faced woman. Her small smile remained and her eyes remained fixed on Yuyui. The lime-haired girl remembered what she had said some moments ago.

’Are your eyes telling you something about me? I feel mine whispering plenty about you.’

"What are your eyes telling you about me? You’re the leader of your Order, aren’t you?" Yuyui asked.

The woman was amused. She chuckled and began towards Yuyui.

Franceesta might not have made Yuyui feel tense, but this woman certainly did. Grim also smelled the pressure coming off of her. It was dangerous. As confident as he was, she wasn’t someone they could let their guard down against, even for a moment. No, especially for a moment.

"The fact that you’d resort to asking about leaders and hierarchy just spells how much men have poisoned you. What’s the need for positions among sisters seeking to do righteous work?" the woman said. She was graceful in her speech, yet also devilish.

Her name was Nigerra. Her name had been rather popular during the Second Grand War, but the Ashing of Time had erased it from the memory of the general public, leaving only vague mutterings about the Order of the Trodden Rose as a whole.

Franceesta backed away from Yuyui and made way for Nigerra.

"Righteous work?" Yuyui laughed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. "Is that really what you tell yourself when you are skinning defenseless grown men and little boys alive?"

Nigerra’s smile grew a little wider, but not wilder. Porria and the other woman drew close.

"How is that any different from how men keep pet women in their dungeons; pets that they fuck and lash at with barbed whips to feed some distorted itch in their hearts? Surely, if society can tolerate that, they can tolerate our work," Nigerra said, and she stopped just shy of Yuyui and looked at the burning town. "I believe whoever came up with the phrase ’An eye for an eye’ had a revelation. All things in equal measure. Avenged, or perhaps rebutted in kind."

Yuyui wore a strained face.

"Is that what you’ve believed all along or did it become an excuse for your horrible actions after you started going mad? Weren’t you supposed to be beacons of hope for women? Women started picking combat-oriented Classes during the Second Grand War because of you. You empowered them before you started killing innocent men. Didn’t the fact that some women were inspired to rise up against you to protect communities of men tell you anything at all? You’re sick!"

Nigerra was not offended.

"Of course, we’re sick. It’s the price we had to pay to show the world a bitter truth," she said with a laugh and turned to Porria, the wide-faced woman. "Honestly, our little group wasn’t entirely motivated by a righteous cause from the beginning. Porria was a powerful Arma User back then, while I and the others were nobodies with no ambition. A lack of that ambition led me to try something that was viewed as uncommon – to become a powerful woman by the standards of the men."

"Porria trained me, and power came so easily. It was as though I was born to be a fighter, an Advancer, a Master, an Incandescent Stager. It was a breeze. Soon, I overtook Porria and we found other women blessed in no other particular, natural womanly gifts, and had them try to be monsters like us. It was easy and sweet for them too."

"But then came our ambition. As women we were just as capable, weren’t we? We were just as fierce as the men when we fought. And what better way was there to make that idea known than to demonstrate it in the name of all women as heroes."

Yuyui had already been scowling. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

She found that her assumptions in relation to the Order of the Trodden Rose had been very wrong. She assumed they had been righteous women who had fallen to the dark side as time passed, but as it turned out…

"You mean to tell me you never truly cared about making a difference at all? It was all an excuse to exercise your strength and talent?" Yuyui said, seething.

Nigerra’s soft smile finally turned into a grin.

"Ah, my eyes told me true. You’re a frail flower that’s only just begun to bud and bloom. What’s spurred your growth isn’t even your own strength or ambition. It was a man’s agenda that caught your heart, isn’t it?" she said.

Yuyui took quick steps to reach within an inch of Nigerra’s face.

"So you’re gifted? So what? That makes my background worthless? Being helped by someone else to grow – a man, no less – makes me inferior?"

"That’s exactly right. Like I said, we are sick by society’s standard, but that’s only because we have our own standard, as all women should. The Deities didn’t make men and women equal. Last I checked, there are two Deitesses who made Aigas. Does that not say it all?"

Grim sighed exasperatedly at this. Nigerra looked at him.

"I see that’s not a popular opinion with men. Care to prove me wrong?" she said almost politely.

"You’re on," Grim said, ready to bare his fangs – again – but Yuyui once again raised her hand.

Grim was baffled.

"What? You’re still considering taking them all on by yourself?"

Yuyui didn’t answer, but it was clear.

Indeed, Grim had gathered this from the jump. This seemed like a personal affair to Yuyui. He wasn’t really concerned for her safety, but he would be lying if he didn’t admit that he really wanted to fight these women.

He folded his arms.

"You sure about this?" he asked, but he didn’t expect an answer. Yuyui was still locking faces with Nigerra, who slid backward a moment later with a laugh.

Grim didn’t need to tell Yuyui anything. She had a guidance field. He knew she was fully aware that Franceesta, Porria and the other, stocky woman were peak Transcendent Stagers… and that Nigerra was a Beyond The Veil Stager.

Indeed, the long-faced woman stood at the pinnacle of Aigas’ power system!

She chuckled.

"Bold. But perhaps, fitting. I’m not sure how many eyes you have awakened, but it seems perfect to match yourself against us. Perhaps how you’ve mastered your eyes will reach my poor, sick soul instead," she said while placing a hand on her chest.

Yuyui scoffed.

She knew her enemies probably had more eyes than she did, the unique eyes that made up her Hidden Class. That, on top of the powers afforded by their Stages was bound to be terrifying. However...

’Even then, it’s nothing compared to the Impossible Task...’ she thought.