β β β β β β
The Belt of Ares.
According to legend, it was a sacred treasure bestowed upon the Amazons by the God of War himself.
Ares had always been the deity worshipped by the Amazon tribes, and they firmly believed themselves to be his descendants. In mythology, the belt was given directly to Hippolyta as a divine token. One of Heracles' famous labors had even revolved around obtaining it.
As for reality... When Andros had once visited an Amazon settlement, they already possessed the belt. The Amazons had told him it was a relic passed down through countless generations.
Back then, the Amazon queen had generously let him examine it. He had studied it for quite a while. And found absolutely nothing unusual about it.
Now, however, Tom was beginning to question the judgment of that muscle-brained fool.
So he pulled Andros over.
Andros, who had been wandering aimlessly around the world with no missions to occupy him, was abruptly dragged into the study space and looked thoroughly bewildered.
Once he understood the situation, though, his expression turned serious.
"The shape and appearance are definitely similar to the belt I examined back then. But the size doesn't match."
He frowned.
"Amazon women were about the same size as normal people. I've never seen any giant Amazons like this."
The Belt of Ares had three distinctive features.
It was forged from pure gold. It was set with luxurious gemstones. And it bore the symbols of Ares himself: a war helm and a spear, with crescent patterns decorating the edges.
Although the belt around the zombie giantess's waist had rusted badly, the gemstones and patterns were still barely recognizable.
"Tom, I guarantee you, those Amazon warriors were all smoking hot. Those legs..."
"Stop. Stop right there." Tom's face darkened. "Andros, you're getting off-topic. This is not the time to discuss how attractive a bunch of dead old women were. We're talking about the belt."
"Oh, right." Andros scratched his head. "I have no idea what's going on, then. All I know is that the belt was pretty slim back then. I couldn't even fit it around my waist."
"If you want to study it, Jeanne has to bring it back first."
"Good point. Carry on, then." Tom waved a hand and dismissed Andros's manifested consciousness.
Then he sent a telepathic message to Jeanne. 'Jeanne. Take it down and bring that belt back to me.'
"Yes!"
Jeanne's spirits immediately soared.
There was a world of difference between Jeanne with a clear divine command and Jeanne without one.
Now that Tom had given her a specific objective, she felt as though she'd found her purpose once again. Her eyes grew even more resolute.
She kicked the giant zombie warrior squarely in the chest.
Using the recoil, she flipped backward through the air and landed several dozen meters away, finally opening some distance between them.
Clang!
Crossing her twin blades before her chest, Jeanne dragged them against each other with all her strength.
A shower of sparks burst forth.
The moment the two swords separated, the flames dancing along their edges exploded outward, swelling dozens of times larger than before.
Several-meter-long blades of fire extended from the weapons.
The contrast between those colossal flaming swords and Jeanne's petite frame was striking.
"By divine decree..."
Her voice rang across the battlefield.
"...the blasphemer shall be slain!"
Wielding what looked more like oversized executioner's blades than swords, Jeanne charged.
Then she swung.
...
Far in the distance, Isabella and the others watched in complete disbelief.
They had already thought the girl who single-handedly fought over a hundred vampires was unbeatable. Yet the Jeanne battling the giant undead warrior now was even more terrifying.
Where in the world had this monster come from?
"Maybe..." One professor spoke timidly. "...maybe we should just give up on this ruin."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"We can gather whatever valuable materials and records we can from the outer areas and head home. As for the treasures hidden inside the temple, whoever wants them can have them. I'm done risking my life for this." The professor's face was pale, his lingering fear impossible to hide.
Jeanne might be overwhelmingly powerful.
But the giant zombie warrior was no less frightening. If any of them had taken even a few hits from those massive flaming blades, they would have been chopped into minced meat by now.
Yet the zombie warrior kept regenerating.
Limbs grew back. Wounds closed. Even after being hacked apart more than a dozen times, she was still fighting as if nothing had happened.
"I agree," another professor said. "Think about how many dangers we've already encountered on this expedition. Who knows what other horrors are lurking inside that temple besides this thing?"
"With our strength, we're simply not qualified to explore a place like this. Maybe if Riddle or Dumbledore came personally, there'd be some hope."
"Alsa, if you're still unwilling to give up, or if you're worried about explaining this to Headmaster Sanchez, we can always discuss it after we return and report what we've found."
Isabella fell silent.
She hadn't expected the depths of the ruin to conceal something this terrifying.
"Let's wait a little longer," she finally said. "We'll see how the battle ends first."
"If Miss d'Arc wins, then we can't leave."
Everyone looked at her.
"We promised we'd help her complete the exploration."
Only then did the others remember the agreement they'd made earlier.
Their expressions immediately turned awkward.
If they stayed, they might be walking straight into danger. If they left, they'd essentially be betraying a powerful ally who had just fought alongside them.
Neither option felt good.
"It looks like the battle's about to be decided."
Isabella narrowed her eyes, watching the battlefield intently.
Because Jeanne had powered up yet again.
With her faith and conviction fully ignited, her magical reserves hadn't increased, but the will driving her magic had become far more potent.
The flaming blades continued to grow.
Longer. Hotter. Stronger.
At first, they had measured nearly ten meters in length.
Now they had already surpassed ten and were steadily approaching twenty.
In the beginning, the giantess's regeneration had been able to keep pace with the wounds Jeanne inflicted.
But as the battle dragged on, her healing gradually fell behind.
By now, one arm and one leg had been severed completely.
The giant zombie could no longer even stand.
Several more strikes followed.
Soon, she had been reduced to little more than a mutilated torso.
"Hah!"
With a sharp cry, Jeanne brought her twin blades together once more.
The swords merged back into their original form, becoming the sacred flag again.
At the same time, the holy flames erupting from it expanded dramatically.
The banner looked like a pillar of fire reaching toward the sky.
Then Jeanne swung.
SHHHK!
The giantess's grotesque head flew into the air.
Foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere, its stench enough to make people gag.
Even after decapitation, the creature's body continued twitching.
Jeanne assumed it was merely the final reflexes of a dying corpse.
But before she could approach, a new change occurred.
The giantess's flesh suddenly collapsed inward. Her entire body shrank and compressed into a writhing mass centered around the belt at her waist.
Chunks of rust flaked away from the belt one after another.
The brilliant golden surface beneath was finally revealed.
Then the flesh began to reorganize itself. Reshape itself.
Moments later, the giant corpse had vanished.
In its place stood an elderly man.
"Cough... cough...!"
The old man hacked weakly into the air.
The golden belt rapidly shrank, adjusting itself to fit his body.
The gemstones embedded within it shone with dazzling brilliance, as though channeling some kind of energy into him.
Slowly, the old man's hunched back straightened. Strength returned to his frail frame.
Jeanne finally got a clear look at his face.
It was ugly. Ancient. And deeply unsettling.
Her instincts were screaming at her.
Every fiber of her being was warning her that the old man before her was extraordinarily dangerous.
At last, he opened his mouth and spoke.
A stream of unfamiliar words came out.
Jeanne blinked.
Then blinked again.
A confused expression spread across her face.
...What language is that supposed to be?
.
.
.