"We need to do something, fast!" I shouted over Mari's agonized screams.
"What can we do though? We risk hitting Mari if we use ranged attacks and it's nearly impossible to get close enough to use close range attacks," Yuri replied, distressed.
"Touwa, do you have any ideas?"
"Yuri is right. There isn't much we can do. I guess you could try climbing Yoko's vines to get up to Mari, like you did with Kumo. The rest of us can distract the general while you do it. Are you willing to do it? You'll be at risk of death," my bespectacled friend replied.
"I'll do it. I have to," I said, determined to save Mari from the crazy squid. "Are you ready, Yoko?"
The green haired girl nodded so we ran closer to the squid. Yoko immediately made a vine grow from the ground. I waited for the squid to be distracted before climbing.
"AAAH! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" the squid screamed once the girls started attacking her.
I started climbing as quickly as I could. The girls couldn't keep her distracted forever. Mari didn't have forever either. Pretty quickly, I was face to face with Mari.
"Ha… na... You… came… I'm… so…. happy."
"Don't speak. I'll get you out of there," I said as I raised my sword.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. One wrong move and Mari would be split in two. I closed my eyes and let the sounds of battle drift away.
You... are... just... like... Sa…
I opened my eyes, bewildered. What was that voice? The sounds of battle flooded my ears. I don't have time to wonder about that right now. Refocusing, I swung my sword down, cutting the tentacles that were squeezing Mari.
"AAAAH! HOW DARE YOU CUT ME! DIE!"
Slinging Mari over my shoulder, I slid down the vine, barely missing a tentacle. When I hit the ground, I ran to a safe distance and set Mari down.
"Stay here. I'll be right back," I said, walking away.
"I want to help you," Mari replied weakly as she crawled toward me.
"You're in no condition to fight! You almost got the life squeezed out of you!"
"Fine! Go then! See if I care!"
Sighing, I made my way back to the others. Unfortunately for us, it looked like the squid could block our attacks with her tentacles and attack us at the same time. Surprisingly, not even Shitai's knife could cut through the thick tentacles. I guess it was up to Kojomaru to cut through the squid's defenses.
"Hana, do you think Kojomaru can cut through the general's tentacles?" Touwa asked when I made it over to them.
"I think so. It's been able to cut through everything I've tried so far."
"Give it your best shot. You're the only chance we have."
Nodding, I charged toward the wall of tentacles. Thankfully, the others kept the attacking tentacles away as I made my way towards the wall. When I got to my destination, I raised my sword and took a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
As I brought my sword down upon the tentacles, I met some resistance. Even though these tentacles were extremely tough, Kojomaru was able to cut through them with relative ease.
"Good job, Hana!" the girls congratulated me as they rushed forward for the final push.
"AAAH! HOW DARE YOU CUT MY BEAUTIFUL TENTACLES AGAIN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, ***** (female dog)!" the squid screamed.
Before anyone could react, she grabbed me with one of her tentacles and held me at eye level. Then, the squid spoke.
"Why do you oppose me? What did I ever do to you?"
"You kidnapped one of my friends! On top of that, you held her against her will! That's reason enough to oppose you!"
"I never held her against her will! She wanted to be with me!"
"Is that so? How come she was screaming for me to come and save her?"
"I don't have to put up with this nonsense! Any final words, ***** (female dog)?"
A sudden rush of memories hit me hard. They showed a lonely little squid girl. As she aged, she asked many different girls out, but all of them rejected her and regarded her with disgust.
"You're lonely, aren't you, Ika?" I whispered after the memories stopped.
"What was that?" the squid asked impatiently.
"You're lonely. That's why you've been doing this. I'm sorry, Ika."
"DON'T PRETEND TO UNDERSTAND! YOU'RE SURROUNDED BY ALL THOSE FRIENDS WHO LOVE AND CHERISH YOU! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY LONELINESS!"
"But I do. I saw it all, Ika. My sword allows me to see the memories of others. No. That's not right. I feel the emotions of the memories and see the memories themselves. So I do understand and I'm truly sorry for you," I cried, tears streaming down my face.
"NO! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE THE LEGENDARY HEROINE!"
"You're right. I'm not, but I am able to wield Kojomaru like she once did."
"Prove it! Tell me who my first crush was! Then, I'll believe you!"
"It was your childhood friend, Unagi. When you asked her out, she thought you were joking and you didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise."
"You can wield the legendary hero's sword," Ika gasped breathlessly.
"Yes and unfortunately, I'll have to use it on you."
"I-I'm not ready to die yet! Please have mercy! I promise I'll be good! To be honest, I haven't done anything to the inhabitants of this village. You can ask them for yourself. They're all hiding because I intimidate them!"
"Why haven't they been trading like normal then?"
"That's because they're so scared of me that they can't concentrate. I'm telling the truth, I swear!"
"Can you all check and see if she's telling the truth?" I turned and asked the girls, who were listening to our conversation.
"We're on it, Hana. Just scream if she tries anything."
I nodded so the girls left to search the seemingly vacant buildings. After a moment, Yuri exited a building. Following her were trembling golems. It looked like all of the fighting had scared them even more.
"Hana, they said that Ika has not harmed them in any way. They say that she's actually been trying to help, but they were all too afraid of her to let her help. I think she's actually a good person. A little obsessed sometimes, but other than that, fine," Yuri shouted up to me.
The golems nodded in agreement. I looked back to Ika, who looked extremely relieved.
"I'm going to let you live on one condition: you must not harm anyone. If I get word that you even so much as kidnap someone, we will come back and enforce punishment. Do you understand?" I announced with as much authority as I could muster.
"Y-yes! Of course! I promise!"
"Can you let me down now?"
"O-oh! Yeah. Sorry about that!" Ika exclaimed as she sent me down on the ground.
"We better get going. We have things we need to do."
"Are you going to defeat the Evil King? If so, I support you. I never really cared for him. The only reason I joined him was because he offered me companionship."
"Can we check with you and see if we're heading in the right direction?"
"Sure! Anything to help!"
As Touwa showed Ika the map, I thought about how the general acted when she found out that I wielded Kojomaru. The legendary heroine must have some reputation to be able to scare the generals of the Evil King. That thought reminded me of that strange voice I heard when I was about to use Kojomaru. Who was Sa? Was that the name of the legendary heroine? How am I connected to her? I thought my family was made up of farmers, not heroes!
"Are you ready to go, Hana? We have a long road ahead of us," Yuri asked once Touwa was done talking to Ika.
"Yeah. Should I go get Mari?"
"I don't need your help! I can walk on my own!" Mari shouted, still somewhat peeved she couldn't help during the battle.
With that, we were off, back on the road to the Evil King.