"Immortal... mercenary corps? Is that what you're saying?"

This took place not long after Marifa had her neck wound healed by Yuu. She was invited by Nina to go out. Normally, Marifa, as a slave, would never have considered going out without her master's permission, but this time, without rejecting the invitation, she found herself at a café terrace.

Nina, acting as if she was used to this, immediately placed an order with the waiter as soon as they sat down. A short while later, the waiter brought tea and desserts on a tray and set them on the table.

“Relax, Mari-chan,” Nina encouraged, offering some tea, but Marifa didn't touch it.

“Why did you invite me?”

Despite Marifa's suspicious gaze, Nina didn’t seem bothered. She kept smiling, unfazed.

Even though Marifa felt a hint of fear, she didn’t avert her eyes. Eventually, Nina began to explain why she had invited Marifa. She told her about being attacked by a group called the "Rookie Hunters" in the labyrinth, and that those people were part of the "Immortal Mercenary Corps."

“Yes! They're very, very bad people.”

“That… sounds terrible.”

“It was really tough, you know? Yuu's arm almost got torn off.”

Marifa tried to keep a calm face, but her expression clearly betrayed her struggle to control her emotions.

“So, if you ever find the 'Immortal Mercenary Corps'...”

"Kill them."

※

“Even if you hadn’t told me, I would have done it.”

Marifa muttered as she gripped the broken right arm of a leopard beastman.

“What the hell are you babbling about!!”

Despite having his arm snapped, the beastman kicked at Marifa’s temple.

This was no ordinary kick; it came from a skilled beastman warrior. Moreover, Marifa was holding his right arm, leaving her with only one hand free.

However—

“Answer my question.”

—Marifa effortlessly caught the kick with her left hand. Even for someone of equal skill, catching such a strike with one hand would be difficult. Attempting such a move would likely end with the arm being kicked into the face. Yet Marifa had stopped it with just her palm.

The leopard beastman’s fur stood on end—triggered by sheer terror.

“Heh...”

Was it really a smile? The leopard beastman, trying to put up a front, paid dearly for his bravado.

“Gahh!!”

Without expression, Marifa slammed the beastman into the stone pavement. The sound of the impact was so loud that even onlookers found it hard to believe it came from a human body. Yet, the cracks spreading through the stone spoke volumes about the force behind the blow.

The beastman had tried to protect the back of his head with his left hand, showing his veteran mercenary instincts. But that instinct wouldn’t last long. Every time Marifa casually swung her arm, the beastman was repeatedly smashed into the ground.

He had likely lost consciousness. His head struck the pavement with no reaction from him. The muscle fibers of his captured right arm audibly tore apart, his shoulder dislocated, and his already broken ulna extended the length of his arm to one and a half times its normal size.

Onlookers could not even scream as they watched Marifa, expressionless, repeatedly smash the beastman into the pavement.

Finally, she let go of his arm, preparing to deal another blow. She swung her hand upward, revealing a throwing knife in her grip.

“Damn it!”

The throwing knife came from a cat beastman who had been fighting against Graphira. He had hidden his presence and intent to kill, but Marifa had easily blocked it without so much as a change in expression.

“Hey! Did you see that?”

“What the hell is going on? A monster!”

The men fighting Tin and the others noticed it too. Only the man fighting Nepora was still locked in combat, seemingly being pushed back.

The remaining men, realizing that Marifa was the more dangerous opponent, abandoned Tin and the others to surround her. These were mercenaries fighting for money—they had no use for lofty ideals like chivalry.

“Hey, little girl, don’t call this unfair, okay?”

“Yeah, we’re mercenaries. It’s all about winning.”

“You caught my throwing knife like it was nothing. Don’t underestimate us, or you’ll regret it.”

“Five against one woman, huh? Even if we win, it’s nothing to brag about.”

Despite their tough talk, they didn’t lower their guard. They cautiously closed the distance, watching for any openings in Marifa’s defense.

“One woman?”

“What, you got a problem with that? If you have complaints, we’ll listen.”

“No, I was just wondering if you can’t even count.”

“Huh? What are you talking—what the hell?!”

Suddenly, a sword swung at one of them from behind. The bear beastman blocked it with his greatsword.

“What the hell is this?!”

The attacker was another beastman who had wanted to join the "Immortal Mercenary Corps" and had been knocked down by Tin’s group.

“No, wait—”

Though he shook his head, the beastman continued swinging his sword.

“Is he out of his mind?”

“Hold on, something’s wrong.”

“Even so, he attacked first. Let’s kill him!”

“Wait. Look around!”

One by one, the bodies of fallen or crouching men began to rise, picking up weapons and attacking again.

“What the hell are they doing?!”

“This is really messed up.”

“They’re moving like amateurs. Why are people who couldn’t move earlier suddenly attacking us?”

“I don’t know! But they’re attacking, so we have to fight back!”

The attackers moved sluggishly, shouting things like, “It hurts!” “Help me!” and “My body is moving on its own!” Their actions didn’t match their words.

This bizarre situation didn’t happen naturally. It was all Marifa’s doing.

The Ruby Bee—a magical insect—was responsible. Much like the Emerald Cockroach Wasp, which injects its poison into living cockroaches to control them and use them as food for its larvae, the Ruby Bee injects a similar poison into its prey, controlling their bodies through the nerves in their necks.

Though it was hard to see, if one looked closely at the back of the attackers' necks, they could spot the Ruby Bees.

“Calm down. These guys are weak.”

“Whether it’s a skill or magic, she’s controlling them while leaving them conscious. That’s some twisted stuff.”

As they cried for help, the attackers were easily cut down. Any decent person would feel resistance toward killing comrades, even if only for a short time.

“Please, don’t kill me, it’s not my will—aaahhh!”

“I know, but if I don’t, we’ll die—damn it!”

As they fended off the attackers, the bear beastman noticed Marifa casting a spell.

She used Wood Spirit Magic, Third Rank: Spiral Tree. A spiral of intertwined trees shot out to pierce the target, dealing damage as the wood unwound.

(Too fast! But not so fast I can’t dodge—)

The bear beastman leapt to dodge the Spiral Tree, but his jump came to an abrupt halt.

(What’s happening?!)

A vine had wrapped around his ankle from between the cobblestones.

“Gah!”

Unable to block it in time, the Spiral Tree pierced his abdomen, and as the intertwined wood unraveled, the wound was forcefully stretched from three centimeters to twenty, spilling blood and intestines. Desperately trying to hold his guts inside with one hand, he reached for a potion with the other.

“Damn it… That woman…!”

Just as he tried to drink the potion—

“I’m a woman.”

With her greatsword, Marifa decapitated the bear beastman.

“She did it!”

Responding to the voices of his comrades, the cat beastman hurled another throwing knife from behind Marifa. The throw was perfectly aimed from her blind spot—this time, he was sure it would kill her, no, it had to. The corners of his mouth curled into a smirk, but then his expression froze.

A black mist appeared behind Marifa, deflecting the throwing knife.

“Is that... an insect too!?”

The cat beastman, shocked, prepared to throw another knife, but Marifa had already turned toward him, holding a bow in her hand.

“Hit me if you can,” she taunted.

Once again, the cat beastman threw his knife, only for it to be deflected by the black mist, sparks flying off the blade as it bounced away.

(Damn it!)

Watching her slowly draw her bow, the cat beastman concluded that her archery skills weren’t that impressive.

(An arrow appeared from nowhere. Whether it’s the bow’s ability or some magic, it doesn’t matter.)

Marifa activated Wood Spirit Magic, First Rank: Wooden Arrow, summoning an arrow from magic and shooting it with her spirit tree bow.

(She’s not that skilled with a bow—wait, what?!)

The cat beastman was stunned by the arrow’s unexpected speed. However, it wasn’t fast enough to be undodgeable. He narrowly avoided it, only to see Marifa creating another arrow.

(I won’t just stand here and let her shoot! I’ll close the distance in one go—)

Suddenly, he was struck by a jolt of lightning-like force, his body shaking as he noticed a blade protruding from his chest.

“Wh... what is... this...?”

The blade, charged with lightning, had come from a waist belt.

“I saw no need for pretense, so I killed you,” said Nepora, who had been fighting nearby.

“A ma... demon... woman?” the cat beastman muttered in disbelief before collapsing.

Looking over at where Nepora had been fighting, Marifa noticed the cat beastman’s ally lying dead on the ground.

“I... I won’t let... this be my... end... aghhh!!” the cat beastman tried to resist, but Nepora’s lightning-charged waist belt paralyzed him, leaving him unable to move before he died. Even after his body turned to charred remains, Nepora didn’t let her guard down, thoroughly decapitating him just to be sure.

“Sister, I’ve taken care of it.”

“Looks like Tin and the others are doing fine,” Marifa remarked.

Tin and her companions, healed by potions, were attacking the remaining two enemies. Though they might have struggled in one-on-one combat, they had the advantage in numbers and would likely win.

“That woman!!”

Luvto, his eyes bloodshot with rage, glared at Marifa. It wasn’t just because his subordinates had been killed, but because he had been humiliated in front of Merit, which enraged him even more.

Marifa stood calmly, watching Luvto and his group, her hands folded in front of her, maintaining a graceful posture, her expression as unreadable as ever.

“Sister, let me handle this failure—” Luvto began, but Merit stopped him with a hand.

“This one’s mine. Don’t interfere.”

Unlike Luvto, who was boiling with rage, Merit’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she approached Marifa with a calm yet regal demeanor, like that of a monarch.

“Will you answer my question?” Marifa asked.

“What do you want to know?” Merit replied.

“If I didn’t mishear, your comrades claimed to be part of the 'Immortal Mercenary Corps',” Marifa said.

“So what if they did?” Merit responded.

“Can I take that as confirmation?” Marifa pressed on.

Though their conversation seemed casual, the tension between them was palpable. The pressure between them was so intense that Nepora, standing nearby, couldn’t help but sweat and instinctively distanced herself from the two.

“Do you not know who I am?” Merit asked, surprised.

“I don’t know, and I’m not interested. However—”

Suddenly, a swarm of dull silver-colored beetles spread from Marifa’s feet and covered Merit’s ankles. Each individual beetle, known as an Osmium Bug, weighed about 80 kilograms. With so many of them, Merit’s movement should have been completely restricted. Watching from a distance, Nepora felt sure of Marifa’s victory.

“If you’re part of the trash known as the 'Immortal Mercenary Corps,' I will eliminate you.”

“Hah... haha! You know about the Immortal Mercenary Corps but don’t know who I am? And you dare to pick a fight with me?”

“I have no desire to know the names of trash. Do you ask the name of every piece of filth you come across?” Marifa retorted.

The tension in the air was so thick that Luvto and his men unconsciously swallowed hard. Merit might have been amused for now, but she could snap at any moment, and they didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

“I am the leader of the Immortal Mercenary Corps—Merit,” she declared.

Her words had a dramatic effect. For the first time, Marifa, who had remained emotionless after killing so many, clasped her hands together and smiled.

“Well, that’s good to know,” she said.

“Isn’t it? Glad you’re happy,” Merit grinned, inching closer.

As Marifa took a step forward, so did Merit. However, with every step Merit took, the cobblestones beneath her cracked under the immense pressure from her ankles. Yet, she moved as though nothing were amiss.

“What’s so funny?” Marifa asked, noticing Merit’s uncontrollable grin.

“What’s funny, you ask—” Merit’s grin turned wicked as she launched a punch.

The Osmium Bugs clinging to her ankles were blown away by the force of her foot as she stepped forward to strike.

At the same time, Marifa had prepared a defense using her swarm of Black Mist Winged Ants, a mass of ants with steel-like toughness, creating a black shield in front of her. However, Merit’s fist punched through it as though it were nothing. The ants disintegrated upon contact with her fist, vanishing before they could even spark.

Merit’s punch, moving at supersonic speed, shattered the air barrier, sending shockwaves that blew Nepora away.

“We’re about to fight. Of course, it’s going to be fun!” Merit said with glee as her fist sunk deep into Marifa’s chest, right into her wind dragon leather jacket.

Pulling her fist back, Merit smirked, fully expecting Marifa to be finished.

However, despite having taken a blow that could have instantly killed even the most hardened warriors, Marifa didn’t move an inch. Dusting off her chest, she glared at Merit.

“Oh ho! Good, good! You’re strong! I like that!” Merit shouted in excitement.

(It seems... you really are a monster.) Marifa thought to herself.