**“Kyaaaak!”**

Nazchal screamed.  

The power of Gaegege Death Beam LV5 was incomparable to what it had been before.  

Moreover, I had dispelled the shrink status, applying the growth state as well.  

Naturally, my mouth had to become larger, and the power of the Gaegege Death Beam would inevitably increase.  

Additionally, I had the advantage of a surprise attack.  

He had taken on a human form rather than that of a bird.  

In other words, I unleashed my strongest attack at the moment he was most vulnerable.  

Calculating with the keen intellect of a lizard, Nazchal should have been split into pieces by my recent attack.  

“Again! Again! This crazy lizard!”  

But he was still standing.  

No, let me correct that. He wasn’t unscathed.  

At the moment he was hit by the Gaegege Death Beam, a large hole had been pierced through his abdomen.  

Given the size of the beam, it was a small wound.  

But it was a lethal injury, one that could cost him his life at any moment.  

Yet, Nazchal did not die.  

The dark tissue that had been on his left arm.  

It surged from the hole and quickly regenerated.  

Nazchal did not possess such abilities.  

If he had, the Snake Queen would have told me about it.  

I had failed to finish him off with the Gaegege Death Beam.  

However, that didn’t mean I would stop.  

Pababak!  

I lunged at him with speed.  

I jumped as if to soar into the sky, immediately swinging my arms.  

Whoooom.  

“This crazy lizard!”  

I crossed the Dragon's Shadow to maximize its power.  

With the size of my current Dragon's Shadow, it could unleash power rivaling that of the Gaegege White Bone Technique.  

In other words, if I landed a hit, I could burst his head open.  

Kwaaaaang!  

Nazchal barely evaded my attack.  

My hands cut through the air, crashing into the ground.  

Szzzzzzzzzz!  

The ground trembled strongly enough to give the illusion that the heavens and earth were moving.  

Guuu…  

Having survived the Gaegege Death Beam and dodged the Dragon’s Shadow.  

But I had no intention of stopping here.  

The moment I recognized that he had evaded my body, I spun rapidly.  

Szzzzzzzz!  

My tail whipped around like a whip.  

Bam!  

**Kwa-chik!**  

I struck Nazchal’s left shoulder with precision.  

Morale surged.  

Using Reverse Energy, I sealed Nazchal’s movements.  

“You’re going too far!”  

He seemed dazed by the continuous barrage of attacks but was still attempting some kind of counterattack.  

In a hurry, he transformed his arm into a wing and shot a multitude of black feathers at me.  

In a situation where I couldn’t move, that was his best option.  

There was no way I could maintain Reverse Energy while dodging that attack.  

I focused my mind.  

Those feathers were dangerous.  

Some of them had enough force to pierce through my enlarged scales.  

I needed to block what I could and dodge what I couldn’t.  

Thud!  

Bam!  

Crack!  

“You crazy lizard!”  

Nazchal swung his left wing.  

It resembled a sword in motion.  

If that hit me, I would surely sustain significant injuries.  

**Dragon Scale Transformation.**  

Chachachack!  

I sacrificed the sharpness of my scales and increased their thickness.  

I took on a form resembling heavy armor.  

That was the optimal shape for withstanding his attack.  

I raised one arm to block his strike.  

Kwa-ggg!  

As soon as his attack was blocked, Nazchal immediately swung his opposite hand.  

Bam!  

However, he couldn’t pierce through my scales, which were focused on defense.  

“Damn, you’re really tough!”  

Chachachack!  

A tremendous amount of feathers continued to rain down.  

I dodged what I could and blocked what I couldn’t.  

Nazchal retreated while attacking.  

“…Do you really not understand the situation? You can’t kill me!”  

He’s tougher than I thought.  

“And for the love of God, just listen to me! I don’t want to fight you!”  

I aimed to fire another Gaegege Death Beam before he could talk any more.  

**Sssssss…**  

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!  

The blue beam, filled with my energy, was shot forth.  

Nazchal hurriedly maneuvered his body, but he couldn’t fully evade it.  

Chiik…  

His right wing literally evaporated.  

“Kyaaaak! No, this bastard!”  

But even that was temporary.  

As if newly sprouting from the cut flesh, his pretty face transformed back into that of a giant bird.  

“Ha. I was trying to go easy on you. Even if I can’t beat you, I can still hold out until the Bird King wins!”  

**Thud!**  

The hundreds of feathers shot forth again.  

Thud!  

I defended while protecting my head from his attack.  

“Yeah. You seem to prefer this form over being human, huh? Until the Snake Queen screams, I’ll roll around with you!”  

Nazchal spoke those horrific words.  

I wanted to tear his beak apart, but I had no room to deal with him.  

I had to join the Snake Queen right away.  

However, I couldn’t shake Nazchal off.  

Even if I tried to retreat, he wouldn’t simply stand by.  

Even if the Snake Queen’s subordinates blocked him, they wouldn’t hold out for long.  

Even if I managed to miraculously shake him off, it wouldn’t be the end of it.  

The front lines would crumble.  

Nazchal could assist Filbang, and together, Filbang and Nazchal could aid the Bird King again.  

I needed to kill him or at least immobilize him.  

If I went to assist the Snake Queen, the balance would be disrupted, and if I faced him, the Snake Queen could end up in danger.  

…If only someone could hold him back, even for a moment.  

I gritted my teeth.  

I couldn’t look for support.  

We had no remaining variables.  

“Some…?”  

**Some?**  

“Monogamous!”  

A one-horned beast charged in wildly.  

No, it was now a creature I could call a unicorn.  

Kwaaaaang!  

There it was, a variable.  

I could acknowledge its power.  

After all, it had been able to hold its own against me.  

But it wasn’t enough to match Nazchal.  

The unicorn was hornless.  

It likely knew that as well.  

Yet, it chose to ignore me and rush toward Nazchal.  

That meant it was willing to sacrifice itself for the victory of this war.  

It wasn’t a good connection.  

It must have been a sacrifice because of the Snake Queen.  

…Remember this, Unicorn.  

…  

“Kyaaaak! What the hell is this madman?!”  

…What?  

The unicorn’s form?  

---

**The unicorn worships pure maidens.**  

Pure, spirit, body.  

It distinguishes purity in a very stringent manner and pierces through aberrant beings with its singular horn, being a sort of divine beast.  

…So the story goes, but the reality is a bit different.  

It doesn’t show unconditional hatred toward those who aren’t maidens.  

It believes in transcendent love.  

If it’s love for a single target, the unicorn’s horn would also be accepted.  

What the unicorn raves about is not maidens, but pure love.  

In that sense, the black lizard before me could be called an arch-enemy.  

While it may have seduced a pure maiden, the problem was that the target was not singular.  

The unicorn felt an ache from the horn that had been severed long ago.  

It cursed and resented the lizard.  

It followed the lizard with the ambition of someday avenging itself.  

Despite having a daughter, it held the Snake Queen as its pure maiden.  

And her daughter.  

She was an absolutely flawless being guaranteed by the unicorn.  

Yet, these women were being stained by the color of the lizard.  

The unicorn wept, putting its front feet in its mouth.  

Though it looked happy now, as time passed, they would surely perish.  

Love, when it involves multiple subjects, can never be equitable.  

That was the unicorn’s belief.  

Yet, for some reason, the more it dug into that lizard, the more its beliefs wavered.  

“Some… Monogamous?”  

The feeling that its skin was turning black and two horns would sprout.  

But it couldn’t forsake its lifelong belief.  

The unicorn had participated in this war to uphold its conviction.  

To execute the black lizard, an arch-enemy, with its horn.  

…Even though that horn had been severed long ago.  

The black lizard was detestable.  

It hated that lizard for taking the pure maiden away.  

More than anything, it hated the thought

 of its kind, having fallen from a unicorn to a bicorn.  

If they were happy, shouldn’t it be pure love?  

That’s what it believed.  

“Some… Monogamous!”  

The unicorn howled in anguish.  

But a far more heinous opponent appeared before it.  

The vile stench of its horn root ached.  

The black bird before it was a repulsive being.  

If it took the pure maiden, it should at least make her happy.  

The Nazchal who declared he would take the Snake Queen’s husband.  

**Nai Dorare** (奶盜果䋱)  

Both the unicorn and the bicorn could not tolerate that.  

The unicorn bore the duty of eliminating all beings that threatened the pure maiden.  

There are no exceptions.  

The black lizard before it was no different.  

It could not forgive him.  

But to protect the love of the pure maiden,  

It could set aside its beliefs for a moment.  

That was the true duty and right of the unicorn.  

The unicorn, having lost its horn, could no longer claim to be a unicorn.  

But as long as it harbored the heart of a unicorn, it could still be called a unicorn.