"That is a battle only for the monsters, humans have no place in it." - Medusa's Reminiscence of the War with the Succubi

In the half-light of the sky, I faintly saw the purplish-red glow after the sunset, just like how our destiny, my wife's and mine, could no longer illuminate each other's worlds.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and offer a final prayer for my wife's survival, a word entered my ears.

Where have I heard this word before? It seems to be from the Witch's House?

Hmm... It was something Granny Bonair mentioned when explaining the meaning of "older sister."

What was the meaning again...

"Sister!"

Yes, it means sister!

Blinking my eyes forcefully, I sniffed and adjusted my glasses to the right position.

An arrow pierced through the eye socket of a succubus, and she looked at me with an incredulous expression, her other eye also filled with bewilderment. After a few flaps of her wings, the succubus, wounded by the arrow, plummeted straight to the ground.

Focusing my eyes on the whole scene, I saw dozens of succubi in chaos, and the cause of it all was nine Medusas on the ground forming an arrow formation!

Among them, the one at the forefront was wrapped in a black cloth around her chest, and her tail and hair were emerald green. Because the distance was quite far, I couldn't see her face clearly. But this particular Medusa was obviously a leader-like figure. Her quiver was bound to her left wrist, while she held the bow in her left hand and rapidly repeated the steps of "nock-draw-aim-release" like a machine. The short bow in her hand was like a fully automatic rifle, shooting down several succubi in less than ten seconds.

"Hiss..."

I could clearly feel the tightening grip of the succubi holding me. The succubi began to descend in altitude.

Amidst the melee, I saw the Medusa that called out "sister." She was slightly smaller than my wife, with a beautiful pale pink tail, looking like a piece of art carved out of jade. She pulled out the rifle on my wife's tail, and the other Medusas began to shrink their defensive lines and converge towards my wife.

This battle was completely one-sided. While the succubi knew how to use guns, they clearly didn't know how to reload them efficiently. Most succubi would shoot once and then charge forward with bayonets. Succubi using bows and arrows were not even in the same league as the Medusas using the same weapon. Medusa's arrows resulted in severe penetrating injuries, while the succubi's arrows were too light to cause significant damage, especially considering the vast difference in archery skills. The succubi flying in the air were basically seen as targets by the Medusas, and the succubi's bodies were not as sturdy as the Medusas, losing their combat effectiveness with just one arrow hit.

The only option for the succubi was to lower themselves below the height of the trees and engage in melee combat without any advantage, taking advantage of the cover provided by the trees. But now, almost half of the fifty or sixty succubi had been shot with arrows and injured. They had no choice but to retreat and rest behind the Medusa leader holding me. And that green Medusa leader, she directly discarded her short bow and drew two massive curved blades from her sides.

"Grr..."

The Medusa leader let out an intimidating roar, holding one curved blade in each hand. Under the last ray of sunlight, the slightly shining edges of the blades exuded a bloodthirsty aura. The green serpent-like creature lowered its body and maneuvered through the attacking succubi, causing blood and sparks to fly with every swing of her blades. Having lived with Medusa for so long, I had never witnessed such a terrifying scene. That fellow Medusa of my wife's species was no different from a demon engine powered by flesh and blood. She cut down seven or eight succubi along the way and gradually approached me.

No succubi dared to make an advance as there was no doubt that this Medusa, just like in many games, was a ranged unit with the attribute "ranged combat effectiveness undiminished in melee."

The succubi holding me tightened their grip even more, as if mistaking me for that Medusa and wanting to crush me.

"You can't just chop up my sisters like that, can you?"

"Oh? But you all started by attacking my sisters, isn't that just as bad?"

Actually, I couldn't quite understand the dialogue between these two monsters, but that was probably the gist of it.

Getting rid of the blood remnants on her blades, Medusa gracefully swung her right-hand curved blade in an arc, as if to express her unfulfilled desires, wiped her face stained with the red liquid. The succubi's blood had no special effects; it only represented pain and death.

The Medusa leader flying with me in the air had no intention of letting me go. I hadn't even considered that a male human could be so important to them. But the Medusa leader also showed no sign of backing down.

The standoff lasted for a few seconds before the succubus broke the silence. After a brief and precise incantation, a cone of glowing crimson flew above me. It was the most magical magic I had ever seen, resembling an accelerated magic arrow. The cone was enveloped in a red mist, which seemed to symbolize the magic itself. I wanted to warn the Medusa leader, but before I could utter a word, the seemingly powerful red magic was blocked by the two crossed swords.

Although blocked, the glowing red cone exploded in one direction, causing damage to Medusa through the gaps of the crossed swords. "Is this all the succubus can do now?" asked the Medusa leader sarcastically. "I didn't want to kill you earlier, but now, I'm considering it," the succubus retorted. "We, the Medusa, do not like war," the Medusa leader replied. I could only hear the sound of the swords clashing, but my body felt the impact according to the principles of mechanics.

In the span of a few steps for a human, the Medusa leader jumped towards me in the time it took for me to blink. The succubus was slammed against a tree, forcing her to slowly fall to the ground. Smoke rose from the Medusa's green face, with fractures and black ashes on her pinkish skin, some even with burning sparks. At such close proximity, the remnants of the explosion's heat could be felt. The green snake-like eyes of the Medusa seemed to be fixed on me or the succubus behind me.

The two swords crossed to form a giant pair of scissors behind me, trapping both me and the succubus's heads between them. If Medusa wanted to, she could sever two heads at any moment. I was now sandwiched between their ample breasts, but I could feel no comfort at all, a testament to the immense power of these creatures. The succubus raised her hands, seemingly trying to initiate a conversation. As I tilted my head to the left, Medusa also tilted left. When I tilted right, she followed suit. I understood why I couldn't avoid bicycles on the road...

"Get down!" the two monsters shouted in unison, and I quickly crouched down. However, my neck was still trapped between their chests, and my posture became like a trot. "We don't need this man anymore, do we?" Medusa asked. "And then what?" the succubus replied. "Shall we meet at another time?" "Fine." It was a very brief dialogue. Finally, the pressure on my neck was released, and the pain in my ribs returned. I sat on the ground, trying to catch my breath. The injured succubi started retreating, and I started searching for my wife among the Medusa.

"Can you walk?" I asked anxiously. "Yes, I can. My wife..." "She's fine," the Medusa leader coldly replied. She pulled out a small snake from her hair and tied it around my waist, half dragging me in the opposite direction of the succubi. Still recovering from the recent battle, I followed the green Medusa and arrived at the "Medusa Camp" with them.

"Sister..." "It's alright. Get everyone ready with their bows and arrows," the pink Medusa seemed very concerned about the leader's injuries, but the leader remained cold. I was tied up near the campfire, surrounded by several Medusa circling around me. The sound of their hissing and the venomous snakes spitting poison made it clear that they were hostile towards me, which was understandable since it was all because of me that this conflict had occurred.

My emotions rarely became as complex as they were now. I had always been a bold and responsible man, never shying away from my duties. But this time, I suddenly felt like I had committed an irredeemable mistake. I couldn't bear the responsibility for my wife's serious injuries. For the monsters, a human was nothing more than livestock, expendable once drained of usefulness.

I couldn't forgive myself, but there was nothing I could do. I looked at the ring on my hand and covered my face. Perhaps from the beginning, I had been too naive. The idea of monsters and humans living happily together, of men farming and women hunting, of protecting each other and embarking on adventures together. A human who didn't know magic or how to fight was useless compared to them.

But I still loved her more than anyone else in the world. "You," I heard the Medusa leader say, as I raised my head. Her right cheek was already covered in a poultice of herbs.