Until a short while ago, Ebony had looked like nothing more than a black silhouette. That was partly because of her extremely fast movements, but also because of her appearance itself.
Ebony had short black hair, dark-brown skin, and even her large eyes were pure black. The combat uniform she wore was a martial-artist type similar in design to Kazui’s, but every part of it — including the belt — was completely black.
Ivory, on the other hand, had ivory-white skin, blue-green eyes, and long blonde hair tied at the nape into a ponytail. She wore a high-collared gray combat uniform with many pockets and a somewhat long jacket.
Because of the standing collar, it looked to Kazui similar to the European military combat uniforms he had seen in old war movies back in Japan. In this world, armies in several nations used similar high-collared combat uniforms.
Military-type combat uniforms were more refined in design and more expensive than ordinary adventurer gear. However, their quality was high, so some former military adventurers continued to wear them out of preference.
Kazui guessed that Ivory, who wore the high-collared type, was one of those. Incidentally, few adventurers used high-collared combat uniforms; most preferred ones with fold-down collars, open collars, or no collars at all.
Both Ebony and Ivory were quite tall and appeared to be in their mid-twenties. Both were blessed with good figures, though Ivory’s chest was the more ample of the two.
Their types were different, but both could be called beautiful. Ebony had a wild beauty, while Ivory had a cool, refined one.
"Can’t you at least cover this?"
Pointing toward Kazui’s crotch area, Ebony asked Ivory in a slightly embarrassed tone.
"Impossible! I’m only barely stabilizing him by protecting him with a holy magic barrier. If I do anything unnecessary, the balance could collapse and he might die!"
Ivory answered in a strong voice.
(Ah... right, I was naked.)
Hearing their conversation, Kazui remembered that Vice had torn his clothes off, leaving him essentially naked except for his shoes. Moreover, it was right after he had ejaculated, so his crotch was surely stained with semen and love juices.
Realizing that he was being looked down upon in that state by two attractive women, Kazui felt embarrassed. He wanted to at least hide his crotch, but he couldn’t move even a fingertip, so covering himself was impossible.
Incidentally, the vines Vice had created had vanished the moment he was protected by the holy magic barrier.
"Please! Save Kazu!"
Suddenly a familiar voice reached Kazui’s ears.
"He’s been my friend since we were kids!"
A familiar-looking woman appeared in Kazui’s field of vision.
(It’s the woman who was called Leona... I’m glad she’s alive.)
The one who appeared was the red-haired woman who had come to save Kazui earlier but had been blown away by Vice. Her bright-red clothes were torn and tattered in many places, and blood was stuck to various parts of her body, but she had not been killed.
("Since we were kids"... she seems to know me, but who is she?)
Kazui had heard the red-haired woman affectionately call him by the nickname "Kazu" several times. Combined with the "friend since we were kids" remark, it seemed she had known him from the beginning.
Yet Kazui had no idea who she was.
(There’s no way I would forget a girl this pretty, but I can’t remember. She feels familiar somehow... who does she resemble?)
"If you want to save this boy, then give me your mana and aura as well! The more mana and aura we have, the better!"
Ivory’s words were answered immediately by the red-haired woman.
"Yes, gladly!"
"Then put blood on this and hold it in your mouth!"
As she spoke, Ivory handed a white card to the red-haired woman — the same white card onto which she had written a spell earlier.
"You too, Ebony!"
Next she handed the same kind of card to Ebony. From the beginning, Ivory had prepared two cards with the spell written on them, intending for both Ebony and the red-haired woman to cooperate.
The red-haired woman smeared blood from a wound on her left arm onto the white card, then held the card in her mouth.
Ebony was uninjured. She scratched her left forearm with the fingertips of her right hand to draw a little blood, smeared it on the white card, and held it in her mouth as well.
(Sorry for making you hurt yourselves because of me...)
Kazui bowed his head to the two women in his heart, since his body would not move and he could not bow physically.
"While you’re holding the cards in your mouths, I can borrow your mana and aura to use in my magic."
Ivory continued her explanation.
"If you judge that consuming any more mana and aura would be dangerous, stop holding the cards. That way I won’t be able to borrow any more."
Ebony and the red-haired woman both nodded at Ivory’s words.
"All right, let’s begin! I’ll do everything I can, but the chances of success are low, so don’t hold it against me if I fail!"
After speaking the truth to both Kazui and the red-haired woman, Ivory began chanting a magic spell. She pressed her hands together as if in prayer.
Then not only Ivory, but also Ebony and the red-haired woman standing to her left and right, began to emit intense light from their bodies. The light from Ebony and the red-haired woman flowed into Ivory.
Kazui felt deep gratitude from the bottom of his heart that the three women were trying to save him. But since he could not speak, he was unable to convey that gratitude to them.
(I hope I can be saved... if I can’t, I won’t even be able to thank these people...)
While thinking that, Kazui’s consciousness began to fade. Whether it was from the damage he had taken or from the holy magic Ivory was using, he could not tell.
Before long, Kazui lost consciousness.
While still holding onto the desire to survive and the feeling of gratitude toward the three women...