["Stelle" continued her verbal assault, mercilessly pointing right at Huohuo's nose and unleashing a barrage of humiliation: "The Ten-Lords Commission really isn't picky at all. Even trash like you can become a Judge—it's enough to make anyone's jaw drop from laughing."]
["Wuwu…"] This time, Huohuo truly started crying.
[Tail, who couldn't stand listening anymore, shot Stelle a fierce, protective glare: "Hey hey, that's enough. The only ones allowed to chew this girl out are this great one… and those other Judges, got it?"]
["…Tch, something's off. I smell one of my kind."]
[After realizing something was wrong, Tail suddenly smirked, then mercilessly switched into full mockery mode: "It's you, huh, Cirrus. Hiding in a puppet body and playing ventriloquist—truly fits your usual scumbag style."]
["Ha… hahahaha! This is hilarious! I thought you'd escaped the fate of suffering in the furnace?"]
[Cirrus paid no mind to Tail's cold sarcasm. She turned to Huohuo beside her and hurled more insults: "Who would've thought that the most combative fragment of the great Heliobus [Blazing Prairie] would end up sealed in the body of a sniveling little girl, reduced to a watchdog—ah, no, no, correction: right now you're not even a dog! You're just a… tail~ Right? Tail tail tail!"]
[Tail felt like he was about to faint from rage. The problem was he genuinely couldn't do anything to Cirrus right now—with the seal in place, his range of movement was limited to just a few meters around Huohuo, like being trapped in a cage.]
["…Damn it! Little coward, think of something quick!"]
[Reminded by Tail, Huohuo belatedly slapped a humanoid talisman paper onto Stelle. With the talisman's help, Stelle finally felt Cirrus's influence weaken considerably.]
——
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Hard.
Fern's fist hardened.
Though her expression remained calm on the surface, the bulging vein on her forehead couldn't lie. That aura—if killing magic could strike a Heliobus directly through the screen… the screen itself might end up shattered by her.
"Frieren-sama." Fern slowly turned her head toward her. "I want to check if there are any monster subjugation requests nearby… If there's anything similar to a ghost-like monster, please let me know."
Without waiting for Frieren's reply, Fern lifted her head and took a deep, angry breath—as if she wanted to inhale every monster in the world right in front of her.
Then she stood up and quickly left the tavern.
"Tsk tsk, that killing intent—Fern still can't hide it…" Watching Fern's departing back, Frieren let out a soft sigh.
"It's not her fault. Cirrus is just too punchable. No wonder she was sealed in this illusion barrier—she deserves every bit of it… With that mouth alone, she's at least a major disaster on the Xianzhou level."
Sein watched Tail on the screen, half-dead from anger, and chuckled.
"Speaking of which, this is the first time we've seen Mr. Tail lose a verbal fight in terms of momentum. In a way, doesn't this mean Cirrus kinda counters Tail? First time seeing Tail unable to argue back and having to ask Huohuo for backup."
——
[Though Cirrus's influence had been temporarily suppressed, Huohuo was still deeply hurt by what Cirrus said and silently squatted in a corner to sulk. Tail couldn't bear it either. He pulled Stelle aside and quietly suggested she go comfort her with a few words.]
[Huohuo was crying her eyes out in an empty corner, snot and tears streaming down. When Stelle approached to comfort her, Huohuo shook her head—she couldn't refute a single thing Cirrus had said.]
[Ever since she was nearly eaten by Tail as a child, she'd gained a tail with special flame effects and become an oddity in everyone's eyes. After joining the Ten-Lords Commission, she thought she'd finally found a place to belong, only to end up fighting all kinds of demons and monsters every day…]
["I… I'm really not suited for this job. If I can make it out alive, I'll submit my resignation to the Ten-Lords Commission." Huohuo said weakly. "I'm really sorry—I couldn't help much."]
["But Huohuo, your paper figures helped me a lot. They're really useful." Stelle said sincerely.]
["Really? That's great then."]
[At those words, Huohuo finally broke into a tearful smile. Tail hurriedly chimed in with comfort from the side, completely dropping his earlier aggressive tone from their bickering.]
[Cirrus sighed that Tail had really changed from the old days. When mentioning his past power, Cirrus sounded extremely proud—but Huohuo caught the key point: "Past power?"]
["Oh ho, Mr. Tail, she doesn't know a thing about your origins… Little sister, Heliobi are supposed to gather in places where humans cluster, yet now they're all converging in this deserted Fyxestroll Garden. Do you know why?"]
["…Team-building?"] Huohuo looked at her in complete confusion.
["…"]
[Cirrus felt like her CPU was overheating. She had no choice but to explain: the Fyxestroll Garden beneath their feet had, over a thousand years ago, been an ancient battlefield between the great Heliobus Blazing Prairie and a certain general of the Luofu.]
[The furnace shattered, the Heliobi escaped, and they gathered here—all to fulfill their long-cherished wish of clashing with that general once more. When speaking of that great battle, Cirrus grew visibly excited, her voice rising several pitches.]
["That battle was earth-shaking, enough to make ghosts weep! Blazing Prairie transformed endlessly—floods and flames, collapsing mountains and thunderbolts—fighting that general to a perfect stalemate, fifty-fifty!"]
[Stelle barely resisted the urge to stand up and pressed: "Really… fifty-fifty?"]
["Absolutely!"]
——
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!
"What?! He… he could actually go toe-to-toe with a general?!" Kazuma's pupils shook; even the way he looked at this little flame suddenly changed.
Everyone had seen the general's strength firsthand—as an Emanator of the Hunt, his performance was nothing short of exaggerated. To fight someone blessed by an Aeon to a perfect fifty-fifty draw… that would at least require half of Phantylia's power, right?
"Such an exaggerated battle—how come we've never seen any records of it on the Xianzhou? Aren't Xianzhou people obsessed with turning these kinds of stories into ballads, operas, and stuff to pass down?" Aqua suddenly asked.
"…Oh yeah." Kazuma suddenly remembered—there were plenty of legendary tales about the High-Cloud Quintet on the Xianzhou, and legends of previous generals too, but this great Heliobus Blazing Prairie was something he'd never heard of before.
"Hmph hmph, do I even need to say it? Obviously Cirrus is just bragging." Megumin crossed her arms, her face full of the confidence of someone who saw through everything. "From what we've seen so far, Xianzhou people take history very seriously. Any enemy they acknowledge and respect must be one not to be underestimated."
"On the flip side, if someone isn't acknowledged… or even outright ignored by them, how strong can they really be? It pretty much speaks for itself."