---o---
In the morning, what kind of scenery do you see when you fly up into the sky and look down?
The entire world is bright and clear. Sunlight filters through the thin, shimmering air, gently洒 on all of creation, presenting a uniquely pleasing sight.
Looking down, one sees a sea of white clouds and swirling mist.
The beautiful, winding mountain ranges meander and coil like a colossal, slumbering dragon.
It was a truly beautiful sight.
If Kiana, who loved scenery, were to see this, her face would surely break into a smile.
However, Miss Guda was in no mood to appreciate any of it.
The reason was simple: she was currently being held in the arms of a member of the opposite sex.
Perhaps because her impression of him was decent enough, and with the added temptation of the Holy Grail, Miss Guda had agreed to date him. Now, feeling the body heat that was not her own, her face flushed bright red.
He's too close!
She could clearly feel one of her nominal boyfriend's arms wrapped around her slender waist, preventing her from falling.
And the other hand...
Was wrapped around her ribs, just below her chest!!
If the owner of this hand were a stranger, she would have slapped him across the face by now and called upon several Servants to beat him to a pulp.
But—
This guy was her boyfriend.
Miss Guda, who had not adapted to the role of "girlfriend" at all, felt extremely awkward with his arms wrapped around her waist and ribs.
"Hm? Are you uncomfortable?"
The youth, who was thinking that Miss Guda was surprisingly well-developed, felt the struggling in his arms gradually increase and asked.
"...I'm just a little unused to it."
The girl, who had been constantly running from one battle to another since being summoned to Chaldea, said with some embarrassment.
It was perfectly normal for a boyfriend and girlfriend to hug and hold each other.
Miss Guda knew this.
But—
She just couldn't seem to slip into the role of a lover as quickly as Miss Kiana had, and she felt a bit out of place.
"In that case, should I loosen my grip?"
As if sensing the girl's discomfort, the youth, who was steering the great dragon towards the Black Cedar Forest—the location of the Demonic Beast Goddess, Gorgon—suggested.
Genuinely feeling a bit awkward, Miss Guda nodded and then shifted forward a little.
And then—
"WHOOSH—!!"
The whistling wind brushed past her ears like a sharp arrow piercing her body, carrying away a great deal of her body heat.
Miss Guda, whose constitution was nothing like the humanoid Honkai beast Kiana's, felt terrible all over after detaching herself from her human furnace.
It was truly cold at this high altitude!!
When your mode of transport is a giant dragon that flies incredibly fast and has no heating whatsoever...
It was pretty much the same as being sent to the arctic circle.
So cold.
It's really, really cold.
Miss Guda, who had no desire to freeze to death, silently shifted back again.
This was no time to be worrying about comfort.
And then, her slightly lecherous boyfriend very consciously wrapped his arms around her waist, and warmth once again enveloped the girl's body.
The upside of having a sun god for a boyfriend is that it's definitely warm in the winter.
Miss Fujimaru thought.
But was it really okay to just sit here like this?
I might as well ask some questions to understand the situation better.
The girl, who was serious about everything she did—including temporary relationships—turned her head and asked the youth behind her.
"Li-kun, are you on your way to subjugate the Demonic Beast Goddess?"
"Yes, I'm going to defeat Gorgon, the demonic beast that is Medusa's monstrous form."
The youth, holding Miss Guda, replied while inhaling the faint, clean scent of her hair.
In order to control the timing of the Second Beast—Tiamat's—awakening, he had to first capture Gorgon, whose senses were connected to Tiamat's to a certain extent.
"The demonic beast that is Medusa's monstrous form?"
Miss Guda, who had met Medusa and her two sisters before, was stunned.
"Yes. Gorgon is closer to a demonic beast than a goddess."
Li Zihan nodded and explained.
Gorgon was the youngest of the three Gorgon sisters in Greek mythology.
Her original true name was Medusa.
Having angered Athena, Medusa was exiled to the "Shapeless Isle" near the island of the Golden Apples. Her two sisters, worried about her, voluntarily went to the island to live with her.
The three sisters came to be known as the "Gorgons" (Stheno and Euryale were useless in a fight, leaving Medusa to do all the work). They were monsters feared even by the gods, and thus heroes constantly came to challenge them.
In order to protect her two sisters, Medusa continuously killed the attacking heroes, becoming a slayer, and eventually went mad, even killing the sisters she had originally meant to protect.
After she went mad and devoured her two sisters, her monstrous nature overwhelmed her divinity, and she became a true monster.
That is, Gorgon.
For various reasons, the side of Medusa where her monstrous nature was most severe—Gorgon—was summoned by Kingu under the Avenger class. The Avenger class fixed her alignment as Evil and also warped her will to a certain extent, making her insane.
Subsequently, Kingu bestowed upon this Avenger the divinity of the creator goddess—Tiamat—allowing her to wield the supreme authority known as the Mother of a Hundred Beasts.
"The current Gorgon is an existence that should be called the Queen of Demonic Beasts. She is also the only goddess in the Three Goddess Alliance who has, in a true sense, inflicted heavy casualties on the people of Uruk."
The youth, steering the Honkai dragon towards the base of the Demonic Beast Goddess Gorgon, gazed at the forest in the distance.
"If she is allowed to continue her rampage, she will bring a great crisis to the people of Uruk."
"So, Li-kun, are you a god of the Lawful alignment?"
The girl, who still did not know which sun god this fellow corresponded to, wondered.
"Who knows about that sort of thing?"
The youth released the girl in his arms. Before the girl's slightly surprised gaze, he smiled faintly, stood up, and said.
"Alright, enough of that. Now, I shall be the one to defeat her."
And then—
The divine bow symbolizing victory materialized in his hands.
Blue and white lightning danced upon the divine bow, releasing a dazzling light, just as described in the myths. A self-generating arrow, carrying an immense majesty, shot forth from above.
Its target was the Blood Fort.
And on the other side, or rather, within the Blood Fort itself.
The instant the arrow was fired.
The Demonic Beast Goddess, who had inherited Tiamat's authority, opened her ferocious serpentine eyes.
It was like meeting a worthy opponent.
A petrifying beam of light tore through the temple and met the terrifying arrow.
As if some kind of chemical reaction had been set off.
The two completely different powers canceled each other out, annihilating one another in utter silence before dissipating.
And then—
Golden eagle wings spread, breaking the bonds of the earth. They were followed by hands covered in terrifying scales, the head of a beautiful woman, a semi-metamorphosed body, and a serpentine tail over ten meters long, bursting out of the temple.
Gorgon had made her entrance.