'How long have I been fighting?' Mending Rosemary couldn't remember.
She had lost count of the times she got crushed by the attacks of the giants, but her restoration magic kept her lucid enough to stand up and fight again.
Her ability to restore didn't just recover her physical body. It was a complete restoration that returned her body to its previous state, to its peak when she was brimming with the strange power.
The first few times, she was helpless against the giants' attack. She only managed to keep her head intact as they battered her body. At one point, she had broken through the mental lock placed on her mind and body, allowing it to exert the full potential forces of the muscles.
Every hit she landed after that was a devastating blow against the enemy. However, each swing cost her the arm that held the mace. The sheer force of the attack shattered the durable body of her own magical girl form.
To Mending Rosemary, it was merely a temporary setback. She only needed to wait a few seconds for her restoration magic to heal the broken arm once again.
The fight was a vicious cycle of frenzy. Even with the pain all over her body each time she regenerated, it felt like an eternity had passed. Mending Rosemary couldn't give up because she could still fight.
One by one, the green-skinned giants began to fall under the brutal attack of her mace. Their laughter had long since vanished, replaced by a confused terror as their prey refused to die.
Finally, the last one breathed its last, and she came out on top victorious. Her body was still pristine, as if it had not been crushed many times before.
The voice of the snake, her contractor god, reached her ears once again.
"Color me surprised, your power is more potent than anything I could've imagined. Your mana pool is virtually limitless as long as you can cast the spell to restore it."
The snake didn't forget to give her a warning before leaving.
"Little nun, I don't want you to die, so do not turn back to your true form because it is far too damaged right now. You must stay as you are until you can find a magical girl with the ability to heal your original body."
With those departing words, Asclepius disappeared, and Mending Rosemary passed out on the spot, her mace disappeared from her hand. The mental toll of overusing her ability had finally hit as she felt the relief of the victory.
***
Approaching the camp with caution, Ludwig and Lustrous Gossypium began making their way inside the heart of the camp.
"Look!" Ludwig said, pointing at the little girl in a nun outfit lying on the cold floor.
The nun's body was surrounded by the corpses of ogres with their internal organs scattered around their bodies, coming from wounds that looked like they were hit with cannonballs.
'Didn't the man say this girl only has the ability to heal? What the hell happened here?' The siblings thought as they looked at the little girl.
Despite the gory scene, her body was untouched by blood or innards of the monsters. The two siblings approached her body to check if she was alive.
Ludwig put his hand on her neck and felt a pulse.
"She's alive," he said. Lustrous Gossypium let out a breath of relief.
The two brought the girl into one of the tents and put her inside to let her rest. Ludwig looked at his sister.
"Let's search for survivors. Some of them might still be buried under the rubble."
"Mmh," lustrous Gossypium nodded, and the two began their search.
Lustrous Gossypium was looking around for anyone while Ludwig was looking for Aria and her mother. He hoped he wouldn't be able to find them here, that they had escaped the carnage of these monsters.
Until he found the corpse of the woman he was looking for in a wreckage, her lower body was crushed into paste.
'Wait, if her mother is here, then where's Aria? ' Ludwig thought, the girl might have escaped as long as he didn't find her corpse here.
He saw corpses of many others among the wreckage. Some of the corpses he found were children, which made his heart tighten, but it eased his heart a little bit when there was never a sign of that familiar little girl.
Giving up his search, he began to gather the supplies that were left behind in the camp into one place.
'They wouldn't be needing them since they aren't gonna return.' To the survivors, those monsters were still invincible, and coming back here would be no different than a death wish.
The siblings were also curious about this little girl, who was undoubtedly a magical girl, but her magical girl outfit was a little strange.
'A nun outfit? Really? I mean, it fits with the healing. ' Ludwig thought. 'But if she could heal, how did she manage to do this?' His eyes scanned the scattered bodies of the ogres.
He had fought a group of these monsters before as Equinox Spider Lily. They had a durable body instead of the usual magic gimmicks that these magic beasts usually had at D-rank.
'How did she manage to kill them?' Ludwig was wondering how this magical girl with the ability to heal could damage them to this point despite being E-rank.
That question would remain unanswered until she got up from her slumber, and he doubted that would happen anytime soon.
Luwig's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by his little sister asking a question.
"Big bro, I didn't ask before, but what's your relationship with the magical girl who saved us? Is she perhaps your girlfriend?"
The unexpected question caught Ludwig by surprise.
'Ah, right.' Before they made their way to this camp, he just told his sister that the magical girl who saved them earlier found a survivor camp for them to take refuge in and didn't explain any further.
"Nothing like that. She is just eager to help us." He dismissed his sister's speculation but only earned a narrowed-eyes look of suspicion from her.
'I will find out eventually,' Lustrous Gossypium thought to herself.