I bend over, watching closely at the Sirens as they fly closer and closer to us in their already narrow circle.
My other head watches closely too.
This is one of those times where having two heads is convenient. If it was just me alone, I’d be struck at a blind spot for sure.

I can feel an eerie dizziness at the back of my head, kind of like motion sickness, though it might just be due to over-exposure under〖Confusion Song〗.
I control my breathing and ready myself for the incoming Sirens who’re gradually closing the gap.

Sirens don’t seem like the close-quarters type…… but, the fact that they’re cornering us and closing the distance must mean that they have some kind of skill saved up for this.

The effects of whatever it is they’re singing hasn’t shown yet.
Is it a song that affects the user or an ally instead?
But, if it’s something like〖Berserk〗, they’ll just be sitting ducks for me.
Anything they do to attack me using their beaks or talons or whatever, I’m pretty sure I can repel them with ease……

Then, the Sirens’ singing became more intense and both of them started to glow a sinister red light around their bodies.
There’s something about that light that gives me the shivers.
Their singing continues and does not stop.
They then open their beaks wide and their song gets even louder, as if they’re roaring instead of singing.
The red light shines all the more brighter, forcing me to close my eyes for an instant.
That short moment was enough for the two Sirens to attack me head on simultaneously.

…… So, it wasn’t something like〖Berserk〗, then.
If not, then what’s the point of them getting closer to me?

For the moment, I focus my attention at the Siren nearest to my field of sight and shoot three〖Wind Slash〗at it.

You’re too close to dodge it now. I covered a wide range in this shot.
The Siren responds by firing two〖Wind Slash〗of its own to parry two of mine as it skillfully evades my third shot.
Despite evading, it doesn’t look like it was slowed down by my attack at all. They may be the enemy, but I gotta admit, that was some sick air maneuver it just did.

“Wind magic,〖Gale〗!”

Alo casts〖Gale〗and tries to slow it down.
But, the Siren just ignores her attempt and flies past through it.
It chose to take the hit instead of avoiding the attack so it wouldn’t show any openings for me to notice.

Even so, it certainly didn’t come out unscathed when it went past Alo’s tornado, so now the Siren is full of cuts and open wounds.
One of its eyelids got cut too, so being unable to close its bloodied eye, it just stares at Alo.

…… Oh well, get close all you like, my attack stat is still higher than yours.
Unable to use most of your skills due to your lack of MP, it’s our difference in stats now that decides everything.
If you want a melee battle, I’ll give you one.

I’ll bite the one in front. And, I’ll tail whip the other in the back.
A tail whip won’t be enough to kill the one behind me, but it surely won’t stand a chance once it’s all alone.

The Siren in front willingly dives to my face.
The bright red light surrounding it stretches forward and starts to swirl from the tip.
No way… a magic attack that specializes in melee?!

I’ve never seen magic like that before…… no, wait, I have.
A mage from one of Tallmann’s army had the skill〖Demon Hand〗.
But, that mage was too inept to use it properly since her magic power was only comparable to a C rank monster in human standards, and I remember that her skill level was low, but it still packed a punch.

If I’m remembering correctly, when that mage used〖Demon Hand〗, a giant red glowing hand appeared which is the same red as this light.
Skimming through their list of skills again, I notice that one of them is called……〖Devil’s Song〗.
I assumed it was a support or status skill, but I might’ve been wrong.

The light leaves from the Siren’s body, forms into a giant dark red hand, and attacks me.

【“A big hand is coming from back too! And worse! It bigger than the front!”】

The enemy is getting desperate.
But on the other hand, if we survive this, we win.
But on the other, other hand, since Alo and co. will be targeted if I dodge, I’m forced to take the hit.

“Kya~ah!”

I shake Alo off of me.
Sorry Alo, but I can’t have you weighing me down. Even if your attacks make for good diversions, it won’t mean anything if they attack us head on, so just stay with Nightmare for a bit.
Your levels are too low for this.

“Gru~uoooooo!” “Gra~a~a~a~a~aaa!”

I〖Roar〗at the Sirens together with Partner.
With Partner roaring at the Siren from behind, I match my timing with hers and attempt a tail whip, at the same time, folding my wings and guarding my face from the Siren in front of me.
The red-lit hand grabs my wings and starts tearing at it.

Grrah!
While my wings were being torn, I felt pain at the tip of my tail, then the feeling disappeared like I was numb on that part of my body.
But, I did it, I held on.

I seize this chance.
I lower my wings to reveal my face, open my mouth wide and bite at the red hand entity.
My mouth is on fire, but I endure it and sink my fangs deeper, pushing the giant hand down to the ground.
The dark red hand thing evaporates after leaving a crater on the earth.
I then smack the Siren who was below the red hand.

The Siren fires a〖Wind Slash〗and uses the force of the shot to push itself back away from me.
But, I stretch my claw forward, reaching towards the Siren, and pierce its face.
Blood splashes between me and the Siren. The Siren attempts to reduce the impact from getting pushed backward by spreading its wings open, but when I slammed it on the ground at full strength, it bounced to the sky, raining blood in its tracks.

…… Looks like it still wasn’t enough to kill it.
It’s dying, but it’s not dead yet.

I wonder how it's going on Partner's end.
Facing back, the scenery of a Siren lying down next to its white, lifeless eyeballs plucked out of its eye sockets is seen.

The Siren’s wings were ripped out of its back.
With no eyes and no wings, the Siren’s body is just flopping on the soil like a fish out of water.

Looking at Partner, her fangs are dripping blue blood down to her jaw.
There are feathers from the Siren’s wing stuck in-between her teeth.

As for the devil’s hand which chipped the tip of my tail after I tail whipped the Siren…… it targeted Partner next, and then……
Wait, don’t tell me…… Partner, you……

“Guru~ua……”

【“Yep. Ate it.”】

Eeh……
I mean, I also kinda did bite at the other red hand too.
But, I never would’ve thought of actually eating it……

It looked like when Partner bit the red hand, she bit the wings of the Siren who I tail whipped too.
Well, dang…… if I were her when that happened, I’d have finished it off instead of eating the hand……
If she had just done that, her mouth wouldn’t be injured from the burning sensation of eating the red hand thing.

【“It melted in mah mouth”】

…… But of course it did, it was just a lump of magic power.
It wasn’t your tongue that melted it.

【Obtained 1411 Experience Points.】
【〖The Walking Egg: Lv—〗skill gives you additional 1411 Experience Points.】

Oh, it died. The loss of eyes and wings did more damage than I thought.

“A~a~a~aaa……”

The Siren that bounced up high has apparently landed.
It’s looking at me with a deformed frightened face.
I don’t know how it landed, but its face has certainly been disfigured from the fall. Its cheeks are shaved off, its back teeth are showing, and the cross section on its face looks the most painful of them all.
The Siren turns its back from me and flies off in panic.

It’s quite limp as it flies away.
It’s trying its best to fly higher and faster just to get away from me.
Oh snap. I was about to shoot〖Wind Slash〗at it, but I just realized that my wings are torn.
I can’t gather wind.
〖Wind Slash〗is a skill that allows one to manipulate wind using magic power and fire it at the enemy.
I should’ve used〖Self-Regeneration〗to heal my wings first.

Then suddenly, Nightmare burst out of the sand and flew after the Siren.
I had to blink thrice just to convince myself I wasn’t daydreaming.
She flew at a low altitude, with a speed not as fast as mine, and flying in parallel with the Siren.
At Nightmare’s mask, face, thing, a〖Dark Sphere〗is about to be fired.

W-What is that? What skill is she using?
I was confused at first, but after noticing that Nightmare has been flying in constant parallel to the Siren at a weird angle, I looked closer and realized that she was just hanging on a web.

She must’ve connected the web when the Siren fell from the bounce.
And when it suddenly flew away, Nightmare got pulled in too.

“A~a?!”

The Siren utters a distorted, surprised cry from its broken face.
Well yeah, even I, who was with Nightmare the whole time, am surprised too.
Although, since it was the Siren who was feeling relieved that it escaped, and suddenly that one guy who’s been standing still the whole battle came at you at godspeed, the surprise levels must be higher for the Siren.
Then, here comes Nightmare, reeling herself in and getting up close to the Siren’s already-butchered up face, releasing her〖Dark Sphere〗at point-blank range.

“A~a~a~a~a~a~a?!”

The Siren screams in pain and anguish, with a black flame burning its face.
Nightmare falls along the Siren, but cuts the web connecting them and shoots another web at a nearby tree, sticking the landing.

While falling, the Siren's burning red eyes were staring directly at Nightmare who’s hanging on a tree.
I-It still has HP left……!
Even though the Siren is already on the verge of death, the difference in status and rank was still too wide that Nightmare’s〖Dark Sphere〗alone wasn’t enough to finish it.
That’s not good.
They’re both way too far for me. If the Siren goes after Nightmare now, she won’t stand a chance.

When I was about to run after them, the Siren remained falling, its body flailing, and just before it hit the ground, it stopped in mid-air, with only its feet barely touching the ground.

“O-……”

The Siren stuck its tongue out and gasped for air before dying.
There’s something tied under its neck.
It’s Nightmare’s web. She must’ve tied it there before separating with the Siren.

Another grotesque death from Nightmare……
Its dead, burnt, misshapen human face made me look away.
You’d think I’d be used to seeing dead human faces by now, especially after I massacred a whole army of them once.

【Obtained 1738 Experience Points.】
【〖The Walking Egg: Lv—〗skill gives you additional 1738 Experience Points.】
【The Lv of〖Ouroboros〗went up from Lv 98→99.】

…… I’m almost approaching that far away Lv 125 max level of mine.
I see that the best way to grind levels is to fight a group of monsters that are one rank below yours.

Now then.
I face down and growl, circulating the magic power in my body over to my wings.
The torns and cuts are now being fixed and slowly reverting back to its normal state.
This is〖Self-Regeneration〗at work.

Afterwards, I work on my severed tail next.
The lizard tail begins to regrow and even the fluffy hair on the tip is back too.
Phew…… this sure calms me down.

Alo and the rest should have definitely leveled up a bunch from this fight.
If their levels are high enough, then our next stop: the ruins.