As Kokona ran off from Tino's sight, she put on the mask and round hat she had when she met Tino for the first time. Just in case, she hides her growing smile behind the mask. That's right, the reason why Kokona told Tino to hide is not because she's worried about not being able to protect him but in order to hide her rapidly increasing excitement. She was worried that Tino would get scared and come to hate such her when her blood starts to boil.
In other words, Kokona is a battle junkie. There was a reason she got the title of Mad Dog from her brethren.
She indeed got that nickname because of her terrifying smile while mercilessly delivering killing blows.
Kokona increased her speed to speed she hasn't shown to Tino yet and sprinted towards the north. The fast scenery changing around her is the evidence of Kokona's fast as lightning speed.
Before long, she arrived at a mountain of fire, a volcano. This, however, wasn't a normal volcano. The red liquid Tino saw before started changing to green the further Kokona went, until all the flames and lava in sight were green.
The green fire did surprise Kokona a bit, but she soon found a reason behind this occurrence.
"Frenzy..."
She muttered while watching a green Infernal who was blocking her path.
Frenzy, that is the name the Beastmen came up with for the state only class A and class S monsters can enter.
A state of rage, madness, and bloodthirst. This state can be recognized at one glance for those who know the normal condition of the monster.
Kokona hasn't seen an Infernal before, but she has most definitely heard about them. Infernals are usually red-orange in color. But this one is completely green, enveloped in furious green flames.
This, however, didn't deter Kokona from her original goal. It made her blood boil even more instead. She can feel her fast beating heart clearly.
Kokona's smile under the mask grew even further. She brandished her sword and sprung towards the Infernal.
"Goooooah!"
The Infernal punched forward with its massive, right flaming fist in order to smack Kokona who sprung towards it down from the air, but Kokona avoided the fist mid-air with her lightning fast movements and slashed at the Infernal's stretched out arm, intending to cut it off.
"Goorrroooah!"
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The Infernal cried as its heavy arm fell to the ground.
Kokona who landed behind the Infernal, sprung forward once again, this time aiming at the Infernal's leg. Infernal is a lump of fiery stone, crushing its balance by cutting off the opposite arm and leg is the common strategy of Beastmen when engaging Infernals.
But, the frenzied Infernal sensed her intention lifted its leg just when Kokona was under it and stomped down.
"Fuck!"
Kokona cursed and changed her direction in a split moment. Haven't she done that, she would be already crushed under the Infernal's leg.
"Haha..."
This was the closest to death Kokona was in the last six months of her Adult Ceremony. The adrenaline rush she got from that experience was almost as exhilarating as the time she fought against the pack of wolves in her village.
Kokona felt that she could enjoy herself even more if she were to hold back a bit, however,
"Tino is waiting for me."
Kokona muttered and jumped towards the Infernal's head with speed far greater than before and used the gap created by the Infernal's missing arm to land on its shoulder.
"Die!"
She shouted and slashed the Infernal's head off. However, because the Infernal doesn't particularly need its head to continue living, she didn't stop there and jumped down while slid down with her sword stuck in the Infernal's body, efficiently splitting it in half.
Thud!
The halved body of the Infernal collapsed to the ground without even knowing how it died.
Kokona gracefully approached the Infernal's left half of the body and used her sword to dig up a green crystal from its chest.
"Fufu... with this, I can finally take Tino to our village."
While looking at the green crystal in her hands, the crazy smile she had while fighting already disappeared and got switched with her 'usual' gentle smile.
With the proof of subduing class A monster secured, Kokona removed her mask and hat and returned to Tino as if nothing has happened.
"Tino~ you can come down now."
Kokona shouted towards the crown of the tree.
"Yesss~ Koko~ catch~"
"Oooh."
Tino didn't hold back a bit and jumped down from the tree, straight into Kokona's embrace.
Once he found himself secure in Kokona's arms, he discovered the green crystal sticking out of her pocket.
"What is this~?"
He asked while tilting his head to the side.
"This is Infernal's core. I needed to obtain this before I could return home."
"Home? Cerberus?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Tino's home is the beach..."
Tino said sadly. His home is obviously in a different place from Kokona's.
"I also come from the Old Continent, but this Draconia is currently my home."
"Draconia?"
"That's the name of this continent."
"Then... since Koko changed home... can Tino also change home?"
It was clear what he was implying. However, he added just in case.
"Tino wants to stay with Koko. Forever?"
He cutely tilted his head. Tino's attack power increased by tenfold.
Unfortunately, Kokona was already knocked out even before that.
"Of course, I did plan on taking you with me. If you wanted, naturally."
"Yay! Koko's home is Tino's home! Let's gooo~!"
Tino happily dragged Kokona by hand.
"Fufu... Tino, it's in the opposite direction."