*SLAP*

"YOU STUPID BRAT, WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?!"

The sound of a strong slap to the face resounded through the silent meeting hall and was followed by a furious scream.

"Mary! What do you think you're doing?! It wasn't Mika's fault!"

Corvus shouted and stepped behind the furious brown-haired girl and the remorseful ashen-haired girl.

"...mend..."

*crack*

Mary whispered and the fingers that she broke on Mika's face were forcibly put back in place and healed.

"Wasn't her fault...? WASN'T HER FAULT?! She jumped in the middle of the titan-class monsters who were on their way to get annihilated, and almost get herself killed! Because of her both Fig and Melon are dead! And if not for the Cinnamon taking away the attention of all the monsters from the 7th wave and leading them away, so would all of us and every single soldier from the first line! All while she was laying unconscious while we had to fight!"

She shouted and tried to pass the white-haired man but got caught by him instead.

"You damned idiot! It's your fault! I can't even contact Cinnamon through my tamer bond! WHO TOLD YOU TO GO FULL BERSERK AND LOSE YOUR SYSTEM-DAMNED MIND?!"

Even though she was being restrained, Mary wasn't going to stop her outburst and tried to break free - or at least she made sure to stick her head past Corvus so that she could look at Mika while pouring out all the hatred she was feeling.

"I... I'm sorry, Miss Mary... I just... panicked and didn't think things through. I didn't want things to turn out as they did..."

Mika trembled, subconsciously lowering her head more and more.

"Who cares what you wanted?! Do you have any idea how many soldiers have died while you were going wild?! That dumb half-bull would have died under two minutes at the very start of the second line! But noo! Young lady Wrath just had to show how strong she became! You spoiled child! Look how much harm you have caused! Got yourself knocked out and caused more deaths than all the precious waves!"

"MARY! That's enough!"

Corvus pulled away from the brown-haired girl and shook her shoulders to make her look at him.

"She said she's sorry, there's nothing more we could do, so stop causing a scene."

He said in a calm, composed voice.

...which was exactly the wrong way to approach the situation...

"Shut up, you annoying capture target! Your route isn't even available and I don't want the stupid harem anymore in the first place! You're just a tagalong here while that brat triggered some bullshit quest that I have never dreamt about! That's not how things are supposed to be! I thought that only I can receive story choices because I am the heroine, but apparently, some random side character from some heroic bonus chapter can too!"

The heroine shouted, pushing herself away from the confused capture target.

"This whole situation is so wrong! How could this happen?!"

She growled furiously messing her own hair as she turned her back to the two Wraths.

"Was the stupid reward worth it at least? How much percent completion did you get? For the 6th wave, of course, the one you didn't sleep through! You can check in your menu, right?!"

She turned back and asked.

"You know what? No, don't even tell me. Couldn't be that much anyway!"

But she shook her head and scoffed almost immediately without waiting for an answer.

"What does that mean? No matter what Mika did singlehandedly kill two titan-class monsters! What do you mean that can't be that much?!"

Corvus stepped forward and waved his hand angrily.

"Haah...?! I've told you to shut up! I know because right after my poor Cinnamon lead all the monsters away saving your skins and the timer have run out, I received a reward. As Cinnamon's tamer, I received a reward of 87% contribution for the 7th wave! What did killing two titan-class from 6th got you? Did you at least get 10%?"

Mary spared Corvus only a single glance and concentrated back at Mika instead.

"...I... I got 4% contribution..."

Mika's shoulders trembled as she revealed what killing two titan-class monsters was worth for the system.

"TSK! That's what you get for using skills that lower your sanity just to raise your strength! That guy has told you that you don't need to use any rage skills in the first place! But no! You had to panic like a headless chicken!"

Mary also trembled - not from guilt, but from pure fury that she felt towards the ashen-haired girl.

"I hope the 4% completion reward was worth getting tens of Sloth soldiers killed, hundreds getting injured, and me losing all of my shadow fangs!"

The heroine gritted her teeth and finally left as the gathered Sloth soldiers made way for her in silence.

No one has agreed with her out loud, but more or less all of them had thought the same thing.

What use is there for someone so strong if they are causing more casualties than the enemy?

"...what a mess... what did she even mean about my route not being available? Does she knows something about my role...?"

Corvus sighed, looking at Mary's back.

*...uugh..."

His thoughts were interrupted by an ugly sniffle of Mika finally unable to hold back her tears.

"No, Mika, don't let her get to you like that...! You meant well..."

The white-haired young man approached her with a worried expression and put a hand on her shoulder.

"...b-but sh-hee-ee's riiightttt...!"

The ashen-haired girl sobbed wiping her eyes with both hands, unable to stop the outpour of tears.

"It's not your fault for getting overwhelmed! If I was in your place I would do the same thing!"

"....uuuu.... *sniffle*"

Corvus's attempts at calming Mika down ended up in failure.

"...I'm not cut out for this... where is Ti where you need h...!"

He ended up sighing, but then instantly flinched when he felt how hard Mika's shoulder trembled.

"Sh-she won't come...! Cri and C-Cal have both died just like miss Mary's wolves...! They tried to save me from the spider titan-class and got killed by it instead...!"

The ashen-haired girl crumbled to her knees and yelped as if each word was causing her physical pain.

"..."

Corvus closed his mouth and looked around, they sure were making a show out of themselves for all the surviving Sloth soldiers in the outpost.

"...there's still a few hours before the 8th wave, you should get some sleep."

He ended up picking her up and gently carrying her away in his arms.