My Class List Is Full of Monster Girls - Chapter 43
Chapter 43: You Trust Me, I Trust You
Translation by: Weebsread👹
“Is that… you?”
Aphylos’s expression twisted in disbelief as she recognized the figure emerging from the trees.
Cold, silvery moonlight spilled across the Public Cemetery, revealing a landscape ravaged by destruction. Where lush grass and tangled undergrowth had once thrived, now only blackened earth remained—scorched by some sinister crimson force. Withered branches hissed and rattled in the wind, echoing the devastation.
Amid this ruined world, the lone ranger strode forward as if he belonged here—impossible to ignore.
He wore an exquisitely crafted cuirass of azure and gold scales, its edges shimmering with crystalline light. A wing-like cloak fluttered behind him, catching the night breeze.
In his hand was the Purpleheart Elven Bow—the very one Elena had wielded not long before. Now, its surface gleamed with a blue-gold radiance, arcane sigils pulsing with power and dazzling the eye.
Moonlight cast his features in a frosty, ethereal glow, making him look like a legendary elven hunter sprung from ancient myth—elegant, imposing, and radiating a lethal aura.
With such unmistakable features, Aphylos could not possibly forget him.
That’s the ranger from the smithy two days ago…
Why is he here too?!
Did the commotion earlier draw him in?
But he arrived too quickly.
What’s going on in this cemetery tonight—why is everyone coming out of the woodwork?
Or… is he allied with those other two?
The appearance of this enigmatic ranger jolted Aphylos out of her frenzy, forcing her to recognize just how precarious her situation had become.
Even in this sprawling, shadow-choked cemetery, she’d been confident she could deal with a mere Gravekeeper and an unremarkable Half-Elf.
But now, with this unpredictable third party, everything had changed.
It wasn’t that Aphylos feared the ranger himself—but with the other two lurking somewhere in the darkness, she couldn’t afford to underestimate the danger.
They might be lying in ambush, ready to strike from the shadows. She’d have to face the ranger head-on while watching for arrows from the Half-Elf—a nightmare scenario.
Even if they weren’t bold enough to attack and instead ran to summon reinforcements, if they alerted the Holy See’s knights, she’d be finished.
Her mind raced through the risks and connections in a heartbeat. Clearly, the wisest move was to avoid unnecessary conflict.
“Heh, what a coincidence! We meet again~” Aphylos forced a sweet smile, subtly shifting her staff behind her as she addressed the ranger. “What brings you out here tonight?”
Rhode, naturally, did not reply.
He had an image to maintain as the Gale Ranger.
But to Aphylos, his silence and cold gaze only made him seem more aloof—regarding her from some unreachable height.
What an arrogant bastard…
The pressure he exuded made her skin crawl, but Aphylos managed to keep up her ingratiating smile, her voice softening.
“Well, if you don’t want to talk, never mind~”
She took a cautious step back, her crimson eyes flickering as she tried to gauge his intentions.
“Not many people wander the cemetery at this hour,” she ventured, her slender tail flicking beneath her dress. “You’re not just out for a walk, are you?”
“So lifeless…” Rhode echoed, glancing at the scorched ground and feeling a surge of irritation.
This place had been teeming with life not long ago, and now it was a graveyard in the truest sense—thanks to the succubus’s twisted magic.
He couldn’t simply let her walk away.
Aphylos felt a chill creep down her spine, though she couldn’t say why.
The ranger seemed uninterested in conversation—or in her, for that matter. Worse yet, who knew what those other two were plotting in the shadows?
Best not to linger.
“Looks like you’re not in the mood tonight…” Aphylos kept up her mask, inching backward with a helpless, fragile smile. “I won’t bother you. I’ll just be going—”
“You’re not leaving,” Rhode said flatly.
“We have no quarrel, do we?” Aphylos’s smile turned pitiful, even as her hidden hand tightened around her staff. “Is it really necessary to keep me here?”
“Yes.”
The instant Rhode spoke, the tip of Aphylos’s staff—still hidden behind her—flared with a vicious blood-red light.
【Mana Burst】
A blast of wild, unholy power tore through the air, hurtling straight for Rhode’s face.
“Watch out!” Elena’s voice rang out in the Mindspace.
Relying on the Gale Ranger’s reflexes, Rhode twisted aside, springing away in a blur.
Boom!
The crimson beam grazed his cloak and slammed into a nearby thicket, reducing what little life remained there to ash and filling the air with black dust.
Rhode landed lightly, already nocking an arrow in a single, fluid motion.
The enchanted Elven Bow drew back to a full moon, wind element swirling at the arrowhead—a sharp, keening whistle.
Whoosh—
But as the arrow was about to fly, Aphylos’s expression twisted with malice. She spat out a rapid, silvery incantation, her voice as sharp as a blade.
【Silver Tongue】
A flurry of silvery motes swept over Rhode—striking true.
“Again?!”
That familiar sensation hit Rhode and Elena at once—the Mana he’d gathered was abruptly severed, the enchantment on the bow dissolving into blue-gold sparks.
“She shut down the Weapon Upgrade with that weird spell?” Rhode blinked, releasing the bowstring.
The arrow still flew, but now it was just a plain iron-tipped shaft—off course, easily dodged by Aphylos.
“That bow…”
Aphylos stared at the Elven Bow, now stripped of its enchantment, and froze.
It was identical to the one the ranger had bought at the smithy.
But that bow had been in the Half-Elf girl’s hands only moments ago, arrows and all.
A thousand tangled threads snapped into place in Aphylos’s mind, and a horrifying realization dawned.
It could only mean—
This terrifyingly strong ranger, the infuriating Half-Elf, and that strange Gravekeeper… they were working together. Close enough to share weapons.
A cold wave swept from her heels to her scalp, as if some invisible hand had been controlling her fate all along.
She frantically replayed every encounter she’d had with these three.
She’d first met the ranger at the smithy, tried to recruit him for her resurrection scheme, and failed. She hadn’t seen him since.
Later, fleeing the Holy See through the sewers, she’d run into the unremarkable Gravekeeper—Rhode—and only escaped thanks to him.
The Half-Elf seemed to be the Gravekeeper’s companion—closely linked, perhaps more.
Mistveil City was vast, yet these two seemingly unrelated groups had all converged on the cemetery tonight.
There was no way this was coincidence.
Had they been watching her from the start?
A vast, unseen web was closing in around her.
Aphylos was sure of one thing: every interaction she’d had with them had been spontaneous—nothing she could have orchestrated.
But she couldn’t fathom how they’d anticipated her every move.
No, there must be something else at play…
She bit her lip, dueling the ranger even as her mind raced for anything she’d overlooked.
Then, suddenly, she remembered—the ranger and the Gravekeeper had both mentioned having friends in the Holy See.
The Holy See, again…
Her face drained of color.
Nerves frayed, she dared not linger a moment longer.
Aphylos clenched her jaw, wings thrashing in desperation as she tried to break free and escape the nightmare of this cemetery.
Rhode gave her no such chance.
The enchantment was gone, but the Gale Ranger’s agility and marksmanship were more than enough.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Three iron-tipped arrows streaked through the air, forming a perfect triangle that cut off every possible escape route.
As a half-demon, Aphylos could fly—but only for short bursts, and never as fast as an arrow.
She couldn’t climb high enough to escape his aim—in the dim light, she was a sitting target, one mistake away from being brought down.
Forced to swerve and drop, she landed back on the ground, facing him once more.
All she wanted was to get away, but she didn’t dare put distance between them.
If she left her spell’s effective range, she’d be at the mercy of a top-tier archer—she wouldn’t even get the chance to fight back.
“You really are relentless, aren’t you…”
A flash of viciousness crossed Aphylos’s eyes.
Fine. If that’s how it is, then no more holding back.
She yanked a vial from her clothes—a bottle swirling with toxic green-violet light—pulled the stopper, and downed it in one gulp.
Savage Mana erupted inside her.
Her white hair whipped wildly, crimson eyes blazing like twin blood-fires.
Her bat wings doubled in size, membranes bulging with writhing, dark-red veins.
Her tail lashed the ground, shattering stone slabs.
Black runes crawled across her horns, her aura surging to monstrous heights.
The potion had driven her demonkin blood into a frenzy.
“Die!”
Aphylos shrieked, her staff spinning in her hands.
A rain of blood-red energy coalesced in the air, the roar of magic splitting the night.
Mana Burst after Mana Burst wove together into a dense net, crashing down on Rhode’s position.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whole swathes of woodland were blasted into barren ruin.
Rhode, relying on the Gale Ranger’s inhuman reflexes, twisted aside before the first shot even hit.
The barrage left no safe angle—red beams exploded all around, shockwaves ripping up dirt and grass in great sheets.
Even with his speed, Rhode was forced to dive and tumble from gravestone to charred tree trunk, dodging for his life.
Clods of earth and shattered stone hammered his azure-gold armor, making his blood churn. All he could do was scramble for cover and pray the onslaught would end.
“How did it come to this…?” Elena murmured in the Mindspace, watching the carnage unfold.
“No idea,” Rhode replied, face set as he sprinted for his life, turning the problem over in his mind.
He’d only wanted Aphylos to stay and repair the cemetery before leaving—and now half the place was being blown to hell…
“Maybe we pushed her too far?” Elena sighed. “Especially you—I don’t know what you said to set her off, but I’m sure it was your fault.”
“Maybe I really did say something wrong?” Rhode wiped soot from his face. “Or is she just mad because nobody wants her?”
“I think it’s more complicated than that…” Elena searched her memory for everything Aphylos had said.
“She kept talking about Resurrection Magic—even tried to tempt you with it, saying she could bring back someone important…”
Her voice softened. “Maybe she lost someone herself, and what you said struck a nerve.”
“And with us rejecting her, treating her as the enemy, she finally snapped. She’d rather risk everything than let us go.”
“Fine, maybe I owe her an apology,” Rhode muttered, ducking behind a tree trunk that nearly crushed him. “But now’s probably not the time.”
He clenched his fist.
He had to admit, even while fighting Aphylos—no matter how terrifying she was—he was starting to get a feel for the new powers that came with 40% Resonance.
If he could just defeat her, his plan could proceed as intended.
But something still felt off…
“There’s something else,” Elena said, a thought striking her. “You went down to the sewers to try Fusion with her, right? Why didn’t you go through with it?”
Maybe it was because they were fused now, their minds and emotions flowing together—Elena found herself thinking more clearly, the jealousy fading.
“My Fusion with her failed,” Rhode said, crouched behind a shattered gravestone, his back numb from the shockwaves. “She lied—said she’d do it, but we couldn’t get any Resonance.”
“I see…” Elena frowned, still unsure why she and Rhode had resonated so easily. “Then why did it work for us the first time we met?”
“Because you trusted me, and I trusted you.”
“Huh? Wait—?” Elena blinked in the Mindspace. “Why bring that up now?”
“Haven’t you noticed?” Rhode said, clenching his fist, his voice steady. “We haven’t known each other long, but our Resonance keeps climbing—and I’m getting stronger as a Gale Ranger.”
“I think—”
“That’s the power of trust.”
Translation by: Weebsread👹
“Is that… you?”
Aphylos’s expression twisted in disbelief as she recognized the figure emerging from the trees.
Cold, silvery moonlight spilled across the Public Cemetery, revealing a landscape ravaged by destruction. Where lush grass and tangled undergrowth had once thrived, now only blackened earth remained—scorched by some sinister crimson force. Withered branches hissed and rattled in the wind, echoing the devastation.
Amid this ruined world, the lone ranger strode forward as if he belonged here—impossible to ignore.
He wore an exquisitely crafted cuirass of azure and gold scales, its edges shimmering with crystalline light. A wing-like cloak fluttered behind him, catching the night breeze.
In his hand was the Purpleheart Elven Bow—the very one Elena had wielded not long before. Now, its surface gleamed with a blue-gold radiance, arcane sigils pulsing with power and dazzling the eye.
Moonlight cast his features in a frosty, ethereal glow, making him look like a legendary elven hunter sprung from ancient myth—elegant, imposing, and radiating a lethal aura.
With such unmistakable features, Aphylos could not possibly forget him.
That’s the ranger from the smithy two days ago…
Why is he here too?!
Did the commotion earlier draw him in?
But he arrived too quickly.
What’s going on in this cemetery tonight—why is everyone coming out of the woodwork?
Or… is he allied with those other two?
The appearance of this enigmatic ranger jolted Aphylos out of her frenzy, forcing her to recognize just how precarious her situation had become.
Even in this sprawling, shadow-choked cemetery, she’d been confident she could deal with a mere Gravekeeper and an unremarkable Half-Elf.
But now, with this unpredictable third party, everything had changed.
It wasn’t that Aphylos feared the ranger himself—but with the other two lurking somewhere in the darkness, she couldn’t afford to underestimate the danger.
They might be lying in ambush, ready to strike from the shadows. She’d have to face the ranger head-on while watching for arrows from the Half-Elf—a nightmare scenario.
Even if they weren’t bold enough to attack and instead ran to summon reinforcements, if they alerted the Holy See’s knights, she’d be finished.
Her mind raced through the risks and connections in a heartbeat. Clearly, the wisest move was to avoid unnecessary conflict.
“Heh, what a coincidence! We meet again~” Aphylos forced a sweet smile, subtly shifting her staff behind her as she addressed the ranger. “What brings you out here tonight?”
Rhode, naturally, did not reply.
He had an image to maintain as the Gale Ranger.
But to Aphylos, his silence and cold gaze only made him seem more aloof—regarding her from some unreachable height.
What an arrogant bastard…
The pressure he exuded made her skin crawl, but Aphylos managed to keep up her ingratiating smile, her voice softening.
“Well, if you don’t want to talk, never mind~”
She took a cautious step back, her crimson eyes flickering as she tried to gauge his intentions.
“Not many people wander the cemetery at this hour,” she ventured, her slender tail flicking beneath her dress. “You’re not just out for a walk, are you?”
“So lifeless…” Rhode echoed, glancing at the scorched ground and feeling a surge of irritation.
This place had been teeming with life not long ago, and now it was a graveyard in the truest sense—thanks to the succubus’s twisted magic.
He couldn’t simply let her walk away.
Aphylos felt a chill creep down her spine, though she couldn’t say why.
The ranger seemed uninterested in conversation—or in her, for that matter. Worse yet, who knew what those other two were plotting in the shadows?
Best not to linger.
“Looks like you’re not in the mood tonight…” Aphylos kept up her mask, inching backward with a helpless, fragile smile. “I won’t bother you. I’ll just be going—”
“You’re not leaving,” Rhode said flatly.
“We have no quarrel, do we?” Aphylos’s smile turned pitiful, even as her hidden hand tightened around her staff. “Is it really necessary to keep me here?”
“Yes.”
The instant Rhode spoke, the tip of Aphylos’s staff—still hidden behind her—flared with a vicious blood-red light.
【Mana Burst】
A blast of wild, unholy power tore through the air, hurtling straight for Rhode’s face.
“Watch out!” Elena’s voice rang out in the Mindspace.
Relying on the Gale Ranger’s reflexes, Rhode twisted aside, springing away in a blur.
Boom!
The crimson beam grazed his cloak and slammed into a nearby thicket, reducing what little life remained there to ash and filling the air with black dust.
Rhode landed lightly, already nocking an arrow in a single, fluid motion.
The enchanted Elven Bow drew back to a full moon, wind element swirling at the arrowhead—a sharp, keening whistle.
Whoosh—
But as the arrow was about to fly, Aphylos’s expression twisted with malice. She spat out a rapid, silvery incantation, her voice as sharp as a blade.
【Silver Tongue】
A flurry of silvery motes swept over Rhode—striking true.
“Again?!”
That familiar sensation hit Rhode and Elena at once—the Mana he’d gathered was abruptly severed, the enchantment on the bow dissolving into blue-gold sparks.
“She shut down the Weapon Upgrade with that weird spell?” Rhode blinked, releasing the bowstring.
The arrow still flew, but now it was just a plain iron-tipped shaft—off course, easily dodged by Aphylos.
“That bow…”
Aphylos stared at the Elven Bow, now stripped of its enchantment, and froze.
It was identical to the one the ranger had bought at the smithy.
But that bow had been in the Half-Elf girl’s hands only moments ago, arrows and all.
A thousand tangled threads snapped into place in Aphylos’s mind, and a horrifying realization dawned.
It could only mean—
This terrifyingly strong ranger, the infuriating Half-Elf, and that strange Gravekeeper… they were working together. Close enough to share weapons.
A cold wave swept from her heels to her scalp, as if some invisible hand had been controlling her fate all along.
She frantically replayed every encounter she’d had with these three.
She’d first met the ranger at the smithy, tried to recruit him for her resurrection scheme, and failed. She hadn’t seen him since.
Later, fleeing the Holy See through the sewers, she’d run into the unremarkable Gravekeeper—Rhode—and only escaped thanks to him.
The Half-Elf seemed to be the Gravekeeper’s companion—closely linked, perhaps more.
Mistveil City was vast, yet these two seemingly unrelated groups had all converged on the cemetery tonight.
There was no way this was coincidence.
Had they been watching her from the start?
A vast, unseen web was closing in around her.
Aphylos was sure of one thing: every interaction she’d had with them had been spontaneous—nothing she could have orchestrated.
But she couldn’t fathom how they’d anticipated her every move.
No, there must be something else at play…
She bit her lip, dueling the ranger even as her mind raced for anything she’d overlooked.
Then, suddenly, she remembered—the ranger and the Gravekeeper had both mentioned having friends in the Holy See.
The Holy See, again…
Her face drained of color.
Nerves frayed, she dared not linger a moment longer.
Aphylos clenched her jaw, wings thrashing in desperation as she tried to break free and escape the nightmare of this cemetery.
Rhode gave her no such chance.
The enchantment was gone, but the Gale Ranger’s agility and marksmanship were more than enough.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Three iron-tipped arrows streaked through the air, forming a perfect triangle that cut off every possible escape route.
As a half-demon, Aphylos could fly—but only for short bursts, and never as fast as an arrow.
She couldn’t climb high enough to escape his aim—in the dim light, she was a sitting target, one mistake away from being brought down.
Forced to swerve and drop, she landed back on the ground, facing him once more.
All she wanted was to get away, but she didn’t dare put distance between them.
If she left her spell’s effective range, she’d be at the mercy of a top-tier archer—she wouldn’t even get the chance to fight back.
“You really are relentless, aren’t you…”
A flash of viciousness crossed Aphylos’s eyes.
Fine. If that’s how it is, then no more holding back.
She yanked a vial from her clothes—a bottle swirling with toxic green-violet light—pulled the stopper, and downed it in one gulp.
Savage Mana erupted inside her.
Her white hair whipped wildly, crimson eyes blazing like twin blood-fires.
Her bat wings doubled in size, membranes bulging with writhing, dark-red veins.
Her tail lashed the ground, shattering stone slabs.
Black runes crawled across her horns, her aura surging to monstrous heights.
The potion had driven her demonkin blood into a frenzy.
“Die!”
Aphylos shrieked, her staff spinning in her hands.
A rain of blood-red energy coalesced in the air, the roar of magic splitting the night.
Mana Burst after Mana Burst wove together into a dense net, crashing down on Rhode’s position.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whole swathes of woodland were blasted into barren ruin.
Rhode, relying on the Gale Ranger’s inhuman reflexes, twisted aside before the first shot even hit.
The barrage left no safe angle—red beams exploded all around, shockwaves ripping up dirt and grass in great sheets.
Even with his speed, Rhode was forced to dive and tumble from gravestone to charred tree trunk, dodging for his life.
Clods of earth and shattered stone hammered his azure-gold armor, making his blood churn. All he could do was scramble for cover and pray the onslaught would end.
“How did it come to this…?” Elena murmured in the Mindspace, watching the carnage unfold.
“No idea,” Rhode replied, face set as he sprinted for his life, turning the problem over in his mind.
He’d only wanted Aphylos to stay and repair the cemetery before leaving—and now half the place was being blown to hell…
“Maybe we pushed her too far?” Elena sighed. “Especially you—I don’t know what you said to set her off, but I’m sure it was your fault.”
“Maybe I really did say something wrong?” Rhode wiped soot from his face. “Or is she just mad because nobody wants her?”
“I think it’s more complicated than that…” Elena searched her memory for everything Aphylos had said.
“She kept talking about Resurrection Magic—even tried to tempt you with it, saying she could bring back someone important…”
Her voice softened. “Maybe she lost someone herself, and what you said struck a nerve.”
“And with us rejecting her, treating her as the enemy, she finally snapped. She’d rather risk everything than let us go.”
“Fine, maybe I owe her an apology,” Rhode muttered, ducking behind a tree trunk that nearly crushed him. “But now’s probably not the time.”
He clenched his fist.
He had to admit, even while fighting Aphylos—no matter how terrifying she was—he was starting to get a feel for the new powers that came with 40% Resonance.
If he could just defeat her, his plan could proceed as intended.
But something still felt off…
“There’s something else,” Elena said, a thought striking her. “You went down to the sewers to try Fusion with her, right? Why didn’t you go through with it?”
Maybe it was because they were fused now, their minds and emotions flowing together—Elena found herself thinking more clearly, the jealousy fading.
“My Fusion with her failed,” Rhode said, crouched behind a shattered gravestone, his back numb from the shockwaves. “She lied—said she’d do it, but we couldn’t get any Resonance.”
“I see…” Elena frowned, still unsure why she and Rhode had resonated so easily. “Then why did it work for us the first time we met?”
“Because you trusted me, and I trusted you.”
“Huh? Wait—?” Elena blinked in the Mindspace. “Why bring that up now?”
“Haven’t you noticed?” Rhode said, clenching his fist, his voice steady. “We haven’t known each other long, but our Resonance keeps climbing—and I’m getting stronger as a Gale Ranger.”
“I think—”
“That’s the power of trust.”
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