Fron narrowed his eyes, keeping his spell-casting stance, sneering as he mocked her.
-------------------------------
'Have I been seen through!?'
Revis cursed inwardly. From the very beginning, she knew this guy was completely different from ordinary adventurers. Countless means, extremely high combat ability, and the most dangerous thing was... his information about her.
The type she least wanted to face, someone even more troublesome than "Aria."
But Fron's existence was like a guardian blocking the treasure. If she wanted to take Ais away, then this man was the abnormality that had to be eliminated!
As if sensing something, Fron no longer took the initiative to attack, but instead wore a faint smile.
"Looks like your little plot has failed."
"Pupupupupu––"
With a sound like a bubble bursting echoing in their ears, a slender figure with shining golden hair appeared before their eyes.
The [Sword Princess], Ais Wallenstein.
She landed lightly on the ground. With a flick of her beloved sword, the sticky green fluid scattered away, and the silver rapier regained its brilliance.
Her appearance froze Revis for three heartbeats.
Golden eyes immediately locked onto Fron first, seeing that he was only slightly disheveled, not injured, she then turned toward the blood-haired woman.
"So it really is you."
Seeing the golden-haired girl appear ahead of time and overturn her scheme of a swift resolution, Revis furrowed her brow, her expression full of disdain.
"Ahhh, how troublesome. Why can't you adventurers just obediently die? Why do you have to make everything so complicated?"
Ais had no idea what the other woman was saying, but Fron faintly grasped the true essence of the matter.
As a reincarnated monster, after hundreds of years Revis had long since been stripped of emotion.
Reborn as a guardian by "Her," she no longer needed her original ideology.
In her mind, if "She" wished to return to the surface, then simply destroying that city was enough.
But she never expected things to go awry again and again, becoming increasingly troublesome.
That irritation now boiled into violence.
"Fron, can you leave her to me? You go help Asfi's side, it feels very dangerous."
Fron was self-aware. Fighting head-on against an opponent he couldn't beat was meaningless.
Last time, forced into a corner, he had to use his trump card to deceive the enemy, he thought it succeeded, but now it seemed…
His mindset was: play it safe, hold the line, don't take risks.
Encounter a strong enemy? Retreat first.
Wait until the day he could crush them outright, that was the proper path.
"I understand. Be careful." The young man smiled, then turned toward the green barrier behind him.
'I will avenge Fron!'
The girl's determination came through clear, her expression was dead serious.
"Clang!", the silver rapier's tip pointed directly at the red-haired woman. A sharp aura spread from Ais, her battle spirit blazing.
"Aria, is it? Fine. If it's you, that's acceptable."
With a click, Revis shifted the great sword in her hand, gripping the hilt firmly again.
Unlike when she faced Fron, this time her stance fully committed to dual-handed power.
"Tch, " Fron naturally noticed one detail.
The great sword's advantage lay in wide range and heavy strikes. Using it two-handed was obviously stronger. Which meant… all this time fighting him, Revis hadn't even been going all out.
He shook his head with a wry smile. He wasn't angered by being underestimated, that was a childish reaction.
He placed his palm on the green wall, eyes narrowing as he carefully discerned the pulsating surface, searching for the weakest point.
"Here it is, the passage's junction."
"[Firebolt!]"
"Boom,"
Point-blank, the green wall swelled like a water balloon before, "pop", being pierced effortlessly by the column of fire magic.
The barrier dividing the battlefield was broken. Fron didn't look back.
As for worrying about Ais? No, he'd rather save his concern for the Hermes Familia.
After all, she was the [Sword Princess]!
...
On the other side of the battlefield, cut off by the green wall.
As the Hermes Familia pressed forward, the dwindling Violas suddenly surged in number again.
No one knew why, just moments ago, the enemy's counterattacks had been fading.
But the keen Asfi sensed something was wrong within the enemy ranks.
Lacking enough clues, she couldn't piece it together, just as she was about to give up, the green wall at the corridor suddenly erupted with an orange column of fire!
"Boom!" The explosion was followed by a figure with golden hair bursting through.
"Flame Demon?" Seeing Fron appear, everyone felt a surge of relief.
After all… in this dungeon, the omnipresent fear of the unknown weighed heavily. Now that strong reinforcements had returned, morale rising was only natural.
"Are you all alright?!" Fron quickly moved beside Asfi, blending into their formation and lending his shield.
Asfi touched the pouch at her waist, a bitter smile curling her lips.
"Still… still fine. Just… too many enemies, my items are being consumed too quickly."
Fron immediately understood. In other words, they could barely hold on, but not for long.
"Got it. But our priority is to break through here and reach the Pantry."
"You all know the monsters' traits. If we scatter magic stone powder on one side of the passage, lure them to cluster there, then unleash area attacks, it'll both thin their numbers and let us break through quickly."
Asfi's mind worked swiftly. Fron's suggestion was brilliant.
She gave him a sidelong glance, surprised, this man could even command tactics? Truly versatile…
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
"Everyone, throw the prepared magic stone powder to one side, tighten the formation!"
"Understood!"
At the order, members under the vanguard's cover swiftly hurled the powder forward.
As expected, the swarming Violas pounced on the bait like starved beasts, completely ignoring the adventurers.
Fron and Asfi exchanged a glance.
"Charge!"
In an instant, their figures blurred, darting swiftly past the dense monster horde, breaking through to the rear!
"Hyaah!", the girl spun, detonating red bottles at the cluster of beasts.
"Boom,"
A violent explosion tore through the monster ranks!
"Success!"
Everyone grinned at their leader's results.
"As long as we think carefully, every difficulty has its solution, right?"
The successful tactic let Asfi breathe easier, even joking lightly with Fron.
The young man only shrugged, speeding up to keep pace.
This entire scene was relayed back through spore-like surveillance tools.
"Ahh, so it failed. They figured out the habit? Really… always making me do such pointless things. Well, no matter. Having a chat with them might be nice. I really look forward to seeing their faces twisted in despair."
By the massive crimson quartz pillar stood the masked figure wearing a ram's skull.