'Fragile, my ass!'
Ryoji really wanted to shout it aloud. Riveria, "fragile"? Maybe compared to Dwarven warriors, sure, but she was still a Level 6 Adventurer. Physically, she was far stronger than him.
But the Spartoi had already swarmed forward.
"---Tempest!"
Without hesitation, Ais summoned a fierce wind to swirl around her body. She then leaped gracefully, vaulting over the Spartoi mob, continuing her charge straight toward Udaeus.
"Roaaaar!!"
The Skeleton King let out a thunderous bellow, pulling his massive right arm behind him like a drawn longbow, charging it with power, then swung down at Ais with a devastating slap.
"BOOOOM--!"
In the blink of an eye, a massive crater was left on the floor, shaking the entire rocky chamber with the force of the impact. The sheer power was overwhelming. Ais, wrapped in swift-flowing wind, nimbly dodged the blow, leaping into the air. She gathered all the wind around her into a single point at her sword tip.
Then, she dropped from the sky like a meteor, striking directly at one of Udaeus's bone joints.
Udaeus's body was extremely tough. Even a Level 5 adventurer's supersonic slashes couldn't damage its bones, but the joints were still a weakness. If she could break those joints, his combat power would be greatly reduced.
Ais had charged up her magic power for this very moment, and her diving strike hit like a thunderbolt.
Her sword stabbed into the right shoulder joint of the Skeleton King. With a sharp "kacha!", the joint shattered, and the massive shoulder collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Nice!" Ais's eyes lit up.
A clean, perfect opening move.
"RAAAOOOH!"
The Skeleton King let out a furious roar and slammed his remaining left fist into the earth in rage.
The brutal counterattack began immediately.
Meanwhile, although the Spartoi hadn't stopped Ais, they didn't bother chasing after her either. Instead, they all turned their hollow, black gazes toward Ryoji at the rear. Then, as one, they raised their bone swords, bone axes, and bone shields, and silently charged at him.
"The Veil of the Holy Spirit is a magic that can block all attacks. But it accumulates the damage it absorbs, once it reaches the limit, it will vanish automatically. Until then, however, it's invincible." Riveria's voice called out from behind.
This was the second phase of her defensive magic, capable of blocking both physical and magical attacks: Veil of the Holy Spirit.
Ryoji understood its function.
'It's like that thing… what was it called again… Jeanne's big bazongas!'
'Eh, no, that wasn't it. That was the Marshal's Noble Phantasm. But this magic was similar to Jeanne's Luminosité Eternelle in Fate.'
"With this kind of magic, there's nothing to worry about!" Ryoji licked his lips, his expression full of bold confidence.
He charged straight into the Spartoi horde and immediately, it was close combat!
"Vrring~!"
As the metallic sound rang out, his silver katana carved a circular arc through the air, knocking away the sword of the first Spartoi and sending it crashing into the axe-wielder beside it; both skeletons fell to the ground.
Ryoji took a sword and an axe from the side, head-on. But thanks to the protection of the green veil, he pushed forward and swiftly decapitated the two fallen Spartoi. Like Udaeus, the Spartoi also had a weakness in their joints. Severing the spine would result in an instant kill.
The green veil still shimmered brightly, as if even taking a few hits from Level 4 monsters didn't faze it at all.
The Magic's defensive performance was better than expected.
As expected of Orario's strongest mage.
Ryoji felt reassured.
Then, with a mindset of total offense, he dove headlong into the Spartoi ranks, abandoning all defense, relying on speed and precision to decapitate them one by one.
"That's just reckless!"
His fearless charge startled Riveria, who watched anxiously. Glancing at both Ryoji and Ais, she was left worrying twice as much now. Several minutes later, just as the green veil was beginning to thin, only a faint layer remaining, Ryoji had finished off all the Spartoi.
"Hell yeah!" Ryoji panted slightly, staring gleefully at the green veil surrounding his body.
He'd never fought so recklessly and freely before. Every bit of damage was absorbed; he was practically the God of Defense!
"Hey, Udaeus! Is that all you've got? Come on, hit me with more!" Ryoji shouted at the top of his lungs.
Under Riveria's speechless gaze, he boldly taunted Udaeus.
"ROARR!!"
Udaeus was currently focused on chasing Ais.
Utilizing her exceptional Agility, Ais skillfully weaved through the wind, dodging strike after deadly strike from Udaeus's massive hands, so smoothly that she had barely even consumed much of her Holy Spirit Veil.
Missing again and again was clearly driving Udaeus into a fury.
It didn't understand Ryoji's exact words, but it definitely understood his provocational tone.
"BOOM!"
It slammed its fist into the ground again.
"Schlick! Schlick! Schlick, !!"
In an instant, the sound of piercing erupted in every direction. From all around Udaeus, dozens of jet-black spikes shot up from the ground. Their razor-sharp tips were terrifying just to look at, easily capable of impaling any flesh and blood being.
Ais failed to dodge completely and was grazed by two of the spikes. Her magical veil was shaved down considerably.
The spikes came in various sizes, some were barely a meter high, clearly meant to trip or restrict movement, while others were two to three meters tall, imbued with killing intent and impossible to step through.
This was Udaeus's "leg attack."
Rather than sacrifice this move, it willingly buried its lower body into the ground just to set up this trap!
At the same time, Another twenty Spartoi emerged from the earth with the familiar click-clack of bones.
"Niceee!"
Ryoji's eyes lit up with joy. Before the newly spawned Spartoi could even orient themselves, he charged forward with his blade.
"Riveria, gimme another layer!"
"You've got some nerve!"
"Ais needs one too!"
"...O spirits of the wood, grant my wish. Garments of the forest, my name is Alf, !"
Riveria was visibly annoyed.
She regretted her earlier judgment. She should've taken the initiative to attack the Spartoi herself instead of staying in the rear. That way, she wouldn't be stuck casting defense magic over and over like this.
The first thin veil on their bodies had faded. But now, a second thick, emerald-green veil enveloped them again.
Ryoji's face lit up with a wide grin.
Having a top-tier support mage is awesome!
'Let's go, Excelia! I'm gonna grind you guys ten times over today!'
While Ryoji gleefully farmed EXP, things were looking much more dangerous on Ais's side.
"BOOM!"
After being toyed with for so long, Udaeus finally snapped. With a thunderous smash, it slammed the earth again, and from the depths rose a massive black spike, over six meters long, pitch-black and exuding an intense chill.
It grabbed the spike and ripped it from the ground, wielding it in its massive hand., That was no spike at all.
It was a jet-black greatsword.
Shortly after, Udaeus, with overwhelming strength, swung the greatsword horizontally in a devastating arc!
(End of Chapter)
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