The dust gradually settled.
The Corrupted Spirit's laughter came to an abrupt stop.
The scorched ground before her was not, as she had expected, completely devoid of life.
The figures of those annoying insects were still standing upon the blackened earth.
The armor covering their bodies was nearly shattered, and their specially-made clothing had been charred black. They looked utterly battered.
But…
"It hurts!"
Tiona cried out in pain, her face twisted in agony. The others were not faring much better. If they had not been in a life-or-death situation, they would have gladly passed out from the pain alone.
Only…
Though it hurt…
"It hurts, but I'm not injured!" Tione viciously inspected her own body.
That's right.
Including the Supporters, everyone was completely unharmed. Gareth in particular, who had been standing at the very front, wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"Eh...?"
Only Ryoji was different.
He let out a groan as a violent wave of dizziness struck his brain, causing his body to sway.
Several hands immediately reached out from behind and supported him before he could collapse.
"Mind fatigue... I used up all my Magic Power in one go."
Ais supported his right arm and swept her gaze across his face, instantly judging his condition.
"Potion, quickly!" Finn immediately gave the order.
Enduring the pain, Raul and the others hurriedly pulled Mental Power Potions from their backpacks.
"Hey, look at that Corrupted Spirit!" While supporting Ryoji's right arm, Bete looked toward the monster in the distance with a chill running down his spine.
"Bzzzz…!"
The figure over a hundred meters away had, at some point, spread her arms wide. The red particles scattered throughout the air were returning to her body like fledglings flying back to their nest.
"Reclaiming dispersed Magic Power? I've never heard of such a thing." Gareth dusted himself off and curled his lips into a puzzled grin.
"This is bad. At this rate, she'll be able to fire a second spell very soon!" Lefiya's complexion changed drastically, her delicate face filled with anxiety.
"What do we do?"
Everyone turned their eyes toward Finn. Even Finn himself could not help biting down on his thumb.
There was absolutely no way they could withstand that spell again.
It had shattered Riveria's strongest defensive magic head-on, blown Gareth away, and drained Ryoji's Magic Power completely. Even after layering three separate defenses, they had only barely managed to preserve their fighting strength and avoid being wiped out on the spot.
Now Riveria was down, and Ryoji needed time to recover.
No matter how they looked at it, they could not survive another spell.
The situation fell into a deadlock.
One after another, everyone fell silent.
"...Buy me some time."
But at that moment… A voice suddenly broke the silence.
Finn's eyes narrowed as he turned toward Ryoji.
"If we can stop the next spell, then it'll be fine."
While gulping down Mental Power Potions one after another, not even caring that the liquid was soaking his clothes, Ryoji made a declaration that shone like a ray of hope.
"I'll defeat that thing!"
As long as they could block the next spell and buy him enough time to recover… He could defeat that monster.
That was what Ryoji was saying.
Which meant…
"You still have a trump card left?" Finn muttered quietly.
'What should they do?'
'Should they place their bet on him?'
No.
There was no need to hesitate at all!
Finn raised both his Commander's Spear in his right hand and the Unfading Spear in his left, then issued a decisive order.
"Cover Ryoji! Buy him as much time as possible!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded without hesitation.
Trusting their comrades, this was Loki Familia's greatest strength.
"O earth, answer my call…"
As though responding to the determination of the adventurers, the fallen angel began chanting with a smile.
This time, a black magic circle spread beneath her feet, radiating ominous dark light.
"Come, come, come! Shell of the earth, black jewel, hammer of the stars! Fall in accordance with the covenant that created heaven and earth! Cross the skies, shatter the land, build the bridge, reshape the world! Pour forth, O giant axe of the heavens, calamity of destruction…!"
Fast!
Far too fast!
In only a few seconds, she had already completed half of the chant.
"We're going in, all of you!" Holding both spears aloft, Finn charged forward at the head of the assault.
In response, the long tentacles extending from the monster's lower body shot out once more. Easily exceeding a hundred meters in length, they rose into the sky before raining down upon Finn like a deadly storm.
Yet Finn showed no intention of blocking them.
He weaved gracefully through the rain of tentacles, his small body as slippery as an eel, effortlessly avoiding every single strike.
"What?!"
Even the Corrupted Spirit was shocked.
Such agility was simply unbelievable.
If Ryoji's evasions were thrilling, dangerous, and spectacular to watch, Finn's dodges existed solely for the sake of evasion itself. Every unnecessary movement had been eliminated. He had honed his body to its absolute limit and obtained a power that bordered on the absurd.
Pallums were an exceptionally weak race.
Dwarves possessed immense strength.
Beastmen had all manner of unique innate abilities.
Amazons were blessed with extraordinary combat instincts.
But Pallums, aside from having fairly good eyesight, were inferior in nearly every category, even compared to ordinary humans.
Finn understood his own weakness better than anyone. He knew he could never excel in raw Strength or Agility, so instead he refined his Dexterity to its utmost limit.
His Dexterity was 999.
For a Pallum's small frame, it was the perfect attribute to maximize.
"If that guy doesn't pull out something amazing after this, I'm never forgiving him!"
"Bete, just shut up already!"
Bete and Tiona followed behind Finn on either side, smashing aside every tentacle that came their way.
"Oraaa!"
At the same time…
The instant the Corrupted Spirit's attention became completely focused on Finn, Tione let out a fierce shout and hurled Gareth from the rear lines.
"Hm?!"
The Corrupted Spirit was startled and immediately sent additional tentacles to intercept him.
"Whoosh!"
A violent gale surged from behind. Green winds swept forward, blasting away every tentacle aimed at Gareth.
Riding the wind currents, Ais soared into the air, unleashing countless wind blades against the Spirit's tentacles.
"BOOM!"
With his path completely cleared, Gareth landed heavily on the ground.
This was the very front line from before the battle began.
Laughing heartily, he raised the twin battle axes in his hands and brought one crashing down against the vine armor before him.
CRAAASH!
Under his unrivaled physical strength, the armor that even Ryoji had only managed to damage slightly shattered layer after layer.
"Ora! Ora! ORAAA…!" Gareth roared repeatedly, attacking without the slightest concern for defense.
Even when he was injured. Even when tentacles pierced through his body and tore into his internal organs.
He did not care.
He simply continued chopping apart every section of vine armor before him.
A straight path leading directly to the Corrupted Spirit was carved open.
"I, in the name of the Executor, command thee! I grant thee the name of Earth Spirit, incarnation of the land, Queen of the Earth…!"
Seeing the ferocity of their assault, the monster accelerated her chant.
Only one second remained before the spell would be unleashed.
Neither Ais, Bete, nor Tiona could keep up with the speed of her chanting.
They had not even managed to clear away all of the endlessly regenerating tentacles around her.
(End of Chapter)
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