"Hmph!"
"Ha!!"
"Force!!!"
The light of the blade flashed by in an instant, bringing with it a large spray of blood, moving at a speed that was simply unbelievable.
Ryuu barely managed to raise the greataxe in her hands—this was the weapon Ais had thrown to her just as they were pulled in together.
However, she found herself a beat too slow. Fortunately, the golden-haired girl beside her, possessing ample experience, pulled her back in a rapid retreat, dodging the scarlet gleam of the blade by a hair's breadth.
But it wasn't over yet!
Just as they watched the [Tiger Vanguard] before them leisurely retract its blade...
Ais released her grip on Ryuu and transformed into an incomparably swift breeze once more, thrusting her spear toward the enemy. The result, however, was the BOSS's surface instantly taking on the appearance of being poured from bronze and cast from iron.
With a deafening sound of metal clashing against metal, the spear in the girl's hand was deflected.
At the same time, the 'Iron Skin' covering the Tiger Vanguard shattered. It took a step forward and delivered a powerful 'Piercing Heart Elbow'!
Bang!
Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.
Different from Ais and Ryuu, the Tiger Vanguard's 'Wind' was always filled with an explosive tension that threatened to tear everything apart.
The girls felt that every punch and kick, every move and stance of the guy before them, while wide and open, carried an incomparably heavy internal force. It was unstoppable, causing the entire blood pool to boil over.
Fortunately.
Ais could fly!
Clearly experienced, after her spear was deflected, she abandoned it directly. While drawing a shortsword from her waist, her entire figure rapidly ascended upward.
Conversely, Ryuu, who had entered for the first time, was a beat slower, completely failing to realize the opponent's counterattack would come so quickly.
In an instant.
She was sent flying by the Tiger Vanguard's iron elbow. Her vision went black, and when she opened her eyes again, she found she had already returned to the front of the [Land Temple] outside.
It was a bit hard to process.
Ryuu was still bewildered, but she more or less understood why Ais and Riveria had those flushed little expressions earlier.
What on earth is this Tiger Vanguard?!
It was completely different from any Monster she had seen before. That bizarre feeling—completely incomprehensible, or rather, unrecognizable—lingered in the girl's heart for a long time.
She ascended the stone steps once again.
Soon, Ryuu returned to the main gate of the [Crouching Tiger Temple].
Not far away, the battle within the blood pool continued. Ais was like a gust of wind, constantly circling the large orange cat, trying to pin it down to buy Riveria time to chant magic.
But it was too difficult.
Forget about the disparity in Strength; even in terms of technique, they seemed completely suppressed!
What a strong guy!!
Punch, whip kick, sword-drawing slash!
Accompanied by a leaping smash that soared into the sky and a violent forward collision, a tiger's roar shook the heavens. Subsequently, it crouched on the ground, taking on that bronze-poured and iron-cast appearance again. But this time, it was slightly different.
The BOSS remaining in place quietly dissipated. With a shout of "Over here, you blockhead!", the Tiger Vanguard's figure abruptly appeared from the side.
Followed by a punch so fast it was almost invisible.
Riveria, who was still chanting magic, was caught off guard. Although she knew this move would come next, she still couldn't react in time. She directly transformed into a strand of golden hair, slowly drifting out, passing over herself to go outside the temple.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The Tiger Vanguard's attack was far from over.
It lowered its body slightly, its tiger claws gripping the long handle of the blade behind its back, assuming a posture as if about to 'Draw the Sword'.
"Arise!"
A blood-red tornado whipped up, blotting out the sky and sun, completely obstructing vision while blowing slowly but relentlessly toward the golden-haired girl.
In the next instant.
Violent blade energy split the blood pool in two. The shockwaves of blood droplets were so fast that even Ais, who was prepared, found herself unable to react in time. She barely dodged one, only to find a succession of slashes following it!
"Keep the monkey head for wine, send the rest to the Great King!"
Flicking the blood droplets from the long blade.
While leisurely sheathing its blade, the Tiger Vanguard repeated the words the girl and woman had heard countless times. It paced slowly, returning to the center of the blood pool and standing still before the headless Buddha statue.
So fast... is it over already?
Ryuu blinked, her thoughts still a mess, thinking, what in the world is all this?!
On the other side.
Watching Ais crawl up from in front of the Land Temple and angrily prepare to rush back in, Riveria held her back this time.
"Wait a moment, Ais."
"What's wrong, Mama?!"
"Just wait."
Stroking her own chest, which was heaving just as much, Riveria finally managed to calm down first.
The 'Monster' before them was very wrong.
Leaving aside its strength, that unbelievable aggression where a mere scratch or touch meant an instant kill wasn't incomprehensible.
The key point was...
The techniques it displayed were truly baffling.
What exactly was that?!
Answer—
[Chinese Kung Fu].
Isagi floated among the stars, watching the girls battle the Tiger Vanguard, never expecting it to be so interesting.
Of course, the biggest reason Ais and the others were struggling so much right now was that the 'Stat' gap was indeed a bit large.
Reasonably speaking, it shouldn't be like this, but that's exactly why the 'Difficulty' was high. Besides, if it wasn't a no-damage run, how could they become 'Pro Gamers', right?
Do your best!
Isagi believed the girls could definitely do it!!
He continued to watch the show while eating melon.
He even felt a peculiar sense of pleasure from it, causing the 'starlight' lingering around him to flow a bit faster—his connection with the Dungeon seemed to have become closer...
What the hell!
Could it be that he was the type of guy who felt happy watching others suffer?
Or was the Dungeon that kind of guy?!
Inexplicably, the image of a certain 'Mesugaki' loli surfaced in his mind. After he failed at a game, she would jump in his face, clamoring, "Small fry, small fry, small fry~ You can't even beat this? You're too scrubby, what a useless guy!"
So it wasn't a delusion but actually existed?!
Just as Isagi was pondering this incomparably 'serious' question.
On the other side.
Riveria decided to challenge the Tiger Vanguard before her alone!
"Why, Mama?"
Ais clearly didn't understand this.
But the Elf woman's expression was serious because she felt the battle just now was simply 'too chaotic'.
Aside from being a bit heated.
The most important thing was that Riveria realized the Monster before them was actually more suited for a single person to challenge, because it existed for that very purpose.
"Ais, don't forget why we came here."
Was it to defeat Monsters?
In this 'Boy's Dream', fighting Monsters could neither increase Ability Scores nor obtain [Excelia]. The only thing one could gain was simply [Combat Experience].
As a veteran adventurer, Riveria naturally knew the importance of this.
So fighting alone and defeating the opponent would naturally be a completely different experience from teaming up to defeat it.
As for why she wanted to go herself...
Riveria was indeed heated.
When facing such a powerful Monster, the disadvantage of a Mage being poor at single combat would be infinitely magnified. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a class called 'Magic Swordsman'.
But she was no ordinary Mage!
As a noble Elf Royal, Riveria had her own dignity!!
How could she lose face like this in front of her daughter?!
"We take turns, one by one, Ais!"
Saying so.
Riveria took her current weapon—still the crude, thick Wolf Tooth Club the girl had given her earlier—and walked toward the blood pool before her.
The atmosphere became incomparably heavy at this moment.
The instant the Elf woman stepped into the blood pool, the Tiger Vanguard not far away roared again and leaped up. Its colossal, muscular body seemed as if it would blot out the starry sky.
Twisting its body, borrowing the force of its waist, it smashed down with a thunderous punch!
This move again!!
Riveria was already incomparably familiar with it.
The Elf woman dodged swiftly. Subsequently, she would have to face its continuous assault.
Is it a punch?
Or a claw?
Or perhaps the blade?
The Tiger Vanguard's attack methods were extremely diverse and interwoven, making them impossible to guard against.
Moreover, the feelings given by different attacks were completely different.
The punches were heavy, the claws were vicious.
And the long blade was both heavy and vicious!
It was simply high damage in the left hand and high damage in the right hand. No matter which one hit, it meant either injury or death, so she couldn't be touched even once!
After clearly understanding this point.
Riveria surprisingly found that her mental focus had reached an indescribable height.
It seemed as if everything in the world had vanished, leaving only the colossal monster before her eyes.
This feeling.
Isagi was actually very familiar with it, but for her, it was a rather 'novel' experience.
Because—
From beginning to end, Riveria always had 'teammates'.
Her Highness the Elf Princess was the second adventurer to join the Loki Familia. Not long after, Gareth also joined the Familia, forming the initial 'Trio'.
And as a Mage.
Whether traveling the world or coming to Orario, the woman had almost never faced such a powerful Monster so alone.
If one didn't count the practice with Finn and Gareth, and those guys from the Zeus and Hera Familias she once challenged...
"Ah."
As if suddenly enlightened, Riveria abruptly realized why she was so 'angry' just now.
The reason was this!
The Monster before her eyes even reminded her of that group of 'scum' who were unpleasant, always high and mighty, yet incomparably powerful.
That's right, just like back then.
Only, the fights back then were never 'struggles of life and death'. The once strongest adventurers of the city merely beat her to the ground like they were teaching a junior a lesson.
There was an indescribably huge gap in that.
But now.
Even knowing she would resurrect after death, as the blade light and fist wind grazed past her eyes, her heart still felt that indescribable, icy terror.
To be honest, when she 'resurrected' in this world for the first time just now.
Riveria was actually very unaccustomed to it.
She had no sense of reality and was even startled, her mind filled with thoughts like "I'm already dead?" that made her feel fear from the bottom of her heart.
However, now.
Right at this very moment, as the battle continued, she began to have absolutely no time to think about these things.
She didn't even have time for fear or dread.
Everything seemed to be completely forgotten. The only thoughts remaining in her brain were 'Dodge' and 'Attack'!
"—Harbinger of the end..."
A Mage's attack, of course, was still Magic.
Amidst the Tiger Vanguard's storm-like attacks, Riveria was still able to perform high-difficulty [Concurrent Chanting]. She even chanted rhythmically, her thin lips parting lightly, accompanying the rhythm of the monster's attacks.
At times stopping abruptly amidst its stormy combo, and at other times chanting loudly again at the very end of its every move!
"Face the twilight, and release the gale—"
The long blade accompanied by scarlet blood water dyed the woman's clothes completely filthy.
Shock.
Cold.
Sticky yet suddenly separated, followed only by flashes of unbelievable cold light.
"The light is closed, the frozen earth—"
Because she only dodged and never attacked back.
This rendered the Tiger Vanguard's 'Bronze Head and Iron Arms' meaningless. When she saw the BOSS crouch on the ground on all fours again, transforming into that steel-cast appearance...
Riveria simply stood in place. Then, one second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds...
Having had the experience several times—including the last time, where she was killed by the Tiger Vanguard's punch in this manner—the woman knew that if she reacted only after hearing the movement, it would be too late!
So.
She could only rely on intuition to predict.
In a sense, this was gambling with her life. Once wrong, she would die.
But there was no other way. Battle is unreasonable; having the chance to gamble was already a very fortunate thing!
She leaped violently to the side.
Simultaneously.
Riveria finished the last part of her magic chant.
"Blizzard, the three harsh winters—My name is Alf!"
"[Wyn Fimbulvetr]!!"
The Tiger Vanguard appeared from her blind spot. Its punching posture was like an invisible gale sweeping past. In the blink of an eye, it had already grazed past the Elf woman's body, and subsequently, it was frozen in the distance by the layers of advancing frost.
But she couldn't be careless yet.
Riveria knew that what she had to face next was the Tiger Vanguard's emerging blood-colored tornado, and the blade energy that was fierce beyond compare, so fast it was unbelievable.
Thus, she had to seize the time bought by the magic to hurriedly complete the chant for the next stage of magic.
"—Gather, breath of the earth—Kodama—Grant my wish, Raiment of the Forest—"
Adventurers only had three 'Magic Slots'.
But certain special magics could break this limit. For example, Lefiya's 'Elf Ring' was a 'Summoning Magic' of a BUG level.
And Riveria Ljos Alf was called the [Nine Hells].
This was because she possessed three different magics: the Offensive Type "Wys/Wyn Fimbulvetr"; the Defensive Type "[Via Shilheim]"; and the Healing Type "Via Eden".
Each magic.
Through different chant verses, would have three different stages. And by superimposing them and performing her exclusive chant connection, she could further strengthen the magic power and even change its form.
So, Riveria actually possessed 'Nine Magics'.
She was a natural 'All-Round Turret'.
"—Dance, Spirits of the atmosphere, Lords of light, form a contract with the Guardian of the Forest—"
The ice seal shattered, turning into bits of glittering crystal fragments.
The freezing caused slight damage to the Tiger Vanguard, finally causing a trace of fine blood to seep out from its dirty orange fur that was stained with blood.
But this wasn't enough to slow down its movement of waving the long blade, nor could it stop it from summoning that scarlet tornado again, and—
"Force!"
Accompanied by a violent shout from the colossal monster.
Blade light capable of severing everything once again broke through the blood pool, shooting out from that wind which blotted out the sky.
And at this moment.
Riveria neither dodged nor retreated, because she had already completed her defensive magic.
"—Hope plays the song of the earth to wrap around us, protect us—I implore the barrier of the forest light to protect us—My name is Alf."
"[Via Shilheim]!"
A screen of light rose up.
The storm of blood and the ensuing slashes, which even a swift swordswoman like Ais couldn't dodge.
Of course, Riveria couldn't dodge them either.
So, she could only release defensive magic at this time.
The blade energy shattered against the translucent magical barrier, turning into a large spray of scattered blood flowers.
And simultaneously.
The Elf woman still didn't stop the chant in her mouth.
"—Before long, flames will be released. The creeping war, the unavoidable destruction..."
This was the second stage of Attack Magic.
Scorching flames began to gather in the sky, like a rising crimson vortex, threatening to burn even the yellow sand filling the sky to ashes.
Accompanied by the final flash of the blade.
The magic barrier also shattered. Following closely was the demon leaping up again, a smash descending from the heavens!
Roll, dodge, continue chanting.
"—The horn of war sounds shrilly, the violence encircling everything arrives..."
The cold glint of the long blade once again sliced through her beautiful hair dyed with thick, sticky blood, causing a small lock to fall into the blood pool.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Although incomparably exhausted, and even with her ears filled with the sound of her heart beating thump-thump-thump, drowning out even that strange, inexplicably passionate music.
Riveria still continued to chant.
"—Crimson Lotus Flame, the merciless fierce fire, thou art the avatar of hellfire, sweep away thousands of armies, bring down the curtain on the great war..."
She had to hurry.
Because according to previous observations, after turning into 'Bronze Head and Iron Arms' once, leaving a fake body in place while the real body hid somewhere to wait for an opportunity to ambush...
Within a short period, the Tiger Vanguard wouldn't use that move again.
Exactly how long was the duration?
Unknown.
Riveria could still only use her feeling, but undoubtedly, if the magic was released exactly at the moment it disappeared, it would be very hard to hit it.
As the city's strongest Mage.
Her Highness the Elf Princess naturally knew that a so-called Mage didn't just finish chanting magic and call it a day.
The most important thing was to hit the enemy and cause damage.
Otherwise, everything was in vain.
Lefiya used incomparably precise mana control to make magic track the enemy no matter what until it hit, but this method also had drawbacks. That is, when encountering a guy far stronger than oneself, like the [Pale King] from before.
There was no way to win no matter what.
Even if the magic was released, it couldn't keep up with its speed and couldn't hit at all.
So Riveria was using another method right now, which was—
[Rhythm].
Or rather, through observing the enemy's movements and looking for an opportunity, almost completely through 'Prediction', she would release magic the instant it paused.
No matter how strong or fast, as long as it moved, there would be a 'moment of pause'.
If using Isagi's words, it was 'Catching the recovery frames and stiffness'.
To be fair.
Her Highness the Elf Princess was indeed performing high-level operations; worthy of being the Level 6 Strongest Mage in the City.
At this moment, it was just like that.
At the end of the Tiger Vanguard's mad dog-like combo, the instant it turned to retreat and sheath its blade in one smooth motion, right in that fleeting moment of opportunity.
Riveria's attack magic was already completed.
"Burn everything away, Surtr's Sword—My name is Alf!"
The woman only chanted up to the second stage, because there was no need, nor was there that much time, to chant the final attack magic.
"[High · Via Laevateinn]!"
Sky fire descended from the heavens once more.
Like a sword of divine punishment, it crashed directly onto the Tiger Vanguard's head. The crimson flames seemed to evaporate the entire blood pool, emitting an incomparably blinding light. Accompanied by the silent explosion of magic power, whether it was the image, the sound, or the smell...
All senses were stripped away in an instant, as if everything in the world no longer existed, completely buried under that strike just now.
The magic dissipated.
Remaining was the Tiger Vanguard with most of its orange fur scorched. Its body was a bloody mess, still scattering sparks, yet it delivered a sudden punch!
The battle wasn't over yet! But the strategy was effective!!
Next, it was a repetition of the cycle.
And this was where the real test for the woman began—what was difficult was never performing a miracle once, but making it a habit. In a long battle, without any errors, for a long, long, long time, doing everything perfectly!
She must do this to win!
And clearly, Riveria had underestimated the difficulty.
When, in a trance.
The Elf woman, who had long forgotten the time, saw a giant fist coming toward her face, her brain was simply blank and empty.
Not long after, standing before that familiar Land Temple again.
Riveria also revealed a somewhat 'dazed' expression, as if she hadn't reacted yet. Blinking her eyes, slowly, her thoughts finally focused in her mind again.
Then.
Hurriedly stepping up the stairs, she came to the temple again.
Only, this time it was Ais's turn.
Suddenly regretting what she said just now about taking turns one by one, watching the golden-haired girl walk into the blood pool, Riveria just felt somewhat anxious inside!
[Just a little bit more!]
[As long as I do better next time, I can—]
Her mind was full of such thoughts!
On the other side, Ryuu rubbed her head. Looking at the Elf Princess who couldn't hide her anxious look, and then at Ais who was already battling the Tiger Vanguard.
She still felt something was wrong somewhere!
What exactly was she here for?!
Blinking her eyes, as if she had forgotten something, Ryuu raised her head and looked at the sky full of stars, wanting to search for the boy's figure, but she couldn't find him no matter what in the distance.
She didn't have much mind to 'Battle' right now.
Although she knew this was a good opportunity to temper herself, Ryuu always felt that she seemed to have forgotten some important matter.
Her thoughts began to drift.
The Elf girl's attention was no longer placed on what was before her eyes, but drifted for a long time. Finally, as if recalling something, she suddenly realized something was quite wrong!!
And on the other side—
After Ais failed, Riveria went up. After Riveria failed, Ais went up again!
Alternating back and forth, going for who knows how many times.
But actually, not much time had passed, because the rhythm of the battle was too fast. Short ones lasted ten-plus seconds, long ones a few minutes.
It wasn't every battle.
That they could learn the lesson from the last time and let the time run longer—on the contrary, sometimes it ended very abruptly, completely unexpected by the girl and the woman.
But the more it was like this, the more addictive it was!
Not only Ais, even Riveria gradually understood something.
[Isagi is often like this in the Dungeon.]
This was what the girls saw in their eyes.
When she first heard Ais and Tiona say it, Riveria still felt it was extremely incredible.
Resurrect?
This was simply a cheat-like BUG skill!
However, associating it with the fact that the boy's enemies were such monsters, suddenly, the so-called 'Resurrection' seemed nothing special. It could even be said to be a 'Necessary' thing, right?
If he didn't have it, that would be incredible!!
Riveria couldn't imagine what it would be like if she encountered this monster named 'Tiger Vanguard' for the first time in the Dungeon.
Too terrifying!
This was simply a foul-level guy!!
In addition.
What had to be said was that this kind of repeated battle indeed had an excellent effect on tempering oneself.
Even later on, Riveria and Ais, even with their eyes closed, relying solely on feeling, could memorize every move and stance of the Tiger Vanguard in their minds.
How to respond;
When to counterattack;
What variation it would have next;
Through death time and time again, combat experience was accumulating without a ceiling.
Until finally.
It was Riveria using magic to turn the Tiger Vanguard into scattered gold and stone, finally dissipating between this heaven and earth—
"Won?"
The woman still couldn't quite believe it.
Ais, watching all this from a distance, was still somewhat discouraged, feeling as if she had lost somewhere!
The woman and the girl stood in the blood pool, suddenly realizing: how come after defeating the BOSS, there was no treasure chest like the one that appeared before?!
And regarding this.
Isagi, floating in the starry sky and witnessing the whole process, was also stunned. Subsequently, he thought, Wait, do I have to design this?
But he didn't know how to! How exactly does one operate to drop a treasure chest?!
Forget it?
After all, "A hearty and dripping battle" is the best reward.
Just as Isagi was thinking lazily like this.
The blood pool suddenly underwent a change.
A large mouth appeared beneath the Buddha statue, 'swallowing' all of this viscous, foul-smelling liquid into its interior.
Is it a tunnel?
The girl and the woman were both stunned, and subsequently prepared to enter it to continue the adventure!
Result.
Not long after stepping inside, facing several small rats holding short blades that suddenly appeared...
Not long after.
They 'resurrected' once again in the form of golden monkey fur in front of the Land Temple outside the Crouching Tiger Temple.
"..."
"..."
For a moment, they looked at each other in silence.
But more importantly, Ryuu saw very clearly that the beautiful faces of the two were even several shades redder than before.
____
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