Isagi had faced 'Alfia' several times before.
Setting aside that very first encounter — back when he was still Level 4, and she had killed him instantly — things had genuinely improved once he pushed through to Level 5.
And that was putting it mildly.
They always said it, didn't they — that reaching the first tier of adventurers was a transformation beyond comparison with any ordinary level-up. The sheer, overwhelming power that came with it simply couldn't be measured against what came before.
For Isagi, the first thing that had made that crystal clear was this: at Level 5, 'Alfia' could no longer kill him in a single blow.
That alone gave him room to work with.
Not a lot of room, admittedly.
The woman's magic was simply that troublesome — unhittable, indefensible, and with perfect, unerring accuracy against anyone who could hear her voice.
It was practically cheating.
If this were a game, it would be a full-coverage, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree AOE with no blind spots in any direction — and a massive-range AOE at that.
If that was what he was dealing with, there was only one answer: tank it head-on.
Endurance — the very reason to become a king!
Even Ryuu-senpai and the others, back in their time, had only managed to neutralize Alfia's magic — render it ineffective — by using a special piece of equipment known as the [Demon Ward Shield]!!
So the strategy itself was sound.
But then — why had he chosen the 'Land of Reeds' card?
If the plan was to use raw defense to weather the woman's magic.
Then.
Either the body-tempering route — using the elixirs from before [Land of Reeds] combined with forbidden techniques to massively inflate his stats — or simply equipping 'Golden Age' and stacking himself with layers of magical blessings through its many spells and prayers — either of those would have worked just as well.
But Isagi had his own thinking at this moment.
Equipping 'Land of Reeds' — the most important reason was its most fundamental, most effective ability:
[Sword Saint's Secret Arts].
An all-encompassing ability: not only did it raise his proficiency with every weapon he carried, but more crucially, it allowed him to dual-wield entirely different weapons at the same time.
And the moment Isagi stepped through the entrance of the old chapel, he had already drawn out from the cloak at his back two enormous shields — each one taller than a grown man.
"Thud!"
The colossal shields were unimaginably heavy, and he drove them into the ground before him like headstones.
There was nothing particularly special about the shields themselves — they weren't anything rare.
Though.
Cecil's work on a full new set of equipment was still ongoing, and expecting her to produce a [Tier One Armament] on top of everything else in this short a time was simply asking too much.
So Isagi had gone for quantity over quality.
"Thud, thud, thud, thud!"
One heavy impact after another rang out.
Shield after shield, Isagi drew them from the [Shadow of Pandora] cloak at his back, and drove them one by one into the ground throughout the already-cramped little chapel.
He'd called in a favor from Miss Tsubaki of Hephaestus Familia, and had even hired out the smiths of Goibniu Familia at his own expense.
Together with Cecil.
Working to his specifications, everyone had spent the intervening time forging these nameless, 'standard-issue greatshields.'
But 'standard-issue' as they were in name, the materials used were still quite precious — designed purely to resist magic, with virtually no physical defensive capacity, but maxed out entirely where magical resistance was concerned.
And on top of that.
Each shield had been wrapped in a generous coating of Spirit Cloth.
Right now, every surface of every shield was wound through with Spirit Cloth in a riot of colors, boosting their magical resistance even further.
The many greatshields connected rapidly into a continuous line, like a series of rising walls.
And Isagi himself.
Not only was he holding a greatshield in each hand — there was a third strapped to his back. Armed to the teeth didn't even begin to cover it.
Come on, then.
The boy looked toward the woman in the distance.
She had already risen from her seat and turned partway toward him — and in that same quiet, unhurried voice she always used, she spoke the single, impossibly simple incantation.
"Evangelium."
An invisible shockwave detonated outward.
Isagi felt a tremendous force slam into both his hands and launch him skidding backward — but the greatshields in his grip held; they hadn't shattered, and they had absorbed the blow cleanly.
He was fine!
On the other side of things, the girls who had followed Isagi into the chapel had already done exactly as planned — diving behind the shields he had pre-planted throughout the room, just barely clear of the magic attack.
Then, the counterattack began.
Lefiya and Riveria began casting defensive magic simultaneously.
"——Dance, spirits of the air, lords of light. I bind a covenant with the guardian deity of the forest, and beseech thee: let the song of the earth ring out and enfold us, shelter us, and become for us a fortress of forest-light — for I am Alf!"
Twin chanting voices rose as one.
As the Princess's most powerful defensive magic, it was a barrier capable of withstanding even the full-force strike of a Floor Boss from the Dungeon's deep floors — [Monster Rex · Balor].
This was the [Barrier Magic] that could fully intercept both physical and magical attacks alike.
The unbreakable shield of Loki Familia!
A deep green barrier erupted outward in an instant, covering everyone present and swallowing nearly half the interior of the chapel in one sweep.
And visibly, unmistakably —
The barrier existed as a layered double, front and back, with a clear gap between them.
And the timing was simultaneous — in the very instant before both their defensive spells completed, Haruhime had already raised her enhancement magic [Uchide's Mallet] and brought it tapping gently down on both their heads.
This was now an 'absolute defense' formed from the combined magical power of two Level 7 Elven mages.
In an instant.
The woman's voice was completely cut off.
Isagi, greatshields still in hand, drew out alongside the girls the 'fireguns' — also commissioned from Miss Tsubaki of Hephaestus Familia.
Like magic swords, but more versatile and convenient, especially suited to the ranged combat this moment demanded.
This was a war of positions!
Isagi wasn't naive enough to think that close-range combat was a weakness for a mage like Alfia.
In reality.
While her stat sheet showed that her [Strength] and [Endurance] were far below those of a same-level warrior — someone like Zard, for instance — her [Agility] and [Dexterity] were both maxed out at 999.
So.
Alfia was less a mage and more a 'magic swordswoman' — much like Ryuu-senpai; someone whose close-combat stats were extraordinary in their own right, far beyond her magical ability alone.
The firearms cracked and roared, smoke blooming and curling upward — but faster than any bullet, faster than the gunfire itself, was Alfia.
Her silhouette vanished.
No — his eyes simply couldn't keep up with her speed at all.
And it wasn't only Isagi — even Ryuu and Ais were the same. The [Gale], famed for her speed, and the [Sword Princess], blessed by the wind — both renowned as among the fastest adventurers alive.
And yet at this moment.
Not one of them could see her. They couldn't even register her movements.
Alfia had already cut straight through the protective magic — and in an instant, she was standing right before all of them.
____
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