Suddenly, things changed. Jeanne's light purple eyes narrowed, and her face turned serious.
"This many..." She quickly took a combat stance. She gripped the handle of her flag-spear and lowered the tip toward the ground. Without looking back, she gave a low warning. "Ronan! Stay in position! Don't get too far from me! Once the battle starts, support me with fire!"
"Understood!" Ronan replied at once.
This was their first time fighting together, but they had practiced their tactics many times on the surface.
Even if they made a mistake, they could adjust during the fight. The swarm of Killer Ants in front of them was the perfect chance to test their teamwork.
Ronan narrowed his eyes as Mind flowed through him. As he guided it through his body, he quickly counted the enemy. 'About thirty to forty. If I were alone, I would turn around and run without a word. If I hesitated for even a second, I'd die.'
'But now Jeanne is in front. As long as she holds the line, I can attack from behind her.'
'This is going to be ugly for them.' The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He could not stop himself from grinning.
"Here I go!"
Jeanne gave a low shout and attacked first!
Bang!
Her silver boots struck the ground, and she shot forward. The flag-spear swept up in her hands and drove straight into the charging swarm of ants.
"Ha!" Jeanne stepped into the front line and moved her spear in a fast, tight arc. Clang, clang, clang. The spear shaft and blade knocked aside one claw after another, filling the tunnel with sharp metallic sounds.
Ding, ding, ding!
Facing the dense attacks, she turned the spear sideways and blocked head-on. The pressure on the weapon grew heavier as several Killer Ants crashed into it at once. Jeanne's eyes hardened.
"So they hit this hard?"
In the next second, her light purple eyes sharpened. She planted her feet, tightened her grip, and drove the spear forward with a shout, forcing the front line back and making the ants behind it stumble with them.
Even though raw strength was not her strongest point, she still pushed through them by force.
"Is this?"
『Ruler's Verdict』 activated!
Ronan's lip twitched. He quietly decided not to make the Holy Maiden angry any time soon.
That strength was no joke. He had no intention of getting weakened and then beaten up by her.
"Burn!"
His thoughts were fast, but his hands were faster.
With Jeanne holding the front, Ronan raised his staff and aimed at a Killer Ant trying to circle around from the side. Mind gathered at the runes, and he cast instantly.
Pshhh! Boom! Flames burst up and swallowed the Killer Ant whole!
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
The heat made the monster scream and thrash across the ground.
But it only struggled for a moment before its body went stiff and stopped moving.
"Good!" Ronan's eyes brightened. With his current Magic, skill boosts, and the help of the staff, his killing speed was even better than he expected.
"This thing really was worth the price." He glanced at the runes glowing on the staff and felt even more satisfied.
"Focus! Some got through and are heading for you!" Jeanne warned without turning around. At the same time, she drove her spear through a Killer Ant that had tried to jump at her from the side.
Ronan saw several monsters slip past Jeanne's defense and rush at him. A dangerous smile appeared on his face.
"Leave them to me."
Killer Ants were not intelligent, but their instincts told them which target was more dangerous.
So they immediately changed direction and closed in on Ronan.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Pairs of red eyes fixed on him from the dark. The distance closed quickly. Ronan, however, stayed calm.
"For a mage, panic gets you killed."
"Burn!"
"Burn!"
"Burn!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He gripped the staff, which was almost as tall as he was, and used short, precise movements to aim at each target.
Every time the crystal and runes flashed, another patch of fire exploded among the ants.
Flames burst one after another. The smell of burnt flesh quickly spread through the air as the fight grew more intense.
"Burn!"
Using Jeanne as the center of his movement, Ronan kept shifting from side to side behind her. He ran, turned, cast, then moved again, always staying just outside the reach of the claws.
Every time he swung the staff and cast, another burst of fire went off among the ants.
Just then, a Killer Ant lunged out from the other side. It let out a sharp hiss and threw itself forward, trying to cut off Ronan's escape.
Another pair closed in from behind.
Front and back. The gap vanished almost instantly.
It looked like he was about to be trapped. Sharp claws flashed in front of his eyes. But Ronan did not panic. He pushed off the ground, twisted sharply, and dashed straight back toward Jeanne.
"Jeanne!"
"Understood!"
The Holy Maiden forced back the ants in front of her with one strong sweep of the spear. Then she stepped back and raised the flag-spear high, the crest of the Veyr Familia clearly visible!
Whoosh!
The flag snapped in the air. Jeanne drove the flagpole into the ground, gripped it with both hands, and stepped forward. Her chin lifted slightly, and her light purple eyes filled with firm faith.
In the next second, she chanted loudly.
"O flag of mine, protect my comrades! My Lord is Here! Luminosité Eternelle!"
A bright golden light exploded outward!
A solid magic barrier instantly spread around the two of them!
The Killer Ants chasing Ronan and the wave rushing Jeanne slammed straight into the barrier. The tunnel shook with a burst of harsh impacts as claws scraped and bodies crashed against the golden wall.
"It's my turn."
Ronan planted his feet, gripped the staff with both hands, and aimed through the golden light. Blue glow surged through his eyes and along the staff.
"Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn!"
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
"Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn!"
Boom!
"Ha, haha, hahahahaha!"
"This is real fighting! Keep coming!"
"Hahahahaha!"
His hood slipped back. Ronan tore off his mask, showing his face as he laughed and kept firing, sending one blast after another into the packed swarm.
Bursts of fire kept blooming. The ants at the front burned, fell, and piled on top of each other while the flames spread through the line behind them.
Jeanne blinked. She thought Ronan was getting a little carried away, but she silently kept feeding Mind into her Magic to maintain the barrier around him.
A few minutes later.
The entire room had turned black from fire. Burnt bodies and broken shells were scattered across the ground, mixed with dirt and blood. A foul, hot wind drifted through the tunnel.
"Hahahahaha! Being able to attack like this without worrying about anything is wonderful!"
Ronan leaned on his staff. His chest rose and fell heavily, and his face was full of satisfaction.
Jeanne watched his wild reaction. A small smile appeared on her lips. She whispered quietly, 'That really is like you.'
"?"
Suddenly, the same creepy crawling sound rose again from far down the tunnel, cutting off Ronan's laughter.
He and Jeanne slowly turned around and stared into the darkness.
"Interesting. It doesn't end. This time they're gathering behind us. The Dungeon is trying to surround us. But it didn't expect us to clear the first wave this fast."
"In that case, I'll wipe them all out!" Fighting spirit returned to Ronan's eyes. Then he suddenly turned and grabbed Jeanne's hands. He looked at her and said, "Jeanne, I'm counting on you."
"I-I know! Let go..." Jeanne's face turned red, and she quickly pulled her hands away.
...
Thud, thud, thud!
Broken monster bodies piled up around the Holy Maiden's feet. The brutal fight in the narrow tunnel continued without pause.
No matter how many Killer Ants rushed in, none of them could break through Jeanne's guard.
She held the center of the tunnel by herself. The ants came at her from the front in wave after wave, but the narrow space kept them from surrounding her properly. That one advantage was enough. Jeanne made full use of it.
Her golden braid swung behind her as the flag-spear thrust forward again and again.
One ant rushed in low, and she drove the spear tip through its head.
A second tried to slip along the wall, and she turned the shaft across her body and smashed it aside.
A third leaped over the bodies on the ground. Jeanne stepped in, struck with the butt end of the spear, then reversed the weapon and pierced straight through its throat before it landed.
Her movements were clean, sharp, and without waste.
One after another, the Killer Ants fell in front of her.
Whether they came one at a time or in a cluster, Jeanne did not retreat even a single step.
She stood in the middle of the tunnel like a wall of steel. Blood spread along the ground, and bodies kept piling higher at her feet.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Sensing that things were going badly, the Killer Ants let out another wave of sharp hisses.
"They're calling for more again." Behind Jeanne, Ronan kept moving and casting at the same time as he warned her.
"No problem. This tunnel is too narrow for many of them to reach me at once. And stamina isn't an issue."
Hearing that, Ronan grinned.
"Then I've got nothing to worry about!"
"Burn, burn, burn, burn, burn!"
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
With Jeanne sealing the front and Ronan striking from behind, the ambush quickly turned into a massacre.
Burnt corpses, broken limbs, cracked shells, blood, and blackened flesh slowly covered the room.
Half an hour later.
Even though more Killer Ants had joined the fight again and again, their numbers had finally started to thin under the pressure from Ronan and Jeanne.
"Even if they can call for help, they can't keep up with how fast we're killing them. Or maybe the Dungeon finally gave up..."
Deep blue magic light filled Ronan's eyes. As the swarm thinned out, the excitement from the battle slowly cooled.
At this point, his movements had become completely mechanical. Run, turn, cast, move. Run, turn, cast, move.
He no longer needed to think about it.
"Burn!"
Psh!
At last, the battle ended when Jeanne drove her spear through the final ant's head.
She gripped the spear with her silver gauntlet, pulled the worn tip free, and flicked dirt and blood off with one sharp twist of her wrist.
Then she let out a breath and slowly steadied her breathing.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled at Ronan. But when Ronan looked at the hellish scene around them, even he felt a little uneasy.
"Hmm... that was a very satisfying battle."
Standing in front of the pile of burnt bodies, Ronan sighed in satisfaction.
Jeanne gave a dry laugh and rolled her eyes at him. "How was that satisfying? It was just a one-sided massacre."
Ronan took a waterskin and took a long drink. Water ran from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and teased her. "What? Is the Holy Maiden feeling sorry for them?"
Jeanne did not answer the joke. She lowered her head and prayed.
"There was a reason for this. I believe the Lord will forgive me."
While she prayed with her eyes closed, Ronan stepped forward playfully. He took off his glove and lifted her chin, leaning down until they were eye to eye.
Jeanne looked confused. The sudden closeness made her mind go blank.
"Your Lord is me now, Jeanne."
The low whisper made her heart jump.
By the time she realized how close they were, her face was already bright red.
"What are you doing..."
"We're still in the Dungeon. If someone sees us..."
But her weak struggle did not make Ronan stop. Instead, he went even further.
He laughed softly and touched Jeanne's cheek.
He kept looking at her until her whole body softened and she leaned into his arms. Only then did Ronan finally stop.
"You... don't be like this, okay..."
Feeling her figure against him, Ronan looked a little surprised.
"I didn't notice before, Jeanne. Those loose clothes hide more than I thought."
"You idiot!"
The embarrassed girl turned red and started hitting him weakly in protest.
Unfortunately, those punches did not hurt him at all.