“Force, the mid-boss is approaching from two o’clock.”
“Roger.”
Force’s sharpened senses seemed to have picked up on the formidable enemy approaching already. He started running to meet it before I finished speaking.
“Wait a minute!” Neme tried to keep Force from running off. The start of the battle had been so hectic, she couldn’t keep up with her priestess duties. “I haven’t cast my buffs yet!”
Without even a glance back at the panicked Neme, Force said bluntly, “Don’t bother.”
She seemed shocked by this reply and flushed with anger. “How rude! What is that supposed to mean?! You don’t think you need Neme anymore?!” She aborted the spell she was preparing to cast and began swinging her staff in a rage. “You’re not my friend anymore! Neme’s never casting a spell for you again! If you get hit by a monster, you can handle the consequences by yourself!”
“C’mon, don’t sulk like that. I’m not saying I don’t need you, Neme.”
“What are you saying, then?”
“Your buffs won’t work on floor 21, so don’t you think it’d be a good idea for me to get some experience fighting without them?”
Surprisingly enough, Force was thinking ahead too. This was what he’d decided he needed to do for himself... But he sure could have explained it better. One way or the other, it’d be a dangerous test.
“Are you gonna be okay?” I asked. “Can you take down the mid-boss fast enough without Purgatory?”
Purgatory was Force’s cursed sword. It ate away at him with a black fire in exchange for sinister attack power. He normally withstood the flames between his Major Magic Resistance and Neme’s regenerative healing spells, so without the latter, I suspected he’d be challenging the mid-boss with his other sword, Gleaming Beast. Needless to say, his reply shocked me.
“No, I’m using Purgatory.”
“But—”
“Just to be clear, Erin isn’t the only one who’s improved.” Force drew the flaming Purgatory from its black sheath and assumed a fighting stance. “I can use Purgatory even without Neme’s support.”
Now it made sense... Force was working on his own tactics for floor 21. Jin, his fellow founding Arriver and closest battle brother, had been taken from him by the devilish boss there. He was preparing for a grudge match.
“Then what about Neme’s spells?!”
“Like I said, don’t bother.”
“Neme’s out of a job!”
She was clearly disappointed, but there wasn’t much to be done about it. Her holy magic wouldn’t work on floor 21, so we’d have to find a way to work without it sooner or later. She’d surely have her chance to shine, though. There was no doubt in my mind that we’d be dependent on her for a later floor.
Shortly after Force disappeared into the forest, I could hear the sound of clashing blades. He was going toe-to-toe with the mid-boss. I was feeling a little relieved he could hold his own, but my relief was cut short when I detected an alarming threat behind us. I turned to see a diamond-like gleam coming from the giant dragon’s maw. But we couldn’t afford to revel at the beautiful sight—it was a beam attack! The dragon was finally within firing range.
“Sofie, put up a defensive spell.”
“Got it.”
Sofie opened her mouth to begin a chant, and just then, a tremendous amount of magical energy shot over our shoulders.
“There’s no need for that,” called Erin.
A stream of light was surging forth from her staff. No, that raging torrent was too intense to be called a stream. The laser she fired flew straight at the incoming beam.
“Are you trying to have a shootout...?” I gasped.
It was a stunning spectacle. The dragon’s beam and Erin’s ray of light collided in a competition for domination. Erin won out in the end, and the dragon shook its head to avoid the laser barreling at it.
“Ugh, I missed my chance. If I’d nailed it in the mouth, that would’ve been game over.”
“That’s what you were going for...?”
It was spectacular enough to see her face off with a monster several thousand times her size, but she’d actually intended to beat it in an out-and-out power clash like that? It was like we were in different worlds... Erin could only see herself beating the dragon solo.
“Come on, let’s go!”
Erin cast her next spell without pause. In contrast, the giant dragon’s beam seemed to require a recharge period. With no way of counterattacking, the beast took Erin’s next spell directly. And even when its beam was ready to fire again, Erin shot it right down. This was turning into a one-sided massacre.
After taking hit after hit, the dragon entered its rage mode. “Rage mode” was a Neme-ism for when its health dropped below a certain level and the volcano on its back would erupt in a wide-area attack. Just as the mountain peak started glowing red, there was a burst of light and sound. The raging mountain spewed lava and rock everywhere with a thunderous roar.
“Branched Beam!”
Erin incinerated the pyroclastic projectiles coming our way with a branching laser beam. I could see the monsters in the woods getting doused with the lava spray. The forest scenery that had touched Sofie’s heart was being burned to a crisp between the volcanic dragon and nuclear Erin. The dragon did more than erupt, however. It continued to fire its breath beam, now red and hotter than before. Erin cast a branching laser to counter it.
“Roslia, Sofie, take care of the small fry!” she shouted. “Roaring Cannonfire!”
By “small fry,” did she mean the pyroclastic projectiles? Since she couldn’t doublecast, Erin gave up on intercepting the volcanic debris in favor of dealing with the more dangerous beam attack. However, even though she called them “small fry,” the burning-hot boulders were up to several meters across. Any normal person would die if struck by one. Roslia and Sofie were already occupied with the other monsters too. They couldn’t switch targets so suddenly... Or so I thought, but I heard an unexpected reply. It was Sofie.
“Understood. Fuerte-Tierra-Pared.”
Using her spirit arts, she created an earthen wall to block the incoming debris. She was in the middle of a group of monsters, however, which closed in on her while she was busy defending against the dragon.
“Sofie!”
I started running one beat too late. A giant elephant kicked her directly in the torso. It sent her flying, her body bent in half. Her Iron Wall skill might be tough, but this was floor 18. A direct hit like that was dangerous. I evaded one monster and then the next to go running after her, but making my way through the crowd of mobs while dodging hot rocks was tricky. I couldn’t get close enough.
“Heal her, Neme!” I cried.
“Right!”
Neme’s magic reached Sofie, whose body glowed in a green light. Almost immediately after, the closest cyclops raised its club high and brought it down on Sofie’s head with a dull, echoing thud.
“Shadow Runner!”
This was no time to be worried about dodging every little thing. I made a beeline for Sofie. In the blink of an eye, I was below the cyclops attacking her. I struck without hesitation.
“Spell Shot!”
I fired the only ace I had up my sleeve—an attack I could only use twice to deal damage. A burst of Erin’s magic blew through the massive cyclops, leaving a clearly fatal cavity in its gray body.
“You okay, Sofie?”
I called out to the girl on the ground in a fluster. Blood was flowing from her head, and her hand was bent in a weird way. But thankfully, she was still breathing.
“I’m fine. My earth wall is still up.” She shifted, giving an irrelevant reply.
I confirmed that Neme’s healing spell was still reaching her before picking her up to retreat. “I meant you.”
“I’m fine. I won’t die that easily.”
“That’s not the problem here...”
While the cyclops’s attack hadn’t killed her yet, it still might. The blood pouring from her mouth was proof she was seriously hurt, and that was ignoring her obviously broken bones. Without Neme’s magic, she would’ve been a goner.
“Sorry! I only just finished with the mid-boss,” Force called, returning to the fray. He swiftly moved in to start picking off monsters.
Sofie was no longer in any danger thanks to Neme. She’d even stopped bleeding, but I figured it would be for the best to give her some time. With that thought, I laid her down beside Neme.
“It’s okay. I’ve recovered. I can still fight,” she said, grabbing my shoulder.
“But—”
“This is the dungeon. We can’t afford to rest after every minor injury. Right?”
“Right, but...”
She was absolutely correct. We had some breathing room with Force back on the battlefield, we were in no position to take it easy. If we let our guard down, we might lose someone for real again.
“I’ll get back to it, then.”
Sofie, ignoring my objections, started running toward the monsters.