Tiona kept Linn's words firmly in mind. She no longer overextended her swings, instead focusing every ounce of her energy on defense.
The massive blade of her sword danced in her hands, forming a near-impenetrable barrier. The relentless clang-clang of parries rang out like a hammer on an anvil. However, even the strongest can be overwhelmed by numbers; a soldier seized an opening while she was busy blocking a halberd, thrusting its sword toward her flank!
In that hair's-breadth moment, a dark blur flashed.
Clang!
Linn appeared at Tiona's side as if out of thin air. His small buckler accurately deflected the lethal thrust.
"Watch for the opening before you swing!" he barked. His Bloodhound's Fang lashed out in a counter-stroke, leaving a bone-deep gash on the soldier's leg.
"Ais!"
The signal was given!
Ais, who had been circling the edge of the battlefield, suddenly lunged inward. Her silhouette became a streak of silver lightning, aiming directly for the gap between the crippled soldier and another shield-bearer.
Desperate Sword fell like moonlight, the blade-light vanishing as quickly as it appeared. The two soldiers froze simultaneously. Then, their upper bodies slowly slid away from their lower halves, the cuts as smooth as a mirror's surface.
One strike. Two kills.
Seeing the tide turn, the remaining two enemies tried to retreat, but Tione—having finished the snipers—lept from the high ledge. her kukris coiled around the halberdier like vengeful ghosts. On the front line, Tiona finally found her chance, letting out a roar as she launched her counter-attack.
The battle ended in less than thirty seconds, a total rout.
Linn couldn't help but reflect internally. Ganging up on mobs really is the way to go.
"It's over!" Tiona panted, half-kneeling while leaning on her giant sword. A broad, exhilarated smile stretched across her face. Sweat rolled down her cheeks, but her eyes shone with an intense light.
"Finally... looking like something." Tione leaned against the wall, her chest heaving, but her tone was full of relief.
Lefiya simply collapsed onto the ground, tossing her staff aside and gasping for air. "I... I'm never... looking down on Level 1 again... This is way too exhausting..."
Though the duration was short, a battle that required such absolute, total concentration was anything but easy. For Tiona especially, those few hits she blocked would have been fatal if they had landed squarely.
Ais didn't speak. She just stared quietly at her rapier, seemingly savoring the sensation of that final strike. After a moment, she looked up, her golden eyes locking onto Linn.
"You were teaching us."
It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.
Linn was busy retrieving the small dagger he had used as a throwing knife. He shrugged. "I didn't teach anything. You learned it yourselves."
"I learned," Ais said with total earnestness, like a student reporting her progress. "Watch for the flaw. Wait for the moment. Do not be greedy."
Linn's movement as he wiped the dagger paused. He looked up at Ais, and in those eyes that usually held a touch of cynicism, a rare glimmer of approval surfaced.
"...Yeah. Pretty much."
He stowed the dagger and walked toward the creaking lift, waving a hand over his shoulder.
[The aura of a Great Rune emanates from ahead.]
The sudden system prompt made Linn pause for a fraction of a second. Then, he took a deep breath and addressed the group:
"Alright. We're about to reach the final trial. Get ready."
After a brief rest, the group boarded the lift. The ancient elevator let out an ear-grating groan as it carried the five of them slowly downward.
An atmosphere of darkness and decay rushed to meet them. When the lift finally came to a halt, the view before them opened up into a space of staggering scale.
It was a magnificent hall so grand it defied words. The vaulted ceiling was dizzyingly high, and shattered stone pillars stood like the skeletons of giants, supporting the crumbling architecture.
At the far end of the hall, seated upon a throne constructed from countless twisted weapons and stones, sat a titan.
Its body was bloated and grotesque, looking as if a clumsy craftsman had haphazardly sewn together countless human—and even non-human—arms and limbs. Those arms were gaunt, some muscular, some still clutching rusted weapons; they moved like a bizarre forest of flesh, writhing slightly.
"What... what is that thing..." Lefiya's voice trembled, her stomach churning.
"Ugh... how disgusting!" Tiona couldn't help but gag.
Even the usually composed Tione and the single-minded Ais wore expressions of unconcealed revulsion and wariness.
However, just as they were being cowed by the horrific sight, the monster on the throne stood up. Its disproportionately small head, nestled among a cluster of grafted arms, slowly rose. Several eyes of varying sizes focused on Linn at the front of the group.
An aura of madness and spite instantly locked onto him.
"...Tarnished."
A raspy, layered voice—as if produced by a hundred throats at once—echoed through the hall.
"I smell thee... thy lowly, reckless breath! Darest thou tread upon my royal city once more?!"
The monster rose fully from its throne. With every inch its massive body moved, the countless grafted arms danced in a frenzy, creating a skin-crawling sound of friction.
"I am the Lord of all that is Golden, Godrick! Lowly Tarnished, who dares covet my Great Rune... this time, I shall graft thy limbs onto mine own!"
It roared, its voice a mixture of a proclamation and the venting of a hatred built up over countless cycles.
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Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (Simulpub – Ongoing)
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