The sudden escalation made Jeanne's violet eyes narrow, her expression hardening.
"That many..." She snapped into her combat stance, gauntleted hands gripping the Banner Lance at an angle toward the ground, and called back without turning. "Leon! Hold formation, don't drift too far from me! Once it starts, cover me with fire support!"
"Got it!" Leon's response was instant.
This was their first real fight together, but the tactics had been drilled on the surface until they were second nature. Even if something went wrong, they could adjust on the fly. The Killer Ant swarm ahead was the perfect test run.
Leon counted the swarm. Thirty to forty. Solo, he'd have turned and run without a second thought.
Not today.
"Here we go!"
Jeanne barked the call and struck first.
BOOM.
Her silver greaves slammed into stone. Coiled power released, and she launched forward like an arrow loosed from the string. The Banner Lance snapped out, trailing killing intent, and plunged straight into the surging mass of ants.
"Hyah!" Steel sang as she carved into the swarm. The lance whirled, crashing against countless hooked claws in a storm of ringing metal.
Clang-clang-clang!
Dense slashes rained down. She braced the lance crosswise, catching the assault head-on, and felt the sudden weight bearing down on her weapon. Her expression went cold.
"They're strong!" Surprise flickered in her voice, but in the next instant her violet eyes blazed. From somewhere in that slender frame came a force that defied reason. With a sharp exhale, she heaved and sent the entire cluster of Killer Ants tumbling through the air.
Strength was never supposed to be her forte. Somehow, Jeanne always hit like a freight train anyway.
What the...
God's Resolution. Active.
God's Resolution: massively boosts resistance to all magic, with a Strength increase when triggered. Massively boosts resistance to debuffs, with an Endurance increase when triggered. Slightly weakens any target or group deemed hostile.
Leon's mouth twitched. He made a private note: Do not piss off the Holy Maiden for the foreseeable future.
That kind of power was no joke. He had zero interest in getting debuffed and then beaten senseless.
"Scorch!"
His thoughts moved at lightning speed, but his hands never stopped.
Instant Cast mage. Zero startup frames.
With Jeanne holding the front, Leon raised the Twisted Staff, locked onto a target on the flank, and fired without hesitation.
Fwoom... BOOM! Erupting flames surged upward and swallowed the Killer Ant whole.
"SSSSSSS!"
The searing heat ripped an agonized shriek from the monster. It thrashed on the ground, rolling wildly. Less than two seconds later, it went rigid and still.
"Two seconds... no, one and a half? Hell yes!" Leon's spirits soared. Between his current Magic stat, his skill bonuses, and the staff's amplification, his kill speed was blowing past expectations.
"Incredible. Worth every coin of that build investment. This damage boost is the real deal." He watched the runes along the staff flare bright with mana, and a wave of pure satisfaction washed over him.
"Focus! Stragglers broke through, heading your way!" Jeanne skewered an ant mid-ambush without looking back, her warning sharp.
Leon spotted several monsters that had slipped past the defensive line, barreling straight for him. His lips curled into something dangerous.
"I've got them."
Walking exp bags, every last one.
Killer Ants had no intelligence, but raw instinct told them exactly which target posed the greatest threat.
So they rushed Leon without hesitation.
"Ssssss..."
Crimson eyes locked onto him from every direction, the gap closing fast. His pulse stayed flat.
A mage's required coursework: composure under fire.
"Scorch!"
"Scorch!"
"Scorch!"
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The Twisted Staff, nearly as tall as he was, swung with precision in his grip. Each time the crystal head and runes flared bright, another firework bloomed in the monster cluster.
Kill after kill after kill. The stench of charred chitin spread through the air as the fighting intensified.
"Scorch!"
Leon pivoted around Jeanne as his anchor point, feet light and quick, pulling the swarm along as he kited. A spell while running. A backjump into a pivot. Every time he pulled the trigger, every time the staff swept through its arc, another firework detonated among the monsters.
Then, from the opposite flank, a fresh pack of Killer Ants screeched into his kiting path, cutting off his circle. Furious chittering filled the air.
Caught between two fronts. The distance collapsed in a heartbeat.
The pincer closed. Gleaming hooks swelled in his vision. But his breathing never changed. One hard push off his front foot, a sharp right-angle cut, and he vaulted toward Jeanne.
"Jeanne!"
"On it!"
The words had barely left her mouth. The Holy Maiden shoved back the monsters in front of her, retreated a few steps, and swept the Banner Lance high, unfurling the crest of the Hart Familia.
Whoosh.
The banner snapped open in the draft, the embroidered crest rippling. Jeanne drove the lance into the stone, gripped the shaft with both hands, straightened her spine, stepped forward, and lifted her chin. Violet eyes burned with conviction. With faith.
The next instant, the Chanting poured from her lips, fierce and ringing.
"O banner of mine, protect my brethren! Luminosite Eternelle!"
Light detonated.
Blinding golden radiance erupted outward. An unbreakable magical barrier crystallized around them both in an instant.
The ants that had been chasing Leon, the wave crashing against Jeanne's front, all of them slammed into the barrier wall as it surged to life.
Chaos erupted through the swarm. Collisions. Screeching.
"My turn."
Feet planted wide, weight sunk low, Leon locked his stance. Both hands clenched the staff. Blue light flooded his eyes and surged along the shaft.
"Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch!"
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
"Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch!"
BOOM!
"Ha... haha... AHAHAHAHA!"
"NOW this is a fight! Damage! More damage! God, combat is INCREDIBLE!"
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
His hood slipped off. Leon ripped the mask from his face, laughing like a madman as he poured artillery fire into the swarm without pause. Explosion after explosion, the monster horde became kindling for an inferno.
Jeanne blinked. His theatrics were a bit much. Still, she held the barrier steady and silent, keeping him safe.
A few minutes later.
The entire chamber was scorched earth. Countless charred husks lay tangled with mud, filling the air with a foul wind.
"Ahahahaha! Braindead DPS with zero accountability! Fantastic!"
Leon leaned on his staff, chest heaving, face split with savage satisfaction.
Jeanne took in the full display of his mania and smiled. That's you, alright, she murmured to herself.
Then it came again.
That familiar, skin-crawling skitter rushed up from the depths of the passage, killing Leon's laughter dead.
He and Jeanne turned slowly, staring into the dark.
"Interesting. They just don't quit. This wave's massing from behind us. The Dungeon wanted to box us in, but it didn't count on us wiping the first wave that fast."
"Fine by me. I'll take them all." The fire reignited in Leon's eyes. Then he spun around, seized Jeanne's hands in both of his, and gazed at her with exaggerated devotion. "Jeanne. I'm counting on you."
"I... I know! Let go of me already..." Her cheeks flushed scarlet as she yanked free.
...
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch. Mangled corpses piled at the Holy Maiden's feet. A beautiful girl and a tide of monsters, locked in savage combat through the narrow corridor.
Her power was staggering. Jeanne held the passage like a one-woman fortress, an immovable wall that the endless flood of monsters could not breach. The bodies heaped around her were proof enough.
Powerful. Radiant. Like the sun itself. The golden braid at her back whipped through the air with every thrust and sweep of the Banner Lance.
And in stark contrast to that elegant face, that graceful form, was the merciless slaughter.
Every target fell within a single exchange. One-on-one or one-against-many, it didn't matter. No number of enemies could push Jeanne back a single step.
She was an unbreakable wall of sighs, choking the passage shut. In minutes, the ground ran red.
"SSSSSSS!"
Sensing the tide turning against them, the Killer Ants shrieked again.
"They're calling for backup." Leon kept one eye on the situation from just behind her, kiting as he picked off stragglers.
"No problem. The passage width limits how many can engage me at once. And stamina isn't an issue."
Leon grinned. "Then I've got nothing to worry about."
"Scorch-Scorch-Scorch-Scorch-Scorch-Scorch!"
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
An Instant Cast mage turned what should have been a desperate encounter into a one-sided massacre.
Charred husks, shredded meat, severed limbs, and spraying blood slowly filled the chamber.
Half an hour passed.
Reinforcements kept trickling in, but under the combined grinder of Leon and Jeanne, their numbers thinned.
Even if they can call for help, at this clear speed, the reinforcements can't keep up. Or maybe the Dungeon's given up...
Deep blue mana-light filled Leon's eyes. The battle-high that had surged through him cooled with the dwindling monsters.
He'd become a grinding machine. Emotionless. Move, pivot, cast, move. A mechanical loop.
No passion left. Pure routine.
"Scorch."
Squelch.
The final frame of battle: a Killer Ant skull, pinned to the wall by the Banner Lance.
Silver gauntlets tightened on the shaft. Jeanne pulled the battered tip free and flicked the filth away with a twist of her wrist.
She exhaled, slowly steadying the breath that exertion had thrown out of rhythm. One hand rose to wipe the sweat from her brow, and she turned to Leon with a bright smile.
Paired with the hellscape surrounding her, it made him flinch.
"Mmm... what a satisfying fight."
He stood before a mound of charred corpses and sighed with contentment.
Jeanne gave a dry laugh and rolled her eyes. "Satisfying? It was a one-sided slaughter."
Leon tilted his waterskin back and drank deep, water spilling from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's this? The Holy Maiden's bleeding heart acting up?"
Jeanne said nothing. She bowed her head in prayer.
"There were reasons. I trust the Lord will forgive me."
Her eyes had barely closed when Leon strode up, peeled off his glove, and tipped her chin up with one finger. He leaned in close, meeting her gaze from inches away.
Jeanne's mind blanked. The sudden intimacy short-circuited every thought.
"Your Lord is me now, Miss Jeanne."
His low murmur dropped like a stone into still water, sending ripples through her chest.
By the time she registered how close they were, how intimate the pose, the color in her cheeks had gone from pink to crimson.
"What are you... stop..."
"We're still in the Dungeon. Someone could see..."
But her halfhearted resistance only emboldened him. A quiet laugh, and his fingers traced along her cheek. Her skin was impossibly smooth, flawless, like sculpted porcelain.
He studied her face, unhurried, until the strength left her legs and she sagged against his chest.
"Please... don't..."
Something rather impressive pressed against him. Leon blinked.
"Didn't realize those robes were hiding this much."
Jeanne's face went scarlet. She shoved him hard and started hammering his chest with both fists, too flustered to put any real force behind the blows.