Tap.
White tabi socks over red-strapped black geta touched down, and Kaguya's forward charge stopped dead. Two streaks of gold and blue hair flashed in her peripheral vision, and surprise broke through her grim expression.
"They took a full-power hit from Goliath head-on... without a scratch? How is that possible?"
"A Level 2 can do that? What kind of joke is this?"
In everything she knew, she'd never heard of a Level 2 vanguard pulling off something like that. Even the city's sole Level 6, back when they'd been Level 2, couldn't have taken an unscathed hit from the Floor Boss.
She forced the shock down, cast one long look toward Leon's squad, and turned back to the fight. Whatever questions she had could wait until they were back on the surface. They were in Orario. It wasn't like his team could disappear.
"Demeter Familia, huh. Interesting..."
The corner of her mouth curved, and both katanas, Higanbana and Futaba, cleared their sheaths in unison.
Killing Sword Bloodline, active!
Flash of Blood, active!
She settled into the opening stance of her iai draw and took a deep breath. The blast of air sent her long black hair streaming behind her, and killing intent poured off her like cold water. Her lips parted, and a short incantation echoed through the hall:
"Calamitous flower of the far shore..."
Her feet hammered the ground in a low sprint as she finished the chant, then she kicked off into the air and brought both katanas down in twin arcs of silver light.
"Gokou!!!"
CLANG, CLANG-CLANG, CLANG-CLANG-CLANG...!
Slashes materialized out of thin air all around Goliath's body without the slightest warning.
Before it could react, before it had any chance to dodge, a storm of silver strikes hammered into it from every angle with a rapid series of wet impacts. Massive wounds split open across its body and blood sprayed out, painting half of Goliath red.
"GROOOOAAHH...!!!"
The pain drove it berserk.
"Nice work, Kaguya! Leave the rest to this beautiful maiden!"
Alise's eyes lit up at the opening. She shouted praise to her companion and broke into a sword-drawn sprint.
"Bloom! Agaris Alvesynth!"
Fire erupted from within Alise and wrapped around her entire body. She guided the flames with practiced control, channeling them down into her limbs.
Righteous Scarlet Bloom, active!
Righteous Fighting Fire, active!
The two skills linked with the magic in an instant, and Alise's presence spiked visibly.
"Haaah!"
Flames detonated from her feet and she launched skyward like an arrow, both hands locked around Crimson Order, and drove the blade straight into Goliath's chest while it was still reeling from Kaguya's assault.
SHUNK...
The sword buried itself more than halfway in. Alise was practically hanging from the hilt.
"Watch this, everyone!"
Every flame on her body rushed into Crimson Order's blade. The fire burned the steel a deep red, and the heat seared Goliath's hide with a hissing, acrid stench of scorched flesh.
"Full blaze! Full blaze! Full blaze! Blazing Flower!!!"
"HAAAH!!!"
BOOOM...!
A pillar of fire punched clean through Goliath's chest and out the back, lighting up the entire Wall of Grief chamber bright as midday.
"Good god almighty!"
A dwarf fighter ducked behind his shield, craning his neck up, squinting against the searing glare, jaw hanging open at the column of fire.
"So that's the captain of the Astraea Familia... Scarlet Harnel, Alise Lovell!"
An elf archer lowered his longbow, awe plain in his voice.
"She's incredible!"
"If she's on our side, we can't lose!"
"Hahaha, what are we waiting for, lads! Follow the apostle of justice! Charge!"
"CHARGE!"
Morale erupted. The adventurers roared and threw themselves at the wounded Goliath in a frenzy, because nobody here was stupid enough to miss a chance to kick the enemy while it was down.
"Fireball!"
Whoosh...
BOOM!
The Fireball smashed into Goliath and detonated, ripping another shriek of pain and fury from the giant. But its counterattacks were noticeably weaker now, slower.
Leon exhaled, downed a Potion, and narrowed his eyes.
"Tch. These cheaters with their enchantment magic, each one more broken than the last. Self-buffing is one thing, but you can use it as a finishing move too? How is that fair?"
He watched Alise's dazzling display and clicked his tongue, tossing a quick Scorch at Goliath while continuing to charge his next Fireball.
"My, my, that jealous look is written all over your face," Rose teased, her voice soft and lilting.
Leon's expression snapped back to neutral. He could feel the amused stares from Laurier and Aura behind him, so he pivoted to indignation and changed the subject.
"What was that earlier, you two? The plan was for me to handle harassment while you held position. Since when did we agree to go that hard? That's a Floor Boss out there. Going toe-to-toe with it is way beyond what we should be doing right now."
Jeanne caught her breath, steadied her breathing, and answered in her usual serious tone.
"Setting aside the question of holding back, we joined this subjugation and we should take it seriously. That's not a personal issue, it's a matter of commitment. But don't worry, we'll be more careful about how far we push it going forward."
Leon's tension eased a fraction. He glanced at the battlefield, still raging, and let out a heavy breath.
"Alright, keep going. Given how Goliath's looking, I'd say we've got at least a few more hours of this. Aura, Laurier, keep Potions and supplies ready at all times. We need to be prepared for a war of attrition."
"Right!"
Then something else occurred to him. "Do you two have enough arrows?"
Aura and Laurier checked their quivers, exchanged a glance, and nodded.
"We're fine. We brought plenty of spares from the surface and recovered spent arrows along the way."
"Good. Then let's keep fighting!"
Before he'd even finished the sentence, the next Fireball was already screaming from his staff.
BOOM...!
It slammed into Goliath's head and burst into flames.
...
...
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG... SHRIIING...!!!
Greatswords and katanas carved sparks with every strike, the screech of metal on metal echoing endlessly through the hall.
BANG! WHAM!
Dwarf and boaz fighters roared as Goliath's fists collided with heavy shields, each impact a gut-shaking concussion.
The girls of Astraea Familia danced around the massive Floor Boss, leaping high and low, their blades flashing silver as they carved fresh wounds into it again and again.
BOOM!
A Pallum's trick grenade detonated with a blinding flash, and she dodged aside with a grin on her face. What followed was a torrent of green wind that swept through the entire hall and lit up every wall.
"Luminous Wind!"
Magic bombardment rained down, but it did nothing to slow the adventurers' advance. They used the barrage as cover and threw themselves into the next assault, fiercer than the last.
"GRAAAHHH..."
Goliath reared its head back, and a ring of light ignited inside its mouth.
"Dodge! It's Goliath's sonic attack!"
A sharp-eyed adventurer spotted it and screamed the warning.
BOOM...
"AAAAAAHHH...!"
Too late. The blast swept through and sent a whole cluster of fighters flying. One of them landed right at Leon's feet.
"Hey, you okay?"
Leon dropped to a crouch and helped him up.
"Do I look okay to you?" the man coughed out, already forcing himself upright. He shoved a High Potion into his mouth, scooped his greatsword off the ground, and charged back in.
"Uh?"
The seamless, utterly matter-of-fact sequence left Leon briefly speechless.
He watched the man's fired-up back disappearing into the melee, blinked, and shook his head with a quiet laugh.
"Adventurers really are something else."
"Also, that health bar is way too thick."
...
Time had long since lost all meaning in the grinding war against the Floor Boss.
Roars, screams, chanting, shrieks of pain rose and fell in a ceaseless cacophony. The Wall of Grief chamber was a storm of chaos and thunder.
"Fireball!"
BOOM...!
"Scorch!"
"Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!!!"
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM...!!!
Leon wove through the battlefield, dodging debris kicked up by Goliath's attacks and the shrapnel from its thrashing, whipping his staff around to slam Fireball after Fireball into the Floor Boss's massive body.
Parallel charge!
"Fireball!"
BOOM...!
Another dead-on hit detonated in a blinding flash. The shockwave tore at his cloak, but his feet stayed planted as if rooted to the floor, long since accustomed to the punishment.
Firelight danced in his eyes, making his expression impossible to read.
Ten shots.
Thirty.
Fifty.
A hundred.
Four hours had passed since the battle began.
After releasing his latest charged Fireball, Leon glanced down at the scorch marks singed into the hem of his cloak and winced.
"Hah... hah..."
He planted the Twisted Staff against the ground to hold himself up, left hand on his hip, half bent over, gulping air.
"What... the... hell..."
I knew the Floor Boss subjugation would be intense and long, but nobody told me "long" meant this.
Four straight hours of nonstop high-output combat. Even an iron-plated adventurer would buckle under this, wouldn't they?
His body was sending wave after wave of exhaustion signals, and the composure he'd maintained was starting to crack. His Mind reserves, a hundred times deeper than anyone else's, were holding. Stamina-wise, Potions were keeping him afloat.
The real problem was mental fatigue.
Four hours of relentless combat had ground down his will to fight like a millstone that never stopped turning. In nearly a year as an adventurer, he'd never experienced anything this long, this intense, this unbroken. It was a first in every sense.
On top of that, maintaining continuous, uninterrupted spellcasting demanded total concentration, and the wire-tight nerve that made it possible had been stretched to the point of snapping.
At the end of the day, I'm still just a Level 1 small fry.
He sighed without a sound and scanned his surroundings, taking stock of Jeanne, Rose, Laurier, and Aura.
Jeanne and Rose were visibly exhausted, but their eyes burned with a stubborn, almost fierce clarity.
Laurier and Aura were a different story. Their breathing had gone ragged a long time ago, faces pale, bodies running on fumes.
So this is what real training looks like. You can't forge an iron will without being put through this kind of crucible... no, through this kind of hell.
Something clicked into place.
The gap between him and Jeanne and Rose wasn't just about Falna. It was about the tempering that came from fighting through fire and blood, the forging of mental endurance through sheer punishment.
"I see...!"
He straightened up, and the light of magic flared in his eyes once more.
"Flames, grant me strength!"
He roared the incantation with everything he had left, thrusting the Twisted Staff toward the ceiling, and the guttering ember of his fighting spirit caught and blazed back to life.
Charge...!
"FIREBALL!"