In any case, Finn's decisive strike was enough to create a foothold for a reversal.
With that astonishing blow, he had swept away the iron wall formed by the swarm of lesser monsters around them.
But unfortunately, that still wasn't enough to bring down "her."
"[[... Advance, spear of thunder. My name as the agent is Tnitos.]]"
The fallen spirit did not die, even after having the upper half of her body blown away, including her head.
Far from dying, she regenerated at an incredible speed, as if time itself had been wound backward, and quickly returned to her original state before resuming her chant anew.
If even those irritating petal shields had been restored as well, it would have been even more infuriating.
"[[Thunder Ray!]]"
Fwoosh!
At last, with the completed chant, a massive bolt of lightning shot from her mouth.
That destructive beam surged forward with the force of something that could melt everything in its path.
Its final destination was Finn Deimne, who had just shown the most powerful strike yet.
Standing in his way was the Thousand Elf.
"Be my shield. Holy Grail of the False King."
Dio Grail!
KWAANG!
"Ghk! Uuuugh...!"
It was only a short, rapid single-line chant.
The protective barrier she had borrowed from her comrade would not be broken by something like this.
But because of Lefiya's own shortcomings, the barrier was pushed to the brink of collapse from its very core.
"A single-line chant and it's this strong!?"
Just as her knees were about to buckle,
"Khh, yaaaah!"
"Uraaaah!"
"Tione-san?! Tiona-san!?"
The brave Amazon sisters stepped forward to save their comrade.
"What are you doing, Lefiya!"
"Don't stop!"
Weapons in hand, they pressed forward.
With the barrier, the two of them forced back the devastating beam of light.
"Yes!"
Bolstered by their encouragement, Lefiya also planted her nearly collapsing legs firmly again and endured the pressure from the front with all her might.
No, simply enduring wasn't enough.
If she stopped at that level, the proud name of her homeland's forest would be shamed.
"I too..."
For a moment, the blue-haired mage came to mind.
The man who had already become little more than a corpse.
Originally, that role had been theirs.
And yet that suspicious man had stolen it from them so arrogantly.
Then, as if to show them up, he had carried out that role perfectly.
As a mage of the Familia, as an elf of the proud forest of Vyshe.
It was a shame so deep she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
"I too!"
And yet, if she stopped here.
If she just stood there and took everything without doing anything herself, wouldn't she be unbearably pathetic?
"Even I can do it!"
She could not stop.
She would not dare stop.
With that resolve, she took one step forward.
Kuu... crack
Clang!
The protective barrier shattered and broke apart.
Immediately after, the beam of destruction also vanished.
The second path was opened.
"Tch, for a weakling elf!"
"Nice work, Lefiya!"
"Everyone, good job."
Through that opened path, Bete, Finn, and Ais dashed forward.
Now the distance between the fallen spirit and them was only about one kilometer at most.
For a first-class adventurer, that was a distance they could cover in a single breath.
Shashashashak!
"[[Come, earth. I command you in the name of the agent. My bestowed name is the incarnation of the gnome. Queen of the earth.]]"
As expected, the spirit's tentacles shot out to block their path.
And then "her" chant began anew.
But such an obvious trick...
"[[Burn, sword of Surtr! My name is Alv!]]"
this great mage would never allow it.
"[[Lea Rave!]]"
Without great highs or lows, yet with more force than anyone else, and more clearly than anyone else.
The chant of the greatest [Nine Hells] brought a new hell onto the battlefield, true to its name.
But the blade of that attack was aimed only at a single enemy.
KWAAAANG!
Fwoooosh!
"Ghk, kyaaa...!"
A hellish barrage of flames, no less intense than the spirit's own fire, slammed into "her."
Not only was the newly begun chant cut off, but the tentacle mass blocking the way was burned away without mercy.
The third path was opened.
""UOOOOOOOOOO!""
Through that path, the three vanguard members finally reached the fallen spirit.
Just as the spirit was about to panic,
Shushushushuk!
"Ghk, what is this?!"
"A charge!?"
"Our only chance...!"
Fresh tentacle masses erupted from the ground again, forming a giant wall to block their advance.
And that wasn't all.
The new tentacles were even harder and tougher than the ones before.
They could be broken, but it would take too much time.
If the fallen spirit's magic struck them again in the meantime, the game would be over.
As frustration spread across all three of their faces,
"What's this, you lot! All bark and no bite!"
KWAANG!
The party's strongest tank had joined them.
Elgarm.
"UOOOOOOO!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang... crack!
Gareth swung his battle axe, thicker than even his own massive forearm, without hesitation.
But unfortunately, the weapon was weaker than he was and quickly broke, leaving only the shaft behind.
Any ordinary person would have been discouraged and broken here.
"Get in my way, and I'll smash youuuuu!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! CRACK!
But Gareth was on a completely different level from such trivial people.
With his weapon broken, he tossed the remaining axe handle aside as a nuisance and simply hammered the wall of tentacles with his bare hands.
His flurry of blows, reminiscent of a steel hammer, eventually shattered part of the wall and opened a small passage to the other side.
Splurt!
Pupupupuk!
"Hm!?"
Then, suddenly, sharp tentacles shot through the gap in a surprise attack.
Sharper and thicker than spears, the tentacles instantly punched several holes through Gareth's body.
At a glance, it was a grievous wound.
"Ha! This is all?"
But Gareth snorted to himself.
He thought of the man behind him, thinner and more frail than he was.
Even with that body, the man had willingly taken even worse injuries and sacrificed himself to help them.
And yet, as the Familia's strongest tank, how could he possibly let his steps stop at something like this?
Such a shameful act.
No one else might object, even a god might accept it, but Gareth himself would not!
"Too damn lukewarm!"
KWAANG!
And so his body was thrown forward.
And so the path to victory was finally carved open.
Through it, Bete and Finn charged ahead.
"UOOOOOOO!"
"GET LOSTTTTT!"
The spirit's new tentacle masses blocked their path.
In that surprise attack, the two of them were also pierced all over their bodies, just like Gareth, and instantly drenched in blood.
But even so...
""IT TICKLES!""
There was no way such a thing could stop their life-risking charge.
Kwagagagagaga!
Even with bodies so battered they should have collapsed at any moment, the two of them poured in every last ounce of strength and shredded the tentacle masses to pieces in an instant.
At last, the fallen spirit stood face-to-face with them.
""Ais!""
That was the end of their role.
The two of them collapsed and withdrew, but the path to victory remained open.
The one who received the final baton was none other than the Sword Princess.
She had arrived.
This chance everyone had created for her.
She would seize it with everything she had!
Just as she was about to thrust out her sword,
"Huh?"
Ais saw it.
The fallen spirit smiling faintly before her.
That unpleasant sneer filled with mockery.
Then,
"[[Icicle Edge (Light Burst).]]"
small magic circles appeared and floated before the fallen spirit's two mouths.
It was clearly a deadly trap prepared in advance.
"A lie..."
Ais felt a chill run down her spine.
To think she would use such a move at this perfect moment.
And, feeling pathetic, she burned with bitter anger.
Even if the unusual sense of crisis had narrowed her vision, how could she have forgotten something so important?
It was clearly her mistake.
But it was already too late. The enemy's magic was ready, and she was one step ahead.
No path to victory could be seen anywhere.
"After coming this far...!"
But she had only just...
Only just made it this far.
She had only been able to come this far thanks to everyone's help.
And now, at the very last moment, she was going to ruin everything with a single mistake?
"No."
That could not happen.
It must not happen.
Then...
"[[Tem...!]]"
She would simply gamble with her life!
.
.
.
And yet the path to victory still could not be seen.
.
.
.
"[[Gri...m, za...]]"
At least, not if this "man" had not stepped in at the very end.
Swoosh!
A twitch.
The fallen spirit, who had confidently set her decisive trap to corner Ais, was just about to fire the two single-line chant spells she had prepared as her final strike.
But at that very moment.
"Eh?"
For some reason, her body would not move.
Alarmed, she hurriedly checked what was happening, and far away, she caught sight of a thin shadow connected into one line.
At the end of it was none other than the blue-haired man who had been little more than a corpse just moments ago.
The fallen spirit instinctively knew that he had done something to her.
But...
"Heh."
She inwardly mocked his final effort.
For the man's last trick was truly pitifully shallow.
This little thing.
Just this worthless restraint.
To her, it was nothing more than a trivial trick.
She had been bound for a moment due to a lapse in concentration, but even if she endured it, the delay would amount to barely a second.
Such a flimsy restraint could be broken with nothing more than a basic exhale.
So "she" sneered inwardly at the last-ditch struggle of the mage left alone far away, little more than a dying corpse.
However.
- Without courage, there is no pride, and because there is pride, people can move forward.
There was no way "he" would forgive such arrogant evil.
- The sky you desire is nothing more than being drunk on yesterday, which has already passed, rather than tomorrow.
"Who...!?"
- Fallen spirit, sacrifice forced by the age.
Within the wavering shadow.
A single streak of cold blue flame rose there.
- That longing for memories is the very root of your self-defilement.
Only then did "she" recognize "him" as well.
- Even if you have fallen into the depths beneath the earth, as long as you are humanity's benefactor, you must at least state your name.
Ah, living ones.
Fear.
- I have shown my face from the dark ravine to offer you a death shrouded in gloom.
Fleeting dead ones.
Revere.
- I am called the old man of the mountain, Hassan-i Sabbah.
The god of death of faith has come here.
- The bell of doom has pointed to your name.
"Ah...!"
- I shall strip that neck away in accordance with heaven's mandate!
Shrrk!
At that moment.
Crack!
The spirit's prepared magic shattered and vanished.
"Ah!?"
Ais was quite startled by that.
But the fallen spirit herself felt fear before surprise.
The face of the frail woman had gone deathly pale.
Reading that expression, Ais gripped her sword hilt even tighter.
She did not fully understand it, but... this was the path to victory that would never come again!
"[[Tempest!]]"
Fwooooooooosh!
The wind blew.
The wind of the "spirit"... the wind of "Aria"...
"[[Aerial maximum output!]]"
Ais's wind was blowing together with them.
""""GOOOOOOO!""""
Along with everyone's wind.
"[[Ril... Rafaga!]]"
KWAANG!
Her wind successfully pierced and shattered the fallen spirit's magic stone.
Even then, the spirit's mouth moved as if she wanted to say something.
But unfortunately...
"...!"
She vanished into dust without leaving behind a single thing.