All Ara could do was stand there in silence, gripping her beloved Power Axe, as she watched her comrades—her companions—fight.
If she were honest with herself, she wanted to join the battle right that instant.
Her revered Elena was fighting the Silver Lion, an S-Rank monster. The fact that she—Elena's close friend, her subordinate, and the captain of her Escort Knight Order—was not participating in that battle was something Ara herself could not accept.
But even though she understood this in her head, her body refused to move.
Ever since she had laid eyes on the Silver Lion and heard its roar—a sound that seemed to shake her very soul—her body had been frozen in place. It was as though she had accepted that to challenge it meant certain death, and nothing else. That was the kind of person she had become.
Her heart screamed to fight, but her body, completely at odds with her feelings, would not budge.
No—it was moving. That is, if a body trembling visibly enough for anyone to see could be called moving.
(Why... why won't my body move!?)
She felt a wave of shame at herself for only being able to watch the battle from outside the room. And yet, her body still refused to move.
Even as she nursed these feelings of self-reproach, the battle inside the room continued.
Suddenly, something was unleashed all at once from the Silver Lion's body, and those nearby—Rei, Set, Elk, and the others—were injured. It appeared to be a short-range attack; the fact that Elena, Marina, Min, and the others providing support from a distance were unharmed could be called a silver lining.
Elk, having taken damage from the close-range attack, swung the Axe of the Thunder God regardless. The blow sent the Silver Lion flying. Then, following Rei's instructions, Elk exited the room.
"Haa, haa, haa... damn it, what a troublesome attack... hey, Ara. Sorry, but pull the needles out of my body!"
Hearing Elk's voice as he leaned against the wall, Ara finally snapped back to her senses and moved without even thinking about it.
Because the attack had come from the front of the Silver Lion, it was only natural that there were no hairs—or rather, what should be called needle-fur—embedded in his back. But for Elk, who wanted to lean against the wall and recover even just a little—truly, even the slightest bit of stamina—it was a fortunate thing.
"I'll pull them out."
She called out briefly and began pulling out the hairs embedded in Elk's body.
They were hairs, but sharp, pointed, and long enough to be aptly called metal needles. If someone who knew nothing were shown these hairs, it would not be strange for them to mistake them for metal needles, unless they possessed deep knowledge of monsters.
"Guh!"
Elk let out a small groan of pain as she pulled out a needle-fur.
What was fortunate was that these needle-fur were, ultimately, made of the Silver Lion's fur. If they had barbs like fishhooks, pulling them out would have caused Elk far greater agony than he was currently experiencing.
The same was true when an arrow was embedded; in such cases, pulling it out in one swift motion caused only a moment of pain compared to pulling it out slowly.
Knowing this from her experience fighting alongside Elena on the battlefield, Ara pulled the needle-fur out swiftly, one after another.
Elk, seeming to understand Ara's actions, did not voice any complaints and instead reached for the potion Rei had left behind.
The needle-fur, pain aside, did not leave particularly deep wounds. Therefore, not only was a World Tree potion unnecessary, but even the least effective potion among those laid out would suffice.
Precisely because it was low in potency, it was a potion prepared so it could be used freely. He poured it over his body. Immediately, the sharp pain from where the needle-fur had pierced began to fade.
"...How are you?"
Once Ara had pulled all the needle-fur from his body, Elk gave a nod in response.
Thanks to the potion, the pain was already gone. The needle-fur that had hindered his movements was gone, and he could return to the battle against the Silver Lion right now.
Making that judgment, Elk stood up with the Axe of the Thunder God in hand, turned his gaze toward Ara, and spoke.
"What about you? You're able to fight again now, aren't you?"
"!?"
It was then that Ara first realized the trembling in her body had ceased entirely. The trembling she had felt upon seeing the Silver Lion had subsided, and she had been treating Elk's wounds as if nothing were wrong.
Why the trembling had stopped, even she could not understand. But she knew her power was needed now more than ever, and she gave Elk a firm nod.
This swiftness of judgment likely came from her experience on the battlefield. In battles, where split-second decisions were frequently demanded, Ara had always been at Elena's side.
"Alright. Your weapon is effective against the Silver Lion too. Let's go."
"Yes!"
In response to Elk's words, Ara replied with fighting spirit in her voice. Seeing her vigor—it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been trembling at the sight of the Silver Lion—Elk offered a slight smile and nodded.
Then, as he turned back toward the room... toward the Silver Lion, he smiled again. Though the smile he had directed at Ara could be described as gentle, the one he directed at the Silver Lion was that of a ferocious beast of prey.
With the Axe of the Thunder God in hand, Elk advanced into the room, and Ara, gripping her Power Axe, followed close behind.
What Elk and Ara saw upon entering was the sight of Rei's Death Scythe sending the Silver Lion flying. The scythe was swung with force similar to—no, greater than—the desperate blow Elk had struck earlier, and it sent the Silver Lion, nearly six meters long including its tail, hurtling through the air.
Honestly, such a sight was beyond Ara's comprehension. But having resolved to join this battle, she could not afford to stand mesmerized by the spectacle of combat. Right now, she needed to be of use to Elena.
Making that decision, she headed toward the front lines alongside Elk.
"Ara!? Are you okay?"
"Yes, there's no problem. I apologize for the trouble."
As they passed by, Elena noticed Ara and called out to her, but Ara gave her only a brief reply. Seeing Ara's demeanor, Elena must have decided there was no need to worry. Without saying anything more, she merely glanced at Ara with a look of trust before once again manipulating Mirage in its whip form to focus on keeping the Silver Lion at bay.
Ideally, she would have wrapped the whip-like blade around one of its legs to stop its movements entirely, but against a Silver Lion measuring six meters in length, such a feat could not be done easily. Furthermore, the Silver Lion's speed was far too fast for a monster boasting such a massive frame, making it no simple task to entangle Mirage's blade around its legs.
In the end, all she could do was strike the Silver Lion's body with the whip-shaped Mirage to keep it at bay. Even so, each strike was delivered to spots that would steal the beast's momentum, so it apparently judged them a nuisance.
Moreover, it was not just Elena's Mirage, but also Marina's Spirit Magic and bow, and Min's magic, that proved to be an eyesore.
"GRRROOOAAAR!"
A roar was unleashed once more at Elena and the others.
Though only slightly, it had weakened compared to the start of the battle, likely because the Silver Lion had expended a considerable amount of energy in the fighting so far.
"Alright, the Silver Lion is definitely weakening! Keep it up!"
Rei, continuing to fight while clad in the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, hurled the Deep Flame covering his body at the Silver Lion.
The Silver Lion possessed a strong resistance to magic, but even so, Deep Flame was condensed Rei's magic and would not be nullified so easily. On the contrary, the Deep Flame could be given properties matching Rei's intent, so the flames that struck the Silver Lion's face continued to burn it.
Of course, Rei did not expect it to break through the Silver Lion's high magical defense. But the Deep Flame was never meant to deal damage in the first place.
It adhered to the Silver Lion's face and burned its entire visage. While it dealt no actual damage, having its face set ablaze was still extremely troublesome for the beast. Even without taking damage, its vision was sealed by the fire. Naturally, it also became much harder to read the presences and movements around it.
That was exactly what Rei had been aiming for. Seeing that he had successfully created a Deep Flame with the adhering fire property exactly as he had imagined, a smile of satisfaction spread across his face as he shouted.
"Now! Everyone, attack all at once! Right now, the Silver Lion's evasion ability isn't that high!"
The first to react to those words was Set.
"GRRRRRRL!"
Set, who had been waiting for an opening from the sky above, let out a loud cry as he dove toward the ground.
Following Set's lead, Elk, who had just returned to the battle, swung the Axe of the Thunder God with all his might at the Silver Lion's torso. And Ara, having finally succeeded in erasing the fear of the Silver Lion that had gripped her, brought her Power Axe down with all her strength, channeling her boasted Herculean Strength against the massive body before her.
Naturally, Rei, who had sealed the Silver Lion's movements by forcing it to shake its head in displeasure from the Deep Flame, also sprang into action.
"Power Slash!"
There were not many skills effective against the Silver Lion. Among them, one of the few was the Power Slash that Rei unleashed. Since it was a skill he had already used many times in this battle, the Silver Lion naturally understood Rei's attack method.
But while it could have handled Rei's attacks with ease in perfect condition, the Deep Flame was still clinging to its face and burning. Its face was being scorched, yet it still felt no pain or damage. However, its vision was obstructed by the fire, and the roar of the flames made it difficult to hear the surrounding sounds.
For the Silver Lion in such a state, dealing with every attack—including Rei's—was extremely difficult.
"GRRRAAAAH!"
A growl rose once more. It was the same attack it had used before: unleashing needle-fur in all directions.
But the next moment, water materialized as if to envelop the Silver Lion.
The needle-fur unleashed in all directions pierced through the water that had been generated to swallow the Silver Lion's body, but since it did not possess that much power to begin with, by the time it emerged from the water, it no longer had enough force to pierce a person.
Most of the needle-fur simply fell to the floor. The ones that still had some propulsive force flew off in random directions, struck armor, and fell. Even those that hit Elk's and Ara's bodies could not break their skin.
"It's an attack I've seen once. Did you think I wouldn't have a countermeasure for it?"
The one who spoke with a radiant smile was Marina, who had enveloped the Silver Lion in water using Spirit Magic.
The needle-fur attack could strike in all directions, but in exchange, it did not carry much power. From the moment she saw it the first time, Marina had sensed the danger of that attack and had been formulating a countermeasure.
Of course, she had not had much time to prepare, so she could only come up with an improvised response. But even an improvised countermeasure was sufficient to protect those fighting in close combat to deal damage to the Silver Lion—Rei, Elk, Set, and Ara.
Though the contradictory scene of the Silver Lion's face burning while submerged in water played out right before their eyes.
"Rei!"
At Marina's call, Rei poured magic into the Death Scythe in lieu of a reply. A strike that, under normal circumstances, would possess enough power to kill instantly.
"GYAN!"
As the blow landed, a metallic clang rang out through the room, and the Silver Lion let out a shriek. The fact that, despite taking such a strike, it suffered only to the degree of a scream was a testament to the Silver Lion's extraordinary capabilities.
And it did not end there.
The strikes from Elk and Ara both landed against the Silver Lion's body, just as Rei's had. Following that, Set's Power Crush, unleashed from above, slammed the Silver Lion into the floor.
The sight of the six-meter-long Silver Lion being driven into the floor was far from anything one would normally witness.
"HAAAAAAAAH! Power Slash!"
With the effects of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor fully unleashed, Rei swung the Death Scythe down onto the Silver Lion, which had been pinned to the floor. He activated the skill he had already used many times in this battle, and the Silver Lion received the blow while still slammed against the floor.
"GRROOOARGH!"
Letting out such a scream, the Silver Lion nevertheless immediately tried to rise and swung its whip-like tail to strike Rei—
"Do you think I'll let you!?"
Elena's whip-shaped Mirage entangled its tail.
"Attack it now, while we have the chance!"
Elk shouted with the Axe of the Thunder God in hand, and the blows of everyone present rained down upon the Silver Lion.