Just as Gilbert began venting all his accumulated frustration onto Aldebaran, the other two battles were also drawing to a close.
"Die-no-neeennn!"
A volley of water gravel spewed from Urokoonu's mouth, tearing toward Somni at high speed like buckshot from a shotgun.
Somni evaded the barrage, batting aside every last projectile with Brionac, the crimson spear bestowed upon him by his master.
"Come on. Let's see you try."
Turning his left palm upward, he crooked his fingers in an open taunt.
"You mere ground-crawling vermin! How dare you make a mockery of me, achiki-no-neen!"
Such a cheap provocation had clearly sent her into a blind fury. Thick veins bulged across her piscic face as she bellowed in rage.
Yet even that oppressive aura, heavy enough to make the air creak, felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze to Somni.
"You're all talk for a fish. Why don't you back it up with some real skill?"
"Hold your tongue-no-neeennn!"
With a vicious sweep of her right arm, the bright-red dissolving fluid clinging near the webbing of her right hand flew toward Somni.
Snaring the liquid with the tip of Brionac, he redirected the blast straight back at her.
It was Reflective Mirror—a counter-technique against ranged attacks that he had barely managed to master after nearly dying countless times during that insane training regimen with Master. Naturally, it was mere child's play compared to Master's own mastery, but batting back a technique launched by an opponent of this caliber was as effortless as drawing breath for Somni now.
The dissolving fluid crashed over Urokoonu with the exact volume and speed at which she had unleashed it.
"Wha—?!"
Her gasp of shock instantly morphed into an ear-splitting shriek.
Doused in her own corrosive fluid, white smoke billowed from Urokoonu's entire body as she practically boiled alive.
"Whoa there. Taking full damage from your own attack? Basic countermeasures against reflection are day-one stuff, you know."
It was frankly pathetic that she couldn't even Cancel her own offensive abilities. Among Master's subordinates, there were countless monstrous beings who could effortlessly reflect not only magic, but even physical strikes from Somni's spear. Naturally, not a single one of them was foolish enough to be harmed by their own attacks.
"Curse you! My beadiful vace!"
Urokoonu wailed in anguish through her charred, melting features, drawing a heavy sigh from Somni.
"Now I see why Master called you guys small fry."
To be fair, even to the current Somni, her raw physical abilities and destructive potential weren't something to sneeze at. In fact, by all accounts, she outclassed him on paper. Dodging that opening blast of water gravel hadn't exactly been a walk in the park, either. But on the other hand, her actual combat technique was utterly nonexistent. After all, she had just crippled herself with her own attack. The gap between her and Master's subordinates was as vast as heaven and earth.
Case in point, she fell for the cheapest taunt imaginable.
"Diiieeeeeee!"
As Urokoonu charged recklessly with a hideous, shrieking war cry, Somni lowered his center of gravity until his stomach nearly brushed the ground, leveling his spear.
Focusing with his left eye, he brought the flow of her mana into view. Just as he anticipated, four distinct vortexes swirled across her body.
This was another method for dealing with humanoid monsters that Master had drilled into him. So long as a foe possessed a humanoid form, there would always be multiple points where their mana originated. If he struck them all simultaneously—
"Flash Blade!"
Kicking off the ground as they crossed paths, his spear thrust forward four times in an instant, piercing clean through each vortex.
All four swirls of mana vanished.
"Gnugh? Wh-what is this? My bogy?"
Her voice climbed in absolute panic as she clutched at herself, her flesh bubbling and churning wildly beneath her palms.
With her mana spiraling completely out of control, her body was wrenched in every direction as if caught in a violent tug-of-war.
"It's over."
Sauntering over, Somni lightly prodded the center of her torso with the tip of his spear.
—Pshuuun!
As Urokoonu ruptured, bursting into a spray of shredded meat, Somni hoisted Brionac over his shoulder and turned to check on the others. The moment he caught sight of the clash between Tetor and Fuguo—
"Ah, figures..."
He let out an amused sigh. It made total sense. The one who had truly distinguished himself during their training under Master was Tetor. According to Lord Nemea, Tetor had already evolved far beyond the limits of humanity—and indeed, beyond the framework of this world entirely.
Before his eyes, a jackal was effortlessly tearing a hare to pieces.