◇
Rewinding slightly...
"Carol!"
Sophia dashed forward, intent on chasing after Caroline and Lueria as they disappeared outside the innermost area.
"Sophie! Get down!"
Logan, who had just regained his footing after being kicked by Lueria, sensed a presence and shouted a warning.
Reacting instantly to his voice, Sophia veered off her path. A split second later, a pair of massive jaws erupted from the ground where she had been standing.
"...A crocodile?" Luna muttered, staring at the intruder.
It was a gargantuan beast, its entire body appearing to be sculpted from solid rock.
"Heh. Well noticed, boy," Ozwell said, his voice laced with faint admiration for Logan, who had detected the ambush before it struck.
"I don't need praise from someone like you," Logan spat back. "I’m going to wipe that smug look off your face, so get ready. I’ll never forgive you for what you did to Carol!"
"Ahaha! I like the spirit. But I wonder if a brat like you can even reach me?"
Undeterred by the bloodlust radiating from Logan, Ozwell snapped his fingers in a mocking taunt. The space around him distorted, and a swarm of magic beasts began to crawl out of the rift.
"With this much of a gap in power, the outcome is already decided, isn't it? If you stay still, I’ll make sure your deaths are painless," Frederick said in his usual drawling tone.
With a massive rock crocodile at their rear and a swarm of beasts led by Frederick at their front, the party was overwhelmingly outnumbered.
However—
"Disadvantage? From this?" Logan tilted his head as if he genuinely couldn't comprehend the threat. "I could handle this many by myself. And I’ve got Sophie and Big Sis Ruu with me. I don’t see a single way we lose. My only concern is Carol. We’re finishing you people off—fast."
Logan had once managed a victory against Lueria, though it had been a surprise attack. That win had left a lingering trace of overconfidence in his heart, a mistake he realized had led to his separation from Caroline. Now, he possessed not a shred of arrogance. He simply stated the facts to steel himself, determined to break through this obstacle and reunite with Caroline as quickly as possible.
"Oho, quite the talker!" Frederick chuckled as he activated his magic—his signature move, a debuff via support magic.
The trio should have been forced to their knees. At least, that was the intended effect.
"—[Status Up], [Triple]."
Logan instantly cast buffs that far outweighed Frederick's debuffs, neutralizing the interference.
"Tch! You had a counter ready?" Frederick clicked his tongue, annoyed that his magic had been negated.
The moment Logan finished casting, the rock crocodile behind them lunged. However, Sophia’s [Psychokinesis] locked the beast's joints, and Logan followed up immediately.
"—Shadow Swamp."
Using [Shadow Manipulation], Logan turned the shadows beneath the beast’s feet into a murky mire. The crocodile's massive weight worked against it, pulling it down into the darkness.
"[Mjolnir]!"
With the beast’s movements sealed by the two's abilities, a massive pillar of lightning summoned by Luna’s magic struck from the heavens. Yet, even after taking a special-grade spell directly, the crocodile showed little sign of lethal damage.
Sophia took in the situation and made a quick decision.
"Big Sis Ruu, you take the crocodile! Log, handle the swarm! I’ll take the boy! If anyone gets an opening, support the others!"
"Acknowledged!"
Following Sophia’s lead, Luna created distance. She peppered the crocodile with intermediate attack magic while preparing her original spell.
"—[Induction]!"
The light of the spell drew the crocodile’s hate, locking its focus entirely on Luna. Just as she prepared to shift into full offense, a youthful voice echoed in her mind.
Luna, if you’re going to break this ugly thing, let me help.
Gnome, the earth-type seirei, had taken an active dislike to the rock crocodile created by Ozwell and was offering his assistance of his own accord. Though Luna knew he was present, she had assumed he would remain a bystander. Surprised but grateful for the fickle seirei’s help, she accepted immediately.
"Yes, please! Gnome, I’m counting on you!"
Leave it to me.
Guided by Luna, Gnome manifested his power into the world.
—A misshapen rock like this doesn't belong in this world. Shatter.
At Gnome’s command, deep fissures spiderwebbed across the crocodile’s stony hide.
"To think Gnome couldn't shatter it instantly..." Luna mused.
As an earth seirei, Gnome had absolute authority over rock and soil. He had intended to blow the beast to smithereens, yet the creature held together despite the cracks.
Hmph. So this is what the Princess meant—a creation by a human trying to step into the principles of magic. He makes interesting toys!
"I’m sorry to interrupt your curiosity, but we don't have time to waste. I’m finishing this with seirei magic. Gnome, lend me your strength."
Right, right. It’s interesting, but I still hate looking at it. Let’s blow it up.
"Here we go! —[Volcanic Fall]!"
[Volcanic Fall] was a compound spell based on the earth-type special-grade magic [Meteor], infused with fire. A massive boulder, melted into a molten slurry by extreme heat, plummeted from the sky.
The crocodile tried to burrow into the earth to escape the magma.
Don’t even think about it, dummy.
Gnome instantly transmuted the ground around the beast into ultra-hard stone, trapping it on the surface. A moment later, the molten rock collided with the beast, blanketing it in a tide of lava. Since the magma had been created from Gnome’s boulder, it was the perfect medium for his interference.
Haha! Burn from the inside out!
The magma seeped into the cracks in the crocodile’s skin, invading its interior. No matter how hard its outer shell was, its internal structure was far more vulnerable. Unable to withstand the searing heat, the beast dissolved into black mist.
"You must be very confident to volunteer to fight me, Sophia Claudel," Frederick said, facing Sophia.
She shook her head. "I don't have any confidence. After all, I’m the weakest member of Twilight Moonbow. But that’s exactly why I’m the one who has to fight you."
"...Are you saying that even the weakest of you is enough to deal with me?"
"You can interpret it that way."
Sophia answered matter-of-factly, her expression unreadable.
"I see... Hahaha! Then I guess I'll have to play along!"
At Frederick's signal, a fierce magical duel erupted. Lightning arrows fired by Frederick were caught in the force fields generated by Sophia’s ability, their trajectories warped until they sailed harmlessly past her. Her defensive technique was a developing imitation of the Imperial Hero Felix's method—while not yet perfect, it was more than enough to deflect standard attacks.
"Tch! These ability users are a pain!" Frederick spat, his frustration mounting.
"[Rock Bullet]!"
Sophia retaliated with a volley of stones. Frederick used [Agility Up] on himself to dance through the projectiles. However, between Frederick—an enchanter whose strengths lay in subterfuge and debuffs—and Sophia—a mage who had survived the lower floors of a Great Labyrinth—the advantage in a direct magical exchange was clearly with the latter.
Slowly but surely, Sophia began to dominate the fight.
Elsewhere, Logan was meeting quantity with quantity.
"—[Shadow Legion]."
As Logan unleashed his ability, a menagerie of shadow constructs—dogs, birds, elephants, and bears—materialized around him. These shadow beasts moved in perfect synchronicity with his will, crashing into Ozwell’s swarm. Logan wove through the melee, using a combination of magic and spear techniques to dissolve the monsters into mist.
With his ability to coordinate such a diverse range of shadow summons, Logan was effectively a one-man A-rank party. On top of that, his individual combat prowess was easily on par with an S-rank explorer. Ozwell’s minions were no match for him.
However—
"...Damn it, they just keep coming!"
Logan had already destroyed more beasts than Ozwell had originally summoned, yet Ozwell continued to manifest new ones, keeping the total number constant.
"Log! I’m here!"
"Big Sis Ruu, thanks!"
Luna, having finished the crocodile, joined Logan’s side. While Sophia’s battle was going well, it hadn't reached a conclusion yet. With Luna—and Gnome’s assistance—added to the fray, the rate of annihilation increased exponentially.
"Come on, keep at it. I have plenty of magic beasts to go around," Ozwell’s amused voice echoed from the back of the room.
"We know that! Big Sis Ruu, are you feeling any strain? No headaches?"
"I’m fine. I still have plenty of stamina left!"
A significant amount of time had passed since the battle began. Despite their efforts, there was no sign of the swarm thinning, and Ozwell remained perfectly composed. Logan and Luna had attempted to snipe Ozwell directly, but the magic beasts would invariably throw themselves into the line of fire, acting as living shields.
The monsters weren't particularly strong, but as humans, the party's stamina and focus were bound to flag eventually. Finally, Logan missed a beast that lunged at his blind spot.
"Crap...!"
Realizing he couldn't dodge in time, Logan twisted his body to shield his vitals.
"—Don't you dare touch my friends!"
With a sharp cry, Caroline leaped between Logan and the beast. Her daggers flashed, reducing the monster to black mist in an instant.
"Carol...?"
"That was a close one, Log. You okay?" Caroline turned to him, wearing her usual sunny smile.
"Y-Yeah. Wait—Carol, behind you!"
Logan had been dazed by her sudden entrance, but his eyes widened as another beast lunged at her back. Before it could reach her, the monster was shredded by a flurry of slashes.
"Caroline, don't go running off only to stand around like an idiot in front of an enemy."
The voice of another woman came from behind Logan. He spun around in shock to find Lueria standing there.
"Ehehe, I knew Big Sister would protect me."
"Good grief..."
Lueria, who had looked ready to kill her sister moments ago, now looked like nothing more than a weary older sibling being dragged along by a troublesome sister. Logan’s confusion only deepened.
Ozwell shared that confusion. He halted the movement of the magic beasts and looked at Lueria.
"I’ll ask, just for curiosity’s sake. Why exactly did you come back on such friendly terms with Caroline?"
Under Ozwell’s chilling gaze, Lueria broke into a cold sweat, but she forced a defiant smirk onto her face.
"It’s exactly what it looks like. I’m sorry, but I won’t be helping 'the Doctor' anymore."
"That’s a pity. I quite liked you————!?"
Ozwell’s voice, which hadn't sounded regretful in the slightest, cut off abruptly. He gasped, his eyes wide with shock as a thunder arrow pierced clean through his chest.
"Then I guess I quit too. Consider this thanks for everything you've done for us, Doctor. I hope you like it," Frederick said in his drawling tone, casually walking over toward Lueria.
Sophia didn't move to stop him; instead, she rejoined Luna.
It turned out that Frederick and Sophia had never been fighting seriously. Frederick had needed to keep his options open until the duel between the sisters was decided, so he couldn't kill Sophia. Sophia, in turn, couldn't bring herself to kill Caroline’s brother without knowing Caroline’s wishes.
Both had realized the other was holding back, and they had spent the entire time performing a farce to stall for time.