Rest looked at the two monsters and shook his head with a slow, weary motion.
"Good grief... I really thought I’d actually get to relax today..."
He let out a long, heavy sigh. This was meant to be a leisurely picnic, yet once again, things had devolved into a brawl.
Approaching them from the bottom of the hill were a serpent massive enough to swallow a man whole and a shaggy, four-legged beast the size of an elephant. Both were high-threat monsters. A novice adventurer or a common soldier would have been slaughtered before they could even draw a weapon.
"All right! Rest, I’m leaving one to you!"
"Wait, Yuri—!"
"I’ll take down the serpent! You handle the shaggy one!"
Determined to seize the initiative, Yuri charged down the hill without waiting for a signal, pouncing on the giant serpent.
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Yah!"
"Gii!"
Yuri’s sharp, whip-like kick slammed into the serpent’s head. As the creature recoiled, she reached out, grabbed its log-thick body, and bodily hurled it away.
"Tyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"She really is just... a force of nature," Rest muttered, watching her reckless efficiency.
Turning his attention back to his own problem, Rest faced the large four-legged beast. It was already barreling toward him.
"[Wind Cutter]!"
Rest unleashed the spell. Sharp blades of compressed air whistled through the sky, but the beast leaped to the side, narrowly evading the strike.
"Hm..."
"Guoh!"
The beast began zig-zagging as it closed the distance, its massive frame surprisingly agile. It was trying to keep Rest from locking onto a target.
"Does this thing actually know how to fight a mage?"
Perhaps it had survived encounters with mages hunting on the Subnock Plain and learned how to counter their spells through experience.
"I see. A troublesome one."
"Guoooooooooooooooo!"
"Then again... that tactic only works against second-rate mages."
Staying mobile to avoid being targeted was the absolute basic of anti-magic combat. Consequently, any mage worth their salt naturally had countermeasures for high-speed targets.
"[Wind Ball]!"
Rest opted for a simple solution. He manifested a massive cluster of wind spheres around himself and sent them swarming toward the beast like a cloud of angry hornets.
"Guoooh!?"
With so many projectiles filling the air, the beast had nowhere to run. Even though it was lower-tier magic, taking dozens of direct hits in rapid succession began to take its toll.
"And now... [Earth Bind]!"
As the beast faltered, Rest followed up immediately. Earthen tentacles surged from the ground, wrapping around the creature’s limbs and pinning it to the dirt.
"Guoh! Guoh!"
The beast thrashed wildly, but the magical restraints held firm. Immobilized and helpless, it was now little more than a fish on a cutting board.
"Time to end this. [Thunder Bolt]!"
"Guoooooooooo...!?"
A violent pillar of lightning tore through the sky, striking the bound beast head-on. Its body convulsed as the electricity surged through it until, finally, it slumped over and went still.
Rest looked down at the charred, smoking carcass and nodded to himself.
"Right. Now, how’s Yuri doing...?"
"Hey—! Reeeest! I won—!"
"Oh?"
He turned toward the voice and saw Yuri at the foot of the hill, one foot planted triumphantly on the serpent’s head. The creature was sprawled out on the grass, its skull completely shattered and dark blood staining the earth.
"I won too! We just secured tonight’s dinner!"
"Please, spare me the monster meat... Huh?"
Rest started to relax, but a sudden spike in his [Life Search] set off an internal alarm. A massive presence was cutting through the nearby thicket, heading straight for the distracted Yuri.
"Yuri! Behind you!"
"Hm?"
The moment Yuri turned her head, a shadow burst from the brush.
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Ah."
Another serpent—identical to the one she had just killed—reared its head and lunged with its massive maw open wide. Yuri’s eyes widened in shock as she was taken by surprise, and in an instant, she vanished into the serpent’s throat.