Chapter 85: Overcoming the Adventure!
"You've got to be kidding... magic power is actually being absorbed..."
Tiona held a vial of potion and poured it over her wound.
In her sight, the female-shaped monster began gathering back the magic power she had consumed.
Even Riveria's shattered magic barrier was cruelly devoured by her.
At the same time, behind the monster, another batch of Violas and worm-type monsters gathered from the 60th Floor.
Once they were caught by those monsters, they would have to face that despair-inducing magic again without anyone to protect them.
"Shiro! Don't worry about us! That's an order! Kill her!"
After putting Raul down, Finn shouted toward Torajirou Shiro in the distance.
"Roar, roar, vortex of flame. Crimson cliff, howl of hellfire. Borrow the power of a sudden gale and seal the world. Burning sky, burning earth, burning sea, burning spring, burning mountain, burning life. Reduce all to scorched earth and fire the cannon of wrath and lament. As the price, offer the life of the hero I loved—"
Her magic power had finished gathering.
The corrupted Spirit seized the chance while the adventurers were scattered and prepared to use magic to wipe them all out in one strike.
"This is our adventure!"
Finn understood Shiro's hesitation.
With time running out and the monsters already pressing in, the blond Pallum leader swore on his honor that they would overcome the adventure before them.
"I swear in the name of the goddess Fiana, everyone will survive her attack!"
"By the name of the proxy, I command. The name granted to me is Salamander, incarnation of flame, queen of fire—"
The adventurers around him also understood without needing more words.
They began gathering around Finn, clearing the perfect attack route for Shiro.
"Liv Ilusio!"
"—Gather, breath of the earth. My name is Alf."
"Elf Ring."
Flames surged toward them again.
There was no longer enough time for Riveria to chant her extremely long defensive magic.
She could only use the first stage of Via Shilheim to provide the adventurers with a little defense.
"Come, ring of spirits, I ask of you—lend me your power."
At that moment, Lefiya's voice rang out.
She had also used the magic unique to her, Elf Ring.
"Raise the cup as a shield, chalice that repels evil."
Back when Lefiya told Filvis that her Familia's expedition was about to begin, Filvis had taught her this magic inside the Dungeon.
And the magic she summoned this time belonged to Filvis.
"Dio Grail!"
A pure white circular barrier appeared before the adventurers.
In the next instant, the flames clashed against the holy white shield.
Crack, crack, crack—
The circular barrier blocking the flames began breaking quickly, just like Riveria's defensive magic.
Despair spread through the adventurers' hearts like the cracks spreading across the barrier.
"Hold it back—!!!"
Tiona and Tione shouted as they jumped past Lefiya, using their own bodies to support the circular barrier.
For a moment, the flames seemed as if they were being forced to stop.
"Charging spear of thunder, I am the proxy. Tonitrus, incarnation of thunder, queen of lightning—"
A short chant.
At this moment, the corrupted Spirit gave up on trying to wipe them out in one blow.
Instead, she chose to use an extremely short chant to heavily wound them.
"Thunder Ray."
The flames dispersed.
What came next was a massive spear made of thunder.
Crack—
The pure white barrier finally failed to hold and shattered into countless motes of light.
"Oh no!"
Facing the collapse of their final defense, Lefiya and the others' expressions changed.
"O magic spear, pierce my skull and drink my blood."
At the critical moment, a silver-white spear collided with the massive spear of thunder.
The owner of that silver-white spear had eyes dyed crimson as he let out a berserker-like roar.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
This was Finn's trump card.
It was berserk magic that sacrificed his own reason in exchange for an extremely powerful boost.
This also meant he had given up his role as commander.
Everyone would have to judge the next attacks on their own.
While Finn and the corrupted Spirit's magic clashed fiercely, Shiro chose to believe in Finn.
He no longer paid attention to the scene on their side.
Instead, he launched a charge toward the corrupted Spirit's main body.
Facing the sea of monsters before him, he closed his eyes.
A three-dimensional image flashed through his mind.
It was the full structure of the 59th Floor.
The next second, he lowered his body and shot forward like an arrow.
The corrupted Spirit noticed that a human was charging toward her.
She gathered all of her remaining vines toward Shiro.
Hundreds of vines and a thousand monsters attacked him at the same time.
Directly ahead, to the left and right, in the air, and underground.
There were ambushes in every position.
If he made even one mistake, he would be dragged into hell by the storm of attacks that followed.
Shiro kept his eyes closed.
His feet moved with strange steps.
The monsters blocking his path were cut apart.
The vines whipping toward him were sliced open.
The spears stabbing out were avoided.
Seeing that Shiro's speed had not dropped at all, the corrupted Spirit lost her calm.
With her as the center, countless tentacles burst from the ground and formed a circular high wall.
Shiro reached the bottom of the wall and casually swung his sword.
The wall was torn open like paper.
After slipping inside, he used the wall behind him as a foothold and leaped in front of the corrupted Spirit.
However, the corrupted Spirit, who had seemed panicked earlier, smiled once more.
She opened her mouth wide, and a small magic circle spun inside.
Her earlier panic had all been a trick to lure Shiro in.
"Icicle Edge."
A giant pillar of ice flew toward him.
Shiro, who was in midair, had no way to dodge.
Magic power gathered on his sword.
Facing the ice pillar that was now right before him, he opened his eyes.
He twisted his body and grabbed the ice pillar with his left hand.
Crack—
The ice pillar turned into powder in midair.
And what the corrupted Spirit had to face was the blade spinning toward her.
Slice—
"Is it over?"
The thunder spear in front of him slowly vanished.
Finn's pupils gradually returned to clarity.
What followed was endless exhaustion.
He rubbed his brow and asked the adventurers around him.
Just moments ago, he had nearly failed to hold on.
Fortunately, Bete and Ais had attacked the thunder spear and reduced part of its power.
"Yes... it's over..."
Riveria handed him a potion and gestured for him to drink it.
However, her gaze kept drifting toward the southern side of the cavern.
Finn remembered that was where the corrupted Spirit had been.
So he also turned his head and looked in that direction, thinking about the result of this battle.
There, the corrupted Spirit's body had been split in half from the middle and lay on the ground.
The monster whose magic stone had been destroyed was quickly turning into ash.
The white-haired boy stood above that ash with his sword in hand.
"He really defeated it alone..."
Everyone fell silent at Finn's words.
The enemy that had forced all of them to use everything they had just to defend against one spell had been killed single-handedly by Shiro.
Aside from shock, it was impossible for them not to feel frustrated.
"Raise your spirits. There are still remaining monsters for us to deal with."
Finn smiled helplessly.
"He already took down the boss. There's no reason to let him steal all the small fry too, right?"
Having a sense of competition was a good thing.
As long as they were not beaten down until they lost confidence, this would become fuel for their growth.
"We'll handle the rest!"
"Tch, he stole all the spotlight by himself."
"I'll help..."
Sure enough, after Finn said that, the younger members of the Loki Familia rushed toward the remaining monsters one after another.
They were clearly planning to vent their feelings on them.
After clearing out the monsters on this floor, the adventurers who had gone through a fierce death battle and overcome their adventure began their journey home.
Likewise, the end of the expedition also meant that the wager between Shiro and Freya was about to begin.
…
(Don't forget to vote and leave a comment below! :D If possible, share your review to show your support.)
...
Read more than 20 chapters in advance:
patréon.com/U22
(Note: Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.)