Explosion Magic is not difficult to learn.
It's just that, due to individual differences, the way it manifests varies from person to person.
Riveria's Explosion Magic differed somewhat from Lefiya's — though that distinction hardly mattered here.
When all was said and done, the principle was the same: drain every last drop of one's own mental energy, focus it to a single point, and unleash a magical explosion without equal.
"!!!"
A roar. A surge. A tremor.
The Dungeon shuddered as if it were on the verge of collapse, and in kind, the entire city above shook along with it.
Fortunately, the tower itself was not destroyed — the Dungeon was already repairing it at a furious pace.
And in that moment, before the eyes of everyone present — and directly behind Isagi —
What they witnessed was a breathtaking, indescribable "firework" blooming open.
A silent detonation of magical energy, accompanied by endless cascades of color that shimmered like starlight — some streaking in long lines, some drifting like clouds, some flashing and vanishing in an instant, others coiling and spiraling through the air.
They wove and intertwined, painting a scene that none who saw it would ever forget.
And at the same time — Absolute Evil was utterly vaporized.
The monster had unambiguously ceased to exist. Only a few shattered Magic Stones came tumbling down from the air. Nothing more.
With a mage's mightiest strike — a decisive blow — one of the two bosses had been eliminated first.
That was Isagi's plan.
The problem, however, was ensuring that Alfia could not use [Garden of Stillness] to strip everyone of their ability to cast magic.
And that was the crux of Isagi's strategy.
Restrict Alfia's movements — but to do that, he first had to goad her into using [Garden of Stillness] on herself, silencing her own voice, preventing her from wielding that invisible sonic magic to repel him and the girls.
It sounded convoluted.
But the plan had worked. Less than a few minutes into the battle, Absolute Evil had been annihilated in a single blow by Lefiya and Riveria.
Now came the cleanup.
A glance was all it took. Without a word between them, Isagi, Ryuu, and Ais released the grappling hooks they had used to yank the two girls to safety, and immediately fell back at full speed.
Then, in the very next instant —
Alfia lifted [Garden of Stillness] — and from within the gaping maw of that enormous jet-black wolf, Isagi could almost see the woman up close, her slender lips barely parting.
"Evangelium."
In the instant those two syllables — like an incantation of doom — were about to reach his ears, Isagi had already detonated everything.
"BOOM!"
After the earlier silent explosion, a second deafening blast shook the entire Dungeon to its core, and the city above lurched once more.
In that split second just prior, Isagi had reached into his cloak and produced an enormous quantity of explosives.
Not the [Flame Rocks] most commonly used by the Dark Familia.
Those, while derived from deep-floor monsters and possessing tremendous explosive force — even capable of inflicting considerable damage on Level 2 adventurers — offered limited harm to anyone Level 1 or above. To say nothing of Alfia, who was already Lv.7.
So instead, Isagi had used the firearms from his Complete Hunter's Arsenal. Only this time, he had pulled out an enormous volume of ammunition all at once and simply ignited it himself — a direct detonation.
In the game, of course, that was never something you could do.
But reality was a different story.
And the effect was — spectacular.
The first reason Isagi did this was to die. Because only after his death would the fog gate open once more.
That way, Tiona, Lefiya, and Riveria — all of whom were no longer capable of fighting — could be sent back through it, kept safe from any danger they might face in the battles ahead due to their incapacitation.
At that moment, Heith — who had already been standing by at the fog gate — quickly joined up with Ryuu and Ais as they arrived, and the three of them "tossed" all three girls out through the gate.
Jesse lay.
From the moment Isagi respawned to the moment he re-entered the boss chamber, it would take a few seconds.
Those seconds were now the trial facing the remaining three girls.
Heith immediately began chanting her healing magic, focused entirely on timing it precisely so the spell would land on Ryuu and Ais when they needed it most.
The two golden-haired girls spread out to either side, both on high alert, watching the smoke-shrouded distance for any counterattack Alfia might launch —
Not "might." She was already here.
"Evangelium."
The moment the woman's chant rang out, an invisible shockwave slammed into both girls, hurling them apart.
Then —
The woman burst from the smoke at terrifying speed, closing the distance to Heith in the blink of an eye — but her rising kick connected with nothing.
"?"
From Alfia's perspective, something had gone wrong with the pink-haired girl in front of her. The girl's silhouette had become distorted somehow.
A strike that should have connected — and yet from where Alfia stood, the girl's body seemed to twist and warp, spinning left and right, splitting apart —
This, of course, was the work of the [Moonlight Greatsword] in Ryuu's hands.
Long before the battle had begun, Isagi had passed the weapon to the Elf girl — precisely for this moment.
To distort Alfia's perception, reducing her effectiveness in close combat.
And simultaneously —
Heith neither dodged nor retreated. She reached into her satchel and produced her [Book of Poisoned Milk], and standing directly in front of the woman, she began to chant.
"Named Gold — handmaiden of the goddess who swore an immortal oath —"
A dark corruption began to spread across the great hall of the temple.
A colorless, odorless, viscous miasma coiled around the woman's long, pale legs, as if seeking to defile her.
And so, Alfia did not allow Heith to continue.
"Tranquility of the Soul."
The domain of silence descended once more. The spreading corruption vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed — and even the [Book of Poisoned Milk] in Heith's hands, which had been seeping black ichor, became nothing more than an ordinary book.
Even the perceptual distortion caused by the [Moonlight Greatsword] was undone.
Every abnormality had been perfectly reversed. Heith felt a chill settle over her that she had no words for — if a Lv.5 adventurer were cornered at close range by a Lv.7, would they die in a single hit?
It was a question she had never had reason to consider before.
But now, in this moment, something deep inside her gave her the answer.
"Yes."
She would die.
Fortunately, Ais had already moved — circling behind Alfia.
"Ariel."
The girl's trump card was, at its core, the use of her magic [Tempest] — compressing the magical energy that normally swirled around her body to its absolute limit, generating a form of "extreme kinetic force."
In the instant she drew close to Alfia, the magical energy would dissipate — but the kinetic force would not. Just as she had used the grappling hook earlier to drag both the woman and Isagi swinging around.
Now, Ais was channeling Ariel's extreme velocity.
And then —
She raised the hunter's shield and spear.
And charged!!
____
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