Editor : Amethyst00



The campsite was thrown into chaos by Aru, who had been blown away by Azonia's punch.

Buried in the wreckage of the tent, Aru suddenly sat up.

As she raised her body, a sharp pain shot through her left arm, making her shudder.

The arm that had taken the brunt of Azonia's punch, while she tried to block it with crossed arms, was completely shattered.

Softly—

Elena landed gently beside Aru from the sky.

"Are you okay?"

Even as Elena asked, Aru didn't respond. She just wagged her tail and glared at her broken arm.

Seeing her like that, Elena muttered inwardly.

'Is she angry?'

But upon closer inspection, there were tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

'She must be holding it in, knowing that whining about her pain would bring down morale.'

That last attack was certainly no ordinary punch.

It was far too powerful for just a simple strike.

'Where the hell did that monster come from?'

Though still young and inexperienced, Aru was a recognized hero recorded in the Hero Record.

She had quickly deployed her aura armor before the punch landed.

Even if she was caught off guard, suffering that much damage from a single punch wasn't normal.

Seeing Aru flinch from the pain while trying to lick her swelling arm, Elena sighed and activated her magic.

She first cast a pain-dulling spell on herself, then began a healing spell.

Vmmm—!

Light emanated from Aru's body.

Her tail perked up like an exclamation mark.

"It doesn't hurt!"

"It's a healing spell."

"There's a healing spell this effective?"

"Yeah. Elven magic."

"Oooh!"

Sacrifice.

It was a spell left behind by the elven saint, Menamel.

Considered the strongest healing spell, it could even bring back someone on the brink of death.

But it was a forbidden spell.

Because the caster bore the price in place of the patient.

'I'm going to pass out…'

Elena, sweating coldly, covered her swelling left arm with her right hand.

The principle of Sacrifice: an equivalent exchange where the caster takes on the injury.

While channeling the healing magic with her right hand, Elena maintained a calm expression.

If she showed even a hint of pain here, Aru would worry about her.

'I've been temporarily assigned Leo's role as leader.'

She had to act flawlessly in his place.

Encouraging the party with composure and zero hesitation, no matter the circumstances—just like Leo.

With that thought, Elena gave a slight smile.

"You can use all kinds of magic, Miss Elena!"

"It's just how our family is."

Her fame as a magic prodigy wasn't for nothing.

If it fell under the category of magic, Elena could master it with ease regardless of its type.

Aru's tail perked up again in excitement.

Elena, staring at that fluffy white tail, reached out her hand.

Whoosh—!

Aru's tail nimbly dodged her hand.

"I healed you—let me touch it."

"Nope. Tails are sensitive."

"But Leo grabs it just fine."

"Because he's a black rabbit. A lady's tail is sacred."

"So stingy."

Elena grumbled with a pout.

"You go join the frontlines. I'll prep my magic."

"Got it!"

With a spirited reply, Aru dashed off.

Once she was gone, Elena collapsed to the ground without realizing it.

Thud—

"That really hurts…"

Sweat dripped from Elena's pale face as she sat alone.

Even with healing magic active, the pain wasn't going away.

'Still, I fooled her well.'

Elena, having tricked the highly perceptive Aru, took a deep breath.

Maintaining her healing spell, she began multi-chanting.

Vmmm—!

A massive surge of mana trembled.

Her target: the intruder who had suddenly appeared.

Deploying hundreds of spells at once, Elena narrowed her eyes.

'What in the world is it?'

bl

At the frontlines, Drianna and Eiran were engaged with the intruder.

Lunia had summoned a phoenix and was casting spells from behind.

The problem was, she couldn't use her specialty—grand magic.

'Their compatibility is terrible!'

Lunia bit her lip.

The high-ranking demons of Tartaros were typically monstrous giants.

Even Tartaros himself, their final target, was a giant of flame.

So Lunia had trained in magic specialized in taking down large enemies.

Of course, that didn't mean she was weak in anti-personnel spells.

But their current enemy far surpassed common sense.

'If it were Lady Luna, she'd have handled them perfectly regardless of size.'

Feeling her own inadequacy, Lunia launched another spell.

Fwoosh—!

Azonia narrowly dodged the magic and closed in on Lunia.

Eiran quickly stepped in to block her.

Clang—!

"Kyah?!"

Azonia didn't hesitate, swinging her fist at Eiran.

Even with her armored gauntlet raised to block, Eiran couldn't absorb the shock and was hurled back, screaming.

"Eiran!"

Drianna frantically reached out to her.

If they lost Eiran now, like they did Aru, they'd be in trouble.

Drianna couldn't face Azonia alone.

She was a strong vanguard but specialized in blocking hordes or massive beasts—not agile opponents like this.

She barely managed to catch Eiran mid-air but left herself completely open.

"Tch! Lunia! Can you dodge?!"

"Of course!"

Lunia had been ready to evade the moment Azonia charged.

Flap! Fwoosh—!

Crimson wings of fire burst from Lunia's back.

She had merged with her phoenix's flames.

Lunia soared into the sky.

"…!"

"Impressive. Looks like elemental armor from elemental arts."

But Azonia easily overtook her.

She marveled at Lunia's phantom beast integration.

Turning high-level elemental techniques into phantom beast summoning was astonishing, even for Azonia.

'She's not just ordinary conqueror of Lady Luna's world.'

Azonia glanced down.

'That dwarf kid and the elf too.'

Lastly, she turned to face Aru, who was now charging with glowing blue eyes.

'Even this cat kid.'

Azonia felt something special from them.

Boom—!

Aru's sharp kick collided with Azonia's.

Rumble—!

Aura clashed with aura, shaking the air.

In the struggle of strength, Aru was slowly being overpowered.

Just before she was knocked away—

"Graaaah—!"

"…!"

Aru let out a fierce howl.

And then she began transforming.

Azonia's eyes widened in surprise.

The balance shifted momentarily.

With that opening, Aru overwhelmed her and slammed her to the ground.

BOOM—!

A crater formed like a meteor impact.

Sand exploded like a wave.

'That transformation… it's that bastard's power.'

Brushing off the sand, Azonia stood up.

'Now I'm sure. These kids are the successors the Heroes of Rodia and Seiren mentioned.'

She looked up at Aru.

'Chosen by the Hero of the Beginning, huh?'

Her gaze turned crooked.

Then—

Whoooooom—!

Lunia's completed spell engulfed the crater.

Simultaneously, a tremendous number of binding spells wrapped around Azonia.

Her eyes twitched.

It started with gravity magic, then shackles, spatial compression, and more.

Spells strong enough to bind a hero like Azonia for a moment.

Even more impressive: none of the spells were the same type.

'They're chained together like a spell web.'

Extremely precise and powerful magic.

Azonia glanced at Lunia.

'Not from Luna's successor… so that human mage earlier?'

She realized who the real threat here was.

So young, yet vastly superior to most mage heroes.

'Lunia's spells are stronger, but this one's trickier to deal with.'

BOOM—!

Lunia's sun-like magic blasted Azonia.

CRAAASH—!

The heat melted the sand into molten lava.

The spell dug deep into the earth like a scorching iron dropped on ice.

But it didn't last.

The massive flame began rising back upward.

Lunia's face stiffened.

Whoooosh—!

Azonia pushed the magic upward with one hand and rose from the crater.

A cruel smile curved under her hood.

"This is fun."

Aru's fur bristled at her words.

'What… is this pressure?'

This was different.

Azonia laughed at Aru's trembling form.

"At this point, I think I'll start getting serious."

Before her words finished, Aru flew at full speed toward Elena.

Bang—!

Azonia's punch stopped just inches from Elena's face.

Aru barely blocked it, her hands shaking.

"Not bad, kid. You've got hyper-sense too."

Flash—!

Elena deployed magic with a cold face.

Azonia smiled.

"Such deadly magic for such a pretty face."

Then she twisted the fist that Aru was holding.

"Ah?!"

Realizing she was aiming for Elena, Aru released golden aura.

Instantly, the killing intent turned toward her.

WHAM—!

"Gahk?!"

Azonia's punch struck Aru in the stomach again.

Thud—

As Aru collapsed, clutching his belly, Azonia spoke in a chilling voice.

"Let me make this clear. I hate cat-kin and golden aura more than anything. Don't forget that."

Gritting her teeth, Aru launched herself again.

"Oh? Still got fight in you?"

Azonia grinned wickedly and reached into the air.

Grab—!

She snatched Aru by the neck and hurled her at the approaching Lunia.

"Lunia! Watch out!"

Eiran rushed to help, but Azonia got there first and kicked her aside.

"Mm!"

Drianna swung her battle axe at Azonia's head.

Clang—!

Azonia stopped it with a single finger and smiled.

"I wonder…"

Then she looked toward Elena preparing her next spell.

"…if you'll all break eventually under the pressure?"

With a brutal grin, Azonia exploded with aura.