Then why are you making me do all of the work then? You won't grow your magic stat unless you use your magic." Tanya chuckled as she let a dozen more Refracted Beams fire towards the rear, where Bete roared about 'not needing any damn help!'. "Keep yourself above half, take a Mind potion if you drop below. Keep at least one Riveria-grade spell in the tank, okay?"
"A-alright, I can do this!" The elf stopped moving and began to chant.
"The unleashed streak of light."
"Bow limbs of the holy tree."
"You are an expert of the bow."
"Shoot, sniper of the fairies."
"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy!"
"Arcs Ray!" Leyfia cried out, and a solid beam of light that was as thick as Leyfia was tall shot out and targeted one of the Violas that was trying to get at Aiz's back. The beam slammed into the thing's bulbous noggin and evaporated it entirely.
Meryl, the Pallum Mage, clapped enthusiastically from her silent giant's shoulders while Tanya let out a soft but audible whistle. "Good job, Leyfia. Now, question time."
The elf flushed with the praise but trotted to walk side by side with Tanya. "Is that the spell's maximum power?'
"Yes, that is Arcs Ray's nominal power with the standard chant. Although I can empower it with additional effects by using Spell Modification Lines, Riveria-sama has been teaching me to use them since she believes this should be my a... 'Bread and Butter' spell!" The elf chirped next to her.
Tanya nodded. "Well then, see if you can't cut the power down at least three-quarters; these Violas are quite weak to magic, as you no doubt saw yourself. Since they're also attracted to magic I think it would be in your best interest to keep your magical signature as low as possible to avoid having them all rush directly at you. If you can fire more than one ray, then I would try that as well."
The girl hummed as they continued their march forward, "I can't really lower the power that much, but... I think I can split that single beam into four beams! It will just take up all of my Modification lines to give them the spell's homing properties."
"Oi, chibi! One got through! Let the weaklings handle it!" Bete hollered out from the rear, and Tanya turned to watch the Viola approach their rearguard.
"Rear-guard, let's show them what the Hermes familia can do!" Asfi called out as she adjusted her glasses, making Tanya wonder why she bothered with them; they were just going to get in the way during combat; she highly doubted that she needed them with all of the healing magics in the world in addition to the falna.
Tanya pushed Leyfia ahead towards the vanguard and told her to give that modified Arcs Ray spell a try while she observed the rear half of the Hermes familia in action. The dwarf woman slammed her shields into the ground, weathering the blows from the Viola's whips while the Pallum, Pock, took a running leap off her back and jumped straight into the damn thing's mouth!
The fuck!?
He did use his mace to keep the beast's jaws from closing in on him, and he stabbed the beast right in its magic stone with a knife. The monster's dying flails sent him tumbling back towards the group and Tanya idly noted that the body didn't seem to dissipate like the other monsters. She hummed. "I hope that such suicidal practices aren't how the Hermes familia gets things done."
Asfi clicked her tongue and clenched her fist. "No, no it is not. I'll have a discussion with him once this is all over, until then, we should keep moving. We shouldn't be too far from the Pantry."
The floor rumbled as rock broke away to reveal a side tunnel, and a woman stepped out wearing an angry expression. "Oi! Aria!"
Within the span of a heartbeat, Aiz broke off from the front of the formation and shot towards the woman with her sword flashing silver. Three thick vines sprouted from the ceiling and shot towards the floor, intent to cut her off. Bete, thankfully, was paying attention and managed to slide off to the other side to support Aiz, just as they had planned.
This meant that they were now missing their two strongest fighters and more Violas were now incoming from the front and the rear, although the numbers coming from the front were far less than those coming from the rear. "She's taken the bait! We need to push through! The Pantry should be just up ahead! Asfi, collapse the tunnel, rearguard push to the front and support the vanguard! Stay together!"
Tanya took a moment to drain half of a Mind potion- even if she was sitting at just under 75%, she was going to be leaned on by everyone else quite heavily.
Tanya scooped Asfi up and pushed her towards the ceiling where the woman showed off her Level 4 strength and tore out a decently sized chunk, her fingers clawing through the biomass and stone to carve out an alcove for a sizeable portion of Asfi's explosives. To their front and rear Violas charged in and died as the Hermes familia did their best to dispatch them quickly and efficiently. The stone-throwing guy was annoying smug at the fact he had the most kills out of all of the Hermes members, but it made sense because the Violas were too busy trying to eat their shield-bearing comrades, leaving the roofs of their mouths exposed.
To the front Leyfia was launching off an Arcs Ray, her modified variant every 30 seconds, which was actually pretty good considering a lot of mages would have taken at least a minute to do the same.
"Down, Tanya, I need the Burst Oil from Nelly." Asfi ordered and Tanya descended to where the human rearguard Leader was waiting with a dozen jars of the flammable oil. "The oil catches fire quite nicely, but if in a contained environment it will explode with judicious force."
Tanya grinned as she flew the Hermes familia Captain back up to the ceiling, the biomass already having formed a cap over their alcove and hardened. Asfi tore the mass out and began stuffing the oil jars into the nook before she took out four of her "Special Grade" grenades and placed them at the top of the pile.
The Hermes familia Captain reached into her pouch and pulled out a magic stone the size of an egg and concentrated, Mind pushing against the core until it cracked. She held onto it until more cracks started to spread over the surface and she gingerly placed it on top of the pile with a nervous, excited grin. She adjusted her glasses. "We have about 30 seconds to get away from here until this blows."
Tanya's eyes widened! "You hear that! 20 seconds! Move!"
The diminutive Level 1 Monster Rex slayer placed Andromeda onto the ground and she lanced out with Refracted Beam spells to clear their path, Tanya hovering above the group to slay anything that looked like it would slow them down.
There was a light in the distance, but they weren't going to make it that far down the tunnel. The teen looked back at where the hole was a spun up a double Active shell formula. "Shields to the rear! Form up! Make it tight, everyone behind them!"
The four shield-bearing members of the Hermes familia formed up and everyone packed in behind them. The double-thick Active Shell popped into being in front of their shields. She needed to cork the explosion and redirect it back down the tunnel; she didn't know how well these Level 3s and few Level 4s would handle the concussive forces, but she didn't want to find out.
The explosion was... decent. Certainly enough to get the job done.
A wave of pure force shot down the tunnel and smashed into Tanya's shields, which shattered like glass, but they had done their job well enough. The majority of the force was redirected back down the tunnel, but this caused an eddy in the currents which made Tanya's ears pop and her nose spurt. Red speckled her vision, and she knew that some blood vessels had popped in her eyes as well. The lack of sound also informed her that her eardrums had been blown out.
She toppled to the side and felt violently ill, but she managed to keep her lunch down as the world spun around her.
The young teen's fingers fumbled with the latch to her potion pouch, but a dainty pair of hands held her head in place while a potion was poured down her throat. Within seconds her hearing and equilibrium returned, and the blood disappeared from her vision. "Hol- huuuaaaaggghhhkkkk- ppttooo- hold of on using your potions! My healing magic is far less costly to use!"
Tanya sucked the coagulated blood from her nose and spat it out of her mouth. It seems that the Endurance stats of these Adventurers wasn't just for show- only those that had sensitive ears were having issues. Tanya was pulled to her feet by Asfi and she reached behind her head to grip Blutscher, pushing mana into it while she began chanting her healing magic.
The Violas from the rear had stopped coming with the collapse of the tunnel, and the biomass was busy filling in the gaps, and the ones who weren't injured from the blast were holding their own against the trickle of Violas that came from the opening in the tunnel to their front. "Spring Vitality."
"Spring Vitality."
"Spring Vitality."
"Spring Vitality."
It took four minutes to get everyone who needed the help healed up, but it was time and mana well spent- the healing potions were incredibly valuable, and the stamina potion-like effects of her spell were already doing wonders.
"That spell is quite effective, Tanya-san." Asfi remarked as they reorganized their formation to let the front guard rest while they continued their way towards the opening.
Tanya finished off the Mind potion and slipped the empty glass tube back into her potion holster. "It was the one I chose, but I get the feeling I should have picked the Area of Effect Heal, definitely going to grab that once this is over- the damn spellbooks cost 2 Million valis though, and that's with Leona giving me a discount!"
The woman hummed. "Hey, Thane, come back here and grab my bow and a quiver of my arrows. You've got access to Mind, so you should be able to use the enchantments."
The archer of the Hermes familia peeled himself away from the midguard and made his way over to Tanya. The girl stripped off the spare combat quiver off of her pack and handed the bow to him. He slipped his own bow over his back and adjusted his quiver to sit right next to it while Tanya's was clipped onto his hip. "Purple is Penetration, Silver is Explosion, and White was Split-Shot, right?"
"Reverse the colors for SS and EX arrows and you've got it."
"Never thought I'd ever get the chance to hold one of these bows in my lifetime." The elf man held the Alfheim bow in his hands and ran his fingers along the white and brown laminate wood. He tested the draw weight and grunted. "Yup, quite the draw, but nothing I can't handle. These enchanted arrows ought to do the trick. Hey! Let me shoot one!"
The elf nocked a standard arrow and shot at the furthest Viola, the arrow sinking into the roof of the monster's mouth but missing the core. "Hmmm... a few centimeters high, but nothing I can't account for. This thing has a lot of kick!"
The opening grew closer and closer, and the number of Violas slowed down until it was just one at a time. "When we get out of here, you will have to show me how you enchanted those arrows."
Tanya snorted. "I'm afraid you wouldn't have enough to pay me. I worked really hard for those spells, and I'm not about to just hand it over."
The woman clicked her tongue, but kept silent as their party stepped out of the tunnel and into the Pantry.
Spoiler: Monster Pantry
The area was completely bathed in a bright, red light that came from a titanic crystal in the center of the Pantry. Wrapped around the crystal were two equally massive creatures that looked vaguely similar to the Monster Rex that Tanya had defeated not a week prior- but these looked weaker and were smaller.
"Those parasitic plants are... draining the nutrients from the Pantry? Those are probably what's changing this floor of the Dungeon." The weretiger, Falgar, mused to himself.
"Look," Asfi pointed towards the walls, and Tanya activated her Long Distance Observation formula just in time to see a Viola get birthed out from the bio-muck on the wall. "This place is birthing those monsters and they have with them... cages? Are they transporting these beasts?"
Tanya ignored the obvious and panned her Formula towards the two figures that were standing on top of a mesa on the opposite side of the Pantry.
One was dressed in some kind of dress and had a horned mask on his face, with his eyes in clear view through her formula he was staring directly at them.
A few paces away from him was a man completely covered head to toe in robes that only left his eyes visible. In his hand he had some odd ceremonial-looking dagger and was moving his body like he was trying to amp up a crowd; his attention was completely on the audience he was trying to rile up.
Asfi tapped Tanya's shoulder. "Can you fly up and give us a look at who that robed man is yelling at?"
The young teen had to climb nearly a hundred meters into the air before she had a clear line of sight on them, the group of a hundred were all packed into a depression that made seeing them difficult. Tanya zoomed in as far as her formula could allow, and she saw something that she never thought she'd ever see again.
Blind, religious fervor.
If they didn't have cloth in front of their faces no doubt they would be frothing at the mouth. One in the crowd reached up and gently tugged on some kind of handle and- his robes shifted just enough to display a dozen dangling grenade-like objects before the clothed covered it back up.
Tanya shot back down to the ground and grabbed Asfi by her arms. "They have a hundred people down there, Asfi. We will need to kill them all with a single attack, I have no problem doing this but-"
"Wait, we need to capture one of them alive-."
"Did you not see the same thing I was seeing!?" Tanya growled as her hand cut through the air, "Those men are fanatics, they are fucking suicide bombers! If you get close? They blow themselves up. If you think you can capture them, be my guest, but don't expect me to carry those bodybags home. The crowd is insane, Andromeda, there will be no reasoning with them. They are working with whoever is making these monsters, and are a threat to Adventurer that delves into the Dungeon and a threat to the surface as well."
The woman swallowed as she watched Tanya run the illusory feed again. "They are creating monsters by the hundreds, down here, Asfi al Andromeda. Taking them alive is a luxury we do not have; if we had returned to the surface and gotten together an actual team capable of handling this then I would entertain the possibility of captures, but not here."
Tanya let go of the woman whirled around to face the other slackjawed member of her posse.
"Members of the Hermes familia. We are cut off, surrounded, and just over that ridge are a hundred people of unknown Levels who are being whipped up into a frenzy. The only thing that want is to kill you, and they don't care if it means they have to blow themselves up to do it. I don't know if anyone here hasn't yet killed a fellow mortal, but I'm going to tell you this right now: If you don't harden your heart and do what needs to be done, then you will die down here." Tanya's golden eyes swept over the Hermes familia members and she slowly lifted off the ground.
"I'm going to do you all a favor and make the first strike, anyone else that survives will be your responsibility, because Leyfia and I will be busy killing the Violas they inevitably send after us. Use the tunnel as a choke point, but have someone keep eyes to the rear in case some manage to make their way through the cave-in."
"Why?" It was a tiny voice, and Tanya looked at Lulune as the young cheinthrope woman covered her mouth with both of her hands.
"Because, I hate fanatical murder-cultists, Lulune. They're the worst."
Tanya climbed back up to her initial 100 meters and brought up her spell array.
Spoiler: Evil Cultists Should Just Die!
The area was definitely large enough to set off a big boom without worrying about getting pulped by the shockwave, but she calculated it anyways, and her projections were roughly what she thought they were. A Dual Explosive Formula should be more than enough to vaporize the cultists and the two men eyeing them with contempt in their postures.
10, 9, 8.
Look down on her? How ludicrous! How absurd! She was one of the strongest mages in the world, and how dare that masked bastard stare down at her from his nose! She was way higher in the air than he was!
7, 6, 5.
The first Explosive spell was completed, her maximum yield. She didn't want any of them surviving; the mesa should redirect the blast around the Pantry Quartz to keep the area stable and prevent it from caving in. She spun it out to the outer ring of her Type-95 markings and formulated the second explosive spell.
4, 3.
Those idiots, they really didn't know how much danger they were in!
2, 1.
Tanya broke out into a hysterical, methe-fueled laugh as the Explosive spell formed in the middle of their formation, a brilliantly glowing orb, and they all just stared at it. The Violas surrounding them went nuts and swarmed over the cultists to get at the glowing sphere of magical energy-the snakes striking out.
0.
"Boom."
The red and blue light of the Pantry was drowned out in white.
[Aiz Wallenstein]
This time was... better, Aiz thought. She wasn't nearly as strong as she could have been with a Rank Up, but Tanya showed her that one didn't need to Level Up to become stronger. An Adventurer didn't have to Rank Up as soon as it was available to her, and upon learning that she felt undeniably foolish.
All of those years she chased the next Level, taking it as soon as she was eligible. She essentially gave away hundreds of stat points or more in her quest for immediate power. It was foolish, impulsive, wasteful.
Childish.
It had been a tough pill to swallow, and she spent more than a few hours with her face buried in Riveria's skirt weeping at her mistake.
One could continue to grow, to hone their skills, even after their Rank Up. How much stronger would she be today if she had done as Tanya did?
Her recent Status Update with Loki-sama showed that she could be stronger, even without the additional Level.
Aiz Wallenstein
Level 5
Strength: 564 D -> 669 C
Endurance: 553 D -> 671 C
Dexterity: 827 A -> 945 S
Agility: 824 A -> 939 S
Magic: 900 S -> 944 S
She didn't need to Rank Up to fight this woman! She just needed to hone herself, and her blade.
She could fight now that her head was clear; even if the woman tried to throw her off by mentioning her Mother's name... Aiz could fight.
Especially with Bete by her side.
Bete was stronger and faster than he was before, and they slipped into a dance that the two of them had perfected in their many years in the Dungeon together.
Sure, they were a little rusty as they had grown apart and relied on each other less and less as they climbed the Ranks, but this fight- this sense of urgency that dwelled within their hearts- was bringing them back into synchronicity.
Aiz thrust towards the woman's face while Bete's blades cut towards her back. She was strong, but she couldn't fight two near-peer opponents at once. It was hit-and-run, a style of fighting that Bete hated more than anything else, but when Tanya told them in no uncertain terms to "put that bitch six feet under as soon as you can, because we're likely to be drowning in monsters" the werewolf put his gripes aside to accomplish their goal.
There was no 'feeling each other out', no 'testing one's limits'- this was a fight to the death from the very beginning because this woman was a monster.
"If she's willing to cave a man's head in and then wear his face to walk through town, then she isn't human anymore. The best thing you can do is put her down as quickly as possible. Absolutely no mercy. Don't give her a chance to breathe, cut her the fuck down, do you understand me? If she has room to talk you aren't trying to kill her hard enough. If I find out that you tried to fuck around... well then, you'll just have to find out, won't you?"
That sent a cold droplet of sweat down Aiz's spine, she knew that Bete felt the same way.
The Sword Princess ducked under a vicious backswing and Desperate lashed out to cut the woman's knee, leaving a shallow gash. Her skin was incredibly tough, but Aiz hadn't yet seen an opening to use her newest Aerial spell yet. It was a spell that she formulated with her Wind Magic after seeing Tanya effortlessly cut through monsters far stronger than herself. It was something that Riveria was more than happy to help her put together, as the High Elf Princess was quite excited to talk about the theory behind the Mage Blade spell Tanya used.
Bete delivered a powerful dual-handed upswing, shoving the woman's guard up, and Aiz saw her chance. "Aerial: Tempest Cutter!"
Sawing wind enclosed around her blade, adding to the weapon's height and length, nearly doubling her reach. The wind-infused Desperate swung towards her torso, but the woman realized that something was up and she sacrificed one of her arms as she kicked off the ground to try to retreat. It was just enough, but the woman still lost an arm and suffered a deep cut across her breast and collarbone; the howling winds couldn't drown out the sickening sound of the woman's durable flesh being chewed up.
She screamed in rage and agony, her free hand dropping her sword while her missing arm came up to keep pressure on her breast, her sword hand gripping at her stump just that terminated halfway down her wrist. Bete didn't have any sympathy for their enemy's plight, and while he wasn't in position to cut her with his blades, his leg was able to lash out and fold her over his shin before the force transferred to her body and shot her down the tunnel.
The woman tried to stand up, she tried to talk. "What is different about you now, Aria? You're not that much stronger than last time, but you're still-"
Bete's foot caught her in her gut again and he kicked her through the wall, the woman spinning and tumbling through the air to impact the side of a mesa on the opposite side of the- oh, this was the Pantry.
She looked at Bete and held her sword up, and he looked a little sheepish. "Ah, right, should'a just let you stab her to death and be done with it. Shit."
Her lips quirked and for the first time in a long time she felt some genuine amusement bubble up. "Hey, you aren't going to hold that over me, are you, Aiz?"
She blinked and her smile widened slowly as she turned to survey the battlefield. "Only the weak beg, isn't that right Bete?"
The werewolf let out a whining groan.
For now, their friends were in danger, and it was up to them to see them safe.
Aiz and Bete leapt forward.
[Tanya von Degurechaff]
Somehow the masked guy had managed to live, which was a problem.
A huge fucking problem.
The guy was directing the Violas to go after the Hermes familia while Tanya had to contend with the massive plant monsters that unwormed their way from around the Red Quartz of the Monster Pantry. "Leyfia, that big spell? Start preparing it, because once I kill one of these things Mask Man isn't going to continue playing with Asfi."
Asfi was approaching this with all due diligence, the woman ranging out and doing her best to play 'keep away' while the rest of the Hermes familia holed up in the tunnel. The Pallum Mage, Meryl, was doing her best to keep the approaching Viola with her fire magic and the incendiary oils they had, but the goddamn place was crawling with the man-eating plants! Leyfia was doing excellent though, the young woman firing off a few spells before resting behind the front line, drinking her Mind Potions to keep just enough in the tank for a Riveria-Special.
Every once in a while Tanya would catch sight of the elvish archer firing out one of her enchanted arrows; sometimes he'd get lucky and take out three or four Violas with a single Armor Penetrating arrow, other times the Split-Arrows filled the skies as he fired two or three at a time, the magical missiles perforating the monster's flesh.
"Rrraaaahhhh! Viscum! Why are you playing around with your meal! Eat her already!" The Masked Man roared as Asfi disappeared from sight after putting on some sort of invisibility helmet.
Where the fuck was she keeping that?
Tanya managed to send off a quick Explosive spell into the crowd of Violas that were trying their best to overrun the Hermes familia members, but she really had problems of her own to deal with. Two problems.
Two big, sneky, viney, wriggly wormy problems.
A giggle escaped her lips.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on you big gummi worms, come to Tanya!"
That counted as a giggle, right?
She shot upwards towards the ceiling as fast as her formula could go, and she tried her best to evade their sweeping strikes, but when the enemies were twice as thick as a California Redwood it was hard.
She still managed it, sort of.
The glancing blow shattered her left arm and it was only thanks to her prodigious Mage Reinforcement that she didn't lose grip on Blutscher. Another laugh escaped her lips as she transferred the spear-stave to her other hand so that she could begin chanting her healing spell; why not pull a potion?
Because her arm was broken, silly! And her potion pouch was on her left side. Why? Because it was typically the dominant arm that sustained most injuries, but in this case Tanya was now in the minority of test groups.
What fun!
The combat was fun, and the searing pain as her arm streamed behind her, flopping like a flag in the wind, made the whole experience seem worthwhile.
To think that she had so much trepidation coming down here, this was the best!
"Spring Vitality." She intoned with a giggle.
Oh gosh, the falna just made Magic so damn easy! All she had to do was say some silly words, mold a little mana, and BAM! Instant spell! No calculations or nothing, man, what a time to be alive.
A pained shout roared from her lips as her arm was forcibly reformed, and she just barely was able to blink the pain away from her eyes in order to shift her current course 90 degrees to the side to avoid one of the massive worm things trying to flop onto her body like a whale.
A flare shot up from the group, just as she and Leyfia had discussed.
Okay, she was preparing the spell now. Five minutes, that's all they had to do was survive five minutes. She turned a wicked grin towards the massive wormie-gurmies and activated her most powerful Mage Blade. "Time to show you kiddies just what I did to your big brother!"
Tanya launched herself at them with every ounce of speed she had, preemptively Reinforcing her body with every ounce of control she could muster. The Mage blade howled, and the Aerial mage slipped past the first wormy-boi and drove her spear-stave into the side of the other wormy-boi and began to split it down the middle as she flew by. This guy's hide wasn't nearly as tough as their big bro's but it still required a lot of effort to make sure that this dude's insides were bared for all of the world to see. They were purple and green. Very gross.
The second boi fell over in a shriek and it balled up on itself like a snake, which had the (un)fortunate side effect of ejecting all of its worm-sneky-vine innards out onto the ground of the Pantry below. It quickly died after that, and the Masked Man howled in disbelief. "Viscum! Noooo~! How could that possibly happen, no one could defeat you!"
He turned his attention to Tanya and pointed directly at her. "You will pay for this! Viscum, kill her quickly! Violas, devour her friends! Let none survi-hck!"
He reached up and caught the invisible blade that Asfi had tried to shove into his throat. Granted, she almost penetrated (hee hee!), but his skin was admittedly very tough. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and into the ground, cratering it. Tanya heard a cry and she just barely managed to dodge the jaws of the second wormy boy, but his vines snapped out and the diminutive Loki Executive felt- PAIN.
Her legs were both broken, and she was hurtling out of the air. Only the glorious magical methe surging through her veins allowed her to adjust her glide angle and fire a refracted beam into the snek-boi's face at full power. The beast toppled over with a hole punched through its melon, and Tanya had to admit that it was a lucky guess; who would have thought that its magic stone would be in the roof of its mouth too?
If Tanya was the one making these monsters she would have moved them around and-
A quick glance while she was ruminating allowed her to slow her rate of descent just enough to not be spattered all of the Mesa. The fact that she skidded next to Asfi's gasping, prone form was quite lucky. The Masked Man hefted her up by her neck and began to squeeze, ever so slowly.
OKAY, NOT SO LUCKY!
For him!
His lips peeled back and he ripped her spear from her hands and flung it far away. "Filthy human scum. Any last words before I see how far I can pop your head like a dandelion?"
She grinned and thrust her hand out towards his chest; he easily caught her thrust just a few centimeters away. The man lifted his foot up and stomped down on Asfi's chest, pinning her place- the woman's sword just barely out of reach. "What were you planning on doing with that? You're so weak, a Level 2 at best."
"Heh, heheheheheheheheeheh!" She giggled and her Mage Blade shot from her hand and pierced the man's chest, surprisingly enough, he died instantly. Not even a death gurgle! "I was going to do tha- auuuggggghhhhhh! Oh my Goddess the pain!"
Tanya's totally witty victory one-liner had been interrupted when his corpse unceremoniously dropped her to the ground, right on top of her broken legs. Her cries were shrill as a banshee, but thankfully Andromeda was only suffering from having half of her rib-caged collapsed, so she was able to stuff two potions into Tanya's mouth, which further increased the pain as her broken limbs were reset and slowly began to mend.
Tears spilled down her cheeks and the pain was no longer fun anymore.
Still she needed to repay Asfi, so she rolled onto her side to grab her own potions and stuff them into Asfi's beautiful, pouty lips.
She deserved both of her high-grade potions, even if she probably only needed one.
Better to be safe than sorry.
They both cried and shed tears over the immense pain they were enduring all the while their friends fought like hell to keep the Violas away. Tanya lifted her head off the ground to see them still holding on, and she let her head rest against the stone for a few moments before she spoke up.
She looked down at their intertwined fingers and Tanya blurted out. "Are we friends now? I think friends comfort each other through mind-numbing amounts of pain."
The woman's eyes rolled incredulously as she barely managed to gurgle out a response. "Mmmghglk-."
Ah, her rib cage had healed, but her lung was still reforming.
Good to know.
With the mind-numbing pain starting to recede, Tanya began to pull on her mana and started the chant for her healing Spell. Within a minute Asfi was back on her feet and racing towards the Hermes familia members who were... admittedly looking far worse than they were a minute ago. She held off on her own healing and let the potions work instead, the young teen fired off a few Explosive spells and Refracted beams into the carpet of Violas that were trying to drown them.
Idly, she downed her second Mind potion and then a Stamina potion right after it. Tanya managed to prop herself up to a seated position and that gave her a much more commanding view of the area. Not much better, but she couldn't fly until her fucking legs healedandohgodthisitchessobad!
Another Explosive spell, and another, and another. Take all of her anger, rage, and frustration at this GOD AWFUL ITCHING! "FUUUUUCCCCKKKK YYYYYOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!!"
Another explosion sounded out, and Tanya's head shot over to the opposite side of the Pantry where a woman missing a hand sailed through the air to impact... the mesa that Tanya was on.
Wow, two for two, this mesa sure is lucky!
The woman pulled herself out of the rubble and she looked pissed. Tanya shot off a Refracted Beam, and the bitch somehow managed to twist herself out of the way.
She was also just a few meters away from Tanya.
Fuuuuuccckkkkk, so not lucky!
Tanya managed to roll onto her belly and used her flight formula to speed herself up as she dragged herself towards the direction where the Fuck Boy threw her Blutscher. The woman turned towards Tanya with murder in her eyes, but unlike the Fuck Boy, she didn't seem the type to gloat and choke her to death.
Though, the repeat of killing her the same way she killed the Fuck Boy would be the punch line for a Norse Comedy.
Those were far less tragic than Greek comedies, right?
A dozen Violas shrieked and climbed up the mesa and went straight for Tanya, and she had to hold off on her Great Escape to put them down. Refracted Beams blazed out, and she realized that she was now getting pretty damn low on mana.
Two streaks and blurs shot over her head, and they revealed themselves to be Aiz and the Angry Lady. Bete alighted on the ground next to her and the werewolf scooped her up. She was like a Princess now! Take that Aiz! "You kill the Big Guy, Chibi?"
Tanya blinked and pointed in a direction. "My spear-stave, I want it back."
The man smirked and leapt into the air, his powerful legs carrying the two of them. "And to answer your question, yes. He was super strong, easily Level 5, almost 6... I think if how he toyed around with Asfi is any indication. Get this, the man had his hand around my throat and he asked me if I had any last words! I stabbed him through his chest with my Mage Blade!"
She chortled indulgently as they leapt from rock to rock, the werewolf Executive cutting through the Violas with his kicks like an Executioner's ax. Finally, they caught sight of the spear-stave embedded into the wall; the spines had prevented it from over-penetrating, but they were bent all to hell. She activated the Mage Blade formula to easily remove it, and with the mithril weapon in her hand she was able to activate her flight formula so that Bete could have his hands free; the werewolf pulling his weapons free from their sheaths. "You fine, Chibi?"
"I shattered my arm and shoulder, shattered both of my legs, and was almost choked to death." She looked over at him and grinned. "Never better. But I'm low on mind, so let's get back to the others so I can get to my pack and grab a Mind potion. I don't want to Mind Down."
The werewolf's gaze was difficult to pin down, but he quirked his lips. "Come on, I'll escort you back. Then I gotta go kill that Bitch with Ainz."
"Oookkkkaaayyyy~, let's do it!"
They fought their way back to the others, and even with Asfi there, they weren't having a good time. She launched a Refracted Beam and slew a Viola that was attempting to throw one of the Pallums into his maw like a snack, and Bete charged on ahead and cut through them as best he could. His swords were dulling, and his kicks were flagging.
Tanya touched down behind friendly lines and stumble-dashed to her pack and pulled out the wooden potion cases. She opened them up and sighed in relief as there was still one healing, one mana, and one stamina potion left. She downed the Mind potion and groaned as the world opened up to let her breath in the mana once more.
She lifted off and landed next to the vanguard. "Bete! Come'ere!"
The werewolf killed one last Viola before he touched down. "Hold out your blades."
The man was trained well and he held out his blades. She ran her Mage Blade formula along the edges to give them a quick sharpen and then she crouched down and touched his boots. "Hold still, this will take a minute but I'm going to enchant your boots."
"Fuck, we ain't got a minute, but hell, what are ya' givin' me, chibi?" His voice was stressed, but Tanya didn't mind.
She looked up at him and grinned, "Armor Piercing."
He grinned back savagely, but it was at this point both of them realized just how close Tanya's face was to his crotch, her chin almost brushing against his fly, and she pulled back with a blush staining her cheeks and went back to work, running the Magical Calculations needed to imbue the armor with the enchantment.
Lulune shrieked as she dodged a leaping Viola, and now that she thought about it... it was surprising just how maneuverable these plants were. Plants shouldn't move so fast, truly, this was a crime against nature!
The werewolf's boots glowed a bright blue as the scrollwork of the spell spread across them and she tapped him on his thigh. "Give us some breathing room and then help Aiz, you've got three minutes-"
"Two minutes!" Asfi shouted as she sidestepped a plant monster and shoved her sword up through the roof of its mouth.
"Two minutes to kill that Bitch and get Aiz back here before Leyfia unleashes one of Riveria's spells. A big one. Now, fly!"
Bete peeled back his lips and howled at the world as he leapt over the front line and tore through the tide of monsters like a spear parting a river. It was impressive how many he killed on his way out, but the damn things were being birthed from the ceiling and falling like rain. On the other side of the Pantry, the battle between Aiz and the Bitch played out like a scene out of Dragon Sphere Z.
Tanya lifted off of the ground to give herself enough altitude to drop off two Explosive spells into the hoard before she began chanting the Spring Vitality spell. The poor dwarf was more blood than woman at this point, but she was still standing with a single shield in hand. Somehow.
"Tanya coming up from the rear, Elilly!" Lulune shouted out, her voice cracking, and Tanya touched down and placed her hand on the burly woman's back.
"Spring Vitality." The dwarf roared as her many wounds closed up and she got back into the action, her shield just a swing'n away. She really should have an ax.
"Tanya!" It was the perpetually silent elf, Suicia, that shouted out. Goddess her voice was simply Divine. No wonder she never talked! "Save Jose!"
Spoiler: The Worst Kind of Yoink!
Tanya's eyes snapped over the male cheinthrope being lifted out of the formation, and a quick Refracted Beam speared the monster.
Asfi shot forward and Tanya covered her, putting down any Viola that got close. The familia Captain wrenched the decreased monster's mouth open and pulled his mangled arm and hand out. His fingers had been pulped by the more human of the monster's dentition. He yelled like a banshee as Asfi sat him down next to Tanya, and she started chanting.
Oh come on, please stop screaming! Tanya broke both of her legs and she didn't yell this loud! (That was a lie.)
"Spring Vitality." His arm began to mend and Leyfia spoke up as the winds whipped around her magic circle.
"Tanya-sama, I'm ready!"
"Bete! Aiz, over here NOW!" Tanya roared out through her Communication formula, and she got up to her feet to spam a quartet of explosive spells down the mainline drag to create an opening for her two familia members.
She dropped to a knee as her world spun. She opened her "lungs" and did her best to "breathe", but the amount of mana she had in the tank was so low that staving off unconsciousness was the best she could do.
Bete and Ainz touched down, looking like turds that had been rolled in dirt, put in a paper bag, and then lit on fire and subsequently stepped on by an old man, but they were alive, and they were whole.
Tanya grinned. "Send it, Leyfia. Make them all burn."
"REA LEVANTINE!"
The world burned, and Tanya was just sad that she couldn't stay awake long enough to see it.
A/N: Phew! This one was a doozy! I think I managed to follow the events but still made it my own. Tanya's spells really came through for her here, but she does not have a High Ranking Adventurer's Endurance, and she paid the price for it. I think I did pretty well in keeping the scene balanced while keeping the tension up without over-blowing it.
Tanya and Bete continue their slow-burn bromance, some more understanding ensues! Leyfia gets her chance to be more useful and have actual development!
A few changes to point out though:
- With Tanya flying Leyfia (and without Filvis around) they were able to make incredible time. Before they could only move at Leyfia's speed, and had to take frequent breaks. Tanya's presence meant that they were able to catch up to the Hermes familia really quickly, well before they should have.