With most of the obstacles in Finn's path cleared away by Fahr, he advanced with twin spears in hand, directly arriving before Valleta.
In Orario, there is a straightforward way to tell whether an adventurer possesses the potential to become a hero: whether they possess rare skills or magic.
Although common knowledge in Orario holds that higher level always trumps lower level, this is largely because top-tier adventurers typically possess unique skills or powerful spells.
Yet those with the makings of true heroes can still overcome adventurers of higher levels if those opponents are mediocre.
Take Finn, for instance—by activating the magic "Savage Magic Spear" and entering a berserk state, he was even capable of defeating Ottar in a fair fight, so long as Ottar didn't use skills or magic.
Even after being repeatedly afflicted by "Kasharod," Finn still displayed the strength to completely suppress Level 5 Valleta.
Valleta held in her hand a grotesque-looking longsword—clearly another cursed weapon.
But even with such a powerful weapon, she was being overwhelmed by a weakened Finn.
His twin spears moved like venomous snakes, every thrust deadlier than a fang.
Valleta struggled to deflect the attacks—she was only holding out thanks to "Kasharod" still being active; without it, Finn would've broken her long ago.
She cursed silently. Everything had been planned perfectly: lure the Loki Familia to the 24th floor, and then eliminate them using her magic, the assassination group, the cursed weapons, and most importantly, the corrupted fairy clone that had hatched into maturity.
She would fulfill her own long-held wish, the corrupted fairy would obtain the Sword Princess, and the annihilation of Loki Familia's elite would pave the way for Enyo's grand plan.
Everything had been so perfect—until Charles showed up and threw everything into chaos. Fahr's breath attack, comparable to an ultra-long incantation spell, flipped the entire battle in an instant.
Charles and the others now had the upper hand against the corrupted fairy, leaving her alone to face Finn.
Her red-haired ally didn't share her complicated emotions. For her, fighting Ais was the only thing that mattered.
"Wind!"
Ais thrust the Desperate Sword forward. The red-haired woman deflected the strike with her greatsword, but the emerald wind swirling around the blade shredded the bracer and sleeve on her arm like razors.
Wounds appeared one after another on her arm, and blood spurted out wildly. Yet in the next instant, her injuries healed completely.
Ais frowned. Her speed-based fighting style was particularly countered by "Kasharod."
That last strike had used the full power of "Ariel," yet it only managed to inflict a superficial wound.
She now understood why she couldn't overpower her opponent—and it wasn't primarily due to "Kasharod."
The real reason was that she hadn't been fighting with her full strength.
It wasn't that Ais didn't want to defeat her opponent, but rather, her skill hadn't activated.
Skill [Avenger Princess]
Activates freely
Significantly boosts attack power against monsters
Greatly boosts attack power against dragon-type enemies
The stronger the hatred, the more powerful the effect
Though she knew this enemy was no longer human—and even consumed magic stones like strengthened monsters—Ais simply couldn't perceive her as a monster. As a result, [Avenger Princess] never activated.
Charles had researched this kind of conditional skill activation extensively and knew that it wasn't based on objective truth, but on personal perception. The skill's trigger was purely subjective.
Just like that infamous ultimate Digimon—"If I say you're a dragon, then you're a dragon. I'll slay whoever I want!"
And the reason Charles had studied this was because he had a similar skill: [Dragon Slayer].
He'd trained himself in self-hypnosis specifically so he could always keep [Dragon Slayer] active.
"Long body, scales, uses magic—definitely a dragon-type!" That was Charles's classification of the corrupted fairy, and from that point on, [Dragon Slayer] was in full effect.
At first, Charles had felt a bit awkward convincing himself of such things—but by now, he had it down to a science.
He grabbed two vine-like tentacles darting toward him, and flames rushed along them toward the corrupted fairy. In response, it tore the tentacles off on its own and immediately launched an ultra-short incantation spell at Charles.
The corrupted fairy had learned its lesson—this was no situation for ultra-long chants. It now fired off ultra-short spells nonstop for greater efficiency.
Even so, the power behind these spells was far beyond standard.
An ice spear condensed midair and shot toward Charles—only to be blocked by Tione's massive dual blade.
Gareth leapt and cleaved open the petals and leaves protecting the corrupted fairy's humanoid form.
Tsubaki leapt from behind him and hurled her war hammer at the corrupted fairy.
It crashed heavily into its beautiful face, completely distorting its features.
Tsubaki caught the hammer on its return and frowned. Under normal circumstances, a full-force throw like that would pulverize the target—but now, the result was far from satisfying.
"Finn, are you done yet?"
Finn didn't answer—but the red light in his eyes blazed brighter, and his attacks became even fiercer.
Valleta kept backing up, quickly nearing the edge of her magic barrier. Just as Finn was about to force her out of the boundary, she suddenly revealed a smug grin.
Valleta jumped high into the air—and a group of black-robed figures surrounded Finn.
But these weren't holding cursed weapons. In their hands were activated magic swords.
The one who knows you best is your enemy. Just as Finn understood the workings of Valleta's "Kasharod," Valleta also knew the strengths—and weaknesses—of Finn's "Savage Magic Spear."
After all, it was a berserk-type magic. As Finn's fighting spirit surged, his ability to make rational judgments diminished.
He had several other spells to compensate for this flaw—but it was still a weakness that could be exploited.
So Valleta had carefully designed this trap for him.
More than a dozen magic swords fired simultaneously—spells of all kinds rained down on Finn.
Watching the explosion and smoke generated by the barrage, Valleta shouted, "That damn midget's not going down so easily—keep firing, don't stop!"
The black-robed figures obeyed without hesitation, unleashing a second wave of magical attacks on the blast zone.
"Not even the 'Brave' could survive an assault like this."
Valleta didn't understand what people meant by "raising a death flag," but her subordinate's words suddenly gave her a bad feeling.
From the smoke and fire emerged a figure—none other than Finn, looking slightly disheveled.
But that was all—he was only slightly worse for wear.
As he charged through and began slaughtering the robed figures with his twin spears, Valleta felt a rising wave of fear.
"Don't come any closer!"
That's the thing about the Dark Faction—they were only ever brave enough to manipulate from the shadows. Put them on a battlefield, and their cowardice quickly showed through.
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