"Ha!"
At the rear, Raul and Tsubaki were fighting hard, cutting down the Virgas that kept swarming in from the sides.
Riveria and Lefiya, serving as artillery mages, were in the midst of chanting their spells.
Raul, who had just sliced through a Virga with one strike, was panting heavily. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one charging toward him. Without pausing to catch his breath, he pulled a few attribute Rune Stones from his belt pouch and hurled them at the creature.
A blast of fire and wind exploded, burning the Virga into charcoal. Even the acid inside it splattered out as its body stiffened on the ground.
"Don't let your guard down on the front lines."
Just as Raul was about to exhale in relief, his nerves instantly tensed. A giant flower had already locked onto him.
Before he could react, a dark silhouette darted forward. With a swift swing of its weapon, the flower's bud was sliced clean in half.
"Raul, stay focused. This isn't a game."
"Yes!"
Tsubaki's expression was grim as she watched the gathering horde of Virga and Violas.
While neither creature was particularly strong—one well-placed hit was enough to kill them—the sheer number was overwhelming.
Looking out, the Virga crawling in from the rainforest could only be described as a dense swarm.
Raul didn't even dare breathe now. He stayed locked on the approaching Violas and Virga, ready to strike the moment any of them breached the safety perimeter.
Just then, Riveria, still chanting, suddenly opened her eyes. Her magical energy surged to its peak.
"...Burn it all—Sword of Surtr. My name is Alf!"
"Rea Laevateinn!"
With a massive surge of magic, flames erupted from the ground and ceiling, forming a blazing storm that closed in on the Spirit from both sides.
Sensing the danger, the Spirit instantly wrapped itself in the petals surrounding its body.
But the raging flames incinerated even the toughest petals in an instant.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
The burning heat caused the Spirit to feel pain for the first time, prompting it to cry out instinctively.
'As expected of the Nine Hell's attack magic—amplified by Haruhime's magic and my Rune Stones, it's unleashed devastating power.'
It wasn't easy to hurt the Spirit so severely that it responded on instinct.
Bell couldn't help but admire how the Nine Hell could wield destructive magic to such a degree.
'The final line of defense is down. Looks like it's time to go all in.'
Bell didn't believe the expedition party could level up without a serious push. And now was the perfect time to give it to them.
The last defense had been shattered.
Riveria's overwhelming magic tore through the Spirit's final barrier with sheer force and brutality.
The madness in Finn's eyes faded slightly as he began swinging his spear with renewed vigor.
The path was now open—they just had to charge in.
"Crack!"
The sound of the ground splitting echoed in his ears.
'I was ready for this!'
Finn had kept a close eye on the ground as he ran. Knowing the Spirit's attack pattern in advance, there was no way he wouldn't be prepared.
He swiftly swung his twin spears. The moment he saw the ground-born thorns emerging, he reacted immediately.
One wind-infused spear stabbed straight ahead. As it pierced through the spikes, his other spear slammed hard into the ground.
There was a loud blast as the ground where the spear struck caved in, and the surrounding thorns were blown apart by the pressure of the attack.
Finn had no intention of stepping into the same trap twice. He clearly remembered the pitfall from a minute ago and was determined not to fall for it again.
As his focus shifted, the burns on the Spirit's body had already mostly healed. It began chanting swiftly.
"Flash, rays of light. Tear through the darkness. Your envoy beseeches you, Lux. Incarnate of light. Queen of luminosity—"
"Light Burst!"
With the short incantation, a massive magic circle formed around the Spirit's body.
It spun rapidly, gathering light from all around until it condensed into a glowing orb.
But the target wasn't the mages in the back—it was Finn at the very front.
The rapidly forming light orb shot toward him in an instant.
"Get the hell out of the way!"
With a furious roar, a mass of flame slammed into the light orb.
The flames wrapped around it, devouring it bit by bit. In a flash, the fire swelled to several times its original size. Magic held boundless power—but the body wielding it had limits.
"Gah!"
The Spirit's spell carried immense magical force, and Bete's body—having absorbed the brunt of it—began to hemorrhage.
His bones creaked and cracked; even the slightest movement might shatter them.
"Hah!"
Covered in blood, Bete looked like a demon out of hell. Yet despite the pain twisting his face, there was no fear—only a savage grin.
"No way I'm stopping here!"
His burning willpower pushed his broken body forward.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Even the smallest motion sent fractures rippling through him.
"RAAAH!!!"
All of his remaining magic surged to his feet. Flames gathered beneath him, and his right foot glowed like a miniature sun.
Move.
"Charge, damn it!"
Pouring every ounce of strength into his body, Bete drove his blazing right foot forward like a soccer kick.
The moment the flames launched from his foot, they exploded outward—larger than the previous light orb—and streaked straight toward the Spirit's face.
The Spirit's internal alarms flared. It hastily summoned vines from the ground for defense.
But the moment the fire touched the vines, they turned red-hot and melted away. The entire process took barely a second.
"BOOM!"
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!"
The Spirit's anguished scream echoed as Bete collapsed, his right foot charred like burnt wood. Yet even in pain, he cracked a triumphant grin.
The fire struck the Spirit head-on, melting its body completely before crashing into the wall behind it, leaving a sizable crater.
The Spirit, pierced by the flame, had already lost half of its body.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon(.)com/PinkSnake