After some negotiation, the girl captured by Ais pulled out a sphere from herself and handed it over.
"What is this?"
Ais and Lefiya both stared in surprise at the green crystal orb resting in Ais's hand.
Inside the orb swirled a green liquid—suspended within it was a fetus.
Its eyes were disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body, and long curly hair flowed down to its shoulders, giving it an oddly feminine appearance.
As Ais gazed at the orb, her pupils shrank.
A strange sensation overcame her.
As though their hearts were beating in sync, Ais felt her own pulse race wildly.
The moment her eyes met those of the fetus, her blood boiled.
"What is this thing?"
A pulsing hum reverberated deep in her ears, and an unbearable sensation—like worms crawling under her skin—washed over her, making her want to vomit.
Dizzy and disoriented, Ais couldn't withstand it any longer. She collapsed to her knees.
"Ais!"
Seeing the strange look on Ais's face, Lefiya quickly snatched the orb from her hands and backed away.
At that instant, the clear sound of a flute pierced the air, followed by the howling of wind and a sharp explosion.
Lefiya didn't recognize the first sound, but the second was unmistakable.
It was Shirou's attack.
"Brother!"
Spurred by the attack as well, Ais immediately drew her sword and prepared for battle.
Though she hadn't yet seen the enemy, she trusted that Shirou wouldn't strike rashly.
With a rumble of cracking earth, several plant monsters suddenly emerged.
"Lefiya, go ahead and take this orb to the captain."
At Ais's words, Lefiya stopped and turned back.
Now, she would only be a burden. Because of the orb, Ais couldn't get close enough to protect her properly.
And these monsters were sensitive to magic—Lefiya would only slow Ais down.
The orb was far more important.
Elsewhere, after attacking the figure who had been preparing to play the flute, Shirou leapt to a higher vantage point to observe.
Engaging in close combat now would be suicidal. He could only rely on ranged attacks to bring the enemy down.
After all, the level gap was terrifying.
This was a Level 6 adventurer—not just a Level 6 monster.
The difference between adventurers and monsters lay in combat mastery. A skilled adventurer could easily outmatch monsters of the same level.
Well, aside from the massive Dungeon bosses.
In short, fighting adventurers was a completely different experience.
Although Shirou generally excelled at battling humans, the imbalance in stats between them was simply too vast.
If the two clashed head-on, it would be like Hercules fighting Shinji. How could he possibly win?
So, no matter how skilled he was in melee, he wasn't foolish enough to fight under such a disadvantage.
"I wonder if my attack even worked."
Watching the flames and smoke rising in the distance, Shirou tracked his opponent's movements closely.
He knew this woman could stop Lefiya's enhanced Arcs Ray with her bare hands.
She was a monster.
Suddenly, the sound of a distant flute echoed once again. Realizing the woman wasn't badly injured, Shirou projected several more magic arrows and fired relentlessly.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The explosions kept coming, flames surging higher as smoke thickened.
But it was already too late.
Watching the plant monster in front of Ais and the countless others rising from the lake, Shirou couldn't help but sigh.
"I found you!"
A sudden voice rang out, and Shirou instantly leapt back. A flash of light struck where he had just stood.
At the same time, the dense smoke began to clear.
Shirou looked at the object that had nearly hit him.
A pair of gauntlets.
"Throwing away your own armor to attack? What a pathetic strike!"
"It's only a disguise to hide my identity. What's the problem with discarding it?"
As the smoke dispersed, Shirou saw her clearly at last. The woman's concealing armor was in tatters.
Even she hadn't been able to avoid Shirou's sudden barrage of arrows completely.
Still, the armor had absorbed most of the damage.
Shirou raised his bow again, aiming directly at her.
"You're the one who assassinated Hashana," he said coldly.
With that, he loosed the arrow.
The woman swung her sword, deflecting the incoming shots.
"It seems you don't care to hear my explanation."
"You've already summoned these monsters. What more needs explaining?"
"Fair enough."
Accepting that a fight was inevitable, the woman removed her remaining armor piece by piece, revealing voluptuous curves and flawless skin beneath.
She was indeed the same woman for whom Hashana had once booked Billy's inn to share a night of intimacy.
Now freed of her restraints, she gripped her massive sword tightly, narrowing her eyes as she stared across the distance at Shirou.
But he was simply too far away.
He had ranged attacks—she did not.
"What if I…" she murmured to herself, gazing at the sword in her hand.
Then suddenly, she hurled her blade like a spear toward Shirou, while simultaneously charging at him.
"A feint and a surprise strike?"
Dodging the thrown weapon, Shirou immediately drew his katana to intercept the rapidly approaching woman. If he'd had more time, he could have projected Kanshou and Bakuya instead.
He shifted constantly, maintaining distance.
Her top speed was terrifying—simply overwhelming.
Each of Shirou's counters barely managed to intercept her blows, preventing her from closing in completely.
Otherwise, despite the gap between them, her speed was enough to cross it in only three seconds.
Unable to reach him at full pace, the woman abandoned the pursuit and instead retrieved her weapon.
For an adventurer, fighting armed versus unarmed meant two entirely different levels of strength.
Just like Tiona and Tione—when armed, they could crush plant monsters in an instant, but without weapons, the fight would drag on bitterly.
The woman frowned, staring at Shirou who remained beyond her reach.
This enemy was truly troublesome.
While the two faced off, two girls were running down the passage beneath them.
At that sight, Shirou's pupils contracted sharply.
"Lefiya is in danger!"
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."