Got it. Physical resistance maxed out, magic resistance at zero, right?
Leon glanced at the Lizardman Warrior, which Kureha had cut open in countless places and which was still stubbornly alive, its fighting strength if anything higher now that it had been enraged, and nodded.
"I can see that."
"Its physical defense really is high, but..."
Before he'd finished, he raised a hand and closed it on empty air. An ice-blue double-ring magic circle surfaced at his wrist, the two rings turning against each other.
True Essence of All Magic, activate!
Charging, charging, charging!
Leon gripped his right wrist with his left hand, folded down his ring finger and little finger, and bent the rest into a claw.
"Hah!"
"Ice Lance!"
The magic circle flashed and a ball of ice mist burst apart.
A meter-long lance of ice, thick as a forearm, tore through the air with a shrill hum and was in the enemy's face before it could blink.
The Withered-Bone Troll, mid-leap, had a large hole punched through its forehead with a wet crunch.
"And what are you going to do if I use magic?"
"Heh!"
The body hit the ground with a thud.
...
Over at Laurier's position.
"Aura, Margaret."
"The job of protecting Irisviel and Laurier is yours!"
Rose and Jeanne got to their feet, drawing their weapons and looking at the Lizardmen and Withered-Bone Trolls rushing in as they gave the order.
The two of them exchanged a glance and nodded gravely.
"Leave it to us. As long as we're here, we won't let them be harmed in the slightest."
Rose blinked, then laughed softly. "Oh my, little Aura, there's no need to be so serious. With me and Jeanne here, how could we let you face the monsters head-on? Besides, there are Lv.4 elites among these things. Having you two protect them is just so the fighting doesn't disturb Iri's treatment. It's an extra layer of insurance, that's all."
"Or is it that you don't trust our strength?"
Aura's small face reddened under Rose's teasing.
"I, I wasn't..."
Before she could finish, Rose gave her a small smile, then bent her knees, sank her hips, drew her arm back, her braid swinging with the motion, and hurled the shield.
"Pure White Kite Shield!"
"Hah!"
The shield, blazing with pure white light, spun into the monster pack like a wolf into a flock of sheep. Every time the light flashed it bounced off another monster, and in moments it had ricocheted dozens of times, a rolling string of impacts running through the horde.
Only when the light dimmed did the shield carve a cold arc through the air and fly back in front of Rose, caught cleanly by her silver gauntlet.
Then everyone saw, to their astonishment, that every monster the ricocheting shield had struck, whether Withered-Bone Troll or Lizardman Warrior, Poison Vermis or Harpy, cockatrice, jackal or iguana-lizard, so long as its resistance was a little higher, every last one of them was frozen in place, unable to move.
Stunned!
As for the ones with lower resistance...
One body after another dropped to the ground, dead on the spot.
Rose let out a breath, braced the shield on her forearm, and set herself as if at a starting line.
"Let's go, Jeanne!"
"Right!"
Having shown off their best work, Jeanne and Rose both kicked off the ground with the hint of a smile at the corners of their mouths, turning into two silver blurs as they cut into the enemy pack.
"Guh, buh, guh..."
Aura and Margaret stared at the sight, completely at a loss.
They'd never have imagined it... the Rose they adored had pulled off that incredible shield technique again.
"S, so strong!"
"That technique is a joy to watch, and it's even smoother than the last time she used it!"
Aura and Margaret weren't the only ones stunned by Rose's shield work. Laurier, who had been grimacing in pain, experienced a medical miracle of her own. She jerked her upper body upright and shouted, her small face both pained and excited.
"That, that's so cool!"
"Rose, I want to learn that!"
Irisviel's expression darkened, and she gave off the particular pressure only a healer has as she glared at the restless Laurier.
"Laurier, sit still!"
Meeting Iri's terrifying glare, Laurier's pointed ears drooped. She pulled her neck in and answered limply.
"...Okay."
...
Half a minute into the fight, with Aura and Margaret guarding Laurier and Irisviel, Jeanne and Rose were already on the front line. With those two powerful vanguards in, the defensive line that Persephone and Kureha had been holding, which had already been battered to pieces, firmed up at a visible rate.
"That's Jeanne and Rose for you!"
From behind, Aura saw Poison Vermis venom splash onto Jeanne's armor, and a holy light flashed across it, leaving her completely unaffected. Then the several Poison Vermis in front of Jeanne were swept aside by the Banner Lance in her hands and burst apart.
Beside her, Rose's one-handed swordsmanship left trailing afterimages, and after a run of wet cutting sounds one monster after another sprayed blood and went down in a row like dominoes.
"Frost Nova!"
Leon had only spared a little attention for Jeanne and Rose's fight when a whistle of air came from behind his head. On high alert as he'd been, he wasted no words and threw an Ice Ring right in its face.
The ice detonated, and before the sound faded he had twisted his hips and spun into a solid roundhouse kick that sent the whole Lizardman Warrior flying sideways. It landed headfirst in the thick snow of the Blizzard's field like a torn sack, its sharp teeth and blood spraying across the ground, its lizard face kicked into a shape that barely resembled a face anymore, and it passed out before it could even scream.
"Son of a bitch, the little sneak actually tried to jump me!"
Leon swore, raising his staff in the same motion and emptying the clip of Mind he'd just siphoned from the monsters he'd killed.
"Ice Lance!"
A volley of lances hammered out in a rolling string of blasts.
Killed Lv.4 monster (elite), Excelia +1
The dense barrage of Ice Lances turned the Lizardman Warrior into a sieve, and only then did his anger settle a little.
"Pah!"
"Little sneak!"
"You thought I wasn't watching for that?"
"You know who I am? I was pulling that move before you were born!"
"Damn."
Noticing the commotion on Leon's side and the foul look on his face, everyone winced and turned their eyes away.
Better to just get used to it. It wasn't the first time, or the second.
...
...
[Read 20+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]