Chapter 291

Chapter 291: Chapter 291

The storm of flame crashed into the white dome-shaped barrier, and the impact instantly sent everyone inside staggering.

Kiriya looked at the enormous inferno and immediately realized that even using the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge out of range would be impossible.

As for escaping through Flying Thunder God marks on other floors?

He would have liked to, but the Dungeon’s spatial structure was extremely unusual.

Once the connecting passages were blocked, it became very difficult to sense the signals from those distant marks, let alone bring other people along with him.

In other words, at this point they had no choice but to endure the attack head-on.

CRACK—!

Unfortunately, the barrier’s condition was becoming increasingly worrying.

The monster’s origins as a Spirit gave it an absurd degree of magical talent.

Its bombardment not only covered an enormous area but possessed shocking destructive power as well, to the point that Dimensional Severance, a defensive barrier Riveria had never seen fail before, quickly began approaching its limit.

"How can this be...? Even Dimensional Severance..."

Riveria’s eyes widened, her irises filled with disbelief.

That shock quickly turned into concern.

Once the barrier broke, what would happen to Ais and the others?

Could they withstand the flames?

That thought had only just appeared in her mind when a figure stepped forward and swept it away.

The Nine Hell focused her gaze.

It was Jeanne.

"Leave the rest of the defense to me."

Jeanne raised her battle standard.

The blue flag emblazoned with golden fleurs-de-lis unfurled in the violent wind as her expression became solemn.

"O my banner, protect my comrades!"

Her voice rang out, unwavering and clear.

"Luminosité Eternelle!"

Jeanne drove the banner heavily into the ground.

Hummm—!

A new barrier spread outward.

It covered a smaller area than Riveria’s Dimensional Severance, but its structure was far more concentrated and solid.

This Noble Phantasm transformed Jeanne’s EX-rank Magic Resistance directly into defensive power against both physical and magical attacks.

It was the crystallization of the legend that the Saint had led armies through battle without suffering injury.

Crash—!

Dimensional Severance shattered.

The raging Firestorm immediately slammed into Jeanne’s barrier instead.

"Ugh..." ℴ

A strained sound escaped Jeanne’s lips.

An attack of this level, if measured by the standards of the Fate world, was already comparable to the release of an A+ rank Noble Phantasm.

The Jeanne of the past would have needed to pay a considerable price to block it completely.

But things were different now.

The current Jeanne possessed something she had never had before.

Oathbound Holy Banner.

A defensive-enhancement Skill that activated automatically whenever she used defensive abilities.

The stronger her conviction to protect others became, the more powerful the defense and the longer it could be maintained.

Supported by Jeanne’s unwavering determination, her mental strength was greatly amplified and converted into magical energy that reinforced the barrier around her.

The defensive wall, which had begun to shake under the pressure, miraculously stabilized.

"What an incredible defensive spell..."

Riveria stared in amazement.

At last, the Firestorm ended.

The scene revealed afterward left everyone shaken.

The vast frozen plain that Kiriya and Riveria had created together had been reduced to endless scorched earth.

The plants and monsters that had previously been trapped in ice had all been burned to ash and disappeared.

Even the unidentified green mass of flesh that had blocked the passage back toward Floor 58 had been completely incinerated, exposing the dark tunnel behind them once more.

"Charge!"

Kiriya made the decision instantly and led the attack.

"Awaken."

Ais once again called upon the wind and wrapped herself in it.

As someone who also carried the blood of a Spirit, she felt that she had a responsibility to end the grotesque, twisted existence before her.

So she placed herself in the role of primary attacker.

At first glance, that seemed recklessly beyond her ability.

She was currently only Level 5, while the Corrupted Spirit before them was a genuine Level 7 whose Magic and other abilities had likely already reached the upper limits of that Level.

For Ais to act as the main attacker against something two Levels above her seemed no different from smashing an egg against stone.

But for the adventurer known as the Sword Princess, it was possible.

Her Skill Avenger greatly increased her attack power against monster-type enemies, and its effect scaled according to the intensity of her hatred

. The stronger her hatred, the greater the enhancement.

Loki had once praised it as one of the strongest offensive Skills in the entire history of the Lower World.

Combined with Ariel, which dramatically increased Ais’s speed and attack power, as well as Lil Rafaga, which concentrated that wind into a single point for an explosive critical strike, even defeating an enemy two Levels above her was not necessarily impossible.

"Tempest."

After several seconds of charging forward, Ais accelerated again and increased the output of Ariel even further.

Yet faced with a party displaying such astonishing resilience, the Corrupted Spirit shocked them once again.

"O earth, rumble—"

The Corrupted Spirit smiled maliciously as she began chanting.

There was no pause after her previous spell.

No stiffness or recovery period after casting.

The monster simply began another incantation immediately.

Kiriya and the others all stiffened.

The chanting speed was still terrifyingly fast.

A new magic circle appeared beneath her.

Unlike the crimson formation from before, this one was a deep, oppressive black.

"Come, come, come, shell of the earth, treasure of black iron, hammer of shining stars.

By the pact of opening, I command you—

Overturn.

Burn the sky.

Shatter the earth.

Raise the bridge.

Unite heaven and earth.

Let the descending axe of the heavens become calamity and destruction—

By the name of the executor, I command you.

The name bestowed upon me is Gnome.

Incarnation of the earth.

Queen of the land—"

Unlike the previous ultra-long chant, this one was merely long-form.

Its power would not be quite as outrageous.

But in exchange, it could be activated much faster.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Kiriya casually drew a kunai and hurled it toward the Corrupted Spirit several hundred meters away.

The throw carried tremendous force, sending the small kunai forward like an arrow wrapped in a violent gale.

As Kiriya formed the hand seal, the single weapon multiplied into a thousand in midair and rained down like a storm.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Corrupted Spirit maintained her chant while manipulating several tentacles into a broad green shield in front of herself.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The countless kunai struck the thick defense and were stopped, unable to reach her main body.

The Corrupted Spirit paid almost no attention to the tiny weapons.

Her chant had already reached its end.

"Meteor Shower!"

The light of the magic circle shot straight upward.

The faintly glowing ceiling above Floor 59 was instantly swallowed by darkness.

Then points of light suddenly appeared within that darkness.

A cluster of pitch-black meteors emerged, their surfaces gleaming ominously as they plunged toward Kiriya’s group with enough force to seem capable of destroying the entire floor.

Without hesitation, Kiriya created several clones.

The original and each clone grabbed one teammate.

"Don’t resist. Get ready to attack."

Kiriya gave the quiet warning.

Then the entire area around them vanished beneath the descending Meteor Shower.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The heavy ground was smashed apart into one enormous crater after another.

The erupting light was so intense it almost blinded everyone.

Violent shock waves swept outward in every direction, further devastating the already battered Floor 59.

The tremors were so severe that even the neighboring Floors 58 and 60 shook noticeably.

Meanwhile, just as the Corrupted Spirit began rejoicing over the apparent success of her Magic—

Several figures suddenly appeared directly in front of her.

The Corrupted Spirit froze.

"..."