Chapter 292

Chapter 292: Chapter 292

The figures that appeared were Kiriya, Ryuu, Jeanne, and Ais.

The instant the Meteor Shower struck the ground, Kiriya and his Shadow Clones had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer everyone except Riveria directly in front of the Corrupted Spirit.

That had been the real purpose of the Flying Thunder God kunai he had scattered earlier—to create coordinates for both evasion and a sudden counterattack.

Almost the instant they appeared, Ais shot toward the Corrupted Spirit like an arrow of wind.

"A-Aria?"

The Corrupted Spirit’s dull golden eyes turned toward Ais as she spread her arms wide.

"AriaAriaAriaAriaAriaAriaAria..."

Her voice was filled with fanatical joy.

What greeted her was Ais’s decisive killing blow.

"Lil Rafaga."

Faced with the raging hurricane that seemed capable of tearing apart everything in its path, the Corrupted Spirit reacted immediately.

The tentacles beneath her body overlapped and wove themselves into an extraordinarily thick shield.

Its durability was so absurd that even Ais’s finishing move, enhanced several times over, was slowed for a brief moment.

Behind that barrier, the Corrupted Spirit began weaving another chant at unprecedented speed.

"O flash, race forth, cut through the darkness. I am the executor—Lux, incarnation of light, queen of light..."

"A short chant?"

Ais’s pupils contracted sharply.

But she knew there could be no hesitation now.

Grip the sword.

Move forward.

In the next instant, Desperate, wrapped in a violent gale, ripped through the thick shield.

The sword point was now less than a meter from the Corrupted Spirit’s heart.

Ais was certain that one more instant would be enough to finish her.

But she was still a step too slow.

The Corrupted Spirit’s short-chant Magic had already been completed, and a white magic circle spread open behind her.

"Luminous Explosion!"

A blazing white pillar of light roared from the Corrupted Spirit’s mouth and collided head-on with Desperate.

Shhk—!

A sound like cloth being torn apart rang out.

Ais split the white beam apart with a single slash, dividing it into two streams that scraped past either side of her body and blasted into the ground behind her.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Everything along their path was annihilated, and the earth melted into long trenches filled with molten rock.

Ais, standing at the very front, naturally did not escape unharmed.

Her previously pale, flawless skin was scorched by the intense heat and instantly turned blackened like charcoal.

Yet the Sword Princess paid no attention to it.

Ignoring the agonizing pain tearing through her body, she continued forward.

Seeing the blade draw closer, genuine fear and despair finally appeared in the Corrupted Spirit’s lifeless golden eyes.

"AAAAAAAH!"

She screamed, and every remaining vine-like tentacle lashed downward like a whip.

"Not happening!"

Ryuu and Jeanne rushed in from either side.

One wielded a sword, the other a battle standard, and together they intercepted most of the descending tentacles.

A few still slipped through and struck toward Ais.

Shhk—!

The blade wrapped in wind tore those tentacles apart.

Then it tore through the Corrupted Spirit’s humanoid body as well, shredding her flesh into countless tiny fragments that were immediately scattered by the gale.

The Corrupted Spirit clone that had been rampaging so violently moments earlier finally stopped moving.

Ais, however, immediately began falling.

That final burst had almost completely drained her strength, leaving her entire body weak and unresponsive.

"Did we win?"

Riveria stared at the astonishing scene, even stopping her own chant.

"We won... right?"

Ryuu murmured uncertainly.

"This is..."

Jeanne’s pupils suddenly contracted.

A fragment of the future flashed before her eyes.

Revelation had descended.

"Get Ais away from there!"

She shouted urgently.

Almost at the exact same moment, the supposedly "dead" Corrupted Spirit moved again.

Countless vine-like tentacles regenerated from her body and shot toward the falling Ais.

"Ais!"

Everyone cried out.

Ais looked at the tentacles rushing toward her and tried to raise her sword.

Her body refused to move.

’Is this... as far as I go?’

Whoosh!

At the critical moment, Kiriya appeared directly in front of her, caught her in his arms, and instantly teleported several hundred meters away to Riveria’s side.

Riveria ignored everything else and immediately began using healing Magic on Ais.

"Aria—!"

Seeing her most important target escape, the Corrupted Spirit flew completely berserk.

Along with her frenzied scream, an enormous amount of magical energy began burning through her body, producing an astonishing surge of life force.

Her half-destroyed body started regenerating at terrifying speed.

Torso.

Arms.

And finally, her head.

That face, beautiful enough to rival a goddess, reformed with a mad and cruel smile.

"Hiss—!"

Everyone except Kiriya drew in a sharp breath.

It was common knowledge that a Dungeon monster’s most vital weakness was its magic stone.

That did not mean monsters had no other weak points.

Destroying the head could still kill many of them.

Likewise, accumulating enough damage would eventually cause any monster to die.

But that rule seemed meaningless against this Corrupted Spirit.

Even after most of her body had been destroyed, even after her head had been torn apart, she still did not die.

She could simply burn magical energy and convert it into enough life force to restore herself.

’Then her only true weak point must be the magic stone.’

Jeanne immediately reached that conclusion.

"Become one with me... become one with me..."

The Corrupted Spirit continued muttering as her tentacles stretched farther and farther toward Ais.

"You won’t!"

Ryuu and Jeanne fought desperately to stop them.

Ryuu in particular maintained an intense concurrent chant even while moving at high speed through the battle.

"When my mission has been fulfilled, the scales shall return to balance..."

She was preparing to use Astraea Record, drawing upon the power of her companions to strengthen herself and overcome the enemy.

Seeing that, Jeanne devoted herself entirely to covering Ryuu.

Riveria finished healing Ais, then turned toward Kiriya.

Her emerald eyes carried both scrutiny and suspicion.

"What exactly are you thinking?"

"Hm?"

Kiriya had been watching the two girls fight with obvious enjoyment, so Riveria’s question caught him off guard.

"With your strength and the number of abilities you possess, defeating this monster shouldn’t be particularly difficult, should it?" Riveria asked.

That strange spatial movement.

The terrifying sword technique he had displayed earlier.

The methods he possessed for drastically increasing his physical attributes—especially the Eight Gates.

And that lightning-condensed sphere of energy from before...

This boy possessed far too many different tools.

If he combined them properly and seized the right moment, he absolutely had the ability to land a fatal blow on this monster.

But he had not.

Take what had just happened.

Ais’s strike had left the monster half-destroyed.

With Kiriya’s speed, he would have had enough time to unleash several finishing techniques before it regenerated.

Yet he had done nothing.

He had only acted at the final moment to save Ais.

He was clearly holding back.

"What are you guarding against?"

Riveria’s expression became grave.

She assumed Kiriya was remaining cautious because he suspected an even stronger enemy might still be hiding somewhere nearby.

"Don’t you think this is an excellent opportunity?"

Kiriya smiled.

"A genuine Level 7 with outstanding speed, defense, strength, and Magic, plus near-immortality."

His grin widened.

"Isn’t that the perfect training partner?"

"Training... partner?"

It was an ordinary phrase.

Yet at this moment, Riveria found it almost impossible to process.

He wanted to use a genuine Level 7 monster as a sparring partner for several Level 5 girls?

And even she, a veteran Level 6, had somehow been included in a training session arranged by this young brat?

If anyone else had said something like that, Riveria would have smashed them over the head with her staff.

But because the one saying it was Kiriya, she actually had to stop and seriously consider the idea.

"My speed is good enough to intervene if anything goes wrong."

Kiriya’s face carried absolute confidence.

"So why don’t all of you try defeating it yourselves?"

For a moment, Riveria found herself staring at him in a daze.