Chapter 27: Struggle to Win

The burden for all of them was split up nicely.

Battle was handled by the three fighters—Shymine, Therese, and Hazel—equally, making their load lighter than if they’d worked alone. Hershey stood by as healer, Raive acted as guide with his "precognition" knowledge, and Khamish served as their porter.

Everyone had their own role, with the only real difference being whether they were performing their duty "now" or "later."

As they moved onward, following Raive’s directions, they cleared every flower bed monster in their path.

With their combo, they could handle the enemies without risking a single injury.

But that only applied to the "normal" monsters.

"Stop."

Raive called out as soon as they reached the fifth tile.

Since everyone understood the dangers of this place by now, they followed his command without hesitation. All eyes turned to the flower bed just ahead, as if already bracing for what was coming.

"Alright, this one’s not like the others, so be careful." He warned.

"Same as before—Hazel exposes it, Shymine immobilizes it, Therese delivers the finishing blow. But if it survives that, I’ll leave the rest to you girls’ decision."

"Got it."

"Good. Lastly, Khamish, hand me a shield. We’ll cover for them in case a counterattack comes."

Among the items they’d grabbed from the mall were riot shields. Although it was only sturdy enough to block one or two hits from a monster before breaking, they’d at least buy some precious time with it.

"Damn, so we’re tanks now?"

Khamish complained, but pulled out the shields anyway.

They weren’t the glass-viewport kind—those were too bulky to fit through his bag’s opening. Instead, he’d packed foldable tower shields: flat, roughly two meters tall and a meter wide, with a hinge down the middle that let them fold for storage or thicken up if needed.

Portable, but versatile.

"Yes, we are." Raive nodded, taking his shield. "Though sometimes, listening to you talk, I wonder if you’re really an old man."

His way of speaking often sounded far younger than it should. That mismatch had made Raive suspicious of him from the start, but for now, he had no choice but to let it slide.

"A-Ahaha..."

Khamish could only laugh awkwardly, unable to offer a real answer.

After a bit of banter, they settled into their new formation and waited—now it was just a matter of Hazel giving the signal.

"Then..." After a moment, she finally spoke. "Here I go!"

At her cue, she stomped her foot, and the earth trembled slightly. Then, the next instant—

BOOOM!

The ground where the flower bed sat exploded, hurling a massive shadow roughly ten meters into the air. It should’ve taken a few moments to reorient itself, but—

"Watch out!"

At the same moment Raive shouted, roots shot out from the monster straight toward them, moving so fast they left afterimages.

At point-blank range like that, dodging was next to impossible.

THUD!

The shield kept the roots from hurting anyone. Still, Raive and Khamish couldn’t help but wince—the impact hit like getting struck by a runaway motorcycle.

The two of them flew back and rolled across the ground—Raive with a sprained wrist, Khamish with a dislocated shoulder.

"Brother!"

Hershey moved fast, rushing to their side to start healing them.

Meanwhile, the brief opening the two guys had bought was all Shymine needed to finish her move. "Freezing Wave!"

An ice storm surged forward, hitting the monster head-on. With nowhere to escape mid-air, it had no choice but to curl up and take the hit.

Its surface froze over in an instant, half its body coated in frost.

But whether from durability or resistance...

"GRAAAH!"

The root monster stayed mobile.

It let out a roar after the attack, like a wounded beast, then launched five roots at once, each heading for a different target.

"Shit...!"

Raive cursed at the sight.

He and Khamish were both down, unable to move—unable to protect themselves, let alone the others.

"Not on my watch! GO!"

Thankfully, Therese was already ready.

She’d deliberately kept her swords close, anticipating exactly this kind of reaction, and it paid off. The incoming roots were sliced apart before they even reached the group, keeping everyone safe.

The severed roots hit the ground, flailing like fish out of water, before finally going still.

"GRAAAAAGH!"

The monster was clearly furious—half-frozen and now missing several roots to boot.

"You’re too noisy!"

But it should’ve paid more attention to the girls instead of lashing out blindly.

Hazel, who’d already prepared her follow-up, moved without hesitation. She raised both hands, slow and graceful, then brought them together in a clap.

At the same instant, the loose earth that had risen with the monster clumped together, forming a spherical prison around its body.

"...!"

The monster froze in shock.

Earth was supposed to be its element, so being trapped by nothing but dirt shook its sense of reality. That brief lapse opened the door even wider.

"Take this!"

Therese sent her mana swords flying toward the dirt sphere, stabbing into it one after another—like a pop-up pirate barrel game, blades driving in from every angle.

But instead of anything popping out...

"Freezing Guillotine!"

A massive blade of ice formed midair.

It dropped with tremendous speed, catching the monster off guard while it was still reeling from the swords piercing through it.

SLASH!

Before it even registered what was happening, the guillotine came down on its neck, severing its head clean from its body.

Shymine, for her part, was certain the enemy was dead.

Not simply because it had a human shape and lost its head—plant monsters like this wouldn’t die from that alone. The real reason was something else.

"Phew..."

Shymine let out a thick breath of white mist.

The ice guillotine she’d conjured sat near absolute zero. Its touch alone should’ve been enough to freeze the monster’s entire body solid, instantly.

But the attack took its toll on her.

Her body temperature spiked to nearly 40 degrees Celsius in an instant, blurring her vision.

Thankfully, before she could collapse, Therese was already there, holding her up.

"Good work!" She said with a smile.

Despite everything, Shymine managed a smile back and nodded.

They’d taken down a seriously strong enemy.

There was just one problem.

"There’s no drops..." Raive muttered, disappointed.

If it had been the boss monster, it should’ve dropped something. It hadn’t. Which meant only one thing—this had just been an elite.

And the real boss would be even stronger.