"Screech—!"
The piercing cry echoed as though through a mountain range, scraping against the air and rattling their eardrums.
A massive monster swooped down from high above, savagery in its eyes as if it were telling its opponents that it had no intention of showing mercy.
Facing this monster were two young girls.
"It's coming! Youyou!"
"I know! Alice!"
Alice, holding the holy sword at the ready, and Youyou, gripping her staff, stood one before the other in a classic vanguard-and-rearguard formation.
With a piercing cry, the monster in the sky dove toward the two girls.
It was a monster with the body and claws of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle—a griffin.
Griffins were extremely famous monsters.
Lions and eagles ruled the land and skies respectively. A griffin, possessing the traits of both, was naturally a very high-level monster.
For comparison, it was likely considerably stronger than a One-Hit Bear, the sort of monster only high-ranking adventurers could subdue.
By the Adventurer's Guild's standards, hunting a griffin without casualties required a party of at least three high-ranking adventurers. Even then, there could still be injuries or deaths.
Now, a twelve-year-old princess and a fourteen-year-old Great Mage were facing an attack from such a monster.
If there had been adults nearby, they would probably have screamed in terror at the sight.
And yet...
"Tornado!"
With Youyou's shout, a torrent of magical energy surged forth.
The advanced wind spell stirred the atmosphere, creating a tornado out of thin air. Like a whirlpool appearing in the ocean, it instantly caught the diving griffin and dragged it into the storm with its powerful suction.
"Screech!"
The griffin let out a panicked cry, frantically beating its wings as it struggled against the tornado.
But...
"Exterion!"
The moment Alice's sweet shout