Sweep Through!

"----"

It seemed that something was making noise.

"----"

It seemed that something was happening.

The cavern-like passage shook repeatedly, and thunderous roars that struck the air kept erupting, proclaiming the unrest here.

But all of it had already drifted far away from Riezel. He instinctively shut it out, ignored it all, and cast it from his mind.

Wrapped head to toe in Wind Cloak, Riezel focused wholly on the enemy before him. Nothing else remained in his eyes.

His racing heart, his boiling blood, even the impact and pain surging through his body—this man, whose sole intent was to defeat the enemy before him, ignored them all.

One large and one small, two utterly disproportionate figures began a desperate battle under such circumstances.

"Roar!"

With an unchanging furious roar, the giant beast swung its thick arms again and again, smashing them into the surrounding ground, walls, and even ceiling. It destroyed everything around it, filling the passage with endless booms and tremors.

Under the monster's destruction, the terrain in this area had been almost completely altered. Pits and craters covered the ground, while shattered stones flew everywhere in utter chaos.

Dust filled the air, and its roars were like thunder. The beast unleashed its destructive power without restraint, an awe-inspiring sight.

However, only those watching from the side knew that this outburst was completely useless.

Because it had not struck its opponent even once.

Wrapped in wind, Riezel charged forward with his body, far too slight compared to the monster's, without fearing its astonishing strength in the slightest.

The beast swung down its immensely powerful hands one after another. Every time they swept through the air with a howl, Riezel sensed them beforehand and evaded them accordingly.

There was no pattern to his evasions. Sometimes he sidestepped, sometimes he ducked, sometimes he leaped into the air, and sometimes he rolled awkwardly across the ground. Yet none of his movements contained the slightest excess or hesitation. They flowed smoothly, leaving the beast's powerful, thick arms to strike only empty air, the floor, the walls, and the ceiling in meaningless destruction.

Even as he dodged fluidly, Riezel never forgot to close the distance. His speed did not slow in the slightest, and in an instant, he was right before the monster.

The next second, silver flashed.

"Slash!" "Slash!" "Slash!"

Several flashes of sword light swept across the monster's body, cutting through its fur and flesh and drawing blood.

Riezel brought his speed and skill to their utmost, slashing several times as he closed in and inflicting damage.

"Roar!"

The monster could only howl in pain. It swung an arm down before itself, intending to crush the small figure that had closed in on it, but it still struck only the ground, kicking up countless clouds of dust without hitting its opponent.

Riezel seemed to have anticipated the monster's counterattack—or rather, he had seen through its attack pattern. Before the beast could swing its massive arm, he retreated, turning into a gust of wind that circled around its body.

"Slash!" "Slash!" "Slash!"

In an instant, several more flashes of silver flew up. Sharp blades, accompanied by surging wind, cut open the monster's body once more.

The wounds were not large. They could even be called tiny.

But Riezel was steadily piling up damage, accumulating the results of battle until scars covered the enemy's enormous body.

Clearly, Riezel intended to keep fighting in this manner until he brought his enemy down.

"Roar!"

The monster flew into a rage. Its huge body swayed, its arms flailing wildly and stirring up countless chaotic gusts of air. The display was overwhelming, yet it still failed to hit Riezel even once.

Riezel circled the monster, moving at extreme speed while swinging his sword. Silver flashes formed a blur of flashing blades around the monster's body.

That fearless figure, and that seemingly reckless yet actually bold and decisive fighting style, eventually created an astonishing aura and presence around Riezel. The onlookers could not help being affected and intimidated by it, forgetting even what they had intended to do.

Ais was one of them.

The Doll Girl who had abruptly entered this battlefield now stood there just like Lefiya, staring blankly at Riezel's battle, at his challenge, at the passion and fighting spirit in his eyes. For a moment, she completely forgot to act.

"Over there!"

Other adventurers rushed over. When they saw the battle between Riezel and the monster, they were just about to intervene when Ais stopped them.

"Don't go!"

The Sword Princess, who rarely showed expression or even emotion, unexpectedly shouted. The adventurers preparing to intervene were all startled and stopped involuntarily.

"Sword Princess?"

"You're here too?"

"W-Why won't you let us intervene?"

The newcomers appeared to be relatively high-level Upper Class Adventurers. It was unclear whether they had come up from the lower floors and noticed the commotion while returning, rushing over to provide support, or whether they had received notice of the Abnormal Situation on the surface and come to resolve it.

They were confused and puzzled, seemingly unable to understand why Ais was stopping them.

Ais had only one thing to say.

"He's challenging it." Ais stared straight ahead at that figure and said, "We can't disturb him."

At those words, the adventurers looked at one another, unable to understand.

But very soon, they too were drawn in by the battle ahead.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The giant beast's unparalleled brute strength still ran rampant, ravaging the entire underground passage as explosions and roars rang out without end.

Wrapped in Wind Power, Riezel deflected every piece of rubble, blew away all the dust, and even ignored the shockwaves and blasts. He merely kept shifting his footing around the monster, narrowly dodging every attack that came his way.

He had swung the sword in his hand an unknown number of times.

The wounds he had inflicted had accumulated beyond counting.

Faint waves of pain came from his body, as though screaming at Riezel to stop, to give up.

Yet Riezel still ignored all those external factors and focused wholeheartedly on fighting his enemy.

"Roar!"

At last, the monster's roar contained a little less fury and a little more fear.

The wounds covering its body had become too numerous to count. The monster, which had initially paid no heed to such minor injuries, finally sensed that something was wrong.

The blood seeping from its body had exceeded a tolerable amount.

The accumulation of too many wounds had begun to affect the monster's movements and speed, making the once rage-filled monster grow timid.

Having clearly recognized the danger, the monster stopped swinging its massive arms and charged at Riezel without regard for anything else.

"Boom!"

Riezel had just been about to close in and launch another attack when the monster's sudden charge struck him head-on. Its enormous body rammed him from the front and dragged him along.

"Bang!"

A Stone Pillar was smashed apart by the monster as it rammed Riezel into it, exploding into a shower of flying sand and gravel.

"Roar!"

As though it had seized an opportunity to counterattack, the monster pressed its advantage without mercy. It drove Riezel into rocks and walls one after another, shattering them to pieces and inflicting tremendous damage on Riezel, who was pinned in front of it, nearly making him cough up blood.

"Mister Riezel!"

Lefiya cried out in alarm, her voice tinged with something like a wail.

Ais's pupils shrank as well. Her body tensed, and her hand instinctively gripped the sword at her waist, ready to draw it and rush out.

Just then—

"Arrows of liberating light, bowshaft of the sacred tree, I am a master of the bow."

A familiar chant suddenly rang out, making Ais freeze in place.

"Th-That is...!?"

Lefiya cried out again, her voice full of bewilderment.

"Strike them down, fairy archer."

"Pierce through, arrow that never misses."

The chant continued, causing light to gather before the monster.

"Arcing Ray."

With a low, cold shout, the light transformed into an arrow and exploded before the monster.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous blast, the magical arrow of light erupted, sending the monster—still charging forward and unable to stop its momentum—flying.

Riezel, wrapped in wind, appeared in everyone's view once more. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but magical light glimmered in his hand, telling everyone who had cast that spell just now.

"Mister Riezel learned my magic?"

Lefiya realized it, and she was stunned.

But that was exactly what had happened.

Because Lefiya had used the magic once in front of Riezel, he had personally confirmed the spell and memorized its chant.

Riezel had also learned the spell's precise effect from Lefiya herself.

Combined with his knowledge of the original character, the clear memory, the confirmed effect, and all the necessary conditions being met, Riezel directly learned Lefiya's magic and used it at this moment.

Seeing the monster blasted away, Riezel suppressed the blood rising in his throat and extended his hand again.

"."

"Arcing Ray—!"

"."

"Arcing Ray—!!"

"."

"Arcing Ray—!!!"

Rapidly performing abbreviated chants, Riezel directly unleashed three consecutive Arcing Rays.

Arrows of magical light immediately blasted out one after another, tearing through the air, vaporizing the dust, and striking the monster one by one before it could react or even get back on its feet.

"BOOM!"

A massive explosion.

The bombardment of three arrows of light sent bursts of flame erupting across the monster's body, scorching its enormous frame.

"ROAR!"

The monster let out an agonized roar as the bombardment drove it back again and again, finally staining its body with blood.

At that moment, the wounds Riezel had inflicted earlier played a major role.

The monster's tough fur would normally have negated much of the incoming magic's power, but Riezel had slashed its body full of wounds beforehand, leaving its coat badly damaged and its defenses drastically weakened.

Thus, the flames created by the magic scorched the monster's huge body, making it howl in pain as it retreated again and again.

In that state, it failed to notice that Riezel had already charged once more.

"Awaken, Tempest."

The wind howled.

"Sweep forth, Tempest."

This was Wind Spirit Sprint at maximum output—its greatest release.

The wind wrapping around Riezel instantly surged, changing from a steady gale into a raging hurricane.

Gripping his rapier tightly with both hands, Riezel transformed all his mental power into magic, into the Wind Power of his spell, and poured it all into his sword.

"SPLURT—!"

When the cold silver gleam shot through the hurricane and flashed like moonlight, the greatest tearing sound yet rang out.

The enormous thrust formed by the hurricane-wreathed blade swept across the monster's body, successfully piercing its massive frame.

"—!"

The monster's roar came to an abrupt halt.

"BANG!"

The hurricane-wreathed rapier suddenly burst apart, shattering completely.

Riezel passed straight through the monster's body and fell to the ground.

Behind him, the monster's body, now bearing a huge bloody hole, slowly collapsed and lost all signs of life.

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