(Heartfelt thanks to 'Low-Key Little Star' for the 2,000 reward, and to 'Genkaku no Ningyōshi' and 'Descendant of Ruin' for their rewards!)
At some point, Noah had silently appeared beside Riveria. His gaze remained fixed on the gigantic female-shaped monster, while one hand rested on Riveria's body.
That hand was entirely covered by a ferocious crimson gauntlet resembling a Dragon Claw. It tightly gripped Riveria's shoulder, and the jewel on its back shone brightly.
"That is..." Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya recognized the gauntlet's true identity almost immediately.
"So that's..." Although Finn, Riveria, and Gareth had never seen the gauntlet before, they still deduced its identity from the current situation.
"What the hell is that?" Bert alone looked utterly confused, but he still understood one thing.
With Noah's help, the defensive power of Riveria's barrier had greatly increased, blocking Foul Spirit's powerful magic.
"Is that why Finn values him so highly?"
The way Bert looked at Noah had changed.
But Foul Spirit was displeased.
"----Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah----"
Seeing her magic blocked once again, Foul Spirit's beautiful face finally twisted. She let out a shrill scream while releasing extremely intense negative emotions.
Under Foul Spirit's shriek, countless Shadows began to emerge behind her the next second.
Yellowish-green chunks of flesh covered in mottled patterns.
At Foul Spirit's call, countless Larval Type monsters reacted one after another, writhing their bodies of vastly different sizes as they surged forward.
The sight of densely packed yellowish-green flesh flooding toward them made every member of the Loki Familia grit their teeth.
Even Finn began considering whether they should retreat from here, return to camp, and end this expedition.
Yet Noah alone raised the arm covered by the ferocious crimson gauntlet and stared coldly at the incoming army of Larval Types.
"Go!"
That extremely brief command left everyone