Liber rapidly closed the distance to the War Shadows.
He charged straight toward the center of the monsters, observing the still-confused War Shadows before he reached them.
He drew the remaining arrows from his spatial storage and, taking aim at the monster group's exposed flank, fired them all at once.
An astonishing number of arrows shot out in a concentrated barrage, forming a dense torrent that plunged straight into the disorganized monster horde.
The War Shadows, which had halted their advance, sensed the torrent of arrows rushing toward them.
Aside from those still distracted by the earlier chunk of debris, the War Shadows that noticed the disturbance each took action.
A few War Shadows at the front of the group reacted quickly.
Some used their speed to nimbly dodge the incoming attacks, repeatedly slashing down arrows with their hooked claws.
Some of the monsters toward the back of the formation didn't have time to react. They could only raise their arms and use their sharp hooked claws to fend off the incoming arrows.
But a single monster's strength seemed especially feeble against this torrent of arrows. In the end, they couldn't deal with so many, and failed to stop every arrow in time.
Their bodies were gradually covered by arrows. The War Shadows' bizarre forms were pushed back by the torrent until the arrows pierced straight through them.
This powerful barrage killed three or four monsters outright and left more than a dozen War Shadows with various injuries, but the monsters still managed to fend it off, and the torrent dissipated among the horde.
Liber didn't feel any particular regret at the sight. The arrow barrage had been powerful and dense, but their materials meant that these items' durability quickly wore down with heavy use.
Only the arrowheads were made of hard metal; the shafts were just ordinary wood and feathers.
He had already used these arrows many times in the previous battles, and hadn't expected them to last forever.
He had used up all his arrows only in the hope of further disrupting the monster group and deepening their confusion.
As long as the remaining arrows had served their purpose, they had been put to good use.
Liber quickly closed in on the nearest War Shadow. He stepped forward and checked his momentum.
At the same time, he bent low to avoid the War Shadow's claws as it stretched out an arm to split him in two.
As he ducked, he used the greatsword in his hand to sever the long, slender legs of the two bizarre War Shadows in front of him.
The shadowy monsters made no sound of pain. They simply fell backward in silence.
But the arm Liber had dodged suddenly bent back on itself, its sharp claws stabbing toward his exposed back.
Feeling the air rush faster behind him, Liber acted on instinct and controlled the floating broadsword beside him to slash at the attacking War Shadow's claw.
"Clang!"
He heard the sound of claws colliding with the broadsword beside his ear. The broadsword had successfully blocked the incoming claws.
He quickly straightened and swung his greatsword, cleanly severing the arm of the fallen War Shadow in front of him.
Following through with the swing, he slashed diagonally down at the fallen monster, but the War Shadows around him had recovered and stretched out their arms to grab him, interrupting his attack.
As Liber dodged the incoming attacks, the corner of his eye caught the monster arm he had just severed. The hooked claw that had clashed with his sword bore only a faint white mark; it hadn't been cut off.
He couldn't help thinking that this was going to be trouble.
The War Shadows' limbs and bodies were far tougher than those of the monsters on the previous floors.
He could clearly feel resistance when he struck them with his greatsword, and their claws seemed even stronger—about as tough as forged metal.
If he couldn't cut off their claws, then handling what came next on his own would be very difficult.
As he thought, Liber used his greatsword to fend off a War Shadow that was reaching out with its hooked claws and pressing its body toward him.
He struggled to fling the monster's hooked claws down onto the ground at his side.
On the ground behind it lay a broken arrow, only half its length remaining. After the broadsword swept over it, the arrow began to float and spin around, then shot fiercely toward the back of the War Shadow, whose body had tilted after Liber flung its claws away.
The arrowhead sank into its body, its sharp tip emerging from the War Shadow's chest.
Seeing that the War Shadow he had pierced with an arrow merely paused before preparing to raise its arm again,
Liber decisively swung his greatsword and cleanly cut off the War Shadow's head.
Only when its head fell did the War Shadow's whole body finally stop moving. It went limp, then began to disappear.
He had just personally killed a War Shadow when he felt the airflow around him shift rapidly from all directions.
After repeatedly dodging surprise attacks from the War Shadows around him, Liber realized he still hadn't heard Lefiya chanting her spell.
While fending off and dodging attacks, he glanced back at the place where he had set Lefiya down.
He saw that she was still struggling to calm herself, not yet steady enough to cast a spell.
Seeing Lefiya like this made him feel a little anxious.
Liber watched as the War Shadows gradually closed in around him.
Surrounded, he saw sharp hooked claws reaching toward him from every direction, their tips gleaming like metal.
He took a deep breath and suddenly shouted,
"Lefiya!!"
Lefiya, who was still trying to calm herself, heard Liber call her name.
She looked toward the center of the monster horde where the voice had come from.
Liber leaped with all his might from the middle of the surrounding monsters.
The gap where he had stood was immediately filled by the crowding monsters.
Once he had leaped into the air, the War Shadows that had filled the gap below stretched out their arms toward him, reaching for his body with malice.
Liber didn't look at the War Shadows below, who were showing hostility and aggression toward him. Instead, he faced Lefiya, who was watching him.
He gazed at Lefiya, his eyes filled with trust.
Only then did he look down at the monsters and control the broadsword floating beside him to slash at the wrists of the War Shadows reaching up with their hooked claws to grab him.
The broadsword rapidly slashed at the War Shadows' wrists, which were converging into a single mass below him. It cut through only half of them before getting stuck in one War Shadow's wrist.
Seeing this, Liber followed the broadsword's earlier trajectory and continued the motion with his own greatsword, cutting through the remaining wrists in the cluster.
In midair, he quickly flicked a hand across the severed War Shadow wrists.
Then he twisted around in the air, gripped his greatsword with both hands, and plunged it straight through a War Shadow, pinning it to the ground from its head down.
The wrists Liber had just brushed against floated in midair, their claws pointed down as they slashed toward the necks of the monsters around him.
After raking across several War Shadows, the claws were blocked.
The War Shadows that blocked them were also knocked off balance by the impact and toppled outward. As Liber landed, a gap opened around him.
Lefiya saw Liber leap up and then land amid the monsters. The determination and trust in his eyes as he looked at her in midair—
As she watched him leap and land, her anxious feelings gradually receded like the tide.
Lefiya took several deep breaths, and all her restless emotions vanished.
After landing, Liber didn't dare relax for even a moment. He held his greatsword horizontally and pushed toward the weakest part of the encirclement he had spotted in midair.
He once again put some distance between himself and the monsters behind him, preparing to repeat the same move and leap upward again.
In midair, he felt a dazzling light coming from Lefiya's direction behind him.
"[Arrow of unleashed light, bow of sacred wood, I am the master of the bow.]"
The familiar incantation began.
"[Shoot! Fairy Archer.]"
The second part of the incantation smoothly followed.
"[Pierce through! Unerring arrow!]"
The final incantation was recited in a calm, clear female voice.
Liber looked at the increasingly brilliant light and listened to the rising chant.
He couldn't help smiling.
Instead of continuing to fall, his body flew toward Lefiya.
"[Arc Ray]"
As she called out the spell's name, a huge ball of light gathered at the tip of Lefiya's staff, which pointed directly at the monsters.
Arrow-shaped beams of light gradually bulged outward from the orb.
As Liber leaped toward Lefiya, the circular formation of monsters behind him stretched out, becoming a formation shaped like an arrowhead as they continued chasing his airborne figure.
Several thick beams of light scattered from the enormous orb before the girl.
They passed right by the oncoming Liber.
The beams struck the War Shadows chasing after him.
The beams pierced through the monster horde behind him, leaving several gaps as if the monsters had been erased.
After passing through the horde, the beams collectively turned around and attacked the War Shadows again.
By then, Liber had already leaped in front of Lefiya. He turned to face the monsters, putting his back to her as he guarded her.
He saw the once enormous monster horde reduced to a scattered mess by a single volley of magic.
Only a handful of War Shadows remained in front of him, still rushing toward them.
Seeing this, Liber instinctively prepared to raise his sword and keep fighting.
Then he saw the returning beams of light sweep toward the monsters in front of him from behind.
Before they could even clash with him, the War Shadows, already grazed by the light, were left as incomplete bodies, collapsing in scattered heaps to the ground.
Watching the monsters he had struggled to fend off earlier get wiped out with ease by Lefiya's magic,
Liber couldn't help marveling once more.
"Now that's real magic."
Before you continue