The Final Lesson (Please, I'm Begging You-Vote and Keep Reading!)

In an instant, Ais was sent flying from the front line to the rock wall at the rear, struck by the monster.

Lefiya cried out, "Miss Ais!"

She hurried to the wall.

Leaning on her sword, Ais slowly rose from the rubble, dust covering her golden hair and cheeks.

She shook her numb arm. "I'm fine..."

At that critical moment, she had forcibly cast her magic, [Ariel], barely managing to absorb most of the impact.

Otherwise...

Ais fixed her gaze on the never-before-seen Man-eating Flower monster.

Judging by the force of its blow and the amount of magic within its body, it had to be at least as powerful as a monster from the deep levels.

With her strength suppressed to Lv. 1, even protecting herself against such a monster would be difficult, let alone fighting it head-on.

Ais took a deep breath and asked earnestly, "Lord Thor, please lift my seal! Let me return to my Lv. 5 strength."

This monster was no opponent for a Lv. 1 adventurer. Even she, forcibly suppressed to level 1, couldn't handle it.

Thor briefly shifted his gaze from the Man-eating Flower, then glanced at the urgency on Ais's face.

Having just gained 102 Stardust, his physical strength was roughly equivalent to a level 1 fighter with all stats at 999.

But against this monster, physical strength was the least important factor.

"Ais. Today, I'll teach you your final lesson."

The final lesson?

Ais stared wide-eyed at Thor, who stood in front of them.

Ais watched Thor's straight, unwavering back.

She immediately understood what he meant.

This wasn't just a battle. It was a demonstration.

He's going to show me something using the same amount of power I have...?

"Yes."

She answered softly and turned her wrist, smoothly sliding the Sword of Despair into its scabbard at her waist.

Bell and Lefiya noticed Ais's movement.

Though the monster's strength still shook them, their absolute trust in Thor overcame their unease.

Without a word, they put away their weapons and quickly retreated to a relatively safe spot behind him, holding their breath.

Bell clenched his fists, his heart racing with both nervousness and anticipation.

Lord God was going to fight in person!

Lefiya watched the scene before her, her palms sweating slightly from nerves.

Miss Ais has put away her sword... Lord Thor must have a plan!

Thor turned from the people behind him and looked at the unwelcome guest before him.

"Since my students are watching... I might as well take you down in style."

With that,

the Storm Greatsword in his hand instantly broke apart and reassembled. As starlight flowed through it, it became a long, slender katana—Storm Cutter.

The blade gleamed with a cold, clear light in the dimness.

A katana from the Far East?

Seeing the weapon Thor had transformed, Ais immediately thought of the weapons used in the Far East.

As the three wondered what Thor would do,

his lips moved, and his deep voice rang clearly through the Dungeon's din.

"Awaken."

Boom!

In an instant, a vast torrent of blue-green wind erupted from beneath Thor's feet!

The raging wind coiled around his limbs and waist. His hair whipped wildly in the gale, and his clothes snapped and fluttered.

That familiar wind magic, that distinctive blue-green radiance...

Ais's pale golden eyes contracted to pinpoints!

[Ariel]?!

Shock slammed into her consciousness like a heavy hammer.

Impossible! That was her magic!

The magic her mother had left her!

Why could Lord Thor use it?!

Lefiya cried out in disbelief, "Th-that's Miss Ais's [Ariel]?!"

She could hardly believe her eyes.

How could Lord Thor use Miss Ais's magic?!

At that very moment, the Man-eating Flower let out a piercing shriek.

Its enormous body writhed violently. Dozens of thick, arm-sized vine tendrils tore through the air like a dense array of spears, shooting toward Thor!

They were so fast they left afterimages!

"Look out!!!"

Lefiya screamed on instinct, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.

And yet—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

What happened next was breathtaking.

The instant the tendrils pierced the raging blue-green wind around Thor, their trajectories twisted strangely!

It was as if they had struck an invisible, slick wall, or been gently deflected by a force that was soft yet impossible to resist.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Not a single vine touched Thor!

Every one of them scraped past his body and slammed into the ground around him, sinking deep into the hard rock as fragments flew!

Like clumsy spears thrusting at a slick, round shield, they were utterly ineffective.

"I-it missed?!" Lefiya stared, mouth agape, unable to believe the sight.

Thor hadn't even moved a step!

Ais stared fixedly at the figure standing unmoved amid the raging wind. For the first time, her usually impassive face showed intense emotion.

She saw it more clearly. That hadn't been a simple dodge.

"No... They were deflected..."

When the Man-eating Flower had ambushed her, she had blocked its strike with her own strength and wind magic, meeting force with force.

But what Thor had just done...

He had changed the direction of the wind...

Ais could clearly sense that the raging wind around Thor wasn't blowing wildly at random. Under his incredibly precise control, it formed an invisible field of rapidly spinning air, its direction constantly adjusting by the slightest degree.

The moment those deadly vines entered the wind field, the spinning currents deftly redirected the force of their tremendous impact, deflecting them away.

Like a boulder in a rushing river, with the water naturally flowing around it.

The wind was no longer a shield. It had become an agile guide, using the enemy's own strength to turn its attacks away from their target.

Thor didn't need to move at all.

Ais felt something tighten around her heart.

So this is... the true way to use wind?

Having just defended against the attack, Thor lowered his center of gravity slightly.

The instant the monster pulled back its tendrils, he murmured:

"Steel Tempest."

He didn't shout. There wasn't even a trace of passion in his voice. Thor merely made two calm slashes through the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two razor-sharp blue-green arcs flashed almost simultaneously!

The thick tendrils beside him, harder than tempered steel and strong enough to numb Ais's arm when she blocked them, were severed like brittle dead branches. They broke into countless pieces, their cut ends smooth as mirrors!

Ais's pale golden pupils contracted sharply.

Incredible...

She knew just how tough the monster's defenses were.

Even her level 1 weapon, the Sword of Despair, could hardly cut through its tendrils with the blade's natural sharpness alone, without any elemental enhancement or skill.

But Thor had done it!

It couldn't be just the sharpness of his weapon!

Ais focused, and her eyes immediately caught the key.

A layer of wind element, thin as a cicada's wing yet compressed to the utmost, covered the blade of Thor's katana!

Could it be... that the two slashes just now had built up the power of the wind?

As she stared in shock, the monster flew into a rage.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground shook violently. Even more numerous and thicker than before, blue-green vines burst from the earth like a horde of enraged giant serpents!

They no longer attacked separately. Instead, they twisted and coiled together in the air, instantly forming a terrifying pillar larger than a battering ram, which came crashing down on Thor!

The air itself was squeezed into an explosive roar!

The force of this attack far surpassed what should have been possible on the tenth floor!

Thor's gaze remained as calm as still water. Facing the terrifying attack bearing down on him like a mountain, he turned his wrist, releasing the concentrated wind pressure from Storm Cutter.

"Whirlwind Slash."

As the blade swept out, there was no sound of a slash—only a wind howl like a dragon's roar!

Hummm—

A massive tornado, formed purely of raging wind pressure, burst forth from Thor's casual swing!

It was one of the techniques of the Wind-Riding Sword Style.

A sword-art secret once wielded by a man known as the Gale Swordsman!

The tornado roared toward the falling pillar of vines. Wherever it passed, it sucked the air away, releasing a suffocating wail!