The blonde girl leaped and darted through the air above the bustling Northeast Main Street, surrounded by a gentle breeze. She never stopped moving.
Her gaze was sharp as a sword as she searched again and again, but she couldn't find the last White Ape monster.
Though their clash had been brief, Ais had still sensed something strange.
These monsters, which had escaped from the arena, were different from ordinary monsters.
They weren't fixated on hurting people or destroying things. Instead, they seemed to be frantically searching for something, moving along paths with no discernible pattern.
A nameless anxiety seized Ais. She channeled her magic, and the blue currents of air around her grew denser, carrying her higher into the sky.
No good. I still can't find it.
Just as Ais felt her efforts were futile, the ground beneath her feet suddenly bulged!
Amid a deafening rumble, three monstrous man-eating flower monsters burst from the earth, opening their gaping maws to snap at her!
"What!?"
Ais instinctively raised her sword to block, but forgot she wasn't holding her usual beloved blade. This spare weapon couldn't withstand such a powerful blow.
The slender, silver-bright blade snapped with a sharp crack. Fragments shot outward, then were swept aside by the blue currents of air protecting her.
Ais used the force of the man-eating flower monsters' charge to spin away, narrowly dodging their enormous mouths as they spat streams of dissolving fluid.
She flung the surviving hilt at the nearest flower, used the momentum to step onto its head, then landed lightly on the ground. Her expression had never been so grave.
"Another new monster escaped from the arena?"
"I doubt it. These guys burrowed up through the underground waterways."
"Hmm? Kashu?"
The girl's quiet exclamation was nearly swallowed by a sudden rush