The Great Round Crisis

This commission was [The Great Round Crisis].

Commission details: Three Large Pyro Slimes have appeared in the Whispering Woods. Please eliminate them immediately. Be sure to finish the fight quickly to avoid starting a forest fire.

Fischl was an investigator for the Adventurers' Guild and had extensive experience gathering intelligence. She sent Oz up to scout from the air, then led Ellin along a winding route through the Whispering Woods. They soon found their targets.

"Ellin, those should be the targets for our commission!"

Fischl pointed at several bright red Slimes as she spoke.

"Pyro Slimes are made of Pyro energy and give off intense heat. They're also soft and squishy, so ordinary punches and kicks won't hurt them. You'll only burn yourself on their bodies."

"I heard you practice swordsmanship. Fighting Pyro Slimes up close would put you at a disadvantage, so leave these to this Prinzessin."

Fischl narrowed her eyes and gave Ellin a sweet smile, completely unaware that she was already speaking normally.

She nocked an arrow and drew her bow, ready to attack the Pyro Slimes. To her surprise, the white-haired girl beside her charged straight at them in excitement the moment she spotted them, as though she'd been given a shot of adrenaline.

"Ellin, don't...!"

Seeing Ellin rush forward, Fischl immediately grew anxious and called for Oz to help.

But just then, something else happened that Fischl hadn't expected!

Halfway through her charge, the white-haired girl beckoned with one hand. Countless motes of light appeared in the air and swiftly gathered between her hands, forming a beautiful blue-and-white bow out of thin air.

"Trail of the Qilin, activate!"

At the girl's sharp cry, the Vision hanging at her waist began to glow, and she drew upon the Cryo energy in the air.

Ganyu's Trail of the Qilin allowed her to fire extremely quickly, but following the normal sequence of taking an arrow, nocking it, drawing the bow, aiming, and firing would take at least four or five seconds for a single shot.

With Ganyu's archery skills, she could probably have fired several arrows in those few seconds.

But Ganyu had honed her skills over a thousand years, bringing her archery to a transcendent level. It was far too early for Ellin to compare herself to her.

Of course, Ellin had her own method. If taking and nocking an arrow was troublesome, why not simply skip those two steps?

Dense Cryo energy flowed between her hands. The instant she drew the bow, it condensed into a crystalline Frost Arrow that automatically nocked itself onto Amos' Bow.

Form the arrow, draw, aim, fire-all in one fluid motion!

Within five seconds, Ellin fired three Frost Arrows, and she wasn't done yet. She kept shooting!

Arrows trailing intense cold shot toward the three Large Pyro Slimes in rapid succession!

Both water and ice were particularly effective against fire.

Each Frost Arrow sank deep into a Pyro Slime's body. Although the heat radiating from the Slimes quickly evaporated the arrows, every hit dimmed their flames a little more.

Once their flames faded completely, it meant their Pyro energy had been exhausted. Slimes were made of elemental energy, and exhausting that energy meant death.

Like a seasoned hunter, Ellin darted through the Whispering Woods, constantly adjusting her position as she fired Frost Arrows in quick succession, keeping the Pyro Slimes thoroughly pinned down.

The three Pyro Slimes could only move their bodies sluggishly, completely unable to keep up with Ellin's speed. As for the fireballs they occasionally spat out, she evaded every one by using the forest's plentiful cover.

"This..."

Watching from a distance, Fischl and Oz both involuntarily opened their mouths.

Fischl had heard of Ellin before. She had only failed to recognize her earlier because Ellin had changed so much.

"Hasn't she always practiced swordsmanship? How is she so good with a bow?"

Fischl was utterly astonished. In her mind, Ellin was simply a girl who worked hard at swordsmanship in hopes of becoming a knight.

Yet the archery Ellin displayed now surpassed even her own!

Large Slimes were bigger than water vats. An ordinary person struck by one would suffer at least a serious injury, and their soft bodies were immune to many ordinary blunt-weapon attacks, punches, and kicks.

This was especially true of Large Pyro Slimes, which radiated intense heat. Their attacks inflicted not only physical damage but burns as well.

Ordinary people had to give a Large Pyro Slime a wide berth, let alone face three Large Slimes at once.

Yet now, beneath Ellin's rain of Frost Arrows, these three Large Pyro Slimes were being battered without any chance to fight back!

"Milady, Miss Ellin seems far stronger than the rumors suggested!" Oz said in surprise.

"Yes, such exquisite archery! With her mastery of the bow, she could have become a full-fledged knight even without a Vision. But why did she..."

Fischl frowned in confusion. Before she could ponder the matter further, however, her eyes suddenly widened and she sucked in a breath, as though she had witnessed something that shook her to her core.

"Th-that is...!"

An excited gleam shone in Fischl's eyes, her gaze now fixed firmly on Ellin.

At that moment, Ellin darted and leaped through the forest with her bow in hand, continuously attacking the Pyro Slimes with Trail of the Qilin.

But Trail of the Qilin was Ganyu's signature technique. Its movements were expansive, with a pronounced follow-through.

When Ganyu used Trail of the Qilin in the game, she inevitably had to make broad movements to dissipate the force of her shots. This was also why her skirt often fluttered up during the follow-through of her normal attacks.

And today, Ellin was wearing a short black pleated skirt. It wasn't difficult to imagine what would happen when she performed Trail of the Qilin in a skirt like that.

As Ellin attacked and dodged, her skirt frequently fluttered up, revealing some delightful sights.

Unfortunately, she had a boy's soul and had absolutely no idea what modesty meant, nor did she know to maintain the decorum expected of a girl.

Once she entered combat, she grew intensely excited, losing herself completely in the fight. She paid no attention to anything else; her focus remained entirely on the enemy.

But this was more than Fischl, watching from a distance, could handle.

Fischl's pupils abruptly contracted, and her blood pressure shot up.

"P-pink lace trim..."

"Today must be this Prinzessin's lucky day!"

Fischl covered her nose, her body trembling slightly with excitement.