Along with Lefiya's own wandering thoughts, that "world-destroying" Explosion Magic was finally about to make its debut in actual combat.
Just how much damage could it cause?
Even the Elf girl herself wasn't certain. However, the space already warping due to the magic power, the fluttering colors, and suddenly, the distant BOSS coming to an abrupt halt and looking towards her with an incredibly serious expression, all spoke volumes.
Then.
It began to chant defensive magic.
The "black moons" originally scattered across the ground began to converge once more. Only, whether it was Ais, Tiona, or even Isagi, none of them were going to let it chant its defensive magic so easily.
This was exactly the weakness of a mage. When facing a pincer attack from multiple opponents, it was very easy for them to get flustered and lose track of things.
Of course, for a veteran mage, there were naturally ways to deal with such a situation.
But what it absolutely couldn't have expected was—
The young man who had originally been releasing magic from a distance, taking on the role of "middle guard," suddenly spread a pair of golden wings and charged fiercely toward the BOSS.
At the same time.
Ignoring the various ultra-short chant magics unleashed by the opponent, he had Heith and Ryuu-senpai continuously heal him with magic while he gulped down a "Dew Flask" that restored his health.
Isagi simply and brutally broke through the blockade of the opponent's magic, arriving right in front of it in the blink of an eye.
Next.
Without swinging his weapon, he simply opened his large hand and pressed it directly onto the opponent's face.
"?"
In this instant.
An expression of unbelievable confusion and distortion appeared on the handsome face of the male Elf. It was as if no one had ever done such a thing before, yet at this moment, it already understood what was going to happen next.
Physical Silence!
Isagi's large hand pressed directly onto the BOSS's face, forcibly terminating the opponent's completely incomprehensible, gloomy chant!
Since a long time ago, he had been pondering a very interesting question.
And that was—
[Can a mute become a mage?]
This was a very crucial question.
It was said that so-called "magic" would have different chant lyrics depending on the language known to the user (because naturally, there was more than just the continent's common tongue in this world; various dialects also existed).
That quickly led to the thought: if one was "silenced," meaning they were in a state where they couldn't speak, wouldn't they be completely unable to use magic?
For example, right now, when someone's mouth was covered, how were they supposed to chant aloud?
The answer was, sure enough—
[Impossible]!
Because of this sudden turn of events, even the magic originally under its control experienced a certain degree of chaos and fluctuation. The liquid that resembled a black moon, which had been orbiting beneath its feet, even showed signs of dissipating.
But very quickly, befitting an ancient hero.
The Dark Elf known as Dawn-Dark Moon rapidly adjusted its mindset. Subsequently, it controlled that black moon, sprouting countless sharp spikes that stabbed toward him.
It wanted to break free from him, but it was completely useless, because Isagi never planned on "leaving alive" anyway.
This was all part of the "plan".
Resurrection was also an ability; naturally, it had to be used flexibly in battle.
Although it was the first time using such a tactic, and there had been no prior rehearsal, as a party that had adventured together for so long, the girls very quickly completed their coordination with him.
And that was...
The moment he "silenced" the BOSS.
Ais and Tiona began to retreat rapidly, followed by Ryuu-senpai and Miss Heith.
Everyone instantly headed toward the Fog Gate. Then, the moment Lefiya's Explosion Magic fell.
That brilliant.
Dazzling, multicolored spectacle born from magic power condensed to its absolute limit—in the instant it soundlessly erupted, a grappling hook had already shot out precisely from Heith's left hand, "grabbing" the Elf girl in the distance who had just released her magic, causing her entire mental strength to be drained, leaving her to immediately collapse weakly.
Next.
Aside from Ais and Ryuu-senpai, everyone else retreated, leaving through the Fog Gate.
Along with Isagi himself, who also turned into small golden ribbons of light, resurrecting at the Site of Grace outside the Fog Gate.
Following that, the young man walked into the Fog Gate once more. Next, it would be up to him, Ais, and Ryuu-senpai to "buy time".
According to the original plan.
Because Lefiya would lose all her combat capability after releasing her Explosion Magic, she could only withdraw to "rest".
And although theoretically no monsters would spawn outside the Fog Gate, to avoid any accidents, it was impossible to leave the girl out there alone.
Therefore.
It was necessary for Tiona and Heith to keep watch outside.
So, if they could take out the BOSS before them in a single strike, that would be best. If not, they would shift to continuing with "two options".
Option One:
Wait for Lefiya to recover her mental strength, return to the battlefield, and continue releasing Explosion Magic.
According to prior testing.
After releasing Explosion Magic once, the Elf girl would regain some consciousness in about five hours. With the help of potions, she would recover a certain amount of combat capability after roughly seven or eight hours.
After all, she had leveled up quite a bit. It wasn't like before, where she absolutely had to go back and sleep for a whole day after exhausting her mental strength.
And during this period, he and the girls would be responsible for continuing to fight the BOSS and stalling for time.
Or.
Option Two:
Without waiting for Lefiya to return, he, Ais, and Ryuu-senpai would directly slay the BOSS themselves.
Whether they chose option one or option two depended entirely on the situation on the ground.
For Isagi.
The most important part of formulating this combat plan was to test Lefiya's "Explosion Magic" to see exactly how much power it held—whether it could settle things in one hit, or if it was still lacking and needed further refinement.
And now, the result was about to be revealed
—
As the multicolored spectacle formed from pure magic power dissipated into this pure white world.
Isagi, having passed through the Fog Gate once again, immediately saw Ais and Ryuu standing right beside him.
They had just been shaken by Lefiya's magic as well. Even though it wasn't the first time they had seen it, no matter what, it was hard not to feel astounded when such magic appeared right before their eyes.
It was as if everything concerning an individual was stripped away; even the "self" ceased to exist in that instant.
That unbelievable strike.
Its power.
Was absolutely astonishing!
Centered around the BOSS itself, a radius of dozens of meters revealed a scorched crater, resembling the impact of a meteorite.
Fortunately, the radiant Pearl Tree and the giant dragon corpse beneath it were far enough away, so they didn't suffer any damage. But even so, within the pure white chamber, that massive, irregular, pitch-black crater was still incredibly eye-catching.
And "Dawn-Dark Moon", currently situated in the center of it, had long since lost its previous vigor.
It wasn't just that its clothes and weapons had simply vanished, even the hair on its body... Its broken body was largely covered in thick blood. That scorched, riddled flesh—if not for the fact that it was still standing, and those deep purple eyes had yet to close.
Isagi would have thought it was definitely "dead for sure." To still be alive like this, its vitality was just too tenacious, wasn't it?
To be completely honest.
The power of Lefiya's magic had exceeded his imagination.
Reasonably speaking, the Elf girl's "Explosion Magic" shouldn't be as strong as Riveria's third-tier attack magic, [Vas Windheim], which could shoot out a giant emerald light wave.
The reason was also very simple.
And that was "crudeness"; Explosion Magic was still too crude right now.
Simply condensing magic power and then throwing it out, when using the same amount of magic power, it would definitely be inferior to chanted magic.
Different magics would imbue magic power with different destructive capabilities, penetration, range, and more "properties".
The scorching heat of fire, the swiftness of wind, the biting chill of ice, the sheer weight of the earth...
Chanting was a necessity.
A so-called "attack" was naturally not as simple as dumping all one's magic power out at once.
As mentioned before, Lefiya's Explosion Magic caused a considerable amount of "magic power waste". However, because she could throw out all her magic power in one breath, even if a whole lot was wasted...
The resulting damage still far surpassed ordinary magic.
Looking at the severely damaged, even dying BOSS before him, which might have even skipped its second phase entirely, Isagi couldn't help but shake his head.
Of course.
There was actually another reason behind this. From Lv.2 all the way to Lv.5, with every level up, the Elf girl had surpassed her own limits and obtained an ultra-high [Magic] attribute.
Her foundation was incomparably solid.
Right now, there was still a level gap. But if she also leveled up to Lv.6, then in terms of total "magic power" alone, Riveria truly might not be stronger than Lefiya.
This was also the reason why the Explosion Magic had somewhat exceeded Isagi's expectations.
If it was already like this now, then if she continued to refine and research it further in the future, wouldn't it be insane?
Along with these thoughts.
Isagi had already brought out his [Moonveil].
The longsword, acting purely as a "magic staff", was currently accumulating magic power as well. Just like Lefiya's Explosion Magic, Isagi was naturally also attempting to inject as much magic power into it at once as possible.
However.
Lefiya possessed the special skill, "The Curtain Rises", which was why she was able to pour out all her magic power at once.
And he, merely relying on the properties of Moonveil in his hand, naturally couldn't achieve that. What he could accumulate was up to the absolute limit that this longsword, acting as a magic staff, could endure—
Beside him, Ais and Ryuu both heard the weapon in Isagi's hand "wailing". That was the sound it would make only when squeezed to its absolute limit, verging on the brink of shattering.
In fact.
Ais was quite familiar with this.
Because she hadn't ruined her weapons any less like this in the past. But there was a slight difference this time: previously, the girl had always broken her weapons unknowingly, whereas right now, Isagi was actively testing the limits of the weapon in his hand.
This wasn't the first time either.
Therefore, when that massive azure light blade flashed by, streaking toward the BOSS in the blink of an eye.
Isagi quickly sheathed the longsword, waiting for its "cooldown", while thinking that in the future, he could also find a way to increase the upper limit of "magic power" the weapon could condense, to greatly enhance the power of this move, right?
Just like a certain—
[Getsuga Tenshou]?
Conceptually speaking, it really was no different from Explosion Magic; it was all just pure numerical value.
The light blade instantly engulfed the distant BOSS.
The situation was better than he had expected. So next, there was no need to wait for Lefiya to rest for half a day and then come running over to release a second Explosion Magic.
Right now.
It would just be up to him, Ais, and Ryuu-senpai to slay the guy in front of them.
When the Fog Gate dissipated.
Lefiya was still sound asleep beside the Site of Grace that served as Isagi's resurrection point.
Heith and Tiona, who were standing nearby, watched the figures of the young man and girls appear. Staring blankly for a moment, they then looked toward the distant battlefield, which still bore that massive crater, a site the Dungeon hadn't even had time to repair yet.
At this moment.
The original BOSS had already "disappeared".
Just like those Red Spirits he had encountered previously, it would dissipate upon defeat. It wouldn't be like a monster, where one had to dig out its Magic Stone for it to turn to ash—come to think of it, as former adventurers, they shouldn't have Magic Stones inside their bodies anyway, right?
And unlike the Red Spirits.
As a BOSS, it didn't drop a full set of weapons and equipment. On the contrary, Isagi only obtained an old, worn-out emblem, which looked like some kind of special item.
[Hero's Proof (Fragment):
An emblem that can only be possessed by those who fear no death and harbor grand ambitions; those who are honest, brave, compassionate, and merciful.
The Dungeon has witnessed their fearless expedition. Even if, in the end, the sparks of fire turn to ash, silently, with no one left to know.
Yet existence itself will not vanish, and this is the greatest proof.]
What the hell.
After Isagi tucked it away into his clothes, Heith and Tiona in the distance made a new discovery: the corpse of that massive "Tree Dragon" beneath the Pearl Tree was actually lootable!
Not only did it have a Magic Stone.
But it also dropped materials, weapons, and a sparkling "Miracle".
It was simply a massive harvest!
"Say, Isagi, how did you know that breaking off the tail first would make it drop a weapon?"
"Uh..."
Because the Dungeon was getting more and more "familiar" with him now, so this kind of basic setting would definitely be maintained too.
Putting that aside.
After taking care of the "Tree Dragon's" corpse.
They also obtained the "Pearl" from the Pearl Tree, which was originally a "Quest Item" that had to be acquired, capable of sparkling and turning the surroundings into a pure white color.
Afterwards.
That originally massive Pearl Tree actually seemed to shrink.
Gradually, it distanced itself from the group.
Allowing the surroundings to once again return to their original appearance of a barren wasteland littered with jagged rocks. With dim, grayish-white stone walls and weeds visible everywhere, the [Place of Truth] once again revealed its "true" form.
And watching everything that was happening before his eyes, Isagi pondered. It seemed he had somewhat figured out the general plot of the Middle Levels at hand...
____
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