The instant that thought flashed through Leon's mind, the grin creeping across his face was already beyond saving.
"Water City monsters have insanely high natural resistance to fire magic. Even my Fireball can't fully vaporize their corpses..."
"But... you're the exception."
He flashed a wicked smile.
"Scorch!"
A tap of his staff, and a slightly charged Scorch spell erupted in an instant. The red micro-magic circle at the Twisted Staff's head flickered and vanished. Then a far larger red magic circle bloomed open just beyond the staff's tip.
"O flames, grant me your power!"
Leon murmured the incantation, staff leveled forward, the twin circles rotating slowly. His grin curled tighter.
"Fireball!"
The Moss Giant hadn't even registered what was happening, why its body had suddenly caught fire, when the next second...
What reached it before Jeanne and Rose was a massive Fireball filling its entire field of vision.
The explosion erupted skyward, unleashing a violent shockwave of scorching heat across the embankment beside the enormous pool.
Flames and water vapor clashed violently, and billowing white fog swallowed everyone from sight in an instant, blotting out every inch of visibility.
"Shit!"
Staring at the wall of white ahead, Leon's heart sank. He knew he'd screwed up. But by the time he realized the problem, it was too late.
Rookie mistake... damn it, I didn't account for the Water City's environment.
He threw Frost Armor on himself immediately, and with that small reassurance, stood his ground, cranking his guard to maximum, scanning his surroundings and relying on sound to track the situation.
The clash of weapons and sounds of combat filtered through the fog, punctuated by stifled battle cries and sharp grunts.
"Over there?"
Leon pinpointed the direction instantly, slammed his boots into the ground, and sprinted low with staff in hand.
Through the fog, Rose's kite shield pulsed with pure white light like a heartbeat. She lunged forward in a deep stance, center of gravity dropped low, absorbing the Moss Giant's full-power one-armed slam head-on.
She sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth.
"So heavy!"
Rose bent her knees deeper, bracing hard. Her expression shifted.
The pressure bearing down on her shield was staggering. She clenched her jaw and gave two steps before finally absorbing the impact completely.
"Lv. 4... no, closer to Lv. 5 strength."
But before she could think further...
She felt something wrong at her ankle through her boots. She snapped her gaze downward and saw it: a vine had coiled around her ankle without her noticing.
"No...!"
She used her skill's counter-acceleration to swing her short sword at the vine, but she was a step too slow.
The vine wrenched hard, yanking her leg off the ground. Her center of gravity collapsed and she crashed onto her back.
This bastard...
Her eyes went cold. Following the vine's trail, she quickly locked onto the monster's silhouette emerging through the white fog.
Normal attacks couldn't break my guard, so it went for my footing instead. That kind of tactical awareness is way beyond any Strengthened Species I've ever seen.
In an instant she'd assessed the threat level. She couldn't treat this thing as just a monster. It had combat intelligence and cunning on par with a veteran Adventurer.
She glanced at the vine pulled taut from the tug-of-war, then at the giant hauling her with brute force. Her lips curled into a rare, mocking smile.
"But you think that's enough to get me?"
Before she'd even finished, another vine sharpened into a spear tip hurtled toward her at blinding speed, growing rapidly in her vision.
A life-or-death moment. Most people's minds would go blank.
But even flat on her back with a vine binding her leg, Rose's face showed not a trace of panic.
Just as the vine spear, condensed with lethal intent, was about to pierce her throat, a javelin came whistling through the air and drove deep into the ground in front of her with a heavy thud.
Unlike the usual throws, the battle standard bearing the Hart Familia crest unfurled in the wind, snapping wildly in the currents kicked up by the waterfall.
"O banner of mine, protect my brethren!"
"Luminosite Eternelle!"
The crest-emblazoned banner erupted with light.
In an instant, soft golden radiance spread outward from the flag, forming a solid barrier that enveloped Rose completely.
The vine spear slammed into Jeanne's golden barrier and failed to leave so much as a scratch before being deflected without mercy.
This was completely beyond the Moss Giant's limited comprehension. In all the times it had cunningly laid traps and hunted Adventurers, it had never encountered anything like this.
This party of Adventurers defied everything it understood about prey.
Especially that thin golden shield. How could it possibly block a killing blow it had been setting up the entire fight?
These Adventurers...
Not easy prey.
Besides these two females, there's also that cloaked one who makes me fear for my life on instinct...
The Moss Giant was rapidly assessing the situation with its limited intellect when a sharp warning of danger hit it.
It couldn't even react. All it caught in its peripheral vision was a streak of red cutting through the white fog...
Then a searing Fireball tore through the mist and the explosive shockwave consumed its body whole.
A chain of detonations blasted the fog apart. Leon walked over toward Jeanne and Rose, leaning on his Twisted Staff, unhurried.
"Over here!"
Before he could call out, Kureha, Laurier, and Aura had already spotted them from nearby and quickly closed in.
"Careful. The hostility hasn't disappeared."
Jeanne frowned, eyes fixed on the roaring sea of flames ahead, her voice low.
Leon squinted at the "charred corpse" thrashing in the fire. Quite the actor, he thought, but kept his expression neutral as he reached down and pulled Rose to her feet.
"You okay?"
Rose shook her head, bent to retrieve the shield lying beside her, and straightened with a serious expression.
"This thing is extremely cunning. Completely different from any monster we've faced before. Stay sharp."
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