Her swordsmanship was exquisite and her combat experience deep, so she still had a sliver of fight left in her, but her kimono had been torn to shreds, pale thighs flashing between the tatters. Her main weapon was snapped in half. Her once-elegant black hair hung in wild tangles across her face, making her look like some blood-soaked vengeful spirit.
Lyra's Pallum physique had held her back, making her the only one of Astraea Familia's Big Three eating dirt.
She was barely propping herself up on her arms, staring at the completely unscathed two-headed dragon. A bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped her:
"So this is where our adventure ends, huh? We didn't even die fighting Evilus. We got taken out by a Monster Rex. How lame is that? Heh heh heh..."
Ryuu knelt on one knee, forcing herself not to collapse. She scanned her surroundings, taking in every companion sprawled on the ground, bleeding out, barely breathing. Grief and fury tangled in her eyes, and a deep, crushing helplessness radiated from her entire being.
"Damn it, I'm too weak! I can't protect any of them with the strength I have! This is all my fault... What do I do? What do I do? What am I supposed to do?! Is there anyone out there who can save them... even just getting them out of here would be enough..."
"Why yes there is, and that someone has arrived!"
"Fireball!"
Alise, Kaguya, and Lyra stared at this reinforcement that had materialized out of nowhere, and the grim resolve they'd steeled themselves with instantly loosened.
But then they got a clear look at the mage surveying the battlefield with that amused expression, and when the shockwave from a massive fireball blew back his hood to reveal that stupidly handsome face underneath, all three of them short-circuited.
"??????????"
"L-L-L-Leon?!?!?!?!"
Is this seriously still Floor 27 of the Lower Floors? Where the hell did I end up?
Why is THAT man here?
Isn't he Level 3?
If I'm remembering right, the rest of his party are all Level 2s and Level 1s, aren't they?
Coming to the Lower Floors with stats like that... who gave him the guts?
The Goddess of Courage?
The thought crossed their minds, and Alise and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
...
On the other side.
Ryuu had also noticed the support party. Collapsed on the ground, she lifted her head at the sound, dazed, and the moment she registered what was happening, the anguish on her face flipped to wild, desperate joy.
"Th-thank you! Whoever you are, this debt... I will repay it!"
Before the words were even out of her mouth, she was already scrambling to her feet, half-crawling, half-sprinting toward her critically wounded companions, frantically digging through the scattered supplies for potions.
Alise, Kaguya, and Lyra: "..."
The three watched Ryuu's frantic back, eyelids twitching in unison, dry laughter escaping them in whispers:
"Ha ha... Ryuu, what are you saying? Did the Monster Rex scare you stupid? You can't even recognize who's saving you?"
Ryuu's hands froze. She focused her elven eyesight on the support party and locked eyes with that man just as he flashed a grin, his trademark blinding white teeth on full display.
"?"
"L-L-L-L-Leon???????!"
...
Meanwhile, a certain someone was pumping out six fireballs a second, making the Monster Rex howl in pain.
A chorus of roars tore from the beast as it shifted into a defensive posture. Leon pulled back, putting distance between them.
The Crimson Mist meant his fireballs hadn't dealt any serious damage, but drawing the thing's attention away from the others had been the whole point.
He widened the gap, carefully layered another Ice Armor over himself, then called out to the Astraea Familia girls still conscious, his tone deliberately casual:
"Yo, Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Ryuu. Gotta say, I never expected our reunion to look like this. Tsk tsk tsk, you guys look... pretty rough. Hehe!"
Hehe?
Kaguya and the others' faces darkened instantly, eyes turning dangerous.
This guy...
Fortunately, Laurier and Aura ran up just in time to defuse things:
"Everyone, leave this to us. You're in bad shape. Please fall back and get treated, now."
Alise shot one long look at Leon, who was going toe-to-toe with the Monster Rex, the beast enraged that its prey had been snatched away, and he wasn't even losing. Then she and Kaguya pulled Lyra to her feet, linked up with the rest of their companions, and retreated to safety for treatment.
"Where's the Elixir? Find it, now!"
"Heal Maryuu first. Once she's mobile, pair her with Ryuu for healing magic!"
"Got it!"
Tasks assigned in seconds, Alise slung one companion over her back, tucked another under her arm, and sprinted toward the embankment's edge.
Once the Astraea Familia members had cleared the field, Jeanne and Rose stepped forward, forming a defensive line to engage the Monster Rex head-on. Kureha and Persephone swept around the flanks in wide arcs, pinning the beast down and relieving frontal pressure while quietly folding the rear guard into their protective perimeter.
That left Laurier and Aura as the rear support.
Unlike Kureha with her absurdly overtuned permanent stat boost, neither of them had the raw power to fight above their level. Against Amphisbaena, a two-headed dragon with a challenge rating equivalent to Level 6, they had to maintain absolute focus. They could not take a single hit.
No, forget a direct hit. Even a graze from a Level 6 Monster Rex would be enough to critically wound either of them, and outright killing them was more likely than not.
So the two positioned themselves well behind the front line, maxed out their defenses the instant combat started, and silently swore they would not be a liability to their seniors in this fight.
Leon noticed the look on their faces and felt a quiet reassurance settle over him.
Even at Level 2, thrown into a subjugation battle against a Level 6 Lower Floors Monster Rex, neither of them showed an ounce of fear or hesitation.
In his eyes, they'd already become capable Adventurers who could hold their own.
The thought flickered through his mind and was gone. He refocused on the Amphisbaena before him.
The Two-Headed Dragon Amphisbaena: Monster Rex of the Lower Floors' Water City. Respawn cycle fluctuated around one month. Active range covered the lake waters of the "Great Waterfall Cavern" spanning Floors 25 through 27.
Unlike other Monster Rexes that guarded a specific zone or floor, it was the only known "mobile-type" floor boss, roaming freely through its territory.
True to its name, Amphisbaena had two dragon heads. The left head fired the Azure Flame, an ultra-high-temperature breath that could easily melt Tier 2 weapons. The right head expelled the Crimson Mist, a fog that dissipated any magic on contact. In other words, a built-in Silence.
According to Guild records, its base potential was estimated at Level 5, but factoring in the Water City's terrain advantage, its effective strength, or more accurately, its challenge difficulty, was comparable to Level 6.
"Tch. Pain in the ass."
...
...