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Chapter 41: Despair
Ais had dubbed the newly born female entity a 'Spirit'.
There's no doubt about it! This is it!
Even before the monstrous body had finished its transformation, Tsuna's Hyper Intuition had been screaming at him, warning him of an impending, dreadful premonition. Now, looking at the entity before them, he understood exactly what his instincts had been reacting to.
"Aria!! Aria!! I missed you!! I missed you!!"
"!?"
"Won't you become one with me, too?"
The Spirit, initially crying out in jubilation, abruptly changed her demeanor the moment she laid eyes on Ais. She began to frolic with the innocent, unhinged glee of a child. Ais froze in place as if bound by invisible chains, while the rest of the vanguard turned to look back at her.
"Let me eat you?"
The corners of the Spirit's mouth twisted upward into a grotesque smile. Instantly, the massive caterpillar-types and the Man-Eating Flowers that had been offering up their magic stones turned in unison. As if bound to her every whim, they began to march toward Tsuna and the others.
At the exact same time, a thick, pulsating wall of green flesh erupted, completely sealing off the corridor that led back up the Dungeon. Their only route of escape was severed.
"All hands!! Prepare for battle!!" Finn roared.
His commanding voice sliced through the rising panic. Shocked by the continuous chain of irregular events and the realization that they were trapped, the adventurers snapped back to reality and drew their weapons.
"Finn!! I'm pushing forward too!!" Gareth bellowed.
"It's the same old crap we always do!! I'm gonna slaughter 'em!!" Bete snarled.
Gareth and Bete were the first to charge the vanguard. Weaving through the showers of highly corrosive acid, they swung their Durandal weapons with lethal precision, obliterating the caterpillars and Man-Eating Flowers in their path.
"[X-Laser]!"
Tsuna provided cover fire from behind, utilizing the piercing flame technique he had perfected on the 58th Floor. He didn't just fire randomly; he carefully picked his targets, sniping the magic stones of the approaching monsters to carve a clear path for Gareth and Bete to advance.
"Lefiya, target the female humanoid and start your chant!! Raul, cover Ais and the others with the magic swords!!"
"U-Understood!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
Though still trembling from the residual tension, Lefiya tightly gripped her staff and began her incantation. Raul and the supporters ignited their magic swords, unleashing volleys of fire. The immediate area was swallowed by roaring explosions, allowing Ais and the rest of the front line to rapidly eradicate the approaching horde.
"Standing around and watching the show ain't really my style, either."
Tsubaki had joined this expedition primarily as a blacksmith to maintain their weapons, but she was still a First-Class Level 5 adventurer. Drawing her longsword, she leapt into the fray, cleanly slicing through the encroaching Man-Eating Flowers.
"Fufu…"
Despite the fierce resistance, the Spirit wasn't the least bit agitated. If anything, she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the massacre.
Suddenly, a countless array of thick, writhing plant tentacles erupted from her lower half, shooting straight toward Tsuna and the vanguard. Launched from a hundred meters away, they crossed the distance in the blink of an eye with terrifying velocity.
"It's heavy!!"
Tiona and Tione swung their weapons down with all their might to intercept the incoming vines. However, even with the combined monstrous strength of the Amazoness twins, they couldn't cut through. Instead, the sheer kinetic force of the impact reverberated painfully up their arms.
"Natsu!"
From above, Natsu unleashed a roar toward the tentacles. Bathed in the Sky Flame's roar, the tentacles succumbed to the trait of Harmony, their unnatural density and strength rapidly assimilating into that of ordinary flora.
But then—
She has regeneration too…?
Before Natsu's roar could completely neutralize the vines, the Spirit ruthlessly amputated her own tentacles. In mere seconds, fresh, violent vines sprouted from the severed stumps.
She was an anomaly—a monster possessing not only the intellect to converse, but the tactical reasoning to sacrifice her own limbs to avoid a debuff. She didn't panic when her attack was neutralized; she simply analyzed the information and adapted.
What is this?
My thumb is…
Tsuna's Hyper Intuition flared violently, at the exact same moment Finn's thumb began to throb. Both of them sensed an overwhelming threat rapidly approaching.
"Riveria. Hold your chant," Finn ordered.
"Finn?"
Riveria looked at him, confused. Standard tactical doctrine dictated that mages should begin chanting the moment the vanguard secured enough time. Being told to stop in the middle of a life-or-death struggle felt inherently wrong.
"My thumb is throbbing relentlessly… Something is coming…"
What's coming…?
Understanding that an unprecedented attack was imminent, Finn and Tsuna scrutinized the Spirit, their minds racing to predict her next move.
"Come, fire."
"A chant!?"
To the absolute horror of everyone present, the Spirit began to speak an incantation. A colossal Magic Circle expanded beneath her lower half. Ais's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, and the blood drained from the faces of every adventurer in the room.
Magic was the crystallization of mortal wisdom. For monsters, beasts driven purely by instinct and a hunger to slaughter mankind, acquiring such a technique was supposed to be fundamentally impossible.
"[X-Laser]!!"
Tsuna acted instantly, rapidly firing a barrage of concentrated flame lasers straight at the Spirit to interrupt her chant.
"It's not working…!?"
The massive, thick petals adorning the Spirit's lower body snapped shut, entirely engulfing her form. The lasers struck the floral armor and dissipated harmlessly. Tsuna gritted his teeth in frustration; he couldn't even leave a scratch, let alone stop her magic.
"Riveria!! Put up a barrier!!"
Realizing the worst-case scenario had arrived—they couldn't stop her chant—Finn shouted his orders. Her face pale with urgency, Riveria immediately began her own incantation.
"F-Fire a volley!!"
"[Fusillade Fallarica]!!"
Raul and the supporters unleashed their magic swords, while Lefiya unleashed the same wide-area fire magic that had incinerated the monster swarms on the 58th Floor. The combined bombardment of hundreds of flame arrows and magic sword blasts slammed into the Spirit. A deafening explosion shook the entirety of the 59th Floor.
But when the smoke cleared—
"Haha… You're telling me that didn't do a damn thing…!?" Tsubaki let out a strained, breathless laugh, her eyes locked on the nightmare before them.
The Spirit had completely defended against the combined magical assault using nothing but her petal armor.
"O raging, raging, raging vortex of flames. O wall of crimson. O roar of hellfire. Borrow the power of the squall and close the world. Burning sky, burning earth, burning sea, burning spring, burning mountain, burning life. Turn all to ash and offer the howling roar of anger and grief as the price for the time of my beloved hero—"
"Dance, spirits of the air, lords of light. Weave the protection of the forest, and wrap us in the song of the earth. Encircle us—"
A brilliant jade Magic Circle materialized at Riveria's feet.
The Spirit and Riveria were chanting concurrently. However, the Spirit was reciting an incantation far longer than Riveria's, and doing so at an utterly terrifying speed.
It was a Super Long Chant. A spell that required an extensive verse, far surpassing a standard long chant. The words required were practically endless, but once completed, the resulting magic would yield apocalyptic destruction.
"We can't even get close to her…!?"
Ais and the twins tried to force their way forward to interrupt the Spirit, but a chaotic storm of tentacles battered them back, making it impossible to close the distance.
If I attack from the air!!
Tsuna kicked off the ground, soaring into the sky to close in on the Spirit. But the Demi-Spirit was heavily guarding her aerial airspace as well. A barrage of vines shot upward. Tsuna ducked, weaved, and spun through the lethal rain of tentacles, steadily pushing forward.
Crap!!
A sudden jerk halted his momentum. A tentacle burst from the ground, violently wrapping around his left leg. In his desperation to stop the Super Long Chant, his focus had been entirely fixed forward, leaving his lower guard vulnerable.
Before he could react, the vine whipped him through the air, aiming to impale him on a jagged stalagmite.
"Natsu…!?"
Tsuna tried to use [Ruggito del Cielo] to neutralize the tentacle, but the vine violently spun him around, throwing off his aim, before hurling him straight toward the rocky ground.
"Ghk!!"
Thrown with bone-shattering force, Tsuna twisted his body mid-air, thrusting both hands backward. He unleashed a massive burst of Dying Will Flames, violently decelerating just inches before he crashed into the earth.
"I command in the name of the proxy. My given name is the incarnation of the Fire Spirit, the Queen of Flame—"
Though Tsuna had narrowly avoided a fatal crash, the countdown to annihilation was steadily ticking down. The Spirit's Super Long Chant was reaching its climax.
"All hands, fall back behind Riveria's barrier!!"
Judging that stopping the chant was now completely impossible, Finn ordered an immediate retreat. The adventurers scrambled frantically, diving behind Riveria.
"Become a barrier of the great forest's light and protect us. My name is Alf!!"
With those final words, Riveria completed the incantation for the absolute strongest defensive magic in her arsenal.
"[Via Shilheim]!!"
The jade Magic Circle flared brilliantly, and a massive, translucent dome enveloped the entire Loki Familia.
"[Firestorm]."
At almost the exact same second Riveria's barrier deployed, the Spirit unleashed her spell—an apocalyptic tsunami of fire that erupted across the floor.
The overwhelming wave of sheer heat incinerated the monsters, the dense jungle, the rock formations—everything in its path was instantly reduced to ash.
"Damn it…!!"
If this barrier broke, everyone would die. Riveria gritted her teeth, pouring every ounce of her mental energy into maintaining the spell as the sea of flames crashed against it.
But then—
"The barrier is…!?"
A scene of pure despair reflected in their eyes. The ultimate barrier, cast by Orario's strongest mage, began to spider-web with fractures. The cracks rapidly spread. They all realized the horrifying truth: even Riveria's magic wasn't enough to withstand this level of destruction.
"Natsu. Cambio Forma."
In the midst of that overwhelming despair, Tsuna triggered his Box Weapon's transformation. Exhaust vents attached themselves to his Vongola Gear, and his flame voltage spiked exponentially.
"Wha—!?"
Tsuna stepped forward, grabbing Riveria's left shoulder with his right hand, and violently shoved her backward. Taken completely by surprise, Riveria stumbled back, her eyes wide with shock.
In that very same instant, the barrier shattered, and the tsunami of hellfire poured in.
"HAAAAAAH!!"
Tsuna thrust both hands forward, firing an absolute torrent of Sky Flames from his palms and the exhaust vents. By continuously firing flames backward from his elbows, he anchored his feet to the ground, preventing himself from being blown away by the recoil. He spread the torrent of orange flames outward, creating a massive, swirling dome of his own to shield the others.
Please!! Hold on!!
He was burning through his dying will at an alarming rate, pouring every last drop of his energy into the shield to hold back the Spirit's apocalypse.
"UOOOOOOOOH!!"
Tsuna let out a furious roar, forcefully elevating his flame voltage even higher. The orange dome solidified, violently clashing against the red flames of the Demi-Spirit.
Seconds felt like hours, but eventually, the massive wave of magic faded, leaving a scorched, smoldering wasteland in its wake. Tsuna had succeeded in protecting them.
"We survived…"
"T-Thank the gods…"
Realizing they had narrowly escaped death, Raul and Alicia collapsed to their knees in relief.
"Haa… Haa…"
Tsuna dropped to one knee, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Blocking a Super Long Chant of that magnitude had required a terrifying amount of flame energy. Even someone with his stamina was heavily exhausted.
"Forgive me… I was too weak…"
"No… without your barrier, I wouldn't have been able to protect them…"
Riveria bitterly apologized for her own inadequacy, having forced Tsuna to bear the burden. But Tsuna knew the truth: his flames alone wouldn't have been enough to block the spell entirely if her barrier hadn't softened the blow.
We survived the crisis… but…
They were alive, but Finn's expression remained grim.
It was a miracle they had taken zero casualties from a Spirit's magic. However, they were still completely unable to even get near her, and their strongest vanguard—Tsuna—was now heavily depleted. The tactical advantage remained overwhelmingly in the Spirit's favor.
Think!! I need to find the one move that can flip this board!!
Finn forced his mind to race, desperately trying to formulate a strategy to kill the monster.
Then—
"Roar, earth."
The Spirit began chanting a completely different spell.
The adventurers froze. Having just survived a literal brush with death, the realization that a second wave of despair was already coming nearly broke their spirits.
"Come, come, come, shell of the earth. Flash of black iron. Retreat of the stars. Reverse through the contract of creation. Burn the sky, shatter the earth, build a bridge, and become one. The descending axe of the heavens, the calamity of destruction. I command in the name of the proxy. My given name is the incarnation of the Earth Spirit, the Queen of Earth—"
Completely indifferent to the despair crushing Tsuna and the others, the Spirit continued her incantation.
"[Meteor Swarm]."
A colossal Magic Circle expanded in the subterranean sky, and from it, a massive barrage of flaming meteorites materialized.
"Protect Raul and the supporters!!"
Finn screamed the order. In the next second, the sky fell.
"Uwaaaaaaaah!!"
The meteors slammed into the 59th Floor, the deafening explosions drowning out the screams of Raul and the others. The shockwaves violently threw the adventurers through the air, carving massive craters into the scorched earth and burying the entire floor in thick clouds of dust and debris.
"Ah…"
"God… damn it…!?"
The bombardment finally ceased. Raul was hovering on the edge of consciousness, bleeding heavily. Bete was on his hands and knees, his fingers digging into the dirt as he glared murderously at the Spirit.
"Are you okay, Alicia…!?"
"Lady Riveria…!?"
Alicia looked up with tear-filled eyes. Riveria had thrown herself over the young elf, taking the brunt of the impact and suffering severe injuries in the process.
"You lot still breathing…!?"
"Mr. Gareth…!?"
Gareth forced a bloody, strained grin. Like Riveria, he had used his own massive body as a shield to protect the other supporters, and his armor was completely caved in. The supporters looked on in sheer horror at their battered executives.
"Miss Ais…!?"
"Are you… okay…!?"
Lefiya reached out a trembling hand to Ais, who had been blown across the floor. Ais managed a weak nod. She had instantly cast [Ariel] to wrap herself in wind armor for defense, but the meteors had easily torn right through it.
"Still breathing…?"
"I feel like I'm dying…"
Tsubaki, her right arm charred black, asked Tione, who was lying in the dirt beside her. Though on the verge of death, Tione managed a weak reply while a supporter desperately poured a potion over her wounds.
Looks like I'm still breathing...
Confirming he was still alive, Finn forced himself to stand.
"Finn!!"
"Tiona…? What's wrong?"
Despite being just as battered as the rest of them, Tiona ran up to Finn in a complete panic. Finn's blood ran cold.
"Tsuna… Tsuna is completely gone!!"
"What!?"
Finn's face went pale. The other members couldn't hide their shock either. They frantically scanned the area, but the Sky flame user was nowhere to be seen.
"No way…!?"
"Did he take too many direct hits from the meteors and…!?"
The supporters immediately assumed the worst: Tsuna had been pulverized by the meteor shower, leaving nothing behind. The morale of the entire Familia plummeted into the abyss.
"Damn it!!"
Finn slammed his fist into the ground, screaming in frustration. He had promised Hestia he would bring Tsuna back alive, and he had failed.
No, wait… did he really die?
Finn quickly snapped his tactical mind back into focus. It was true that Tsuna was exhausted from overusing his flames. However, no one had actually seen him die or take a direct hit. It was far too early to conclude he was dead.
Don't tell me!?
Finn instantly shifted his gaze toward the Spirit.
The thick dust clouds finally began to settle, clearing their line of sight.
And there—
"HAAH!!"
Directly in Finn's line of sight, descending from the sky, Tsuna drove a devastating right straight directly into the Spirit's face.
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