“Isn’t it just a few trash mobs that got away? What’s the big deal?”
Even Lejiliv echoed Selena’s complaint, frowning at the guild staffer.
The middle-aged man looked visibly deflated.
“You can’t just let them go! Beastmen reproduce like crazy—and fast, too. Even if just a few escape, in six months it’ll be another entire nest! They’re a serious threat to small villages and towns!”
Selena bit her lip, then snapped back with righteous irritation:
“Fine, fine! We get it! But the beastmen are already gone. What good does complaining to us do now? Uncle, go wait by the road or something. Once we start fighting the boss, we won’t have time to keep you safe!”
She turned away, cursing herself for getting angry again.
Why do I keep losing my temper?
This is Helga’s fault for bringing up Eileen again!
Tch, like we need that traitor anyway!
Still fuming, she faced the rest of the team and barked, “Get ready! The surprise attack failed, so forget sneaking around. We’re going straight into the cave!”
Helga asked cautiously, “Do we have… any kind of battle plan?”
Selena shot her a look.
“With this kind of gear, what plan do we need? Forget mechanics, we’ll just brute force it!”
Helga blinked, momentarily speechless.
Lejiliv stepped in to explain, “The Armored Obsidian Dragon is a mid-to-low-tier S-rank monster. We already handled that top-tier Lion Warlock with ease. What’s a mere armored dragon to us?”
“R-Right…”
Helga wanted to say, That was because Eileen was there!
But she saw Selena’s expression and swallowed her words.
Fine, she thought bitterly. We’ll brute force it, then.
Just as that thought passed, Selena’s expression changed.
A low tremor shook the forest floor—trees crashed down one by one, their death throes echoing like shrieks.
Flocks of birds erupted into the sky in a panicked flurry.
The roar of beastmen followed—not far now.
Selena’s gaze turned grim.
“Everyone, prepare for battle. We’re taking this monster down right here!”
Lejiliv stepped forward, raising her shield and taking point.
From the shadows of the forest, a towering shape began to emerge.
The silver moonlight reflected off the beast’s jet-black armored scales, each plate jagged and hard like obsidian.
The massive dragon’s roar made their ears ring, so loud the girls had to cover their ears in pain.
Behind the beast, the surviving beastmen had regrouped, raising their crude weapons and howling again, voices shrill and grating.
“Helga!” Selena shouted, voice sharp with irritation.
“Make them shut up already! They’re giving me a headache!”
“Got it! Leave the cleanup to me!”
The girl closed her eyes slightly.
Her softly curled violet hair danced wildly in the rush of mana.
At her fingertips, light sparkled like a thousand stars, condensing all the brilliance of the night sky into her hands.
The next instant, the starlight tore through the darkness like a rain of shooting stars—within that radiance, came the agonized wails of beastmen being obliterated.
[Meteor Annihilation]—a devastating wide-area spell. In the blink of an eye, the remaining beastmen were wiped out.
But Helga herself didn’t come out of it unscathed.
Just as I thought… no mana return!
Unlike her earlier little fireballs, this was a full-powered ultimate spell.
Her reserves were drained near-instantly.
A searing headache tore through her skull, and she was left hunched over her staff, panting heavily.
She hadn’t felt this kind of mana depletion in a long time.
Still, my job’s done. In a one-on-one fight, there’s no way Selena would lose to the Obsidian Dragon.
Or so she believed—until she noticed something behind her.
A flood of holy light surged across the field. It bathed her in radiance, instantly revitalizing her as waves of energy poured into her body. Dazed, Helga turned to see—
Rossevisa, surrounded by pure light, as if basking in the presence of the gods.
Wings of translucent light fanned out behind her.
She looked like a divine avatar descended to the mortal world.
It was Rossevisa’s strongest support miracle—“Thy Will Be Done”—a divine empowerment lasting 30 seconds, meant to be used after breaking an enemy’s defense for a burst finish.
“Why are you using that right now!?”
Helga cried out, utterly dumbfounded.
They hadn’t even breached the boss’s armor yet!
Using her ultimate here meant when the real damage window came later, they’d be out of gas!
Rossevisa, hearing her shout, tilted her head, blinking in confusion—
As if to ask: Did I do something wrong?
Helga couldn’t help but facepalm with a groan.
She’d forgotten.
Rossevisa was famous for being spineless and indecisive.
In all past battles, it was Eileen who told her exactly when to buff, when to heal, and who to prioritize—all while casually munching on popcorn.
Now, with no one giving her orders, she was completely lost—a puppet without a string.
“It’s fine,” Lejiliv said coolly.
“We just need to kill it within 30 seconds.”
Wreathed in rainbow-colored divine light, the shield maiden charged forward, leapt into the air, and smashed her shield right into the dragon’s skull.
Then she flipped it the bird and unleashed her best taunt, complete with profanity-laced battle cries.
A pound sign immediately burst out on the monster’s forehead, and a stream of black flames erupted forth, instantly engulfing Lejliv.
This type of dragon, due to its entire body being covered in reinforced armor, was too heavy to fly—thus, it typically relied on terrain in combat.
However, it still retained the signature ability of dragonkind: its breath attack.
“It’s a little chilly tonight—this warms things up nicely.”
The black flames split like waves crashing against a reef, and within that sea of dragonfire, the female paladin was actually yawning.
“Serena! It’s your turn!”
The moment those words left her lips, a crimson silhouette shot out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, the distance between them and the dragon was gone.
The Blackrock Dragon sensed the danger and brought down its massive forelimb like a falling pillar.
Amid the spray of shattered stone, Serena gracefully flipped into the air, her bright red twin-tails fluttering in the evening wind.
Silver moonlight, soft as falling snow, danced along the edge of her blade.
At the peak of her jump, she tilted her body backward, using gravity’s pull to descend like a blazing red meteor straight toward the roaring dragon!
Her sword flashed, accompanied by a sharp, resonant dragon cry—
However—
CLANG!
A deafening metallic crash rang through the night.
Serena’s blade had struck the dragon’s head, but it rebounded off its armored skull.
The immense counterforce from the impact almost knocked the weapon out of her hands.
“No damage dealt?”
“No critical hit?”
“It didn’t even break through the armor???”
Tftc!
they are fucked