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Their fight against Adnammelech waged on. While the strongest members of each guild were unable to join, they had managed to keep Adnammelech at bay and were dealing some decent damage to her.

And at the same time…

“She’s moving like she’s almost a different person… Have you been coaching her more?”
“Yes. She’s quite a sight to behold, is she not?”

Sorleon was impressed by Freya’s improvement, and Crim sounded proud of her too. Compared to their fight against the Fallen Monster, Freya’s ability as a tank was leagues ahead.

For the last few days, Freya had constantly asked Crim to train her, mainly through practice combat in which Freya had to do her best to block Crim’s attacks and thwart off damage.

Now Crim was seeing the fruits of that training, as Freya was properly using her shield and blocking damage, rather than relying on defensive magic like before.

Freya had never been the best at blocking damage or attracting aggro, but now she was doing a much better job, while still using her healing magic whenever necessary. She had truly transformed into a proper tank, and one that Crim felt proud of.

The team did not have the means to take off big chunks of Adnammelech’s health, but they were still consistently chipping away at it.

With time she also started using stronger attacks, like sweeping slashes across the arena from one side to another, or powerful magic attacks that would affect large areas, forcing the party to change their formation unless they wanted to risk losing members, but everyone quickly got used to them and continued trudging along.

Eventually they brought her health down to a fourth, which turned the HP bar red. Soon they would win…

“So it would seem you’ve managed to overcome my first trial, good… Divine Power, Paradise Lost!”

There was a short chime and the entire battlefield went dead silent, like time had been stopped in its tracks.

And then…

“Wh…what’s happening?!”
Freya’s frightened voice rang out.

There were countless light blades suspended in mid-air, likely summoned there by Adnammelech. Then a red cross shaped indicator of an AoE attack flashed on the ground around Freya.

Almost immediately after there were four other bigger crosses, all a certain distance away from the first one, and then those were surrounded by new ones, and so on, with the crosses becoming bigger each time.

Soon most of the arena seemed covered in those red indicators, only leaving a thin sliver of safety at the edge.

Then the cross shaped blades of light gleamed down one after another, starting in the center and spreading out rapidly, carrying with them destructive power that quickly left no trace of those it touched.

And to end it all…

“Your courage was found lacking, you’re not ready yet!”

Adnammelech swung her red sword, which sent a wave of light that circled around the outer edge of the arena, cutting through everyone of the rear guard, leaving no trace of anyone within the battlefield.

From Crim’s point of view, outside the arena, it had looked like the entire battlefield had been carpet bombed.

◇◇◇

After being completely annihilated, everyone respawned at the entrance of the dungeon, and returned with downcast looks. Crim and the other demons did not seem really bothered by their performance as they waited for them though.

“…We lost…”
“Mhm, welcome back.”

Crim tried to force a smile as she saw how discouraged Freya looked.

“Ain’t no way we can deal with that.”
“I died before I even realized what was happening…”
“Hahah, don’t let it get to you now.”

Cheval and Ernesta also looked distraught, sighing as they commented on their experience, which Sorleon tried to appease somewhat.

“I couldn’t react on time, I’m sorry for my shameful performance…”
“Don’t worry, it’s always like this when going to a raid dungeon for the first time.”
“Urghh…at least I think I finally understand why there’s a six hour time limit here…”
“That wasn’t fairrr, not a single bit!!”

Frey also did his best to comfort the younger group, who were at the verge of tears.

That was the essence of raid dungeons though, everyone would die multiple times as they figured out how to move forward. It was expected for players to die, and the important part was to learn something each time it happened.

“Actually, there’s something I noticed by watching from-”
“Wait, Crim, don’t tell us. We want to figure it out ourselves.”
“Oh…huh..?”
“Don’t worry, we might have died but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from it.”
“Uhm…okay, if you say so…”

Crim’s mood quickly deteriorated as the twins she had grown up with shot down her attempt at helping them. Feeling like she was being left out, all she could do was to go squat a distance away and draw circles on the ground.

“Huh, I didn’t take you for the overprotective sort.”
“I mean…not being able to help is um…I feel so restless!”
“Sigh… You know, placing your trust in your men and not doubting them is also part of being a leader.”
“Unghh…”

With the other two Demon Lords admonishing her, Crim could not really say anything more, and could only continue grumbling to herself.

“Alright everyone, what’s something that stood out to you from that last attack?”

When Frey asked that, the first ones to raise their hands was the youngest group, composed of Lycoris, Mei, and Hinagiku.

“I’m a rear liner so I got a better look at it. All of the AoE attacks were shaped like crosses.”
“And the crosses would always appear diagonally away from the center of the previous cross, with their tips touching to form a square around it!”
“There was also a short time before the outer crosses would be activated, so it should be possible to move back in with the right timing!”

Lycoris, Mei, and Hinagiku detailed everything they had noticed about that attack. Then Frey and Reinhard began to think about it.

“But that space you mention exists only while a previous cross is active and will be hit by the next one, so it’s really dangerous… In other words, it’s better to keep a distance from them at all times.”
“It all happened really quickly so I didn’t have enough time to process it, but if that’s what you saw…”

As they took that information to come up with a solution, there was someone else who raised her hand.

It was Ernesta, who had a weapon with quite some range, so she had been standing a distance away to offer support when needed, and had a clear view of what had happened.

“Wait a bit, I actually tried running away when the attack happened, and I noticed that I still took damage from the second outer cross from my position. I think they deal damage even if they’re just glowing and aren’t fully active yet. We should be careful about that.”
“In that case we’ll have to be a bit more patient and be careful to only move a certain distance away from the active cross…”

Everyone kept raising concerns and adding comments, while drawing diagrams on the ground to have a better idea. In the end, they came to the same conclusion as the suggestion Crim had been wanting to make.

It seemed like Crim’s worries had really been unfounded after all.

“See? They did it on their own.”
“You really should have more faith in them and be less overprotective.”
“…Hahah…it might be so.”

There really was nothing Crim could say in response to the two Demon Lords.

She could only watch as everyone else returned to the arena, their moods lifted. Regardless of how she was feeling, she was certain that they would win this time, and she would be there to watch it.

◇◇◇

“Let’s go over it one last time. When Adnammelech activates her secret ability, the rear guard will run all the way to the outer edge as fast as possible. But since the second part of the attack would deal damage there, you’ll run back in as soon as the last cross vanishes.”
“I’ll give the signal, so just remember to run when I tell you to, everyone.”

After Frey explained their strategy, Reinhard confirmed it. Once Frey saw that everyone else also nodded in agreement, he moved on to the second part.

“The frontline will focus on sidestepping the crosses as they activate, staying in the small safe zones. Just be careful you don’t get too close to the outer edge, since you don’t want to get caught by the sweeping attack. And also remember that the second cross away from the active one can deal damage too, so don’t touch it. Got it?”

Freya, Hinagiku, and Ernesta all nodded in response.

“And don’t forget that she’s still a powerful foe, so don’t go lowering your guard just because you managed to dodge everything. With that said…let’s go!”

At Frey’s signal, everyone let out an energetic shout as they charged back into the arena.

The frustration of having lost once to a difficult battle was nowhere to be seen, completely replaced by the excitement of knowing they were about to overcome a challenge through their own means.

The second time went much more smoothly, as they all knew how to deal with Adnammelech, and easily brought down her HP bar to the red zone.

“Do your best to endure this time… Paradise Lost!!”

And now they were back at the difficult part.

This time everyone managed to remain calm, knowing how to move to remain safe. One after another, they dodged the falling crosses, their instincts on edge as they evaded death time and time again.

Then as the outermost crosses fell…

“Everyone, run back!!” Reinhard shouted loudly and everyone from the rear guard that had stayed on the edge ran into the arena.

A moment later the red shockwave that flew out of Adnammelech’s blade circled the outer edge, almost grazing those who had been standing there.

Once all the flashes of light had settled, they looked around and saw that everyone had made it. They had managed to dodge Adnammelech’s Paradise Lost in its entirety.

“Back into formation!”
“We’re almost there, don’t lower your guard yet!”

Reinhard and Frey quickly gave out new orders, which everyone briskly followed as they returned to their previous positions. It was time to end the fight. And surely enough…

“Enough…I yield. You fought…wonderfully..!”

Adnammelech fell on one knee as she said that. It did not seem like she was going to stand up again.

“We…won?”

Lycoris, who had shot the last bullet, slowly moved her face away from her gun’s scope, looking at the kneeling maiden knight in disbelief. But the moment her whisper reached the rest, they all erupted into loud cheering for their victory.

And so, even with the three Demon Lords and the main tank out of combat, the three guild’s alliance had managed to overcome their first enemy.