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Around three minutes had passed since the fight began.

“…Rift Slash!” After taking a deep breath, Knight Commander Effie swung his red sword, though it struck nothing in its path, and yet…

“Ghuh..?!” Lueger, the main tank, bore the brunt of most attacks. After the sound of numerous strikes overlapped, the surface of his shield was scraped off, and he was sent flying backward.

That attack originated from where Effie had swung earlier, where a rift had opened in mid-air. This area would remain an active attack zone for some time.

Lueger, having stepped into that zone, received the attack multiple times over. Despite raising his shield, his HP bar swiftly dwindled to nearly a third of its original size.

Moreover, while Effie had been concentrating on Lueger thus far, he now shifted his gaze to the rear line where Shao stood.

So that was an aggro reset.

Crim quickly identified the nature of the attack, but Sorleon reacted just as swiftly, dashing forward.

“…Chain Binding!” As Sorleon advanced, he launched a chain that forced the enemy to face him, thereby switching Effie’s focus.

Simultaneously, Shao began healing Lueger, swiftly restoring his HP to full. Meanwhile, Sorleon kept Effie’s attention, dodging the rift in mid-air as he closed in to attack.

“Don’t stress so much about who has aggro or you’ll die! Just ensure he can’t reach the back lines!”
“…Got it.”

Shao alone wasn’t sufficient support, but they had only a few other members to deter Effie. Meanwhile, slightly to the side…

“…Shadow Heavy-Weapon!” Crim conjured another weapon, leaving it embedded in the ground. She had now created three shadow weapons and three blood weapons, halfway to the dozen she aimed for.

Since acquiring the Blood Magic ability Bloody Blade, fulfilling the requirements became simpler, though it still required time. She also worried her weapons might break, but fortunately, the enemy showed no interest in doing so.

“…Rift Slash!” Knight Commander Effie unleashed the ability again, propelling Sorleon away from him. Just as he was about to switch aggro to Crim and Shao, Lueger emitted a flash of light with Holy Magic to draw it back to himself.

“…Impact!” Once Crim confirmed Effie had changed targets, she utilized her close-range ability Impact, earned with 60 Points in Abyss Magic.

A dark sphere the size of a basketball formed in her hand, shrinking until invisible, and then she directed it at Effie with a pointed gesture. The impact shifted Effie’s position, disrupting his stance—an opportunity neither Crim nor Sorleon intended to miss.

“…Edge Launcher!”
“…Execution!”

Sorleon executed an upward swing, while Crim struck diagonally downward, their slashes intersecting through Effie’s body. This maneuver chipped a significant amount off his HP bar, though it still wasn’t a substantial reduction.

“…Rainbow Shot!”

Skills drawing aggro were most effective immediately after use, their impact diminishing over time. With Lueger having just employed his, it was the opportune moment for Shao to unleash his magic.

Likely a spell from Profound Knowledge Magic, blending Destruction and Spiritual Magic, seven luminous particles of varying colors encircled him, then propelled towards Effie in quick succession. This further reduced Effie’s HP, leaving him with about 70% remaining.

He’s so tough..!

It was normal for raid bosses to have large HP pools, but considering how few members could fight him now, Crim was starting to get worried about running out of resources like MP if the fight dragged on for too long.

Then I’ll just have to do everything I can as the damage dealer and whittle him down as much as possible!!

Thinking that, she reinforced her grip on her scythe, drawing it back…

“…Azrael’s Ring!!” She launched it, leveraging her whole body to impart spin. The scythe, spinning rapidly, scraped the ground as it hurtled towards Effie. Despite his block, it continued to whittle down his HP.

Crim spared a glance before conjuring new weapons in each hand, a pair of red and black katanas, and leapt into attack.

Eventually, they reduced Knight Commander Effie’s HP to 30%.

“I see…you’ve certainly demonstrated your determination and strength, but let’s see if it suffices for this final test. Paradise Lost!!”

Effie’s shout unleashed a brilliant light as glowing crosses materialized at the arena’s edges, contrasting Adnammelech’s inward-closing Paradise Lost by closing in more rapidly.

Is it a DPS check?!

All shared the thought, adjusting their tactics accordingly.

“This may be unwise, but lacking better knowledge, let’s confront it directly… Spare no effort, everyone!!”
“Sure thing, I’m all for giving it a shot!”

Hearing Shao’s unexpectedly enthusiastic indications, Crim smiled, summoning a greatsword and an axe, anchoring them to the ground. Now, she had amassed the twelve weapons required.

“I’m ready!”
“Likewise!”
“Alright, Lueger, draw all aggro you can, we’ll focus on defeating him in the meantime!”
“…As you command.”

Shao’s demands were quite reckless, but Lueger nodded with confidence. They all inhaled deeply, bracing for an all-out effort.

“Well then, I’ll lead…EX Drive..!”

EX Drive was the trump card Crim had used to win her fight during the tournament, so she was shocked to see someone else who could use it.

“…Kaleidoscopic mirror, echo the reflection and bring it forth, Mirror Idea!!”

Shao’s form blurred, and soon, two mirrored images of him appeared.

“”…Death Ray!!”” Their voices combined before unleashing a dark beam. Individually potent, now its impact was doubled.

“”That’s not all!”” Following this, Shao and his duplicate cast a barrage of spells. Their myriad lights and effects, intertwining, truly resembled a kaleidoscope.

As Shao deployed his arsenal, Crim and Sorleon prepared as well.

“No time to hesitate, let’s go!”
“I know, count me in!”

Lueger was still tanking all of the hits on his own, and his HP had already reduced to half. He would not be able to last for much longer. Sorleon said that as he took out a Draconic Stone from his pocket, which concealed his own power, and Crim nodded in response.

“Dragonized Form..!!”
“…Blaze Blood!!”

Sorleon’s draconic features became more accentuated, while Crim’s figure gained a stark crimson hue. By the time they were ready, Shao’s barrage of attacks was winding down, likely due to a lack of MP, and his clone also vanished.

“”EX Drive..!!””

Crim felt like shouting “You too?” seeing that, as they also activated their secret abilities.

“Raise your men, Army Rending Swordmaster, and come hither… Ephemeral Spectral Swords!!”

All the weapons Crim had left scattered around the arena began to float on their own and change shape, turning into twelve swords that followed Crim’s movements.

“God of destruction, manifest your unique carnage here, Ultimate Blade!!”

The swords Sorleon held in his hands began to glow, turning into blades of light.

“This is the first time anyone is seeing this, so you better appreciate the honor!”

Shouting that, he swung the light blades with all his might, not caring whether Effie was blocking or not. And he was blocking in fact, holding his own sword diagonally to protect himself…

“What…it phased through..?!”

Effie’s shock was understandable, as Sorleon’s light blade seemed to not care for the sword in its path, passing through it and getting closer to the Knight Commander.

A sword that bypassed defenses… As much of an advantage that was, it likely also meant that Sorleon could not use it to block incoming attacks, making it a double-edged sword. But watching how Sorleon took a step forward mid-slash in an almost crazed state made Crim feel like it was a weapon that really suited him.

“…Tsk?!”

Effie twisted his body to avoid the hit, managing to reduce it to a light scratch on his shoulder, but that threw his body off balance. That was when Crim’s twelve red blades rushed in to attack, while Sorleon swung again from the opposite direction. And so eventually…

“…Ghuh…hah..?!”

Effie had endured the countless slashes for a while, but not for very long. Sorleon’s sword bypassed his defense and left a long diagonal gash across his body, after which Crim’s twelve blades lashed violently at him before he could recover.

That tipped the scales in favor of Crim’s group, and it remained that way until his HP was all gone, which happened not too long after. And so the final obstacle, Knight Commander Effie, was brought to his knees.

“We…actually won…”

Sorleon muttered in disbelief. Effie’s Paradise Lost had already covered more than half of the arena when it stopped and began to vanish.

“We did it! Lueger, art thou still living?!”

Crim looked around for Lueger, who had desperately continued pulling all of Effie’s aggro until the very end.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. You worked hard, Lueger.”

Sorleon praised Lueger, who had managed to survive with just a sliver of HP left, and he replied with a silent nod. Seeing that, Crim let out a sigh of relief, knowing it was all finally over.

Cheers erupted from the members who had not been able to fight, and Crim sat down on the floor exhausted, just before Effie, the enemy they had just defeated, spoke to her.

Those blades…I recognize them as ours…”
“I had a hunch that was the case…”

Effie’s eyes were focused on the twelve blades following Crim’s command, and she replied with a convinced nod. As she had assumed before, Ephemeral Spectral Swords had been modeled after the weapons of the Red Lion Emperor’s Twelve Blades.

“I see… Then you were destined to appear in this place then.”
“Hm? What is that…”
“You’ll know if you keep moving forward.”

Crim tilted her head in confusion hearing that, but Effie would not clear up her doubts.

“Move forward, courageous girl and her companions. My master is waiting for you.”

Saying that, he opened the way for the group to continue forward. Following his indications, everyone regrouped and they began walking up the stairs leading to the throne.

“Ah, Crim-”

Freya seemed to remember something and tried to quickly stop Crim, but she was just a moment too late and…

“…Hugyah?!”

Unluckily for Crim, Blaze Blood ran out at that very moment, which had the side effect of shrinking Crim, who missed a step and tripped. There was an almost comedic sound as her feet skidded on the floor and her forehead conked into the hard steps, diminishing her HP to a scary extent. Knight Commander Effie could only watch that with a heavily concerned look…