Chapter 240

Cardina, who had almost given up, shook herself awake and immediately began generating magic bullets while flying in erratic patterns to avoid being targeted.

The first experiment was to see if she could combine martial arts skills with magic.

After creating a magic bullet, Cardina activated Dragon Wing Blade and tried to channel that dragon power into the magic bullet.

The dragon power of the Wing Blade was absorbed into the magic bullet, transforming it from a bullet shape into a thin isosceles triangle, like a paper airplane viewed from above.

"Peewee!"

Confident this would work, she felt the potential of this powerful magic bullet enhanced with both impact and cutting power, though it still wasn't enough to destroy that thing.

So she dispersed it and canceled it for now.

Next, she tried activating the Dragon Wing Blade skill while consciously focusing on each individual feather on both wings, carefully channeling dragon power into each one.

"--Peewee!"

The control was difficult and her flight speed slowed, allowing the giant blade monster to attack and slash her leg again.

But she ignored that, leaving it to Nana's automatic healing from her combined life and curse magic, and focused on the Dragon Wing Blade.

Then the dragon wing blade power manifested in each individual feather, merging together and beginning to reconstruct.

Her wings began to shine, materializing dragon power blades from both wings.

|Skill [Dragon Wing Blade Lv.10] acquired.|

|Title [Dragon Blade Incarnate] acquired.|

|Skill [True Dragon Wing Blade Lv.3] acquired.|

The moment those announcements appeared, Cardina felt the control of her Dragon Wing Blade--now True Dragon Wing Blade--become lighter.

With this improvement, she quickly created a magic bullet and channeled the True Dragon Wing Blade's dragon power into it.

The magic bullet, which had been an isosceles triangle with just Dragon Wing Blade, transformed into a shape like two V-shapes fused together vertically and horizontally in the same direction.

|Reached [Level: 50]|

|Class changed from [Magic Bullet Shooter] to [Blade Dragon]|

|Skill [Auto-tracking Lv.3] acquired.|

"Peewee!"

Cardina celebrated breaking through the level wall while holding the fusion technique of magic bullet and True Dragon Wing Blade--the True Dragon Wing Blade Bullet--ready in front of her head.

Then she immediately activated her newly learned skill [Auto-tracking].

At that moment, a bright red lens appeared around her right eye, which she used to identify targets.

A cursor appeared and locked onto the giant blade monster.

While it had been difficult to aim properly while flying in erratic patterns, this should automatically correct the trajectory no matter which direction she fired.

However, there was still a risk of the monster escaping if their timing clashed during the shot.

So to time it properly, Cardina deliberately slowed her speed.

From previous observations, it seemed that thing had a skill that produced thrust like a rocket by expelling energy from the pommel--the end of the sword-shaped handle.

She had also figured out that it needed about two seconds before it could fire again.

So she wanted to make it fire once.

Unaware that her slowed speed was part of this plan, the monster aligned its blade tip with Cardina while floating, pulled back slightly, and then fired.

Since she knew the exact timing of the shot, she avoided a direct hit.

Even though her speed should have increased with her level up, she still couldn't escape completely unscathed.

However, this time she didn't intend to let it end there.

When the monster's speed slowed after firing, Cardina launched her True Dragon Wing Blade Bullet.

It flew toward the monster's rear with tremendous force, threatening to pierce through it.

But the monster noticed and tried to float away from the line of fire.

However, this is where [Auto-tracking] proved its worth.

Even as it began to drift from the line of fire, the trajectory curved to adjust, and the True Dragon Wing Blade Bullet maintained its precise direct hit route.

Kaaaan--

Seeing this, the monster seemed to realize it couldn't escape and made that sound as it instantly transformed back into its propeller form.

It apparently thought this form's superior flight ability would allow it to escape the tracking.

The monster moved through the air in zigzag patterns like swimming.

As its escape ability exceeded the tracking performance, Cardina launched her next move.

It was a regular Dragon Wing Blade Bullet, which was easier to control than the Auto-tracking True Dragon Wing Blade Bullet.

Even this would be enough to deal damage in the monster's current form, since the skill that cut on contact wouldn't activate.

She fired these continuously to begin a follow-up attack, increasing the number of bullets the monster had to dodge.

Then one of the many Dragon Wing Blade Bullets she had fired made contact.

This slowed the monster's movements--and in that moment, the trump card True Dragon Wing Blade Bullet pierced vertically through the monster's body, shattering it to pieces.

|Reached [Level: 56]|

|Title [Deverylute] acquired.|

"Peewee!"

And so Cardina let out a victory cry.

Meanwhile, going back in time to Nana and Leah who had headed toward the golem below.

While Cardina was holding off the enemy by engaging it head-on, the two slipped past and landed on the ground.

What awaited them was a monster golem with a horse-like body, three meters tall and four meters wide.

Until recently, its stats had been boosted by the [Parasitic Enhancement] skill of the monster Cardina was fighting, so attacks hadn't been very effective.

But now that was canceled, so Nana tried launching a Dragon Ice Claw Attack to test its strength.

"It dodged, that is!"

The monster elegantly avoided the Dragon Ice Claw Attack with a sidestep and charged toward them.

"Well, it's not stupid, of course, it's going to dodge attacks. What should we do, Nana?"

"Then this, that is"

In response, since it could no longer fly, Nana tried freezing the ground to impede its movement.

Nana had assumed this would work since it had made them slip before.

However, as soon as this monster confirmed the ground was freezing, it used an earth magic skill to transform its mineral body.

Eventually, its four legs changed into hooves with pickaxes attached, and it advanced while scratching across the ice with crunching sounds.

"A skill that lets it manipulate and change its own body shape. I'm surprised it has such versatility"

"This is no time to calmly observe, that is!"

"I know, I know!"

Since ice wouldn't work, Leah threw hand grenades in all directions to soak the area with transparent liquid, then after observing the ground's structure with [All-Seeing Eyes], she immediately used smithing skills to create a reddish-brown flame zone.

Then using another smithing skill, she struck it with a hammer, slightly raising their own footing while creating a hole where the monster was standing.

When she conveyed this image, the terrain instantly changed accordingly, and the monster that had almost reached them was sucked into the hole.

"It'll come out right away"

"Then we'll do it then, that is!"

"The golem's magic stone is inside its abdomen near the base of its right hind leg!"

"Understood, that is!"

Just as Leah said, it transformed its body, changing its four legs into spring-like shapes, and made a great leap out of the hole.

But Nana, who had been waiting for this moment, appeared from the side using Dragon Flight and aimed a [Bite] at the abdomen where the magic stone was said to be.

However---

"Wha-- guah!?"

"Nana!"

It transformed only the part she tried to bite through, creating a hole to avoid the attack before it could land.

Then as if returning the favor, it bent its right hind leg in a way impossible for any animal and kicked Nana away.

Nana crashed into the ground with the force of the kick, standing up while regenerating both arms that had been crushed when she guarded with life magic.

But before her eyes was the monster, standing on its hind legs and trying to crush her with its two front legs.

"I won't let you!!"

But four rocket launcher shots fired by Leah came flying and hit the monster's side.

Successfully shifting its massive body, it stomped down a meter beside Nana, creating a depression in the ground.

During that time, Nana fully repaired her body, used ice magic to freeze the monster's feet to the ground, and then escaped into the air with Dragon Flight while adding attacks with Dragon Claw Strike.

The golem, unable to pull its feet from the thick ice that Nana had frozen instantly with high output, was receiving multiple claw slash wounds on its surface.

"It's hard, that is! Are there any weaknesses, that is?"

Nana returned to Leah's side from the air, expressing her frustration.

Leah changed her eyes to blue and watched the golem struggling to pull its feet from the ice, searching for the most likely path to defeat this monster within the remaining time.

"Nana, your poison magic is level 9 now, right?"

"Eh? Yes, that's right, that is. What does that have to do with anything, that is? That thing is mineral, that is!"

Against biological monsters, poison magic would be very effective.

However, this time it was just a mass of minerals with no biological parts. Even if poison was used, it would walk around unaffected.

To Nana's questioning words, Leah opened her mouth with confidence.

"At level 10, you should be able to create a powerful poison that can corrode even minerals and metals. Corrosive poison."

"Corrosive... that is? If that's true it's amazing, that is. I'll get it right away, that is!"

"Wait, please. Instead of using SP to get it through the system, please raise it through your own effort"

"There's no time for such leisurely things, that is!"

Nana, who was stopped by having her arm grabbed just as she was about to open the system, shouted at Leah with incomprehension.

But Leah calmly explained her reasoning.

"I'm not saying this just to save SP"

"Then what are you saying, that is?"

Matching Leah's calmness, Nana's head cooled quickly too.

She remembered that this girl wouldn't say meaningless things in this situation.

"Corrosive poison is one of the more difficult types of poison magic. Therefore, if you learn it through a shortcut via the system, you won't be able to use its power fully right away, and moreover, due to the suddenly increased output, it will actually take more time. However, if you raise the skill level yourself since you reached it through your own power, you should be able to produce corrosive poison more quickly. And as a magical being currently at level 14, Nana should be able to reach it through her own power"

"But it's difficult to learn while fighting, that is. Even if I escape to the sky, going too high would interfere with Sister Cardina, that is. And if I stay at a medium height, I can be reached by its jump like when it escaped from the hole earlier, that is"

"Yes. So until then, I'll hold it off. During that time, please learn it quickly"

"---Wha. That's reckless, that is! Besides, skills can't be raised that quickly, that is!"

"It's alright. Nana can do it. Please believe in yourself. And I can prepare various tricks too, so I can hold out for a little while"

The sincere eyes reflected in Nana's vision clearly showed she wasn't just putting on a brave front.

And Nana decided to believe in her friend who believed she could do it.

"If you die I'll chase you to the depths of hell and curse you. So if it gets dangerous, call me right away, that is"

"Fufu. Why am I going to hell? At least make it heaven"

"Someone who betrays a friend's trust goes to hell, that is"

"...friend"

Until this age, she had never had a single such existence.

And having the other person say it out loud gave Leah more courage than anything else.

"--Then if you can't learn it quickly, Nana goes to hell too! So please respond to my trust too"

"Of course, that is!"

And so the two lightly bumped fists, with Nana going to raise her poison magic level.

Leah headed off to hold back the golem.