Chapter 320

As Tatsuro began moving to deal with three of them, the remaining nine were already approaching close enough to enter his field of vision.

Three were grouped together coming from slightly to the left of the mountain, two were grouped from the left direction, and the other four were coming from scattered directions.

“I’ll take the big group, yo!”

“Peewee!”

Athena dashed toward the group of three, while Cardina, the party’s unparalleled aerial combat specialist, headed toward the pair, both in their True Form states.

“Then the rest can be handled one per person, right?”

“In that case, I shall head that way.”

“Then I’ll take that one over there.”

“Jeanne-chan, which one do you want?”

“Neigh!”

(That one!) Jeanne energetically pointed with the horn on her nose, so Ai petted her affectionately before taking on the remaining one.

“Alright, everyone, don’t overdo it. If it gets dangerous, call for someone.”

“Understood. Mother, please don’t hesitate to call for help either!”

“Neigh!”

“Haha, I’ll count on you then. But if I’m in trouble, I’m sure Tatsuro will come for me, so I’ll be fine!”

“Hehe, that’s quite passionate.”

In the end, they were subjected to some lovey-dovey talk, and Leah couldn’t help but laugh.

Then, without anyone signaling, they each rushed toward their targets.

***

Athena, who took on the three, activated Spirit Division: Magnetic Mirror Mimicry, deploying five mirrors. She stacked them diagonally upward with gaps between them, stepping onto the topmost one.

Wearing Dragon Armor and splitting her Great Scythe to wield in both hands, the Dragon Force smoke leaking from her limbs transformed into the lightning attribute, scattering purple lightning around her.

By then, the three Shubelg Fungi were just three or four seconds from reaching directly above Athena.

“Here we go, yo!”

Controlling the magnetic poles of the five spaced-out mirrors, Athena used repulsive force like a spring to propel herself upward, combining it with her own leg strength to rocket into the sky.

The five mirrors followed in a line behind her. She headbutted the lower jaw of the leading Shubelg Fungus, which was in a triangular formation, with full momentum.

“My head’s tougher, yo!”

“Bi—!”

““Giii!?””

The individual hit by Athena’s Dragon Armor clad headbutt had its jaw crushed, and the purple lightning discharged around it sent currents coursing through its body.

As a result, its movements slowed due to convulsions, and Athena’s Great Scythe sliced through its neck, severing its head, which fell, followed belatedly by its body.

“They don’t die in one hit—nice, yo!”

““Giii!!””

Standing on a floating mirror, Athena gave a confident thumbs-up, grinning inside her Dragon Armor helmet at the remaining two.

Enraged but not charging recklessly, the two split up to flank her.

“Pretty smart for Magical Beasts, huh?”

Left, right, up, down, front, back. Using their high aerial mobility, they attacked Athena with Shockwave to pin her down.

However, instinctively sensing the danger of getting too close, they hesitated to use their most powerful attack, Scratch, and were unable to advance as Athena scattered their Shockwave with Wind Magic.

“Ugh, same attack over and over—boring, yo! If you won’t come, I’ll go to you, alright?”

““Gii!””

Though they didn’t understand her words, the two sensed she was losing patience and coming for them. They signaled with their eyes that when she targeted one, the other would attack from behind with Scratch.

“Here I come, yo!”

“Gii!”

“Gi!”

As Athena charged toward the one on her right, the targeted Shubelg Fungus signaled the other, which acknowledged the plan.

Unfazed, Athena leaped toward the moving target with momentum, closing the distance instantly. With her Great Scythe, she sliced through two wings per hand, shredding all four in a flash.

Though it lost its wings and was scorched by purple lightning, the Shubelg Fungus still tried to land a Scratch on Athena. However, it found it odd that its partner hadn’t attacked yet and glanced over.

“Gii!?”

“Oh, your buddy’s already dead, yo.”

More shocking than having its raised forelegs easily severed was the sight of its partner, cut into eight pieces by doppelgangers crawling out from a mirror angled behind Athena, falling to the ground like trash.

Without hesitation, Athena mercilessly swung her twin scythes, severing the head and torso, and the three-part Shubelg Fungus plummeted to the ground.

“Mission complete, yo.”

Satisfied with the decent fight after a while, Athena descended to collect the corpses.

***

Cardina, facing two, deployed five Spirit Division: Far Sight Near Slash around her and instantly appeared before the Shubelg Fungi.

The sudden appearance of a strange creature—part bird, part lion—with an overwhelming Oppressive Aura made the two freeze mid-air.

They stared at each other for two and a half seconds.

The Shubelg Fungi moved simultaneously, splitting left and right—but almost instantly fell.

All they saw was their own dismembered bodies. With a confused “Gii…?”, their eyes lost their light.

“Peewee!”

It was simple. The moment they moved, Cardina struck at a speed they couldn’t perceive, slicing them apart with her Spirit Division: Far Sight Near Slash and Dragon Wing Blade as she passed through.

Deftly storing the two corpses in her Item Box mid-air, Cardina spread Detection Magic to monitor everyone, ready to assist if anyone called for help or seemed in danger.

Ai, Jeanne, Nana, and Leah, who started later than Athena and Cardina, began their actions.

***

While waiting for her assigned Shubelg Fungus to approach overhead, Ai activated the Magic Brain in her Gloves.

Wielding her sword and cloaking her body in Dragon Armor, she looked up, readying Gundari Myoo and preparing a blue bird-shaped arrow of Ki.

“Here it comes! —Ha!”

First, as a feint, she rapidly fired three volleys of bird-shaped arrows enhanced by One Shot Multiple Penetration.

Five arrows flew at once, and the fifteen arrows, coming with almost no delay, were impossible to dodge by twisting.

The Shubelg Fungus hurriedly stopped and turned to retreat backward.

But at that moment—Pop!—its head exploded with a dry sound.

“Ugh, gross!?”

The arrows were all a decoy. While it leisurely turned mid-air, Ai had already used Air Walk to get behind it.

As it turned, she launched a Dragon Armor clad Fist aimed solely at its head, destroying only that part.

Using the Ki shield from her Armor as a foothold, Ai collected the corpse before the bodily fluids could scatter, stored it in her Item Box, and sent it to Tatsuro’s Infinite Item Field.

***

Nana, separating from Ai to take on her assigned Shubelg Fungus, used True Form to fly and waited in the air.

The approaching Shubelg Fungus recognized Nana as an enemy and fired a Shockwave from a distance.

“It wouldn’t do much damage even if it hit, but I’d rather not be underestimated.”

Nana took out Guzan’s Fangs from her Item Box, dancing through the air and easily shattering the Shockwave with Dragon Force clad Fangs.

After deflecting five, the Shubelg Fungus closed in, launching a full-force Scratch with its thick, bifurcated beetle-like forelegs from above, aiming for both of Nana’s shoulders.

“—Hmph.”

“Gi!? —Giii!!”

But before it could land, Nana spun, using Guzan’s Fangs in both hands to deliver a Bite to the Shubelg Fungus’s thick wrists, catching them with strength unbelievable for a woman’s slender arms.

Shocked but undeterred, the Shubelg Fungus activated Scratch with its remaining five arms, trying to envelop Nana, and thrust its bifurcated spear-like tail as well.

“Annoying!”

“Gi—!”

Interrupted while planning her next move, Nana grew irritated and summoned seven massive Dragon Evil Spears, piercing and severing the six legs and the tail’s base.

Then, with Dragon Claw Attack, she took its head and stored the corpse in her Item Box.

“If it were a bit stronger, I could’ve done more.”

With a comment that would make ordinary people doubt their ears, Nana descended to the ground with a bored expression.

***

Separating from Ai and Nana, Leah assessed the Shubelg Fungus’s skill set and physical abilities, deciding that switching from her Tiger form to her Kirin form would be better.

(The Tiger form would suffice, but keeping up with that speed would be easier as a Kirin.)

The gorilla-shaped machine was dismissed outright as too finicky and difficult.

After transforming into the Kirin form, she manipulated her Own Weight to lighten herself and charged through the air toward the approaching Shubelg Fungus.

Noticing the Kirin shaped machine coming from below, the Shubelg Fungus fired a Shockwave.

Leah dodged it lightly, zigzagging through the air, and quickly closed the distance.

Seeing this, the Shubelg Fungus assumed Leah lacked long-range attacks and that its Shockwave was effective since she was dodging.

As she approached, it tried to gain distance by flying upward while firing another Shockwave.

“It wouldn’t do much even if it hit… but since this is my first Actual Combat, I’d like to test a bit more.”

In Leah’s mind, the previous Magical Beasts she fought with this machine were mere targets, treated as experiments, making this her first true Actual Combat.

While this Magical Beast was weak by Tatsuro’s standards, it was a significant threat to ordinary people.

She figured it was perfect for gaining real combat experience.

“Chasing a fleeing Magical Beast while auto-dodging feels pretty good.

Now, let’s try attacking from our side.”

“—Gii!!”

She fired a heat ray from the Kirin’s eyes, but the Shubelg Fungus, perhaps reacting to the light, escaped the line of fire during the brief charge-up time.

“Like Big brothers’ magic, I’d like to modify it to fire faster. Next up, then.”

Leah took a Grenade from her Item Box and tossed it into a hole below the main monitor.

Confirming it was sucked in like a vacuum cleaner, she visualized forming a slender barrel from the machine’s back.

As imagined, a barrel made of brown mineral emerged through the Dragon Scales, and with a shoop sound, the Grenade pin removed—flew toward the Shubelg Fungus.

The Shubelg Fungus tried to shoot it down with a Shockwave.

But the moment the Shockwave hit, the Grenade exploded, illuminating the area with a brilliant flash.

“Giii!?”

“Protection from external cameras against flashes—perfect.”

The external cameras—here, the Kirin’s eyes—automatically deployed a sunglass-like protective film upon detecting excessive light, dimming the view. Thus, the monitor inside remained unaffected by the glare.

The Shubelg Fungus, however, was blinded and thrashed wildly in the air.

“Now, let’s try the horn.”

Channeling Dragon Force into the Horn, it glowed red-hot. Approaching the thrashing Shubelg Fungus quietly, Leah swung her head upward, severing its long tail.

“Giii!?”

“Cutting power: excellent. Piercing: also smooth.”

Like piercing tofu with chopsticks, she melted through the tough Exoskeleton, boring a hole in its back.

“Now, for the final test using Smithing Skills in this state. Here we go.”

With Leah’s voice, a mineral arm extended from the back, retrieving a regular Hammer from the Item Box. Inserting it into the same hole, it was sucked in, and the Hammer emerged from the arm’s tip.

With focus, despite a slight lag, she successfully cloaked the Hammer with Smithing Skills through the machine.

Spraying Forge Flame Material from the mouth onto the Shubelg Fungus, she struck with the Hammer, coating the back Exoskeleton with Forge Flame.

Hitting it again, though the image transmission was slower than direct action, the Exoskeleton transformed into a jagged, comb-like structure, shredding the internal organs.

“The lag is noticeable, but unavoidable. Using the machine’s own Hammer at the feet would work fine.”

Even in Kirin form, the feet could be used as a Hammer for Smithing Skills, but she chose the more complex method for testing.

Satisfied with the results, Leah went to collect the fallen corpse.

***

Having parted from Ai and the others, Jeanne waited until the Shubelg Fungus was close enough to avoid it fleeing to others, then suddenly used True Form.

As expected, its massive size was intimidating, and as it tried to turn away, Jeanne disrupted its flight with Wind Magic to interfere with the airflow.

Though it had a skill superior to Flight, it barely avoided falling but couldn’t move properly.

Jeanne focused Dragon Force at her mouth and fired a Dragon Power Convergence Cannon at the nearly stationary Shubelg Fungus, which was focused solely on maintaining balance.

Though it sensed the incoming cannon, it couldn’t move well, and in an instant, everything below its neck vaporized. Jeanne manipulated the wind to drop only the head before her.

“Neigh!”

As if to say, “What a weakling!” Jeanne snorted, collecting just the head.

***

Tatsuro opened a small hole in his Dragon Barrier, targeting the Shubelg Fungi—now just heads and bodies—with Level Eater’s black orbs.

-------------------

Level: 57

Skills: [Rapid Growth], [Plants’ Support], [Kin Enhancement]

[Scratch Lv.7], [Poison Stinger Lv.7], [High-Speed Flight Lv.3]

[Shockwave Lv.5], [Wing Blade Lv.4]

-------------------

(The SP is tasty from these guys. Decent levels, too—worthy of Tamer-raised Shubelg Fungi. I don’t know who raised them, but thanks for the effort. We’ll make good use of them, so rest in peace without grudges.)

Muttering a prayer with clasped hands, Tatsuro absorbed their skill levels. After taking everything, he moved to the next, gaining a total of 257 points from the three Shubelg Fungi, bringing his total SP to 908.

The SP required for Spacetime Magic was 1000, meaning he was finally under 100 points away.

(It’s been a long road. I wasn’t sure how it’d turn out at first, but the goal is in sight.)

Reflecting briefly, he had Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi finish off the remaining Shubelg Fungi, now unable to use Shockwave, one by one for experience. The last one was taken out simultaneously.

Hoping for one or two more to reach 1000 SP, he extended his Probing but found no living ones left.

“Everyone’s too fast.”

Two more would’ve easily pushed him past 1000, but since he planned to complete this request before acquiring Spacetime Magic, he decided there was no rush and leisurely walked toward the others.