Chapter 78: The Little Heroine

“Bastard!”

Borfus roared as he swung his heavy shield forward and smashed it down onto the Blazing Mane Lion’s head with a powerful Shield Bash. The force of the impact shattered his shield into pieces and broke the bones in his arm.

“Ugh?! Tsk!”

Without any hesitation, he followed up with Stone Cleave, aiming straight for the lion’s nose and eyes. The sharp stone energy tore through its eyes and sliced open its nose, drawing a horrifying scream of pure agony from the beast.

“Gyaaaarrrrr!”

It was painful and deeply terrible to treat another living being this way, even when that being was a monster set on killing them. Borfus and the others still knew these creatures were simply living beings trying to survive in their own way.

“Forgive me!”

Archivald reached the monster and struck the back of its head with all his strength. Flames burned across his arms and hands, yet he clenched his teeth and endured the pain, relying on Elizabeth’s continuous healing to stay on his feet.

“Grass Cutter!”

Reinhardt leaped from above, his sword cutting through the lion’s already disfigured face and nearly cleaving it cleanly in half. The blade failed to finish the job. The creature’s skull was simply too hard!

“ROOAARR!”

The Lion hissed in fury as its eyes and nose began regenerating, the natural recovery of a spirit beast. A moment later it unleashed a violent storm of flames that completely engulfed Reinhardt.

“Guaaaaaahhhhh!”

“REINHARDT!”

Everyone panicked as the young half-elf’s exposed skin burned to a crisp. He fell hard to the ground, thick smoke rising from his entire body.

“No…!” Borfus coughed up blood as he realized the lion’s claw had pierced straight through his stomach. The beast grabbed him and smashed him into the ground with brutal force. “Kuaaaaggh?!”

“RAAAAHHH!” Archivald charged forward while roaring, swinging his polearm into the lion’s head. The weapon shattered into pieces on impact. The lion hissed, bit off his hand, and then kicked him hard in the face, sending him flying across the arena. “Kaaaagh…!”

“Damn it!” Hikari cried out as she unsheathed her blade and cut through the Lion’s body several times. Just as she prepared to behead it, a sudden surge of wind and thunder struck her and sent her crashing to the ground. “W-Wha…?!”

She looked up and saw three Wind Soaring Giraffes approaching from a distance, already conjuring deadly magic from afar.

“N-no…!”

“Skill Weaver – Demon Bite + Knife Rain!”

Elizabeth moved at once. Everything was happening so quickly that she had little time to think.

“Demon Sword Rain.”

Dozens of swords made of pure demonic darkness surged from her Grimoire and fired toward both the lion and the distant giraffes, impaling their bodies completely.

“Graaaaarrrggh!”

The Lion was finished in an instant. Fully impaled, it stumbled and collapsed onto the floor, never moving again. The Giraffes suffered the same fate. The dark swords pierced their long necks and tore them to shreds. Their severed heads fell, and their massive bodies collapsed under their own weight.

“Haaa…”

Elizabeth let out a long breath. She had faced far worse things before. These monsters were nothing special to her. At the same time, constantly multi-tasking to support the others was exhausting. Above all, she did not want to steal the spotlight. This was a test where everyone needed the chance to show their own strength in their own way. If she simply wiped out every threat, Alfrion would almost certainly send even stronger monsters.

With her Healing Magic, the group managed to pull through and stand back up, though they were clearly exhausted. A few more monsters still remained: one Blazing Mane Lion, two Ice Beak Ostriches, and two Shadow Panthers. These creatures were already stalking and attacking the other adventurers across the arena.

“T-Thanks, but…! We have to hurry. There are fewer left, but we still need to take the rest down quickly!” Borfus said.

“Yeah,” Elizabeth nodded.

“ROOAARR!”

“Gyaaaaaahhhh! Help!!!”

Just as they advanced, the desperate cry of a young girl echoed from the distance. The ghost girl Elizabeth had noticed earlier was lying on the floor, crying as her summoned ghosts were torn apart and eaten. Her small will-o-wisp flame continued burning against the last Blazing Mane Lion, but it was not strong enough to finish the beast.

“No, no, no! Please forgive me! I want out! I want out!” she sobbed, clutching her face.

The Lion reached her before she could officially forfeit. Its blazing claws tore through her weak barrier and closed in on her face.

BAAAM!

At the last moment, a dwarf slammed into the Lion’s stomach with a powerful Shield Bash, sending the beast rolling across the floor.

“H-Hahaha! I still got it—cough…!”

“GRAAAARRR!”

The Lion quickly rose again. Borfus met it with another Stone Cleave, smashing its head downward for a brief moment. Archivald stepped in and poured every ounce of his remaining strength into his polearm. Even as the monster’s flames burned him, he struck the creature’s face with all his might.

The dwarf and the half-orc continued battering the lion’s head with heavy attacks, making it dizzy and weakened. Still, they could not put a real dent in that incredibly hard skull.

Reinhardt charged forward and slashed the monster’s front paw just as it prepared to rip off Archivald’s remaining arm.

SLASH!

His Grass Cutter had grown even more potent, precise, and tightly focused. Elizabeth quietly admired the technique. It was strong yet concentrated into a small, efficient attack that delivered excellent piercing damage. Unlike her own current swordsmanship, which specialized in large, sweeping strikes, this style seemed far better for keeping a low profile and conserving energy.

A Shadow Panther interrupted the group’s assault by leaping onto Archivald and biting deep into his shoulder.

“Gaaaahah?!”

Archivald screamed in pain. He grabbed the Panther’s head and tried to crush it, but the creature was simply too tough.

That was when the two other swordswomen stepped forward together.

“Grass… Cutter!”

Elizabeth channeled what she had learned from watching Reinhardt, combining Adaptive Learning and Versatile Aptitude into a single refined strike.

“Hyaaaaa!”

Hikari unleashed a wave of phantasmal energy from her naginata. Blue thunder flickered around her hands as she cut into the monster.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

A rain of precise slashes descended upon both the lion and the Panther. The two monsters screamed in agony before collapsing, their bodies reduced to dozens of scattered pieces.

“Three remaining!” Elizabeth said, her eyes already darting toward the two Ice Beak Ostriches that continued raining ice across the field and the final Shadow Panther currently biting into someone’s neck. “Damn it!”

She leaped forward to help, cleanly cutting the panther’s head from its body. The injured person dropped to the ground, already on the edge of death. It was a young human boy, no older than eighteen, with short brown hair and green eyes. He wore simple leather armor and carried a small sword and shield.

“Hang in there!” Elizabeth pressed her hand over the wound and used Matter Restructuration combined with Harmonious Restoration to seal the injury, saving him from a horrible death. “You good? Stay down and rest!”

“T-Thanks…” he muttered weakly as he watched her leave.

Elizabeth quickly reached the two ostriches, only to find that others had caught up to her. Reinhardt and Hikari arrived at her side. The three sword wielders exchanged a brief nod and attacked as one.

They avoided the sharp ice feathers and charged straight toward the ostriches’ weak points. First they cut through the creatures’ legs, then they beheaded them by slicing through their vulnerable necks.

SLASH!

SLASH!

“Squeeaaak!”

Purple blood sprayed across the floor. The three of them stared at one another in exhausted silence.

“W-We did it…” Reinhardt coughed up blood. “Ugh…”

“Yeah…” Hikari sighed. “It’s… it’s over.”

“I hope everyone’s okay…” Elizabeth muttered quietly.

She looked up toward Alfrion.

The Ice Elf’s face was nothing like his usual calm and handsome expression. He was biting his lips so hard that blood ran down his chin. His face had turned almost completely red with rage. His eyes were bloodshot, and veins stood out clearly across his forehead and neck.

“You damn… fucking brat…! This is the prestigious Adventurer Guild…! How dare you…! This…! This isn’t over! It’s not over until I say so, because I am the one in charge!”

“?!”

Camilla’s eyes widened as she watched Alfrion furiously tapping something on his screen. A large door suddenly opened at the far end of the arena.

“W-Wha…?”

“No way…”

“More?!”

The remaining adventurers stared in pure terror as a giant silhouette stepped into the arena. Its presence alone was strong enough to put even Elizabeth on guard.

“GROOOAAARRRR!”

A massive roar echoed through the space. It was a twisted combination of several beasts fused into a single terrifying cry. The sound shook everyone’s bodies and sent cold shivers racing down their spines.

The creature stood four meters tall. It possessed three heads: one of a lion, one of a goat, and one of a reptile. Long bat-like wings stretched from its back. Six mismatched legs of different monster types carried its bulk, and a long tail resembling a living snake whipped behind it.

“C-Can you face this now?! The greatest trial beast we have ever captured! You’re so special that I simply could not help myself from giving you a little more challenge!”

Alfrion laughed like a maniac, leaving even Camilla completely speechless.

“Oi, Alfrion, what the hell is this? Didn’t you see them suffer enough already?!”

“They have to learn, Guild Master! They have to learn that the Adventurer Guild does not accept good-for-nothing bandits and thieves who hide their true identities! I am tired of all the bad talk about us! We will not let them in!”

“You’re insane! Do you even know what that thing is?!”

“Of course I know! What could a Rank 6 Chimera possibly do to such talented candidates? If anything, they will have fun with it, right?!”

“…You’re crazy! What’s gotten into you?!”

“Tsk, you do not know anything. Nothing at all!”

Camilla noticed a strange black fog occasionally emerging from Alfrion’s body. His already furious face grew more and more distorted with each passing second.

Meanwhile, inside the arena, every adventurer watched the gigantic beast slowly approach them. Most stood paralyzed with fear, no longer knowing what to do.

Except for Elizabeth.

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