Chapter 209: Sylvia Needs to Be Tamed!

The moment Soren finished speaking, Evan rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, the sound swallowed up by the low, constant howling that poured from the rift above.

He let out a slow breath, and the playful ease that usually sat on his face burned away into something sharper, something that matched the drawn blade in his hand.

“Alright then. Let’s make this clean.”

He stepped out of the tunnel first, boots hitting the cavern floor with a heavy echo, and the monsters at the far end surged with renewed hostility the moment they saw him cross into the open.

*Roar!*

A Rift Hound at the front broke rank and launched itself forward with a screech, its claws raking arcs through the violet-tinged air, but Evan was already moving.

His blade swept in a single diagonal arc, catching the beast mid-lunge across the throat and chest, and it crumpled before it even landed.

*Bang!*

He did not slow, did not look back, and the swing transitioned immediately into a forward drive that carried him straight into the nearest cluster of Wing Fang Beasts circling low to the ground.

Elise and Elara flanked wide on either side without needing to be told twice, the twin sisters moving with an almost uncanny synchrony.

Elise drew the aggression of two snarling Wing Fang Beasts toward her right side, her short blade flashing in rapid deflections while Elara circled behind them and drove her blade through the gap between the first one’s shoulder blades, pinning it to the stone floor long enough for Elise to finish it with a downward cut.

They constantly rotated. Sometimes, Elara became the bait, and Elise became the blade, while sometimes it was the opposite.

*Swish!*

They cycled through targets with a rhythm clearly forged through years of fighting side by side, moving almost like a dance.

If not for the situation around them, Soren would have loved to simply stand and watch.

“Come forth, my summons, Elemental Giants!”

From the rear of their formation, Aria quickly pressed both palms outward, and the ground rumbled as three massive stone figures lurched upright from the ground.

Their joints ground loudly as they turned toward the outer flanks of the enemy horde, and with a heavy stomp, countless stone spears erupted from the ground beneath the charging monsters, impaling them while forming a defensive perimeter around the team.

Even though they were slow, their reach was immense due to their earth elemental nature.

The moment a pair of Rift Hounds tried to loop around the fight to flank Evan from the side, one of the Giants swept a broad arm across the ground and sent them both skidding into the far wall in a tumbling heap.

The second Giant stepped forward and brought its fist down on one of the stunned beasts with a force that shook the floor beneath Soren’s feet.

Clearly, the style of fighting had changed ever since Aria’s summon had upgraded, although for some reason, she was still stuck with giants as her main force.

“Crimson Barrier!”

“Hell Fire!”

Aurelia wasn’t idle either.

She was also constantly using her barrier skill to save her teammates while simultaneously incinerating the monsters that managed to come close.

Just as Soren said, she was conserving her mana, but even then, those monsters that had already been injured by Evan’s sword, the twin sisters’ blades, and Aria’s giant stood no chance against her spell.

Before they could even attack, all of them were incinerated into cinders by those flames in an instant.

“Mana Bomb!”

*Boom!*

*Roar!*

And if the monsters were too much to handle?

There was no need to worry, as Sylvia gladly threw her latest creation with a happy smile on her face, bombarding them with massive explosions.

In fact, the explosion was so large that Soren could see it was capable of taking out three monsters in a single swoop if they were within the radius.

Those without decent defense skills didn’t stand a chance.

Gulp!

‘…just what are they made of?’

Soren really felt that the bomb’s effectiveness was too much. There was no way a normal alchemy bomb could do so much damage to D-rank monsters above level 45 like this.

“Hehe… it is so much fun. Evan, let’s go deeper. I have more than enough bombs to destroy them. Even that king or something can’t stop me today.”

And looking at the excitement in Sylvia’s eyes, he somehow began to regret letting this pure girl hang out with Professor Lysandra.

‘In the game, even though she studied under Lysandra, nothing like this happened. Why is she obsessed with such things now?’

Soren wondered, looking at Sylvia excitedly walking to the front, with sparkling eyes, when he felt the movement from the altar.

All this time, even though they killed so many monsters, the Chasm Gnoll King had not moved from its position.

But the moment Sylvia threw those mana bombs, its gaze instantly locked on her with murderous intent.

It seemed even it thought she was the most dangerous. After all, others could get tired dealing with monsters continuously, but those bombs wouldn’t.

As Sylvia said, if she really managed to land a hit, even if it wouldn’t die, it would be gravely injured for sure.

“Sylvia, stop getting too excited and stay behind.”

The moment Soren felt its movement, Soren immediately shouted, making her stop.

The last thing he wanted right now was to imitate the scene that had happened in the survival dungeon before.

“Hmm? B-But… I was just getting started.”

Sylvia heard his shout and flinched. Although she quickly came behind Aurelia, she couldn’t help but mumble in annoyance.

“As I said before, you are a healer. You can use those bombs, but don’t forget your role.”

In the end, he couldn’t help but glare at her, seeing her too excited for her own good.

He felt like he must tame this girl after this dungeon raid. Sylvia seemed to have gone a bit astray as she was still complaining.

“Aurelia, don’t let this foolish girl leave your barrier and only let her use those bombs of hers with your help.”

In the end, he asked for Aurelia’s help as that Gnoll King was beginning to move.

“Oh… come on. Damn it… Soren. You said I can use the Mana Bomb.”

Really, he needed to tame this girl who had suddenly awakened her wild nature.

He had to direct it somewhere else instead.