For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Chapter 228: Scenario Dungeon (4)

Chapter 228: Scenario Dungeon (4)

As soon as we entered the dungeon, the texture of the air touching our faces changed.

Instead of the hot desert wind, it was a cool breeze brushing against our skin. However, the smell it carried was quite foul.

“Ugh... what is this smell?”

I shrugged at Elisha, who was covering her mouth.

“What do you think? It’s the smell of chimeras. You know this from class, right? Chimera-type monsters always repeat necrosis and regeneration, so they stink a lot, and the regenerating ones are even worse.”

“Oh? But I don’t see any monsters around. Maybe it’s just your body odor?”

“Nope. There they are.”

I playfully pressed my index finger on Elisha’s nose, who was sniffing around as if she intended to smell me from the start, and pointed ahead.

A huge valley in a V shape, and black masses filling the path leading to that valley.

Elisha, who had been relaxed knowing that the dungeon entrance was a safe zone, stiffened.

“...Are all those chimeras?”

“Exactly.”

“The ones we have to break through and annihilate?”

“Yep. You know this, so why keep asking?”

“Because there are so many?!”

Elisha tapped my shoulder repeatedly, stamping her feet.

“Is this really possible? Shouldn’t we go back and prepare more thoroughly...?”

“Elisha.”T/his chapter is updat/ed by

“Yes?”

“You are an intermediate magician now.”

“...Oh.”

Maybe because she hadn’t tested her skills in actual combat, she seemed worried, thinking back to her days as a lower-level magician.

“I’ve done it before, and what you see now can be handled alone. The problem is the rest that are stretched out further inside.”

“Well, an average intermediate magician wouldn’t be that strong, would they?”

“Well, Elisha, you’re not average either.”

“That’s true!”

Iona chuckled, pressing Elisha’s shoulders, which had been tense, until they relaxed.

Seeing Elisha’s shoulders loosen just enough, Iris flinched momentarily.

Then, she began to knead Elisha’s arm with her small hands.

“Teacher...?”

“Hmph. It’s a teacher’s job to ease their student’s tension. Outsiders, go away. Shoo, shoo.”

“Huh? But isn’t it a professor’s job to encourage students too?”

“She’s been expelled, so she’s no longer a student!”

“Hmm? If we’re talking about that, then being enslaved and erasing all prior relationships applies to you, too, doesn’t it? It’s just lip service to call it a teacher-student relationship; officially, you’re just strangers now.”

“Ugh... But the Master allowed it, so it’s fine! Ei!”

Iris puffed her cheeks and pushed Iona away with her slender hips.

I wondered why she was acting like that suddenly, but it seemed she felt that Iona was stealing Elisha from her.

However, if Elisha continued to relax like this, she might end up melting into her teacher’s cuteness, so it was time to intervene.

Clap, clap.

“It’s time to move, so stop playing with Iris, Professor Iona. Iris, return to your position. Lady Helena seems eager; she’s already holding her weapon.”

“Oh... I’m embarrassed, Brother.”

Helena blushed, gripping her mace and taking a ready-to-charge stance.

A giant forest of thorn vines arose.

-Screeeech!!!

-Eek! Screeeech!!

Even from a distance, the collective screams were loud enough to reach us.

Chimeras, covered in thorns, disappeared in an instant. They must have been tattered and decomposed by Cepheus’s power by now.

Normally, all that power would be concentrated on one person, but exploding it like this turned it into an area attack.

Iona had caused a crack in what seemed like an impenetrable horde of chimeras with just one spell.

But it wasn’t over yet. There was still Iris left.

As Iona, exhausted from using both teleportation and Cepheus in quick succession, exposed her neck, Iris finally spoke.

“Elemental Burst.”

In a low voice, Iris’s incandescent sphere shot forward rapidly.

Its target was the center of the thorny forest created by Iona.

Ignoring inertia, the sphere halted in place, then fell as if it were a droplet.

Plop.

The moment the white flame touched the blood-red thorns.

Boom!!!

It turned into a massive storm, sweeping everything away, accompanied by white flames and blood thorns.

“Ah.”

At first glance, I understood why this magic was called Elemental Burst.

Fire, wind, and water.

Although I was also learning elemental combinations, I had no idea how this was done.

Without clearly separating essence and form, they just mixed. Three of them, even combining attributes that were mutually beneficial or antagonistic.

No. Was that why it was possible?

Using fire as the base, wind to increase power and range, and water for precise control?

Though complex, its inherent power would fall short compared to Iona’s Cepheus.

That’s why Iris used Iona’s thorns.

Despite being blood magic, which involved drawing blood, it left a clear substance, like earth magic.

The physical destructive power was impressive, and Iona was controlling her thorns as well.

Iona, biting my neck, waved her fingers here and there. Each time, a thorn would shoot out, piercing a chimera and absorbing its vitality, growing even larger.

With their life force drained and burnt by clinging flames, even creatures specialized in regeneration would die.

When two high-level magicians joined forces, this was possible...

The power exceeded expectations. The incantation time was too long to use consecutively, but the objective was more than achieved.

Instead of just clearing a path to the side road, it pushed much further, like an artificial natural disaster.

After the magic duration ended, I stood dazedly, watching the scene.

Helena was the first to snap out of it, raising her mace and shouting.

“This isn’t the time for this! We need to run before the path is blocked!”

“Well, the path is longer than expected, so it won’t be blocked immediately, but we shouldn’t dawdle.”

I dropped Iona’s head lightly and downed a potion.

Then I hoisted the short-legged Iris onto my back and pushed off the ground.

“Let’s go!”

Next, it was my turn.