Having long anticipated the enemy's methods, Fron showed not the slightest trace of panic.
He had predicted what countermeasures the opponent might employ even before the battle began, and had thoroughly analyzed the likely movements and reactions the enemy would display the moment it was attacked.
Among those possibilities, the highest probability was a powerful "Spirit Magic" of devastating wide-area bombardment meant to annihilate the entire unit.
Therefore, Fron reacted immediately, instead of suffering a huge loss like in their first clash and almost being wiped out.
"Wait, Fron. Something's not right!"
With sharp eyes, Anakitty handed the Spirit Flag to Fron, her expression grave as she warned him.
Fron turned sharply, his eyes widening slightly.
Below the Fallen spirit body that continued weaving its ritual spell, one of the three faces was chanting an incantation, its voice echoing around them.
"...Far more troublesome than expected~ tch."
While the main body maintained the casting of the ritual spell, the split-body was simultaneously deploying a magic circle and chanting as well. As everyone knows, a single person absolutely cannot activate two spells at the same time.
But the enemy… shattered that common sense.
"[Lightning · Radiant Arrow]!!!"
As if reacting to the approaching adventurers, it began a high-speed chant.
Then it constructed a short-verse chant that prioritized speed.
Its enormous lips uttered a chant different from that of the upper elven torso, declaring the attack.
A golden magic circle unfolded with a terrifying hum, releasing a spear of thunder.
At the instant right before it fired, in that split second when death brushed past everyone,
Fron descended from above, raising the spirit flag to block between the magical bombardment and the unit!
"BOOOOOOM!!"
"Fron!!" Anakitty and Amid stared at the scene in horror, but the blinding light forced them to shut their eyes.
When the dust settled…
A huge chunk of the ground before them had been gouged out, as if a massive weight had crushed it down.
Fron stood with the spirit flag raised in a guarding stance.
His robe and cloak smoked faintly, and his face was now covered in a layer of dust.
"Haa… "
A sharp pain pricked through his body as Fron frowned, assessing his injuries.
Even though the Spirit Flag reduced the damage by 90%, the almost Lv.7 magic still inflicted considerable harm on him.
"[Dia Fratel]!"
A radiance descended from above, rapidly healing his injuries.
After giving Amid a reassuring look, Fron faced the monstrous being before him, something far beyond common sense, and felt a heaviness settle in his heart.
Even he, a Lv.6 with exceptional stats, had been injured by a single blow, even after the spirit flag's resistance.
It was easy to imagine what horrific fate awaited the other members of the unit if they took that strike head-on.
Most likely… their bodies shattered, burned black, slammed into walls, falling lifelessly one after another.
After gauging the enemy's true strength, Fron became even more wary of the "monster" before him.
Not only Fron's Fifth Unit was struggling.
...
The Sixth Unit as well, chaos spread, faces turning pale.
Bete, impulsive and quick to act, had charged straight at the Fallen Spirit with ferocious momentum.
But as quickly as he went… he came flying back just as quickly!
Before he even got close, he was blasted away by a wide-area magic empowered by high-speed chanting!
If not for his superior reflexes allowing him to dodge the unexpected counterattack, he would already be a lump of charred flesh lying on the ground, completely losing all combat ability.
"What the hell!? Two chants at the same time!? What kind of sick joke is this!?"
Fallen to the ground, Bete shouted in disbelief.
Seeing that the spell had not come from the Fallen Spirit, but from the Treant face on the lower half of the pillar, Bete felt a shock.
Before the panic-stricken adventurers, the pillar's upper Fallen Spirit and lower Treant face continued their eerie duet:
"The spirit body continues its ritual song…"
"And that ugly pillar-face wipes out any who approach!"
"That Fron guy… He really jinxed it. This thing is even worse than he said!"
Even Tiona, usually fearless and carefree, spoke with a tremor in her voice.
"Incredible… it's a monster that shouldn't exist in this world. A single creature handling two roles at once!?"
It was essentially a colossal fortress preparing a super-spell, while simultaneously driving away intruders.
But that still wasn't all.
As if to welcome these invaders…
Or perhaps in celebration of its long-awaited ascent toward the sky…
The monster surpassed all reason once again, performing an action so horrifying it stopped the adventurers' thoughts altogether!
"[O blades of frost, freeze like eternal permafrost, In the name of the Avatar, grant me the name of the Water Spirit, the Water Incarnation, the Water Queen, ]"
"[O radiance, descend, dispel the darkness, In the name of the Avatar, grant me the name of the Light Spirit, the Light Incarnation, the Light Queen, ]"
"[O darkness, rampage, devour the light, grant peace to the night, In the name of the Avatar, grant me the name of the Dark Spirit, the Dark Incarnation, the Dark Queen, ]"
"Nani!? Wh, all three Treant faces can chant!?"
Three rapid-fire chants overlapped flawlessly.
Before the blood-drained adventurers could react, the magic mercilessly bombarded them:
"[Frost Blades]"
"[Holy Light Burst]"
"[Dark Roar]"
Ice blades, blinding light, and black flame,
A sea of bombardments swallowed the adventurers whole.