Following Ryoji's orders, the vanguard stretched the front line wide, and just as expected, the monsters exploited the gaps, one after another, they slithered past the frontline warriors, crawling straight toward the mage corps.
"Loose arrows!"
At Alicia's command, the rearguard all raised their bows and unleashed a swarm of arrows like a locust plague.
But the power of those arrows was far from sufficient; most of them merely pierced the monsters' skin, only to be instantly corroded to nothing. Only a rare few managed to pose any real threat.
The pressure on the ranged troops skyrocketed. Alicia and the other archers were firing nonstop, mages were rushing to complete their chants, and the supporters had even drawn magic swords to defend. Magic lit up the battlefield in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Yet, despite all that, the mage corps did not fall.
In fact, the caterpillar monsters never made it closer than several dozen meters.
And there was only one reason why.
From the center of the formation, silver sword shards burst forth from the boy's body, each one whistling through the air with explosive speed, each one precisely shattering the monsters' internal Magic Stones without fail.
High-frequency, pinpoint sniping.
It was like someone had turned a submachine gun into a sniper rifle.
"Unreal! How is he doing that?!" Alicia stared, utterly stunned.
She was a Spirit Elf archer, her archery skills were top-tier, but even so, the idea of high-speed volley fire with precise Magic Stone targeting was practically impossible, even for her.
"But his Mana consumption is off the charts…"
She glanced down at the pile of empty vials on the ground.
In just twenty seconds, he had already downed an entire dozen potions.
One every two seconds. One shot every second.
Thanks to Ryoji's deadly sniping, combined with other ranged attacks,
and the fact that the caterpillars' acidic self-destruction was indiscriminate, harming their own kind when packed tightly,
the monsters were effectively kept at bay, blocked completely before reaching the mage corps.
"Amazing… We're not even needed anymore…"
The vanguard warriors stood there holding their weapons, exchanging dumbfounded glances,
then let out a collective, bitter smile.
Here they were, a bunch of Level 3s and Level 4s…
and they'd just been completely outclassed by a Level 2 rookie.
"Sealed radiance, frozen earth, snowfall from the heavens, the Third Great Winter, I am Alf!"
From the rear, Riveria's powerful voice rang out with clarity and determination.
Her chant had never faltered, not even once, despite the chaos of the battlefield,
smooth and fluid from start to finish.
Compared to Lefiya, who still struggled with fear mid-battle, Riveria was in an entirely different league.
"---Fimbulvetr!"
One full minute of chanting, finally complete.
As though salvation had arrived, everyone, Ryoji included, felt a wave of relief wash over them.
They had it in the bag.
In the blink of an eye, an awe-inspiring barrage of support fire swept across the battlefield.
Ice. Flame. Lightning.
A flood of powerful offensive magic rained down like a storm, turning the underground 50th Floor into a dazzling, painted battlefield.
The monsters were shredded apart by explosions of ichor, burned into ash, or electrocuted until death, blast after blast erupted like chained lightning, and the air shimmered with the remnants of spent magical power.
"How about that?!"
"Now you see what we're made of!"
Watching the enemy forces crumble into chaos, the mages who had been holding back finally cheered, venting all their pent-up frustration.
Riveria, too, finally allowed herself to relax.
The camp behind them remained untouched. Not a single person had died, only a few minor injuries among the vanguard. All things considered, this had been a miracle.
"Whew…"
Ryoji took several deep breaths, but his vision swam with dizziness.
He had exhausted his mind and energy, then replenished them, again and again, ten times or more. And on top of that, he'd pushed his instinctive perception to the absolute limit.
The mental toll had been enormous.
Even though his body was still healthy, Ryoji's mind and energy were utterly exhausted.
"Looks like it's over."
Riveria came to stand beside him, her gaze fixed on the flat, distant cavern entrance.
Just moments ago, in less than a single minute, dozens of caterpillar-like monsters had poured out from that cave, but now, the entrance looked completely inert, like it had lost all momentum. Not a single additional caterpillar emerged.
And those already outside had all been wiped out in the wave of magic.
It seemed, this crisis had passed.
"Good… I wasn't wrong."
Seeing that, Ryoji finally let out a breath of relief.
The intuition he relied on had proven absolutely correct. But "absolutely correct" didn't mean no casualties, it meant achieving the best possible outcome under the given circumstances.
His instinct had told him: Let all the caterpillar monsters reach the 50th Floor, then have Riveria and the mages annihilate them in a single blow.
But the time before they all surfaced? That had to be handled manually, through effort and risk.
If he had misjudged that… if there had been massive losses… then it would have been his failure.
"If it hadn't been for you, we might've had to fight for ten times longer. We might have even suffered casualties. Our resource consumption would've skyrocketed. So yes, thank you."
Riveria's expression softened, her eyes filled with approval as she looked at Ryoji.
Foresight in crisis. Decisiveness in battle.
This child had the makings of a natural-born leader. In him, Riveria could even glimpse a shadow of Finn.
"Get some rest. Mana fatigue is no joke."
"Alright. I'll leave the rest to you."
Ryoji nodded.
And so, under the admiring stares of many, he returned to his tent.
And slept like the dead.
Outside, however, the talk about him never stopped.
Ryoji didn't wake until ten full hours later, well into the next morning.
The deep sleep after complete exhaustion had rejuvenated him completely,
leaving his mind and energy feeling better than ever.
"Mm~!"
Stretching as he stepped out of the tent, Ryoji worked out the stiffness in his body.
Only then did he notice, many of the nearby tents were already being taken down,
as if they were about to leave right away.
"Wait… weren't we supposed to stay here another day?"
Ryoji blinked in confusion at the half-collapsed tents around him.
The original plan was for the executives to continue onward to the 59th Floor,
while regular members like him would stay behind and hold the position at the 50th.
"Yo, Ryoji! You're finally up!"
One of the Level 3 vanguard members, his tent-mate, walked over and greeted him.
"Man, you were a total star yesterday! Thanks to that, the whole expedition's spotlight ended up on you! Everyone's talking about you now, even the Captain and the others!"
His tone held no jealousy, only admiration.
"Enough about that, what's going on? Why's everyone packing up?"
"Oh, you didn't hear? After the Captains came back last night, they had a meeting…
and decided to call off the expedition. We're heading home today."
"...What? Already?"
That fast?
"Yeah. Apparently, the Captains ran into those hairy caterpillar things on the 51st Floor, too. Their weapons were nearly all wrecked, they don't even have enough gear left to challenge the 59th. I heard Tiona even lost her double-bladed sword!"
So that's how it is…
If they'd lost their signature weapons, then yeah, continuing deeper would've been impossible.
(End of Chapter)
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