Li Xiuman gripped his wand with both hands, holding it horizontally across his chest as mana continuously gathered.
“Tier 3 Magic—Water Spirit's Blessing.”
“Tier 3 Magic—Flame Corrosion.”
“Tier 3 Magic—Earth Spirit's Blessing.”
“Tier 3 Magic—Wind's Favor!”
Splendid magic circles unfolded one after another, a dazzling sight that left everyone stunned.
Miss Xiuman is so cool.
After casting all four blessing magic spells, Li Xiuman's mana dropped below a third of its maximum.
Then, his Bone Wings flared open, and his body rose slowly into the air.
Brad and the others assumed it was a rare flight-type magic item.
“Cover Miss Xiuman!”
The entire party made a sharp turn, charging back toward the water monster.
Caught completely off guard by the sudden turn, a horde of pursuing monsters was taken by surprise.
At the same time, numerous monsters locked onto Li Xiuman in midair and swarmed toward him.
“Don't let them through!”
Everyone pushed themselves past their limits. Even with injuries accumulating, they held off a massive swarm of monsters to protect Miss Xiuman's attack path.
“Tier 1 Magic—Fire Wall!”
Waving his wand, a magic circle formed, creating a wall of fire in front of him.
With crackling pops and bursts, numerous monsters slammed into the Fire Wall, their bodies bursting into flames.
“Tier 1 Magic—Fire Wall!”
Conjuring another Fire Wall, Li Xiuman flapped his wings, pushing against the wall of fire as he charged straight toward the water monster's head.
The Fire Wall couldn't kill the monsters outright, but it burned them severely enough to stall them.
Soon, however, several monsters bypassed the Fire Wall and rushed toward Li Xiuman from behind.
“Tier 2 Magic—Fire Arrow Rain!”
Dispersing the Fire Wall spell, he turned swiftly around.
Holding his wand in front of him, a crimson magic circle flared open.
A torrential downpour of flaming arrows rained down, blanketing all the surrounding monsters.
“Just a mere mon—Holy crap...”
The liquid atop the water monster's head suddenly surged upward, coalescing into a massive hand that grabbed Li Xiuman.
It was so fast that Li Xiuman didn't even have time to react.
Who suddenly grows another head on top of their head?!
The water pressure surrounding him rapidly increased, and tiny bubbles began rising around his body.
Li Xiuman, who had mastered water magic inside out, recognized this instantly as a sign of Water Burst.
“Giant's Belt—Giantification!”
His body expanded several times in size. Drawing his Rib Sword, he sliced through the watery palm in a single strike, broke free, and flew outward.
“Damn it, if Crystal Orchid were here, it'd hard-counter you into oblivion.”
Li Xiuman cast a disdainful look at the Rib Sword in his hand.
Immediately after, more and more giant hands sprouted from the water monster's head, swatting toward Li Xiuman.
Li Xiuman gripped the Rib Sword tightly, dropping into a stance and executing practiced sword techniques to protect his body and parry hand after hand.
Meanwhile, his other hand raised his wand, slinging spells through the gaps between his sword swings.
“Miss Xiuman... is an Elementalist, right?”
“Who cares about that? That's Miss Xiuman!”
Brad withdrew his gaze, feeling a twinge of frustration in his proud heart for the very first time.
Miss Xiuman was simply too exceptional.
“Tier 2 Magic—Yuan-Yang Hotpot!”
Li Xiuman had created another spell on the fly.
A blue and a red magic circle opened above his head simultaneously. A massive amount of rushing water collided with intense flames, erupting into a thick cloud of steam instantly.
Blending into the steam, he deactivated the Giantification effect of the Giant's Belt. Concealed by the mist, he charged toward the water monster's massive head.
Only when he closed in within ten meters did the water monster detect Li Xiuman's presence.
A surge of rushing water swarmed toward Li Xiuman, attempting to squash this annoying fly buzzing around.
The stream of water shot toward Li Xiuman with blinding speed, bridging the ten-meter distance in an instant.
Even for Li Xiuman, who could cast spells chantlessly, there wasn't enough time to cast a new spell.
Yet Miss Xiuman calmly raised an empty hand, aiming straight at the water monster's head.
You lose.
“Wind Sever!”
Tier 3 Magic—Wind Sever.
A magic circle expanded in a split second, instant-casting the Tier 3 spell.
This was precisely the effect of the Tier 3 spell, Wind's Favor—granting a one-time instant cast for wind magic of Tier 3 or below.
Flowing wind transformed into a sharp, massive blade of wind that slashed outward.
The upper half of the water monster's head was directly cleaved off, blown into a fine mist by the dispersing wind.
However, Li Xiuman took a direct blow from the water monster in return; a yellow glow flashed across his body, accompanied by the sound of something shattering.
The Tier 3 Magic, Earth Spirit's Blessing, had shattered, though it absorbed most of the impact.
The remaining force merely left Li Xiuman's body slightly numb.
This surprised Li Xiuman, who had expected a few fractured bones.
A Heavy Warrior of the same tier without using skills probably couldn't achieve defense of this purity relying on raw physical defense alone, right?
Sure enough, having abandoned fragile flesh, he had transcended into a powerful skeletal body.
Recovering his mobility, Li Xiuman reached out and grabbed the golden orb inside the water monster's head.
The creature beneath his feet seemed to lose its structural support, collapsing into a heap of water alongside the monsters swimming within it.
Li Xiuman burst from the collapsing water, dashing toward the gateway at the end of the light bridge.
By now, most of the bridge of light had dissolved, leaving Brad and the others fighting fiercely on the remaining fragment through sheer force of will.
“Miss Xiuman!”
Gritting his teeth, Li Xiuman pretended not to hear their calls and shouts. Holding the golden orb, he used the momentum of his dive to press the golden sphere directly into the socket.
It fit seamlessly.
Golden light burst forth in all directions.
The gateway composed of light slowly creaked open.
“The path forward is open! Everyone, charge out!”
Brad gripped his longsword and pointed toward the doorway.
Everyone charged toward the doorway as if injected with adrenaline.
The disintegration of the light bridge had almost caught up to their feet.
At the start of the charge across the light bridge, Brad had been leading the charge at the very front.
Now that safety was within reach, Brad fell back to the rear to block the monsters behind them, letting his comrades go first.
Li Xiuman could somewhat understand why these pure-hearted fools were willing to follow an idiot like Brad, giving up the wealth and luxury of the royal capital to cross mountains and rivers on this ridiculous journey.
Might as well use up whatever little mana I have left.
Li Xiuman raised his wand. A cyan magic circle expanded, whipping up a fierce wind that fluttered his Deep Black Cloak.
“Tier 3 Magic—Super Gale!”
The roaring wind blasted outward, blowing away a huge swarm of monsters in the back row.
“It's Miss Xiuman's magic! Use this chance to dash!”
Li Xiuman slowly lowered his wand, his mana nearly completely drained.
However, thanks to this, Brad and his party broke free from the horde and sprinted toward the door with all their might.
Just as they reached the doorway, the light bridge disintegrated right up to the threshold.
“Hurry!” Brad shouted.
Just as everyone leaped into the doorway...
“Captain, hurry up!”
“Oh no, Captain, under your feet!” Brad heard someone yell.
Realizing something was wrong, he tried to leap across the remaining distance. But perhaps due to overexerting himself in the preceding battle, his thighs gave out, and he fell short of the jump.
The light bridge under his feet vanished completely, leaving him falling toward the monster-infested water below.
“Captain!!” someone yelled in panic.
“Tier 1 Magic—Gale...”
Instinctively attempting to cast a spell, Li Xiuman suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
He was completely out of mana—not a single drop remained.
His body bolted forward, diving off the doorway. Flaring his Bone Wings, he caught the falling Brad with both hands.
Done in one fluid motion.
“Miss Xiuman.”
“I told you, stop adding 'Miss'!”
Gripping Brad, Li Xiuman flew up into the doorway, tossing Brad inside before landing steadily on his feet and retracting his pair of Bone Wings.
“Captain, I really thought you were gonna die!”
“If not for Miss Xiuman this time, Captain, you'd really be beyond saving!”
“Captain, boohoo, sob sob sob!”
The one weeping wasn't Mia, but a hulking, burly Heavy Warrior.
It was quite an eyesore.
“Alright, don't embarrass us in front of Xiuman.”
Brad's smile seemed to carry a hidden constraint, as if... something was weighing heavily on his mind.
Whatever. As long as my ten thousand gold coins are safe and sound.
Rate on N.U.
