Chapter 158: A Certain Sibling Pair
“If you can defeat that monster on your own, you pass. If not… you fail.”
It seemed that this was the promotion trial for Shifa-san to reach A-rank.
Perhaps because she was a front-line spear user, the test itself was straightforward—simply gauging her combat ability.
But—
“W-will she be okay…?”
I had adventured alongside Shifa-san for a while, but most of the time, she had taken on a support role.
Her gift, “Empress’s Authority,” was naturally suited for support: weakening enemies, strengthening allies. Because of that, I had only ever seen her strike down a monster with her spear a handful of times.
Even so, in those rare instances, she had looked like a master to me.
Her movements were fluid, and she wielded her long, unwieldy spear as if it were an extension of her own body. Shifa-san didn’t have a gift that made her naturally skilled with spears, so I figured she had simply honed her techniques through sheer effort.
Normally, that skill would be enough against common monsters… but this was that beast.
And she had to face it alone.
“Don’t worry,”
“Anii?”
“Shifa’s gift is way beyond what you think. Well… not as absurd as yours, but close.”
“GRAAAH!!”
The summoned monster lunged at Shifa-san.
Despite its massive size, it moved with startling speed, closing in on her in an instant.
No way—if she got hit by that charge, she wouldn’t stand a chance!
“Prostrate yourself.”
“!?!”
The moment Shifa-san activated her gift, the monster’s movements suddenly slowed. Taking advantage of the moment, she rolled aside, narrowly dodging the charge.
“GRAAAAAH!!”
The beast roared, leaping toward her again.
Even weakened, it was still far too powerful. The first dodge had worked because it caught the monster off guard, but she couldn’t keep relying on luck.
“GYAAAH!?”
Yet, contrary to my expectations, the monster let out a scream of pain.
“Huh?”
Shifa-san had thrust her spear into its belly while darting past its massive frame with blinding speed—too fast for my eyes to follow.
She then maneuvered to its back and delivered a second precise strike.
From there, the fight became almost one-sided.
The monster desperately tried to strike her, but every attack failed. Meanwhile, Shifa-san landed blow after calculated blow.
“Shifa-san… she can move that fast…?”
“That’s the power of Empress’s Authority. She just uses it on herself.”
—Self-enhancement.
“You can’t just boost allies?”
“Apparently, the maximum effect is on herself. The load is heavy, so she usually avoids using it.”
In other words, Shifa-san was strong in group battles and equally formidable alone.
“That’s… incredible, isn’t it?”
“…It’s an amazing gift. Though, there are about two people in the same party whose gifts outshine hers…”
“You mean that certain sibling pair.”
As we talked, the monster suddenly leapt into the air.
“That monster… it can fly!?”
Hovering out of reach, it let out a furious roar, then dove toward Shifa-san with terrifying speed.
I… I don’t think she can dodge that one!
“Right wing, drop.”
“~~~~!?”
Suddenly, the monster tilted sharply to its right, sliding past Shifa-san and crashing violently to the ground.
“Huh? That was… a gift too?”
“P-probably? Maybe she targeted a specific part.”
Apparently, she could fine-tune her power like that. Weakening just one side of the body would naturally throw off balance—especially mid-flight, where even the slightest misstep could be fatal.
Shifa-san pursued the writhing beast on the ground, and finally, the monster let out a deathly scream and collapsed.
Its body vanished as it returned to the demon realm.
The examiner clapped.
“That’s it. She passes.”
Yes!
Shifa-san had passed her A-rank promotion trial!
“Still… that sudden weakness in the monster… hmm, best not to speculate. Of course, as the examiner, I won’t reveal what I saw here. And given the magical contract, no one would risk talking about it anyway.”
It seemed even the examiner was curious about the monster’s sudden faltering and crash, but thanks to magical contracts like the one I had with Lilcarlia-san, no one could speak of it.
“We did it, Shifa-san!”
“It’s thanks to everyone cheering me on. And…”
“And?”
“My gift’s performance has improved recently. Targeting specific parts like before… I couldn’t do that in the past.”
So that pinpoint control of her gift was a recent development. No wonder Anii hadn’t understood immediately.
“It must be from our recent adventures. Defeating strong enemies makes me stronger, faster. All thanks to everyone, especially Geo’s power, which let us reach the dungeon’s depths.”
“N-no, it’s really all thanks to your efforts, Shifa-san!”
“That’s not true. The favor I owe Geo keeps growing… how do I even repay it…”
Shifa-san’s face was serious as she worried over me.
Just seeing her like that… it made me happy enough.
“Bugeh!?”
Anii kicked me.
W-why!?