Chapter 150: The Field Moved
The Cyclops’ fist rebounded off the barrier.
“Uga?”
“Here we go!”
Sena leapt onto the surprised Cyclops’ arm. She ran up its length and, without hesitation, thrust her sword straight into the creature’s single glaring eye.
“Ei-ya!”
“GAAAAAAAH!?”
Contrary to Sena’s cheerful battle cry, the blow was devastating. The Cyclops screamed in agony as its eye burst, writhing violently on the ground. Sena floated gracefully through the air and landed neatly in the Home Garden.
“W-what incredible agility!?”
The exclamation came from a rabbit-eared girl, eyes wide with astonishment. Twin swords rested at her waist, hinting that she, too, might be a skilled swordswoman.
“WOOOOOOOAH!!”
At that moment, Atlas, who had been paralyzed from Sarassa’s lightning strike, launched a sudden counterattack along with the other giants.
“We need to get out of here, for now.”
I urged the Home Garden to move as we fled.
“Th-the field is moving!?”
Keeping a safe distance from the pursuing giants, I said, “More importantly, we need to heal that person immediately.”
“The problem is… we’re out of potions…” the blonde boy replied, frustration clear in his voice.
“Then use this.”
“! Is it really okay? Thank you!”
I handed over a Merlin-brand potion. The rabbit-eared girl gave it to the knightly-looking boy.
“He got hit squarely by the Cyclops’ kick… My whole body might be riddled with fractures. This potion alone might not be enough…”
Despite her worried words, the boy groaned and opened his eyes.
“Huh…? Wh-what happened to me…?”
“R-Roin!?”
So, his name was Roin. The potion had worked quickly, allowing him to get to his feet.
“A-are you alright?”
“Huh? Ah… yeah, I’m fine.”
“This potion works really well, doesn’t it!”
Well, it was a Merlin-brand potion.
They quickly introduced themselves.
“I’m Lala. As you can see, I’m a swordswoman.”
The rabbit-eared girl had a peculiar way of ending her sentences, and besides her striking white hair and red eyes, her ears marked her as a likely beastkin.
“I’m Roin. Thanks for saving me… wait, my spear’s gone!?”
He seemed to be a spear user, but it had flown off somewhere when the Cyclops struck him.
“I’m Bobo! I’m a thief!”
A small boy with a high-energy greeting, wearing a headband and bright, round eyes.
“I’m Lyon, a wizard. And, well, technically the leader of this party.”
The blonde boy was also a magic user, like Sarassa. But unlike her subdued style, his robe was stylish and sophisticated, making him look far less like a typical wizard. Combined with his sharp features, he could easily be mistaken for a young noble.
“I’m Shifa, spear user and party leader.”
“I’m Sena! I reluctantly play swordswoman!”
“I’m Anii, scout and archer.”
“…I’m Sarassa, a mage.”
“I’m Geo… and Lyon and the others are—”
“Just call me Lyon.”
Lyon was sixteen, Lala and Bobo seventeen, and Roin nineteen.
And remarkably, all of them were A-rank adventurers. At their ages, that was already extraordinary.
“Still, you all came down to this floor, right?” I asked.
“But only B- and C-ranks,” they said.
“Shifa, I’m still E-rank…”
“…E-rank…?”
They looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Is that true?”
“Y-yeah… I only became an adventurer a few days ago…”
“And you’re already on the ninth floor!?”
“How did you even make it down here in a few days!?”
“That’s amazing in itself!”
Their shock was intense.
“We should focus on the giants first—they’re still chasing us,” Lala pointed out.
“Y-yeah, talking leisurely while monsters pursue us… this is a first.”
We decided to deal with the group of giants first. They had been relentlessly pursuing us, showing no intention of letting us escape.
“That Atlas is probably the boss of this floor. He doesn’t stay in one place but roams constantly, and we happened to run into him,” Sarassa explained.
“And he brought his underlings. That’s what makes him dangerous.”
Atlas, even after being struck by Sarassa’s lightning, was running energetically, and six Cyclops were accompanying him—a formidable challenge even compared to previous floor bosses.
“But thanks to this garden, we can safely prepare our magic.”
“Shall we clear the Cyclops together first?”
“Yes, let’s do it.”
The blonde boy and Sarassa began chanting simultaneously. The air itself started to crackle with energy.
“Amazing magical power… as expected of A-rank adventurers.”
“No, you with the blue hair aren’t exactly weak either.”
Finally, their long incantation concluded.
“Destroy the enemy!”
At that moment, Shifa activated Empress’ Authority, amplifying the two wizards’ full-powered spell.
“Lightning!”
“Explosion!”
A storm of lightning and a barrage of explosions erupted at once. When the blinding light and deafening noise subsided, the ground was torn and cratered, and the giants lay strewn across it in heaps of lifeless bodies.
As expected from A-rank adventurers—an attack rivaling even Sarassa’s own lightning.
“…Huh?”
For some reason, Sarassa herself looked wide-eyed, as if surprised by the power she had unleashed.