Chapter 123 - Manpower with Labor (9)

"Uwaaaah─!!"

Blobel gripped something in her fist with all her might, feeling the presence of death behind her.

The strange sensation, like fur yet seemingly about to disappear at any moment, evoked the delusion that this reality might be a dream.

Crash!!

And that convenient delusion was swept away by flying stone fragments and dust.

"F-faster, run faster, wolf!"

"Grrrr...!"

Managarmr's growl, as if telling her not to order it around, didn't restore Blobel's reason.

After all, it was a familiar, and the giant stone dragon behind was far more terrifying than being surprised by Managarmr.

"Noisy."

Should I not have saved her?

Mea slightly frowned at the constantly chattering Blobel, despite showing great consideration by lending her beloved familiar Managarmr's back.

"Caught...!"

Boom!

Just before Managarmr was finally caught in the stone dragon's jaws.

A lance flew from the other side and shattered the dragon's head.

"Lana! You're late! Why are you only coming now!"

"...It's you who taught them that troublesome alchemical formula, Bena."

Lana retorted in her usual tone, unlike when she was with Roman.

Perhaps because she was called by the nickname Bena instead of the surname Blobel.

For some reason, Blobel felt her heart ease.

In fact, she knew the reason.

Blobel trusted this person, Svetlana Gromadin, more than anyone else.

Yes. It's always been like this.

Even when others whispered behind her back, you remained constant.

Even when you failed the Master promotion exam for the second time, and rumors spread that the Blue Spear had failed to nurture a successor, you silently continued training.

Even on that day when I visited to console you, you never hesitated to lift that spear and shield as you always had.

It drove my desire to surpass you. 

I, who had always lagged behind, now wanted to be acknowledged for surpassing you.

"...Cover me."

There was no condition on how long to cover.

No guarantee of victory even if covered.

Before that, there wasn’t even a question of whether it was possible.

It was simply trust.

And Lana responded to that trust.

"As much as needed."

Clang—

The thrown lance returned to Lana's hand and nestled there.

A-rank artifact.

Echo Spear.

This was the highest-ranked among Lana's four artifacts. It had the ability to return to its owner's hand even after leaving it.

And, one more thing.

Whoosh—!!

The stone dragon's head, somehow restored, opened its jaws again and bore its obsidian-like sharp teeth.

At that moment.

Another explosion occurred.

Echo.

It wasn’t just named that because it returned to its owner's hand.

The true value of Echo Spear lied in the repetition of the impact it caused.

Like a shout echoing and repeating several times, the impact caused by Echo Spear also repeated.

Although the impact diminished with each repetition and eventually disappeared completely, the first repetition once again shattered the stone dragon's head.

Then the stone dragon changed its form.

More precisely, Gephardt, who created the stone dragon, made a slight change to the alchemical construction formula.

He initially made the dragon's head thinking it would be convenient for capturing Blobel alive.

But against Lana, there was no need for such an inefficient form.

The pile of stones, instantly incorporated into part of the alchemical formula, clumped together and combined into a form like a giant hammer or axe.

A form that seemed to materialize the concept of violence itself.

The alchemy fitting words like oppression and tyranny struck down at Lana.

Clang—!!

Dramatic physical enhancement through aura.

Amplification of the aura armor enveloping her entire body.

Materialization of aura imbued in the shield.

Earth resonance originating from her dwarf bloodline, though only 1/4.

Lana faced the downpour of violence with her maximum defense.

Brightening her aura's light, and channeling the impact through the earth firmly supporting her two feet.

Lana had experienced countless battles against enemies stronger than herself.

She had taken blows with even greater destructive power than this.

Even if her feet engraved themselves into the earth itself, she had never left footprints of her feet being lifted.

In the time she created, a wolf ran.

Not Managarmr who carried Blobel, but Solargarmr carrying Mea sprinted towards the creator of that giant stone construct as if chasing to swallow the sun.

Solargarmr and Managarmr were children of the Word, they were born in the moment when the sun and moon were obscured and the world was swallowed by shadows.

These two wolves made darkness their home and shadows their path.

Blobel's request to Lana was also conveyed to Mea.

Not only because of the elves' exceptional senses, but also because Managarmr's five senses were transmitted as information to its owner, Mea.

However, Mea ignored it.

Leave it to Blobel?

She was probably trying to interpret the alchemical formula Gephardt deployed, create an interference formula on the spot, and dismantle the alchemy.

But how long does she think that will take?

I'm busy.

The brand was still working properly, so nothing had happened to Roman yet.

“Yet.”

I trust Roman, but... just in case. Yeah.

Mea had been moving with the sole thought of resolving the situation here as quickly as possible and going to help Roman.

Blobel was... kind of like a bonus.

She'd save her since she was there, but not without thoughts of using her as bait, just to that extent.

Anyway, having confirmed that Blobel could act as bait and that Lana was protecting that bait, it was time for Mea to do her own job.

Namely, cutting off that damn alchemist's breath.

I'm close.

She had entered the range.

The range where she could cross over to Gephardt through the shadows.

Mea cast a spell.

To instantly kill Gephardt the moment she crossed over, without giving him a chance to act.

The moment Mea's killing intent took form using mana as its medium.

Flash—!!

The stones all lit up at once.

An all-encompassing light dispelling shadows cuts off Solargarmr's path.

Just as Light Emission was basic in magic, it was also fundamental in alchemy.

Originally, since the Abyss was basically dark except for the Third Floor, Explorers who couldn't handle Light Emission were less than half-baked failures.

Looking at it, he probably added an alchemical formula to change simple stones into light-emitting stones or gave them that property.

Despite having seen it only once or twice.

It seemed Gephardt had already grasped how Mea's Devil Magic worked and even noticed its weakness.

Solargarmr leaped back, avoiding Gephardt who immediately counterattacked after blocking the shadow jumping.

"As expected, the theorist is quick to understand."

Annoyingly so.

The method of approaching through shadows was now sealed off.

Gephardt probably detected Mea's attempt through mana sensing.

Or he might have configured the alchemical formula to activate automatically.

After all, it was easier for alchemy than magic to grant autonomy to change according to situations.

Though said to be weak in actual combat, the opponent once sat in one of the eight branch head seats of Golden Intellect, the pinnacle of alchemy.

His combat sense might be lacking, but his abilities were the real deal.

Mea's gaze moved away from Gephardt for the first time.

She borrowed her familiar's vision.

What was seen through Managarmr's eyes, still keeping its position next to Blobel ready for escape if necessary, was Blobel constantly muttering something with her lips moving incessantly, and the back view of Lana standing in front of Blobel, blocking Gephardt's attacks.

Lana, exerting her full power, was an unbreakable fortress, a living ballista.

She blocked with the shield Heaper in her left hand, and her lance Echo Spear in her right, delivering flashing strikes.

Despite the noisy battle filled with explosions, Blobel, absorbed in her own world, was certainly not ordinary, but anyone could see that Lana's performance was dazzling enough to entranced those who watched it.

The branch heads of Golden Intellect were evaluated as essentially equivalent to Masters.

Since she could withstand such an opponent's fierce attacks, Lana's combat power exceeded the Expert level.

But that was all.

Even Echo Spear's flashes were limited to attacks for defense rather than proper counterattacks.

Lana was at her limit just enduring.

The condition of having to protect someone.

The restriction of not being able to leave her position drew out Lana's limit.

What if I join in?

Still, the extent of change wouldn't be large.

Lana's battle was ultimately one of attrition.

Alchemy, being based on materials, had better efficiency than magic which purely relied on mana.

To end this, they would need to strike at the main body.

"I did it!"

Blobel's joyful cheer comes at just the right moment.

She immediately pulled out all sorts of materials from her clothes and threw them.

The alchemical formula connected materials and catalysts, and mana attempted to contact Gephardt's alchemical formula.

The reverse calculation of the alchemical formula was accurate.

Mea's intuition felt that Blobel had succeeded in synchronizing with Gephardt's alchemical formula.

"Collapse─!!"

If the alchemical formula was a machine, Lana was suddenly inserting a wrench into a well-functioning machine to forcibly stop its operation.

An act impossible in magic unless there was an enormous skill difference.

However, the inevitable weakness that alchemy gained in exchange for maximizing efficiency made this possible.

Rumble—!

The stone giant crumbled.

The alchemical formula that encountered an error instantly lost its power.

As the thought of success lifted Blobel's spirits to the sky, and Mea, who started running without missing the huge gap that finally appeared, was steeling herself for the killing blow.

Only Lana sensed that something was off.

It was a sense of dissonance that even Mea's intuition couldn't read.

A subtle misalignment that only Lana, who had been constantly exchanging blows, could read.

"Get back!" Lana's shout, almost a scream, covered Gephardt's low murmur.

"Rushing in like moths to a flame."

Gephardt had already prepared for this moment.

Conversely, he had allowed this to be possible.

He, too, preferred to end things decisively rather than continue a tiresome war of attrition.

What he had prepared was an explosion formula.

From now on, all those rocks that were his armor and weapons would become bombs.

However, what happened immediately after was something even Gephardt hadn't anticipated.

────!!

A massive shockwave that even sound couldn't keep up with.

The grotesque level of mana wave caused by an unfathomable amount of mana shook even the alchemy Gephardt had prepared.

Misfire.

Without the explosion, Gephardt's action was nothing more than the foolish act of throwing off his own armor.

A shadow fell over Gephardt, who had exposed his true form.

A Dark Elf standing on a wolf.

"Devour him," the Devil Sorcerer said.

The Devil obeyed that word.