Chapter 249

Chapter 252: Can Space Magic Really Be This Reckless? (Please Subscribe!)

At the same moment, after Izay healed Raul, the group of nine reunited and wasted no time on communication, immediately retreating along the original route.

To be precise, it was Finn and Gress who were urgently leading the retreat, while Ais and the others, still somewhat confused about the current situation, dazedly followed along.

Izay’s arrows had eliminated a wave of new monsters, but more were gathering and rushing towards them from behind.

They seemed to be particularly sensitive to the presence of magic, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to advance over the bodies of their fallen comrades.

“Leader, what exactly happened here?”

Tiona, wielding her Great Double Blade alongside Bert as they cleared a path by slaying monsters at the front, took the opportunity to ask Finn about the situation while Tione listened in.

Ais, equally puzzled, subtly perked up her ears to listen.

However, Finn shook his head and replied while retreating, “I don’t know. We were suddenly attacked.”

Their encounter was similar to Izay’s group.

Upon reaching Cadmus’ Fountain and defeating the mighty dragon, they were preparing to retreat when they encountered a group of those monsters. They initially attempted to engage in battle, but their weapons were corroded by poison.

Even the top-tier armed equipment of Orario’s first-class adventurers couldn’t withstand that corrosive liquid and were easily dissolved.

With no other choice, Finn’s group had to flee.

This was also why, apart from a small backpack containing Spiritual Medicine and spring water, all four of them were empty-handed.

“Eh!? These monsters can dissolve weapons!?” Tione couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

Though both sides had similar encounters, the situations were completely different.

With Izay and Refia providing powerful ranged attacks, Tione’s group had an exceptionally smooth journey.

She, her sister, and Ais didn’t even get the chance to participate in the fighting.

Somewhat aware of this, Finn couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly, “We only learned this lesson after making mistakes. All our weapons except for Bert’s metal boots were dissolved.”

Just then, a shout came from the front.

“Hey! Wait! Stupid Amazon! Come back!!”

“Uraaaah—!”

Ignoring Bert’s warning, Tiona at the front chose to confront the colorful enemy ahead.

Then, under the astonished, helpless, and speechless gazes of Finn and the others…

Tiona charged straight in.

Effortlessly, she dodged the monster’s poison attack and cleaved it in two with her Great Double Blade.

But after defeating the enemy, she suddenly doubted her own eyes.

Because the blade of Ulga, which had pierced through the monster’s body, had vanished on one side.

No, the entire Great Double Blade was beginning to dissolve!

The blade was being eroded by some kind of fluid inside the enemy’s body, emitting green smoke and leaving not a trace behind.

“—Ah! My Ulga!!”

Izay was continuously casting magic from the rear to delay the monsters’ pursuit. Upon hearing this cry of anguish, he momentarily froze.

“A… this…!?”

“That brat Tiona must have dissolved her weapon! She never learns until she makes a mistake, and sometimes she doesn’t learn even after making one.”

Alongside Izay at the rear, Gress effortlessly guessed the truth.

Well, it seems Ulga couldn’t escape its tragic fate either.

“How did I not know it could attack like that!? Why didn’t you tell me beforehand—!”

“I tried to stop you, stupid Amazon!”

Tiona, now weaponless, cried as she rejoined the retreating group, with Bert beside her showing no mercy in his scolding.

“But I saw Izay and Refia killing them so easily!”

“The attack itself is effective, but each strike costs a weapon, just like Tiona did earlier. It’s too uneconomical.”

“These monsters seem to particularly fear magic or, rather, ranged attacks. For us melee adventurers, they are our nemesis.”

In response to Tiona’s words, Finn calmly provided an analysis.

Simply put, if they wanted to fight these unseen colorful monsters, they would need Izay and Refia to launch magical bombardments.

Next, they must base their strategy around the two Magicians within the group.

When he finished speaking, Ais immediately chimed in.

“Finn! There are enemies coming from the left!”

A massive yellow-green body approached from the left.

Their current position was at a crossroads in a labyrinth, and now enemies had appeared on three sides.

“Let’s rush towards the tunnel on the right! There’s a cavern ahead; though it’s a dead end, there’s no better place to fight than there.” Finn quickly gave instructions.

Compared to battling these enemies capable of releasing and spraying highly toxic solutions in narrow tunnels, the spacious cavern offered a better option.

“Starfall!!”

Boom—!

“How are you holding up, Izay?”

Seeing Izay continuously casting spells from the rear, Finn asked with some concern.

We’ll be relying on his area-of-effect destruction magic next, so he can’t have any issues at this critical moment.

“Don’t worry, Leader. I’ve reserved more than half of my mana; it’s enough!”

While sucking on a high-grade Mental Recovery Potion, Izay gave a reassuring reply that put everyone at ease.

Despite continuous battles and consuming mana along the way to fight the enemies, his mana reserves remained above the safety line.

His mana attributes, which reached their limit and transcended every time, combined with skill bonuses doubling the effect, were truly immense!

“What about Refia?”

“Eh? M-me? I can cast two more spells.”

“That’s plenty!”

Refia’s mentioned two spells referred to the amount of mana consumed by wide-area attack magic. Finn judged that this much mana should be sufficient to handle the current situation.

“Hey, Refia, do you have any spare weapons? Give me one!”

“Yes… but I only have longswords or daggers, nothing heavy.”

Refia’s petite frame couldn’t carry the heavy weapons Gress required.

“No problem, anything will do.”

Upon entering this cavern, the nine people began adjusting their positions rapidly.

Finn’s second group had their backup gear and supporter Raul’s supplies dissolved, losing all their weapons. So they retrieved spare swords and daggers from the backpack Refia carried and equipped them.

As for the first group, only Ulga had been sacrificed so far.

“Here, Raul, I’ve got something good for you.”

“What… a Magic Sword—!?”

Raul, who had intended to go collect a weapon, was called by Izay. Just as he started to feel curious, he saw Izay pull out two red and blue Great Swords from his personal bag!

The scene of pulling out two Great Swords exceeding a foot in length from a small personal bag was simply incredible!

Can Space Magic really be this reckless?!

If Izay knew what Raul was thinking, he would definitely pat him on the shoulder and nod.

Yes, Space Magic can indeed be this reckless!

“You actually have Magic Swords, Izay! I want one too!”

“Why don’t you ask Raul? I just randomly brought two with me; I don’t have more.”

Facing the approaching Tiona, Izay waved his hand dismissively.

Actually, Magic Swords were generally used by supporters to cover for their teammates upfront, hence why Izay gave one to Raul.

But since Tiona wanted one, he might as well give her one, since there were two.

At this moment, Finn licked the tip of his right thumb.

“My finger is starting to hurt… They’re probably coming.”

The Halfling Tribe Leader muttered meaningfully to himself.

As if responding to his words.

In this space where only the cries of monsters from the entrance behind them could be heard, another sound suddenly rang out.

“—!”