Chapter 513

Chapter 520: The Rival of the Young Lady (Please Subscribe!)

Once again passing through a grand door, they arrived at the final labyrinth passage.

By this point, one could already feel a noticeable tremor.

It wasn’t naturally occurring but rather brought about by the movements of some monster…the roar of the beast still echoing in their ears.

Even without guidance, Ais and the others could now sense Bert’s presence.

As expected, the werewolf had likely already engaged with that monster.

—Unable to handle it.

Before the expression-twisted werewolf, the bull form of the fairy duplicate trampled the ground.

Steel-colored skin dominated the entire field of vision.

A massive creature caused countless stone slabs and ultra-hard metal fragments to explode and scatter everywhere, with an astonishing amount of stone and ultra-hard metal chunks continuously splashing out.

As if announcing its arrival, the thing unleashed a fierce shockwave.

Bert and the other members of the second army still lingering in this hall were all struck by the shockwave and blown away.

The werewolf barely managed to regain his footing after rolling, then looked up and imprinted the giant silhouette into his pupils.

Its appearance was like a bull magnified countless times over, with overly thick and resilient limbs, a mighty yet distorted pair of large horns, and steel-colored skin eroded by an eerie green spreading from its head to its whole body.

The oppressive figure was nearly ten meters tall, with a tail splitting into two sharp blade-like ends at its tip.

The only incongruous part was the “female” body invading the bull’s forehead area—a roughly two-meter-tall female body that seemed extremely mismatched compared to the gigantic bull frame.

The upper half of the female body, almost identical to the fairy duplicate Bert knew, wore a bone-chilling smile.

“—Roar!!”

This fairy duplicate seemed to possess only the most basic judgment capabilities. The moment it spotted the “little bugs,” it immediately thought of destroying them.

Without any explanation or warning, the monster began its attack.

Like a stimulated bull, it charged forward, the enormous curved horns on either side of its head aimed directly at Bert, with an overwhelming pressure rolling toward him.

“The hell! You guys run! Head for that exit!!”

Realizing the monster’s target was himself in an instant, Bert immediately turned back and roared at his teammates behind him.

Still not recovered from the shock of the fairy duplicate, Cruz and Kos, who were closest to the werewolf, were kicked aside by it.

Following that, the werewolf quickly leaped to the side, dodging with all his might.

The bull’s charge relied solely on pure bodily movement, yet the mass and destructive power contained within were extraordinary.

The very next second after Bert jumped aside, the rare metal wall that had been behind him was directly shattered, with expensive metal debris scattered all over the floor.

“—!?!”

“Bert-sama?!”

At this moment, resisting the residual force from the collapsing wall, Cruz and Kos finally realized what had just happened.

Instantly, both adventurers felt ashamed.

They had been intimidated by the enemy.

Despite being the main force of Loki Familia’s second army and elite adventurers of the second rank, they were cowed by the mere presence of that monster.

If Bert hadn’t remembered to rescue them at the critical moment, they would probably be hanging pitifully under the monster’s hooves right now.

“Don’t get in the way, you weaklings! Quickly leave through the nearby exit!!”

The werewolf growled fiercely, simultaneously leaping up to launch an attack on the fairy duplicate that had just stopped its charge.

In front of such an absolute level difference, lower-level beings were nothing more than cannon fodder.

Although his teammates were almost useless against this kind of monster,

Bert didn’t want to see them ignorantly rushing in to die.

So for the time being, his words were as harsh as they could possibly be.

Bert displayed an attitude that he wouldn’t stop until these people were driven away.

Watching the werewolf launch ineffective attacks against the massive creature, Cruz and the others were speechless.

After a while, someone tapped the young兽man’s shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

It was the human girl Navi.

“Let’s retreat first…! We’re only holding Bert-sama back here. He might even have to divide his attention during the fight to take care of us…”

Being well-acquainted companions, the girl automatically filtered out the dirty words that slipped out of Bert’s mouth, translating them into simple, understandable language.

Simultaneously, she sorrowfully offered her suggestion.

“…I understand… Everyone, retreat!”

Under duress, Cruz temporarily took on the role of commander and issued orders.

But at that exact moment,

An Orichalcum gate, which had been tightly closed, suddenly revealed a corner of the space behind it with a clicking sound.

“That’s…an enemy!?”

“No, it seems to be Miss Ais?”

“It’s reinforcements!!!”

Cruz and the others, who had originally planned to withdraw via another labyrinth route, decisively moved closer upon seeing their comrades appear from behind the gate.

“Haruhi, prepare your magic. Grandpa will go save someone soon, I and Ais will focus on the main offense, Tiona and Tione, you two just need to keep it distracted.”

Taking advantage of the few seconds the gate was open, Izay quickly distributed tactics.

Having been with Loki Familia for so long, he had learned quite a bit from Finn.

By the time the group rushed into the hall where the fairy duplicate was located, what met their eyes was Bert skillfully maneuvering around it and Cruz and the others somewhat lost at the edge of the battlefield.

Currently, all the members of Loki Familia who had invaded the labyrinth had gathered in this hall.

Though it was a reunion of long-lost comrades, most of them couldn’t exactly feel happy.

After all, there stood before them a monstrous creature radiating unparalleled oppression and formidable power.

Who could feel cheerful in this situation?

“This enhanced version…” Gress adjusted his helmet position while muttering.

Clearly, the opponent had heavily reinforced its strength and durability attributes…a simple physical collision carried the power of a finishing move.

Bert was having a tough time dealing with it alone.

Agile warriors like the werewolf feared nothing more than opponents with thick hides.

He couldn’t defeat the Lv.7 top-tier fairy duplicate alone, but managing to hold it off was no small feat.

After briefly welcoming Cruz and the others back, there was nothing left for them to do.

“Ais, let’s go!”

Izay flipped the spear Yet-ya and, without another word, hurled it at the fairy duplicate like a meteor.

The attack flashed past in an instant, deeply gouging a hole in the bull’s torso. The horrifyingly hard copper-scaled iron hide was pierced clean through in one strike!

“[Tempest!]”

A luminous green wind arose out of nowhere, swirling around the girl’s sword blade.

In an instant, the fairy duplicate stopped chasing the werewolf.

Like a shark sensing blood, the female form on the bull’s forehead instantly turned its direction toward Ais.

“Aelia…? Aelia! Aelia!!!”

I am not Aelia, don’t call me that name!

Ais clenched her pink lips and responded inwardly.

To Ais, these fallen fairy duplicates were nothing short of archenemies.

The little girl seeking to reclaim her (mother) and the kin intending to devour her (mother) had come face-to-face.

Between the two, there existed no third possibility beyond mutual annihilation.

With complex emotions in her heart, Ais swung her sword at the enemy.