After some negotiation, the girl Lulune, caught by Ais, took a sphere from her bag and handed it to Ais.
"What is this?"
Looking at the jewel in their hands, both Ais and Lefiya showed expressions of surprise. It was a green jewel, encased in a translucent membrane. Inside the jewel were liquid and an unsettling fetus. The fetus, with large eyes disproportionate to its small, curled-up body, stared at Ais and Lefiya. It had long hair, as if to declare its gender, the hair curving from its head and extending down its spine. The mysterious infant remained motionless, but its heart was beating rhythmically.
Looking at the jewel in her hand, Ais's pupils constricted. A strange sensation surged within her. As if their heartbeats were synchronizing, Ais felt her own heart racing. As her eyes met the fetus's, she felt her blood boiling.
"What is this?"
A surging tinnitus echoed deep in her eardrums, and a sensation like earthworms wriggling beneath her skin spread throughout her body. Ais felt nauseous. At the same time, dizziness overtook her, and she could no longer resist the feeling, falling to her knees.
"Ais!"
Seeing Ais's distress, Lefiya quickly snatched the jewel from her hand and put distance between herself and Ais. Just then, a clear flute sound suddenly rang out, followed by the sound of wind and explosions. Lefiya didn't understand the first sound, but she knew the second sound clearly. It was Shirou's attack.
"Brother!"
Ais, roused by the sound of the attack, instantly drew her sword and took a defensive stance. Although she hadn't seen the enemy yet, she believed Shirou wouldn't attack without reason. At that moment, with a series of ground-shattering sounds, several Man-eating Flowers, which had previously attacked Ais and her group on the surface, appeared before them.
"Lefiya, you go first, and take the item to the Captain."
Hearing Ais's words, Lefiya paused, then ran backward. She was just a burden now; because of the jewel, Ais couldn't even get close to protect her, to avoid being interfered with again. Moreover, these monsters would react to magic, and half-baked chanting would only hinder Ais. What was more important now was the jewel.
On the other side, after attacking the culprit who was about to play the flute, Shirou moved to a higher position to observe. Close-quarters combat was impossible; he could only use ranged attacks to stall the enemy. After all, the level difference was truly terrifying. One must remember that the opponent was a LV.6 adventurer, not a LV.6 monster. The biggest difference between adventurers and monsters was martial arts; adventurers with martial arts could easily overpower monsters of the same level. (Excluding super-large Floor Bosses.) In short, fighting adventurers and fighting monsters were two different experiences. Although overall Shirou was more skilled in anti-personnel combat, the stat difference between them was too great.
If the two of them fought in close quarters, it would be like Hundred-Faced Hassan directly facing a Saber or Archer Heracles. How could he win? So, even if he was good at close combat, he wouldn't be foolish enough to go head-to-head. After all, he understood the simple principle that one strong move can overpower ten clever ones.
"I wonder if my attack was effective."
Looking at the burning flames and rising smoke in the distance, Shirou focused intently on the opponent's movements. He knew that the woman opposite could block Lefiya's enhanced Arc Ray with her bare hand. She was practically a monster. No, she was a monster.
Suddenly, the distant flute sound rang out again. Understanding that the opponent hadn't sustained much damage, Shirou again projected numerous Noble Phantasms, transforming them into arrows for continuous firing.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Explosions continuously erupted, flames grew fiercer, and smoke became thicker. But it was still too late. Looking at the Man-eating Flowers in front of Ais, and the continuous emergence of Man-eating Flowers from the lake beneath the island, Shirou couldn't help but sigh softly.
"Found you!"
Hearing the sudden voice, Shirou instantly retreated backward, and then a beam of light struck, hitting the spot where Shirou had just stood. At the same time, the thick smoke began to dissipate.
Shirou kept an eye on the interior of the smoke while glancing at the object that had just attacked him. It was a gauntlet.
"Throwing your own armor to attack? What a reckless attack."
"It's merely attire to conceal one's identity. What does it matter if it's discarded?"
As the smoke cleared, a figure appeared in Shirou's line of sight. The woman, armored and hiding her identity, now had tattered armor on her body. Attacked by the sudden arrows, even she couldn't completely dodge. But the armor, which had been restricting her, had blocked most of the attacks.
Nocking another arrow, aiming at the enemy, Shirou said seriously, "You're the culprit who killed Hashana, aren't you!"
With that, the arrow in his hand shot out. Waving the greatsword in her hand, the woman deflected Shirou's arrow and said in her clear voice, "You don't seem to be giving me a chance to explain."
"You've already summoned monsters; what more explanation do you need!"
"True!"
The woman, knowing she was about to face a battle, crushed and shed her armor one by one. Then, she revealed her ample chest and fair skin. As expected of the woman who made Hashana book the entire Billi's Inn just to be intimate with her. The female culprit, now unburdened, wielded her greatsword, squinting at Shirou's distant figure. Shirou was simply too far away from her. The opponent had ranged attacks, but she didn't!
"Should I try?" the woman muttered to herself, looking at the sword in her hand. Then she suddenly threw her greatsword like a javelin toward Shirou's position, and at the same time, she charged toward him.
"Feint and surprise attack?"
Dodging the woman's attack, Shirou immediately projected weapons to attack the woman rushing toward him at high speed. At the same time, he constantly moved his position, maintaining the distance between them. This woman's full speed was truly terrifying; she was too fast. It was only due to Shirou's numerous projected weapons blocking her that she couldn't run at full speed. Otherwise, even though the distance between them was far, at LV.6 speed, she could probably cross that distance in just three seconds.
Seeing that she couldn't run at full speed to close in on Shirou, the female culprit stopped her pursuit and went to where her sword was, picking up her weapon again. After all, for adventurers, having a weapon and not having one means two different combat capabilities. Just like Tiona, Tione, and Ais, they almost instantly killed Man-eating Flowers when they had weapons, but without weapons, they would fall into a long struggle.
Looking at Shirou, who was far away, the female culprit's brow furrowed. This enemy was truly troublesome. Just as the two faced each other, two girls were running frantically through the passage below them. Seeing this, Shirou's pupils constricted.
"Damn it, Lefiya is in danger!"
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter