"Revis, we have intruders!" In the eerie, vast cavern deep within the food storage, a white-haired man in a mask reported the situation to the red-haired woman before him. Hearing the masked man's words, Revis slowly opened her eyes.
"Are they monsters?"
"No, they're adventurers!"
"So they've co?" Revis's eyes narrowed slightly.
Listening to their conversation, the group of black-robed figures around them beca flustered.
"The opposing team is a dium-sized unit, all high-level adventurers."
"Is that so?" Revis, intrigued, looked up at the white magical mbrane on the flesh wall beside her. Inside that mbrane, the battle between the adventurer party and the man-eating plants was reflected. Among them, the most noticeable figure was a golden-haired girl wreaking havoc among the plants.
"It's Aria!"
"What?" The masked man's face showed doubt. "You say the Sword Princess is Aria? I can't believe it!"
"There's no mistake!" Revis's voice was filled with conviction, her trust in her judgnt unwavering.
"I'll go personally. You separate Aria from the others."
"Especially him!" Revis paused briefly, then pointed at a red-haired young man in the reflection. "Get rid of him." Her voice grew serious. Revis vividly rembered the pain Shirou had inflicted on her in their previous encounter. If she hadn't had regenerative abilities as a monster, she might have perished from that strike. Even though she survived, it had taken her a long ti to recover.
But now wasn't the ti for revenge. She needed to complete her mission first and bring Aria back. As for her grievances with the man, there would be plenty of ti to settle them later.
---
Shirou's Fight
"Hey, hey, hey, your opponents are over here!" Facing the monsters that suddenly descended from the ceiling, Shirou imdiately gripped his greatsword and entered combat. Against such large monsters, a greatsword was indeed more comfortable to use. However, there were simply too many monsters, and their strength was not weak. Even Shirou couldn't take them out as easily as he did with others on the 24th floor, unless he targeted their magic stones with arrows.
"Now is not the ti for training; protecting teammates is more important." Shirou decided, then projected his bow and arrows, beginning a shooting display. In this crowded space, Shirou constantly moved and shifted while continuously firing arrows. He had fought these man-eating plants many tis before and knew their weaknesses like the back of his hand. The magic stones of these monsters were located in their mouths, so Shirou aid at them. One after another, arrows enveloped in crimson magic flew like bullets from a sniper rifle, piercing through the man-eating plants with whistling sounds.
As Shirou relentlessly fired, the man-eating plants continued to fall. This allowed him to stop constantly moving and stand his ground, unleashing attacks. For a mont, the narrow passage was filled with the sound of arrows cutting through the air, the sight of their trails, and the wails of the monsters.
When the final arrow pinned the last man-eating plant to the wall, Shirou paused to catch his breath. It had been a long ti since he'd shot so comfortably. As Shirou's power steadily increased, the strength of his arrows also rose. Coupled with the magic amplification, each shot now equaled a full-power attack from a LV.5 adventurer. Moreover, with the inherent advantage of bows over close combat weapons, even Tiona, Tione, and Bete couldn't defeat Shirou if he kept his distance. In fact, they might even lose to him, as he had plenty of ways to maintain that distance.
"That's incredible, Magic Sword Archer! Your archery is too strong!" The adventurers of the Hers Familia continuously praised Shirou, impressed by his single-handed suppression of the swarm of man-eating plants.
"It's nothing, these are just basic maneuvers!" Shirou responded nonchalantly, hiding his reddened fingers behind his back.
---
Onward Journey
After a series of skirmishes, the group saw that no one had sustained serious injuries. After a brief reorganization, they continued on their journey. Along the way, Asfi, walking at the center of the group, asked Shirou, "Magic Sword Archer, could you give us a detailed explanation about these new species of monsters?" Asfi knew that since they had encountered new species here, their presence would likely continue on the path ahead. Understanding them as much as possible was crucial.
"New species?" Shirou paused for a mont, recalling what he had observed. Then, he began to explain, "These new species are Enhanced Species. They strengthen themselves by devouring the magic stones of other monsters."
"Unlike other Enhanced Species, which devour the magic stones of their own kind, these ones devour the magic stones of different species. This ans their strengths are inconsistent; I'm sure you've noticed that." Asfi nodded slightly, having noticed the irregularity but not understanding the cause.
"That's their unique characteristic. Individually, their outer shells are extrely hard—even a LV.5 adventurer cannot inflict significant damage on them with bare hands."
"Additionally, they react to magic and will prioritize attacking enemies who use it."
"Also, they seem to attack monsters first, possibly because humans don't have magic stones. Overall, that's about all I know."
"I see, so they're quite troubleso?" After listening to Shirou's explanation, Asfi frowned. "So, if we want to effectively kill them, we need to aim for their magic stones?"
"Their magic stones are in their mouths, Asfi!" Lulune quickly interjected, confirming the crucial detail.
"The information ca just in ti, Lulune!" Asfi acknowledged with a smile.
"Hehe!" Lulune grinned.
---
The Final Ambush
As Asfi continued to strategize, the group reached another fork in the path.
"Another fork!" Lulune remarked.
"Asfi, which way should we go next?" she asked.
Suddenly, nurous man-eating plants surged from both diverging paths.
"They're coming from both sides?"
"Watch out, they're coming from behind too!"
The group imdiately tensed up.
"Sword Princess, could you take responsibility for one path?" Asfi calmly instructed.
"I understand!" Aria responded, ready for action.
"In that case, I'll take one path too!" Shirou volunteered.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Magic Sword Archer!" Asfi nodded.
Unlike the earlier ambush, where the monsters descended too suddenly from the ceiling, now, with the terrain more controlled, the Hers Familia would have the upper hand. And in this situation, Shirou could finally indulge in his favorite type of combat: close-quarters.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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