In front of the group stood a massive Minotaur monster with a flaming body.
Well, it could be called a Minotaur Pro Max, considering its enormous size.
The air was as cold as snow, and a wind that felt like it ca from the North howled in their ears.
For Arthur and Alia, it felt like they had returned ho.
Alia smiled softly as she nestled against Arthur’s side. "Reminds you of ho, right?"
"Yeah. I miss my mom and sisters already."
Alia chuckled. "I can’t say the sa for mine. They visit the capital a lot."
Arthur tensed, not from the cold, but from the thought of seeing Janet again.
’She really is scary.’
A few steps ahead, Ellie and Cassie had already assud battle-ready stances.
The Minotaur was typically a D-rank monster, but enhanced versions could scale all the way up to A-rank.
However, just by looking, Arthur could imdiately discern its rank.
"A C-rank Minotaur, right?" Alia asked, her eyes subtly glowing.
Arthur nodded. "Did the spirits tell you?"
She gasped. "Sorry, it’s getting harder to control when I speak to them."
Arthur’s gaze darkened. ’Has she already gone that far? How did I not even notice?’
There were two reasons why Alia could beco the Spirit Goddess.
One was the evil route, where her jealousy and later hatred for Ha-joon would lead her to contract with an evil spirit.
And the other was sothing Arthur had never witnessed, but was often hinted at by the creators.
If Alia were to love soone more than herself, she would begin to perceive things she couldn’t before—colors that exist beyond the plane of human perception—and those colors would lead her to beco the Spirit Goddess.
But what people really wanted to know was: what was the difference between the two?
The developers had a simple answer.
The loving Alia was several tis more dangerous than the hateful one. And unlike the hateful Alia, who would lose that power after calming down, the loving version would retain it for as long as the object of her affection remained.
And seeing how she was slipping into her spirit zone without even realizing it, Arthur could tell she was already deep into the second path.
Alia smiled. "The girls can handle it, right?"
Arthur pushed the thought away. "Yeah, it doesn’t even count as a warm-up."
...
Ellie used a basic wind levitation spell to lift herself into the air and imdiately began casting multiple fire magic circles around her.
Cassie, anwhile, remained on the frozen ground. She took a asured breath and held her stance firm.
『 Bruce Sword Art Basic Form: Invisible Hand 』
Imdiately, a force repelled the charging Minotaur, pushing it backward and giving Ellie the ti she needed to cast her spell.
A barrage of Tier 7 fire spells struck the Minotaur simultaneously.
It crashed into a tree behind it, shattered through it, and continued tearing through every tree in its path, creating a trail of destruction.
Ellie and Cassie held their ground briefly, but in an instant, almost as if it had used a blink spell, the Minotaur appeared directly in front of Cassie.
Ellie’s eyes widened, but it wasn’t sothing she couldn’t handle.
She swiftly raised her wand and used an ice spell, trapping the Minotaur’s leg in the frozen ground.
Cassie imdiately stepped back. "Arthur, can sword strikes even work on this thing?"
Arthur didn’t respond. He acted like he hadn’t heard her at all.
She clicked her tongue. "Damn bastard."
The Minotaur snarled and broke free of the ice with a loud growl, then hurled two different types of fire toward both Ellie and Cassie.
They dodged imdiately, but the red flas continued chasing them.
Ellie gripped her wand and hovered a few inches off the ground, swiftly gliding toward Cassie.
Arthur’s eyes widened in disbelief as the two girls brushed palms briefly, then switched positions with uncanny timing.
The red fla targeting Cassie seed imbued with a property that rendered normal sword strikes ineffective.
Yet Cassie, now still, raised her free hand.
『 Tier 7 Spell: Fireball 』
A massive fireball, identical to Ellie’s, materialized in front of her.
The wind swirled around her, and with a flick of her hand, the fireball launched and collided with the pursuing flas, creating a massive explosion that sent gusts and shards of broken ice in every direction.
anwhile, Ellie halted as well and aid her staff at the oncoming red fla.
『 Bruce Sword Art Basic Form: Invisible Hand 』
The sa invisible weight crushed the fla, causing it to burst on impact.
In the mont the Minotaur was stunned, the two girls sprang into action.
Cassie charged first, lowering her stance and allowing the ice beneath her to glide her swiftly toward the monster, while Ellie soared into the air and descended sharply, as though preparing to crash into sothing.
『 Bruce Sword Art Fifth Form: Single Slash 』
『 Tier 6 Wind Spell: Tornado 』
A single sword strike sliced the air as a massive tornado enveloped the Minotaur.
The sword strike ricocheted along the tornado’s interior, repeatedly slashing the Minotaur’s body.
As soon as Ellie landed and Cassie eased her stance, both the spell and the strike dissipated, leaving only the disfigured corpse of the monster behind.
"That was insane..." Arthur muttered.
Ellie laughed playfully. "You got that right, husband."
He shook off his surprise and asked, "When did you two get so good at fighting together? And when did you learn to swap abilities?"
Ellie and Cassie blinked.
"This was the first ti," they said in unison.
Arthur exhaled. "You girls might be even more of a monster than I am."
Alia turned to him, eyes wide. "Please don’t compare our monstrosity to yours."
Cassie nodded, equally stunned. "Yeah. If I were as monstrous as you, the world wouldn’t survive."
"Aren’t you guys—"
Arthur’s next words were cut off by the sudden sound of water dripping onto the ground.
Not the kind that ca from a monster’s saliva.
No.
Drip... Drip...
"No way..." Cassie whispered.
Arthur looked up at the sky. "It’s raining."
─── ✦ End of Chapter ✦ ───
Reviews
All reviews (0)