Boom!
The large Pyro Slime's body suddenly swelled—
Then detonated in a violent self-destruction.
The shockwave shook the mountain walls, knocking loose a shower of rubble.
Noelle and Barbara, too close to retreat in time, hit the ground hard.
Behind them, several Geo walls that had risen in a hurry were blown apart, left mangled and broken.
"We're… finally okay," Barbara said, patting her chest as she stood up.
She hurried to help Noelle up. "Let me heal you."
Noelle's Breastplate couldn't withstand that many direct impacts. After it failed, she'd been forced to block with her claymore—or her own body.
Her stamina was nearly spent.
Where her knight's uniform had torn, bruises had already bloomed.
Fortunately, the Pyro Slimes' strongest flame attacks had been suppressed by Barbara's Hydro.
When the slimes died, ley-line energy surged into them.
Barbara took the vast majority.
She jumped from Lv.5 straight to Lv.7—one level higher than Noelle.
"Move first," Kaito said. "Get out of here."
He bent down and lifted Noelle into his arms, carrying her.
He led the group into a shadowed recess beneath the cliff.
The slime condensate that had dropped was retrieved at his instruction—Paimon zipped out and brought it back.
Diluc leaned out for a look.
Above the mountain path, an Abyss Mage with a Cryo shield floated through the air, scanning the surroundings.
It had been drawn here by the noise of the big slime's explosion.
"We have to kill it first," Diluc murmured.
If an Abyss Mage was active in Windwail Highland—
And it rallied monsters to surround them—
They might not make it out alive.
"I'll track it," Diluc said.
When the Abyss Mage flickered and vanished, Diluc followed immediately.
Guided by the residual elemental traces in the air, he tracked it in silence.
"That is…" Lumine blinked.
It was rare to see Master Diluc this cautious.
"An Abyss Mage," Kaito explained. "An enemy of humanity. They command monsters."
"If you run into one, you deal with it first. Otherwise, once it marks you, it'll start setting traps in the shadows."
As he spoke, he looked down at Noelle.
"You okay?"
"Just minor injuries," Noelle said lightly. "With Barbara here, I'll be fine."
"Then we stay here until Diluc gets back," Kaito said.
They waited.
And waited—
Until the sky was nearly dark.
Finally, Diluc returned and spoke in a low voice. "There's a camp—might've belonged to an adventuring party, or the Knights of Favonius. The Abyss Mage and a group of hilichurls have taken it over."
"Eleven hilichurls. One samachurl. And an axe-wielding mitachurl."
"Route confirmed?" Kaito asked.
"Confirmed," Diluc said. "And I cleared a little of what was blocking us along the way."
Kaito's gaze shifted to Noelle—the maid-knight had refastened her armor and looked steady again.
"Noelle. You're good?"
"I'm ready," Noelle said solemnly.
"Then we move."
Diluc had already scouted the path. Traveling at night was fine.
With his level of caution, he wouldn't lead them into anything unsafe.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken that long.
Following the marks Diluc had left during the day, they made their way up to a slope.
Diluc raised a hand—signal to get down.
They lay flat and peeked over the ridge.
Below was a shallow basin.
A thin patch of water pooled there, and a wild Mist Flower grew at the edge.
It occasionally exhaled icy mist, freezing the surface into a rough square of ice.
It was valuable.
Paimon had already locked onto it.
And floating beside the Mist Flower—
Was the Cryo Abyss Mage.
At the edge of the pool, campfire light flickered across a cluster of sleeping hilichurls—matching Diluc's description.
Lv.18.
Kaito assessed the Abyss Mage—then his eyes narrowed slightly at a different monster dozing nearby.
An axe-wielding mitachurl.
Lv.22.
Over two meters tall, it sat sleeping in front of the remains of a human camp. Two wooden-shield hilichurls stood guard beside it, half-asleep themselves.
No one dared speak.
They communicated by writing on the ground.
Kaito pointed at Lumine and Noelle, then wrote:
You two handle the Hydro hilichurl samachurl. Just interrupt its chant.
Barbara stays hidden and supports you.
Diluc and I kill the Abyss Mage, then we come help.
Mitachurls sleep deeply—won't join the fight right away. I know their habits.
Understood.
They all nodded.
Kaito and Diluc slipped down to the basin's edge—one to the left, one to the right—and charged the Abyss Mage in the center!
Their sudden assault made the Abyss Mage's eyes snap open.
It clutched a ley-line branch, its Cryo shield wobbling violently—
Nearly shattering on the spot.
With a flicker, it teleported to high ground in the distance and raised its makeshift staff—the ley-line branch.
"Gah—gah—ji!"
Its sharp cry sliced through the night.
The sleeping Hydro hilichurl samachurl and the surrounding hilichurls jolted awake.
At the same time, three ice spikes formed around the Abyss Mage—
And shot toward the two attackers.
"Searing Onslaught!"
Pyro surged around Diluc. With his flaming claymore, he cleaved the three ice spikes apart in an instant.
Shards crashed against the Cryo shield's surface.
Kaito moved with practiced ease—his blade sweeping out in a familiar technique, Raging Tide Slash.
The Swirl reaction erupted, and the Abyss Mage's Cryo shield shattered.
They'd planned this.
An Abyss Mage had no chance to react in time.
Down in the basin—
Lumine and Noelle stood back-to-back, resisting the hilichurls surging around them.
They were already at a disadvantage in strength—and badly outnumbered.
Worse still, icy arrows occasionally whistled in from the outside without warning.
A layer of frost had already formed over Noelle's hands and greatsword. Her movements slowed. Her Geo shield was gone, and she'd taken several hits.
Thankfully, the Hydro hilichurl samachurl had locked onto Barbara.
Jets of water erupted from the ground, chasing Barbara across the basin and forcing her to keep moving.
If those attacks landed on Lumine or Noelle, they'd lose their fighting ability instantly.
"Do you think they can make it back in time?" Noelle asked through clenched teeth.
She raised her greatsword to block another club strike—then took another hit on her shoulder guard, her arm going numb from the impact.
"They will," Lumine said with absolute confidence.
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