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Chapter 32

The Result Of My Growth and The Power Of Comradeship I Felt In The Battle Against The Floor Boss

 

In front of the giant door, I touched the armor underneath my——Black Kite Bird-colored, was it?——robe I’m always wearing.

 

「Oh, right, Russell.」

 

「What’s up?」

 

Sybilla turned her jacket inside out, revealing a dark lining on it. That was a part that got stained with the blood from the Goblins’ ears, I think.

And then I don’t know why, but Sybilla cut her jacket a little with her sword.

 

「Try using your Cure magic.」

 

「Alright, 《Cure Link》」

 

When I used my magic, the blood stains on her clothes that were visible after Sybilla turned her jacket inside out were completely gone.

 

「Next, try using Heal.」

 

「You got it, 《Extra Heal Link》」

 

「…It’s just like you to choose using that one without hesitation…」

 

When I looked at the effects of the magic while listening to Sybilla’s exasperated muttering, I saw that the part of her jacket that had been cut off was now gone.

 

I see, I’ve learned that my Cure magic also contains Clean magic, and now she’s trying to teach me that Heal didn’t help with stains, but you can restore fabrics with it, huh.

 

「I just can’t wrap my mind around how your magic works, but it’s certainly amazing」

 

「….Oi, are you for real? Did you just make me use them without knowing that it would work?」

 

「Uhm, yeah?」

 

When Sybilla tilted her head to the side looking at me as if I was the weird one, I was once again impressed by how amazing this girl is.

 

But now I’m certain. This magic will definitely work on damaged robes, as well as chips and dents in armor. Well, it would be meaningless to recover your arm for example, while the armor is still crushed as it will hurt every time it’s trying to return to normal, so I guess that makes sense.

 

……Ahh, she has a point there. I don’t really want to imagine a missing arm in the process of recovering inside the dented armor that crushed the arm in the first place.

 

「And one more thing.」

 

「What is it?」

 

From here, Sybilla gave me a few things to remember and instructions for after the subjugation.

I didn’t really understand the contents of her instructions, but… since it was instructions from Sybilla, it must have some meaning.

After putting these instructions in the back of my head, I put the wind barrier back on and opened the giant door.

 

——What lies beyond the giant door is a wide open space.

One of the distinctive features inside is a long staircase.

 

Sybilla and I nodded to each other and descended those stairs one by one.

This very long wide staircase that I had only heard about from Jannet’s book, apparently also appeared in the King’s audience room. And there are about thirty steps, I think?

 

After going down all those stairs, I look behind me.

 

——on the giant door that’s left open, there is now a thin film of magic.

 

「《Enchant Darkness》」

(《Enchant Darkness》)

 

With a sense of foreboding, I readied my sword and looked again at the center of the room.

 

Before I knew it, a golden armor was standing there, even though there hadn’t even been a shadow there until a moment ago.

There was no doubt about it. It’s the Living Armor Boss.

Turns out it was as Sybilla suspected, it’s almost impossible the boss that appeared is significantly different from the other monsters on the same floor.

…….For an undead, it’s wearing very flashy and shiny armor which really contrasts with their race.

 

I followed the sound out of the corner of my eye and saw that Sybilla was already running up the stairs. She’s very quick in her judgment as always.

I quickly followed her and fired my first spell at the Floor Boss.

 

「《Dark Sphere》!」

 

I shoot a slightly larger magic ball using my double chant.

At first glance, the appearance didn’t change that much, but as Sybilla taught me, it has twice the volume. If this magic hit directly, it would surely do a lot of damage.

And as I watched, my offensive magic hit the enemy directly——isn’t what happened.

 

「…….Ha?」

 

Just when I thought Living Armor lowered its back, it took a high-speed side step.

And before I knew it, it was holding a long, thin, and fine-looking sword in its hand.

After swinging the sword a few times, he readied his sword while looking at me.

 

This guy… it’s strong.

And I don’t mean just its strength, either.

It’s probably a completely different monster from the small fry Living Armor we’ve seen so far.

This guy is not as simple as the Floor Boss version of Living Armor. We need to change our perception of it and start seeing it as a skilled swordsman in golden armor.

 

Our opponent lowered its waist as it readied its sword.

——It’s coming!

 

「….!?」

 

I felt the impact in my arms my mithril-coated dragon-fang sword which I held with both hands, screams.

No, it’s not my sword that’s screaming.

 

「——」

 

When the Floor Boss saw that his own pale, shining sword was a little chipped, it decided to take a distance about ten paces away in a single backstep.

After he backs away, he takes one side step, moves sideways for five steps, and then takes another side step to return to his original position.

I can’t read his expression at all, but I feel like it’s watching what we’re going to do next.

 

Still, this guy managed to significantly change my impression of the undead on a fundamental level.

I never thought that an undead with the speed of Cavalry Living Armor but with the footwork of a human would be so troublesome.

 

However…

 

「Looks like your sword also has a mithril coating on it, but it seems mine which is also enchanted with Dark Magic on top of that is superior.」

 

「——!」

 

Perhaps it had pride in its own sword, as the red light inside its helmet seemed to shine brightly.

At the same time, the Floor Boss came running toward me looking as if it was going to slash me in the throat.

 

This kind of attack… I’ve blocked it so many times in the mock match with Vince and Emmy.

I stared at my opponent’s hand in the direction of the impact——and lost him.

 

「……Ha?」

 

I instantly realized that the enemy had pulled a feint on me.

But against this Floor Boss who attacks extremely fast, that instant split second can be fatal.

Then, just right after I hurriedly readied my sword with both hands….!

 

「——《Stone Wall》!」

 

A sudden roar echoes from right behind me, and a golden afterimage passes over my head from behind.

 

The Floor Boss made a high-pitched sound as it landed with both feet and one hand on the wall, then it kicked the wall and jumped back to the ground.

 

「Don’t just stand there! It went behind you with an extremely fast side step, and almost got you before retreating with back step!」

 

When I looked behind me, there was a square wall with a purple rocky surface. It’s definitely the remains of Stone Wall magic.

I see… so Sybilla went upstairs to get a full view of the area and managed to hit the Floor Boss just in time as I was about to be attacked from behind.

What precise control and timing……! As I thought, she’s really reliable at times like this.

 

「Sorry, you saved me there!」

 

I said my thanks to Sybilla and held up my sword.

 

——Hm?

 

I felt something was off for a moment, but I decided to focus on the Floor Boss in front of me as I quickly noticed it made its movement.

 

But how should I deal with it?

As I was contemplating what to do, Sibylla came down the stairs.

I hurriedly went to meet up with her at the remains of the Stone Wall where she was headed. 

 

「Hey, it’s dangerous!」

 

「You and I are both magicians, so the same goes for you, right?! More importantly, lend that to me!」

 

Sybilla fixed her shield on her forearm and forcibly took my sword from me and held it with both hands.

It looks as if she’s going to be the one fighting the Floor Boss with a sword in my stead.

 

「Are you going to be alright? That guy is strong, you know?」

 

「Russell.」

 

「What?!」

 

Sybilla then replied without looking back in a calm tone in contrast to my panicked voice.

 

「When it comes to fast enemies… have you forgotten about it?」

 

——!!

 

Blood was rushing to my head as I was completely at the mercy of my opponent’s strength.

That’s right, I had forgotten.

An opponent with outstanding speed would most certainly not have outstanding durability as well.

I had learned this from Sybilla beforehand.

 

I decided to trust Sybilla’s swordsmanship and Stonewalls for my defense.

Ah…… so this is what having a partner you can trust in a party feels like.

Even during a battle against a Floor Boss, she can be a calm and skilled senpai.

It’s really reassuring.

 

I opened my arms to the left and right.

And then, after taking a breath… I shoot that magic.

 

「《Dark Sphere》《Dark Sphere》…….」

(…….《Dark Sphere》《Dark Sphere》)

 

The magic I shot alternately hit nothing and fell to the ground before exploding.

At first glance, it looks like I’m just meaninglessly shooting at the ground.

 

However… the blast from the magic no longer leaves any gaps to move around.

 

It seemed that it had finally grasped our intentions as the wall created by the blast gradually limited the space around the Floor Boss.

Then, just as the Floor Boss readied its sword in a straight line toward Sybilla break out of this situation——!

 

「《Flare Sword》!」

 

——Sybilla’s powerful close-range magic tore through its armor.

 

「It’s only right to save your trump card until the best moment to use it, don’t you think? You’ve already lost when you thought I only specialize in earth magic. 」

 

And the Floor Boss whose leg, which was its greatest weapon, was now injured by her magic, could no longer dodge my Dark Magic and received a direct hit from my attacks.

Just after getting hit a few times, the armor had already stopped moving.

 

Then a voice resounded inside my head.

 

「We did it!」

 

「Yeah, you’ve saved me. You were really reliable back then.」

 

「Looks like for once Russell-chan has fallen head over heels for Sybilla Onee-chan, hu——Ouchie!」

 

「Don’t get carried away. ……Good grief, if it’s not for your silly comments and antics……」

 

I won’t allow anyone other than Frederica to call me that. All the more so for Sybilla.

Lately, this scene with me giving her chops to the head after she got a bit carried away, and I just stared at her crouching on the ground in pain while holding her head is getting too familiar that I even start to wonder if she’s saying that kind of thing because she wanted me to hit her.

 

While I was thinking about such a thing…… Sybilla suddenly stood up and looked at me.

She closed in on my face with a serious look.

……What is she doing so suddenly?

 

Then just as she got closer to my ear to the point she almost kissed it——she whispered in a low voice.

 

「Russell, let’s go with our second plan.」

 

After I processed what she said to me in my head, I took a big, deep breath and sat down.

And after wiping my forehead with my sleeve, I look up the stairs.

 

There was a wall of magic covering the door on top of those stairs.

 

「So this is where you were.」

 

I turn my head to the other side of the door.

 

There, standing beside the remains of the Floor Boss, is the same Demon Lord I had seen that day.