Chapter 211
"Try something else?"
Everyone watching through the Divine Mirrors nearly fainted.
Was he serious?
Having even one ability that allowed a Level 4 to contend with a Level 7 was already enough to overturn everything they understood about adventurers.
He had more?
And judging by the way he was stretching his legs and twisting his waist, he intended to fight Ottar at close range.
He was clearly a mage—yet he wanted to challenge the strongest warrior in Orario to hand-to-hand combat.
Had he completely lost his mind?
"H-He’s bluffing, right?"
A round-faced adventurer forced out an ugly laugh and looked around, desperately seeking agreement.
"He has to be bluffing."
No one answered.
After everything Kiriya had already done, his words carried far too much weight.
Even the idea of fighting the King in close combat no longer sounded entirely impossible.
...
"So he was capable of this much."
Far from Kiriya and Ottar’s battlefield, the four Gulliver brothers watched the devastation with grim expressions.
They had expected their Familia’s first-class adventurers to eliminate Kiriya quickly, perhaps after a brief struggle.
Instead, it was their own elites who had fallen one after another.
"We underestimated him."
"For a Level 4 to possess so many different abilities is astonishing."
"But now he intends to fight the captain in close combat?"
"Has victory gone to his head? Does he truly believe his ability values can compare with Captain Ottar’s?"
"He’s an arrogant fool—just like this elf, who clearly doesn’t understand her place."
The brothers exchanged comments, most of them openly mocking, before turning their attention back to the blond elf with the single ponytail.
Ryu was not in good condition.
Her stamina had fallen considerably, and several bloody wounds covered her body, each one bearing witness to how fierce the earlier battle had been.
Even so, she appeared unconcerned.
Her gaze was also fixed on Kiriya, and she gave a faint pout.
"He’s already that strong..." She muttered beneath her breath.
"Now I look like an overconfident fool for coming to help."
"Miss Ryu, you can handle those four little runts, can’t you?"
Kiriya’s shadow clone spoke beside her.
Ryu paused, then gave him an affirmative gesture.
Despite her injuries, her expression remained composed.
Kiriya was displaying overwhelming strength on his battlefield.
She could not afford to embarrass herself on hers.
They had to win.
The clone smiled before disappearing with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He needed somewhere quiet to prepare for what came next.
"Hmph. Still pretending everything is under control when you’re already at death’s door."
Ryu’s confidence only infuriated the four brothers further.
They decided to end the fight immediately.
"Everyone... lend me your strength."
Ryu whispered the words and raised her sword before her chest.
Then she began to chant.
"When duty is fulfilled, the scales shall return to balance."
"Fortress of order—"
"She’s casting magic!"
"Stop her!"
The brothers recognized the danger immediately and attacked from four directions.
Sword, spear, hammer, and axe descended upon Ryu from different angles.
If those attacks landed, the elf would be crushed instantly.
But then—
CLANG!
A circular blue barrier appeared around Ryu.
It looked as thin and fragile as a veil, yet it stopped the combined attacks of four Level 5 adventurers without yielding.
"What?"
The Gulliver brothers froze.
She became invincible while chanting?
What kind of absurd magic worked like that?
Could a spell that unreasonable truly exist?
Their brief hesitation gave Ryu the opening she needed.
Her chant accelerated.
"Crown of purity, flame that drives away evil."
"In the name of the goddess, streak across the heavens and leave trails of radiant stars upon the earth."
"Let justice flow without end!"
Anger flashed across the brothers’ faces.
Each drew out his full strength and struck the blue barrier again.
Crack! Crack!
The shield shattered beneath their combined power.
But they were too late.
Ryu’s chant was complete!
"Agaris Alvesynth!"
Just before the four weapons could strike her body, flames erupted around Ryu and began spinning at tremendous speed.
A blazing tornado forced the brothers backward.
"Fire magic?"
"Did Gale possess a spell like this?"
The four stared in surprise.
The pillar of fire reaching toward the sky rapidly contracted, gathering around Ryu’s sword until the entire weapon burned with fierce light.
"A fire enchantment..."
Recognition dawned in their eyes.
They knew this magic.
It had once been the signature spell of Alise Lovell, captain of the Astrea Familia.
"How can she use Alise’s magic?"
The audience erupted into confusion, especially the gods, who immediately began speculating about the cause.
Only Ryu knew the truth.
Kiriya’s words had allowed her to reclaim her faith in justice and resolve to carry on the will of the companions she had lost.
That conviction had been so powerful that it resonated with her Falna when Astrea raised her to Level 5, awakening a new Skill—Astrea Record.
It allowed Ryu to inherit and invoke the magic once wielded by the members of the Astrea Familia.
She was still Gale, Ryu Lion.
But she now carried the power of the entire Astrea Familia with her.
Her fallen companions could continue living through her, allowing their justice to shine before the world once more.
’I can’t lose.’
’Not when I’m fighting for all of them.’
Determination hardened Ryu’s eyes.
She charged toward the sword-wielding Gulliver brother, her flaming blade raised.
"You think I’m the easiest target?"
The swordsman roared in outrage and rushed forward to meet her.
His three brothers followed immediately.
CLANG!
The force of Ryu’s strike traveled through the sword and into his arm, then spread across his entire body.
He reeled backward and lost his balance.
’This spell increases her strength?’
The swordsman realized his mistake and tried to recover.
Ryu’s blade flashed several times before he could.
Blood erupted from multiple wounds, and he collapsed to the ground.
"You bastard!"
The remaining three brothers flew into a rage.
Their attacks grew even heavier, each of them desperate to crush Ryu where she stood.
But Alise’s magic did not merely increase physical strength.
It enhanced speed as well.
Ryu moved like a phantom, slipping past their attacks by the narrowest possible margins.
Even while evading, she began an exceptionally difficult concurrent chant.
"Now distant, the heavens above the forest."
"Countless stars adorning the endless night."
"Answer the voice of one as foolish as I, and grant me once more the protection of starlight."
"Bestow radiant mercy upon the one who abandoned you..."
"Stop her!"
The brothers accelerated, but none could interrupt her chant.
"Come, wandering wind, roaming traveler."
"Cross the sky and race over the wilderness with speed surpassing all things."
"Carry the radiance of the stars and strike down my enemies."
Countless points of green light appeared above Ryu.
They rapidly expanded until each was nearly the size of a human head.
"Luminous Wind."
"Move!"
The axe-wielding brother shouted, and all three ran with everything they had.
It was useless.
Luminous Wind covered far too wide an area.
An almost endless storm of green projectiles swallowed them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The bombardment repeatedly tore apart the battlefield.
It continued for nearly half a minute before finally stopping.
By then, the three Gulliver brothers were barely capable of standing.
"D-Damn it..."
"We can’t... fall here..."
They struggled to force their wounded bodies upright and continue fighting.
Ryu gave them no opportunity, she moved with the wind.
Blood sprayed from all three brothers as her sword flashed past them.
One after another, they fell and did not rise again.
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