The thing snarled once before suddenly disappearing from sight.
One moment, it had been standing directly before them. The next, its body melted into the surrounding darkness as though it had never existed at all. Even its presence vanished with it, forcing Alicia to remain perfectly still, her daggers raised.
But Rian knew about this monster extensively.
It was a monster that gave the protagonist a hard time at the start, partially because he had no tools to answer its gimmick.
’Luckily...I do.’
Holding his hand high into the air, Rian simply shouted.
〈Magia Lux!〉— Amplify Light
[Magia Lux Lv. 1 added to Known Spells]
Immediately, a light that was comparable to the strongest flashlight in the world illuminated the entire room. It was so blinding that even Alicia and the caster himself, Rian, had to cover their eyes.
But it worked.
With no darkness left to conceal it, the Shadowhound reappeared beside one of the broken columns. Its body trembled beneath the merciless light, fluorescent eyes squeezed shut as smoke emitted from its hairless skin.
"Alicia!" Rian shouted, but the maid was already moving.
She had adapted to the overwhelming light quickly, dashing across the temple and going straight for the throat.
But even while blinded, the creature’s instincts remained as sharp as ever. It jerked aside at the very last second.
SHHHK—!
A red line appeared across its throat, yet the wound was far too shallow to do any meaningful damage.
Alicia wanted to go for a follow-up. However, the sight of something else caught her eye.
Rian was hunched over with his hands braced against his knees, breathing heavily after using the spell. His vision blurred as his head started ringing violently.
[Estimated Lifespan: 17 hours, 50 minutes]
"A whole...hour..." Rian muttered between breaths.
"Young Master—"
Alicia had taken her eyes off of the monster...which was the biggest mistake someone could make in a battle.
The Shadowhound lunged at her, claws outstretched and ready to draw blood. Alicia turned back, only to be met with one of its claws tearing across her shoulder.
"Ggghhk—!"
The force spun her halfway around, knocking one of the daggers from her grasp. It clattered across the stone as blood quickly soaked through her dress.
"Alicia!"
Rian yelled out. But all that did was draw the hound’s attention to its next target. It bounced off the nearby wall, redirecting its momentum and launching straight at him.
"Shit—!"
〈Ward Glacia!〉— Ice Barrier
[Estimated Lifespan: 17 hours, 28 minutes]
CRASH—!
A wall of ice materialized in between Rian and the attacking monster, just barely in time as the hound slammed straight into it.
KRRRRRK—!
Cracks splintered across the ice, rapidly spreading toward its edges. For a moment, Rian thought the entire barrier would shatter. But miraculously, it somehow held out.
Dazed from slamming headfirst into the wall of ice, the Hound swayed back and forth. That was just enough of an opportunity for Alicia to quite literally appear from behind it.
She plunged her remaining dagger into its skull with all her strength. The strike went straight through bone, into the monster’s head, killing it instantly.
But instead of its body going limp, the Shadowhound started to break apart. Pieces of skin peeled away one after another, turning into smoke as it touched the air. Eventually, the entire thing disappeared until only a marble-sized sphere remained on the ground.
Yet Alicia never cared for it. She stumbled toward Rian, who sat just behind his wall of ice.
"Ahhhh...that was close," he sighed a breath of relief. "C-Rank monsters really are built different, aren’t they?"
Upon seeing Alicia however, his lighthearted mood turned dim quickly. Her face was paler than before, and one of her hands was pressed tightly against the wound.
Rian forced himself back onto his feet and staggered toward her.
"Alicia...you’re hurt."
"I’m fine, Young Master."
She said quickly, but winced immediately after. That didn’t really encourage Rian very much.
He put his hand on the wound, allowing mana to flow freely toward his palm before starting to chant a spell.
〈Vita Aqua.〉
[Vita Aqua — Healing Water]
Water flowed freely from his fingertips, wrapping around her wound until it had covered the entire thing. Her clothes became partially soaked, but that was a small trade-off.
"Young Master, wait—"
Blood clouding the water gradually faded as the spell soothed both pain and wound at once. And just a few seconds later, her wound had mostly stitched itself up.
[Estimated Lifespan: 16 hours, 47 minutes]
’Forty-one minutes...well, it is a healing spell after all—’
Before he could properly process the cost, something surged up his throat and forced itself out of his mouth.
"Cough—!"
Blood splattered across the stone floor as Rian fell over. Alicia barely managed to catch him before he hit his head.
"Y—Young Master!"
Tears welled in her eyes as she managed to prop Rian up and get under his arm to support him. "Why would you do that?! I know now that casting spells makes your condition worse!"
"My favorite maid was hurt," he said unapologetically. "Well, my only one...that is. I can’t have anything happening to you now, can I?"
"Besides, it’s not like all maids know how to fight and use knives as well as you—"
"Shut up, Young Master!"
"Right...sorry."
With his mouth rightfully shut, Rian slowly made his way over to the small sphere dropped on the floor with Alicia’s help.
"Lucky us," he muttered, inspecting the thing a bit closer. "But also...unlucky us."
"Why would that be?"
"When we killed the goblins," Rian explained. "They didn’t drop any cores, did they?"
"No...they didn’t."
"Monsters that drop cores are usually ones that were created by some other being. In other words...they’re not naturally spawning."
A moment of silence passed as the realization finally clicked. Alicia’s eyes widened, mouth slowly opening.
"Young Master, I really don’t think we should be here..."
Yet, all Rian did was look at the door heading towards the basement level with determination in his eyes. Well, it wasn’t like his life depended on it or anything.
All he gave his maid was a simple answer.
"We’ve come this far, haven’t we?"
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