Chapter Twenty-One: Escape!

Flares and thunderous explosions echoed from a side passage, their glow and roar impossible to ignore. Even Lainis, whose senses were far from keen, felt the searing heat that filled the air.

"Be careful, Master. Protect Miss Lainis," Artoria said, her expression grave.

It was a tactful way of telling the two to fall back.

In the next instant, a blazing sphere shot out from the passage! Artoria swept her sacred sword, swatting the orb away. The molten fireball crashed into a nearby wall and burst apart, spreading a swath of roaring, flowing flames.

This was the unique magical shield effect of the Wind King’s Barrier, but Artoria wielded it with even greater finesse, redirecting the force of this unknown but powerful spell and thus conserving her own magical reserves.

"Go!" Zhao Tianhe immediately realized the situation was dire and grabbed Lainis, shouting to Artoria.

He had never seen what an F-class boss looked like, but this attack was even fiercer than the E-class bosses he’d encountered at the Hero Academy!

Artoria nodded, but before she could move, a red beam shot toward her. She raised her sword to block it, the force driving her backward, sparks flying under her armored boots as they scraped across the ground.

Another red beam swept toward her head, but this time, Artoria didn’t try to meet it head-on. She spun, diverting its force and nimbly dodging both beams.

Zhao Tianhe and Lainis kept retreating, but suddenly, an elite slime floated into view. Several wind blades whistled toward Lainis’s back! Zhao Tianhe yanked her aside and swung his longsword, barely blocking the blades—but they shattered into dozens of razor-thin slivers, slicing Zhao Tianhe all over.

“Aaahhh!” Zhao Tianhe clutched Lainis, crouching low, one hand braced on the ground.

A howling gust swept above them—an immense, invisible wind blade slashing through the air.

Thanks to his sharp instincts, Zhao Tianhe instantly saw through the elite slime’s strategy: it hovered in midair because of a dense layer of compressed air surrounding its body, which it used either as projectiles or manipulated into various shapes for attack.

I always thought it odd these mutated elite slimes gave so much experience—turns out they’ve been enhanced, too. Zhao Tianhe swallowed hard. Yet, seeing Artoria’s unmatched prowess along the way, it seemed little had changed from before…

Well, after all, with increased favorability, all her attributes had improved again…

He released Lainis and, crawling swiftly, positioned himself beneath the mutant elite. Rising to his feet, he drove his sword straight upward!

Zhao Tianhe could sense the shifting density and thickness of the compressed air around the creature, and its underside was the weakest point. His strike, fueled by all his strength, pierced right through the shield’s thinnest spot, killing the monster instantly.

With its control lost, the compressed air exploded into a wild gale that swept through the cavern, knocking Zhao Tianhe to the ground.

But a strong hand caught him by the collar, preventing his fall.

The next moment, another rush of wind sounded! Artoria, clutching Lainis in one arm and grabbing Zhao Tianhe’s armor with the other, charged full speed toward the cave’s exit.

A crimson beam shot between Zhao Tianhe’s legs, striking just below his belly and melting a fist-sized crater into the hard stone floor.

“This isn’t a monster I can handle right now!” Artoria shouted. “But you did well just now! Otherwise, I’d have been attacked from behind.”

“Thank you for the praise…” Zhao Tianhe replied, glancing nervously at the relentless barrage of red beams sweeping behind them.

Luckily, the unknown creature seemed unable to move from its spot, so once they escaped the range of its attacks, they were safe.

Meanwhile, the firelight from the side tunnel grew brighter, and with a thunderous roar, a ball of magma nearly two meters in diameter shot forth! The giant fireball smashed into the cave wall; this time, its shell merely burst, the molten core sticking to the stone and slowly oozing down, until it pooled into a quivering mass—a slime, its entire form like a living glob of glowing steel, crimson and chilling all at once.

The slime squirmed, reshaping itself into a sphere, and then began rolling rapidly in pursuit of Zhao Tianhe and the others.

In this spherical form, the slime spun faster and faster, ricocheting off the cave walls and accelerating again with each turn, like an oversized steel marble.

Hearing the faint vibrations from behind, Artoria set Zhao Tianhe and Lainis down, turning with her sword raised.

“What’s happening?” Zhao Tianhe asked.

“We have a pursuer—strong and fast,” Artoria replied, her brows knitted in concentration. “You must run.”

“Is there nothing I can do to help?” Zhao Tianhe asked, taking a deep breath.

“No,” Artoria shook her head.

“I can heal!” Lainis protested, raising her staff in frustration.

“If I’m wounded at all, I could die instantly…” Artoria replied calmly, her tone even. “Wait until you can heal lost limbs at high speed before you try.”

“Ugh…” Lainis clutched her staff, unwilling to accept it.

“Let’s go. Trust Saber,” Zhao Tianhe said, understanding the gravity of the situation, and led Lainis away.

“Miss Saber! Please stay alive!” Lainis cried out, her voice trembling with tears.

Artoria turned to them and smiled. “I will.”

Boom!

The massive, blazing steel sphere crashed into a corner of the tunnel a dozen meters ahead of Artoria, its power driving half its body into the rock.

Seeing this, Lainis closed her eyes, unable to hold back her tears.

The scorching steel ball slowly melted, returning to its slime form, and dozens of bubbles began to swell on its surface.

Pop!

One bubble burst, and a great splash of molten steel-like liquid sprayed toward Artoria!

“Its attack methods are rather simple… That rolling assault was more dangerous,” Artoria muttered. “If not for this troublesome body, and the fact my strength is still incomplete, there would be no need for concern…”

She flicked a stone with her toe, then struck it with her palm, sending it flying at the steel slime.

Unsurprisingly, such an attack had no effect. But Artoria hadn’t intended to harm it—she meant only to taunt her foe.

And, just as she expected, the creature, with no greater intelligence than the others of its kind, charged her in a fury.

Several blazing spikes shot from its body toward Artoria, but she deflected them with ease.

“So, it’s a magic-based attack… In that case…” Artoria regarded the monster before her with a calm smile. “Perhaps I can present my master with a worthy gift…”