"Uwaaaaahhh!!"

"What’s going on?!"

"Is that… an explosion?"

"Run for it!!"

"Wait, wait! Don’t leave me behind!!"

The pedestrians who had been walking along the street suddenly fell into panic after the explosion. Some ran off in a frenzy, others crouched down in fear, and some worried about the safety of their loved ones. But the deafening blast drowned out their voices, and the dust in the air rendered their visibility close to zero.

"Trying to pull off an assassination in broad daylight, huh? Whoever hired you must have a lot of faith in your skills!" one of the beastmen shouted, dodging Rena’s black magic spell, the Fourth Rank Explosion, as he raised his sword.

"...Found you," Rena replied, dispersing the dust with wind magic as she turned to face the beastman.

(I’ve got her!)

Another beastman crept up behind Rena and swung his sword down.

"What the—?!"

But before his blade could cut into her, it clashed with a barrier Rena had erected. Sparks flew as the sword was deflected, embedding itself in the stone pavement. The beastman, having missed his chance, stood frozen. Before Rena could cast another spell to finish him off, another enemy interfered.

"Not so fast!" A cat-man launched Flying Blade, a Level 4 sword technique that sent a flying slash towards Rena. But even this was effortlessly deflected by her barrier.

Seeing such an impossible sight, the men hesitated, momentarily stunned by Rena’s strength.

(What kind of barrier is that?! It’s covering all sides, and with that kind of durability...)

The dog-man, panting and trying to cool himself down, analyzed the situation.

Most rear-line fighters would only project barriers in specific areas to conserve mana and enhance strength. Extending a barrier in all directions would normally consume a lot of mana and reduce its durability. But Rena was defying that common logic by maintaining a full-range barrier while still preparing to attack. It was no wonder the mercenaries were wary of her.

"...Running away?" Rena taunted, noticing the men attempting to put some distance between them.

"Who do you think you’re talking to?! Die!!"

An archer hidden behind a nearby building loosed arrows using Curved Shot, a Level 1 archery technique. Three arrows, aimed at Rena’s eyes, throat, and heart, flew towards her but were all deflected by the barrier.

"Is she for real…?"

"We thought she’d dodge, but not this..."

The men, who had been ready to exploit any opening, found themselves stuck. Meanwhile, Rena retaliated by casting Wind Blade, the First Rank wind magic, sending dozens of wind blades slashing towards them.

(These are way too heavy!)

(There’s no way this is just First Rank magic!)

The men blocked the blades with their shields and swords, but the force behind them was far greater than they had anticipated.

"Don’t let your guard down!"

"I wasn’t planning to!"

Despite the sudden attack, the mercenaries kept their composure, readying their weapons and facing Rena head-on.

"The First Squad is getting into a fight~!"

"Uh-oh, Captain Luvto is gonna be pissed about this."

"Shut up unless you’re offering something to make me forget this," one mercenary quipped.

"Causing a big scene, huh?"

"You’re not getting out of this one."

New figures emerged from the fleeing crowds—dwarves, halflings, and giants among them.

"Tch, lend me a hand! This one’s at least captain-level!"

The dwarf, who had been grinning, turned serious at those words and unsheathed his battle axe. The others followed suit, drawing their swords and removing the covers from their spearheads.

"We’re dealing with a skilled fighter, no doubt about it."

"Don’t let appearances fool you."

"On our break, and we have to fight? What a drag."

"Heh, you’re smiling though."

The number of enemies surrounding Rena increased from five to thirteen. Yet, Rena remained calm. She had trained for this moment, determined never to show weakness again.

A halfling man behind Rena deliberately made a noise by sliding his sword back into its sheath. When Rena didn’t react, he grinned and kicked a small pebble towards her. The moment the stone hit her barrier, Rena’s shoulder twitched. At that signal, spears thrust at her from both sides, aiming at her torso—a difficult move to dodge.

They had quickly deduced that Rena wasn’t skilled in close combat, a common weakness for most rear-line fighters.

Just as it seemed the spears would pierce her, her barrier blocked them again. The spearheads slid off the surface of her spherical barrier without penetrating it. Sensing Rena was about to release a spell, the spearmen rolled forward to dodge and escape her counterattack.

"It’s that damn barrier."

"Yeah. If we can just take it down, killing her will be easy."

"Don’t get yourself killed."

"Same to you."

The veteran mercenaries closed in, using a well-practiced technique for dealing with skilled opponents.

"...Are you scared?"

Rena’s taunt, coming from someone clearly younger than them, riled up the men, but they weren’t foolish enough to fall for it.

The situation was in the Immortal Mercenary Corps’ favor. Rena couldn’t use large-scale magic in the middle of a populated area. In fact, they had noticed that her initial Explosion spell had been deliberately restrained in both power and range.

"Let’s teach this cocky brat the difference that real battle experience makes."

At the sound of the dog-man’s whistle, a hundred arrows rained down on Rena. Using One Hundred Arrows, a Level 4 archery skill, the archer’s magically conjured arrows shattered against Rena’s barrier one after another.

"Not done yet!"

Next, the archer used Piercing Arrow, a Level 5 skill. The arrow, infused with battle aura, was designed to drill a massive hole through its target. The giant arrow ripped through the air, slamming into Rena’s barrier with a thunderous roar like a lightning strike.

(That has to break her barrier—what the?!)

The impact caused Rena’s body to lift slightly off the ground, but that was the extent of the damage. She landed gracefully, as if nothing had happened, and gestured for them to come at her.

"Tch!"

"Dammit!"

Two more fighters rushed in—one halfling wielding a flame-covered sword and a cat-man with a blade wrapped in lightning. They weaved in and out, dodging her magic as they slashed at her from different angles, with the archer continuing to fire arrows in support.

"...Annoying."

For the first time, sweat appeared on Rena’s forehead. It was no wonder—she was maintaining a full barrier while casting offensive spells, something that would exhaust most rear-line fighters in no time.

(...I’ll use wind magic to push them back, then lightning to paralyze them and finish it...)

A shadow fell over Rena.

(From above!)

When she looked up, she saw a giant man soaring through the air. He wasn’t wearing armor, but his 220 cm (7’2”) frame and over 200 kg (440 lbs) body leaped with surprising agility.

"Got you!"

The giant swung down a war hammer, his massive body propelling it. Using Adamantine Smash, a Level 7 hammer technique that could crush even diamond, he aimed the powerful blow at Rena.

(I’ve won!)

The moment the men of the Immortal Mercenary Corps believed they had won—Rena's barrier began to spin at high speed.

The clash between the giant war hammer and the spinning barrier produced a deafening noise and sent sparks flying.

"Wha—"

The one who voiced his shock was the giant man. His most powerful attack hadn’t just failed to damage Rena’s barrier—it had been deflected. The backlash left his body exposed and defenseless. In a desperate attempt to protect himself, he dropped his war hammer and shielded his face and neck with his arms. But Rena was already casting her spell.

She aimed Air Hammer, a Second Rank black magic spell, directly at his chest. Instead of merely blowing him away, Rena compressed the wind, concentrating the full force onto his chest.

As a result—

"Guhhh!"

—the chest of the once-imposing giant caved in. He spat out blood as his enormous body was flung through the air, crashing to the ground with a series of heavy thuds before finally coming to a stop. His chest was collapsed, but the internal damage was even worse. He could barely move, clinging to life by a thread.

(Did you see that?!)

(This damn girl… She was spinning the barrier! She tricked us, only showing the normal barrier at first—against the Immortal Mercenary Corps, no less!)

"...Now..." Rena murmured.

"Huh?"

Images of Zep, Seiya, and Bol, the ones who had attacked her in the Maze of Golgo, flashed through her mind. Back then, her incompetence had almost led to Yu being brutally killed.

"...If it were now, I could kill all three of them at once."

"What the hell are you babbling about?"

"Is she on drugs or something?"

The men of the Immortal Mercenary Corps instinctively took a step back as Rena began to summon multiple lightning orbs.

(This monster...)

(There’s no way we can handle this...)

(If only the captain—or even the vice-captain—were here!)

One of the men signaled his comrades with a glance and whispered.

"Head back to the base and get the captain—or at least two more people. If you can, bring the commander. We’ll hold her off until then."

"Got it."

Realizing they couldn’t win, the Immortal Mercenary Corps shifted their strategy to a battle of attrition. They didn’t see retreat as shameful—that adaptability was one of their strengths.

※

"This is strange..."

Nina muttered to herself while sitting on the outer ledge of Ryu Betfo's clock tower, staring off into the distance. Nearby, the lifeless body of a man lay on the ground. Though he appeared to be an ordinary citizen, this man had been tailing Nina since the hotel.

After leaping down from the wall, Nina casually stored the body in her item pouch. She hadn’t bothered to check the man’s identity—she had simply eliminated him without a second thought. There were no visible wounds, and any assassin would have recognized the skill behind such a clean kill.

"I thought I’d gotten rid of Namari's dependence on Yu... Has it come back again?"

Nina frowned, recalling Namari’s odd behavior earlier.

"Frustrating."

This time, it was Nina’s true feelings that slipped out.

"Huh? Frustrating...? Me?"

She was surprised by her own words. That couldn’t be right. She had discarded those kinds of emotions long ago. Now, she was supposed to be—

"Hey, over here!"

The shouts of several men below reached her ears.

"A fight! There’s a fight happening!"

"Yeah, and it’s with the Immortal Mercenary Corps!"

"Huh?! Who’s the crazy bastard picking a fight with them?"

"Let’s go check it out!"

"Don’t be stupid. If we get caught up in that, we’ll be dead in a second!"

One of the men below made a motion with his hand, mimicking the act of cutting his own throat.

"Immortal Mercenary Corps... Merritt."

Muttering to herself, Nina quickly descended from the clock tower and hurried off toward the scene.