Dead End Butcher let out a heaven-shaking roar. The two arms holding Tiona finally loosened their grip. Tiona fell from the air, rolling the mont she hit the ground, and snatched up her weapon.
"Thanks, Tione." She roared, sweeping her blade toward Dead End Butcher's legs.
Dead End Butcher leaped to evade, but Ais was already waiting for it in the air. Desperate slashed down from above, biting squarely into its shoulder.
Squelch!
The blade sunk three inches deep into the flesh. Dead End Butcher plumted to the ground, slamming all four arms against the floor simultaneously. A shockwave blast. Purple-green energy detonated from the point of impact, blasting all four of them away.
But this ti, they didn't retreat. The mont she was blasted back, Ais tapped the ground with the tip of her sword, using the leverage to halt her montum and charge back in. Tiona crashed into the rock wall but imdiately rebounded, ignoring her wounds to rush in again. Tione sorsaulted mid-air, her twin blades drawing two arcs of light as they slashed toward Dead End Butcher's back. Bete cut in from the flank, delivering a rapid flurry of kicks, each strike carrying enough force to shatter steel.
The four attacks landed on Dead End Butcher's body at the exact sa ti. The monster's body burst open with countless wounds, black blood spraying everywhere. The next instant, as if linked by telepathy, the four scattered in all directions, clearing the stage for the impending destruction.
And from above, accompanied by Lefiya's clear, sharp shout in the distance, a massive magic circle composed of countless complex runes suddenly manifested.
"—Drop like rain, burn the barbarians!"
Long before the four had even engaged in their fierce battle with Dead End Butcher, Lefiya had already begun chanting her ultimate bombardnt magic, [Fusillade Fallarica]!
Countless javelins of roaring fla rained down from the magic circle like a teor shower of divine punishnt. They tore through the air with piercing shrieks, illuminating the entire cavern ceiling in a crimson glow. The first javelin struck, blasting open the wounds on Dead End Butcher's body, followed by the second, the third, the hundredth. The endless chain of explosions rged into a torrent of destruction, completely engulfing the monster that had been acting so invincible just monts before.
"Is it over?" Lefiya lowered her staff. Having just unleashed a massive spell, she was panting slightly, the giant magic circle beneath her feet slowly fading away.
"No, it's not over yet." Finn licked his thumb, his intelligent blue eyes now filled with absolute gravity.
Before his words even faded, an even more terrifying silhouette rose back up from within the billowing smoke and fire. On the cratered, scorched earth ravaged by Lefiya's magic, that massive body—which by all rights should have been blown to pieces—was actually mutating and expanding at a visible rate under everyone's watchful eyes. The green magic circuits that had previously coursed across its body had completely morphed into an ominous, impossibly dense deep purple.
Its carapace grew sharper and more grotesque, with spikes like razor blades erupting from its shoulders and back. Its size was further enhanced. Just standing there, it emitted an aura of despair so suffocating it could render low-level adventurers unable to breathe. In its massive palm, it gripped a pitch-black, giant spiked club. Sizzling purple lightning wreathed the weapon, looking as if it could unleash apocalyptic power at any second.
"Sure enough, there's a final form." Aiden wasn't surprised in the slightest to see this. He recognized it instantly.
This was Dead End Butcher's final phase—[Feeding Form]. Although it was a monster from his mories, after incubating within the Dungeon of this world, it had clearly undergone an even more dangerous mutation.
"No way, again!? Is this guy a cockroach? Why is its health bar so long? This endless clinging is way too annoying! Can't it just obediently turn into experience points!?" Tiona groaned as she looked at the monster, which was now more terrifying than its previous two phases combined.
"This should be the end." Finn ignored Tiona's complaints. He walked over to Aiden and asked solemnly, "Flascion, what do you say? Want to send this guy off on its final journey together?"
"Is that alright? With the Loki Familia's strength, you should have more than enough to handle this." Aiden raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't just being polite. Although Dead End Butcher's [Feeding Form] was absurdly strong, with the Loki Familia's borderline-cheating all-star lineup, they would definitely win. That was undeniable. There was absolutely no need to drag the Focalors Familia into this.
"With the Saint of Battle Rhythm here, teaming up with you guys is actually to our advantage." Finn glanced at Robin, smiling aningfully.
"Alright, if you guys don't have any objections, then I definitely don't have any either." Aiden imdiately nodded.
This Dead End Butcher was essentially a massive pile of experience points sitting out in the open. Being able to participate in the raid, even if they only got a cut of the experience, would be enough to grant his Familia mbers a world-shaking boost in growth. Especially for Daphne and Cassandra, this opportunity was crucial.
He knew very well that Robin's [Tonal Resonance] skill could accelerate experience gain, but it was rely an "acceleration," not a magical boost to an adventurer's potential cap. Not all adventurers were created equal. So were blessed with talent and could easily reach S-Rank stats, while others could spend their entire lives fighting and still cap out at D-Rank. These were fundantal truths that even Robin's skills couldn't alter.
Tifa, Hyacine, and the others being able to constantly shatter their limits was due more to their own unfathomable innate talents. Daphne and Cassandra's talents, however, were clearly inferior, and both faced foreseeable bottlenecks. Participating in a battle against a monster of Dead End Butcher's caliber was undoubtedly the perfect chance to shatter those bottlenecks. Plus, with the top-tier veterans of the Loki Familia providing a safety net, there was almost zero chance of an accident happening.
"Since that's the case, I'll leave the commanding to the Saint of Battle Rhythm. This way, it truly counts as a team-up." Finn smiled. He had already heard from Bors that the one commanding them earlier was Robin.
"Alright, I'll do my best." Robin nodded, a serious look entering her lake-green eyes.
With the tacit agreent reached, Jeanne began to chant once again. She had just downed a mind recovery potion and had recovered enough ntal energy to cast her magic again.
"—Lord, I shall turn this body into Your steadfast shield!"
The golden barrier magic, [Luminosité Eternelle], activated once more, its holy light enveloping all participating combatants.
"All units, charge!" Robin's command rang across the battlefield.
The Loki Familia's Ais, Bete, Tione, and Tiona led the vanguard, charging straight toward Dead End Butcher. Raul, Anakitty, Alicia, and the other elite Level 3s and 4s followed closely behind. Aiden signaled to Tifa and Daphne, gesturing for them to join the fray as well.
"To think the day would co when I'd fight alongside the Loki Familia." Daphne muttered, her blood boiling. To be able to participate in a battle of this scale so soon after joining the Focalors Familia was incredibly thrilling.
Dead End Butcher unleashed a roar. Facing the coordinated assault from the absolute elite, it suddenly hoisted its spiked club and delivered a devastating, montum-heavy thrust straight at Tiona, who was at the very front.
"Bring it on!" Tiona roared, planting her feet firmly into the ground.
She angled her massive double-blades to et the strike perfectly. With a deafening CLANG!, she forcefully parried the mountain-shattering blow. However, the monster's movents didn't stop. Using the recoil from the parry, its massive body spun sharply, the club howling through the air as it swept toward the flank.
"Don't even think about it!" Ais and Tifa moved simultaneously.
Ais's figure beca a gale, sliding low across the ground as Desperate carved a deep gash into the monster's ankle. Tifa, anwhile, leaped high into the air, nimbly dodging the sweep before bringing down a devastating axe-kick right onto the monster's wrist, forcefully knocking the terrifying attack off its trajectory.
Having failed its attack, Dead End Butcher imdiately shifted tactics. Its spiked club swung wildly left and right, transforming into a purple tornado of death. Bete and the Amazon twins darted through the airtight barrage. Relying on their astonishing speed and combat intuition, they constantly found openings, adding wound after wound to the monster's body.
Aiden activated his magic, using invisible sonic blasts to interfere with Dead End Butcher, forcing the monster to split its attention.
"It's charging up! Everyone, fall back!" Robin's voice suddenly echoed across the field.
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