Volume 6, Chapter 18 – An Eighth-Rank Undead

“A Three-Headed Skeleton Dog? Interesting.”

Looking at the three-story-tall skeletal cerberus drilling out of the sand dunes, Fia, whose fighting spirit was high, couldn’t help but laugh. Just as Nola had said, flying in the Weeping Mountains was a dangerous endeavor. Fia hadn’t been in the air for long before she was intercepted by monsters. And not just one or two, but hundreds upon thousands of them—ranging from undead to normal monsters, spanning the second to the sixth rank.

Originally, Fia didn’t care about these monsters, intending to deal with them casually with magic. However, to her surprise, these monsters were extremely territorial, to the point of being fearless of death. Kill one, and a second and third would appear. Kill those, and even more would emerge, like triggering a chain reaction. Now, the entire open valley was densely packed with monsters. Howling, they charged at Fia, who was at the lowest point of the valley, using their corpses to block her path.

It must be said, Fia didn’t find these monsters troublesome. On the contrary, because of the variety of monsters appearing, she was fighting with great gusto.

Ever since her battle with the Moon Dragon Radric, she hadn’t experienced a decent fight with an equal opponent. Although the strength was still unequal now, as long as she was careful not to use large-scale magic like [Hellfire] or [Spatial Rift], the thrill of combat was extremely intense. Of course, besides the desire for battle, there was also the massive amount of magic cores.

Fia had already mastered beginner alchemy and knew the importance of magic cores. Now that an opportunity to earn magic cores was right in front of her, it would be a waste not to use it properly. Since these monsters were blind enough to deliver themselves to her doorstep to block her, she didn’t need to be polite.

“[Light Beam]!”

Her left hand, using [Telekinesis] to form a giant hand, swept through the group of low-level monsters, knocking them into the sky like bowling pins. Her right hand released a [Light Beam] enhanced by [Hyper-computation]. The powerful, laser-like beam instantly swept across another group of monsters. Any monster that came into contact with the [Light Beam] was instantly sliced in two. However, there were simply too many monsters. Even the [Light Beam] only cleared the monsters within thirty meters, and that thirty-meter distance was filled again in just a single breath.

Especially the large monster Fia called the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog; it crossed the distance to Fia in a single step. Without using [See Through], this Three-Headed Skeleton Dog appeared to be a sixth-rank monster with three hideous wolf heads. But once [See Through] was used, its nature as an undead creature was exposed.

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The Three-Headed Skeleton Dog opened its three mouths simultaneously to bite at Fia. Fia frowned in displeasure, abandoned the [Light Beam], and instead gathered strength in her right hand.

“[Strength Boost I]”

Brilliant golden light wrapped around her entire arm. Fia used [Telekinesis] again, transforming it into countless grappling hooks to grab the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog’s middle head and neck. Then, pouring all her strength into her limbs and using her body as an axis, she grabbed the other end of the hooks with both hands. Like throwing a broken sack, she violently swung the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog, making it trace a perfect semi-circle in the air before smashing it hard into the dense group of monsters on the other side.

Boom!

As if an object weighing hundreds of tons had smashed into the ground, the earth instantly erupted with tremors that knocked the monsters off their feet. As for the monsters that happened to be under the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog, they were turned into meat paste without even being able to howl.

But even so, the monsters from the other two directions did not retreat in the slightest. After steadying themselves, they continued to sprint toward Fia. From small flying insect monsters to large wolves, bears, and cheetahs, and even ugly golems made entirely of rock, all targeted Fia. In addition, the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog, which had most of its bones broken from the fall, was reassembling its body.

If it were anyone else, even a warrior of Nola’s level, they would probably choose to fight while retreating. Being surrounded was too troublesome—mainly because the insect monsters with the appearance of cockroaches and spiders were disgusting, and would explode with goo when killed, catching one off guard.

Compared to close-quarters combat, area-of-effect magic was much more useful.

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Putting away [Telekinesis], Fia raised her right hand and set the magic’s coordinates at her feet.

“[Firestorm]!”

A blazing pillar of fire, fifty meters in diameter, exploded without warning with Fia at the center. The insect monsters were instantly turned into black ash, while the large monsters were cooked by the explosion and blown dozens of meters away. But Fia’s actions didn’t stop there. She aimed at the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog, which was still reassembling its body, condensed a [Thunder Spear], and threw it with force.

The thunder that tore through the sky pierced through the Three-Headed Skeleton Dog in the blink of an eye. The [Thunder Spear], its power reduced, continued to rush into the distance. Its terrifying penetrating power created a no-man’s land in the dense horde of monsters, looking as if an eraser had been wiped across the crowd. A wild wind, accompanied by the aroma of burnt beast meat, filled the battlefield.

“Awoooo!!”

However, the howls of another batch of monsters came from above the valley, signaling a new wave joining the battlefield.

Exactly how many monsters are in the Weeping Mountains?

Fia roughly estimated the time since she left. She had been fighting here for a quarter of an hour. The surrounding corpses had piled up into a small hill, yet the monsters showed no sign of decreasing.

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I might as well fire off a big one!

Gathering a [Flame Wheel] in her hand, Fia prepared to blast the entire valley into the sky. However, as if sensing Fia’s next spell, the surrounding monsters suddenly stopped one after another. At the same time, a strong, putrid wind filled with the intense aura of death brushed through the valley, and an eerie silence spread.

Something is coming.

The monsters’ behavior confirmed Fia’s thought. A hundred meters away from Fia, the monsters scattered to the sides. Then, the ground covered in yellow sand began to sink. A black substance resembling Chaos surged up to the surface in a vortex. Fia could recognize that it wasn’t Chaos, but another substance that looked somewhat similar.

A few seconds passed, and a tall humanoid undead wearing a tattered cape and a rusty crown emerged from the vortex. He had no physical body; the body under the crown appeared as a mass of gray mist. However, Fia could still tell from his build that if this person were alive, he would have been a man of outstanding stature and appearance. He looked just like something called a Ringwraith.

“Who disturbs my slumber?”

Two red orbs symbolizing eyes lit up within the gray figure. The gaze of the person suspected to be the commander of the monsters pointed directly at Fia.

Fia glanced at him with [Wind of Exploration], and then her eyes lit up.

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Eighth rank. Not bad strength. The Weeping Mountains actually hide this kind of monster.

Then, she snapped her fingers lightly.

— [Mind Blast]

Real-life combat isn’t a magical girl anime. She wasn’t going to wait for the enemy to finish transforming before attacking.

Not only that, but following closely behind the [Mind Blast], Fia followed up with the second lethal spell she had already prepared.

“[Flame Wheel]!”