Chapter 19: Extra: The Onslaught of Despair 3

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“Fine… I’ll do it seriously. Time for a Resonance Skill.”

Julius clenched his molars and muttered in frustration.

Well, it can’t be helped.

Elena echoed the thought internally and nodded. The Resonance Skill consumed a large amount of magic power in exchange for overwhelming power. Ideally, they would have preferred to save it as a trump card for when they advanced deeper into the dungeon.

Furthermore, the Resonance Skill drew its origin from the trust shared among party members. If the bond was deep, there was no limit to its uses, but the trust between Elena’s group and Julius wasn’t deep enough. The number of times they could use it in a day was limited.

But they could no longer afford to hold back. The Skullhound Lord’s roar still shook the air, and the overwhelming hostility and curse power from its cursed flames steadily wore down their mental strength. Continuing the fight like this would only lead them into a slow, inevitable defeat.

Julius turned around and shouted briefly.

“Garo, buy us some time!”

“Leave it to me!”

Garo answered and leapt forward. He charged toward the Skullhound Lord with momentum fitting for his massive build, drawing its focus entirely onto himself. While confirming his movements, Julius formed a triangular formation with Elena and Fran.

“Which skills are we using?”

“My Blade Focus, Fran’s Auto Recovery, and Elena’s Magic Enhancement.”

“That’s the most reasonable choice.”

The three nodded at each other and released their magic power. Their bodies became shrouded in auras—red, blue, and green, each radiating a different color. Their magic spread outward from each of their cores. The three colors overlapped midair, producing a faint resonating hum as they grew brighter, just as the Resonance Skill was about to activate…

The Skullhound Lord opened its jaws, and scorching green heat burst from deep within its throat. Its charred skeletal tail slammed against the ground, and the green flames shot forward with a roar.

“Guh—this is bad…!”

Garo raised his axe to defend, but he wasn’t fast enough. The green flames engulfed his entire body.

“Guaaaaaaaaah!”

With a scream, Garo’s massive frame rolled across the ground. His skin blistered, and his flesh burned black. It was poisonous flame. The damage was unbearable to look at.

“Garo, are you okay!?”

“Hey Fran, don’t lose focus!”

“I can’t keep it anymore!”

Elena aborted the Resonance Skill and immediately deployed 〈Magic Shield〉 The Skullhound Dog’s toxic flames were being spewed toward them. The magic formula connecting the three scattered at once. The Resonance Skill failed.

“Julius, help Garo! He’ll die!”

“Damn it… Useless good-for-nothing puppet!”

Julius’s abusive shout echoed. Irritation surged uncontrollably in Elena’s chest.

If it were Lloyd, this wouldn’t have happened. He would’ve held the enemy here and bought us time…!

But there was no time to be angry. Elena immediately began chanting, and Julius stepped in front of the Skullhound Lord. Using that opening, Fran ran toward Garo. However—

The Skullhound Lord’s roar echoed again.

“W–What now!?”

“Hey, look at its feet! Something’s coming out!”

At Julius’s words, Elena looked down at the Skullhound Lord’s feet. Miasma swirled there, and three small Skeleton Wolves emerged from the haze. The Skullhound glanced toward Fran and barked once. Immediately, the three Skeleton Wolves charged. Their target was obvious—Fran.

“You’ve gotta be… You’re kidding me!”

Elena reflexively unleashed a lightning spell, but she only managed to halt one of them. She shouted/

“Fran, run!”

“Eh—kyaaaah!”

Elena’s warning came too late. The remaining two wolves sank their fangs into Fran’s shoulder and side. Fran collapsed onto the ground.

“You! Get off her!”

Julius swung his sword wildly and drove the Skeleton Wolves away.

“Fran, are you okay!?”

“Mm… Maybe not so okay…”

Fran forced a bitter smile toward Elena as she rushed over. Her life didn’t seem in immediate danger, but the wounds were far from light. Nearby lay Garo, burned all over his body. Magic didn’t work. Physical attacks didn’t work. Their trump card had failed as well. The situation was dire.

This is impossible. I’m not waiting for Julius’s orders anymore.

Elena clenched her teeth and began chanting.

“Origin of all phenomena, omnipresent power… Burn everything and sever sight!〈Mind Blast〉!”

A scorching flash swept through the dungeon corridor, and their vision went white for an instant.

“Hey, Elena!? What do you think you’re doing!?”

“What do you mean what—We’re running! Even you can tell the situation is against us!”

“Th-That’s… Damn it! Us, the ones who defeated a Red Dragon, running away from some mutt!?”

“If we die, none of it matters! Hurry and bring Garo over to me!”

Grudgingly, Julius followed her order and heaved Garo over his shoulder, carrying him to Elena. He seemed to have finally accepted the situation. If he had kept arguing, Elena would have escaped with Fran alone, so she let out a quiet sigh of relief inside.

“Origin of all phenomena, omnipresent power… Guide us outward. 〈Return:Laramour〉!”

Elena immediately engraved the escape formula onto everyone’s bodies and completed the chant. Light enveloped them, and the four vanished from the spot. In the next moment, they reappeared at the dungeon entrance. It was one of the return spells used to escape a dungeon. Although meant for emergencies, this was the first time she had actually used it.

All of them fell to their knees, gasping for air.

W-We survived…

She had truly thought they were going to die. The Skullhound Lord was supposed to be weaker than the Red Dragon, yet the sense of despair was far worse than back then.

“Ah… We need to heal Garo quickly.”

Without even taking a breath, Fran immediately cast healing magic on Garo. Elena thought Fran should heal herself first, but Fran’s belief was to treat the more heavily injured person before herself.

“Maybe… Firing Lloyd was a mistake after all?”

Fran muttered quietly while holding her bleeding side.

“I think so too.”

Hearing that, Elena slowly nodded. The frontliner Garo was in this condition, and their trump card had failed entirely. It was undeniable. The party had clearly grown weaker since Lloyd left. But of course, there was one person who refused to accept that.

“No way in hell! He was… A completely useless baggage! He only got in our way. That’s… that’s how it is!”

While Julius shouted angrily, Elena exchanged a glance with Fran. The distrust was obvious on Fran’s face and Elena was certain her own expression looked the same. Right now, the most dangerous element in their party might very well be the hero standing right in front of them.

Between the two women, there seemed to be a silent, mutual understanding of that fact.

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