[Adventurer, Anastasia - 10]
[Adventurer, Anastasia - 10]
Tuung!!
I realized it while running.
'Stamina, I need it!'
I was gasping for air, and my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my mouth.
No, I was running so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of my ears, and I couldn't control my pounding heart.
My breath was hitching, and sweat covered my body as if I had just taken a bath. My magic power was holding up, but my stamina wasn't.
-Saintess-nim, sometimes you need stamina, so please do at least the minimum. For the sake of your health. Your physical activity is too low.
I had just brushed it off back then, but now I finally understood.
When entering full-scale combat, I can't just stand still and use magic; I have to move in real-time.
Of course, several conditions had to be met for a situation like this to occur.
I still hadn't figured out how to deal with earth magic, which was the only type that could penetrate my defenses; the adventurers were half-held hostage; I couldn't use large-scale magic because of the cave environment; and I was in a situation where I had no allies.
But since you never know what will happen in a battle, any situation could arise.
I was feeling that fact with my own body right now.
If Eris, Edna, or even just a reasonably skilled adventurer had come, they could have protected the adventurers who were having nightmares after being hit by the Akjo, and I could have taken care of it quickly. But it was difficult to protect them using the Path of Light.
Even if I created an instantaneous barrier, the Akjo's claws had significant penetration power.
If I were to get distracted while dealing with the Golems and it broke through, I might as well consider the adventurers' lives over at that point.
As long as there's a possibility, I don't want to use the barrier if I can help it.
'Lots of things to practice.'
If I refined the instantaneous barrier, I could probably get it to a level where it wouldn't be destroyed by a guy like that.
Dangerous.
I shouldn't be thinking this, but it was actually a little fun.
The feeling of my heart pounding and the sensation of everything slipping out of my grasp wasn't bad. At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder how fun it would be if I could take it all back into my hands.
Kuung!!
"Keuk!"
The Golem's fist struck my arm, and it broke again, blood gushing out. At the same time as I regenerated, I pierced the Golem's head with light magic.
The number of Golems was a bit excessive, but there was only one Akjo, and the Akjo wasn't stopping; it was aiming for the adventurers.
The Akjo was likely targeting the adventurers to keep me from focusing, and while Golems basically only target enemies, it seemed they happened to go after the adventurers if they were nearby.
Even if it was only occasionally, I couldn't ignore it, and naturally, I had no choice but to take a defensive stance.
'Ah, should I just wipe them all out?'
But what if the cave collapses then?
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue without realizing it and moved.
That aside, there are too many Golems.
I felt like I had already returned over 20 of them to the dirt, but they kept coming endlessly. If it turned into a war of attrition like this, I would be fine, but the adventurers might die from a single mistake.
That point was annoying as hell, and if they died, I was confident I could use my power to my heart's content and annihilate all the monsters in this place.
However.
Cold sweat is flowing.
It's hard.
My breath is hitching.
It's painful.
Let's abandon them.
If I just abandon those people, I can definitely survive.
Depending on the Golem's attack, if I got hit in the head and died instantly, my life would be over at that point, and even I would find it difficult to heal myself if my head were blown off.
I could save others if it hadn't been long since their heads were blown off, though.
Maybe it would be possible if I grew more later, but at least at this point, it was impossible.
'Wait, let's think. Think.'
What did Ed say?
-If you feel like there are too many monsters, you must assume two main things. First, that I'm having terrible luck today.
It's not this.
-Second, that there is a monster that summons monsters.
A monster that summons.
Only earth Golems have been coming since earlier.
If the number is abnormally high, it's better to assume there's a summoner.
Even so, I can't die to a Golem with this kind of power.
-There is even a history of a hero who killed a dragon being beaten to death by a goblin. Please do not mistake having that power for being 'invincible'. More than that, are you still being arrogant after losing to me like that? That's a disease. Do you have a disease where you die if you don't let your guard down?
I don't remember hearing the latter part, but for some reason, it felt like I could hear Ed saying it with his characteristic cold expression in my head.
Because this world is made to be complex while seeming simple, even a powerful being can be killed by a trivial one.
In chess, even the Queen, who is strong and can be called the most powerful, dies normally if captured by a Pawn.
'If it's a summoned creature, it must be connected to the summoner.'
If I could catch that and trace it back to pinpoint the location, I could pierce right through it with my Penetration magic.
Protect the adventurers from the Akjo with the Path of Light, endure these countless Golems, trace the source, and counterattack.
Can I do it?
Each one is a task that consumes a considerable amount of concentration.
If I go among the adventurers and use the Path of Light, it would be okay, but in that case, all sorts of Golems would approach the adventurers, so conversely, the difficulty of protecting them would increase.
There is only one way.
I have no choice but to keep running around and protecting them like this.
'Can I do it?'
No.
"I'll do it."
I licked the flowing blood and smiled.
I narrowly dodged the fist the Golem threw, climbed on top of the Golem, and read the flow of magic power right then and there.
I felt a characteristic sensation like lightning striking my brain, and it began to seep deeper and deeper inside.
In the midst of that, the Akjo didn't stop and lunged toward the adventurers, and I had to keep activating the Path of Light.
In that sensation of my brain burning, I was able to discover something at the end of it.
It was smaller than I thought, but that wasn't the important point.
If all the Golems were connected to that small monster over there, I could end it in one shot.
I shot light magic at the Golem to knock it down and created some distance.
The more I increased the distance, the higher the concentration required to use the Path of Light, but that was fine.
The Golems' movements themselves weren't fast, so there was no danger to my life.
And I reached out my hand toward the direction I had traced earlier.
The absolute characteristic of light magic is 'Penetration'.
In other words, no matter how many walls there are, if I can just pinpoint the enemy's location, I can pass through them.
'I can do it.'
Tuung!!
A shadow appeared behind me along with the light magic that shot out. There was no way I had the energy to dodge.
I stared at the incoming attack.
It was a close call, but it was fine.
My attack hit the enemy and blew the summoner's head off, and the bodies of the Golems approaching me also crumbled and disappeared on the spot.
"Ha."
I laughed.
I walked slowly.
My stamina was quite drained.
This is pretty tough.
"Keeek!"
"Shut up."
The Akjo rushed at me, but it disappeared instantly into the light fired in time with the wave of my hand.
"Phew."
I went through all that trouble for something so easy.
I checked the condition of the adventurers.
I had wasted some time, so their condition might have worsened, and they might have crossed the line inside.
It hadn't been long since they crossed the line, and if they hadn't opened their eyes yet, I could heal them somehow.
Because this was also a kind of curse, after all.
Fuuung, I checked the adventurers' condition while emitting light and healed them.
"Doesn't seem like there's a big problem. The problem is from now on, I guess."
My magic power was fine, but I lacked stamina.
I sat down and let out a deep breath.
It would be annoying if those kinds of troublesome monsters came again now.
If a monster with the earth attribute comes again, then it's not a joke; a situation might arise where I have to sacrifice the adventurers.
I want to avoid that at all costs, and I felt like it would be a big problem if I didn't escape from here or join up with my allies somehow.
'That aside, the dungeon seems to be shaking a bit since earlier.'
Could it be an earthquake?
It was that moment.
"Ah, seriously."
It was Black Wolves.
It was fortunate, but it seemed my concentration had been drained a lot because my stamina was low. I had been wounded frequently in various ways, and I realized that the loss of stamina due to those wounds was a good factor for lowering concentration.
I could understand why Ed kept saying over and over that stamina training should be done as a basic necessity.
It was the moment I was getting up to use magic again.
Sseueuk!
"......Wow, good timing."
The floor was stained black, and the Black Wolves were all pierced by shadow blades that rose from the ground.
"Saintess-nim, are you safe?"
"I'm fine, no problem. Though it hurt a bit."
Ed sighed softly as he looked at the blood on my clothes.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
"It's fine, teleport traps were an unpredictable factor, after all. More than that, the dungeon is shaking? Is it an earthquake?"
"No, it's because the core that maintains the dungeon was broken."
Did that guy break the core?
That mister, he's more excellent than I imagined.
He's a good person too, so if possible, I'd like to recruit him to our side?
"Ed."
"Yes."
"Stamina training....... I'll do it......."
I thought I wouldn't need stamina in battle.
But to keep 'everyone' safe, not just 'me', it seemed I needed some stamina.
My head hurts.
"Quickly carry me like a princess and move. I'll insist that you deserve at least that much of a reward."
"Let's go."
Ed hesitated for a moment but immediately lifted me up.
"Oh."
"Why?"
"......Ah, nothing. Need to take those adventurers too."
"I will take them with shadows."
I was a bit surprised.
I didn't think he would actually do it.
It was a bit of a struggle, but this didn't seem too bad.