Jack of All Trades, Party of None

(Is this something similar to the giant skeleton that appeared on the surface last month? Now that I think about it, the magic circle that briefly appeared earlier seemed similar to the one when the skeleton showed up.)

“Wow, it’s huge. Its fur looks so fluffy—I bet it’d feel great to pet it.”

Mr. Haruto murmured as he looked up at the massive red-black wolf.

His tone didn’t seem tense at all.

But in the next moment, his demeanor shifted into something fierce.

“—But that coloring… no good. Change your fur color and come back!”

He spat out the words with a burning murderous intent aimed at the wolf.

In contrast, Fuuka was wrapped in a cold, sharp killing intent.

Both of them seemed fully motivated, which was a relief.

Though I didn’t know the true nature of this demonic beast, there was no doubt that the cult was involved.

If that’s the case, then there was no option other than to defeat it.

“This’ll be a perfect final opponent to wrap up our dungeon conquest journey. Let’s do this, both of you.”

“Yeah.” “Got it!”

Apparently displeased by our attitude, the wolf howled, and magical power gathered around it, firing a barrage of countless mana bullets at us.

Each mana bullet carried an element—earth, water, fire, wind, ice, or lightning.

(Tch, Schwarzhase is too far away... then!)

I thought to block the mana bullets with a magic shield, but Schwarzhase, which I had transformed into chains, was busy restraining cult members far away, so I couldn’t pull it closer to me.

“Fuuka! Is it possible to slash it through this barrage?”

“Possible. But hold on a bit. Then I can disrupt this barrage.”

Fuuka must have already seen what was coming next.

“Got it. I’m counting on you, Fuuka!”

After confirming Fuuka’s “Okay,” I focused on dodging the mana bullets, but the density of the barrage increased further, and finally, both Mr. Haruto and I were hit by the mana bullets.

The mana bullets exploded on contact with us.

We took the full force of the shock.

The direct hits created a slight moment of carelessness in the wolf.

—Unaware that Fuuka had been waiting for that very moment of negligence.

The instant the wolf’s attacks slackened slightly, Fuuka closed the distance in a flash using distance shrinking, and her blade slashed the wolf’s right eye.

A scream resembling the wolf’s howl echoed around.

I leapt out from the smoke caused by the mana bullet explosions and moved to the wolf’s blind spot on its right side, closing the distance to Schwarzhase.

The reason I remained unharmed despite being hit directly by the mana bullets was due to the application of qi.

During our dungeon conquest journey, I had learned more deeply about qi from Mr. Haruto.

One technique was releasing qi outside the body.

By inserting the released qi like a cushion between me and the mana bullets, I was able to block their impact.

I could only protect part of my body by releasing qi outside, but someone skilled in qi manipulation like Mr. Haruto could cover his entire body with qi, forming an invisible armor that protected him from all directions.

I intend to master qi manipulation as well as Mr. Haruto someday.

“—[Sixth form (mont zex)]”

When I got close enough to pull Schwarzhase in, I transformed the jet-black chains into a magic bow and gripped it with my right hand.

Then I condensed mana to form an arrow and nocked it.

In my line of sight, Mr. Haruto was above the wolf’s head.

“That screeching’s annoying. Shut up, mutt!”

To buy me time, Mr. Haruto stomped the heel of his foot onto the wolf’s forehead.

The wolf braced so its face wouldn’t hit the ground, but the huge dent on the ground told the power of Mr. Haruto’s strike.

The wolf staggered from the powerful blow to its head, and I followed up with a jet-black arrow.

“—Piercing Heaven (senten)!”

The piercing jet-black arrow flew straight at the wolf, passing through its right hind leg, abdomen, and the joint of its left front leg in order.

The wolf’s heart was along that line.