**Side: Bout**
We, the Trial Hearts, are holding back the Avalanche Howl with the help of High Order and High Saber. However, I have to admit our opponent is too strong. Mia and Yung are already down, but they are still slightly moving, so they are likely alive. Real had his right arm torn off, and I lost my left arm. Many of the High Order and High Saber have also fallen. We really can’t take any more. But for us, the Trial Hearts, there is no such word as retreat. It would be a lie to say we don’t feel a need to atone for our sins, but we were the ones who declared we would stop the Avalanche Howl. So until Yamato and the others defeat the Slume Lord, no matter what happens, we will stop it with sheer willpower.
“Gah!”
“Real!”
Real, who had lost his dominant arm and was half incapacitated, was blown away by an attack from the Avalanche Howl’s foreleg. It seems he managed to avoid the claw strike, but even the foreleg alone carries more than enough power. Real couldn’t get up. Wishing for his survival, I swung my sword at the Avalanche Howl to prevent it from targeting Real any further.
“Too slow! Wh—”
Although I couldn’t inflict any significant damage on the Avalanche Howl, I did manage to draw its attention. However, the Avalanche Howl seemed displeased and bared its fangs at me. As I moved to dodge its fangs, I was suddenly overcome with dizziness and stumbled. Curses, I must have lost too much blood… The Avalanche Howl’s face drew closer, but it seemed to be moving in slow motion. Is this the end for me? If only I could have fought beside His Majesty one more time…
“Bout!”
“Mana…sama?”
Just as I was thinking that, Mana-sama, riding on Spica, charged in with incredible speed. Spica, imbued with earth and fire attribute magic and enhanced with wind attribute magic for speed, charged the Avalanche Howl without hesitation and, surprisingly, blew it away. It’s true that Spica has evolved into a War Horse, but it’s still only an S-R rank. The Avalanche Howl is A-C rank, so the difference is significant. So why could it blow away the Avalanche Howl…?
“You took quite a beating. But you fulfilled your purpose admirably.”
“Faris? What do you mean?”
“You won’t believe it, but Mana-sama and I just evolved into the Ancient Class. So, leave the rest to us.”
“Wh—what?”
Mana-sama and Faris evolved into the Ancient Class? No, it’s true they were both promoted to P-rank, and their levels weren’t low either. I had thought they might evolve if they survived this battle. But could they have evolved right in the middle of the fight?
“We’ll talk later. You can’t fight anymore, so leave it to us.”
“Thanks, we will. Oh, and please heal us after it’s all over?”
“Yes, I’ll tell Mako.”
The engraver girl who’s Yamato’s guest. Surely with her, even healing our wounds wouldn’t deplete her magic power. My and Real’s arms are in the Avalanche Howl’s belly, so there’s nothing to be done about that. Taking Faris up on her offer, I slumped to the ground. If both of them have evolved to the Ancient Class, they probably won’t get beaten one-sidedly like we did. I feel bad leaving them to clean up, but we have no strength left to fight. Ah, it’s no use. I’ve lost too much blood, I can’t even stand up anymore. I’m sorry, but I’m going to take a nap.
**Side: Mana**
Faris and I, who went to support Prim, evolved into Ancient Elf and Ancient Fairy respectively during our battle with the Avalanche Howl Prim defeated. However, as we are still in the middle of combat, we parted ways with Prim and rushed to support the Trial Hearts, who were fighting another Avalanche Howl. But by the time we arrived, Mia and Yung were already down, and Real had been blown away. Order and Saber were also defeated, and Bout was on the verge of being eaten from the head. It was a close call, but thankfully the Unique Magic Melt Charge with Spica was just in time. I wonder if Bout and the other Trial Hearts are alright? No, now is not the time to worry about others, but myself. The Trial Hearts, Order, and Saber, though few in number, were mostly High Class. Yet, in such a short time, they had suffered devastating damage…
“Let’s go, Luna, Sirius, Spica!”
Spica, the War Horse carrying me, Luna the Carbunculus on my shoulder, and Sirius the Ice Rock flying overhead. My precious summoned beasts. The magic power of my summoned beasts is also my magic power. A Summoning Mage can use the magic power of their summoned beasts as their own, and vice versa. It’s no exaggeration to say that with my evolution into an Ancient Elf, my summoned beasts can now wield magic power one rank higher. I clad these summoned beasts’ attribute magic in the newly created Lapis Whip Sword, formed a Sterling Divider, and I charged at the Avalanche Howl.
“As expected, you’re fast! But Spica isn’t losing in speed either!”
Spica, an S-R rank monster, now possesses magic power equivalent to G-rank. Compared to the A-C rank Avalanche Howl, it’s not much, but from the perspective of a Summoning Mage like me, being able to wield magic power equivalent to a G-rank monster means wielding a stronger magic power than evolution in some ways. Moreover, Spica, who evolved into a War Horse, can now use not only earth attribute magic but also fire attribute magic, which further enhances my Sterling Divider. Spica does not flinch even when facing an opponent far superior in rank like the Avalanche Howl and continues to dodge its attacks. Because Spica dodges its attacks, I can concentrate on attacking, and Luna and Sirius are also providing support with light and ice attribute magic. Therefore, even I, who have just evolved, can evade the Avalanche Howl’s fierce onslaught.
“Hiyah!”
Immediately after the Avalanche Howl swung its right foreleg down, I wielded the Sterling Divider. My attack, which I thought wouldn’t inflict much damage on the previous Avalanche Howl, sliced off its right foreleg. To be able to inflict such significant damage on an A-C rank monster so easily… this, then, must be the power of the Ancient Class.
“Mana-sama, save the impressions for later, Hiyah!”
As she said that, Faris swung her axe down from above. Flying, a Supplication Magic cast by Prim, allows winged races such as dragons, harpies, and fairies to fly using their own wings. Naturally, Faris, being a fairy, can also use it. It was difficult at first, she said, but now she can fly as freely as Prim, greatly expanding her combat range.
“If we take too long, even more damage might be inflicted on the Trial Hearts, Order, and Saber, so let’s finish this quickly!”
“I understand!”
The Icicle Tiger and Friezas Tiger have already been defeated by the archers providing support fire from Raus, Carol, and the Beast Carriage. Only two Icequake Tigers remain. One is being fought by the Alliance, and the other by the Wing Crest, so it should be over soon. With Prim’s participation, Yamato and the others have gained the upper hand against the Slume Lord as well. It feels like they might have already defeated it, but we mustn’t let our guard down against a Demise Species. More importantly, what is that behind Mako? Something like a water wheel or a windmill.
” ‘Grand Thunder Ray’!”
Faris, who had flown into the sky using Flying, unleashed her trump card, the Unique Magic Grand Thunder Ray. I have seen it several times before, but the Grand Thunder Ray has been significantly improved. The former Grand Thunder Ray was a magic that dropped countless lightning bolts from the sky, but now, by incorporating the Light Sphere magic that Yamato taught us, it has become a fearsome Unique Magic where countless lightning bolts and lights dance from below and the sides, not just from above. Furthermore, like Lydia’s Grandust Blizzard, it also uses Barrier Magic, so the lightning doesn’t fly outside the barrier. The countless lightning bolts emanating from the spheres of light are not something the Avalanche Howl, with its reduced mobility after losing its right foreleg, can dodge. Almost all of them hit their mark. The previous Grand Thunder Ray couldn’t penetrate the Avalanche Howl’s hide or skin, but now, in its improved form, it pierces through and inflicts great damage on the Avalanche Howl.
“Mana-sama, here you go!”
“Yes! Let’s end this!”
Faris relinquished her role after dispelling the Grand Thunder Ray. I clad my new Unique Magic, Sterling Piaster, which can be used in the same way as Sterling Divider, onto the Lapislite Sword, leaped into the sky using Scaffolding from Spica’s back, and with the force of my fall, pierced the Avalanche Howl’s skull. Weakened by the Grand Thunder Ray, the Avalanche Howl couldn’t even dodge and slowly fell.
“I never imagined we’d be able to defeat an A-C rank monster together. That’s truly the power of the Ancient Class, I suppose.”
“I agree, but this is probably the true power of the Ancient Class.”
“What do you mean?”
As I confirmed the Avalanche Howl’s death and glanced at Yamato and the others, who had already defeated the Slume Lord, Faris provided an answer.
“I can only speculate, but past Ancient Classes had to limit their magic power for High Classes and above. This was due to weapon issues, of course, but also armor problems.”
“Yes. That’s why Yamato developed alloys and uses materials from M-rank monsters.”
“Exactly. For weapons, Divine Metal can solve many issues. However, for armor, even Divine Metal plate mail requires monster leather, so we inevitably have to worry about its degradation.”
I began to understand what Faris was trying to say. The five Ancient Classes who fought the Slume Lord 180 years ago reportedly used Divine Metal weapons, but their armor is only described as ordinary leather or metal armor. Therefore, even if they used Divine Metal weapons, their armor couldn’t withstand the magic power of the Ancient Class, which likely caused the Ancient Classes to unconsciously restrict the magic power directed towards their armor, negatively impacting the magic power channeled into their weapons. As a result, they were likely restricting their magic power overall, and therefore, not fully utilizing their inherent power as Ancient Classes?
“This is just my conjecture, but probably. I had armor made from the Aurora Dragoon leather I received as a gift, and even after evolving into an Ancient Fairy, it causes no problems.”
“Same here.”
It was because the S-R rank Winger Drake couldn’t withstand the magic power of Yamato or Prim that we hunted Dragoons relentlessly in the Solpre Labyrinth.
“Ah, so the Ancient Classes of the past didn’t use materials from high-rank monsters?”
“That’s also just conjecture. However, they definitely used Divine Metal weapons, and yet they couldn’t land the finishing blow on the Slume Lord, so the possibility is high. I’ve heard they couldn’t even land effective attacks on A-rank monsters.”
I’ve heard that story too. During the subjugation of the Disaster Dragoon, an A-I rank monster that appeared in the Labyrinth Flood of Retisencia, the five Ancient Classes who had even repelled the Slume Lord gathered. However, they couldn’t land effective attacks, and it was only through O-Rank Order Jeanne Kirschlicht sacrificing her life to open a breakthrough that they barely managed to defeat it. Jeanne died as a result, but perhaps after understanding the limitations of armor in the battle against the Slume Lord, they were unable to unleash attacks like they did against the Slume Lord. If they had been able to obtain the Disaster Dragoon then, there would have been no issue, but the greedy Retisencia took everything, including the Magic Stones. Moreover, a small Retisencia unit arrived under the guise of reinforcements when they were exhausted immediately after the battle and took the resulting Disaster Dragoon and the high-rank monsters that appeared in the flood. This resulted in the worst possible impression from other countries, and since then, few countries have sent reinforcements to Retisencia.
“Regarding that, we should investigate.”
“Yes. This is a problem that concerns not only High Classes but also Ancient Classes. More importantly, for us who have already evolved, it is literally a matter of life and death.”
“Absolutely.”
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Yamato and Prim alone could defeat numerous Anomaly Species and Catastrophe Species. Well, even setting that aside, I don’t think single-handedly defeating a Demise Species is possible. However, Faris’s hypothesis is very interesting to me, and since the possibility of others evolving cannot be ruled out, it would be best to ask Ed and the others to thoroughly investigate it.
“It seems everything is over.”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”
Yamato and the others have returned, so it seems they did defeat the Slume Lord. Those registered as healers under Sister Hilde’s command are busy, but sadly, there are also quite a few who lost their lives. The status of the Trial Hearts, Order, and Saber, who were holding back the Avalanche Howl, is unknown. However, they are undeniably unsung heroes, so I wish they are safe.
