Frostfire Legacy

Although she just used Knight's Challenge, Liz was already regretting her choice.

*SCREECH!*

Angered by her "arrogant" stunt, the Shadow Weasel screeched, before sending several waves of invisible wind blades toward her. Liz raised her shield, protecting the still-immobile Argus behind her.

*SLASH!* *THUNK!*

"Ugh...!"

Each attack was heavy, enough to almost break her posture, her feet drawing two deep grooves on the forest's ground! Her left arm, holding the shield, already went numb from the impact alone!

'I can't receive its attacks directly!'

With such a thought in mind, she quickly changed her approach. Instead of bracing herself for impact, she adjusted her stance to ensure ease of movement. "COME!" She growled at the monster, as if challenging it.

The Shadow Weasel, still taunted by the Knight's Challenge, moved to attack once more. Several invisible wind blades flew, aiming at Liz's various vital points. However, she narrowed her eyes, observing the flow of mana around her.

"THERE!"

She swung her mace down diagonally, and, in just one attack, destroyed all three of the invisible wind blades. Still, she didn't lower her guard and raised her left arm, letting the shield cover the side of her neck at an angle.

*SHING!*

As she did, another invisible wind blade came, but quickly slipped by, following the shield's curved surface. It was a perfectly timed and executed shield parry!

Liz's lips raised a little but didn't lose focus. She quickly turned to where the Shadow Weasel had been, but... "It's gone?!"

It was just a short moment when her shield blocked a part of her vision, but during that time, the Weasel already left her view! Liz warily observed the forest, trying to find signs of movement. But there was nothing else to hear except the wind blowing, the rustling of the leaves of the trees around them, and Argus' light whimpers.

'The boss is under Knight's Challenge's effect, so it couldn't go far from me!' She thought rationally.

However, the enemy remained invisible no matter where she turned.

"...!"

Right then, Liz got a foreboding feeling. The hair on the back of her neck rose, as her eyes widened. By reflex, she raised both the shield and mace above, like an umbrella to cover her from rain, and then...!

*SLASH!* *SLASH!* *SLASH!*

Multiple invisible wind blades rained down on her. The Shadow Weasel was hiding above her!

Thanks to her timely defense, she avoided receiving deadly damage. However, she was unable to parry the blades and sensed the breaking of her arm's bone. Still, she grit her teeth, bore through the pain, and raised a harrowing howl.

"AAAAAARRRRRGH!"

She survived the onslaught through pure willpower alone! However, it's not like having a strong mind could block the damages she received. There were too many wind blades, and not all of them went straight down. Some followed curved paths, which caused wounds to open over Liz's body.

"... Ugh."

With a weak voice, she assessed her state. A broken left arm, and wounds on her shoulder, biceps, right forearm, sides, and thigh. She is bleeding profusely, indicating that her injuries are profound. If left untended, she could die from blood loss alone.

However, the Shadow Weasel didn't even give her time to pull out a potion to heal. It sent another wave of invisible wind blades, as if to finish her off. This time, the attacks were angled to come from all directions!

'I guess this is it...' Liz sighed, smiling bitterly. 'Well, I tried my best.'

Argus was still incapacitated, unable to move. There's nobody there to save her...

"TAUNT! METAL BODY!"

But then, a shadow rushed between Liz and the Shadow Weasel, extending both arms wide, as if to protect her. Instead, the wind blades hit the figure, and despite the defensive skill she used, she still suffered serious injuries.

"TINA!" Liz shouted in shock.

She suddenly realized who the figure who appeared was. However, at the same time, she understood that Tina's situation became even worse than hers in a flash. Receiving all the attacks head-on was suicidal, even with her Metal Body skill!

"Fuck... that hurts..." But she just casually dismissed it, gulping down the contents of the potion bottle she had on her lips beforehand.

Her injuries closed at a noticeable rate, telling Liz that the one Tina used was a High Potion, not a regular one. A single dose of that was priced at a million Tels!

"Can you stand up?" Tina asked without turning around. "If you can, use potions fast. Also, wake up that stupid dog sleeping by the side."

"..."

Liz had a lot of questions for Tina but knew it wasn't time to ask those yet. She nodded silently, taking out a potion from her Spatial Fanny Pack, and downing its contents in one go.

Unlike a High Potion, a normal potion's speed of healing was slow. It would take her about ten seconds before she could move again. During that time, Tina had to handle the Shadow Weasel by herself!

A powerful Rogue Boss with invisible attacks able to break through her defense and great speed. As if ignoring all these, Tina bumped both her fists together, creating sparks.

"Come at me, you furry worm. I'll bury you in the ground!"

*SCREECH!*

Angered by her words, the weasel moved. With her taunt, all the aggression Liz had gathered was transferred to her. As a result, she brought the enemy's attention to bear.

"There!"

And this meant the enemy's movements would be predictable. Tina punched with her right hand, wearing the gauntlet with an ice element—Glacial Wrath. A freezing gale washed the entire space before her punch, even without hitting anything in particular!

*SCREECH!*

Thick ice encased the Shadow Weasel's right foreleg, trapping it within its range. It was an effective attack, inflicting pain on the monster, but still far from being decisive!

"Come down here!" Tina wasn't done yet, however.

Her initial attack with Glacial Wrath was just the prelude, as the main attack came afterward. Her left fist extended forward, creating a vortex of powerful flames—a phenomenon brought about by her other gauntlet, Emberfury!

Distracted by its frozen leg, the vortex caught the Shadow Weasel mid-air. It raised a pained screech once more, but this time it also fell to the ground, smoking hot, with freshly made bald patches here and there.

Tina raised her chin, looking confident, and bumped her fists again.

"Is that it? How weak."

She's completely dominating the fight!