Chapter 22

    Paradiso Ancient Remains, Part 2

    "It can't be helped then... This time let's have Möbius and Leia go ahead first."

    Inari allocated Möbius equally to everyone. Since both she and her daughter didn't have a problem with heights, she asked the young man to take care of Leia, who was afraid of heights, first.

    "Miho and Inari, follow me closely, okay?"

    Möbius, who had just regained his senses, stood in front of a crumbling long bridge, preparing to cross to the other side, he turned to the mother and daughter foxes at his sides before realizing that Leia might run slowly because she was clearly afraid of heights. To ensure everything went smoothly, he walked beside the petite young woman, then stooped down and scooped her up against his chest.

    "Wha... Whoa!!! What are you doing?"

    Leia exclaimed in surprise as she was carried princess-style, struggling to get him to put her down. But once the young man walked to the front of the bridge, it was she who buried her face into his chest.

    Miho and Inari watched with understanding, knowing it was indeed necessary to rely on speed to cross this bridge. The fox mother cast a spell that caused the wind to swirl around everyone, increasing their speed, and nodded to the young man as a signal that she was ready, while the young fox girl also made ready-to-run gestures indicating her readiness.

    This made Möbius tighten his arms to ensure that the figure in his arms wouldn't fall, before turning to smile at Leia and signaling to the mother and daughter foxes to start running together with him.

    "Stay calm, Young Miss. We're going now. 3…2…1…Go."

    Grativa

    As the young man's count finished, a large black magic circle appeared beneath his feet, large enough to comfortably accommodate the two women beside him. The effect of this magic was to lighten everything within the circle, increasing their running speed and reducing the load that this bridge had to bear. Then, everyone dashed forward swiftly.

    "Huff huff..."

    Möbius gasped heavily after running halfway. His face looked terrible because he had to carry Leia, who was tightly hugging his chest with her eyes closed, while simultaneously using the Grativa spell to lighten everyone's weight. Despite being nearly out of breath from running, he had to push himself to make it to the end.

    "Möbius, look!!!"

    At that moment, Miho pointed to a rope that was securing the bridge to a wooden pole on the side they were running towards, which was now slowly snapping under the vibrations caused by their running.

    "Hurry up."

    Seeing that, Möbius increased his speed to reach the other side before the rope could snap completely. Only 150 meters remained, but the rope was already giving way. Many smaller strands twisted into a larger rope were fraying rapidly and unraveling.

    In the blink of an eye, only a thin thread, like the last strand of a rope, was holding the bridge. Möbius cried out urgently,

    "Young Miss, hold onto me tightly. Inari, Miho, jump with me now."

    Cronos

    As he activated this ability, time around him seemed to slow, as if he was moving forward sluggishly. His left hand moved to the waist of Leia, who clung to his neck tightly with her small arms. His right hand reached forward, utilizing his enhanced predictive ability to time and position everything perfectly.

    ‘White Hole, Hand Grenade’

    A hand grenade and shrapnel separated slowly from his right hand, arcing down precisely onto a plank of the bridge just as everyone running behind was stepping on the same plank. Just as he had timed it, the young man shouted loudly.

    "Now, jump!!!"

    The magic circle on the ground intensified momentarily, showing the magical power the young man had added. As everyone's feet were about one meter off the bridge, the grenade behind them exploded, creating a powerful shockwave accompanied by immense heat that surged against Möbius and the two fox girls.

    The force of the explosion helped propel everyone in one leap to the other side, while the bridge, about to collapse, fell downwards immediately from the blast's force.

    Just like the owner of the grenade, hit full-force by his own device, he was blown uncontrollably toward his destination, with Leia, who had opened her eyes to see why there was an explosion, widening her eyes upon seeing the young man who held her injured, and now both were about to crash into the hard stone ground.

    "Don't be scared, Young Miss."

    Möbius, bleeding from a head wound that streamed down to his cheek, smiled at the petite girl before using his body to absorb the impact as they hit the ground, rolling on the surface to dissipate the force, all while holding Leia tightly to protect her using his own body to take all the damage.

    When the rolling stopped, the young man struggled to his feet and slowly placed the young woman down gently. Now, his body was marked with several burns and his stylish suit was torn to pieces. He collapsed to the ground the moment he saw that Leia was safe.

    "Möbius!! Hang in there."

    Inari, who had landed smoothly thanks to her agility and instincts that also allowed her daughter to land safely, rushed to check on Möbius, only to find that his life force was less than one third left, unlike them who were unharmed because it was the grenade of Möbius, who was their partner.

    "You're too reckless, Möbius. Why didn't you let us handle the grenade? We are stronger than you."

    Gumiho, rushing to support Möbius to lay him on her lap, furrowed her beautiful brows while reprimanding him as Inari quickly took out a fan to use a healing spell on him. The young fox girl disliked seeing the young man injured.

    "If you die... I'll kill you all over again, Möbius."

    Leia, thinking she was the reason for Möbius' injuries, collapsed next to him, her eyes beginning to turn slightly red, thinking she had almost caused him to die again.

    "Hehe, couldn't help it, only I can calculate the timing and direction of the explosion."

    Möbius, much improved from Inari's magic, chuckled dryly. Luckily, his stylish clothes were also affected by the healing power, returning to their cool appearance just like the scraped wounds on his body that had vanished completely, though some injuries could not be healed so in a short time, certainly including the burns and bruises from the explosion.

    "Are you holding up, Möbius?"

    Inari, knowledgeable in healing, knew that although Möbius' external wounds had healed, he was still pushing himself more than he let on, while trying to act as if he was fully recovered, which she did not mention to the other two girls, so as not to render his efforts meaningless.

    On this side, there were monsters similar to the ones on the other side, but they were not gathered in groups of fifty anymore. Instead, there were only about 5-6 of them.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    200 (Critical hit from ability)

    Möbius used his sniper rifle, picking off groups of angelic monsters one by one. However, this time the formation was completely different. Inari and Miho were at the forefront of the battle, while Leia supported Möbius. Inari, whenever she waved her fan, produced large flames instead of wind, and Gumiho used an umbrella engulfed in flames to strike at the approaching angels.

    Any that got past and reached Möbius were mysteriously killed instantly. Now at his limit, Möbius provided cover fire from the rear. It was the first time he saw the mother-daughter foxes fight like this, and he thought it might be because they didn’t fully trust Leia yet, hence they didn’t want Leia to see their true forms.

    The items dropped by the fallen angels were strange tools that Leia identified as relating to the ancient sciences of this city, a large amount of money, and several weapons of level 4-5. However, none of these were of use to Möbius or the girls. Möbius stored most of the items in his fourth dimension since his bag was already full of various colored potions and a variety of candies.

    Soon, they entered a corridor similar to the one on the other side. Möbius thought there might be an elevator that could take them out another way, which everyone agreed upon and they quickly moved forward. However, unlike the other corridor, this one housed a large monster blocking their way. It had the body of a lion, the head of a bird with thick armor around its beak, a ring floating above its head, large wings, and a tail tipped with a metal spear-like end.

    ‘You have encountered two level 40 Griffin Angels.’

    "Get back."

    Leia stepped forward with a cold voice addressing the two beasts. From her sleeves, solid black blades extended on both arms, and then she charged at the bewildered monsters, who wondered why such a small human dared to confront them alone.

    The black blades plunged into the bodies of the monsters in a blink, proving that the small girl before them was dangerously lethal. Leia's movements were swift and precise, her speed alone surpassing that of Sashimi, a seasoned warrior by two levels.

    Despite the Griffins using all their weapons—fangs, wings, and tails—they couldn’t harm Leia, who moved so fast she seemed like a black light swirling around them.

    Moreover, numerous fireballs came from behind, continuously exploding upon the Griffins, launched by the two fox girls using relentless magic attacks, especially Inari, who was particularly earnest as she knew Möbius needed rest to recover from his injuries.

    But the two Griffins were not fools. One delayed Leia while the other charged at the two foxes, forcing Möbius to pull out one of his most dangerous weapons, a Gatling gun that spun and rapidly fired bullets.

    Although his gun only had a strength of 10, in the confined space, it made it difficult for the Griffin to dodge the onslaught of bullets, giving the foxes another chance to launch a barrage of fire magic at the other Griffin. However, it was not very effective as it managed to block with its spear-tipped tail.

    "Hmm...!!!"

    Suddenly, one of them howled unusually. Möbius, the observant one, noticed that one of his bullets hit right in the center of the ring above its head, leading him to guess that this must be its weak spot. He then switched to dual pistols and used a gravity bullet combined with his ability to shoot repeatedly at the same spot to test his hypothesis.

    Repeat shot + Gravity shot – heavy

    3000 (Critical hit on a fatal spot)

    The word ‘critical’ from hitting the fatal spot confirmed that it must be its weakness. Möbius immediately informed the two girls.

    "Attack the ring on its head; that's its weak spot."

    Möbius's voice prompted Gumiho to dash forward, using her umbrella to stab into the center of the griffin's ring, then releasing fire through the umbrella, quickly killing that griffin. The other griffin, realizing its weakness had been discovered, kept a distance from Leia and instead used its elongated whip-like tail with the spear-like tip to attack from a mid-range distance.

    Möbius forced himself to run in to assist Leia, who was dodging the griffin's whip. Knowing his poor shooting skills, he needed to get closer to increase his hit chance since his magical bullets required a lot of effort to use. The griffin, seeing its prey being aided, immediately shot a beam of light from its ring at Möbius, catching him off guard with a move it hadn't used before.

    Cronos

    With heightened awareness, Möbius used his ability to slow down time, giving him more time to think. With limited space to dodge due to being too close to the wall, he wasn’t out of options yet. Using the Grativa magic, he altered gravity's pull, allowing him to run swiftly up the side wall. Even though time seemed slower for him, his movements were not actually faster, resulting in the beam grazing his side and causing a significant wound.

    500 (Remaining 1115/1615)

    "Oof!!! Be careful, Young Miss. Its beam is very powerful."

    Möbius called out to Leia as he ran along the wall, gritting his teeth against the pain to keep moving. The griffin, startled that its fatal blow had been dodged, aimed its elongated tail at Möbius next.

    The young man evaded the swinging whip by shifting to run on the ceiling, dodging multiple tail strikes with great difficulty until he finally reached his target position— the ceiling directly above the griffin. From this range, even a poor gunner like him couldn't miss. He fired his pistol rapidly at the target.

    Bang, bang, bang, bang!

    Gravity shot – bless

    Flash…

    A series of magical bullets hit the same spot, causing several overlapping magical circles to appear, each amplifying the gravity on the target. The griffin collapsed immediately under the multiplied weight of its own body.

    Seizing the moment, Möbius unleashed a barrage of wooden spears, obtained from a tribesman before entering the mine, from the White Hole in his right hand. With the combined force of the launch and the increased weight of the spears due to his magic, almost all of them pierced the griffin's body immediately.

    700×12

    That griffin was pinned to the ground, unable to move, allowing Leia, who was waiting for her chance, to rapidly move in and stab her blades multiple times into the creature's weak spot, causing the large creature to dissipate into light.

    "Phew, hope there's an exit ahead."

    Inari, who had followed to treat Möbius's wounds, prayed for a quick way out so the young man could finally rest. His accumulated injuries were severe, and although he tried not to show it, the copious sweat pouring from him was a clear indicator that he was nearing his limit.

    "There's the exit."

    After navigating through the long and complex path, far more convoluted than the other side, they finally arrived at a bright light at the end of the tunnel, prompting Gumiho to point and couldn’t help but dash forward first, stopping only at the exit where soon everyone discovered why she had halted.

    ‘You have encountered an Arc Angel, Level 65 Boss Monster.’

    The announcement of the boss encounter spurred everyone to run quickly. They soon saw a colossal monster about 10 meters tall, resembling a muscular bodybuilder but with the head of a baby with thin golden hair. Its skin was as white as marble, adorned in gold jewelry all over its body, holding a hammer as tall as itself. Above its head floated a mysterious symbol resembling a circle.

    The chamber was a large square room, about 800 meters wide and 2 kilometers long, with the group standing about 1.5 kilometers away from the exit. At the top of a truncated golden pyramid in the room was a vast stone chest that almost covered the entire flattened summit.

    "That's a treasure chest... but why is it so large?"

    Leia, who had seen similar treasure chests before, looked at the chest atop the pyramid in surprise. Normally, treasure chests were only the size of a medium crate, leading her to wonder what could possibly be inside this one.

    Thump, thump, thump!!

    The heavy footsteps of the Arc Angel running towards them to confront the intruders echoed through the chamber. Möbius, knowing that retreating was not an option without an exit, decided they must defeat this boss to possibly discover an escape route.

    "Everyone, spread out."

    Having battled similarly large bosses before, the young man instructed the girls to surround and attack the giant infant from all four directions. He regretted using his summoning ability, Efrik, to deal with the army earlier, as having the fire demon now would have made this battle much easier. He resolved to save Efrik for truly critical moments in the future.

    "Be careful, everyone."

    Inari immediately enhanced everyone's abilities with her magic before splitting off in another direction, as did Gumiho, who conjured multiple fireballs in the air while moving to her position.

    "Um..."

    Leia responded briefly before fearlessly charging at the giant infant, as she had a lot of experience fighting bosses. Judging from its weapon, a large hammer, she figured that it might be moving slowly, which proved true as its attacks were lethargic. Leia easily dodged and countered with her blades unstoppably.

    As the two foxes saw the boss focusing on Leia, they bombarded the giant infant with continuous magic attacks. However, it seemed impervious to damage even though they poured a lot of magic power into their attacks. They were unable to penetrate its marble-like skin.

    "Attack its legs!!! Make it fall and then target the floating circle above its head."

    Möbius, guessing the weak spot might be similar to that of the griffins, shared his plan before engaging the giant himself. If Leia missed, he could draw its attention to himself. Choosing a shotgun this time, he knew the boss wasn't fast, and although his movement was hindered by the heavy weapon, he could still dodge the slow attacks.

    He circled around the giant infant, constantly trying to stay opposite Leia, firing his shotgun continuously at the creature's legs. Meanwhile, Leia consistently stabbed her knife into the boss's ankles.

    Gumiho and Inari switched their attack from fireballs to fire chakrams, targeting the legs as instructed by Möbius. Their coordinated assault soon covered the legs of the Arc Angel with dark blue blood, but it was not enough to bring it down as their attacks were too weak and could only damage the outer skin.

    “Phew.”

    Möbius exhaled deeply to focus after downing another vial of the yellow potion on Inari’s advice. However, it seemed the potion could no longer stave off his fatigue. Despite continual healing, some injuries needed time to fully recover. In this game, a full 8-hour rest would heal all wounds, but their current situation afforded them no such time.

    He also learned from the fox mother that his current condition could lead to ‘exhaustion’ at any moment, which made him even more eager to finish the boss as quickly as possible, as Inari warned that he would become almost immobile if it happened.

    Swiftly switching to dual pistols, Möbius knew he had to bring down the giant. The young man fearlessly closed in on the boss, far larger than himself, and leapt up onto its massive legs.

    Grativa

    A magic circle the size of himself appeared at his feet, allowing him to maneuver across the large body of the boss as he had done with the tribe chief. This time, however, he was more serious, as each bullet in his dual pistols was laden with magic.

    The bullets, made heavier than usual, struck simultaneously at the joints behind both knees of the large boss, forcing it to lose balance and lurch forward uncontrollably. Two more shots targeted its calves from behind, compounding its instability. The Arc Angel fell to its knees with a loud crash.

    But the young man didn't stop there. He fired four more shots into the back of the boss’s head as it knelt, the force of the magic-laden bullets causing it to face-plant into the ground. He then unloaded all his bullets into the prone body, creating multiple overlapping gravity circles that pinned the large boss to the ground.

    At that moment, the young man turned to see the fox mother and daughter, both holding glowing orbs of power. Without a word, they unleashed their deadliest moves on the Arc Angel.

    ‘Foxfire Piercing the Ninth Heaven’

    ‘Foxfire Piercing the Ninth Heaven’

    14000 (Critical hit on a fatal spot)

    11000 (Critical hit on a fatal spot)

    Silver and gold flames shot simultaneously at the ring floating above the giant infant's head. Gumiho’s fatal attack was slightly more potent than Inari’s because she was purely offensive, while Inari, who balanced attack and healing, had less attack power.

    Leia swiftly positioned herself in front of the ring, preparing her own attack. She sliced at the ring on the boss's head with such speed that even the fox mother struggled to keep up.

    X8 FF (Fast Forward) Slash

    800×16 (Critical hit on a fatal spot)

    Even though everyone attacked its weak spot, the giant infant was not yet defeated. It writhed on the ground, trying to dislodge the person who was standing on its back.

    "Ugh!!!"

    As the girls prepared to strike again, Möbius, who was on the verge of exhaustion, stumbled slightly, causing the magic circle that pinned the boss to disappear. Seizing the opportunity, the Arc Angel quickly stood up, despite Möbius being on its back, and immediately used one of its abilities.

    Hammer Wave

    The Arc Angel slammed its massive hammer onto the ground, creating a shockwave that struck everyone around it. Leia, who was closest, was hit hardest by the shockwave and sent flying backwards.

    400

    Though not critically damaging, the shock left the petite woman in a dazed state. Unlike Möbius, who was not affected by this attack since he was on the boss's back. The giant infant, noticing Leia’s confusion, raised its hammer to strike her down. If Leia was hit now, she would surely die due to a critical hit from the unexpected attack.

    Möbius would not allow that to happen.

    Grativa

    Lightening himself, Möbius ran along the Arc Angel's arm. He switched the gun in his hand to a Commo Custom loaded with ice bullets. The young man sprinted along the arm, firing the ice bullets to sap the muscleman's strength, which worked as the boss's attacks slowed. This allowed Möbius to push Leia out of the hammer's swing radius of the giant boss just in time.

    But the trade-off was that the giant hammer was now swinging towards him. Möbius closed his eyes as if accepting the impending death handed to him by his adversary. At that moment, several sweet voices rang out around him.

    "Möbius, don't give up."

    "Möbius, you must survive."

    "Möbius... if you die, I'll… kill you for sure."

    The word ‘die’ expelled from his mind quickly. The young man opened his eyes and gathered all his remaining strength, extending his right hand forward.

    ‘Hands of Möbius, White Hole, Huge Mattress, Full Power’

    Boom!!!

    1600 (Remaining 15/1615)

    Möbius released a 10-foot mattress from his hand with all the remaining magical power he had. The fine mattress acted like a shock absorber against the hammer's impact. While it significantly reduced the force, he was still blasted more than 300 meters away along with the mattress, which fortunately cushioned his landing. Without it, he surely would have perished.

    ‘Beep, beep, beep. Player Möbius status: Exhausted, Near Death.’

    The announcement blared in the heads of the three women. Möbius, lying on the mattress, was completely motionless. The relentless alert sound underscored their inability to protect him… They couldn't protect Möbius.

    "You...!!!"

    Gumiho's anger surged like never before. Her beautiful brows furrowed as a golden aura erupted from her body. Her nine golden tails moved as if they had a mind of their own, and triangular golden ears appeared on her head, unconcerned about who might see her true form.

    "How dare you..."

    Inari, also in her half-fox form like Gumiho, emitted a silver aura from her body. Gumiho's golden aura was as hot as fire, releasing all her magical power at once, but Inari's silver aura was as cool as ice, as she gathered all the ambient heat into herself.

    "Not again... He's hurt because of me again..."

    Leia, equally furious, reflected on all the times Möbius had protected and cared for her. Yet, she had concealed her true power, leading him to this near-death situation. A dark aura enveloped the petite girl. Her initial profession was as an assassin, and her second chosen profession was a witch.

    Typically, a witch would borrow the power of a demon for dark magic. However, being an assassin first, Leia borrowed demonic power to enhance her physical abilities, assuming the form of that demon when activated. She feared that Möbius would find her repulsive in her demonic form, despite never having seen herself like this because her demonic form cast no reflection in mirrors.

    Gumiho's golden aura condensed into numerous small fireballs, while Inari raised her hands above her head, summoning a large silver fireball hovering over her. Unlike players, creatures like the fox mother-daughter duo couldn’t learn new abilities from books.

     However, they could acquire them through direct experience. The fire magic stronger than the ‘Foxfire Piercing the Ninth Heaven’ which they had experienced before, and now the doomed boss would experience it too. This was the Big Bang, a fatal blow of the fire demon Efrik.

    Leia's fangs protruded slightly from her mouth, black bat-like wings pierced through her clothes, and her ten nails extended, replacing the small daggers hidden in her sleeves. Her normally pale skin turned slightly ashen as her purple hair gradually darkened to a deep black like the night. Her eyes, once gem-like purple, now changed into a blood-red hue. Black aura enveloped her extended claws, making it seem as if black flames engulfed her hands.

    "You despicable boss, daring to hurt Möbius, I, Miho, will never forgive you."

    Gumiho hurled numerous fireballs at the Arc Angel relentlessly, creating a downpour of fireballs that bombarded the boss before her.

    400×57

    "How dare you attack Möbius to such an extent, I, Inari, can no longer coexist with you in this world."

    Inari forcefully hurled a gigantic silver fireball at the giant infant. As the silver fireball struck its target, a massive explosion erupted, engulfing the creature's 10-meter-tall body.

    19000

    "To repay the man who has done everything for me, I, Leia, will use everything I have to avenge him."

    In a blink of an eye, she vanished from everyone's sight and reappeared from the shadows behind the boss at maximum speed. She crossed her extended claws in an X-shape and slashed furiously from behind several times, severing the boss’s large legs and finally causing it to collapse. Due to Leia's use of dark elemental power, the damages inflicted was far more devastating than usual.

    2500×10 (Critical hit from element)

    "Panting, do not expect... to harm... someone important to me... ever again."

    Möbius, clutching a sniper rifle that now gleamed brighter than ever with a white light, lay aiming from the tattered mattress. Despite his pallor and feeling as if his body was about to shatter, his eyes were resolute, worthy of the trust the ladies had placed in him. Gathering all his remaining strength, Möbius pulled the trigger, his aim set on the ring of the Arc Angel lying before him.

    Cool shot.