Meanwhile...
"Kyaaa!"
A shrill scream echoed down the street as another of the plant-like monsters... identical to the one Judas had fought... rampaged through a different district of the city.
Debris littered the ground, buildings groaned under damaged stone, and terrified civilians fled in every direction.
"Seriously, what are those things?"
From the rooftop, the Amazon Twins and Lefiya sprinted across tiles and beams, eyes narrowed as they headed straight toward the disturbance.
"Lefiya, observe the situation and provide support!"
Tione barked sharply as she leapt over a chimney.
"Y-Yes!"
Lefiya replied, gripping her staff until her knuckles turned white.
Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears, but her eyes remained focused.
In the street below, two plant monsters twisted toward a fallen citizen... jaws opening, vines whipping in anticipation.
"Help me!"
The man cried, scrambling weakly backward.
"Not on our watch!"
Tiona and Tione roared in unison.
With explosive footwork, they dropped from the rooftop, fists cocked back.
Their punches detonated against the monsters' heads... powerful blows from two Level 5 adventurers that should've turned any normal creature into pulp.
However...
"Why is it so HARD!?"
Tione hissed as pain shot through her knuckles.
Tiona shook her hand out, face contorting.
"Our fists barely made a dent!"
To their disbelief, the monsters staggered back only for a heartbeat... then rose again, vines writhing, bodies unbroken.
"Geez, if only we brought our weapons..."
Tiona complained through clenched teeth.
ROAR
Both monsters screeched and surged toward them, their vine-like bodies whipping through the air with enough force to split stone.
The twins darted apart, dodging, weaving, letting the vines smash into the ground where they had stood moments before.
"Tsk."
"This is getting annoying."
Grinding her teeth, Tione slipped under a sweeping vine, planted her foot, and delivered a brutal kick to the monster's head.
A booming shockwave cracked the pavement... yet the creature merely snapped its head back into place, shaking off the blow like a mild inconvenience.
"The HELL!?"
Tione shouted.
The monster retaliated instantly, lunging with its gaping jaws.
Tione twisted away, flipping back to Tiona's side.
They exchanged a quick glance... battle-hardened, efficient, reading each other instantly.
After several more engagements, they finally pieced it together.
"That thing is resistant to bludgeoning damage."
Tiona growled, shaking feeling back into her hand.
"Our fists aren't doing jack."
Tione added, her expression tightening as she watched the monster's movements,
Sometimes, in battle, it was not sheer strength alone that decided the victor.
Power levels mattered, yes... but that is not everything.
There were countless other variables that shaped the outcome of a fight: terrain, timing, instincts, experience... and one of the most important of all... compatibility.
Even the mightiest warrior could be brought to their knees if they faced an enemy perfectly suited to counter them.
And right now, Tione and Tiona knew it.
Without their weapons, standing against monsters that shrugged off their blows and retaliated with unpredictable, whip-like attacks...
These plant creatures were, without question, the worst possible matchup for the Amazon twins.
They felt it in the sting in their knuckles, in the way their strikes sank in but failed to crush.
A bad pairing... an unfavorable matchup.
Lefiya watched everything unfold with wide eyes, her breath caught in her throat.
'Those monsters... without their weapons, Tione and Tiona won't be able to finish them off.'
The sight was unbelievable.
The Amazon twins... two first-class adventurers... had struck the monsters with blows that should've reduced them to pulp.
Yet the creatures stood back up, unfazed, their vines writhing with unnatural vitality.
That was when it truly sank in.
These weren't ordinary monsters.
Still, despite the fear creeping up her spine, Lefiya clenched her trembling hands around her staff.
'Even so... I can't just sit here and do nothing.'
She had worked tirelessly.
Trained until her throat went raw from chanting.
Practiced concurrent chanting until her head throbbed.
She earned this progress.
'I can use concurrent chanting now... I shouldn't be a burden to them anymore.'
'Yes... I'm growing. Catching up to them little by little.'
'I won't stay behind in the sidelines forever... this is my chance... to prove that I can stand with them.'
Heart pounding, Lefiya began her chant... voice steady, magic swelling around her.
She imagined it clearly: the brilliant spell, the triumphant destruction of the enemy, the proud looks on her seniors' faces, perhaps even a pat on the head or a few words of praise from her idol.
A warm glow filled her chest... and that was when everything went wrong.
Without warning, the plant monsters disengaged from the twins and snapped their heads toward her.
The moment her chanting began, all their attention locked onto a new target.
"Huh?"
Confusion flickered across Lefiya's face just as Tione's eyes widened in realization.
"Lefiya! Get out of the way!"
Tione dashed forward... only for a wave of additional plant monsters to suddenly burst from an alleyway, blocking her path.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Tione snarled, skidding back as several vines cracked toward her like living whips.
Even Tiona, nimble as she was, couldn't break away fast enough.
"Eh?"
Lefiya barely had time to lift her gaze before she saw it... the yawning maw of a monster lunging straight for her, its petals peeling back like grotesque blades, its scent thick and sickly.
Her entire body went cold.
'Move...'
Her mind shrieked the command, every instinct urging her to dodge, to roll, to run... but her legs refused.
Her imagination betrayed her.
She saw it... saw herself crushed in those jaws, saw the blood, saw her own lifeless body on the street.
As a rear-guard mage, she had always fought behind the protection of others.
Facing death this closely was something she had never been prepared for.
And so she froze.
Just a heartbeat of hesitation... but that was all it took.
Her focus shattered, her chant slipped, and...
Ignis Fatuus.
A violent burst of unstable magic exploded around her.
The street flashed white.
Lefiya was thrown off her feet.
"Lefiya!"
Tione and Tiona's worried shouts went unheard, drowned beneath the ringing in her ears as Lefiya was thrown backward, the world spinning around her.
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