Chapter 93

Nina and the others were running in reverse from the 37th floor, and were now sprinting through the 22nd floor.

Chasing after Yuu, who had burst out, turned out to be unexpectedly easy for Nina and the others. This was because the corpses of monsters lay like markers. They were probably the monsters that had attacked Yuu and were defeated in retaliation.

Despite slaughtering all the monsters that stood in their way, Nina was frustrated that they couldn't even catch a glimpse of Yuu's back.

"Marichan, hurry up!"

"Okay!"

"Hey! Catch that brat alive!"

At Karon's words, the Ability Leaf members looked at him in disbelief.

Eight of their comrades had been killed by a single person, and they hadn't even managed to inflict a single wound.

"Karon, it's an unreasonable request to catch that brat alive. Why don't we just kill the brat and catch Driared alive?"

The men around him nodded silently, but Karon wouldn't allow it.

"I didn't tell you all the details. Besides capturing Driared, Mr. Value has another request. It's to kidnap a brat named Yuu Sato. At first, I was also puzzled as to why we should kidnap a brat, but that brat... apparently knows an incredible secret about alchemy. If we capture Driared and that brat, Mr. Value has promised to make me a noble. Of course, you won't get a title, but I'll make you all nobles!"

Karon's words spread a lecherous smile across the faces of the Ability Leaf members. They began to cheer, saying they could become nobles and that they would do it.

"Nothing, I'm not telling you all to die in vain. I'll weaken him with my special human-targeting magic, and then you can catch him when he's weakened."

Karon had a plan.

Yuu was spreading a web of magic like a spider's web, striking those who got caught, while connecting a magic thread to the nearly dead pixies and pouring healing magic into them. Despite his small size, the number of pixies was large, and Yuu wasn't as calm as he appeared.

Karon had noticed that Yuu wasn't as calm as he seemed and intended to finish things before the pixies fully recovered.

"Alright! I'll cast my magic now, so you all charge after that!"

The Ability Leaf members responded energetically to Karon's command, their hands tightening on their weapons.

Karon also began to prepare his magic. His special magic was the 5th Tier Elemental Magic 'Iron Mixer,' which uses the power of earth elementals to materialize iron blades that envelop the target and crush it with high-speed rotation. Of course, Karon wouldn't forget to control the power to avoid killing.

"Karon, are you ready yet?"

"Shut up! Just a little more!"

Karon had the passive skill of casting without incantation and was preparing the magic while explaining to the members, but strangely, the earth elementals were not gathering as they should.

(What's going on? The earth elementals... they're not gathering as much as usual!)

Karon, flustered by the unexpected situation, released the 5th Tier Elemental Magic 'Iron Mixer' before it was complete.

"Alright! Now! Charge!"

The Ability Leaf members charged forward with a cheer.

Yuu couldn't avoid the Iron Mixer Karon had released. Behind him were the nearly dead pixies and Driared.

The iron blades enveloped Yuu, layer upon layer. Driared and the pixies screamed, but the blades began to rotate, scattering sparks as they collided with each other.

(The rotation speed is slower than usual. The power is only a third of what it should be.)

While the Ability Leaf members were shouting excitedly, Karon was losing his composure.

The high-speed rotation of the iron blades gradually slowed, and the blades materialized by elemental magic began to disappear. The Ability Leaf members had expected to see Yuu, who was in tatters, but the Yuu who emerged from the center was protecting the pixie on his head with a magic shield, and though he was injured, he was still in one piece.

"What's going on... that brat is still fine!"

"He... he used the shield skill 'Iron Wall' to block it!"

"Are you kidding! Karon's 'Iron Mixer' is 5th Tier Elemental Magic! How could he block it with Iron Wall!"

"He did block it, didn't he!"

Panic spread among the Ability Leaf members, and Karon shouted at them.

"Don't panic! Aim for the pixies! That brat is protecting the pixies."

"That's right. We can use the captured pixies as shields."

Karon gave orders and made hand signals that only the veteran members understood. Some went to the cage where the captured pixies were, while others launched long-range attacks on the pixies Yuu was protecting. The veteran members gathered around Karon without being noticed.

"Karon, what's going on?"

"We need to regroup. We'll retreat and request reinforcements from Mr. Value."

"Are you giving up on Driared?"

"Better to have a live body. That brat is healing the injured pixies at an impossible speed. You know what will happen when the pixies are healed, don't you?"

While Karon was explaining the situation to the veteran members, those who had gone to the cage where the pixies were were impaled by Earth Lances and died, and the long-range attacks were blocked by Yuu's barrier.

"Can't you believe me now?"

No one was left to argue with Karon.

Karon and the others slowly began to distance themselves from Yuu while ordering the attacking members to advance.

"What the hell! This monster!"

One of the men, unable to bear the gradual retreat, swung his sword and charged at Yuu, but Yuu deflected it with the sword skill 'Willow' and beheaded him as they passed each other.

The remaining members were in disarray and scattered like spiders.

"I won't let you escape."

Yuu released the sword skill 'Steel Flash' at the fleeing Ability Leaf members. The sword flash, released horizontally, passed through the Ability Leaf members.

"What? Something just passed... Oh, my stomach!"

A line appeared around the waists of the Ability Leaf members. When they touched the line, their upper and lower bodies separated and fell off. Despite their frantic attempts to stop the bleeding, they couldn't stop their bodies from splitting in two and died. Thirteen in total.

Karon and the veteran members had already moved to the entrance without even looking at the dead members.

"I'll kill the rest."

Yuu was about to chase after Karon, but then the pixies came into his field of vision. Their wounds were healed by Yuu's recovery magic, but some had lost limbs, and others were still in shock from the attack. Yuu saw the pixies' eyes.

"Hey, shouldn't we chase after them?"

"That kind of scum, we could have handled them alone! ...But I'm grateful for helping everyone."

"Those guys are under some important person, right? Are you okay?"

The revived pixies were flying around Yuu's head, making it unbearably annoying.

Yuu ultimately decided not to chase after Karon and prioritized treating the pixies. He understood that this was a very bad decision, but he didn't know why he made that choice.

"Yuu-sama, thank you so much."

Driared, with a face covered in tears and snot, hugged Yuu.

"Disgusting, at least wipe your nose first."

The pixie on Yuu's head puffed out her cheeks and pushed Driared's head away from Yuu, but to no avail. The other pixies around them laughed as if it were very amusing.

"What are you going to do from now on?"

Driared and the pixies' secret garden was now a desolate sight.

"What can we do?"

Driared looked around with a troubled expression.

"Maybe I can take you to a deeper floor."

"Idiot! If we go to a deeper floor, we'll be killed by other monsters!"

The pixies gathered around Yuu, saying "That's right, that's right."

"Do you have a place to go?"

At Yuu's words, Driared and the pixies smiled confidently.

"Yes, it's probably the safest place around here!"

The timid Driared answered confidently. The other pixies also nodded with their backs arched.

"I see. That's good. Don't live in a place where humans can find you again."

Yuu raised his hand in greeting without turning back and headed for the exit.

"Alright, everyone, let's move!"

"Okay!"

The pixies responded energetically to Driared's words.

Yuu didn't notice, but a shy pixie was still on his head. Driared and the pixies were connected by telepathy and could sense each other's positions even at a distance.