Chapter 86: Vs Troll

「What is this? I feel unpleasant signs lie ahead of us…」

「Nnyaa, such… terrifying pressure!」

Aria and co took a nap after finishing their lunch in the safety zone.

A while after they descended to the 10th floor, both Vulcan and Aria, who took the lead, felt an indescribable pressure.

When they took a peek at the situation from the shade of the rock, they became speechless.

（I see. Trolls, huh. Troublesome opponent indeed.）

Tama, who was hopping on Aria’s shoulder, also saw the situation ahead with a bitter look on his face.

Yes, waiting ahead for them was a three-meter tall monster… a Troll.

Aria and Vulcan were aware of its strength as they had seen how Tama had defeated Demon Beryl’s trolls by himself.

Trolls were A-rank monsters. They were extremely troublesome monsters with the power to smash a rock with their fists, and they also possessed self-regeneration.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A single one of them could instantly devastate a village.

「Tama, please stand back for now. We’re going to bring it down ourselves.」

「NYA（MASTER）!?」

「Yup, we can’t always rely on Tama’s power, after all. Aria-chan has become an A-rank adventurer too. So I think it’s time for us to challenge a troll without relying on Tama’s power.」

Tama was extremely surprised on hearing Aria’s words.

But, it seemed that Vulcan also agreed with Aria.

「Fufufu, cease your worry, Tama. Leave the job of protecting them to me. Let me show you that I’m qualified to become your woman!」

「U~hn, that huge monster is indeed scary. But, let’s do our best!」

「I’ll do my best to support from behi~nd!」

Stella was pumped up for the challenge. The same was the case for Lily and Faeri despite the anxious looks on their faces.

Tama couldn’t do anything but nod. Seeing their burning passion, he thought (Well can’t be helped… I mean, master and the others seem really eager to do this too. But, I’ll make sure to cover for them in the worst-case situation).

「Fufu, since Tama has given his consent, let’s begin then.」

「Roger, nyan. Aria-chan, let’s start with Lily-chan’s and Faeri-chan’s long-range magic to draw the first blood. After that, we can use our usual tactic, nyan. But we’ve to constantly raise our vigilance due to the troll’s regeneration ability.」

Everyone nodded at once on Vulcan’s instructions.

And then, the fierce battle began.

「HERE I COME! 《Fairy Bullet》!」

「GO, 《Branch Whip》~!」

Both Lily and Faeri invoked their skills.

They were still under the effects of Tama’s 《Divine Protection of Lion King》.

The reinforced light bullets and the tree whip attacked the troll’s body.

『GEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?』

Their ambush was a success.

Lily’s 《Fairy Bullet》 landed straight on the troll’s abdomen, and Faeri’s 《Branch Whip》 struck the monster’s shoulder.

Their attack left a quite deep wound.

The troll’s blood trickled down to the labyrinth’s ground.

But of course, such a degree of wound wasn’t even close to being enough to defeat the troll.

The fresh wound let out a sizzling sound along with smoke, as the troll’s self-regeneration activated.

「NOW!」

「NYARIGHT!!」

Both Vulcan and Stella leaped forward as soon as they saw the troll staggering.

And then, Stella, who had transformed into her dragonewt form, made a powerful charge on the troll’s flank.

But, as expected of the troll…

Even Stella’s power wasn’t enough to bring it down on its knees.

On the contrary, it suddenly showed a sinister and vulgar smile, and then― It punched toward Stella.

「Not so fast, nyan!」

Almost at the same time as when the troll tried to punch Stella, Vulcan, who had circled around to the side of the troll, struck the monster’s shin with her battle hammer.

At that moment, the troll raised a high-pitched 『GIGYAAAAAAAAAAAA!?』 scream.

No matter how powerful its self-regeneration abilities were, they couldn’t change the fact that the monster still had vital spots.

And the locations of those vital spots were about the same as in a human.

It was why despite how resilient its body was, not even the troll could withstand the pain of its shin getting struck by Vulcan’s full-powered giant black-iron hammer.

（NOW!）

Aria didn’t miss that opening.

She achieved her top speed the moment she invoked her 《Acceleration》, leaving a deep cutting wound on the neck of the troll as she passed by its side.

Fresh blood gushed out from the wound on the troll’s neck.

It seemed Aria’s attack just now had torn the large artery on its neck.

But the troll’s pained expression only lasted for a heartbeat. Its wound healed up in the next moment.

「You two! Get back!」

Stella said so to Aria and Vulcan.

A moment later, the troll swung its club to the side.

It passed through the empty air, generating a sonic boom.

Aria and Vulcan managed to dodge the strike by jumping back.

And even though Stella could block that swing with her mega shield, she didn’t meet that attack from the front.

She positioned her mega shield at the right angle, parrying the troll’s strike.

「Lily-chan, Faeri-chan, NOW!!」

「Roger that, Aria!」

「Leave it to u~s!」

The troll’s stance had crumbled after Stella parried its attack.

So, as soon as Aria gave the signal, Lily and Faeri invoked their skills.

The troll was wide open for attack. It had kept chasing after Vulcan and Stella up to that point, but then, it began to pursue Lily and Fari.

「OVER MY DEAD BODY!」

As the tank of their party, there was no way Stella would let that troll attack their back row.

Stella went after the exposed back of the troll and struck with the great sword in her right hand.

Large amount of blood gushed out from the troll’s back.

Due to the unimaginable pain, it unintentionally stopped at its place and glared at Stella, the one who had stabbed it in the back.

It gripped its club with both hands, raised it high upward, and then swung it down. Or so the troll expected it to play out.

「… 《Sacred Blade》!」

Aria whispered the name of her skill in a quiet voice. Yet, her voice resounded in that area.

At that moment, a silver flash surged up on the troll’s head along with a high-pitched bell-like sound.

『Ge… GEBYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?』

The troll let out its loudest cry of the entire battle.

At the same time, its grip on its club loosened, and the club fell on the ground.

Aria was waiting for the troll to make an opening before using such a bold move.

And now was the best chance to use her strongest skill.

She jumped from behind and used her holy elemental ancient skill, the 《Sacred Blade》, to slice through the troll’s arms.

Holy element was the bane of all races.

The holy blade inflicted wounds on the troll’s arms, and the pain was simply unimaginable.

「Hunya! The troll’s regeneration speed is slowing down, nya!」

Vulcan noticed the change in the troll’s condition.

It seemed the troll’s life force had hit its limit after the troll repeatedly used self-regeneration.

The healing speed for both the wound on its back and the regrowth speed of its arms had considerably slowed down.

「NOW, EVERYONE ATTACK TOGETHER!!!」

Stella swung her great sword.

She stepped back right after her sword opened a diagonal wound on the troll’s abdomen.

That was why even though the troll was trying to punch her with its regenerated arm, it only hit empty air.

「《Fairy Bullet》!」

「《Branch Whip》!」

When the troll showed its back, Lily and Faeri launched their attacks.

The troll’s arms had completely regenerated by that time.

It picked up its fallen club and took a defensive stance to protect itself from Lily and Faeri’s barrage of attacks.

「DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME!」

That defensive stance created another huge opening.

Vulcan closed in on the troll and struck the back of its head with her battle hammer.

The troll, who had been overwhelmed by Aria and co’s cooperation attacks, couldn’t do anything against Vulcan’s strike.

But, as expected of an A-rank monster.

That number of attacks still wasn’t enough to defeat it.

But Vulcan’s attack had stunned the troll and caused a light concussion.

「THIS IS THE END! 《SACRED BLADE》――!」

Aria launched another attack toward the troll.

Naturally, the still befuddled troll couldn’t react against her prided 《Acceleration》 speed which was further boosted by Tama’s 《Divine Protection of Lion King》.

Aria fired her 3rd 《Sacred Blade》.

This time, not only did she sever the troll’s arms again, but she also cut its head, killing it for sure.

「The regeneration… has stopped, nyan!」

「WE WON!!!」

The troll’s head didn’t regenerate.

It seemed Aria’s last attack had drained whatever was left of its life force.

「Ha~h, that was a really intense battle~!」

「It was a little bit scary but, we wo~n!」

Lily and Faeri immediately sat where they were and heaved a sigh of relief.

As expected, fighting an A-rank monster for the first time had given them quite a lot of pressure.

「Fufufu, do you see that, Tama??」

「Nyan（Wonderful, master）!」

Tama gave a lively purr when Aria called his name with such an enchanting voice.