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That skill had greatly caught Soul Howl’s attention, and put him in a better mood. Mainly because he had started getting worried about potions.
Potions with powerful effects had gotten considerably more expensive than during the game days, and the prices just kept rising. Soul Howl had plenty of money saved up so he was not particularly worried about that aspect though.
The issue was the supply. Every day there were less potions available on the market, which incidentally was the reason prices kept going up. Even if he had the necessary money, there was no guarantee he would find potions for sale.
Considering how reckless Soul Howl had been to get this far, powerful potions were extremely important for him to keep that momentum going.
「At least now I’ll stop running into the issue that I can’t drink healing potions because I overdid it with mana potions.」
「That’s commendable.」
Mira recalled something they would sometimes discuss during the game days, and Soul Howl also grimaced thinking back to it.
Potions with a strong effect above a certain level had an issue with being toxic to the body. They offered incredible assistance with one thing, but if they were consumed excessively they could lead to something like a drunken state, or even loss of consciousness in extreme cases.
So calculating just how many potions could be consumed safely in a fierce fight was also something spellcasters had to keep in mind.
But less powerful potions were not toxic, so they could be consumed as much as a spellcaster wanted. Now that this world was reality that was not exactly an option anymore though, as people would get full and become unable to drink more stuff.
「But well, having learned Meditation alone made meeting you again worth it, Elder.」
He muttered that as he transferred the magic circle he had just drawn onto Transcription Paper.
「What, that’s it? I’m sure there’s more. Aren’t you happy to see an old friend again?」
「Ahh, you’re right, I also got my high level spells-」
Just while Soul Howl was about to thank her for helping with restoring his high level spells, he stopped mid-sentence and lifted a brow.
「What happened? Did the golems get defeated again?」
Soul Howl’s reaction the night before had been similar, so Mira assumed it had to do with the golems again.
「Yes, they did. There were still 4 left, but they all vanished just now.」
Mira’s hunch had been correct. Soul Howl quickly finished copying the magic circle to be ready for the fight, while Mira double checked everything one last time.
「I guess Machina Guardian finally learned how to deal with them.」
「Probably, yeah. It’ll be annoying if it manages to regenerate its armaments, so let’s head there quickly.」
Saying that, Soul Howl rushed out of the spirit mansion.
Since the golems were gone, it would not take long for Machina Guardian to enter its healing phase, and the longer it had to heal, the more its weapons would regenerate and expand its arsenal. It was a quite dire situation.
「Having to disarm it from the beginning would be too much…」
Mira was also aware of that, so she quickly cleaned everything in the room and sent the spirit mansion away before running after Soul Howl.
The two ran through the corridors, heading to the arena.
They passed corner after corner, until they reached the stretch where the golems had been stationed… and froze in place.
「Why… why now of all times…」
「Oh yeah, I almost forgot this always happens too.」
In front of them, right in the center of the corridor, there was a shadow looming still. Its body seemed to be built out of scrap parts, had two arms and four legs, and its head looked like a crude robotical rendition of a doll’s face. Its two hands also carried blades without hilts.
Its body looked like it was made of lead without much care, and it creaked loudly as it turned to face Mira and Soul Howl.
Overall it had an asymmetrical silhouette, and while it looked slightly different from how they remembered it, it remained just as bizarre.
The wandering boss of the seventh floor had appeared there, the Mechanical Prowler.
「Now that I think about it, there were only four golems left, which should be more than easy for the Prowler to defeat in one hit.」
「You’re right. Somehow we got a bit too cocky after the first time.」
Mira and Soul Howl carefully examined their enemy, trying to think of what to do. After a bit of thinking, Mira was the first to speak.
「I’ll distract the Prowler. You go inside like we planned and prepare the battlefield.」
She slowly walked ahead, making sure the Prowler’s attention was focused on her, and then summoned two Holy Knights and a Dark Knight.
The Prowler was an enemy she could defeat as long as she did not get careless, but it was still the enemy second in power to Machina Guardian, and was unusually resilient considering its metallic body. Even if Mira and Soul Howl fought together, the corridor was too cramped to really let them finish the fight within five minutes.
The issue was Machina Guardian’s healing phase. Eight minutes had already passed since the last golem had entered the arena, so it would not take much longer for the healing phase to start. By the time they defeated the Prowler, Machina Guardian would have already regenerated a large portion of its arsenal.
Considering all of that, Soul Howl quickly agreed to Mira’s idea, and ran ahead while hiding under the shadows of Mira’s summons.
A moment later the Prowler also started moving, making a screeching metallic sound as its four legs moved with precision to make it lunge.
The Prowler did not seem bothered by the Dark Knight and Holy Knight, its blades aimed square at Soul Howl.
It did not matter that he was hiding, the Prowler’s attack was meant only for him. But Soul Howl also ignored the Prowler, running past without much worry. He was well aware of what Mira’s Knights could do.
The Prowler’s blades were blocked by the Holy Knight’s tower shield, which let out copious amounts of sparks from the collision.
There were two opposing forces which seemed to cancel each other, but only for a bit. The whirring and metallic screeching became louder and then the Holy Knight was pushed back.
(He’s stupid strong like always…)
The Prowler was an enemy with a rank above A. Not even Mira could hold it back with low level summons.
Having pushed the Holy Knight’s tower shield away, the Prowler turned its back to Mira and ran toward Soul Howl again.
(It’s ignoring me completely and only focusing on Soul Howl, huh. It’s acting like its main priority is keeping everyone away from the arena.)
Mira quickly examined the current situation and then ran toward the arena herself.
Ahead of her ran Soul Howl with the Prowler behind him, but before any attack could land, the second Holy Knight blocked its path.
A single powerful attack from the Prowler flicked the Holy Knight away, opening a path.
It seemed to be obsessed with chasing after Soul Howl. Then black blades appeared in the air to attack the Prowler. They were black blades given form by Mira’s mana, the weapons of partially summoned Dark Lords.
Those blades swirled through the air with effortless grace, leaving clear marks on the Prowler’s resilient outer shell. Meanwhile Mira ran past the Prowler, then summoned two Holy Knights in front of her so that they could stop the enemy before it could reach Soul Howl again.
Summoning Skill, Change: Holy Lord
The moment Mira activated that spell, the two Holy Knights were enveloped in a blinding light. Once the transformation was complete, the two Knights stepped out. Their armor had become far more burly and their shields were thick like castle walls.
Holy Lords were the opposite of Dark Lords, being focused purely on defending. Just their appearance alone was enough to know how strong their armor and shield were, but their agility was also greatly diminished by the added weight, making them almost like static walls.
But a slim corridor like the one they were in maximized the Holy Lords’ potential. Their incredible defenses could block an attack from even a high level raid boss. The Prowler was a powerful enemy, its relentless aggressiveness being the most dangerous part of it, but it was not strong enough to break past the Holy Lords.
The two Holy Lords perfectly blocked the corridor, not leaving enough space for the Prowler to scurry though. From the other side, Mira grinned proudly seeing her enemy trapped.
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