Selenas combat skills were truly excellent.

I was thrown to the ground in an instant. I didnt have any intention of resisting, but even if I did, it wouldnt have made a difference.

After I spoke, however, Selena froze. She kept breathing heavily and trembling, unable to do anything else.

Swish

I lightly pushed Selena off me. If I hadnt, she wouldve likely kept trembling like that for hours.

Even as I got up, brushed the dust off my clothes, and tidied myself up, Selena remained on the ground, her eyes darting around.

It seemed like she was thinking hard, but it wasnt as if her lost memories would return.

But judging from her expression, it doesnt seem like shes completely forgotten about it.

Everything I said was true, as I saw it through 'analysis.' As I had intuited before, a significant amount of mana was needed. Fortunately, it had been amplified by the Dragon Heart.

There was, however, something I had kept hidden. The last line of Selena's analysis that I saw. That, I did not speak of.

Selena's father was murdered by 'Manggot.'

That single line.

I couldn't bring myself to say even this much. It would have surely cost me her trust. Moreover, I couldn't predict what Selena might do upon hearing it.

I saw Selena still sitting despondently as I climbed onto Cassian.

"Let's go. We've wasted too much time. I can't just overlook the fact that you threatened me with a weapon, but this is not the place for your punishment."

"Yes."

Selena nodded obediently and climbed on behind me.

Cassian charged through the forest again, and I was lost in thought.

What to do with Selena was a problem for later. Right now, something more serious filled my mind.

For the giant that will topple the gods.

I recalled the ancient sentence Merlin had shown me.

In the world of Etius, 'giants' refer to beings of ancient times.

Like the 'Titans' of Greek mythology, or the 'Jotunn' of Norse mythology.

Not all giants were necessarily large in stature; in fact, 'size' was deemed insignificant to the beings of ancient times.

......The problem is, giants were beings that threatened the gods, in simple terms, the gods' archenemies.

And yet, the sentence King Arthur had passed to Merlin.

'Maybe.'

I might have misunderstood something about this world.

Even though I had delved deeply into the game Etius.

From the very beginning, perhaps I was mistaken about something.

* * *

The forces at the barrier were experiencing hell.

They had thought we were already at the bottom of hell, but they weren't.

Without Frondier, they were truly floundering in the jaws of hell.

"Aaaah!!!"

Amidst the chaos of monsters, in an instant, the comrade beside her was snatched up and thrown into the sky.

A creature resembling a pterosaur had pierced the soldier's shoulder with its claws and soared high into the sky.

From high above, the soldier was dropped by the monster and fell mercilessly, and the survivors were left listening to the soldier's fading screams.

"Damn it...."

Sanders cursed as he watched the chaotic battlefield. Even so, he kept checking the barrier.

...The barrier had yet to fall.

"Sanders! Focus on the front! You'll know when the barrier breaks, whether you like it or not!"

"Yes, sir!"

Ludwig urged Sanders on.

The master, Ludwig, decided he could no longer hold back and entered the battlefield himself.

He held a long staff, and with each swing, lightning shot out, cleaving the monsters left and right.

The destructive power was significant, but it was not enough to handle the sheer number of monsters swarming them.

Furthermore, there were monsters among those outside who could withstand even that lightning.

"Ugh... I guess I'm... getting old..."

Ludwig wiped at the corner of his mouth. Thinking it was saliva, he realized it was blood when he looked closer. He hadn't thought he was pushing himself, but his body was honest.

Rumble!

The barrier shook as if struck by an earthquake. Ludwig, standing on top, staggered and stumbled.

A giant monster was pounding against the barrier in front of him. An ogre. The massive creature was ramming its head against the barrier. Veins bulged on Ludwig's forehead.

"A big, dumb brute, through and through..."

Ludwig's hand moved to his staff. Sparks flew from Ludwig's eyes and fingertips.

Crackle! Lightning streaked forth in a violent trajectory, piercing the ogre's head. As luck would have it, the creature's body slowly began to lean against the barrier.

"Oh, no,"

Through the weakened section of the barrier, the ogre's body forced its way through. The already cracked barrier developed fractures.

Just as it was about to shatter completely.

Ice-type Magic, Formula 3

Instant, Range, Amplification

Glacier Mist

With a resounding thud, the ogre froze solid, its hulking form reinforcing the crumbling barriers.

"It's rather fortunate. The wall has thickened."

The speaker was Aten.

Ludwig acknowledged this with a predatory grin. 'The little princess is bluffing' he muttered under his breath.

"Creak creak"

Meanwhile, behind the barriers, Sybil grit her teeth and swallowed a ragged breath. Her eyes were bloodshot and her beautiful face was a mess, her hair matted with sweat and blood.

"Sybil."

"Ah, ah. I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Nothing's wrong. So please stop calling out to me. It's hard to answer."

Sybil responded nonchalantly to Aten's worried tone.

Aten would erect the barriers, and Sybil would infuse them with mana.

Originally, they had intended to alternate between building the barriers and imbuing them with mana, but that was no longer possible.

Some of the barriers had already been breached, and Aten had filled the gaps with ice.

The number of times the monsters had broken through even those icy walls was now countless.

Aten had to rebuild the ice barriers each time, leaving Sybil solely responsible for infusing them with mana.

Not knowing when the barriers would collapse, Aten couldn't waste her magic power recklessly.

'Sybil's at her limit.'

No, Sybil wasn't merely at her limit; she was already beyond it.

Aten couldn't help but marvel at how she, a non-mage, had endured this long.

"Frondier if he comes, for real Hes dead meat."

Sybil muttered, her face pale as if she would die any moment, yet her eyes still burned with determination.

Aten asked, "Do you still believe it too, Sybil?"

"Huh?"

"That Frondier will come, do you still believe it?"

At Aten's question, Sybil paused as if to catch her breath.

Then, as if to say, 'Why are you asking that?' she replied,

"Of course. You do too, don't you?"