「[Water Cannon !]」
「GYAOOOOOOOOOOO!」
The magic Rest unleashed crashed down upon the worm.
A powerful water spell. The worm let out a furious roar as it was struck by the high-pressure water laser.
「GYAOOOOOOOOOOO!」
"I see… water-attribute magic isn't very effective."
The worm thrashed wildly, barely showing any signs of being fazed despite taking the hits.
The creature Rest was fighting was a worm… a larval one, to be precise.
After defeating the first one, Rest had continued his exploration of the wetlands.
He'd already fought worms several times. This was the fourth one.
Every worm he'd fought so far had been a larva—he hadn't encountered the parent yet.
As he fought, Rest bombarded the worm with various spells, searching for its weakness.
"Wind works well. Water and earth are almost useless. Fire and lightning are so-so, I'd say?"
「GYAOOOOOOOOOO!」
「[Gale !]」
「GYAOOOOOOOOOO!?」
A high-level wind-attribute magic spell.
Raging blades of wind tore the giant worm's massive body to shreds.
This spell scattered wind blades across a wide area, so it wasn't originally meant for a single enemy.
However, with a body as enormous as the worm's, it could unleash its full destructive power without leaving a single gap.
「GYAAAAAAAAAA!」
The worm lashed its body at Rest, trying to crush him, its entire form drenched in purple bodily fluids.
「YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
「GYAO!?」
But a shadow burst in and kicked the worm's head flying.
The one who had sliced through the air at terrifying speed and delivered a lightning-fast kick was Yuri.
Yuri's physical abilities were so high that a single kick could sever a human torso in two.
That blow stunned the worm and smashed its head into the muddy ground.
「Alright, now's the time!」
「Yeah… Leave it to me!」
Rest cast another spell.
The brightness around them dipped slightly as a sphere of light materialized in Rest's hand.
「[Amaterasu!]」
And then—a strike of pure light was unleashed.
A concentrated beam of radiance pierced clean through the worm's head.
「GYAAAA...」
The worm let out a pained groan before finally dying and sinking into the mud.
「And... light affinity. Given that it lives underground, it's only natural that light would be its weakness.」
Through their fourth encounter, Rest had largely figured out the worm's weaknesses.
With this... even if he had to fight the parent, he should be able to hold the upper hand.
「...How noble.」
From a distance, watching Rest's battle unfold, Urla murmured something under her breath.
Her words didn't reach Rest's ears... but he felt a piercing gaze cutting through the long curtain of her bangs.
「...That was splendid. Truly impressive.」
Standing in for his mistress, Ostley — a soldier of House Lavender — offered his praise.
「Even counting only the larvae, that makes four worms. You've cast multiple high-tier spells and yet your mana shows no sign of running dry... I am genuinely in awe.」
「Thanks. I'll take that even if it's just flattery.」
「It's no flattery... no, it truly is extraordinary...」
「Mm... Rest-sama is amazing...」
「What a magnificent and superb display of magic. Once more, I hold the deepest respect for your prowess in battle against overwhelming odds... That is what the young lady says.」
「There's no way she said all that in one sentence... right?」
Urla and her female attendant were as unusual as ever, but there was no denying he was being praised.
「That's four. Now where's the parent worm?」
He had been searching through the wetlands, yet a worm resembling the parent had yet to appear.
His detection magic picked up nothing, and he had found no trace of it either.
"Hmm… if only the ground were firmer, the search would go a lot smoother."
Yuri pulled his foot free of the muddy ground, his expression turning somewhat exasperated.
This wetland was, quite literally, wet throughout.
Half of it consisted of swamps large and small, and in the deeper spots the water exceeded an adult's height.
There were places where you couldn't advance without a boat, and many more where your feet became mired in the muck, leaving you unable to move forward.
Rest had been creating footholds with magic, managing to push forward despite it all… but it was taking several times longer than it would on flat ground.
"By the time we start heading back, it'll already be evening. Let's call it a day and come back tomorrow."
A lair crawling with powerful monsters.
On top of that, spending the night on ground drenched in thick mud was a truly grim prospect.
"Camping… please!"
Urla made a proposal.
Yuri clasped both hands together and chimed in with an enthusiastic voice.
"Oh, camping? That sounds like fun!"
"The young miss wishes to leave the wetland and set up a tent on firm ground for camp. However, if we keep going back outside the plains every single time, our exploration of the wetland will never progress. We should establish a base somewhere nearby and approach the search in earnest."
"You're right…"
After hearing his attendant's explanation, Rest nodded.
Exploring the wetland was far more time-consuming than operating on flat ground.
They should establish a base on the edge of the wetland and commit to a longer operation.
"I just learned a barrier to keep monsters away, too. Let's find a suitable spot."
Rest and the others retreated from the muddy, swamp-filled wetland back to solid ground.
By that time, the setting sun hung low in the western sky.
After cleansing their bodies with magic, they set up their tents and established a campsite.
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