Rest took one look at the two monsters that had appeared and slowly shook his head.
"Oh, man... And here I thought today was finally going to be relaxing..."
Rest let out a long, deep sigh.
What was supposed to be a leisurely picnic had, once again, turned into a fight.
Climbing over the hill and heading their way were a massive snake big enough to swallow a person whole and a four-legged beast covered in shaggy fur, roughly the size of an elephant.
Both were large-class monsters. A rookie adventurer or soldier wouldn't stand a chance — they'd be killed without putting up any resistance.
"Alright! Rest, leave one of them to me!"
"Ah, Yuri!"
"I'll take down the snake! You handle the furry one!"
Was she trying to say the one who strikes first wins? Yuri charged ahead, racing down the hill and leaping toward the great serpent.
"GYAAAAAAAH!"
"YAAAH!"
"GIIIH!"
Yuri's sharp whip kicked the giant snake's head aside.
While the serpent reeled, she grabbed its log-thick body and hurled it flying through the air.
"TAHAAAH!"
"That girl is absolutely nuts too..."
Keeping one eye on Yuri, who was fighting the great serpent at an advantage, Rest turned to face his own opponent.
The enormous four-legged beast was charging straight toward him.
"[Wind Blade]"
Rest cast his spell.
A sharp blade of wind slashed toward the four-legged beast, but it leaped sideways to evade.
"Hm…"
"Graooooh!"
The beast zigzagged left and right as it closed in on Rest.
It seemed to be trying to prevent him from locking onto it with his spells.
"This thing… does it know how to fight magicians…?"
Perhaps it had encountered magic hunters on the Sabnock Plains and developed countermeasures against magic.
"I see — a troublesome enemy."
"Graooooooh!"
"That said… this only works against second-rate magicians or below."
Moving around to prevent being targeted.
That was the most basic countermeasure against magic.
So it was only natural that magicians, in turn, would have their own countermeasures against high-speed enemies.
"[Wind Sphere]"
First, the simple solution.
Rest generated a massive number of wind spheres around himself and sent them all hurtling toward the four-legged beast.
"Graoooh!?"
There were too many wind spheres to dodge them all.
Even though it was low-level magic, taking dozens of hits would obviously cause damage.
"Next...[Earth Bind]!"
Against the terrified four-legged beast, he cast yet another spell.
Multiple tendrils of earth shot up from the ground and bound the four-legged beast in place.
"Grau! Grau!"
The four-legged beast thrashed about wildly, but it couldn't shake off the earthen restraints.
At this point, it was no different from a fish on a cutting board.
"Time to finish this... [Thunder Cannon]!"
"Graooooooooh...!?"
A powerful bolt of lightning pierced clean through the bound four-legged beast.
The four-legged beast's body convulsed violently from the fierce lightning... but eventually, it stopped moving.
Rest looked down at the four-legged beast, wisps of smoke rising from its body, and nodded.
"Alright, now for Yuri..."
"Hey, Rest! I won!"
"Oh?"
He turned toward the voice and saw Yuri at the base of the hill, her foot planted on the head of a giant snake.
The giant snake sprawled across the ground had its head completely crushed, dark red blood pooling around it.
"I won too! Got tonight's dinner!"
"Give me a break... Huh?"
Rest exhaled in relief, but something immediately tripped the alarm grid of his presence detection.
A massive presence was pushing through the brush, closing in on the triumphant Yuri.
"Yuri! Behind you!"
"Huh?"
The moment Yuri turned around — something burst out of the bushes.
"GISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"A—"
The same species of giant serpent that Yuri had just slain reared its sickle-shaped head and lunged at her.
Caught off guard, Yuri's eyes went wide with shock as she vanished into the giant snake's maw.