Mary felt the tremors and heard the roar of the cyclops getting up, but that didn't change anything - as long as the emergency quest remained active and was stopping the timer of the -Final frontier- quest, there was still hope!

And then, as if a gift from the heavens...

*¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤*

"!!!!!!!!!!"

The pillar of light descended from the sky and blew apart the horrendous titan-class monster just before Mary launched herself at it.

The brown-haired girl stared dumbfounded at the charred ground where a monster stood just a second ago.

Then she looked up and saw tens of beams of light shot through the sky and her jaw dropped.

With the familiar low hum just like the one Shanks's rifle made, the volley of beams of light tore apart all the remaining titan-class monsters in something that Mary could only describe as the Wrath of a God.

She turned around and saw an enormous tower shining with pale blue light far away in the distance.

"Hey! What the hell is this?! It was my kill! How dare you steal away my prey?!"

Furious Mika was probably the only person on the frontline who had the audacity to shout angrily against the blessing from the heavens.

"..."

The brown-haired girl shook her head with disgust and looked back at the tower.

Suddenly, the sphere on the tower's top shone with a pure white light as if it noticed Mary's look.

"Heroine, please listen to a final wish of a man fading away..."

Despite Mika being the only person with a reasonable distance to Mary, the voice that the brown-haired girl heard definitely belong to a male.

"Use this and save my younger brother... hurry..."

The voice spoke again and...

/Heroine receives a one time use skill

Wish (level ¤¤¤)

"...! W-wait! Who is your brother?!"

Mary flinched, seeing the message announcing her obtaining the abnormal skill, and called out taking a step forward.

"Who was that?!"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her teeth.

"Right?! Stealing MY kill! What is that supposed to be?!"

Mika shouted angrily as her body continued glowing bright red.

"Shut up."

"...hmph..."

Mary scoffed at the ashen-haired girl and turned away with a concerned expression.

Saving someone...

The odd voice that was almost like a system message was told her to save his younger brother...

"...could it be... did he meant Shanks...?"

Mary murmured to herself and looked towards the gargantuan cyclops kneeling down with a gaping hole in its chest where the beam of light pierced through.

Shanks was her best bet, with how many times did he used the self-destructive skill, it was clear that he was barely hanging on to life...

Which meant that he didn't have much time!

"...!"

"Hey! And where are you going?!"

Mary flinched and rushed towards the spot beneath the giant where Shanks's should be, leaving the grumpy Mika behind

She concentrated and realized with concern that the map in her mind was barely visible - as if the connection between the user who used the skill on her and herself was about to be broken, and saw that basically all of the red dots were gone except for one.

And then it hit her...

The message about completing the emergency quest never arrived!

Somehow, despite the gigantic wound, the humongous cyclops was still alive!

*THUMP*

As if to confirm Mary's thought, the colossal cyclops raised its head and put one of its legs forward, to support itself as it began standing back up - a real live nightmare unfolding right in front of everyone's eyes.

"IDIOT BERSERK! YOU WANTED TO FIGHT?! THEN FIGHT! KILL THAT THING!"

Mary hurt her throat shouting over her shoulder at the ashen-haired girl shocked by the turn of events.

"...! R-right!"

Mika flinched and nodded obediently.

"Hey! Don't order me around! I am the Justice's Wrath! You can't just make me...!"

But then as the light of her skills reignited brightly, her new attitude also made a comeback.

"WHO CARES?! GO GET IT IF YOU CAN!"

But Mary had nothing of her it and she herself already activated her own skills.

Healing Shanks was important but healing him just in time to get crushed by the cyclops was out of the question!

That thing had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

If someone wanted a reason as to why...

The clean-cut gaping hole in the chest of the last titan-class monster standing was already boiling over with yellow blood and beginning to close itself.

That monster's overwhelming size had to be matched with an equally monstrous lifeforce, or it activated some system-forsaken restoration skill.

*BOOOOM*

Not waiting for the younger girl to stop making a fuss, Mary blew apart both of her legs and launched herself right into the middle of the cyclops's chest.

*SLASH* *SLASH*

"Mend...!"

*SLASH* *SLASH*

"Mend!"

*SLASH* *SLASH*

"MEND!"

With three sets of fully powered storm talons that blew apart her arms and most of her torso with each use, Mary attacked upwards, aiming to separate the monster's bust from the rest of its body.

"»£.÷¤$÷"

She did some damage and cut deep into the beast's flesh, but not enough to accomplish her goal - the monster roared in pain but remained in one piece.

"WHY DON'T YOU STEP BACK AND SEE HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE?!"

With a loud shout, Mika arrived right after Mary passed through the cyclops's chest and punched at the monster's face with her fist surrounded by the coiling condensed mana.

*WHAM*

"«^ ±•|¡¤

Her attack made the monster sway and the yellow blood splurged out of the guidelines made by Mary's skill, but not enough to split the flesh apart.

"YOU FOUL BEAST! YOU DARE TO OPPOSE ME?!"

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

"«£¤•¤±$"

Mary shouted furiously and followed up with four consecutive enhanced punches, causing the monster to close its eye and growl in pain as more and more yellow blood splurged out from the ever-expanding wounds that begun to actually split apart the cyclops just as Mary originally intended.

The creature raised its hands trying to crush or swat the ashen-haired girl away but...

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! A THING LIKE YOU...! A THING LIKE YOU KILLED BRUISER 97-F! I WILL LET YOU TASTE SOME JUSTICE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, YOU DISGUSTING FILTH!"

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

"«|±÷|•¤^÷±|÷"

A brutal onslaught of punches rained down on the humongous titan-class monster as its wounds deepened and the cyclops's growl lost its power and its arms fell limply to the side as it started to sway and fall back.

"DIE! DIE! DIE, YOU BASTARD!"

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

It seemed that even with all of her strength and aggression, Mika just couldn't finish off the monster, thankfully, she wasn't alone!

*SLASH* *SLASH*

Two more gale talons skills dug into the yellow flesh exposing naked bones.

*¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤* *¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤*

And since that wasn't enough to shatter the gigantic collarbones, two consecutive beams of light shoot out from a ridiculously high-tech-looking rifle cut through the air with a low hum and pieced right through them!

*WHAM*

*CRUSH*

*RIIIIIIIP*

Only with all of that, Mika's final punch separated cyclops's head away from its body.

*BOOOOOOOOOM*

/Emergency quest completed

/Reward granted

/02:29:50

/02:29:49

/...

/Calculating...

/All of the monsters from the 9th wave were defeated

/9th wave completed

/Calculating the reward...

/...

---

"Thank the system...!"

Mary breathed out heavily and plopped on her butt and then instantly laid on her back and covered her face with her arms.

"That was such a nightmare... don't you think so too, kind sir?"

She sighed and glanced at the rat-faced man standing beside her.

"Ptfu! That really was something else..."

Shanks - not a dried-up husk but the relatively healthy-looking short man - spat out some blood and rested the massive rifle across his shoulders.

"...but, unfortunately, I suspect that the final wave will be the real ordeal..."

"Could you not mention that for at least a few hours...? I begin to regret that I healed you, kind sir..."

Mary groaned and stomped her feet without standing up.

"Speaking of which, I would really appreciate it if you cared to explain to me how in the name of the system did you manage that in the first place. I thought after losing the shadow fang with the green belly the only healing skill you had was the extremely painful one - but I haven't felt any pain whatsoever...?"

Shanks scoffed and raised his brow, looking down on the brown-haired girl.

"First of all, the shadow fang you are talking about - his name was Avocado. Second of all, mend doesn't work if the target doesn't have any mana left, and you were completely out of it when I found you- I will explain the rest to you over some rations back at the outpost - if it is still standing after the monsters' stampede."

"Fair enough."

Mary waved her hand dismissively at the rat-faced man who nodded with understanding.

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

"YOU KILLED BRUISER 97-F! YOU KILLED MY BRUISER 97-F!"

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

He gritted his teeth and glanced at the ashen-haired girl shouting furiously while going ham on the already dead cyclops and obstinately turning its head into a yellowish mush.

"...so she actually cared that much for that kid who pushed her away from the roof when that beast shot the golden beam... I would have never thought... hmm..."

Shanks whistled but then he furrowed his brows and put his hands to his mouth falling deep into thoughts.

"...what is it...?"

His reaction caused Mary to glance at him with suspicion.

"...I'll tell you after you get some rest..."

Shanks frowned and shook his head, but it was clear that whatever he figured out - wasn't going to be good news.