Chaos Year 3, Day 109, 10:21 pm.

"Infuse Light element."

The arrow Hikari-san held tightly shone brighter than all the other torches lighting the arena. And as soon as she let it go, it swept through the air looking like a glowing .950 JDJ bullet.

Except it made no sound like those bullets while taking off. The arrow just whizzed through the air until it made its first contact.

Boom!

An explosion shook the ground, along with the rock we stood on, the moment the arrow hit the head of an undead monster. The explosion took out the undead together with another two standing next to it.

Wah, AOE damage with a normal arrow shot, not even a skill. It seems crazier each time I see it.

"How many was it?" Annette-san asked.

"23 shots," Hikari-san replied.

"You have been counting them?!" My tone rose with surprise as I glanced back at Hikari-san.

"It helps me keep an approximate count of my mana."

Ah, so these shots burn her mana.

"So these AOE attacks are part of a skill?"

"No, it's a passive ability. I acquired it by completing a hidden class quest. It turns my normal arrow attacks into AoE attacks as you saw."

"Ohhh!"

The more I knew about these guys, the more amazed I became. I wished to find an amazing ability too.

Hikari-san took her stance to shoot again. As she drew her bow-string, pulling the arrow backward, her right hand trembled.

What's wrong? Is she scared? No, her eyes look sharper than ever. There's no way she is scared.

"Infuse Light element." Hikari-san recited. "Tch.."

The shiver in her hand heightened as her arrow glowed bright again.

Wait, that's it!

Her glowing arrow burned her hand every time she infused Light element into it. That was why she always wore that bandage on her right hand. I just thought it had to do with her style sense or something. Now with those bandages in a ragged state, the burn reached Hikari-san's skin easily.

She shot the arrow at the foot of the rock boulder we stood on, killing off another four undead monsters and injuring two more in the process.

I can't just let Hikari-san do everything. It's putting a lot of pressure on her. I need to concentrate on what I can do.

"Heed my call, oh mighty Ventus…"

As I chanted, the chilly wind started to flow, circling me wildly. And mana gathered around my wand, as its head glowed light greenish.

"...Rise above the ground, dance beneath the sky, wreak havoc upon the foe. Dance, dance, dance. Gale Torpedo."

Swoosh!

A wave of wind blew towards the targeted place, and thrust upon the area creating a violent and continuous outward blast of wind. It tore apart 10 to 15 monsters and blew away 20 more, injuring them greatly in the process.

I targeted the undead bit farther from our standing point. Because if I cast it closer to us it would have blown us away together with the monsters.

And if we had lost this high area, we would die in a matter of seconds. The monsters had swords whereas we had two wooden wands and a bow. There was no way we could have defended ourselves, even if the opponents were just mob monsters.

"Ohh, not bad for a CC mage." Hikari-san complemented.

I smiled, getting praised by Hikari-san for the first time. She really was in the pinch, thinking she was all alone. Now with my support, she seemed to find a bit of hope even in this crazy situation.

"Now it's my turn. Infuse Light element." Hikari-san raised her bow upward, as her arrow kept growing brighter. "Moonlit Fireworks."

Wait, isn't that the skill she used while fighting the wolves? Then it's gonna rain down on us again?

Genuinely confused about what to do, I stared at the glowing arrow, as it flew high inside the large space of the open arena. But it didn't fly straight above our heads this time. Instead, it diagonally zoomed off our left.

Oh, no. It is going to hit the roof of the arena at this point.

Kaboom!

Luckily, it exploded right before hitting the surface of the ceiling. Pipipipi~ Then Numerous light particles rained down below, over the undead.

But this time the result was not that amazing like the last time. Unlike the wolves, the undead monsters were all scattered across the arena. They didn't get one shot dead from the light particles either.

It took at least more than three hits of the light particles to kill them, since these undead monsters had way more levels than those small wolves. So less than half of the monsters died inside the skill's AoE.

But still more than 30 undead perished and 50 of them got injured or almost died.

The result is way greater than my skill earlier. And it was supposed to be my strongest dps skill. Sigh~

The twelve zodiacs and the other larger undead monsters just stayed back until now, watching the battle unfold. But with so many sudden casualties among their troops, they could no longer hold back as they finally moved.

Reaching next to the rock boulder, they began shaking and punching it. And the mobs close to the boulder dispersed away since their bosses took up the role of the vanguard.

"Urgh! They finally caught on. This rock won't hold much longer." Annette-san shouted, quickly getting down to her fours and holding onto the rock tightly. "Can't we attack them now while they are busy with the rock?"

"My shots won't do much damage to these monsters, they have more levels than us." Hikari-san responded while binding a new bandage around her hand. "And the stronger skills would rather help them break the boulder."

"So there's no way out?" I asked, glancing around for any hope. "There's no other high enough place in this arena."

"Yes, the best bet is forcing our way out." Hikari-san said while gulping down a mana potion. "Pinkpika, can you create a distraction or a momentary safe place on the ground? I need a stable place to stand on for better accuracy."

"I think I can," I responded. "But I need at least 15 seconds for that."

"Okay, go for it. I will distract the monsters at the bottom."

I nodded and started chanting. Hikari-san shot her AoE normal attacks targeting the monsters below us.

"...Wind Barrier."

As soon as I completed my chanting, a round wind barrier was created a bit farther from here, blowing away the monster around it.

"Guys, hold on to me." I called out to the others and chanted for another skill. "...Wind Teleportation."

It teleported the three of us inside the barrier. Even though the barrier was not completely see-through, Hikari-san should be able to shoot with perfect accuracy.

"Wow!" Annette-san exclaimed. "Even though I knew about both skills, I never thought anyone would use them like this."

"Hehe, it's cool, right?" I grinned. "Senpai taught me this to make it easier for me when I played alone."

Without wasting any time, Hikari-san got into her stance and mumbled, "Infuse Light element…Infuse Light element…Infuse Light element."

Because she infused the Light element three times, the Light around the arrow glowed so bright that it engulfed all three of us. And this time, we also felt the sizzling Light element, as it almost burned our skin, even though we were not that close to the arrow.

I can't even guess how much it hurts Hikari-san.

"Flash Missile!"

Hikari-san shot the arrow, shouting out the skill name. But it was not just a glowing arrow this time. It created a light beam, which destroyed all the undead monsters in its path.

She aimed the skill toward the tunneled stairway on the other side to clear up the pathway for us to escape this arena and go deeper into the underground.

But something unexpected surprised all of us. The monsters close to the light beam, which never even touched it, were all blown at least 10 meters away. Some were torn apart right away, and some were wounded heavily.

Observing closely, I discovered a wind current surrounding the light beam. That current was the reason behind that outward blast.

"What the…?" I muttered. "Was that supposed to happen?"

"I-I think that was a Light and Wind element fusion." Annette-san's voice quivered. "I heard legends about it, but I have never seen a fusion skill before."

"Was it because of the wind barrier surrounding us? It shouldn't be that easy right?" I frowned in confusion.

"Anyway, no time to think about that now." Hikari-san yelled out. "Run toward the tunnel!"

With no other monsters around the pathway we created, we dashed freely without any fear.

It truly was a blessing of God, how everything worked out. And we did not know how, but we did it. We survived with our own abilities, even all three of us being glass cannon characters.

Or so what we had thought.

That happiness and freedom did not last long, as once again our paths were obstructed.

"Shit!"

Hikari-san cursed under her breath, as some of the zodiac monsters appeared before us out of nowhere. Immediately three of them closed in and swung their weapons at us.

Being at the front-most, Hikari-san took on all the hits of the first round. It was too late for Hikari-san to dodge, so she tried to block them using her bow but it proved to be futile.

"Kyaaa!"

Each slash carried too much power for her to defend against. Unable to withstand the impact, She was blown ten meters away and hit the rock behind her with a thud.

"Hika…” My eyes widened in shock, as she slammed onto the hard floor like a lifeless doll.

Before I could react any further, two of the monsters attacked me with their swords. Giving me no chance to dodge or defend, blade strikes plunged at me.

"Kuk!"

One slash was enough to break my balance and the next threw me a few meters away as I landed on my face. "Urgh!"

"Hikari! Pinkpika!"

Annette-san's face twisted, as she screamed, watching the horrible scene unfold in a matter of seconds.