The Record of Hyoren Enjo’s Journey in Another World

Chapter 222

The Goblin Rider

Date : Day 9 of Deepwinter 1024 Aethellgard Concord Year.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Arianna.

She was still staring at the guardian across the arena. The trembling in her voice had made it clear enough that this wasn’t some ordinary monster she had merely recognized from a textbook.

Hyoren glanced back at the guardian.

The Blancorn and its rider remained completely motionless. Neither seemed interested in moving until Freedom Party entered the arena.

Good… Time to strategize…

Hyoren turned back toward Arianna. Whatever she knew about the creature was more important than rushing into a fight they didn’t understand.

“So… you know about the guardian, Arianna?”

Arianna’s grip on the Quadraflux Weaver loosened slightly.

“Yes, Leader. At least I know about the Blancorn…”

She hesitated before adding,

“The goblin riding it, unfortunately, isn’t something I recognize. It seems to be a monster exclusive to this dungeon.”

Hyoren nodded.

“That’s right, it’s a dungeon exclusive variant. The one riding it is called a Goblin Rider.”

Elise frowned as she looked toward the two monsters.

“This dungeon really does have a lot of strange goblin variants that don’t exist on the surface.”

She lightly rested her fingers against her Moonveil Bow.

“We had the Goblin Berserker as the first floor guardian. Then the second floor had the Goblin Sabers, Goblin Lancers, Goblin Shielders, and Goblin Assassins… Then a Goblin Ruler as the guardian.”

Her gaze remained fixed on the arena.

“Now there’s a Goblin Rider.”

Jackey crossed his arms.

“Well, that’s not really that weird, Elise.”

His tabby cat ears perked up.

“Some dungeons have monsters that don’t exist on the surface at all!”

He laughed.

“It’s pretty normal!”

Elise smiled.

“Right. You mentioned that before.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“Like that dungeon full of monsters called Axor?”

Jackey immediately raised his thumb.

“Axor!”

His tail spiraled happily behind him.

“Yes!”

Hyoren chuckled at the exchange before turning his attention back to Arianna.

“Alright. Forget the Goblin Rider for now.”

He gestured toward the white beast.

“Tell us about that white beast. What exactly is a Blancorn?”

Arianna adjusted the brim of her wide hat.

“Understood, Leader.”

Her expression gradually became more serious.

“Blancorn is a famous monster. They’re rare, and their natural habitat is quite far from here. But we studied them at the magic academy intensively. Blancorn is a dangerous monster for any spellcaster. Because they’re one of the…”

She paused. Her light blue eyes narrowed slightly.

“…monsters classified as Anti-Mage.”

Hyoren’s eyebrows immediately furrowed.

Anti-Mage…?

The term alone made him uneasy.

In the games he’d played on Earth, anti-mage or mage-killer enemies were exactly the kind of opponents that made magic users nervous. And that was especially troublesome for their party.

They had one pure mage in Arianna. Elise relied on enchanted attacks as well. Even Hyoren himself mixed physical combat with magic. Only Jackey was almost entirely a physical fighter.

Hyoren looked at the Blancorn.

“Anti-Mage, you said?”

His gaze went back to the crimson-haired mage.

“Does that mean it can negate all magic?”

Arianna quickly shook her head.

“No, not to that extent.”

She glanced toward the Blancorn again.

“Its fur can negate some magic damage. About half of it.”

Hyoren’s expression tightened.

“Half…?”

He rubbed his chin.

“That’s still quite a lot.”

Arianna nodded.

“Even with that alone, a Blancorn is already formidable.”

She raised her hands slightly.

“But that’s not the only problem. See that light around it?”

Hyoren and the others looked carefully. The Blancorn’s white fur seemed to shimmer faintly.

“That’s an anti-magic field. It surrounds the Blancorn and weakens magical effects around it.”

Arianna’s voice became more serious.

“And it’s not only magic that deals damage. Debuffs are affected too. Any magical debuff placed on it will be weakened.”

She paused.

“There’s more.”

Her gaze shifted toward the Goblin Rider.

“The Blancorn also has a regeneration effect…”

She pointed toward the goblin sitting on its back.

“And because both effects apply to its allies… the Goblin Rider benefits from it as well.”

Elise’s hand tightened around Moonveil Bow.

“So Hyoren’s Enchant Maledict will be weaker?”

She thought for a moment before adding,

“What about my Wind Arrow? And poison?”

Arianna raised her staff slightly.

“Hmm…”

She seemed to search through what she had learned at the academy.

“For your poison, Mentor, I think it should still work normally. Poison is produced through alchemy, so it isn’t a magical debuff.”

She then looked toward Elise.

“But your enchant magic will definitely be weaker.”

Hyoren nodded slowly.

“I see…”

His eyes returned to the Blancorn.

Then he glanced toward Jackey. The Beastkin was standing there with his twin axes at his waist, apparently waiting for someone to tell him where to start whacking.

Hyoren’s gaze lingered on one of those axes—the Bloody Axe.

Its compounding effect became stronger the more Jackey struck the same target. Against a monster whose magical resistance would hamper Arianna and partially reduce the effectiveness of Elise and himself, Jackey’s physical attacks suddenly became even more important.

Hyoren’s expression changed.

“So…”

He pointed toward Jackey.

“Our key to dealing with the Blancorn is probably you.”

Jackey blinked.

“Me?”

He pointed at himself. Then his grin slowly spread across his face.

“So it’s finally my turn to shine?”

Hyoren laughed.

“Exactly, Jackey.”

His voice lowered.

“You’re in charge of… ‘whacking’ that Blancorn to death.”

Jackey’s tabby cat ears shot straight up. He immediately drew both axes and raised them overhead.

“Leave it to me!”

His grin became enormous.

“I’ll whack that white horny beast until it drops! WOHOO!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Hyoren shook his head.

“It’s called a Blancorn, Jackey. Not…”

He couldn’t help smiling.

“‘White horny beast.’”

Jackey grinned.

“Same thing, Big Bro!”

Everyone laughed again.

Hyoren couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“But yeah. We’re relying on you for this one.”

Jackey spun one of his axes before settling it back into his grip.

“Got it, Big Bro!”

Hyoren then looked toward Elise and Arianna.

“While Jackey focuses on the Blancorn, you two should concentrate on the Goblin Rider.”

His expression became more cautious.

“We still don’t know how that thing fights. And I don’t know what kind of tricks it has.”

His gaze moved back toward the white-armored goblin.

“Especially that armor…”

He narrowed his eyes.

“And the blindfold. I don’t like either of them.”

Arianna nodded.

“I was actually worried about that too.”

She studied the Goblin Rider from a distance.

“That white armor might be mithril. Pure mithril, even.”

Hyoren’s eyebrows rose.

“What if it is?”

Arianna gave him a weak smile.

“Then we’d have another problem.”

She tapped the end of her staff lightly against the floor.

“Mithril armor is highly resistant to magic. If the Goblin Rider is wearing pure mithril armor…”

Her expression became troubled.

“…then my magic might be almost useless against both the Rider and the Blancorn.”

Elise rested a finger against her chin.

“And then there’s the blindfold…”

Her emerald eyes narrowed.

“Normally, if a monster doesn’t rely on its vision, it must have something else to compensate. Extremely good hearing, perhaps.”

She glanced toward the silent rider.

“Or some kind of sixth sense.”

Her fingers lightly touched the string of Moonveil Bow.

“If that’s the case, hitting it with an arrow might be harder than usual.”

Hyoren tightened his grip around his Steel Kite Shield.

“Damn it…”

He looked from Arianna to Elise, then toward Jackey.

“This guardian is pretty troublesome for us.”

He sighed.

“It’s almost like the guardian is made to counter us…”

His eyes settled on Jackey.

“Only Jackey can reliably deal with the Blancorn without worrying about its anti-magic.”

Jackey simply grinned.

“Then I’ll do it!”

Hyoren chuckled before his expression became serious again.

He looked at the guardian chamber. Then back at his companions.

“So…”

He took a breath.

“Do we still fight it?”

His eyes moved across the three of them.

“Or do we retreat and come back after we’ve figured out how to deal with that anti-magic?”

Jackey immediately raised one of his axes.

“I vote for whacking!”

Everyone chuckled.

Arianna smiled as well.

“My magic will be weakened, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be useless.”

She tightened her grip around the Quadraflux Weaver.

“I can compensate by putting more Aethell into each spell. The Blancorn will reduce the damage, but it won’t completely negate it.”

Hyoren nodded.

That was true…

Arianna wasn’t going to be completely shut down.

Elise smiled as she ran a finger along Moonveil Bow’s string.

“I don’t think we should retreat before we’ve even tried.”

Her emerald eyes gleamed with a hint of challenge.

“Besides…”

She smiled faintly.

“Let’s see if it can really evade my arrows when my Bow Mastery is already level seven. Fufu.”

Jackey grinned.

“That’s the spirit!”

Hyoren laughed softly.

“So everyone wants to fight it.”

He looked at each member of Freedom Party.

“Alright.”

His grip tightened around his Steel Kite Shield.

“But we won’t be reckless.”

He nodded toward the guardian.

“If it turns out to be too troublesome, I’ll order a retreat. We can always come back once we’ve figured out how to deal with its anti-magic.”

Everyone nodded.

They were still facing an unknown guardian. But none of them were backing down yet.

***

Hyoren glanced at the guardian one last time. Then something suddenly clicked in his mind.

“Oh, right…”

The three others turned toward him almost at the same time.

Elise took a small step closer.

“What is it, Hyoren?”

Hyoren scratched his cheek, a faint smile appearing on his face.

“It’s nothing important.”

He glanced back at the guardian.

“I just remembered something we talked about before. And now that we’ve seen this…”

His smile widened slightly.

“I think it’s confirmed.”

Arianna seemed to understand immediately.

“Ah…”

She adjusted the brim of her wide hat.

“You mean our theory about the alternating floors, right, Leader?”

Hyoren nodded.

“Exactly.”

Elise blinked once before the memory returned to her.

“Ah, right.”

Jackey’s tabby ears perked up.

“Oh! That thing!”

Hyoren smiled.

The theory they had come up with after seeing the dungeon’s pattern through the first three floors. Akela Dungeon wasn’t following the other dungeons pattern. Where the concept of the floor stayed similar for five to ten floors, instead, this dungeon used an alternating pattern.

The odd-numbered floors like the first and this third floor seemed to be focused on quantity. The monsters themselves were relatively weak. They didn’t coordinate particularly well, and individually, they weren’t much of a threat. But there were simply too many of them.

The danger came from being surrounded.

The even-numbered floors appeared to be the opposite. Fewer monsters. Stronger monsters. Elite enemies with better abilities and greater coordination that tested an adventurer’s actual combat skill rather than their ability to survive being overwhelmed.

And the guardians seemed to follow that same pattern.

Hyoren folded his arms.

“So far, everything fits.”

He glanced toward the arena behind them.

“Odd-numbered floors are the horde floors. Even-numbered floors are the elite floors.”

Elise nodded slowly.

“And the guardians alternate along with them.”

Hyoren pointed his thumb toward the Blancorn and Goblin Rider.

“Yeah. The previous floor had the Goblin Ruler and its army. A massive number of goblins, to prepare the horde on this floor.”

His gaze shifted toward the guardian before them.

“And now we’re facing a single powerful guardian.”

Arianna nodded.

“It does seem consistent with the theory.”

Hyoren’s expression brightened.

“And that means the next floor…”

He held up one finger.

“Floor four is even-numbered.”

Elise’s emerald eyes widened slightly.

“Which means Elite monsters.”

Hyoren chuckled.

“Exactly. So every guardian isn’t just the final test of the third floor.”

He gestured toward the arena.

“It’s preparing us for the next one.”

The thought made the whole pattern feel strangely deliberate.

Hyoren rubbed his chin.

“It’s almost like Demon God Gidol is saying…”

He raised his voice slightly, mimicking someone giving an arrogant challenge.

“‘The next floor is going to be this kind of enemy. If you can’t beat this guardian first, then you definitely aren’t ready for what’s waiting ahead!’”

Jackey’s eyes lit up.

Hyoren laughed.

“It’s like Gidol was testing us.”

Elise smiled.

“Actually, that does make sense.”

She looked back at the entrance behind them.

“This floor’s horde was enormous. If we hadn’t been able to defeat the Goblin Ruler and survive its army of fifteen hundred goblins, there’s no way we’d have been able to handle this floor’s constant spawning.”

Hyoren nodded.

“Exactly.”

He looked at the Blancorn again.

“So the dungeon keeps alternating between two kinds of tests.”

Jackey suddenly raised a finger.

“Wait. I have a question, Big Bro!”

Everyone looked at him.

Jackey furrowed his brow.

“So…”

He looked toward the guardian.

“Does that mean the Demon God is a good guy now?”

There was a brief silence. Then everyone burst out laughing.

Jackey looked around, apparently unable to understand what was so funny.

“What?!”

Hyoren wiped the corner of his eye from laughing.

“It’s not that simple, Jackey.”

He shook his head.

“It doesn’t mean Gidol is good.”

His expression became thoughtful.

“It just means he’s cunning. Maybe he likes following certain patterns or rules.”

Hyoren glanced toward the guardian again.

“So I guess…”

He shrugged.

“He’s not simply evil.”

Arianna nodded thoughtfully.

“Leader is right.”

She lightly tapped her staff against the ground.

“Some scholars who study demons and the Demon God Gidol have proposed similar ideas.”

Hyoren turned toward her.

“Really?”

Arianna smiled.

“Yes. There are scholars at the academy who believe that Gidol’s actions follow certain principles rather than being completely random.”

Hyoren blinked.

He hadn’t expected his own assumption to overlap with something scholars had already debated.

“Huh…”

He scratched his cheek.

“So I accidentally came up with something scholars have already argued about.”

Arianna gave him a small smile.

“It seems so, Leader.”

Hyoren chuckled.

“Well, that’s kind of interesting.”

His attention returned to the two monsters waiting across the arena. The Blancorn. The Goblin Rider.

If their theory was correct, then perhaps these two weren’t simply standing here because the dungeon happened to put them on the third floor. 

They were a test. A test to determine whether the adventurer who wanted to continue diving deeper was ready for what came next.

Hyoren’s expression gradually became sharper.

“These two…”

He nodded toward the guardian.

“They’re here to test whether we can handle whatever fourth floor is going to throw at us.”

His hand moved to Dawn Breaker’s sheath.

“But enough talking.”

With a smooth motion, he drew the sword. The sound of steel leaving its sheath echoed through the arena.

Hyoren looked toward his companions.

“Ready to fight them?”

Elise answered first.

She lifted Moonveil Bow and gave the string one final pull, listening to the familiar twang before releasing it.

“Ready, Hyoren.”

Jackey spun his twin axes once. The blades flashed briefly before he caught them firmly in his hands.

His grin returned.

“Always ready to whack, Big Bro!”

Arianna stood straight.

Her crimson hair shifted gently as she raised the Quadraflux Weaver. For a moment, her light-blue eyes remained fixed on the Blancorn. She knew her magic would be weakened here. She knew this guardian was going to be troublesome.

But there was no fear in her expression now. Only grim determination.

“Ready, Leader.”

Hyoren nodded.

He raised his Steel Kite Shield. The familiar weight settled into his arm.

For a moment, the four members of Freedom Party simply looked at one another.

No further discussion was necessary. They had spent twelve days conquering this floor. They had fought thousands of goblins. They had mapped every corridor. They had finally reached the guardian. There was only one thing left to do.

Hyoren stepped forward.

“Let’s go, then.”

His eyes locked onto the Blancorn and its rider.

“Let’s see what the third-floor guardian has waiting for us.”

With Hyoren leading the way, Freedom Party left the entrance behind and stepped into the battlefield.

***

The moment Freedom Party stepped fully into the arena, the guardian finally moved.

Until now, the blindfolded Goblin Rider had remained perfectly still atop the Blancorn.

Now its head slowly lifted. Then—it lowered the long white lance. The rider gave the reins a sharp flick. The Blancorn reacted immediately. Its six powerful legs dug into the stone. The massive beast surged forward with booming sound.

Hyoren’s eyes widened at the sudden acceleration.

“Everyone, spread out!”

The order came sharply. The others reacted without hesitation.

Elise immediately broke toward the left, her boots carrying her toward the outer edge of the arena. She continued running until she was moving almost parallel with the wall.

Jackey pivoted to the right, keeping himself slightly apart from Hyoren. Arianna did the same on the same side as Jackey, moving toward the wall opposite Elise.

In only a few seconds, the four members of Freedom Party had spread across the arena.

Hyoren watched them separate and nodded.

Good… They had all understood the danger…

From the moment the guardian moved, it was obvious what kind of opponent they were dealing with. A mounted knight. A massive beast. A lance.  And a horn designed for ramming.

The Blancorn’s six legs gave it tremendous acceleration, while the enormous arena gave it more than enough room to build up speed.

If they stayed together, one charge could hit several of them at once. And if that horn really carried the force Hyoren expected, taking the attack head-on would be disastrous.

Better to spread out…

Hyoren turned his attention back toward the approaching guardian. It was already coming fast. As expected. He didn’t have much time.

Hyoren immediately began preparing his skills and magic in quick succession.

“Enchant Maledict.”

Darkness spread from his hand and flowed along Dawn Breaker’s blade. A dark aura wrapped around the sword.

Enchant Maledict was only a first-tier Dark Magic spell, but its effect was useful against an opponent that had to be hit repeatedly. Each successful attack would inflict a weakening effect, gradually lowering the enemy’s speed, attack, and defense.

Then Hyoren activated his skill.

“Magic Blade.”

Pale blue Aethell gathered around Dawn Breaker. The energy coated the blade from hilt to tip, strengthening its cutting power and allowing the sword to withstand greater force.

The pale blue Aethell mixed with the dark aura of Enchant Maledict. The two colors intertwined across the blade, creating a strangely beautiful glow.

Hyoren didn’t admire it for long.

He needed one more thing.

“Accel Zone.”

Light gathered beneath his feet. A glowing circle spread across the ground around him, bathing his body in a faint radiance. The second-tier Light Magic spell increased the speed of those within its area. If Jackey came close enough, he would benefit from it too.

Hyoren lowered his stance. His shield came up. His feet planted firmly against the stone.

The Blancorn was still charging.

Come on… Let’s see what you have…

Its hooves—or rather, its six powerful legs—struck the arena floor in rapid succession. The distance between them disappeared frighteningly quickly.

Then, something strange happened.

The Goblin Rider suddenly turned its head. Not toward Hyoren. Toward their crimson-haired mage—Arianna.

Hyoren’s eyes widened.

What…?

The rider’s blindfold remained firmly in place.

Arianna was still far away. She hadn’t made any sound. She hadn’t tried to cast any spell. There was no way the rider should have been able to detect her. Yet it had turned directly toward her.

It can detect her…?

Hyoren’s mind raced.

Does it have something like Aethell Sense…?

Perhaps it could sense the concentration of Aethell within each opponent.

Did it identify Arianna as the biggest threat? That was bad. Very bad.

The Blancorn’s course began shifting. It was heading straight toward Arianna.

Hyoren didn’t hesitate.

“Provoke!”

A wave of Aethell burst from him. It spread across the arena and struck the charging guardian. The Blancorn’s trajectory abruptly changed. Its horn swung toward him.

Hyoren’s expression hardened.

It worked.

The guardian had abandoned Arianna and chosen a new target. Him.

Hyoren raised his shield higher.

“Everyone, be careful!”

His voice echoed across the arena.

“It may be blindfolded, but it might detect our Aethell! It knows where we are!”

He tightened his grip around the shield.

“This guardian is more troublesome than we thought!”

The Blancorn was almost upon him.

Hyoren lowered his center of gravity. He planted both feet against the ground.

Here it comes…

The Blancorn’s horn struck his shield.

BOOM!

The impact shook his entire body.

Hyoren’s arms screamed from the force. His shield bent backward under the blow.

Damn it…?!

The force was far greater than he had anticipated.

I can’t absorb this!

He couldn’t stop it. If he tried to hold his ground, the impact would simply crush through his stance.

So Hyoren changed his approach.

Rather than resisting the full force, he deliberately allowed himself to be thrown aside. His body twisted diagonally. The Blancorn’s charge swept past him as he used the impact to launch himself away from the direct path of the charge.

But the Goblin Rider wasn’t going to let him escape so easily.

The instant Hyoren was thrown into the air, the rider moved. The massive white lance thrust toward him.

Hyoren’s eyes widened.

Damn it!

He brought his shield up just in time.

CLANG!

The lance struck the shield.

But Hyoren had no ground beneath his feet. He couldn’t brace against the impact. The force knocked him even farther backward. His body spun through the air before crashing onto the stone floor.

He rolled. Once. Twice. Three times.

His armor scraped against the arena floor before he finally came to a stop.

The guardian had already passed him. The Blancorn continued its charge toward the far side of the arena.

Then.

BOOM!

Its massive body slammed into the arena wall. Stone trembled from the impact. But the Blancorn barely reacted. It simply shook its head.

The Goblin Rider calmly flicked the reins. The Blancorn turned. Its six legs shifted beneath its massive body. The rider lowered its lance once more.

Even with its blindfold still covering its eyes, it had already found its next target. And it was ready to charge again.

***

The moment Hyoren was struck, the other three reacted almost simultaneously.

“Hyoren!”

“Big Bro!”

“Leader!”

Their voices overlapped across the arena.

From her position along the wall, Elise watched in alarm as the Blancorn’s horn crashed into Hyoren’s shield. The impact sent him flying sideways, and before he could fully recover, the blindfolded Goblin Rider followed with its massive lance.

Elise’s fingers moved almost on instinct.

She drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, and pulled the string back in one smooth motion. The arrowhead had already been coated with poison.

Her emerald eyes remained fixed on the Blancorn.

Arianna had warned them.

The Blancorn’s anti-magic field would weaken magical effects. So a poisoned arrow was the only option for her to deal reliable damage. 

Elise made her decision.

She activated her enchantment skill.

“Enchant Magic: Wind.”

Green light immediately wrapped around Moonveil Bow. The familiar magical glow gathered around the weapon, flowing along its limbs and across the arrow nocked against the string.

Sacred Wind was stronger. Far stronger. But doing so would consume most of her Aethell reserve. She would keep it for the right moment.

This was not the time… We still need to learn the Guardian first…

The Blancorn was already recovering from its collision with the wall.

Elise drew the bowstring farther.

The Guardian was preparing to charge again. And Hyoren had already managed to get back on his feet, shield raised as he prepared to face it once more.

Elise released the string.

“Charge Wind Arrow!”

SWOOSH!

The arrow shot across the arena in a streak of green. It flew straight toward the charging Blancorn. But just before impact—the green light suddenly dimmed. It was as if the arrow had passed through an invisible curtain. The magical force surrounding it weakened sharply.

Elise’s eyes narrowed.

The arrow struck the Blancorn’s side.

SQUELCH.

Yet the impact barely seemed to matter. The Blancorn didn’t even react.

Elise bit her lower lip.

“That Blancorn’s anti-magic is… troublesome…”

***

At almost the same moment, Jackey saw Hyoren get thrown aside.

His golden eyes widened and his body was already moving before he could think twice.

“Big Bro couldn’t stop the charge!”

Jackey sprinted after the Guardian.

“I need to be the one who chases it instead of waiting for Big Bro to stop it!”

His tabby cat ears flattened against his head as he accelerated.

“Strong Legs.”

A surge of Aethell rushed through his legs. His stride lengthened. His body became lighter and faster. Then another skill followed.

“Physical Enhancement.”

Power flooded through his body. His muscles tightened, his reflexes sharpened, and the physical enhancement stacked with Strong Legs.

Jackey was already fast by Beastkin standards. Now, with both skills active, he became a blur of motion across the arena.

The Blancorn had already turned back toward Hyoren. It was preparing to charge again.

Jackey closed the distance from the side.

He leaped.

“Eat this!”

Both axes rose as he twisted his body toward the Blancorn’s flank.

“Cross Slash!”

CLANG!

Jackey’s eyes widened.

The Goblin Rider had reacted.

The massive white lance glowed faintly as the rider swung it with practiced precision.

It has weapon skill??

The lance met Jackey’s twin axes head-on. The force of the parry sent Jackey flying backward. His body tumbled through the air before he crashed onto the arena floor.

But the Goblin Rider didn’t even look at him.

The moment Jackey was sent away, its attention returned to Hyoren.

***

Meanwhile, Arianna had been watching the exchange from the opposite side of the arena. Her grip tightened around the Quadraflux Weaver.

Her mind was already racing.

That charge…

The speed. The force. It was far beyond what she remembered from the Blancorn she had studied in the academy.

“A Blancorn shouldn’t have that kind of speed and power… it was famous for its durability and anti-magic… the horn is dangerous but it should not be that hard to evade as its charge should be slow.”

Her light blue eyes followed the rider and its mount.

“The rider might have riding skill… or something similar that boosts its mount…”

She tightened her grip. The combination was becoming clear.

“The mount gives the rider anti-magic and regeneration… while the rider gives the mount a boost in speed and power…”

Arianna’s expression became more serious.

“That combination is deadly…”

She couldn’t simply throw spells at it.

She had to choose carefully.

Her gaze followed the Blancorn’s movement as it prepared to charge Hyoren again. Arianna mentally calculated the distance, the creature’s speed, and the travel time of her spells.

Fire and earth were powerful.

But they are too slow…

If the Blancorn continued moving at that speed, landing them reliably would be difficult.

“Then I’ll stick with water and wind magic…”

She raised the Quadraflux Weaver.

Her eyes tracked the Blancorn’s path.

The moment it began its charge, Arianna released her spell.

“Wind Arrow.”

A long, thin streak of green shot from the tip of her staff. Arianna had already calculated the trajectory and aimed ahead of the Blancorn’s path.

SWOOSH!

The Wind Arrow flew toward the point where the Guardian would pass.

But once again—several meters before reaching its target, the spell entered the same invisible field. Its power dropped sharply. The green light flickered.

The spell nearly fizzled apart.

SQUELCH.

The weakened spell struck the Blancorn. But it barely slowed the charging monster.

Arianna’s expression hardened.

“So that’s the anti-magic field…”

The first exchange had already given them an answer.

Their attack could still reach the Blancorn.

But inside that Anti-magic field, their magic power was being drastically reduced. And the rider was skillful enough to parry direct physical attacks.

***

Hyoren pushed himself upright and tightened his grip around the Steel Kite Shield.

His shoulder still ached from the impact.

Across the arena, he watched his three party members continue their attacks against the Guardian.

But things weren’t going well.

Elise and Arianna’s attacks could still reach the Blancorn, but neither of them could reliably deal meaningful damage through its anti-magic field…

He looked towards the Cat-clan Beastkin who was already standing and preparing another attack.

Jackey was different… His physical attacks could hurt the Blancorn.

But there was another problem.

I couldn’t completely stop the Guardian charge.

If Jackey tried to attack while the Blancorn was still moving at full speed, the Goblin Rider could simply use its lance to parry him. The earlier exchange had already proven that.

Hyoren’s dark eyes narrowed.

We can’t stop its charge.

And without stopping the charge, Jackey couldn’t properly fight the Blancorn.

Meanwhile, the Goblin Rider could continue riding around the arena, choosing when and where to attack.

Hyoren’s mind raced as he watched the Guardian prepare for another charge.

What could we do…?

His fingers tightened around the shield.

The third-floor Guardian had already proven itself to be the most formidable opponent Freedom Party had faced so far. The Goblin Rider and its Blancorn mount were a combination they couldn’t simply overpower with their usual strategy.

With grim determination, Hyoren raised his shield once more and planted his feet. 

I have to find a way…