A crossover anime/manga series, starting with Kaguya's fiancé.

Bert roared, realizing Hedin's intentions.

Kaguya was startled; she hadn't expected Hedin to be so disregardful of their safety, launching an indiscriminate area-of-effect attack.

She pushed off with her feet and desperately retreated backward.

But the explosion came too quickly.

Boom—!

The violent chain of explosions unleashed a terrifying shockwave, and even with the crater providing cushioning, the force still affected Kaguya.

Fortunately, Bert reminded him, and he reacted quickly enough, otherwise he would have been injured by the explosion.

Lynn glared at Hedin. Was this guy doing this on purpose?

Hedin was unaware that Lynn was watching him, and he took the opportunity to help Otto attack.

"Ota, step aside."

The lightning ball landed precisely the moment Ota raised his sword; the two had coordinated perfectly.

One slash, one lightning ball.

With Hedin's support,

Ota attacked with even greater fervor, his Black Sword brimming with terrifying power, slashing at the same spot on the tortoise shell again and again.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The faint white mark on the tortoise shell was slowly deepening, and shattered shell fragments began to fly everywhere.

Hedin saw the possibility of success in one fell swoop.

"Plan changed!" he shouted; "All adventurers of level 3 and above, move forward and cover Ota!"

"Level 1 and 2 adventurers, you are responsible for clearing out the poisonous insects. No retreating!"

76. Far worse than Finn (Please subscribe)

Hedin decided to go all in without wasting any time; this order was tantamount to launching a general offensive.

Yacintos and Chanis exchanged a glance. Although they were unwilling, they had no choice but to steel themselves and lead their men forward.

As more people approached, the enormous tortoise shell seemed to be thoroughly enraged, and its surface began to writhe even more violently.

What were originally just groups of three or five flower buds bursting forth in large swathes, like rain, now spewed outwards in droves.

"Boom—!"

Every corner of the battlefield was filled with the incessant sound of explosions.

A Level 1 adventurer didn't even have time to scream before he was instantly swallowed up by three flower buds that exploded around him at the same time, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

On the other side, an assault team of eight level 2 adventurers had just survived a round of explosions when they were overwhelmed by a swarm of insects that emerged from the flower buds, several times denser than before.

"Damn it! There are too many!"

A level 3 heavy warrior roared, swinging his giant axe as he tried to carve a path for his comrades, but the next second, a flower bud landed precisely at his feet.

"Withdraw! Quickly withdraw!"

His companion screamed in terror, but it was too late.

The entire battlefield was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a large number of flower buds.

The cost of rushing in was that it actually worsened the situation that had been going well.

Even someone as powerful as Ota had to devote most of his energy to defense when faced with this endless, almost all-encompassing explosion.

His prized skill, "I am the only one who fights," is so powerful that under such saturation attacks, his recovery speed can't keep up with the speed at which he gets injured.

Blood seeped out from the gaps in his armor, and the frequency and force of his attacks were decreasing at a visible rate.

"What kind of monster is this?!" Hedin finally couldn't help but curse. "This disgusting mechanism is worse than the monsters on the sixtieth floor of the dungeon! It's even more annoying than that stupid red dragon on the fifty-eighth floor!"

He looked at the completely collapsed battle line ahead and the adventurers falling one after another, and reluctantly gripped his weapon.

"Everyone retreat!!"

Hedin roared as he gave the order.

However, in such a chaotic battlefield, retreating is more difficult than attacking.

The adventurers scrambled to escape, their formation crumbling, causing even more trampling and chaos.

The venomous insects pursued relentlessly, and explosions echoed behind them, reaping one life after another.

Lynn searched everywhere for Kaguya's figure.

"I'm here!"

Kaguya's voice came from not far away. She was covered in dust, her hair was disheveled, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, so she was obviously injured as well.

Lynn rushed over immediately, "Are you alright?"

"A minor injury." Kaguya shook her head, her breathing slightly unsteady.

Lynn helped Kaguya retreat to a safe area behind them.

The makeshift camp was deathly silent.

Naza and her team members are extremely busy, as the number of injured people far exceeds their expectations.

After the number of casualties was tallied, a heavy atmosphere settled over everyone's hearts.

LV1 adventurers, more than twenty have died.

LV2 adventurers, eight dead.

Level 3 adventurers, two dead.

This is only a preliminary statistic; the number of people who died from their injuries will likely continue to rise.

"Why did this happen..." Naza's voice trembled as she looked at the wounded people all over the ground.

Hedin surveyed his surroundings, a somber expression forming on his face.

"The casualties this time have completely exceeded my expectations."

Hedin's voice was slightly hoarse, "This monster is exceptionally difficult to deal with."

"As the temporary commander, I have a responsibility."

He bowed slightly to the crowd, "I will apply to the guild and personally fund double the compensation and relief for all the adventurers who have been killed or injured."

Naza said with some sadness, "If it weren't for your wrong decision, these people wouldn't have died."

Hedin spoke with utmost responsibility: "There's no other way. When facing monsters, casualties are inevitable. It's my responsibility, and I've already made the necessary compensation."

"Is compensation enough?" Naza simply couldn't understand Hedin's attitude of not caring about the lives of other adventurers.

"What else? I don't know life magic to revive them either." Hedin was puzzled. He had already made efforts to make amends, what more did he need?

However, Lynn suddenly spoke up.

"You are indeed no match for Finn of the Loki Familia."

Hedin froze, slowly raising his head, his sharp gaze piercing Lynn.

"What did you say?"

"I'm telling you, as a commander, you're far inferior to Finn."

Lynn repeated himself, his tone calm but full of accusation, "The situation was good just now, but you blindly ordered a general offensive, which resulted in this situation."

Also, I think you could easily clear away the fallen flower buds yourself with magic, so why did you let others risk getting close to detonate them?

"What do you know?"

Hedin laughed angrily, "Do you think my magic is limitless? I must conserve my magic to coordinate with Otto and provide cover when he attacks the turtle shell!"

"Otherwise, where do you think that crack on the tortoise shell came from?"

Lynn voiced her doubts: "Did you deliberately detonate the flower buds around Kaguya and Bert?"

"They were all clearing the area according to your plan, but you used area-of-effect magic to cover that area. How do you explain that?"

Hedin smiled and explained, "I need to have a view of the entire battlefield and don't have the extra energy to focus on the location of any one person. I don't know anything about what you're talking about."

Kaguya knew that Lynn was worried about her, so she tugged at Lynn's hand and said, "It's alright, Lynn."

Lynn didn't say anything more; he really didn't have any direct evidence.

After offering a few more words of encouragement, Hedin pointed to the giant tortoise in the distance.

"Did you all see that? That crack!"

“We’re about to completely shatter its shell! I’ll also talk to the union and ask everyone to give them more Fari.”

"Let me think about the next steps. We must ensure that everything goes perfectly."

The guild members just smiled and remained silent.

They hadn't expected so many casualties, and now if they didn't kill the monster, things would become even more difficult to handle.

At this moment,

Lynn spoke up.

Although he felt there was something wrong with Hedin, he prioritized the overall situation.

"I have a suggestion."

"Explosions are harder to control, so let the flower buds bloom instead."

"Once it blooms, it loses its explosive power; we only need to deal with the poisonous insects."

The leader of the Soma Kinkaku, wearing a hat, was the first to stand up and laugh.

"Kid, have you lost your mind? There are thousands upon thousands of poisonous insects in a single flower bud, and that monster's flower buds are like rain, endless. How are you going to deal with that?"

"Use fire."

Lynn's words were concise and to the point;

“I just tested it in the back, and fire magic can effectively burn those poisonous insects.”

"But natural fire won't work, the temperature isn't high enough."