As they ran, Faiz said, "Listen, guys—we can't run now. We have to stand our ground and beat them all!"
Astraea replied, "Got it."
Faiz continued, "Now, spirit form! Spirit of Zephyr!"
And with that, Faiz vanished into the wind.
Anew turned to Astraea and said, "Well, are you ready to do this?"
Astraea nodded. "Yeah."
As they were surrounded, the battle began. Anew shouted, "Now—Enchantment Magic: Darkest Lariat!"
Astraea followed up, "Now—Spin Magic: Zephyr Zing!"
Their combined attack took down three Moss Hues. But then, the massive one struck back with a heavy punch, sending Astraea and Anew flying.
Astraea groaned, "That one hit like a truck."
"No kidding," Anew said.
Astraea got back up. "Anew, take care of the others. I'll deal with the big one."
"Got it!" Anew responded and charged toward the remaining enemies.
As Astraea faced the giant Moss Hue alone, he began to chant while dodging the monster's relentless attacks and striking back with his sword. When the chant was complete, he declared:
"Winds of motion, blades of fate,
Spiral now, no time to wait.
Arc and slice with endless might,
Scatter shadows, shred the night.
By the law of spin unbroken—
Let the infinite slash be spoken!
Spin Magic: INFINITE SLASH SCATTER!"*
He launched a flurry of spinning slashes carried by the wind. But the Moss Hue dodged the attacks effortlessly.
Astraea thought, Why did it dodge my attack instead of blocking it like it did with Anew's?
Meanwhile, Anew continued fighting the other enemies.
Far on the western end of Speal, Faiz observed the battle and thought to himself, My guess was right—those are human mana signatures. These monsters have intelligence. They're planning to use people as hostages…
Back at the battle, Astraea recalled something Lucifer had once said: "Remember, holy relics have different properties. They evolve during battle to best suit the user's needs in the moment."
The fight wasn't going well. But suddenly, Astraea's holy blade began to glow and transformed from a greatsword into a pair of hand knives.
Astraea thought, This must be what the captain meant by 'my holy relic evolving.' With these knives, I can move faster and focus on attacking!
He raised his arms and chanted:
"O breath of skies, so vast and wide,
Claim the ground, and turn the tide.
Whisper, howl, and coil within,
Let no foe escape the wind.
Bind the space, let stillness break—
This land is mine for storm's own sake.
Besetzungssieg!"*
Spinning winds engulfed Astraea's body, increasing his speed. Now, he could fight the Moss Hue on equal footing.
The monster slammed the ground with its massive arms, causing roots to surge toward Astraea. The impact knocked him back, but he managed to stay on his feet.
Just as the Moss Hue prepared to finish him off, Anew's Darkest Lariat attack knocked the beast away.
Astraea called out, "Anew, I'll finish this fight with a single attack!"
The Moss Hue just smiled.
Astraea felt a chill run down his spine.
A monster… smiling?