[134] : Balor Magic Eye!

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"Alright, I'll begin!"

Seeing Mika's unwavering determination, Mellie immediately summoned Fufu, who soared into the sky.

Seated on Fufu's back, Mellie placed her staff across her lap and closed her eyes, entering a meditative state.

As Fufu circled the battlefield, a shower of pink petals rained down from the sky.

"What's this?!"

Riveria, having just frozen Balor's knees with a spell, looked up and noticed the descending petals.

Intrigued by this unusual phenomenon, she glanced upwards.

"Mellie? Is this her magic?"

A wave of curiosity washed over Riveria as she sensed the strange energy permeating the air.

What kind of magic was this?

It was so… beautiful.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

Another Riveria appeared beside her.

Along with Riveria, duplicates of Alise, Shakti, and the others also materialized.

"These are… illusions!"

"Indeed, they are illusions," Mika confirmed, approaching from behind with a smile.

Since being tasked with clearing out the smaller monsters and protecting Airmid and the others, Mika had been searching for a way to permanently deal with the Formors, preventing them from interfering with the battle against Balor.

He had racked his brain, but no viable solution came to mind.

Finally, Mellie proposed a plan: enveloping the area in an illusion, causing the monsters to attack each other, creating an opening for Mika to engage Balor.

Normally, Mellie wouldn't be able to create an illusion on this scale with her own power.

But she had Fufu's assistance.

Although Mellie often summoned Fufu as a familiar, Fufu's true purpose was to amplify Mellie's abilities.

It was thanks to Fufu's enhancement that Mellie could control so many monsters simultaneously.

Of course, another factor was that she used "Illusion" rather than "Dream Prison."

Dream Prison required precise control over each individual monster, while Illusion simply required manipulating their perception through mental power.

The two techniques were vastly different.

"Riveria, please attack without restraint. The Formors have been ensnared by our illusion and are currently attacking their own phantom duplicates. In their eyes, this area is now empty space. There's no need to worry about them.

Now, please demonstrate your true power as Orario's strongest mage!"

With that, Mika charged towards Balor.

"Finn, the Formors are dealt with. I'm here to help!"

"Perfect timing!"

A small smile graced Finn's lips as he heard Mika's voice.

The previous battle had given him a firsthand taste of Balor's terrifying power.

Even Gareth, the most resilient among them, couldn't withstand a direct hit from Balor.

A single blow from Balor's club was enough to send Gareth flying.

If it weren't for Airmid's constant healing, he would have been incapacitated long ago.

Gareth's ability to remain on the battlefield, as well as the opportunity for Finn and the others to attack, was solely due to Ottar's defense.

With Ottar's monstrous combat prowess, he could single-handedly hold off Balor's attacks indefinitely.

With Finn and the others assisting, their defense was impenetrable.

However, the reason the battle had reached a stalemate was their lack of damage output.

According to Finn's estimations, if they maintained their current pace without any external interference, they could whittle down Balor in approximately fifteen hours.

But who could endure such a prolonged, high-intensity battle for fifteen hours?

Without Airmid's constant healing to replenish their strength and stamina, they wouldn't last even five hours.

After all, the level gap between them and Balor was immense.

This battle was like walking a tightrope.

Expecting someone to walk a tightrope for fifteen hours was akin to a death sentence.

Why subject them to such needless torment?

In a battle like this, every ounce of strength mattered. Every additional combatant could potentially tip the scales of victory.

After all, delays could lead to unforeseen complications.

They couldn't afford to drag out the fight.

Balor's most powerful ability, his Magic Eye, had yet to be unleashed.

"Everyone, focus your attacks on Balor's wound! Widen it!"

With Mika joining the fray, Finn immediately adjusted their strategy.

After Mika's victory over the Amphisbaena, Finn had inquired about the properties of his weapon.

Upon learning that the weapon had a unique "owner recognition" function, Finn abandoned the idea of borrowing it.

However, he had devised a tactic based on its capabilities.

The "Magic Stone Excavation" tactic.

Due to the existence of achievements, dungeon bosses had always served as stepping stones for heroes to transcend their limits.

In battles against such formidable foes, the most effective method for achieving victory was destroying their magic stone.

Once the magic stone was destroyed, regardless of the monster's power, death was inevitable.

However, the robust bodies and regenerative abilities of dungeon bosses often made it impossible to even locate their magic stones.

But Mika possessed a way to bypass this obstacle.

By continuously attacking and deepening Balor's wound, then using Mika's "Gáe Buidhe" to inflict a curse upon it, they could gradually expand the injury until the magic stone was exposed.

This method was significantly more efficient than simply trading blows with the monster and slowly whittling down its health.

"Understood!"

Having been briefed on this tactic beforehand, everyone adjusted their attacks, focusing on Balor's wound.

Ottar, bearing the brunt of Balor's attacks, focused all his energy on defense.

It was the Freya Familia's trio who shone brightest in this situation.

Allen Fromel, Orario's fastest adventurer.

And the magic swordsmen, Hogni Ragnar and Hedin Selland.

Allen, with his lightning-fast speed, darted around Balor, landing precise blows.

Hogni and Hedin, positioned closer to the monster, unleashed their magic attacks, targeting the wound with pinpoint accuracy.

Lacking Allen's speed and Hogni and Hedin's magic, Finn and Gareth found themselves slightly outmatched in this scenario.

Mika, while not as fast as Allen, was significantly faster than Finn. With a swift strike, he further aggravated Balor's wound, halting its regeneration.

"It seems victory is within our grasp!" Mika exclaimed, observing the deepening wound on Balor's abdomen.

Suddenly, an ominous premonition of death washed over him.

"Watch out! Balor's about to open his eyes!"

---

The sudden surge of danger originated from Mika's "Danger Sense" skill.

Feeling an ominous chill run down his spine, Mika swiftly retreated, shouting a warning.

"Get back!"

Hearing Mika's cry, the others, including Ottar, immediately fell back.

Their retreat wasn't to hide or flee, but to create space for maneuvering.

They needed to maintain maximum mobility to evade Balor's devastating magic eye.

Direct confrontation with Balor's magic eye was impossible; their only option was to dodge.

As everyone watched with bated breath, the tightly shut eye on Balor's face slowly opened.

"Wait, he's looking at…!"

Mika's heart pounded in his chest as he saw the direction of Balor's gaze.

Balor wasn't looking at Mika or the others who were inflicting significant damage up close, but at Riveria, who was positioned further away.

Alise, Shakti, and the others were gathered around Riveria.

And so was Airmid.

"Airmid, dodge!" Mika and Finn yelled simultaneously.

"Riveria, he's targeting you!"

"How?! He saw through the illusion? Does Balor's magic eye also have the ability to pierce through illusions?" Mellie's mind raced as she witnessed the unfolding scene, her heart pounding in her chest.

Her illusion had created a safe environment for Riveria and the others to attack.

But now, that very illusion had placed them in mortal danger.

Without the illusion, Riveria would have been far more aware of Balor's movements.

But now, their reaction time was delayed.

If they died because of her, Mellie knew she would never forgive herself.

However, Riveria didn't disappoint.

Even in a seemingly safe environment, she had maintained vigilance, keeping a safe distance from the Formors.

Although her reaction was slightly delayed when Balor's eye opened, she still moved with incredible speed.

"Run!"

Riveria shouted, shoving Airmid out of the danger zone.

Simultaneously, she leaped in the opposite direction.

Balor's target was her, not Airmid or the others.

Balor was unaware that Airmid's healing magic was the key to their success against him.

The moment Riveria leaped away, the magic eye's beam struck the ground where they had been standing moments before.

The beam pierced straight through the floor of the forty-ninth level.

Riveria and the others narrowly avoided the attack, but the danger wasn't over.

As Balor turned his head, the magic eye's beam swept across the area, homing in on Riveria.

"Damn it!"

While her initial jump had allowed her to escape the initial blast, the brief moment of vulnerability upon landing had put her in mortal danger.

Finn had warned them about Balor's magic eye.

The beam wasn't instantaneous.

It lasted for approximately three seconds.

Three seconds was enough time for it to sweep across a 180-degree arc.

If Balor's physiology allowed his head to rotate a full 360 degrees, he could have swept the area multiple times in that timeframe.

Therefore, to evade Balor's magic eye, constant movement and swift reflexes were essential.

But now, caught off guard, Riveria had no time to react.

"Riveria!" Airmid cried out in anguish as she watched the beam sweep towards Riveria.

"Damn it!"

Even Allen, Orario's fastest, couldn't reach Riveria in time.

The distance between them was too great.

"Riveria!"

Finn's eyes widened in horror as he watched the scene unfold.

Riveria, his trusted companion who had faced countless dangers alongside him, was about to die.

As the commander, he couldn't accept this.

Just as everyone watched in despair, a blue light streaked across the battlefield, hurtling towards Riveria.

If running wasn't fast enough, then flying was the only option.

Using his materialized gauntlets to propel himself forward, fueled by an immense surge of magic and ki, with flames erupting from his body for additional thrust, Mika disregarded any thoughts of stopping. His only focus was maximizing his speed.

In a flash, he moved faster than anyone had ever seen, transforming into a blur of light as he crossed the battlefield, snatching Riveria from the path of the beam and vanishing from sight.

Then, far from the others' view, he crashed into the ground.

After all, he hadn't considered how to stop.

"Mika!"

Mellie, seated on Fufu's back high above, had witnessed everything.

Her voice was filled with worry as she recalled Mika's terrifying speed.

After all, the principle of speed equating to power applied even in this world.

Before she could dwell on it further, she felt a sudden surge of acceleration, followed by Airmid's and Fufu's panicked cries.

"ROAR!!"

"Mellie, dodge!"

Hearing Airmid's shout, Mellie quickly looked back.

What she saw sent a chill down her spine.

Balor's beam grazed past her, narrowly missing her.

If Fufu hadn't reacted quickly and accelerated, Mellie would have been incinerated on the spot.

"After failing to hit Master Riveria, he immediately targeted me without hesitation."

"Could Balor be intelligent?"

Mellie pondered this as she watched the beam dissipate into the distance.

Suddenly, she felt the pull of gravity.

Her close call with the beam wasn't a figure of speech; it had been a literal brush with death.

The force of the beam had obliterated half of Fufu's body, causing the creature to vanish.

And that meant Mellie was plummeting towards the ground.

"Mellie!"

Seeing Mellie falling from the sky, Airmid rushed forward, attempting to catch her.

But Mellie shouted from above, "Don't come closer, Airmid! I'm a Level 3! This fall won't kill me!"

"You need to prepare for battle!"

"Fufu is gone. I can no longer maintain the illusion! The Formors are about to attack!"

"What?!"

Hearing Mellie's warning, Airmid looked around frantically.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the Formors, freed from the illusion, turning their attention back towards them.

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