Danmachi: A Mage's Journey

Chapter 294 294: Calming Ais

Alise barely avoided being crushed, her voice breaking into exhilaration. "Well done, Akira! Now is our chance! Attack with everything!!!"

The entire party surged forward.

Riveria herself broke into motion, sprinting, dodging, chanting in parallel. Her eyes widened briefly, gaze flicking back toward Akira.

"No chant... immense scale... unfathomable, as ever."

But she had no time for awe. Her staff lifted. Her lips sang power.

From her emerald circle, three crystalline snowflakes shot forth, deadly with restrained majesty. She held back her true power, wary of harming allies, but her magic still harmonized perfectly with Ryuu's Luminous Wind, Lyra's flame bombardment, and Celty's lightning.

Together, their barrage covered the vanguard's advance.

Buying Riveria the time she needed to gather her true, highest-tier spell.

This was precisely why she had been chosen to join the expedition against the Greatest Evil.

"Ah!!!"

The dragon let out a thunderous roar. Feeling truly threatened for the first time, it spread its colossal limbs, raised its head high, and unleashed a torrent of hellfire.

The inferno clashed against the combined barrage of four kinds of magic, devouring the spells and detonating into a blinding flash of light.

But the adventurers had been waiting for that very opening.

"Now!"

Alise charged forward like a streak of flame, her blazing sword cleaving down with merciless force. Behind her, Kaguya and the others followed without hesitation, slashes, gale-infused fists, and explosive bombs rained down upon the beast.

The shield guards braced themselves, massive shields locking into place as they absorbed the shockwaves of erupting firebombs. Behind them, the healers chanted frantically, weaving barriers of light and restoring flesh torn by stray blasts, ensuring no one was fatally struck.

But even as they pushed forward—

Fssshhh—

A sinister glow erupted from the dragon's body. Dark purple light surged as flesh knitted together, scales reformed, and wounds sealed shut beneath rising steam.

"Regeneration again?!"

Teeth gritted, Alise pressed forward. With a battle cry, she struck true, her flaming blade crashing into the scaled hide of the beast. Sparks and fragments of broken scales flew.

"Wow! It's really hard!"

The Crimson Order in her hand shuddered violently. Her strike shattered the scales, but failed to reach the deeper layer beneath. This was no ordinary monster, it was a creature born from the very essence of life force itself.

But Alise refused to falter. Raising her sword high once more, her voice rang out above the chaos. "Our mission isn't to slay it directly, create space for the defenders to attack! Disrupt it! Distract it! Keep it moving!!"

"Understood!" Her comrades responded instantly, surging with renewed energy.

Meanwhile, further back—

Ais stomped against the cracked earth, fury blazing in her golden eyes. The black wind howled around her, an ominous gale that threatened not only the dragon, but her allies as well. Yet in her gaze, there was only the enemy.

Boom!

Her sword clashed against the beast's tail. Blood spilled from the monster's hide, but the recoil flung Ais away like a ragdoll.

Crack!

Her small body hit the ground, fingers twisting in unnatural directions from the impact.

Yet still, she rose.

The sword quivered in her trembling hands, but Ais refused to loosen her grip. With eyes burning, she lunged forward again, only for a firm hand to press down on her shoulder, halting her mid-charge.

Through the howling storm, her gaze locked onto a pair of calm, black eyes.

Akira.

Her reflection stared back at her in those dark pupils, scarred, trembling, and driven by madness.

He cupped her cheeks gently, her face puffing slightly in his palms like a sulking kitten.

His voice was soft, yet unshakable. "Calm yourself, Ais. Right now, you cannot defeat that monster alone."

His fingers brushed against her heated skin, and he could feel it, the rage consuming her reason, the hatred threatening to burn her alive from within.

When she realized who it was, Ais' tense shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. But the molten fury in her eyes did not fade.

"No. I must defeat that thing with my own hands. Don't get in my way!"

Her stubborn words trembled with unyielding obsession. Her breath came heavy, hair swaying as she tried to break free from his grip.

"I have to... I must take revenge..."

Her golden eyes wavered, torn between fury and hesitation.

Akira sighed softly. "What a hassle."

And then, he let his icy magic flow. Cool frost seeped from his palms into her feverish skin, chilling the boiling emotions raging inside her.

Ais shuddered, memories flashing of the time Riveria scolded her, when just a single chill across her forehead had silenced her defiance. Her body stiffened. Her golden eyes trembled as if the darkness inside them were about to burst.

"Uuu—so cold!"

Her face scrunched up adorably, a pitiful sound slipping from her lips, like a child who had bitten into a popsicle too quickly and suffered brain freeze.

Akira chuckled softly, watching the storm of hatred fade from her gaze.

"Better now?"

Slowly, the molten black receded from her golden eyes, returning them to their dazzling brilliance. The storm of vengeance dissipated, leaving behind the girl's familiar, innocent self.

"I-I'm sorry, Akira." Her voice was small, almost guilty.

But when her gaze fell upon her beloved blade, cracked and trembling in her grasp, despair clouded her expression once more.

It's over.

The battle wasn't even finished, yet her weapon, her partner, was already damaged beyond salvation.

Even if they defeated the monster, the cost of repairs alone would number in the millions. And afterward, she could already imagine Riveria chasing her with a staff in hand. The thought made her heart sink into a pit of doom.

Akira, reading her troubled face as easily as an open book, reached out and patted her head.

"Don't worry." He said lightly, teasingly. "Riveria won't scold you."

"Really?!"

Ais' head snapped up, golden eyes sparkling with sudden hope.

Akira smiled faintly. "Really."

Turning away, he raised his voice at the others. "But right now isn't the time to chat, we're still in the middle of a battle!"

Ais' gaze followed his, landing on her companions. Riveria and the others were still locked in combat with the rampaging dragon, their bodies bloodied yet unyielding.

The dungeon shook with another thunderous roar, the monster's fury reverberating like a cursed melody.

Ais' grip tightened on her cracked sword. She wanted—no, needed, to fight again.

But Akira stopped her once more, his voice calm, steady, guiding. "Remember what I taught you, Ais. Don't let the wind control you. Look around. Feel it. Master it. Become the one who rules the storm."

"I can't." She muttered bitterly.

Her eyes wavered. Without the fuel of hatred, without the fire of vengeance, she could not summon the strength to command the black wind.

"Hey, you two!" Kaguya's voice rang out, sharp with urgency. "Stop flirting and get over here already! We need help!"

Kaguya, who had been smashed aside by the dragon's tail, glared at the two people who were still talking as if they weren't in the middle of a life-or-death battle.

She couldn't help but curse in her heart, 'Forget about the little girl, she went berserk right from the start, burning through her stamina and magic in one go. But you, Akira...'

'What the hell are you doing slacking off at a time like this?!'