Chapter 70: Sandwich Attack
After taking a heavy hit to the head, Stella quickly woke up from her dream.
Her body swayed like a pendulum and fell straight toward the ground.
Just before her head hit the ground, her right hand shot out of her pocket and supported her body, stopping her from smashing her head.
She took a few deep breaths, still shaken. Her fists clenched tightly, and her expression changed from shock to anger.
“Lisa, what are you doing? Did you go crazy from eating mushrooms?”
Hearing Stella blame her, Lisa, who was already full of anger, snapped back.
“Stella, how can you even say that? If I didn’t come to find you, you might have been carried off by some monster tonight!”
“Sounds like I should thank you? In my opinion, following Anna’s plan is even more dangerous. It’s worse than being eaten by a monster.”
Stella shrugged, almost as if the words “I don’t want to go” were written on her face.
Lisa clenched her fists. She couldn’t really argue with that.
Anna’s plan was too aggressive.
They had clearly overestimated their strength. Charging in blindly was no different from seeking death.
Lisa sighed and was about to speak when she suddenly heard another snoring sound.
“Stella, did you fall asleep again?”
“I didn’t! Stop blaming everything on me.”
If it wasn’t her… then who?
Lisa looked around in confusion. The snoring sound became clearer and louder.
Right now, the only one not here was Anna.
Or more precisely, Anna was waiting where they left her.
Could it be… Anna fell asleep too?
Lisa slowly stepped back. The snoring sound got even louder, as if it was right next to her ear.
Forget about keeping her noble image, Lisa hurriedly pulled out a magic scroll from her pocket and held it tightly.
“Anna, stop scaring me. Come out, please…”
“What are you talking about? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?” Stella frowned.
Lisa raised her hand and pointed behind Stella.
Only then did Stella turn around and saw a huge shadow moving toward them.
Stella instantly felt something was wrong.
Don’t tell me the boss came out early…
She quickly moved, creating distance, and hid behind Lisa.
“Lisa, you hold it off. I’ll go find Anna!”
“W-What? Me?!”
Lisa almost wanted to kill Stella.
This girl was really good at running away, but not very useful at critical moments.
Stomping her foot in anger, Lisa tightened her grip on the magic scroll.
The scroll could release half the power of a high-level spell.
If the creature attacked, she could still fight back.
But she didn’t have many of these scrolls.
Using one now would make fighting the Ice Bear King later much harder.
Her heart was pounding in her throat. Lisa stepped back while searching for Anna.
The dark shadow kept getting closer.
She stepped back again, her back hit a tree.
Just as she tried to turn around, the shadow suddenly lunged forward.
Lisa closed her eyes in despair, ready to crush the magic scroll in her hand.
Clang—!
A metallic sound stopped the attack.
Anna, who had finally arrived, blocked the huge shadow with her dagger.
The impact pushed Anna back a long distance.
Her arm felt intense pain, the angle of the block had twisted it.
But she didn’t care about the pain right now. She looked at Lisa and shouted,
“Don’t just stand there! Move! I didn’t teach you magic for decoration!”
Lisa snapped back to her senses and began chanting.
Only then did she clearly see what the creature was.
A huge tiger, covered in a purple mist?!
“A… a tiger? Why is there a tiger here?”
“It’s a Red Tiger,” Anna corrected her.
“Anna, you actually know what it is? That’s not like you.”
Anna brushed aside the hair covering her eyes.
“Come on, don’t talk nonsense. Aren’t these tigers often used in circus shows? Haven’t you seen them too?”
“Oh… right. But aren’t Red Tigers usually gentle and rarely attack humans? Why is this one so fierce?”
Lisa stared at the Red Tiger showing its teeth at her. It was hard to connect this one with the calm tigers she knew.
“How would I know? Focus on the fight. I’ll take the left, you take the right. We’ll attack it from both sides and take it down.”
Anna gripped her dagger and activated a wind blessing, increasing her speed. Her eyes locked onto the back of the tiger’s neck. She planned to strike its weak point and kill it in one hit.
“Die, you annoying thing!”
The dagger cut through the air with a sharp sound as Anna rushed forward like a cannonball, aiming at the tiger’s neck.
Seeing this, Lisa quickly cast a spell to confuse the Red Tiger, trying to create the best chance for Anna to attack.
Clang—!
Another harsh metal sound rang out.
The dagger struck the tiger’s huge claw. Just before the blade could reach its neck, the Red Tiger pulled back and used the hardest part of its paw to block the attack.
Anna stared in shock at her dagger, which seemed frozen in midair.
Something was very wrong with this Red Tiger.
It felt like it had been specially enhanced for battle.
Her dagger couldn’t even hurt it?
“Roar!!!”
Another claw swung toward Anna’s head with a powerful force.
That roar wasn’t just a normal sound, it was a beast-type battle cry.
It could weaken the enemy’s will and disturb their thinking.
Like a wave crashing over her mind, a strong pressure hit Anna directly.
The Red Tiger had targeted her weakest point.
Anna tried to use the wind blessing again, but her magic didn’t respond.
Damn it, she had forgotten that she couldn’t use it twice in a short time!
She quickly tried to retreat, but the Red Tiger seemed to predict her movement. Another claw struck toward where she was dodging.
The beast’s roars echoed nonstop.
In that moment of despair, Anna raised her dagger for a final block.
She couldn’t escape anymore.
All she could do was try to reduce the damage.
“Anna, get back!”
Seeing Anna at a disadvantage, Lisa stopped holding back. She drank a magic potion and used the scroll to cast Blazing Flame.
A huge wave of fire shot out from her hands and rushed toward the Red Tiger.
The strong shaking made it hard for Lisa to aim properly. Even though the scroll was powerful, adventurers with weak bodies could be hurt by the power of the spell itself.
“Did you get away? I can’t hold on much longer!”
Lisa released the spell and nervously opened her eyes.
She saw Anna quickly dodge behind some bushes just before the flames hit.
She looked a bit messy, but at least she avoided the attack.
The Red Tiger, however, was not so lucky.
The moment the flames hit, its body was blasted away like a cannonball.
It wasn’t fatal, but the powerful aura it had before was greatly weakened.
Even a Red Tiger couldn’t take a high-level spell without serious damage.
Lisa stared at the tiger in the distance, still on guard. If the fight continued, she wasn’t sure she could win.
Luckily, the Red Tiger seemed to realize the situation was bad. It turned around, used the darkness of the night, and leaped away into the forest.
Lisa let out a heavy sigh of relief and quickly went to check Anna’s injuries.
“Are you okay?”
She examined Anna’s wrist. It was bruised and already turning dark. After being hit and then thrown back, the injury had become worse.
“Anna…”
“Don’t say anything. We continue with the plan to defeat the Ice Bear King. I brought medicine. It’s just a bruise, it’ll be fine after applying it.”
“But…” Lisa shook her head. “Even a Red Tiger made us like this. If we really face the Ice Bear King, do you think we still have any chance of winning?”