Ais answered his question with action.
The Tree Sentinel's attention was instantly seized by this new combatant. The warhorse snorted, its massive head swiveling toward Ais.
"Don't try to parry his attacks with your sword!" Lynn roared at the top of his lungs. He knew all too well the most common mistake a rookie made when facing an enemy like this.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
Ais's silhouette was a streak of golden lightning. Even with her strength and speed severely suppressed, the instincts honed over years of combat led her to the most direct choice: a thrust. It was one of her most confident techniques—funneling her entire body's momentum into the tip of her blade, lunging like a striking viper, precise and lethal.
Clang!
A shrill, tooth-aching screech of metal rang out.
Ais's rapier struck perfectly at the seam of the golden chest plate, but the expected penetration didn't happen. The tip merely threw off a spark before being deflected by an indestructible force.
The Tree Sentinel didn't even flinch. It ignored the strike entirely, swinging the great halberd in a horizontal sweep. The move was so fast and devoid of warning that it was as if Ais's attack didn't even exist in its logic.
Ais's pupils constricted.
At the absolute precipice of disaster, she abandoned her retreat. Instead, with a flexibility that defied common sense, she arched her back, her body nearly parallel to the ground. The golden halberd whistled past her nose, the gale ruffling her hair.
So fast! So heavy!
Alarm bells rang in Ais's mind, but before she could reset her stance, the armored horse raised its hind hooves and delivered a brutal back-kick!
A combo! A coordinated strike between rider and mount!
"Holy—!" Lynn's scalp prickled. Without a second thought, he used Bloodhound's Step to flicker to Ais's side, grabbing her arm and yanking her back.
BOOM!
The hooves slammed into the earth where they had stood a heartbeat ago, exploding dirt and sod into the air.
"Stay sharp! You aren't a Level 6 right now!" Lynn barked, dragging the shaken Ais to a safe distance.
Ais breathed heavily, a rare look of bewilderment and... defeat flickering in her golden eyes. The sword skills she took so much pride in couldn't even make the opponent sway.
"Why... why doesn't it block? Why doesn't it retreat?" she whispered, like a student faced with an unsolvable problem.
"Because it doesn't have to! It's tougher than you!" Lynn explained succinctly, his eyes fixed on the Tree Sentinel as it wheeled its horse around for another pass.
"Listen, don't initiate any more attacks. Run circles around him, draw his aggro! If you can't dodge, roll! Don't move in until I call for it, got it?"
Ais stared at him blankly. The mixture of tension and excitement on Lynn's face made her nod instinctively.
"Good. Let's go!" Lynn slapped her shoulder and charged back in.
This time, the battlefield became a stage for two.
Following Lynn's instructions, Ais stopped looking for openings. She poured every ounce of her focus into evasion and positioning. She was like a golden butterfly dancing on the edge of a lethal storm.
The Tree Sentinel's attacks were savage and relentless, every swing of the golden halberd threatening to tear the sky asunder. But Ais, relying on her extraordinary combat intuition, managed to dodge at the absolute limit every single time.
At first, it was desperate work. She was used to suppressing enemies with raw speed and power; now, being forced into passive evasion made every cell in her body scream in protest. Several times, the wind-pressure from the halberd tore at her clothes, sending her heart into her throat.
But Ais was Ais. She was Orario's undisputed combat genius.
After dodging a dozen consecutive strikes, she began to adapt. The bewilderment and defeat faded, replaced by an absolute, razor-sharp focus. She began to observe. She began to learn.
She noticed that every attack from the golden knight, no matter how chaotic it seemed, had microscopic tells in its shoulders and wrists. Every charge from the warhorse followed a specific, predictable trajectory.
And Lynn... he was like a veteran hunter, snatching up those fleeting openings.
The Tree Sentinel executed a massive vertical cleave, gouging a deep crater into the earth.
Now!
Lynn's figure appeared like a ghost at the horse's flank. The Bloodhound's Fang flashed with cold light, hacking ruthlessly into the horse's rear hock joint!
Clang!
Sparks flew. The warhorse let out a pained whinny, its momentum faltering.
"Ais! Right side!" Lynn roared.
Almost the second the words left his mouth, Ais was in motion. It was as if she and Lynn shared a single mind. With a swift slide, her rapier didn't thrust; instead, it became a nimble sliver of silver, slicing at a sharp angle into the gap of the armor on the Sentinel's right arm.
Schwing!
Another crisp sound. It didn't do massive damage, but it successfully threw the Tree Sentinel's rhythm into a microscopic state of disarray.
"Perfect!" Lynn didn't stint on his praise.
Ais didn't reply, but the corners of her mouth twitched into an almost invisible arc.
So... this is how you fight.
It wasn't about blind aggression. It was like dismantling a complex machine—patiently finding every screw and gear, then using the minimum force to make the whole thing collapse.
The rest of the battle was dictated by Lynn's rhythm.
"Left rear leg! He's going to stomp!" "Open the distance! He's charging his Holy Ground shockwave!" "Ignore the horse, look at his shoulder! Shield bash coming up!"
Lynn's commands echoed across the plains, and Ais's coordination became increasingly seamless. She evolved from a primary attacker into a top-tier harasser and support. Her blade no longer sought a lethal blow but acted like a hornet's stinger—every strike landing exactly when the Sentinel was committing to an attack or recovering from one.
Though every strike was still deflected by that terrifying poise and plate armor, the Tree Sentinel's once-unstoppable rhythm began to stutter and crumble. It was like a giant beast being tripped by a thousand invisible threads—possessing ultimate power, but finding no place to apply it.
Time passed in a blur of exhaustion. Their stamina was draining rapidly, both of them were covered in scuffs and bruises, and their breathing sounded like ragged bellows.
Finally, after a successful dodge, Lynn noticed the Tree Sentinel's movement as it raised its halberd had slowed.
Opportunity!
"Ais! Everything you've got on the horse's head!"
Lynn bellowed with his last bit of strength. He lunged forward rather than retreating, dropping low as the Bloodhound's Fang scraped a long trail of sparks against the ground, aiming straight for the horse's front legs!
It was a "mutually assured destruction" play!
Ais didn't hesitate for a heartbeat. She had developed a near-instinctual trust in Lynn's judgment. Her golden silhouette turned into a blur as she channeled every ounce of her peak Level 1 power into her blade.
The Tree Sentinel sensed the lethal crisis. It abandoned its attack on Lynn, wheeling its halberd around to swat the incoming Ais out of the air.
But its movements were finally half a beat too slow.
Puch!
Lynn's Bloodhound's Fang accurately severed one of the horse's front legs. The mount let out a scream, its massive frame losing balance and crashing forward.
In that exact millisecond, Ais arrived.
CHINK—!
This time, it wasn't a weak deflection.
As the horse went down and the rider lurched, Ais's sword tip pierced perfectly through the eye-slit of the knight's helm!
The world seemed to fall silent for a single second. The Tree Sentinel froze.
The next moment, its gargantuan frame, along with the mount beneath it, began to dissolve into a swarm of golden light.
"Hah... gasp... hah..."
Lynn flopped onto the grass, panting heavily. His entire body felt like it was falling apart. This buffed Tree Sentinel was no joke—it had way too much HP.
Ais leaned on her sword, kneeling on one knee. Her long blonde hair was soaked with sweat and matted to her cheeks, her chest heaving violently.
A rain of golden light erupted from the dissolving sentinel. A single streak of light merged into Lynn.
[Obtained Runes x 1,000] [Obtained Golden Halberd]
The familiar notification popped up, but Lynn didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
"We... we won..."
Ais whispered to herself. She looked up at the amber sky and the distant Erdtree. Her face was smeared with dirt and sweat, but her golden eyes were startlingly bright.
An unprecedented sensation welled up from the depths of her soul. It wasn't the flat feeling of killing a normal monster, nor was it the usual joy of leveling up.
It was... the absolute rush of struggling on the edge of life and death, squeezing out every drop of strength, exhausting every bit of wit, and finally snatching the fruit of victory with her own hands!
She felt the invisible barrier that had been blocking her progress for so long finally develop a hairline fracture.
"I think... I understand now." Ais turned her head to look at Lynn, her voice carrying a slight tremor of uncontrollable excitement. "Your God... Lord Hidetaka Miyazaki... his teachings... so this is what they mean."
She said with total sincerity: "Only through such grueling trials, under the threat of death, can one truly feel the weight of life and the joy of growth. This is the path to true... strength."
Lynn, who was currently tired as a dog, froze when he heard Ais's heartfelt "realization." He looked at her flushed face and the fanatical gleam in her eyes, and a single thought slowly formed in his mind:
Is this girl Ais... actually a massive masochist?
Looking at those terrifyingly bright golden eyes, burning with the fervor of someone who had found enlightenment through suffering, Lynn couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Damn, Old Man Zaki... you're really a bad influence."
He lay flat on the grass, unable to move a muscle. He just waved a hand weakly. "As long as you get it, as long as you get it... Next time I'll take you... cough... I mean, my God will surely bestow more trials upon us."
Ais gave a heavy nod, her expression as solemn as a knight swearing an oath. She carefully sheathed her rapier and walked over to Lynn, naturally reaching out her hand to pull him up.
"Let's go. It's time to head back." Her voice was a bit raspy from the fight, but it held a new, crystal-clear resonance.
Lynn didn't stand on ceremony, grabbing her soft yet powerful hand and pulling himself up. Fatigue washed over him like a tide, but his spirit was high. The Golden Halberd... does this mean I can use 'Golden Vow' now?
As they stepped out of the combat zone, the vast plains beneath the amber sky began to turn translucent. After a few flickers, they vanished entirely. The surroundings snapped back into the dark, damp tunnels of the tenth floor. The ancient stone gate dissolved into points of light, merging back into the rock wall as if it had never been there.
Everything was back to normal, save for their scuffed armor, torn clothes, and the bone-deep exhaustion proving it wasn't a dream.
"We're... back." Ais looked around, still a bit dazed.
"Yep. Trial over," Lynn bullshitted casually, already calculating how to spend those thousand Runes.
The atmosphere on the way back was strange. Ais was no longer silent; she walked by Lynn's side, her golden eyes rarely leaving him. She began to ask questions.
"Lynn, that 'roll' you do... is there a specific trick to it? I felt like your body became 'unreal' for a split second when you dodged."
"Oh, that? That's the 'Invincibility Frame' bestowed by my God. It's a manifestation of faith. As long as your conviction is strong enough, you can even dodge a flying brick."
"And that footwork? Is it a high-speed movement magic? I didn't sense any mana fluctuations."
"Not magic. It's a Combat Art. Though, I can't teach it to you."
Lynn continued to spout nonsense with a straight face, wrapping Souls-game concepts in high-sounding terms suitable for this world. Ais nodded repeatedly, her face saying "I see, I have much to learn," as the look of admiration in her eyes intensified.
Just as they were about to exit the tenth floor, they ran head-on into an adventuring party. The group had about five or six people, well-equipped—clearly an experienced veteran team.
The beastman leader froze the moment he saw Ais. He stopped immediately and gave a respectful bow. "S-Sword Princess!"
His team behind him fell into a flurry of excitement, casting gazes of awe, shock, and adoration toward her.
"Mm," Ais nodded faintly, her pace never slowing.
The adventurers' gazes quickly shifted from Ais to the boy walking beside her.
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