The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 18: Fiera’s Battle

As we entered the dungeon, our eyes were drawn to the snowy landscape that spread out before us.

Having been here once before, I wasn’t that impressed, but Fiera seemed delighted with her tail wagging back and forth.

(Wait, could it be that…?)

“I’ll just say this once, don’t play around, okay?”

“…I understand.”

Fiera took a long time to reply, but her tail drooped down sadly as if she felt a bit neglected.

“There’s plenty of snow back in the territory, right? If you want to play, go do it over there.”

“Play with me, El.”

“Me…?”

“Yeah. Then I can fluff your tail and ears a lot.”

“I’ll think about it.”

I hadn’t planned on playing at all, but since Fiera had offered me permission to fluff her tail and ears, I reluctantly decided to consider it.

(Because Fiera’s tail has become even nicer to touch lately.)

While we hadn’t seen each other for a while, it seemed Fiera had been putting a lot of effort into grooming her tail and ears, making them even fluffier.

“Well, I’ll decide what to do after we exit the dungeon. For now, you’ll tackle the first ten floors alone, Fiera. I already cleared that far last time, so you can do it, right?”

“Piece of cake. Just follow behind me, El.”

Her tone didn’t change, but having spent the last few weeks together, I could tell she was full of motivation.

(Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.)

Fiera walked through the snow with no hesitation, so I quietly followed her from behind.

After a while, the first creatures we encountered were a pack of Ice Wolves.

There were five of them, and one was noticeably larger, marking it as the leader.

“[Body Enhancement]”

As Fiera cast the spell, despite the snowy ground, she dashed toward the Ice Wolves at an incredible speed.

The Ice Wolves had four of their number in front to protect the leader, but they couldn’t keep up with Fiera’s speed and easily allowed her to slip right past them, leading the leader to become a victim of her kick.

With a kick that crushed its skull, the leader was easily dispatched, disappearing and leaving behind only its magic stone.

The remaining four, now without a commander, were caught off guard, but Fiera wasn’t about to miss such an opening. She effortlessly took them down with punches, kicks, and thrusts.

“Impressive. They didn’t stand a chance.”

“Yep. Just watch and relax, El.”

“Got it.”

After that, Fiera mercilessly dispatched any enemies that appeared, and we quickly made our way to the fifth floor.

Right now, Fiera was battling eight Ice Orcs, but they were no match for her, as she dodged their attacks while landing her own punches and kicks.

About two minutes later, having taken them all down, Fiera gathered the magic stones and came back to me, but I sensed a monster’s presence with my detection magic and hurried to act.

Using [Body Enhancement] in an instant, I closed the distance to Fiera, grabbed her arm to pull her close, and caught the monster that was trying to attack her from behind.

“…El?”

“That was close, Fiera. I told you to watch out for surprises.”

After releasing Fiera’s arm and creating some space, I showed her the Ice Horn Rabbit I had captured in my right hand.

“Is that a Horn Rabbit?”

“It’s made of ice. This one is excellent at stealth, and its small size lets it blend in almost completely, making it hard to spot.

It takes advantage of the moment when its prey is distracted with another monster and strikes from behind with its horns.”

Normally, Horn Rabbits aren’t this aggressive.

But every monster in the dungeon tends to be combative, and some will attack when taking advantage of such openings.

As I crushed the horn of the Ice Horn Rabbit in my grip, I swiftly severed its neck with a knife hand before it could fall to the ground.

“Phew, thanks for that.”

“Don’t mention it. Just don’t let your guard down after defeating enemies next time.”

“I understand.”

Afterward, Fiera continued without letting her guard down, and when another Ice Horn Rabbit attacked us on the eighth floor, she dealt with it as easily as before.

Finally, we reached the tenth floor.

“The enemies here are Ice Golems. They’re hard and have high defense but lack agility. However, their attacks pack a punch, so it’s better to aim for counters than to try taking hits.”

“Understood.”

After confirming what to watch out for when battling Ice Golems, we entered the boss room with Fiera in the lead.

Noticing our entrance, the Ice Golem stood up from where it had been seated.

“I’m going in.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Hearing my words, Fiera activated her body enhancement and rushed toward the Ice Golem in an instant.

To test the waters, Fiera jumped up and struck the Golem’s torso head-on without any feints.

However, the Ice Golem didn’t budge due to its high defense.

As Fiera landed, the Golem swung its fist down, but she quickly spun in mid-air, kicking its arm to create some distance.

After confirming the Golem’s speed and defensive strength, Fiera charged straight at it again.

This time, instead of jumping, she kept a low profile and dashed around the Golem without making any attacks.

To stop her movement, the Ice Golem pounded the ground multiple times with its fists, but it couldn’t keep up with her speed, hitting only the ground instead.

While the Golem was occupied, Fiera relentlessly struck its arms over and over again, slowly causing cracks. By the seventh strike, one of them fell with a thud.

(Hmm. So she’s targeting the same spot to gradually deal damage.)

Fiera maintained her composure, repeating the same strategy. She smashed the left arm, then the right leg, and finally the left leg, leading to its torso being exposed. She unleashed a barrage of punches until the damage proved too much for the Ice Golem, which finally turned into a magic stone.

“Done.”

“Good job. That was a decent fight.”

“Thanks. Any improvements I should make?”

“For dealing with Golems, that was more than enough. But when facing intelligent creatures, you can’t rely on the same tactic too often, so you’ll need to come up with other strategies too.”

“Got it.”

In fact, when I faced an Ice Golem alone previously, I had bulldozed my way through using my fighting spirit.

But that was only possible against a patternized Golem lacking intelligence; against intelligent monsters or evolving Golems, relying on the same approach wouldn’t work too often.

That’s why, when battling, you must constantly think and utilize your surroundings.

“Alright. Let’s take a quick break before heading to the next floor.”

I said this as I created a dome of ice and opened an entrance so that Fiera and I could enter it together.

The inside was fairly spacious, so I created two cushions with warm water, and we sat down facing each other.

“Feeling a bit cold?”

“I’m fine.”

“Is that so?”

Next, I took out bread and dried meat from the bag I had brought, shared it with Fiera, and we began to eat together.

“Ahh, I really want spatial magic.”

“Spatial magic?”

“Yeah. If I could use that, I could utilize storage magic and keep food warm while transporting it.”

“But I heard spatial magic is supposed to be a forgotten magic. They say no one can use it nowadays.”

“Well, yeah.”

Spatial magic is one of those so-called ancient magics, used long ago when magic was more advanced than it is now.

Typical examples include transfer magic, storage magic, and legends say it could even slice dimensions with a sword.

However, as peace prevailed over time, magical techniques gradually declined, and simply having the magical capacity to use spatial magic decreased as well.

(Actually, with my current magical capacity, I can’t use it yet either.)

Spatial magic is different from normal magic in that it interferes with abstract concepts like time and space, requiring immense magical power to use.

“I have the knowledge, but I’m lacking the magical power.”

“Impressive. I hope you can use it soon.”

“You didn’t just want me as a pack mule, did you?”

“Did you catch me? Being able to eat hot meals anywhere is so convenient. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Absolutely unbelievable.”

Well, in reality, I too was grateful for the thought of being able to enjoy hot meals anytime, and I decided to try my best to make it happen as soon as possible.

“Okay, let’s get going.”

“Yeah. Got it.”

After an adequate break, we exited the ice dome and headed towards the descending staircase to the next floor.