What happened down there?

Questions and a slight tension immediately surfaced in his heart.

But Ronald tried to suppress it and chose not to rush down to the scene.

— After all, Costate's capabilities were trustworthy.

Rather than rushing down in haste, it was better to approach the edge first and assess the situation below.

If the person causing trouble hadn't noticed Ronald,

He could even pick the most opportune moment to act.

"…"

"Miss Crowe, do you need help?"

At the same time, Megan was asking Costate this in the team below.

Because she had received instructions from Ronald before, Costate replied calmly this time,

"Please rest assured."

"An enemy of this level is not capable of breaking through my spell."

On the only way forward in the gorge, three elks with completely normal appearances, except for their unique white pupils, stood in the way.

"Ow—"

Almost as soon as Costate and Megan's voices fell, one of the elks rushed toward them.

The speed and strength of these elks far exceeded that of any normal creature.

Like a racing motorcycle, it quickly arrived in front of them and rammed its long antlers into a soft yet impenetrable air barrier.

— Ronald immediately understood everything.

— This was one of Costate's commonly used spells for manipulating airflow.

According to his orders just now,

The maid had activated the spell to create this barrier to protect the others behind her.

Otherwise, with Costate's abilities, dealing with such a thing wouldn't require any defense.

Indeed, it was as Ronald had thought.

After the elk rammed into the air barrier, Costate walked up to it with steady steps, unfazed, and extended both hands.

Snap—

Her pale hands grasped the antlers.

The timing of this gesture was perfect.

At that moment, the elk that had failed in its attack was just turning around to charge at Costate again. As its head turned, it met with Costate's hands simultaneously grabbing its antlers from both sides.

This scene witnessed by all,

Seemed as if the elk had willingly delivered its antlers into Costate's hands!

"Ow—"

The elk let out an irate and fierce cry.

However, Costate was unshaken and with a slight exertion of force in her hands, she picked up the sizable elk and slammed it hard on the ground.

Thud—

"Ow!"

The roar turned into a moan.

The elk that had fallen couldn't get up again, let alone struggle, and its movements became feeble.

Regrettably…

This creature wouldn't even be able to struggle anymore.

Costate had no concept of mercy, and in the next instant, she kicked out, her toes striking the elk's head like a sledgehammer.

With a 'crack', the elk's neck was completely snapped by the immense force, and the shattered bone even pierced through the skin, exposing itself to the air.

"…"

After that, Costate made another utterly unruffled move.

She squatted down to seriously examine the elk, checking that its heart had stopped beating and its breathing had ceased. Then she stood up, turned, and walked leisurely towards the other two elks.

"Ow ow—"

The other two elks were also quite intelligent.

Having witnessed what happened, they let out frightened noises, then turned and actually started to flee!

"…"

Swoosh, swoosh——

At that moment, the sound of objects racing through the air sliced through the silence.

Costate spied two elks attempting to flee and, with practiced ease, kicked two stones off the ground, taking aim at the escaping animals.

The maid's precision and strength were both impressively accurate.

The stones pierced through the bodies of the elks, which then collapsed in a flow of crimson, joining their fallen comrade on the ground.

Pitter-patter——

Costate walked over to them without any sign of haste.

After checking to confirm the statuses of the two elks, she turned and waved to the group of Serriel behind her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the danger is now cleared."

"We can continue moving forward."

Whoosh——

The air barrier vanished as Costate made her gesture.

In that moment, beholding Costate standing beside the two elks, expression unchanged, a peculiar feeling arose within the others.

It was as though this maid...

was a being from an entirely different dimension from them.

"Mister Megan, do you know of any schools of magic that can strengthen the body to this extent while manipulating air?" Ina asked, her voice quivering slightly, evidently shaken by Costate's performance thus far.

Megan, the middle-aged caster, seemed far less perturbed.

He was simply astounded at the extent of Costate's abilities:

"I'm not quite sure. But even the most formidable among Entrode's secret police wouldn't likely have both of these potent forces at their disposal."

The group closed the distance to Costate.

After overhearing the conversation between the two mysterious individuals, the adventurer Serriel chimed in:

"Judging from your discussion, Miss Crowe seems quite capable, doesn't she?"

"It's not a matter of being capable or not," Megan replied, almost with a wry smile, as he continued to responsibly explain, "Miss Crowe's abilities surpass the comprehension of an ordinary caster."

"Put it this way—if I had her powers, I'd be living the high life in Waterfall City right now, not here helping to explore a ruin."

"..."

The exchange prompted a shift in the team's sentiments.

Yet, after catching up to Costate, they reverted to their previous composure and carried on through the gorge.

...

Several minutes passed.

Ronald then stealthily descended from the cliff.

Instead of immediately following his companions, he approached the bodies of the three dead elks.

He was curious about the elks.

Without any trace of Magic Power, how had they mustered the strength they displayed earlier?

Bear in mind, Costate might've made it look easy.

But that was Costate!

A regular person couldn't handle these creatures so effortlessly.

Might as well check with the power of "Species Origin."

There could be some discoveries.

"..."

Ronald crouched down, just about to collect samples,

when at that exact moment, the dead elks' eyes, white as snow, burst open, and more white substance spread from their skulls, identical to the true-core creatures that had previously consumed human flesh!

"Tch——"

No need for further investigation after witnessing this.

Ronald waved a hand, and the activated spell scattered over the remains in front of him.

Boom——

The Power of the Sun blazed fiercely.

After seeing the white true-core creature and the elk carcasses incinerated together, Ronald then returned to the cliff and chased after the group ahead.

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