To cut to the chase, the final day of the witch trial, which the witch thought would pass without any major crisis, turned into a tense battle where three people had to catch a single Crescent Moon Bear.

    Despite the fact that the confrontation had already lasted over five minutes, far exceeding the originally expected three minutes, there was no sign of support coming from the direction of the Guild.

    “Edan, it’s another lightning strike! It’s going to fall to the right this time!”

    “Got it!”

    “Karham Gongja! I can’t block this howling, so please dodge it on your own!”

    “Understood, Lilith!”

    Facing a 5-meter bear with a horn resembling a blood needle on its head were two inspectors. Supporting them with various auxiliary magic, I couldn’t help but feel resentment towards the hero who was nowhere to be found.

    “When is that guy from the Guild going to arrive?”

    Although we were a party consisting of a Sword Expert, a (True) Sword Expert, and a Saint, it was impossible for just the three of us to handle a monster with a level difference of over 10.

    Normally, during hunting events like this, I would hope for minimal interference from other parties, but this time was different.

    The only spell I could use to finish off that guy was Mana Blast, but I was in no condition to cast it at the moment.

    -Zap!

    “Block it!”

    -Thwack!

    It was my role to continuously block the electric attacks coming from the horn on the head of that mutant Crescent Moon Bear aimed at Edan and Karham.

    The attack had a certain cooldown and trajectory, making it impossible to block if I didn’t stay focused. However, if I let my guard down, it would become a dangerous attack.

    Especially Edan and Karham, who were already dodging the physical attacks of the Crescent Moon Bear while wielding their swords in the forest. It wouldn’t be easy for them to dodge the additional electric attacks.

    Setting up a Vision Shield in advance wouldn’t lead to proper defense, so I had no choice but to focus on creating a Vision Shield, giving up on Mana Blast that required long concentration.

    I was enduring like this, thinking that once the Guild and Cerista arrived, I would have options like casting Mana Blast or something else. But as the situation deviated from the plan, a sense of crisis was slowly creeping up on me.

    -Roar!

    “Argh!”

    “Edan!”

    Edan was hit by the remaining vigor of the Crescent Moon Bear’s swing, unable to completely dodge it.

    Although he managed to reduce the impact to some extent by blocking it with the sword in his right hand, his posture momentarily collapsed, and of course, the mutant Crescent Moon Bear didn’t miss that opportunity.

    “Uwaaaah!”

    -Whoosh!

    “It’s dangerous!”

    I couldn’t block the attack of the already swinging Crescent Moon Bear with a blurry light obstructing my vision.

    Realizing that it was impossible to block it with a Vision Shield or deflect it by disrupting its trajectory with shockwaves or energy bolts, I hastily used the spell I had used in the mock battle against Edan.

    “Bind!”

    -Zzzzrrrr!

    “Argh?!”

    In an instant, the magical chain that flew towards Edan wrapped around his waist, barely managing to grab his flying body and pull him towards me.

    I felt sorry for not being able to help you in various ways because I pulled you in a hurry….

    “Sigh, gasp, thud….”

    “I’m sorry, Edan! It’s an urgent situation….”

    “Oh, I know…. Thank you for saving me, Rilis….”

    Edan expressed his gratitude to me with a slightly painful expression and returned to the battle.

    For about 10 minutes, we continued to dodge attacks and engage in the battle. By this point, I could roughly understand the situation.

    The group of heroes in the northern forest was unable to come to us. Probably due to an unexpected variable, they couldn’t move to the west of the forest.

    ‘For example, a ‘simultaneous occurrence event.’

    If they encountered a Moonlight Wolf on their side just like we encountered a Crescent Bear, they might be busy with the battle and unable to support us.

    Although the simultaneous occurrence of monsters was never seen in the original game, it was entirely possible in this world.

    Unlike simple computer coding like ‘If A is created, then B is not created,’ in this world, both the Moonlight Wolf and the Crescent Bear were living beings.

    Therefore, the future where only one of them appears might not have existed from the beginning.

    “Awooooo!”

    “…As expected.”

    I heard a faint howling sound from a distance and confirmed that the Moonlight Wolf was also busy with the battle and couldn’t support us.

    So, in the end, we had to solve it ourselves. Three characters estimated to be in their 20s facing a level 35 named monster.

    “Edan! Caraham Gongja! Change of plans!”

    “Huh?!”

    “What?!”

    “The three of us will handle the ‘Roaring Crescent Bear’! I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like the heroes are busy too!”

    Edan and Caraham seemed to realize that the situation was not going well and nodded without questioning the change in plans.

    “Understood, Rilis!”

    “Do you have a plan?!”

    “I’ve had a plan from the beginning! I didn’t want to use it much!!”

    I preferred safety over risking my life in battle. But now that I couldn’t have a safe battle, well, there was no choice.

    To prepare for the battle, the first thing I did was to learn a new skill using the skill points I had.

    『Remaining skill points: 16 → 1』

    『New skill: Refresh』

    A secondary magic that increases all stats by 1.5 times and the power of all magic and skills by 1.5 times for a certain period of time.

    It was a skill that consumed 15 skill points, and I hesitated to choose it, but now was not the time to be complacent.

    Saving skill points even in this situation wouldn’t get me a better place in the afterlife.

    “First, I’ll cast ‘Sharp Blade’ on the two of you again! With the current sword, it’s difficult to inflict any wounds on that monster…!”

    “Roarrrr!!”

    “Ack?!”

    “Rilis!!”

    As soon as I changed the flow of magic with Refresh, the Crescent Bear suddenly ignored the two and rushed towards me.

    Startled by its roar, I quickly used a shockwave to lift my body. I had no means to deal with the 5-meter creature flying towards me.

    In the past, I would have struggled without a means to land after jumping so high, but fortunately, I had support to help me land in the air.

    “Say!!”

    ‘…Okay.’

    The wind spirit created a small whirlpool under my falling body to slow down my speed as soon as it heard my call.

    These days, I carefully thought that Sei, an intermediate spirit, might be more useful than Sally, a high-level spirit, as I approached Edan and landed softly.

    “I’ll tell you roughly because it’s urgent, Edan.”

    “Yeah.”

    “After I cast the reinforcement magic again, please immediately chase after the monster, Edan. There might be a gap once, so if you aim for its eyes at the right moment, you can deal a fatal blow.”

    “What about Lillis?”

    “Well… I have to do what I have to do.”

    I didn’t need to explicitly say what I would do, somehow feeling that Edan might ruin the plan unnecessarily out of concern for me.

    Honestly, I didn’t want to call it a play close to gambling, but in the current situation, there really was no other choice.

    “Sharper, more precise.”

    After casting a reinforced auxiliary magic on Edan’s twin swords, I leaped again with a shockwave and flew towards Karaham on the opposite side.

    Similarly, I didn’t forget to mention that with the reinforced auxiliary magic, his sword was more solid and larger than Edan’s, so he should aim for a more definite weak point.

    “In the next attack, aim for the crescent bear’s heart, and you will definitely be able to pierce it. However, there’s only one chance, so use it carefully.”

    “Understood, Lillis.”

    ‘Growl!’

    The crescent bear still chased after me, swinging its dangerous forelegs and smashing through the forest. Edan chased after it, aiming for the one opportunity to appear somehow. And Karaham, preparing his greatsword for a single fatal blow as I advised.

    All preparations were complete. Now, only one strike was needed.

    ‘Multi-synthesis magic. Vision blade. Infusion of magic power. Vision shield. Sharp blade. Shockwave.’

    With a combination of various magics layered together in one strike, I provoked the monster’s attention with the most provocative expression I could muster.

    “You bear bastard!!”

    ‘Roar?!’

    “Oh, you’re talking about me…”

    …Although I unintentionally attracted the aggro of the unwanted party, I ignored it appropriately.

    I may not have caught as many moonlight wolves as I would have liked, but the roaring crescent bear was a monster I had faced at least three or four times in my past life.

    Although I hadn’t faced such a weak member in this state, at least with the knowledge from my past life, ‘pattern manipulation’ to some extent was possible.

    Provoking the creature from this distance meant that the incoming attack was predetermined to come from the electric magic emanating from its horn-like spikes.

    ‘Growl!!’

    – Crackling!!

    An energy mass flew towards me, splitting Edan and Karaham apart.

    There was only one chance. If I failed, not only would I lose, but it would be difficult to guarantee my life.

    But if successful, the three of us could barely share the experience points of the level 35 monster, making it a gamble worth trying.

    – Crackling!!

    The sword specialized in enduring elemental attacks, ‘Vision Blade,’ wrapped in ‘Multi-slash’ to increase its attack power, blocked the lightning magic with the ‘Vision Shield’ containing ‘Magic Infusion.’

    And the ‘Sharp Blade’ caught in that shield reflected the incoming lightning magic back at me, while the ‘Shockwave’ sent that attack back in the direction it came from.

    ‘Growl…?’

    When the monster sensed something was amiss, my attack had already flown towards it, and with no defense mechanisms available to the creature whose only magic attack had been used, it had no way to defend itself.

    – Crackling!!

    ‘Roar…!!’

    After receiving the electric attack it had used back at itself, the bear screamed in agony.

    It was a temporary shock, but it was enough to seal the creature’s movements for a moment, and taking advantage of that opening, two buffed swordsmen stabbed the eyes and heart of the crescent moon bear.

    – Woosh!!

    – Gyaaaah!!

    ‘Grrrrrr…!!’

    In a momentary state of paralysis from the attack, the named ‘Roaring Crescent Moon Bear’ was swiftly brought to the brink of death.

    It was the moment when the battle in the Witch’s Forest altar to the west finally came to an end.

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