The giant hammer dissipated into light, and he fell to the ground along with it, kicking up dust that made it hard to see.

"Nice job, Isha!" Fanen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, offering praise to the one who fired the shot.

Before this, Isha had been training her accuracy and speed in shooting, and before the battle began, she and Uffie had made many assumptions about potential weak points on the Omen Demon’s body.

From the current situation, at least some of their guesses proved successful, and hitting these weak points with mercury bullets indeed interrupted the adversary’s movements.

It just wasn’t clear if this interruption was guaranteed each time or probabilistic.

Meanwhile, the Omen Demon swung its staff to disperse the fog, its body still upright, with only a hole in its shoulder, scattered bullets all over its body, and a tail bitten several times by Fanen, showing no severe injuries.

Wait a second, do these three combined not count as minor injuries?

"Let’s start the second round," Uffie whistled cheerfully, indicating that their performance in the first round of combat was not bad at all.

The Omen Demon, despite its strength, served as the first major boss obstructing people before entering Stoneveil City. While it was intimidating to adventurers, it was not undefeatable. Its power did increase due to the Strong and Weak Balance ability, but it had a ceiling and couldn’t keep growing indefinitely as Uffie imagined.

Tepi once again charged at the Omen Demon like at the beginning, intending to use the same trick to attract its attention. He even tossed a magically imbued tool with a pungent smell, imitating the bait.

But the Omen Demon caught it with a reverse grip and threw it back at Tepi.

"Huh?"

In Tepi’s eyes, this scene suddenly transformed into an image of his son throwing the bait at him, momentarily attacking his psyche.

Though he managed to stumble out of the way, the opponent seemed to vanish from his view.

Looking again, he realized that the foe completely ignored his presence and charged straight at the others. Shockingly, its target appeared to be Isha!

Exactly, eliminating the one with interruption abilities in a fight is the top priority!

Anticipating this action, Uffie grabbed Isha and threw her to the other end of the bridge.

The Omen Demon then formed a spear and hurled it, but Fanen jumped high, intercepting the spear at the cost of his arms going numb briefly.

The second round of battle officially began; now it was straightforward combat without any gimmicks.

The Omen Demon unleashed its skilful moves in succession, including the annoying and infuriating Fast and Slow Blade that struck the group relentlessly.

Uffie cursed the Fast and Slow Blade for being an abnormal maneuver while diligently dodging, even lowering the frequency of her attacks.

Facing a Slow Blade, Tepi, realizing it, but failing to react physically, was slapped unconscious on the ground, his life or death unknown.

Fanen rushed valiantly to assist Uffie in guerrilla tactics. Thanks to Uffie’s guidance and training, his efforts brought him close to the verge of level sixty, and upgrading through Lune today, his abilities officially reached level sixty in the Dungeon assessment. His sharp fangs and Saw Meat Blade already inflicted considerable damage on the Omen Demon.

Adventurers sometimes excessively rely on Sain’s bonfire and blessings, forgetting that persistent training can also enhance their strength — in other words, level. Of course, this is a path reserved for those with talent.

Isha, positioned in the back, tried her best to shoot weak points. However, the Omen Demon got wise, blocking potential exposed weaknesses with its abnormal thick tail, making mercury bullets ineffective.

The Gun Counter is good, but it becomes troublesome when targeted in this way.

In this battle requiring full concentration to continue, Uffie and Fanen cleverly evaded dangers through their "mentor-mentee" rapport and steadily advanced the fight. The wounds on the Omen Demon grew more severe, hinting at exhaustion.

Raising a massive hammer formed from light, Uffie shouted to Fanen:

"Here it comes again!"

The two quickly retreated, moving beyond the hammer’s striking range. This attack was comparatively easier to dodge.

"Haha, let’s do it again!" The dawn of victory was in sight, and Uffie charged forward once more in high spirits.

Fanen hesitated, not because he fell out of rhythm, but because he was contemplating something.

Why did it seem like the frequency of the Omen Demon using the hammer smash increased significantly since not long ago?

Does the enemy think this move is very effective, although it hasn’t hit them even once...

While pondering, the Omen Demon raised the hammer once more.

"Again?" Uffie frowned, as this move consistently interrupted the heated combat rhythm, leading to an unsatisfying battle.

But at this moment, Fanen’s gaze sharpened, noticing the surface of the bridge; more precisely, the growing cracks on it!

"This is bad—"

"Boom!"

The hammer brought down caused a massive crashing noise, and another loud noise followed.

The bridge began to crumble!

The vast bridge, having endured rounds of their onslaught, had finally reached its limit!

As shocked as Fanen was, he responded swiftly, pulling on Uffie like a true Wolfman, balancing her among the collapsing stones as they hurried to safety.

The next moment, amidst the sound of rocks falling into the sea, the bridge completely collapsed, with only the two ends remaining.

This gap in between was insurmountable for any normal human!

The Omen Demon half-knelt on the side with the Fog Gate, quietly recovering energy. With only a sliver of life force left, another attack could prove fatal. It seemed the bridge’s collapse was part of its plan to buy time for recovery, while the adventurers were stuck on the other side, possibly only able to use magic attacks at this distance.

Yet, among them, only Tepi knew how to use magic, but he was unconscious...

Fanen suddenly had a realization. Looking around, his expression soured instantly.

"Basque is missing!"

Could he have fallen into the sea during the collapse?

"No way..." Isha gasped, pointing across to say, "There, he’s over there..."

"What’s happening, why is it swaying so much?"

Tepi regained consciousness from his stupor, clutching his head as he stood up, only to look up.

The menacing face of the Omen Demon was right in front of him, staring directly at him, its breath hot and palpable. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"..."

Tepi froze in place.

If all went as expected, he faced a fate possibly worse than death itself.

"Buzz—"

Just then, the Fog Gate behind the Omen Demon flickered.

A golden spiritual body emerged from the Fog Gate.

It was a man wearing an exceptionally wide-brimmed hat, resembling both a magician and a swordsman, exuding an air of erudition.

Confused by what they were witnessing, Uffie asked, "Did any of you summon help?"

Fanen shook his head, as did Isha. They hadn’t seen any Summoning Rune before they entered.

The summoned ally, despite not knowing why the bridge collapsed, took action nonetheless.

The Magician Roger launched a sweet backstab at the Omen Demon!