At the alley entrance of the shopping street, Bell and his team confronted the man-eating plant monsters that Takatsuki and the Loki Familia had encountered on the fifty-something floors.
These monsters, which even ordinary LV5s would struggle against, were naturally no match for a mere LV2 Bell. Fortunately, these man-eating plants seemed to have poor perception, allowing Bell to catch his breath.
If the Loki Familia members were here, they would say that these monsters have excellent magic perception and are attracted by magic. Besides that, other things make little difference to them.
"Welf! Are there any people who haven't escaped from your side?!"
While Bell was entangled with the man-eating plant relying on his agility, Liliruca had already rescued several children who had hidden in corners in their panic, allowing them to escape the battlefield.
"There's no one else here!"
After answering Liliruca's question, Welf swung his greatsword to parry the man-eating plant's whip-like attack and complained, "This strength is too great! And it doesn't even break its defense!"
Liliruca observed Bell's fight with the man-eating plant. Since he couldn't penetrate the man-eating plant's defense, Bell tried to repeatedly attack the same spot on the man-eating plant several times, attempting to penetrate its defense. But even though the short sword in Bell's hand had frozen that area due to its ice attribute, there was no sign of penetration.
"Use fire! Bell! This monster is a plant!"
Although it looked very much like a snake, Liliruca, who had been observing from the side, was the first to discover the true nature of this monster.
"But, I don't have…"
Before Bell could finish speaking, a crimson blade flew towards him from the side.
"Catch it, Bell!"
The moment he saw this weapon, Bell leaped high, taking advantage of the man-eating plant's upward swing, and grabbed the weapon Welf threw with his left hand.
"This is my newly forged Magic Sword, Scarlet Moon!"
Crimson lotuses bloomed from the crimson blade, and raging flames instantly engulfed the man-eating plant in front of them.
The blacksmith, who originally rejected forging Magic Swords, had also grown during the battle with the Minotaur. It was just a Magic Sword; it couldn't be compared on the same scale as his companions.
"Ah! Bell!"
The raging flames engulfed several man-eating plants in front, and Bell, using the power unleashed by the Magic Sword, landed steadily in front of the raging flames.
Liliruca also pounced on Bell after he had dealt with all the enemies.
"Ah, Liliruca."
Bell was bumped by Liliruca and bent his waist slightly, then turned towards Welf with Liliruca on his back: "Thank you, Welf, but Scarlet Moon…"
Perhaps the power Bell unleashed just now was too great; Scarlet Moon was now covered in cracks, and even though it surpassed the original Crozzo's Magic Sword, it almost shattered after just one use.
Welf shook his head: "It's fine. Magic Swords exist as weapons. It's enough if they can be useful before they shatter."
After breaking through his own obsession, Welf no longer valued Magic Swords as much as before.
Bell handed the Magic Sword in his hand towards Welf, and just as he handed it out, the ground suddenly vibrated violently.
Dozens of man-eating plants once again broke through the floor tiles and emerged from the ground.
"How can this be?!"
The three did not know that the huge magic reaction caused by the Magic Sword had attracted the man-eating plants that were not originally in this place.
"Scarlet Moon!"
Bell was the first to react. He quickly turned around and used his body to shield Liliruca, who was on his back, and Welf behind him, swinging the Magic Sword in his hand, unleashing its final flames at the cost of its shattering.
But unlike before, this time the flames were considerably weaker, and the enemies were several times more numerous than before. A single attack from the Magic Sword was simply not enough to deal with all the man-eating plants in front of them.
After sacrificing a few man-eating plants, the others only had black scorch marks on their bodies.
"Bell! The Magic Sword is gone, let's retreat first!"
There was no one left in the vicinity, and the few people could see that these man-eating plants could not move freely, as they were rooted underground and had no movable legs.
"Mhm!"
Although they wanted to leave this place, after the Magic Sword's attack, the man-eating plants in front opened their petals and "bit" down towards the three.
"So hard!"
Bell, with Liliruca on his back, used the short sword in his hand to block the man-eating plant's charge.
The strength and defense of this monster were a bit too exaggerated.
Looking at the scorch marks on the monster's body from the Magic Sword's flames, combined with the hot and cold alternating effect caused by the ice-attributed short sword, the blade of the short sword shallowly pierced the man-eating plant's epidermis.
But that was all.
It proved that what was dragging them down was not the weapon, but Bell himself.
"If only I were stronger…"
"If only my power were greater…"
At this moment, Bell recognized his own shortcomings, so at the very least, he had to let Welf and Liliruca escape.
Just as Bell was thinking this, several golden lights flashed in the sky.
Blast!
Blast! Blast! Blast! Blast!
Blades like raindrops descended from the sky, and the man-eating plants dancing in the streets were instantly drowned by the dense blast sounds.
After being cleansed by the rain-like weapons, the man-eating plants on the streets were completely annihilated. Of course, the streets were also completely destroyed.
"This is…"
The three of them watched as the great crisis was instantly resolved. Although they didn't see the person who launched the attack, such a signature attack could only be done by one person in all of Orario.
"Takatsuki-nii!"
Bell looked at the weapons on the ground that had killed the man-eating plants without exploding or collapsing, gradually sinking into a golden Hamon, and quickly shouted around him.
"Bell, there are many monsters appearing on the streets of Orario. We are clearing them out. You need to be careful."
After Bell spoke, he heard a familiar voice from afar, and only then did he realize that Takatsuki was not nearby, but was using ultra-long-range methods to eliminate the monsters appearing in the town of Orario.
"Is that the senior named Takatsuki? What an exaggerated feat."
Welf looked at the marks left on the ground and said with lingering fear, "Does every weapon have such exaggerated power? It's no worse than a magic sword."
"But since he's not nearby, how did he manage to accurately locate the monsters? And we were so close, yet we weren't affected at all."
Although Welf asked this, he didn't actually intend to get an answer. After all, an adventurer's methods, unless they were obvious, were basically kept secret.