After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

"Uh..."

Lia's eyebrows were tightly knotted. She looked at the three massive Black Crabs approaching and then at Lin Da's detestable face. After struggling internally for a while, she gripped her Greatsword tightly and said fiercely,

"This is the last time, the last time we cooperate! Don't even think about working with Snow Goose after this!"

Upon hearing this, everyone except Lin Da looked at Lia with confusion—they had never cooperated before, so why did it sound like this wasn't their first time from what Lia said?

A sudden realization flashed through Aiko's mind as she remembered the strange expression Lia had when she returned from the auction that day.

Could it be that something had secretly happened between the Powder Keg and Lin Da!

"Now is not the time to doubt each other," Lin Da said, placing his hands on Aiko's shoulders.

Even amidst the blood-drenched battlefield, Aiko's golden hair remained smooth and beautiful. The Holy series Magic Power seemed to coat her with a faint golden glow, like a goddess descended to earth.

"Alright... I understand." Aiko thought determinedly to herself, planning to show her true strength in this battle.

Make Lin Da realize that such a powerful Mage shouldn't be stuck in Lia's team.

The Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team, that's where she truly belongs!

Klrona stepped on Lin Da's foot, pointing at his nose with her little finger, "Make sure you support me properly, don't stop using Healing Art!"

Lin Da knocked forcefully on the girl's Bull Horn Helmet, "You should be asking for support from the Healer in your own team instead of me."

"I don't want Phyllis's Healing Art, it's too slow and always late," Klrona said, unconcerned about Phyllis's ashen-faced expression.

"Just keep replenishing me, okay? Anyway, you guys don't have a front line. I'll even protect those two Small Fry," she added.

"No... we do have a front line."

The three terrifying Black Crabs had already charged towards them.

As 20-level bosses, the Magical Creatures possessed a certain intelligence. Seeing their prey laughing nonchalantly instead of running, they raised their giant pincers in anger and attacked the two adventure teams!

"Immovable Barrier!"

Klrona reacted quickly, slamming her Tower Shield into the ground and creating a square steel-colored Shield Wall that radiated from the shield's center.

She huddled behind it, her feet dug into the ground, a trace of pride on her small face.

She planned to take on the Black Armored Crab Generals' attacks and show Lin Da her strength.

"Sigh."

What Lin Da could only let out was a helpless sigh.

Indeed, with the Immovable Barrier skill, Klrona was strong enough to withstand the Magical Creatures' coordinated attacks, but the cost was huge!

Wearing an Emerald Light Shield, Lin Da charged towards the Black Armored Crab General on the left.

"Partner, let me handle it!"

A dull male voice rang out from behind him.

Lin Da glanced sideways and saw Oru, wearing heavy armor, each hand holding a black iron hammer.

In the heat of battle, Oru habitually called Lin Da 'partner,' a sign of their tacit understanding from past cooperation.

"Thanks! You take on another one. I'm enough for this side!"

Lin Da smiled knowingly.

Under his confident expression, Oru hesitated for a moment but decided to obey Lin Da's command as usual. After all, Lin Da had never made a mistake as a commander.

Thus, Lin Da faced off against the Black Armored Crab General on the left.

Klrona protected everyone, facing the one in the middle.

Oru roared as he charged towards the right one.

Lia and Aiko, under the protection of Klrona's Light Shield Wall, all looked unanimously towards Lin Da.

The latter two were definitely capable of withstanding the Magical Creatures' attacks; there was no need to worry.

Although Lin Da had performed admirably in the first three floors, those were only level-15 Magical Creatures.

The strength of a Black Armored Crab General was much greater!

"What an arrogant fool."

Lia rolled up her sleeves, ready to rush out of the shield wall to take on the one on the left.

"You must not... You must not call the captain a fool!"

A faint rebuttal caught Lia's attention.

Lia narrowed her eyes with a displeased expression as she looked towards the white-ribboned Lolita with the terrifying chest.

Although they had no conflicts, that one look from Lia made it clear that they were enemies.

"Captain can handle it himself, he doesn't need your help," Monica said timidly, hiding behind Kafni, mustering up the courage to sneak a glance at Lia before quickly retreating.

"What—For a Mage like you, Miss here could take down one with a single sword strike!"

While Lia and Monica were arguing, the three frontline members in front each faced a Black Armored Crab General.

Klrona was immovable as a mountain, the Light Shield Wall barely fluctuated, not retreating a single step.

Though small in size, her defensive power was far ahead of others of the same level.

Lin Da's assessment of Klrona was a defense-specialized front liner; 1 point of her health could withstand 1.5 times more than other front liners.

On the other hand, Oru was considered a Three-Star-Level NPC in the game, not the best, yet far from the worst.

With a pair of giant hammers, he clashed directly with the pincers of the Black Armored Crab General, looking like a small giant, his muscles bulging, wrestling with the Black Armored Crab General, holding his ground!

Finally, it was Lin Da's turn.

He did not use the sword as a shield for defense, nor did he wrestle with the giant crab, but chose... to ignore the opponent!

Lin Da swung the Azure Sword, striking down!

With a clang.

The Black Shell Crab General's large pincer arrived first, striking the Emerald Light Shield and barely shattering it, but the substantial recoil numbed its pincer.

Lin Da seized the opportunity to hack at the eyes of the Black Shell Crab General with his sword, cutting off an eye the size of a fist as easily as slicing through mud!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

In pain, the Black Shell Crab General wildly swung its pincers, while Lin Da had already retreated to a safe distance and reapplied the Verdant Shield skill to himself.

"What a thick shield."

A gleam of fascination burst in Aiko's eyes as she murmured.

Klyne and the others were also experiencing the thickness of the Verdant Shield up close for the first time, each showing an indescribable expression.

They could not help but steal glances at Lia, who had the highest compatibility with this skill.

After energy charging, Lia's damage output was extremely high, but she was most afraid of being interrupted. With the green light shield, Lia's pressure was greatly reduced, and she could even stand amongst the crowd of creatures and slowly charge.

"What are you looking at, everyone get on for your lady here."

As the front line drew the ire of the Black Shell Crab General, Lia leapt from behind the Light Shield Wall and charged at the one in the middle.

"This raid is in the bag," Aiko observed the battlefield discreetly and quickly concluded that killing three Black Shell Crab Generals wouldn't be a problem.

Once the survival crisis was resolved, Aiko immediately started scheming.

"Little sister, as the only Mage of the Phoenix Tail Flower, you must be quite impressive, right? How about competing with your sister to see who kills the Magical Creatures first?"

Aiko approached Kafni from behind with a giggly smile, her gentle aura radiating from within, like a caring older sister.

Monica shyly said, "I, I am very weak."

"That's okay, your sister will let you. I only win if I kill the giant crab first and am ahead by more than twenty seconds; otherwise, you win, is that okay?"

Aiko enticingly said, "You want to show off your strength in front of your team leader, right?"

Monica was indeed tempted, but remembering Lin Da's instructions not to use Earth Bombardment carelessly, she quickly shook her head.

"Let's just consider it a friendly bout, okay? I choose the one on the far left," seeing that persuasion was ineffective, Aiko unilaterally decided.

The Black Shell Crab General she selected was the one Lin Da was dealing with.

Aiko wanted Lin Da to truly feel how blessed it was to have such a powerful and reliable Light Mage standing behind him!

Aiko used to slack off every day, but today, she had no plans to slack!

Monica sensed something was off, but before she could say anything, Aiko had already claimed Lin Da's crab.

"Hammer of Destruction!"

Aiko placed her left hand over her ample chest, her expression solemn and sacred, chanting the spell at an unbelievably fast rate, and pointed forward with her angel wing-bearing magic wand.

Instantly, a three-meter-long Light Giant Hammer embedded with golden runes, formed by level 25 magic power, smashed down on the carapace of the Black Shell Crab General!

The impact was tremendous, directly smashing the Black Shell Crab General into the mud, causing it to wail in pain.

The rear ranks all turned their heads in surprise.

Even an old teammate like Klyne was a bit taken aback, feeling that Aiko was in an unusually good form today, chanting spells much faster than usual.

Aiko swung her magic wand repeatedly, like a magic gatling gun, bombarding the Black Shell Crab General with various spells.

'Hammer of Destruction,' 'Light Arrow Technique,' 'Holy Bomb,' 'Cage of Light'!

The dazzling spell light was mesmerizing.

In front of him, Lin Da comfortably watched as the Black Shell Crab General rapidly lost health and soon entered the second phase.

The most horrifying part was that Aiko used relatively low-magic-cost spells, but the cumulative damage they inflicted surpassed Monica's Earth Bombardment.

The two had completely opposite fighting styles; Monica had slow attack speed but high damage per hit.

In contrast, each of Aiko's skills dealt above-average damage, but with fast firing rates, the total damage was astonishing.

During the second phase, the Black Shell Crab General raised its blade pincers, but was restrained in place by Aiko's inverted square Cage of Light.

It thrashed about inside, like an enraged bull, unable to escape anytime soon.

Lin Da silently chanted a spell, releasing two Venom Magic Spheres.

After that, there was no need to watch anymore; once poisoned by him, the Black Shell Crab General was doomed.

As he turned toward the next one, Lin Da saw Chloe behind the Shield Wall, waving her small hand and smiling sweetly at him.

Her graceful and beautiful posture was a pleasure to the eyes.

If it had been another male adventurer, he might have been too smitten to move on.

But Lin Da's biggest feeling was 'dissonance.'

—Previously, Aiko hadn't been very nice to him, had she?

Even though Aiko also contributed during raids against Magical Creatures, she gave him this impression:

Aiko wouldn't put in any more effort than necessary.

If a pass mark was 70, then it was 70. She wouldn't use the strength for 71 just to make it easier for other squad members.

About this, Lin Da felt rather helpless, as even private reminders to Aiko would be superficially dismissed with pathetic excuses.

Yet, since she left the team, Aiko's attitude towards him had done a complete 180, overly nice in fact.