The cavern was filled with shrieks and howls as many more beasts began to appear before the girls.

From what looked like cliffs, another wave of harpies surged forward, their wings glowing faintly with wind-elemental magic. Each beat struck the air so hard that it stirred chaotic currents, threatening to unbalance anyone nearby.

Lisa, like before, took command of the party instantly, her voice straining to cut through the loud bellows of the wind.

"Charlotte, Serana, we need to keep going! Give the casters enough time to take out the larger groups. Each one of us needs to take a side to protect the others!"

The knight and the vampire moved without hesitation, falling into position.

Charlotte's shield met the first dive of enemies with a resounding clash, golden sparks scattering as she pushed the harpies back.

She soared ahead, holding firm to her shield, intercepting strike after strike, while her radiant blade carved brilliant arcs through the air, slicing enemies with ease.

Serana, by contrast, swooped low.

Her wings carried her with an ease that left even the winged beasts uncertain of how to attack her.

She met them head-on thanks to her ability to make herself somewhat intangible, warping from one spot to another by switching places with one of her three bat copies. Each time she shifted, a harpy fell, sometimes impaled by thorny vines, other times ensnared in blood-forged bindings.

Her new mastery over this crimson magic was difficult to control, but devastating nonetheless, cutting down the stragglers bold enough to challenge her directly. Together, the knight and the vampire formed a wall in the sky, deflecting and breaking the swarm's vanguard.

"Rubina, Ruri, Marie, now's your chance for cover fire!" Lisa called.

Rubina, already gathering a great swell of mana, grinned fiercely.

Her mana was already in place as he finished conjuring flame-tipped arrows. Each shot was then set loose in quick succession; each arrow was to burst midair into fiery shrapnel that drove the harpies off balance.

Beside her, Ruri's rings spun faster, detaching into whirling chakrams of light and shadow. She hurled them with surprising accuracy as she had to keep concentrating to have the rings follow her orders.

Marie and Alma, on the other hand, were busy buffing or confusing their opponents, and while they had at least one form of offensive attack, the two chose to help the others deal the finishing blow.

For a moment, the formation held. The girls moved in sync, shield, magic, and sword, repelling the flying monstrosities while flames and sharp floating rings kept the others at bay.

Serana's shadow bounds those who managed to slip through.

Then the cavern shook violently.

From above, a larger shape emerged, its wingspan that was easily double the others'. Its feathers seemed far more deadly as they had a metallic glint to them.

As if they had been dipped in chrome, the creature looked ready to fight with all three of the vanguards. The monster shrieked, and the cry echoed like grinding metal, reverberating in each of the girls' bones.

"A mid-boss," Silvia muttered, her visor began to show details of the enemy as it scanned it thoroughly. "Armor-plated feathers. They'll reflect light magic… wait, this thing is resistant to direct spells."

As if to prove the point, Rubina created one more magical arrow and sent it flying towards the large enemy.

The feathered beast met it head-on, flames scattering harmlessly across its body armor.

Then it beat its colossal wings.

The wind roared, sudden and violent. It crashed through the cavern, forcing Charlotte back a pace and nearly tearing Alma from the air. She flailed, gown swelling like a sail.

"Alma, try to control it with one of your songs, use the notes around you to amplify your magic!" Marie shouted.

The songstress gritted her teeth, focusing on her voice instead of the gown, which had spread fully. The aura rings around her waist pulsed, catching the currents and stabilizing her like an anchor; her voice, though, was directed solely at the large harpy that was before her, weakening it by the second.

Ruri, who was next to her, wasn't so lucky as enemies began to notice she was the weakest link. Two smaller harpies dove, trying to use their claws to dig into the girl's flesh.

With a startled cry, she was yanked downward toward the chasm below.

"Ruri, don't worry, I've got you!" Lisa called, from above, while flying as fast as she could to protect her.

But before she had a chance to reach her, the rings around Ruri began to move on their own.

Ten bands spun around quickly, leaving only a few to keep her in the air by her limbs.

Her fall slowed, then reversed; her body was held upward as if pulled by unseen wires. The harpies screeched in confusion as the rings cut into them, their bodies shredding apart before they lost their grip.

Ruri hovered shakily in midair, face pale but determined to keep in the fight. "I… I'm okay!"

"Good," Lisa said sharply as she returned to help the others. "Now focus. The big one needs to be dealt with."

The armored harpy screeched again, talons trying to pierce through the knight's shield as it scratched it. Charlotte braced with her shield, the impact causing a sharp pain that ran across both of her arms, but she held strong.

Serana, who had no opponents she needed to deal with, sent her thorns to coil around its wings, keeping it still enough so the others could hit it with magic.

"Rubina, go for the neck, I noticed that is one of their weak points!" Silvia called out. She had finished scanning each part to find a weak point.

"I was just planning to, if only it didn't move so much!" Rubina created even more arrows out of magic. Each arrow grew to the size of a baseball bat as she introduced darkness energy to each shot. She loosed the shot, exploding across its flank, staggering the beast midair.

"Ruri, your rings! Now!" Lisa commanded.

With a shout, Ruri hurled her glowing bands. They locked around the harpy's wings and legs, binding it for a moment as if it were being handcuffed and forcefully positioned into place.

"Everyone, let's finish this!" Lisa's wings extended wide as she rose above them all, spear raised high. Divine light gathered at the tip, swelling into a blazing orb.

Holy Nova.

She hurled it downward.

The cavern lit in blinding radiance. The orb split into countless streaks of light, converging all at once upon the bound harpy and the swarm around it. The explosion ripped through the cavern, the shockwave scattering feathers, ash, and broken screeches into silence.

When the brilliance faded, only those in her team remained, healed from her powerful attack.

The armored harpy's carcass plummeted into the abyss, wings shredded beyond recognition. The rest lay strewn across the stone floors, lifeless.

The girls regrouped, landing together on a wide ledge. Where were all waiting for Lisa to go ahead and gather the creature's mana crystal before moving on.

As they stood there, Ruben's crystal feed was transmitting everything about the fight like a video being played on a phone. His tired but focused face watched each part carefully, trying to assess the ways he could improve the armor.

His arms crossed as if he had been watching closely the entire time.

"Well done," Ruben said simply. "Good coordination, better than I expected for your first run. But…" His gaze swept across them. "Alma, you need to keep your mind on the others instead of trying to balance your gown. And Ruri, I know it's your first time, but don't lose focus when you panic. Those suits will respond, but only if you keep control."

Both girls nodded, shoulders sinking, their earlier pride dulled by his critique.

Ruben's expression softened. "Still… that was a damn fine start. Logan will be proud of you all. Well, actually… he already is. He's standing next to me, watching you fight."

The crystal feed flickered, and Logan's familiar face came into view. His expression was tired, pale from his injuries, but his eyes carried warmth.

"Hey… don't look so down, you two," Logan said, his voice calm, carrying across the feed. "Alma, your song doubled everyone's strength back there, even I felt it from where I am standing. And Ruri? You kept those rings moving even when you were terrified. You're both doing great. I think the problem this time stemmed from being up in the air."

Ruri's cheeks flushed as she imagined the boy's reaction to her clumsy attempt at fighting. Alma, on the other hand, tried to steady her dress not to make her look fat, her worry easing under his words.

Rubina nudged Ruri lightly. "Relax now, Ruri, you did great."

Lisa, who had come back from gathering the mana core, flew towards the others. She extended her arms with a proud smirk. "We are lucky, the dungeon this time let us keep more than just the mana core, it let us have many of the sharp feathers, I'm sure they will be useful for something, wait, is that you, Logan! What are you doing out of bed? You are going to get it when I come back..."

Serana chuckled softly while shaking her head at the couple's antics. She could help but get closer to the screen to check on Logan's image, her wings folding behind her. "Good to see you are better, Logan, just make sure you aren't forcing yourself by standing."

Logan smiled faintly. "I'm fine now, thank you. It means a lot that you're all training for my sake. I'll make sure to recover quickly so I can join you."