53. Dual Skill

Reet and his companion continued down the path.

†

A massive figure finally came into view.

A three-headed dog. Cerberus.

Its body was easily ten times larger than theirs combined.

Six eyes—two on each of its three heads—glared down at them.

Larg and Reet drew their swords and took their stance.

“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”

Cerberus lunged, its razor-sharp claws descending toward them with devastating force.

Both men pushed off the ground, splitting left and right to evade the strike.

Even with three heads, the creature had only one body—it could only attack one direction at a time if they stayed separated.

Cerberus lunged at Reet.

But if it committed to that, Larg would be free to move.

Without hesitation, Larg flew at Cerberus from behind.

“Magical Slash!”

A silver flash erupted from his leaping strike.

The blade, sharp with concentrated magical power, came crashing down viciously against Cerberus’s back.

But the moment the sword made contact with its fur, a violent recoil awaited him.

Larg was thrown back by an impact that felt like his full-strength strike had been sent straight back at him.

“Damn! It’s hard!”

Reet immediately followed with Sacred Blade, slamming it into Cerberus. But that too was easily deflected.

“It’s got an absurdly dense magical barrier around it.”

And naturally, defensive power translated directly into offensive capability.

Cerberus reared back its front leg toward Reet with tremendous force.

The massive body hurtled forward—

“Dragon’s Breath!”

Reet met the attack with high-tier magic, but Cerberus’s leg didn’t stop.

The creature tore straight through the magic he unleashed and kept coming.

In the nick of time—

“Sacred Barrier!”

Reet put up a barrier. Only then did Cerberus’s attack halt.

But he didn’t have the strength to push back—they were locked in a stalemate.

No, he was being pushed back, slowly but inexorably.

Reet used the barrier as a springboard and leaped backward.

With Sacred Blade, his strongest attack, proving ineffective, victory seemed impossible.

But—

“When it attacks, the barrier warps slightly! We can break it with rapid-fire Skills!”

Larg shouted it out.

Then Reet, moving in perfect sync, unleashed his highest-tier Skill.

“Dragon’s Breath Nova!”

He drove his strongest magic directly into Cerberus.

And immediately after—

“Magical Slash—”

Larg reared back for the strike.

Even with the barrier weakened by the highest-tier magic, would Larg’s Magical Slash—which had been easily repelled before—actually be able to break through Cerberus’s barrier this time?

But Reet’s concerns proved completely unfounded.

“Dragon’s Breath!”

Reet’s eyes widened in shock at Larg’s technique.

While activating Magical Slash, Larg had simultaneously activated Dragon’s Breath, wrapping his blade in flame.

An advanced spell combined with an advanced sword technique—the result severed Cerberus’s right head cleanly off.

“Did you see that? That’s a Dual Skill.”

Swordsman-Mages were a versatile Class, but among them, those who had honed their versatility to the extreme could master the Dual Skill.

Activating two Skills simultaneously.

It was an excellent technique that could simply double offensive power.

Reet looked on with admiration at his senior’s technique.

“Your turn next!”

Larg’s order came down.

Of Cerberus’s three heads, only one had been severed. Two still remained.

The monster, now missing half of one side, let out a roar of fury.

Since Reet didn’t have the Dual Skill, he coordinated with Larg instead, executing a three-hit combination.

Once more, Reet unleashed Dragon’s Breath Nova.

And immediately following, Larg stacked Dragon’s Breath on top of it.

Twin infernos consumed Cerberus’s barrier.

And from above the explosion, Reet’s overhead strike came down.

“Sacred Blade!”

His sword, blessed with holy power, cleanly severed both of Cerberus’s remaining heads in one strike.

“Tch. Lost more than half to you,” Larg said with a laugh.