Level Eater
Chapter 159

T/N: [First, you need to raise the [Hammer Arts] skill to level 3, and acquire at least level 1 in both [Fire Magic] and [Earth Magic] skills. (T/N: I will be translating it as Hammer Arts, but it may change in the future to Hammer Technique since it is not a fighting skill) à Chapter 154It is a multipurpose skill but I will leave it as Hammer Technique, Athena's speech will be translated to best fit what is written in Japanese.]

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Everyone disembarked from the boat onto the platform Ai had created.

During this time, Tatsuro and Ai held hands tightly in a lovers' embrace to fully recover their depleted energy from various actions.

Seeing this scene, Leah wondered what they were doing in such a place, but her eye skill allowed her to understand its meaning.

"Resonating existences ([Perfect Harmony +1]), is it? That's a fitting title for you two." (Leah)

"Right? This is my favorite." (Ai)

As Ai snuggled up to Tatsuro while saying this, Leah, now used to such scenes, smiled and watched over them.

"Hmm~ I can't fly, so I really feel at ease when there's solid ground" (Ai)

"Even if you can fly, it's better to have ground beneath you. So, from here we just walk across this to get to the other side?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. That's the plan. It's easier and more efficient to deal with surprise clams on the island than those things." (Ai)

"I wonder if they're over there too." (Tatsuro)

By the time this conversation ended, Ai's energy had fully recovered. They all set off towards the target small island, walking on top of several shields Ai had spread over the sea surface, moving them as they went.

This method of travel meant they didn't have to worry about attacks from below as they approached the location where monsters were lying in wait at the edge of the island.

They could still sense that they were being watched from the sea behind them.

"Alright, let's do this." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, we're ready on this end." (Nana)

"Hah—" (Ai)

Ai poured energy into her armor with a shout, producing a large amount of black mist-like energy.

The sheer volume of energy made the monsters in front take a step back.

At that moment, shields lined up in a straight line from their current position to the island, forming a huge bridge.

The monsters that had been standing on the water's surface with the [Water Walk] skill stumbled and fell on this suddenly appearing foothold, different from the water surface they were used to.

Before the monsters could regain their balance, Jeanne in her [Adult Form] with Nana riding on her, and Athena on her own feet, sprinted towards them at full speed.

Jeanne crushed them underfoot, Nana leaped down and pierced their necks with her dragon fangs, and Athena destroyed them with powerful punches.

By the time the monster side had regained their composure, only four remained.

Undeterred by the scene of carnage, the four remaining monsters repositioned themselves and growled at them, baring their gums.

"Oh, they've got quite some spirit~ I don't dislike that kind of thing!" (Athena)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"Ah, you're jumping the gun!" (Nana)

Athena's fighting spirit was stimulated by their fearless stance, and she leaped forward before Jeanne and the others could move.

Although Jeanne was quite fast herself, she couldn't keep up with Athena, who should have been at a lower level.

Athena ran past like a beast with her long, supple legs, taking the lead. As she stood in front of the central monster, all four attacked her from different directions.

Athena immediately deployed her [Dragon Armor], donning full-body armor including a white headpiece. Just before their fangs could reach her, she stepped back and grabbed the heads of the monsters on her right and left corners, trying to crush them together with the two in the middle.

However, as Athena had predicted, the two in the middle twisted their bodies to dodge, and only the two whose heads she had grabbed had their heads from the neck up crushed and fell down.

Paying no mind to the blood splatter on her [Dragon Armor], Athena turned her attention to the remaining two.

"Hey— Leave at least one for us! There won't be any left for Father!" (Nana)

"Ah." (Athena)

"Don't just say 'Ah'!" (Nana)

"Teheh." (Athena)

"Being cute won't work!" (Nana)

Athena turned away from the monsters to look back at Jeanne and Nana who had just arrived.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the monsters simultaneously extended 30-centimeter knife-like claws from their webbed front paws and silently lunged to attack.

"That's no good, you know." (Athena)

"Gwau!?"

"Guga—"

However, this was just a feint by Athena, deliberately creating an opening to bait their attack.

Athena had completely read their intentions and, before their attack could reach her, she grabbed one by the ankle with her left hand and literally threw it at Jeanne and the others.

She brought down a karate chop on the other's crown, slamming it to the ground.

While it was unable to stand due to the pain, she placed her hand on its head and directly discharged electricity, knocking it unconscious.

"Jeanne onee-sama, one's coming your way." (Nana)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

They can run in water or on water, but not in the air.

So, they waited for the monster to fall towards Jeanne and the others, resigned to its fall.

The monster, determined not to go down without a fight, extended claws from its hind legs as well and flailed all four limbs wildly as it fell.

However, it was sucked into a whirlwind created by Jeanne and spun around, its long claws becoming a liability and injuring its own body.

Realizing this, the monster quickly retracted its claws, but as if timed perfectly, it was slammed onto the shield bridge created by Ai directly below, momentarily losing consciousness.

Seizing that moment, Nana approached and touched it directly, using life magic to further cloud its consciousness until finally completely taking it away.

"We've captured this one alive too" (Nana)

"We've got this one perfectly as well." (Athena)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

And so, Jeanne, Nana, and Athena successfully eliminated the obstacles to the small island.

Meanwhile, around the time Jeanne and the others engaged the enemy and began fighting, Tatsuro and his group were dealing with monsters that had boarded the shield bridge from behind.

"Hmm. They're quite agile. It might be easier if I charge in for close combat." (Ai)

"Then I'll cover you." (Tatsuro)

"Mm, thanks—" (Ai)

Ai lightly kissed Tatsuro's cheek in gratitude before charging towards the group of about ten monsters that had clustered and come ashore.

So Tatsuro, having no time to be dazed, momentarily forgot the sensation on his lips and immediately gave instructions to Cardina.

"Cardina, please assist Ai. They can no longer ambush from underwater, so you can stop searching the water for now." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee—" (Cardina)

"Oh, and don't fly too high. Strange birds might come down from above." (Tatsuro)

Following Tatsuro's instructions, Cardina flew at low altitude towards the direction Ai had gone.

Tatsuro then began to pour water magic into the sea through the small gaps between the shields, creating a large whirlpool to prevent those still in the water from surfacing.

He then mixed fire magic into it, rapidly raising the temperature and bringing the water within the vortex to a boil.

The monsters lurking near the water's surface either died, scalded by the hot water, or dove deep into the sea to escape before being swallowed by the vortex.

This ensured no more would appear where Ai was.

So all Tatsuro could do now was continue this magic until Ai finished cleaning up.

"I've refused additional orders, so that's all you have to deal with now—" (Tatsuro)

"Okay— I'll bring back souvenirs if I can get any." (Ai)

"I'm counting on you. Be careful." (Tatsuro)

"Okie dokie." (Ai)

Ai responded lightly and charged towards the enemy in front of her, brandishing her jewel sword.

Although she wasn't in peak condition due to controlling a large number of shields, Ai was not one to be outdone by the monsters before her.

Ai enveloped her sword with energy and plunged into the center, cutting down three monsters in a single stroke.

"Seven more to go—" (Ai)

Though startled by the sudden violence, the monsters fought back, extending their claws. But as soon as they approached, they were turned into lumps of flesh in an instant, leaving only three remaining.

Even those three remaining were dealt with when Cardina, who had caught up, took advantage of their distraction with Ai to swoop in from the side, snatching one and lifting it into the air before diving sharply and crushing it against the shield bridge.

"We want at least two, right?" (Ai)

"Pewee." (Cardina)

Flying over Ai, Cardina skillfully threw clods of earth with its feet at the remaining two monsters, scattering their consciousness.

The moment the monsters reflexively avoided the earth clods and their attention wavered from us, Ai switched her jewel sword to a whip and wrapped it around one's neck, strangling it into submission.

The last one, momentarily disoriented by this unexpected attack, failed to notice the fully transformed Cardina rapidly approaching. Its neck was grasped by Cardina's thick hind legs and it too was strangled to the point of unconsciousness, though not fatally.

"Alright. We've got our souvenirs, shall we head back to Tatsuro?" (Ai)

"Pewee—" (Cardina)

With that, they ran back with their two monster trophies to where Tatsuro had already joined up with Jeanne and the others who had advanced earlier.

"Here, souvenirs—" (Ai)

"Ah, thanks. But let's wait until we're on land before dealing with them. Those guys probably won't follow us there." (Tatsuro)

A more detailed underwater search would reveal many more monsters still lurking in the sea.

So they hurriedly ran across the bridge of shields and finally landed on their target small island.

First, they swiftly defeated the surprise clams hiding in the sand beach.

Then Tatsuro used earth magic to bury the four monsters they had acquired, leaving only their heads exposed, in case they suddenly woke up.

After that, He began using [Level Eater] on them one by one.

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Level: 26

Skills: [Water Walk Lv.5], [Bite Lv.2], [Scratch Lv.3]

[Sound Wave Detection Lv.5]

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([Sound Wave Detection], huh. No wonder they were able to accurately pinpoint our position. Other than that, the skill to walk on water is unusual, but there are no magic-based skills.)

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Level: 26

Skills: [Water Walk Lv.0], [Bite Lv.0], [Scratch Lv.0]

[Sound Wave Detection Lv.0]

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After obtaining a total of (39) SP, Leah, who could now wield the giant hammer without curse magic support, began destroying the heads of the buried monsters like a game of whack-a-mole.

"Ah, my [Hammer Technique] has risen to Lv.2." (Leah)

"Which means you're one level away from getting the blacksmith skill, right?" (Nana)

"Yes. Once I have that, I think I'll be able to process Nana's fangs a bit." (Leah)

"That's wonderful! Hurry up and level up!" (Nana)

"That's why I'm working hard!" (Leah)

Seeing Nana shaking Leah's shoulders vigorously, Athena decided to join in as well.

"If you can process Nana-nee's fangs, I'd like you to make something for me too. Can you make something with dragon ribs?" (Athena)

"I won't know until I try, but even with low-level blacksmith skills, I have eyes that can compensate for that, so it should be possible as long as it's not too intricate." (Leah)

"Then I'll work hard to raise your skill~ Dad, Car-nee, please find enemies quickly~" (Athena)

"Alright, I got it." (Tatsuro)

Athena, who was usually battle-hungry but often spaced out, was unusually excited as she urged them on.

Tatsuro found it endearing to see this childlike side of her and, smiling, set out with Cardina to search for more surprise clams.