[Gluttony]’s activation was clear: when HP and Mana dropped to a critical point, or when the body reached a state of damage. But it didn’t kick in during battle—it was a passive hunger that struck after, leaving Layton starving on the sidelines. It was a clear sign his Taunt had failed. He hadn't even engaged with the slimes properly.

“So hungry...?” Ariana mumbled, still unsure of the situation. She glanced at Anyi. “How’s it going?”

Anyi's face remained impassive. "He failed," he stated flatly.

Layton’s Prana stat was at zero, his Mana reserve was likely shallow. Anyi himself remembered the days when his own Prana was at rock bottom, leaving him with barely 20 Mana. Now, with five points added to the stat, he had 300 Mana at his disposal—more than enough for basic skills that drained only 10 Mana each.

Suddenly, Ariana stepped forward, raising her staff with an air of newfound determination. “I’ve got an idea,” she declared, her voice laced with focus.

“I noticed something earlier,” she continued, her voice more certain now. “You had Mr. Layton ask if the system could attract multiple enemies, right? So... what if I try attacking multiple enemies at once?”

Her eyes burned with seriousness as she held her staff in front of her, focusing on the sensation she had briefly grasped during their earlier training.

"Yes, try it," Anyi nodded, satisfied with her insight.

With an Intelligence stat of 15, Ariana had remarkable clarity when it came to grasping new concepts. But Anyi knew better than to equate stats with raw intellect. A fool with high Intelligence might still be a fool—they would simply learn how to mess things up faster.

Ariana, deep in concentration, silently called upon the system. 'Kami-Sama, please show me how to attack multiple enemies at once!'

[Searching for...]

The system’s response came swift.

[The search is over. Dear Hero, when using a skill, utilize more Mana to activate the skill [Heavenly Sphere].]

'Tell me how to mobilize more Mana!'

[When using a skill, declare how much Mana you wish to expend—either as an exact amount, a multiplier, or as a percentage of your total Mana.]

She took a deep breath, focusing. 'Use skill: Heavenly Sphere! Use: 100% Mana!'

Ariana's magical talent surged within her, amplified by her extraordinary Prana. While her base Prana stat was a modest 5, it had soared over time, now sitting at a staggering 30 points. This meant her Mana pool had grown beyond anything Anyi or Layton could hope to match, reaching a massive 5000 Mana.

Neither Anyi nor Layton, lacking magical affinity, could dream of wielding such raw magical energy. Even if they pushed their Prana to its absolute limit, their Mana reserves wouldn’t break past 2000.

As Ariana invoked the skill, her staff began to hum, vibrating with raw power. A golden aura enveloped it, radiating outwards like sunlight breaking through a storm. The air thickened with energy, crackling with magic that made the hair on the back of Anyi’s neck stand up.

"Sh—!" A fierce shimmer danced along the length of her staff as a brilliant orb of golden light materialized at its tip, growing brighter and more intense with every heartbeat. The golden sphere pulsed like a living thing, heavy with the weight of the Mana she had poured into it.

Without warning, the ball of light shot upwards, streaking into the sky at a velocity that shattered the air around it. Faster than the eye could follow, it pierced the clouds, leaving behind a sonic boom that reverberated through the village.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

...

"Quickly, look! What's that?!"

"There's something in the sky!"

"It's... the Second Sun?!"

One of the villagers shouted, panic gripping the crowd as everyone turned their eyes toward the heavens. A collective gasp filled the air as they witnessed an unfamiliar sight—an orb of golden light high in the sky, pulsating like a newborn star.

And then, the explosion came.

"Boom ——!!!"

The sound was deafening, like thunder crashing directly overhead. The golden sphere detonated, and from the gaping wound torn into the sky, a barrage of magic arrows rained down like a divine punishment.

Each arrow gleamed with the intensity of molten gold, streaking through the clouds with such speed that they broke the sound barrier, echoing like a thousand whips cracking all at once. The villagers could do nothing but watch in awe as this celestial storm descended upon the colossal slime.

The giant slime had no chance. Unable to move fast enough to escape, the creature was trapped beneath the endless hail of golden arrows. They struck with such force that the earth itself seemed to groan under the assault. Arrow after arrow pierced through the slime's gelatinous body, tearing massive holes that bled out its form.

The once-imposing 30-meter slime was reduced to a quivering mass, its body riddled with so many holes that it was almost unrecognizable. The golden rain pounded it into submission, each impact scattering bits of its form like mud under a torrential storm.

Anyi stood still, watching the devastation unfold with a quiet, calculating gaze.

'So, she used all her Mana.'

He recalled what he knew of magic—how the more Mana a spell was fed, the faster, stronger, and more devastating it became. Ariana had poured every ounce of her power into this single strike, unleashing a force beyond what Anyi had expected. She had turned the sky into her battlefield, and the slime had been utterly destroyed beneath her overwhelming might.

...

A cascade of notifications flashed before Ariana's eyes.

[Experience points +10, +5, +1...]

A chorus of rising numbers echoed as the slimes fell in droves, their once-intimidating force scattered and broken. Ariana, her mana fully spent, released her staff with a heavy sigh and collapsed backward. But before her body could hit the ground, Anyi’s hand was there to catch her, his grip steady and calm.

Slimes rained down from the sky, their fragile bodies splattering as they hit the earth. The remaining ones scrambled in all directions, like panicked prey, but the battlefield had already shifted. The once-mighty swarm was now fractured and fleeing.

One round of Heavenly Sphere hadn’t wiped them all out, but it had certainly decimated their numbers.

"Miss Miruku," Anyi said, his voice cool and clear, not bothering to turn around.

"At!" Miruku jolted from her shock, regaining her composure.

"Take care of the stragglers before they regroup," Anyi commanded.

"On it!"

In an instant, Miruku vanished. Her black silhouette streaked across the battlefield like a shadow, each of her rapid strikes leaving behind shattered slime cores in her wake.

'Fast... too fast,' Anyi thought, his eyes tracking her movements. 'She's already nearing supersonic speed.'

With 40 points in Agility, Miruku's speed was unrivaled. But the drawback was inevitable.

Suddenly, she collapsed at Anyi’s feet.

"A...A...A..." Miruku lay sprawled on the ground like a winded beast, tongue out, body trembling. Her face flushed crimson as she gasped for air, unable to even grip her weapon.

'Of course,' Anyi mused. 'Her Endurance is 1.'

[Strength: 1, Agility: 40, Endurance: 1, Durability: 0, Prana: 2, Intelligence: 3, Technique: 17]

Her blazing speed and rapid skill execution were impressive, but her body was completely unprepared for such demands. She was like a high-performance machine running on a single drop of fuel.

Ariana, still in Anyi’s arms, smiled weakly. "Anyi... I don’t feel tired, but... why can’t I move?"

"You probably are tired," Anyi replied, his tone almost dismissive.

But the truth was simpler—her mana was completely depleted.

"Is that so...? But the slimes... they’re still not gone."

She turned her gaze to the mass of slimes that had begun to regroup. They slithered together once more, reforming from the fragments of their fallen brethren, an unrelenting force of nature.

"I asked Kami-sama earlier," Ariana continued, "and it said I’m out of mana, so I can’t move. If I want to use Heavenly Sphere again, I need to replenish. Anyi... do you have any food?"

Her eyes sparkled with hope as she looked up at him.

"I want to use Heavenly Sphere again! This time, we’ll finish them for good!"

"No need," Anyi said softly. He gently laid her down on the ground, then fixed his gaze on the crawling pile of slimes. His expression sharpened with a hint of finality.

"You’ve both done enough," he continued, voice steady. "I’ll handle the rest."

Ariana blinked, her body still paralyzed but her spirit yearning to fight on. "But... how?"

With quiet resolve, Anyi stepped forward, drawing his sword. The battlefield had been chaotic, filled with flashes of magic and the clamor of skills. But now, it was time for simplicity.

His blade glinted in the fading sunlight.

'It’s time to end this.'