Francis turned to a young girl who looked a little older than he was. She was sitting at the side and resting back on the wall while trying to catch her breath, and the gauntlets on her hands told Francis that she was a brawler-type fighter. The girl was an A Rank, and her name was Marge. Francis had been watching her all this time, so he could see that she had still not gotten used to fighting alongside her Legion subordinates! Marge had two Moonlight Wolves and an Adamantine Ant as her subordinates, and Francis watched as one of the wolves came up to Marge and poked her with its nose to try to make her stand up. Marge flinched slightly when the wolf came close, but she eventually smiled and pet the wolf on the nose before getting up and dusting herself off.
’She still doesn’t trust her partners. Is it because they’re Magic Beasts? Maybe she still sees them as enemies? She must’ve been fighting alone all this time, and that’s why she’s so exhausted. Alright, she’s the best choice.’
Francis called out to Marge, and she turned to him and jogged over with a nervous smile.
"Leader, what’s up?"
Marge didn’t really know how to interact with the squad leader just yet. Marge knew that Francis was younger than her, so she shouldn’t be acting so formal, and she could relax around him, but at the same time, Francis had this intense look in his eyes that could make anyone nervous, so Marge couldn’t help but feel nervous around him! Francis didn’t even seem to notice Marge’s nervousness, and he spoke up in an even tone.
"You’re going to be handling the Gate boss today. The Captain told me to choose one person from the team for this, and from what I’ve seen, you look like you need to learn to work with your partners more than the rest of us, so you and your partners will go in and finish the raid."
Marge’s eyes widened, and she took a step back in shock once she heard what Francis said. There was a strange nervousness that rose from her heart when she realized that she had to go and fight against the boss alone! Marge wasn’t scared because she was fighting the boss. Marge knew that she was powerful enough to fight the boss since they were both A Rank, and if she had help from her partners, then there was no reason why she shouldn’t be able to kill the boss easily! Instead, Marge was nervous because she was still a little scared of the monsters in Jason’s Legion. Even though they had helped her a lot in the previous fights, both in Radagan and in the Gate now, they still moved and looked like Magical Beasts, so it was hard for her not to tense up whenever they came close to her. Marge had been inside many Gates in the past few years, and so she couldn’t help but wonder what she would do if the Legion subordinates suddenly turned on her and attacked her! She had been able to keep her fear under control all this time because she was also fighting alongside the other humans, but now that she was going to be alone with the Legion subordinates, Marge was afraid that she would make a mistake while fighting the boss because of that fear! Was this really going to be okay?
A hand landed on Marge’s shoulder, and Marge turned to see the cameranun giving her a supportive smile and a thumbs up, and Marge couldn’t help but smile back at her as she felt slightly less nervous. Francis noticed the interaction between the two of them, and he tried to put on a reassuring smile of his own, but he couldn’t get rid of the intense look in his eyes, so it only made him look more intimidating than before! Marge flinched back when she saw the look on Francis’ face! He looked like a member of the Yakuza!
"You’ll be fine, Marge. Just remember what I told you. Trust your partners and allow them to take any damage that you think you can’t handle. The captain believes in you, so you have no choice but to believe in yourself too."
Francis gave Marge a thumbs up after saying that, and for some strange reason, Marge suddenly felt a laugh bubble up from deep inside her, and she put her hand over her mouth as she chuckled softly at Francis’ words! Francis had been trying to sound like a kind supporter, but the monotonous way he spoke and the dangerous look on his face made it look like he was a gangster trying to extort money out of her! Francis raised a brow in surprise when he saw Marge laughing at him, and he wondered what was so funny! Was it something he said!? But then Marge finally smiled and nodded while saying that she was ready for the fight, and Francis decided not to bother with the strange laughter. It was obvious that his words had managed to calm her down, and that was all that mattered!
Francis turned to the rest of the team, and he told them that they would be staying back while Marge went ahead to take care of the boss. The team understood, and many of them even fell back and sat down against the wall to relax while waiting! They all knew that Marge and her beasts were stronger than the boss, so they didn’t need to worry at all! Marge felt something brush up against her leg, and she almost flinched again as she realized it was one of the large Moonlight Wolves, but she managed to catch herself, and she smiled at it and brushed its fur when it pushed her with its nose. The wolf urged Marge forward so they could start the fight, and Marge released a tense breath before she tightened her gloves and confidently began to move forward, and Francis watched the cameranun following behind Marge at a calmer pace.
Marge sped up into a jog as she headed further down the cave. The path towards the boss room was filled with tens of dead beasts littering the region. The Alpha Squad had already killed all the guards and diggers in this Gate, so Marge knew that she didn’t need to worry about being ambushed by any other monster! The Adamantine Ant rushed through the cave at a faster pace than the rest of them as it skittered across the ceiling, and Marge heard a loud roar echo through the cave once the Ant turned the corner ahead! Marge quickly readied her mana for an attack once she turned the corner, and she was shocked to see what the Diamond Bear Boss looked like! It was huge! The Boss was at least twice as large as the other bears in the cave, and it had thick diamond skin and long, sharp diamond nails that looked like they could easily cut through anything! The boss roared at the Adamantine Ant and charged towards it before trying to cut it with its nails, but the Adamantine Ant managed to dodge around the attack, and it used [Linear Charge] to launch an attack that slammed the boss back into the wall of the cave!
BOOM!
The entire cave shook from the impact, and Marge released another tense breath before she quickly called out to the wolves.
"You two serve as a distraction! I’ll attack from behind and draw its attention to give the Ant a chance to launch another attack!"
The wolves both yipped once they heard those orders, and they charged towards the Boss at full speed! The Diamond Bear Boss sensed the two new attackers, and it felt some weariness enter its heart when it realized that they were almost as strong as the Adamantine Ant it had been fighting! The boss was only strong enough to be regarded as an A Rank, and it was fighting against two Rook Rank I beasts that were as strong as A Rank, as well as one Pawn Rank III beast that was on the same level as a B Rank! It didn’t matter how much it struggled; this wasn’t a battle that it could see itself winning!