"Time to shift gears… Acceleration Device—activate!"

　The magic circle beneath Shannon's feet grew even more intricate.

　She clenched her teeth, activating the magical device embedded within her—a device she had once fused with her own body.

　Even now, Shannon wasn't going all out.

　What lay beyond this point, as she raised her gear further, was her true strength.

　The magical tool that had propelled her to the rank of a first-class adventurer was the Acceleration Device.

　In simple terms, it applied magical pressure to her body like a pump, enhancing her physical abilities beyond human limits.

『The performance boost from this device multiplies with your physical capabilities and magical reinforcement. If you can master magic that complements this device… you'll surpass your current self with ease.』

　Shannon's mana reserves, when compared to other top-tier fighters, were relatively modest.

　Unlike dragons, who relied on their vast internal mana for raw power, she couldn't adopt a similar strategy.

　So she chose a style compatible with the Acceleration Device—one that utilized the memory-based magic known as Rune Arts, which required less mana consumption.

　However, Rune Arts required the caster to mentally conjure a magic circle and then reconstruct it externally—a slow process that had rendered the technique obsolete.

　This was precisely where Shannon's Acceleration Device came into play.

　The device, embedded throughout her body, had magic circuits engraved within it. By projecting those engravings with light magic, she drastically reduced the casting time.

　This method was only possible for someone like Shannon, who had a device spanning her entire body.

　And with each successful activation, her confidence in her intuition grew stronger.

　Blades flashed and claws danced.

　Shockwaves and wind pressure from their attacks turned the ground around them into barren wasteland.

　In close combat, Shannon held the advantage with her layered magical buffs.

　As Bruno had predicted, while Marin was capable of melee combat, her specialty lay in overwhelming opponents from a distance.

"Aaaaaahhh!!"

　Marin unleashed an omnidirectional blast, sending Shannon flying.

　Dodge sound magic, delivered at supersonic speed, was no easy task.

　To mitigate the blow, Shannon drove her Dragon Fang Sword into the ground, reducing the distance she was thrown.

　The moment the attack ceased, she pivoted and charged toward Marin once more.

　Marin's sound magic amplified her voice and could be repeated indefinitely if she maintained the proper breathing rhythm.

　The louder she yelled, the stronger the magic became. Short, sharp bursts allowed for rapid, successive strikes.

　But with Shannon's speed, enhanced by her Acceleration Device and Rune Arts, Marin couldn't even catch her breath.

　Forced into melee combat, Marin was unable to employ her usual long-range tactics.

"Grand Severance—Fivefold!"

　Shannon unleashed an advanced sword technique—Grand Severance—a move even harder to execute than a standard Severance Slash.

　Thanks to the synergy between her magic and the Acceleration Device, she could now perform it consecutively.

"Tch… Frenzied Claw Dance!"

　Marin, flustered and off-balance, retaliated with her strongest melee technique.

　While traditionally executed with iron claws, she instead wielded her natural claws with equal precision.

　In terms of strike density, Marin had the advantage.

　But in terms of raw power, Shannon's strikes surpassed hers.

　Marin's claws chipped away at Shannon's slashes as they met.

　One strike, then two, then three.

　Despite their lesser force, Marin's attacks steadily weakened Shannon's sword techniques.

　By the time the fifth slash arrived, the technique had been completely nullified.

'I need to get closer… There's no other way.'

　Shannon's strikes hit harder.

　If she could land a clean blow, she would deal significant damage.

　She steadied her breathing and, without hesitation, charged straight into the storm of Marin's claws.

'Accelerator Device, Third Mode'

Shannon clenched her back teeth even harder, increasing the output of her accelerator device.

The barrage of attacks unleashed by Marin was like a kind of barrier, slashing through everything it touched. Naturally, that included Shannon, who was trying to get closer.

In the fraction of a second before her eyes, she saw more than ten swirling claws and gave up on dodging them all.

Deploying the formula within her body—immediate activation.

Engraved runes coursed from her feet to her head, instantly enhancing her vision. Relying solely on her sharpened sight and sixth sense, Shannon pushed forward without hesitation.

She kept dodging, but avoiding everything was impossible. Thin layers of skin were torn, strands of hair were severed, and her armor bore deep gashes. With each step forward, the ground upheaved by the attack's aftermath was firmly stomped back into place beneath her feet.

With every step, more wounds appeared. Yet Shannon’s stride never faltered.

She saw the flicker of uncertainty in Marin’s eyes as the gap between them shrank with steady inevitability. This confirmed to Shannon that her approach was the right one, and she smiled even as another fresh wound marked her body.

Blood began to spurt from every vein in her body, yet Marin did not stop her attacks. In fact, fear of Shannon’s advance drove her to unleash even more strikes in rapid succession.

Her movements hadn't changed, but her initial imbalance had cost her precision. Her attacks, now slightly less sharp, allowed Shannon to deflect only the fatal blows while pressing forward—until she reached striking distance.

Her breathing grew ragged, her body turned cold, and the power within her dragon sword was nothing compared to what it had been at the start of the battle.

She knew she wouldn't get another chance like this.

With that instinctive certainty, Shannon decided to unleash her most powerful strike.

She lightly bit down on her lower molar. A mechanical spring-loaded tooth popped up, revealing a small red button. Without hesitation, she pressed it with a sharp clench.

Instantly, her body ignited with boiling energy. The accelerator device roared beyond its limits, pumping magic through her veins at an inhuman speed.

The overwhelming magical force, having surpassed the body's capacity, overflowed from her skin in radiant phosphorescence. Her reddened flesh glowed through the thin layer of magic, intertwining with her crimson hair like a single beam of light.

"Accelerator Device, Zero Mode."

"Ah... ga... gah!?"

The shockwave shattered the air, blasting Marin backward faster than sound. Shannon, now a streaking comet of crimson light, moved too fast for eye or ear to track.

"Grand Severance: Fivefold!"

"Resonant Sound Wall!"

The strike she unleashed was an order of magnitude stronger than the ones before. Marin conjured a sonic barrier to blunt the impact, but it shattered under the first blow. The remaining four strikes landed directly on her.

Shannon's body paid the price. Her joints, stressed beyond their limits, oozed blood where they bent.

First strike—Marin's body bent into a V as she was hurled backward.

Second strike—Shannon, already there, slammed her down with a descending slash.

A kick sent Marin skyward—third strike—followed by the fourth, which pinned her to the ceiling.

Despite the relentless punishment, Marin's eyes retained a spark of life. In fact, she had used the brief moments of impact to draw breath and prepare a final, desperate attack.

"Shattering Resonance!"

The spell was the pinnacle of sound magic. It resonated with a target's structure to break it from within through sheer vibration.

Shannon recognized the incoming strike for what it was—a decisive move. She met it with her own ultimate technique, one she had learned in the dragon village.

"Dragon Flash."

Even in death, a dragon's fang retains immense power. By offering her own life force and magic, Shannon could awaken that latent energy, converting it into raw destructive force.

The technique was brutally simple and nearly unstoppable.

The unleashed might of Dragon Flash pierced through the vibration waves and hurtled toward Marin.

Their shadows crossed in an instant. Back-to-back, they held their stances before—

"Gsshhaaahhh!!"

"...Remarkable... indeed."

Blood gushed from Marin's body as she collapsed. The right-hand First Finger had fallen.

Shannon exhaled and relaxed her stance. Blood trickled from her nose and ears as the battle's toll surfaced.

The dragon sword remained intact, but Marin's sonic magic had left its mark; the vibration damage was clear even to Shannon.

"Guess... that's a hard-fought win, huh?"

She knelt, barely conscious. Darkness crept across her vision. Wiping at her eyes, she realized she was crying tears of blood.

"Haha... yeah... this is bad."

The combination of blood loss and the life energy drained by her sword left her thoroughly battered. Her mind drifted away.

"But... it's fine now... I can pass out knowing... they're safe..."

As her consciousness slipped, she glimpsed Maria and Hamil rushing toward her.

Thus ended the battle on the second floor—Shannon's hard-fought, narrow victory over Marin, the First Finger of the Right Hand.