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"It’s time!" Celica declared, summoning her golems one after another. The plushies transformed into gigantic, heavily armored, black phantasmal titans.

"I guess so. Might as well do some hunting, gain a few levels, and maybe hit max level already. I’ve been stagnant for too long," Celeste nodded, calling forth her black demonic spear, which now served as her familiar as well.

"Okay!" my brother agreed, summoning a golden rapier forged from his Orichalcum Phoenix Feathers and coated in the golden flames of his familiar.

"We’re fighting?! Ah, well, might as well level up too," Ruby nodded. She summoned her blazing hammer while dozens of blazing red gates materialized around her. They led to her personal armory; a vast magical space connected to her soul where she stored over three hundred weapons she had crafted. This was her original heroic skill, "Blazing Soul Demon Armory," which allowed her to summon and launch any weapon she had created and registered within it.

The moment the aquatic beasts drew closer, Ruby unleashed her power first. She possessed the most versatile ability after Lara, who was dancing around without even listening to the rest of them.

"{Blazing Soul Demon Armory – Fire}!"

Dozens of blazing gates opened around her and fired burning spiritual swords, spears, axes, hammers, and even shields. The barrage bombarded dozens of monsters at once before anyone else could act.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The monsters screamed in agony as they were shredded and burned to pieces. These were Tier 8 Pseudo-Spiritual Divine Beasts, yet Ruby tore through them effortlessly.

She had grown tremendously in the two years she had been with the group. Through constant battles and the system’s fusion with her natural growth, her progress as the Hero of the Blazing Hammer had accelerated far beyond that of a conventional hero. In fact, she was advancing faster than any of them had at the start of their journeys.

The reason was simple: Ruby was already an experienced blacksmith. All the expertise she had honed since childhood had transferred directly into her skills. This allowed her to learn new abilities with astonishing ease, master spells quickly, and constantly evolve and combine her powers.

Her blacksmithing talents had evolved to an entirely new level through her Heroic Blessings and the system’s integration with her innate gifts.

"Wow, that’s amazing!" Mist exclaimed. "But doesn’t she lose her weapons like that? Those are real weapons, not like my magic arrows...!"

"And that’s where the magic begins," I said with a confident smile.

As the weapons exploded and vanished, they began regenerating inside the spiritual interior of her armory.

"Wait, I saw that weapon before..." Zephyrus said. "She can summon them continuously?"

"Not exactly," I explained. "Any weapon she crafts and stores in her special armory gains the properties of a Spirit Weapon, a living entity connected to her soul and mana. Even if they explode, they regenerate over time inside the armory and return endlessly."

"The bigger her arsenal grows, the more weapons she can summon and the stronger they all become," Celeste added. "That is why you will sometimes see her mass-producing dozens or even hundreds of weapons at once. She is absolutely obsessed with blacksmithing!"

Ruby, who had always been the least interested in combat, sharpened her gaze as she massacred monsters left and right. As giant crabs, sharks, krakens, eels, and more surged toward them, she swiftly impaled the beasts with dozens of burning weapons and made them explode into pieces.

The cycle repeated again and again.

"Haaaa..." Finally, Ruby ran out of mana. She collapsed onto the sandy beach with a heavy sigh. "I’m beat... I spent everything. Sorry... Can I leave the rest to you?"

"S-Sure..." I muttered, staring at the battlefield. Over a hundred beasts lay dead, slain by Ruby alone. "This is insane...!"

Because she carried the system seed, she automatically shared all the EXP with the party. The Reward System even extended to party members, so some monsters occasionally dropped items as well.

RUMBLE!

SPLAAASH!

Just as they were reflecting on Ruby’s overwhelming strength, more sea beasts and monsters erupted from the depths of the ocean, charging at them with furious rage.

"Alright, Ruby handled the first wave. Let’s move!" I shouted. "Mom! Dad! Do the same!"

"We’re on it!" my father replied. He charged into battle, spreading his phoenix spirit wings wide.

"{Divine Heavenly Blazing Blade Arts}: {Phoenix Descent}!"

With all his strength, he unleashed a devastating descending slash. A gigantic cutting wave of heavenly flames struck the monsters before him. Dozens died instantly, calcined into ashes. The rest burned to a crisp and floated on the sea, filling the air with a strangely appetizing aroma.

BOOOMMM!!!

The attack triggered a massive explosion that shook the ocean and boiled its surface, enraging even more beasts and drawing them to the surface.

"Wow, your dad’s awesome!" Lara laughed, suddenly darting around me. "Hahahaa! Look, everyone! I brought lots of friends to help! YAAAAAAY!"

"Eh?!"

They all gasped, even their parents, as an army of trillions of spirits materialized out of nowhere, painting the entire sky in a riot of vibrant colors.

"Alright, everyone! One! Two! Three! Let’s goooooo!!! Hahahaha! Heheheh!"

Lara ran among the spirits, laughing joyfully as they lifted her up. She danced across the vast, colorful skies.

The spirits fused together as she waved the spirit staff I had once gifted her. It had evolved on its own into a true spiritual weapon, now serving as her familiar.

But that was beside the point.

"Fire!"

FLUOSH!

Billions of fire spirits merged into a catastrophic, titanic fireball that descended like a falling star. It exploded and erased over sixty monsters from existence in an instant.

BOOOMMM!!!

"Wind!"

Millions of wind spirits combined into a gigantic spiraling tornado of emerald winds. It lifted an entire section of the ocean and shredded everything caught within it.

"Um... Okay, water!"

She raised her staff, and divine spiritual power surged through all one trillion water spirits in the sea at once. The ocean itself came alive, transforming into a colossal goddess of water. Her eyes gleamed bright gold as she waved her hands and unleashed catastrophe upon the very beasts that dwelled within her domain.

She lifted hundreds of monsters into the sky, compressed them inside water bubbles, and made them explode into bloody messes one after another.

BOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

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