I was accidentally injured by God and I just want to be an ordinary person

but--

It's too late. The nest beetle's movement speed is completely different from before.

After confirming this on the terrain search, Ella smacked her lips.

"Tsk, now that it's come to this, I can only give you a good beating."

Ella moved to the side while running to avoid being hit by the Orc behind her, and then focused all her attention on searching the terrain - the distance between the nest beetle and herself was gradually shortening, and it would only take a few seconds for it to catch up.

Ah, this is unavoidable... This is unavoidable...

Suggesting this to herself in her heart, Ella moved her right hand, which was holding the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment, from the middle to the end of the staff.

——Three seconds left.

『Strength Enhancement』

"Power Upgrade: Level 2"

I can clearly see that my strength value is increasing at a very fast rate, but this value should not be as good as the Nest Lord, so.

"Power Up Triple"

Although the stacking of enhanced magic is a difficult thing in this world, for Ella, it is something that can be done with just a wave of the hand. Casting triple magic seems to require a very high level, but in fact it is just the stacking of three low-level power enhancements. At Ella's level of 18, she cannot use mid-level power enhancements. It is worth mentioning that the gain brought by a mid-level power enhancement is far greater than the gain brought by the stacking of more than a dozen low-level power enhancements.

This level of strength...although still slightly lower than that of the Nest Lord, it's not too far behind.

Ella nodded inwardly with satisfaction. Being chased around by a bug was unacceptable no matter how you look at it. It would be too unreasonable not to give a gift in return.

——Two seconds left.

Under Oak's surprised gaze, Ella stopped her sprint with the help of her forcibly increased strength, pushed Oak away, and turned around.

"Ms. Elelaya!"

It seemed that he heard Oak's somewhat sad cry, but compared to that, giving a return gift to the nest beetle in front of him was more important.

——One second left.

Power Blessing

『Multiple attribute enhancement』

『Attribute Enhancement: Holy』

『Attribute Enhancement: Light』

『Perception Enhancement』

Concentration of Mind

『Iron Wall Strengthening』

Magic Shield

After casting all the strengthening magic that could be used in the next move, Ella twisted her body, slightly tilted the magic shield, and then.

bang——

The three-meter-long horn protruding from the top of the nest beetle's head hit the reinforced "magic shield". As the magic shield shattered, the nest beetle's horn was guided to the side by the magic shield with pre-adjusted angles and inserted into the ground.

"This is a return gift for you!"

"Holy Pestle Strike"

Standing on the side of the nest beetle, Ella swung the dazzling golden pestle of heavenly punishment in the hall and smashed it mercilessly on the horn of the nest beetle that was inserted into the ground.

It was as if time had stopped, and all the sounds disappeared at this moment, and then.

"Crack, crack, crack."

Just like a leaf so dry that it has no moisture left in it being rubbed in someone's hands, the sound of something breaking was heard.

What ended this strange silence was a sniper shot from Lotte.

Boom, boom!

Finishing with two consecutive "Explosive Bombs", the horn on the head of the Nest Lord was completely broken.

“Squeak!”

The Nest Lord, who suffered a huge blow, let out a painful wail, revealing his two eyes hidden under his body. He looked at the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment in Ella's hand in horror, then slowly retreated. Finally, he spread his real wings and flew into the ceiling that was dozens of meters high.

Ding--

After confirming that the beetle had flown back to its nest, Ella breathed a sigh of relief, and the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment in her hand fell to the ground. This was because the reaction force brought by the "Holy Pestle Strike" was too great, causing her entire arm to numb.

She wiped the corner of her mouth with her left hand, which was still able to move. The item that she had only bitten a small hole in before was accidentally bitten all over during the battle just now, causing the sweet taste inside to flow out uncontrollably. Ella sighed softly.

"Wow... this is a bit too sweet..."

Chapter 68: Meeting Shen Gan Again

* On December 16, 6186, at 2:15 PM, the third floor of the underground maze at the Holy Academy

"The treatment is complete. From now on, I just need to wait for my strength to recover."

"Thank you, Miss Elelaya, but... are you really okay?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I've already used the 'panacea', so it'll be fine."

Ella waved to Oak, who was sitting on the ground, with a perfunctory expression of concern, and walked to sit next to Lotte, then stretched out her body.

“I’m so tired…”

She couldn't help but whisper her inner thoughts. Just moving her fellow Oak, who was unable to move due to a broken bone, to the third floor of the maze had consumed the equivalent of a full day's worth of energy at school. And just now, she spent a long time explaining to Oak, who had misunderstood that she had suffered a serious injury. Ella always had a feeling that she had "tried hard enough."

"If you're tired, Miss Ella, please lie down here."

Because the room on the third floor of the maze was brighter than other places, Ella could clearly see Lotte, who was kneeling next to her, slapping her thighs.

"Eh? A knee pillow? Hmm... wouldn't it be weird to do that here..."

"Will that be weird?"

Lotte tilted her head and looked at Ella with a puzzled expression.

"Eh, even if Lotte says so..."

If it was just a winter afternoon, the two of them doing this on a bench in the courtyard, Ella would only feel safe, but now, having just finished a battle and with so many other people around... she always felt a little ashamed.

"Well, Miss Ella, you definitely worked hard today."

Perhaps wanting to encourage Angelique like Ella usually did, Loti reached out her hand to touch the head of Ella who was sitting next to her, but when the action was about to be completed, Loti suddenly realized her behavior and withdrew her hand somewhat embarrassedly.

"By the way, what kind of magic was that last attack from Ella-chan? That kind of powerful attack is almost as strong as my full-strength attack. She's a healer, yet she has such strong attack power."

Angelica, who was sitting on the other side of Lotte, carefully observed the Pestle of Heaven's Punishment in her hand, and stretched her neck to look at Ella with curiosity. The magic casters who heard Angelica's words also looked over with the same eyes as Angelica.

“Ah… that… that… well…”

Not knowing how to explain it for a moment, Ella hesitated and searched her mind for something that could be used as an explanation.

"Holy Pestle" was not a skill that Ella mentioned casually, but a kind of holy magic that actually existed. However, for a long time, healers had no need to practice this seemingly useless melee skill, so it had been forgotten by most people. This might be a good explanation, but even so, the "Holy Pestle" in its normal state would not be so powerful.

There are three reasons why it is so powerful. The first is that Ella has added enough strengthening magic to herself, including "strength enhancement". The second is that "Holy Pestle Strike" is an attack skill with sacred attributes. The sacred attribute damage of the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment increases by 300%, and the power is multiplied several times. Finally, Ella's own magical quality is higher than that of ordinary people, so the power of the magic is much higher.

In fact, Ella had only cast it symbolically at the time, and didn't think she could release this attack magic that would add attack power to the weapon. Now that she thinks about it, the reason she was able to release it was probably because she was really resisting this bug in her heart.

If only I had summoned ice crystal wings back then... then I could have used a "spiritual summoning" spell like I did in the lava cave against Iris...

Noticing Ella's distress, Lotte smiled and explained to Angelique—or rather, to the group of magic casters including Oak.

"That's the power that Miss Ella can unleash by drawing upon her life force beyond her level, so..."

"Isn't that a high price to pay? Miss Elelaya, for saving me this time. I, Oak, will definitely repay you."

Oak, who was originally in a weak state due to the exhaustion of magic power, stood up, saluted solemnly to Ella who was leaning against the wall, and bowed his head heavily.

"Eh? No, no, these are nothing. With the help of the 'panacea', there won't be any side effects. Oak, there's no need to be so serious."

"A panacea?! Is it the legendary panacea that no one can replicate?! It's said to be able to repair all injuries, even long-broken limbs! That price is way higher than even high-grade magic potions, right? A single bottle could fetch tens of thousands of gold coins, and there's still no demand for it!"

The female magic caster shouted out with such a loud voice that the vibrations from the sound even shook off the dust from the cave ceiling.

"Masa, calm down. It will be troublesome if you attract a monster."

“Ah, yes…”

The women lowered their heads in shame. Now they had no magic left and could only sit down and talk here with the help of Ella and the other two. When Angelica rescued them before, she treated them violently like hitting a baseball, so the four people except Oak had more or less broken bones all over their bodies. But the four people did not complain about this, and even kept thanking Angelica afterwards. After all, in that situation, being able to survive was a blessing. If it weren't for Angelica, the four of them would have gone to another world long ago.

As for the problem of being unable to fight due to the fracture, Ella cured it with healing magic. As long as the magic power is restored, he will be able to fight again. However, if he wants to fight the Nest Lord again, it is almost impossible. Not to mention whether he can win, the Nest Beetle with a broken horn will not come out of the nest at all.

But Oak seemed to be in a low mood and didn't say anything along the way. Only when he mentioned Ella did he show some emotional fluctuations.

Perhaps it was because he had seen himself beating up a nest beetle up close before, so he was scared - well, that's understandable.

Ella inferred this about Oak's behavior in her heart.

"Ah...senpai, it's you, isn't it?"

A voice that sounded unmotivated suddenly appeared, and then, Fukagan, wearing the uniform of the Holy Academy and with her usual asymmetrical twin ponytails, stood in front of Ella.

"Eh? Fukagan?"

"Huh... Miss Fukagan, is that you? Excuse me."

Lotte, who had drawn her magic spear at the sudden sound and thought the person coming was an enemy, bowed slightly.

"It's nothing, it's just my fault."

From Shen Gan's perspective, although a nod would have been enough to indicate a response, Shen Gan spoke out very politely. This was probably because he had a strict upbringing since childhood. If you think about it this way, Shen Gan's current rebellious behavior might have a lot to do with this.

When they found out that the person coming was someone Ella knew, Oak and his group felt relieved and continued to sit on the ground, just looking over here.

Not paying attention to the extra people, Shen Gan focused his attention on Ella.

"With your abilities, this test should be easy to pass. Are you in the maze now... to avoid the enemy?"

"Uh, no, that's not it. Iris said she wanted to set up a level to test me, so she's looking for other teams to work with and improve our coordination."

"Is that so... That woman is such a troublemaker."

Shen Gan curled his lips, seeming to think that Iris was really nosy.

"Does Fukagan really hate Iris?"

"Um."

"Eh? Could it be that Fukagan has known Iris for a long time?"

"I simply hate that woman—Elise-senpai—from the bottom of my heart."

“Ahahaha…”

Ella gave Shen Gan a smile, not knowing what to say. Just now when she was talking to Shen Gan, she suddenly remembered that before in the dreamland, Iris seemed to have treated Shen Gan as a fool, and Shen Gan seemed quite dissatisfied at that time, so Shen Gan was like this now, very disgusted with Iris.

"Where's Fukakan-chan? Why are you here alone?"

Angelica, who seemed to have known Shen Gan before, stood up and asked a question.

"I?"

After replying with a simple word, Shen Gan continued speaking in that nonchalant tone.

"It doesn't matter if I have a team or not. Whether I pass the assessment or not is fine."

“Wow, it’s still the same…”

"Wait, Ella-chan, that was my line, right?"

Perfectly ignoring Angelina's protests, Ella came up with a new idea.

"Will Fukagan join us? The teams we've already decided on can't be changed, but after defeating Iris, we can split the magic cores equally among the three teams, right? That way, Fukagan can also pass."

Shen Gan hesitated for a moment, then sighed deeply as if he was troubled.

"As for me, no matter what, if you need my help, I'll help you this time. I won't say I can definitely beat that woman, but at least I won't hold you back."

"Does this count as an agreement?"

"Who knows?"

Fukagan shrugged and looked away.