Chapter 17 - Surprise Attack

With their Hades Hats, the raiding party enjoyed an uninterrupted trip down to the 18th floor. On their way, they saw thousands of powerful monsters heading towards the surface. As they approached Rivira, they saw a large group of elementals heading their way. Figuring that is probably where the corrupted Great Spirits were, Asfi flew above the group of monsters to get a better look, and she quick returned to confirm seeing the Great Spirits of earth and light. While the Fire Spirit was not there, 2 Great Spirits would be well worth their effort.

Having learned from Finn, Bell proposed a cleverly-timed attack plan that fully leveraged their capabilities in communications, stealthiness, flight ability and magic attacks. The daring plan was put into action:

1. Bete and Tiona circled around the monsters so they would be in position to attack or capture the 2 Great Spirits. If the capture proves to be successful, Tiona was prepared with 2 spare Hades Hat and the special unicorn horn with purification magic.

2. Once Bete and Tiona got in position, Ais and Bell used Ariel to get in an optimum viewing position for the first strike. After only a 1 minute argonaut charge to reduce charging noise, an Aerial/Firebolt was directed at the 2 Great Spirits.

3. Ryuu also got Mikoto in a good viewing position for her Futsunomitama attack. With impeccable timing, Mikoto immediately crushed the 2 Great Spirits after the Ariel/firebolt.

4. The combined damage from the argonaut Aerial/firebolt and the Futsunomitama severely injured the 2 Great Spirits. Bell and Ais then kept raining Aerial/crystal spells on them to knock them on the ground.

5. At the same time, Asif got Riveria in position for viewing her targets before her Vas Windheim spell, which was timed for 10 seconds after the start of the first strike. The powerful magic destroyed all the nearby elementals and monsters, allowing Bete and Tiona a clear path to the injured Great Spirits.

6. After the path was cleared to the Great Spirits, Bete and Tiona rushed in and completed the capture by knocking them out.

7. The Great Spirits were immediately tied up and gagged. While Ryuu and Asfi were transporting them back to the surface, the special unicorn horn was used to purify them.

By capturing their leaders and delivering huge attacks, the team got the elementals and monsters in total disarray. By the time they figured out where the attacks came from, Asfi and Ryuu were already well on their way back to the surface with the prisoners. To further confuse the enemy, Bell and Ais fired off several short-charge argonaut-Ariel/firebolt strikes to lead them away from the escape route. This also bought Riveria enough time to launch another Vas Windheim that wiped out the remaining light elementals, earth elementals and nearby monsters. As the team rushed back to the surface, there were thousands of angry monsters giving chase. The Xenos had planted a number of traps, which were sprung on the enemy after the team passed by. These traps bought several more minutes to escape for the team and the Xenos, who have joined the battle at the Babel.

After the exciting news of the capture, Hestia waited eagerly for Bell's return at the lid. As the raiding team returned, she gave Bell a last minute Falna update before the monsters started to arrive. With tremendous luck, her efforts were rewarded. Bell has just advanced to level 5 with a large jump in magic stats and endurance stats. Furthermore, he also luckily gained an additional development ability - magic resistance. After giving Bell the good news and advice on the new ability, Hestia left with Asfi who flew Hestia back to the secret headquarters.