Liyakade stared intently at the Shadow Burial on the ground, keeping a wary distance.
From their brief clash just now, it was clear that Liyakade’s attacks were ineffective against her.
Even if her shadow seemed to hit Shadow Burial visually, it actually had no effect.
However, Shadow Burial’s attacks could ignore Liyakade’s defenses, leaving her unable to counterattack—she could only dodge.
But earlier, when Alice tried to attack Shadow Burial with Light Magic, Shadow Burial suddenly moved faster and hid behind Liyakade’s shadow, letting Liyakade take the hit for her.
Did this mean that even if she was completely a shadow, Shadow Burial was still afraid of attacks from the light element?
“Alice, try attacking again.”
Liyakade stayed alert to Shadow Burial while giving Alice an order.
“Haa.”
Alice nodded solemnly.
Although the opponent’s movements were slow and seemed harmless, that was just appearances.
In reality, she possessed the ability to ignore defenses and deliver a fatal strike.
She was only moving slowly now, but in truth, they were in danger.
Alice pressed her hands together.
Light elements gathered in her palms.
The moment the light formed, Shadow Burial’s speed suddenly increased as she rushed toward the nearest shadow—Liyakade’s.
It seemed she wanted to do what she did earlier: hide behind Liyakade’s shadow and let her take the Light Magic attack.
“So it really is like that?”
It seemed that Shadow Burial was indeed afraid of the light element.
Even though her intelligence had deteriorated and she only followed instinct, fear of the light element was one of those instincts.
When she sensed the fluctuation of light, she reacted.
Liyakade had been wary of Shadow Burial all along, so she wouldn’t give her such a chance.
Her right leg had fully recovered, and with a flash of blue lightning, she retreated like a gust of wind.
There was no way she’d let Shadow Burial hide in her shadow.
Sistem and Field also retreated, refusing to let Shadow Burial close the distance.
Still, even though the three of them backed away, there were still various other objects casting shadows in the plaza.
Shadow Burial darted behind the shadow of a shrub.
Alice’s sphere of light descended toward Shadow Burial.
The shrub flared with Holy Fire, but Shadow Burial wasn’t harmed.
She slipped into the shadow of another shrub.
The shrub was quickly reduced to ashes by the Holy Fire.
“…You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve never regretted the Academy’s landscaping being this good before.”
Field’s eyelids twitched at the scene.
She hadn’t expected that Shadow Burial could hide not just behind people’s shadows, but also behind objects, transferring the damage to them.
This was trouble—there were more than just one shrub in the plaza, and not just shrubs, either.
If she could hide in the shadow of a shrub, then the same went for the Teaching Building or indoors.
All those places could become hiding spots for Shadow Burial, and as long as she was within a shadow, she could kill Liyakade and the others.
This was the true terror of Shadow Magic.
“There’s too much clutter here. There are hiding places for her everywhere.”
Liyakade couldn’t think of a solution for the moment, but the plaza was definitely not a good place for them to fight.
They couldn’t possibly burn down every tree in the plaza, right?
Even if they did, the Teaching Building was nearby.
If Shadow Burial just hid in the building’s shadow, they still couldn’t do anything.
Besides, they didn’t even know how long Shadow Burial’s effect would last.
If she got away and they lost her trail, would that mean the magic ended, or was she just following slowly behind them?
Since she moved so slowly when chasing, if she didn’t show up for a long time, Liyakade and the others wouldn’t know if the magic was over or if she just hadn’t caught up yet.
If they left her alone, one day she might just slit their throats while walking—and they wouldn’t even realize it.
What’s more, they didn’t know if Shadow Burial could change her target.
If Liyakade and the others tried to escape too far, and Shadow Burial couldn’t find her target, she might go berserk and attack other students, harming even more innocents.
Therefore, Liyakade couldn’t just ignore Shadow Burial.
Still, this place was really not suitable for battle.
“All right, stop attacking for now. It looks like there’s nothing we can do to her at the moment.”
Seeing Alice about to launch another sphere of light at Shadow Burial, Liyakade waved her hand to stop her.
“Let’s try slowly luring her to an open area.”
The group exchanged glances with Liyakade, agreeing with her suggestion.
If they could draw her to a place without other objects or shadows, maybe then Alice’s attacks could land.
However—
At that moment, the last thing Liyakade and the others wanted to happen occurred.
The bright moonlight disappeared again, and clouds covered the moon in the sky.
The shadows of everyone—and Shadow Burial—were swallowed by darkness.
“Alice!”
Liyakade quickly looked at Alice.
Now all their shadows were lost in the darkness.
They couldn’t see how their shadows existed in complete blackness, making it even harder to judge positions.
“I know!”
The instant the clouds covered the moon, Alice understood Liyakade’s words.
A ring of light burst outward from her hands.
But then, something strange happened.
As the light spread, everyone’s shadows—and Shadow Burial—appeared for a moment, then vanished again into darkness.
“This, this is…”
Alice’s pupils contracted, and she unconsciously took half a step back.
Logically, she should have been able to illuminate the entire area, but now she could only light it up for an instant.
What was even stranger to Alice was her own mana consumption—it was now double what it usually was.
Refusing to give in, Alice sent a large orb of light floating into the sky.
If she couldn’t create a light ring, she’d just create a light source overhead, like the sun or moon, to illuminate everything.
The ground was instantly lit again, and Shadow Burial and everyone’s shadows appeared—but mana drained at an alarming rate.
“Why…why is this happening?”
“Alice? What’s wrong?”
Liyakade could see that Alice’s expression was troubled.
She hurriedly asked about Alice’s condition.
Alice’s face was pale; she staggered, and the orb of light in the sky vanished.
“I can’t expose her…my mana drains too quickly…”
Alice stared at the spot where Shadow Burial had last appeared, falling into a long silence.
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