“Undead?”
This was Roland’s first time encountering dark magic. She had never seen anyone use it before and had only seen the general classification in the grimoires provided by Jasper.
“Correct. The most important characteristic of the undead is that they are immortal. Unless white magic is used, they can be resurrected at any time as long as they have mana, and they will fight on tirelessly.”
An immature thought immediately popped into Roland’s head — ‘Doesn’t that mean the undead could be used for farming and power generation?’
Putting aside whether this world even had electricity, farming required more than just physical strength; it also required a bit of brains.
Cameron noticed a necklace suddenly appearing on Leonora’s neck and asked, “Where did your necklace come from?”
“Hehe, the favor of the God of Good Luck allowed me to discover it by accident.”
“Not necessarily. Sometimes things from the labyrinth aren’t entirely good. Maybe it’s actually a time bomb just waiting to explode when someone takes it!”
Leonora immediately tried to take off the necklace after hearing that. “Don’t scare me!”
This only earned her Cameron’s ridicule. “I’m just kidding.”
“Why do you and Roland both like bullying me! If you keep doing it, I’m really going to get angry!”
“Please don’t involve me in your flirting, thanks,” Roland interjected.
Royce, standing by the throne, shouted to the three of them, “I’m about to release the undead! Get ready!”
As he counted down five seconds, Roland and the others below immediately entered their combat states, on high alert for the enemy’s appearance.
The countdown ended. Royce drew his sword and struck the throne heavily. The entire palace shook violently, and ominous objects resembling black insects swarmed out from the shadows, merging into two massive black spheres.
“It’s coming!” Cameron warned the others. He summoned a long-handled staff and aimed it at a black sphere. A bright white magic circuit instantly illuminated a corner of the palace.
Roland followed closely behind, her flames transforming into a fire snake that lunged forward. Leonora was a bit slower, not firing a massive ice spike until her circuit was fully constructed.
The white, red, and blue magic landed one after another on one of the black spheres, scattering the body it had struggled to condense. The other sphere, however, successfully completed its form. A skeletal giant resembling an armored knight wielded a greatsword and swung at the three of them. The mere act of swinging the sword created gusts of powerful wind.
Fortunately, the low speed that came with its large size gave the three of them plenty of time to react, and they all dodged the slow slash.
While the skeletal knight still had its eyes on them, Royce rushed toward it with his sword. In just a few breaths, he was in front of it. His seemingly small body suddenly erupted with jaw-dropping strength, knocking back the greatsword the skeletal knight held in defense.
“Now! Attack while it’s staggered!”
Roland and Cameron followed the command, releasing their second round of magic almost simultaneously. However, Leonora’s reaction was a full beat slow. By the time the other two had finished their spells, she had just frantically finished constructing her circuit. Just as she was about to release it, a bolt of lightning struck from the side.
It was too late to defend.
Leonora closed her eyes, waiting for death to arrive.
After a thunderous explosion, the sound of thunder echoed through the palace, but the expected scenario did not happen.
When she opened her eyes again, a white back deeply impressed itself into her vision.
“Don’t give up so easily! Didn’t you say you were going to conquer the labyrinth?” Roland, who had barely managed to block the strike, turned her head and shouted. Her face was etched deeply into Leonora’s gaze.
Forcing her trembling body to move, Leonora said with feigned determination, “I… I don’t want to give up…”
As the smoke cleared, the source of the lightning was revealed: another undead mage. Although it had been delayed by the trio’s initial attacks, it had successfully resurrected.
With Royce and Cameron handling the skeletal knight, the undead mage was left to Roland and Leonora.
Roland knew that with Leonora’s reaction time, she certainly wasn’t suited to drawing fire. Combined with the contract restrictions, Roland took the initiative. “I’ll handle the diversion. You take the main attack!”
‘Me, in charge of the main attack…? Can I… really do it?’
While Leonora was still doubting herself, Roland had already approached the undead mage’s position. She figured that with an undead’s intelligence, it would prioritize the closest target.
Sure enough, seeing Roland approach, the undead mage held a book in its left hand and pointed its staff at her with its right.
Lightning and fire magic appeared alternately. Roland didn’t dare be careless and focused all her attention on defense. If Leonora understood her words, she would surely know what to do next.
“Your magic level isn’t even as good as a magic apprentice’s! Why do you think you can become an adventurer?!”
“I am your father! Everything I do is for your future! Friedrich is your threshold to the high nobility. As long as you grasp it, you will lack for nothing!”
Her father’s angry roars were more explosive than thunder. While they split Leonora’s heart open, they also allowed despair to seize the opportunity and fill her hollow interior.
The hand holding her staff trembled. What she saw was no longer the undead, but her father’s face. She was terrified of that face — so terrified that she wanted to do anything to run away.
“I can’t… I can’t do it…”
“My magic is useless… I’m not powerful like Grandfather at all!”
Leonora muttered to herself, nearly letting go of her staff.
Seeing that the attack was long overdue, Roland couldn’t help but turn back and scold her. “Just how much longer are you going to hesitate!”
The voice pulled her from the nightmare back to reality. She saw with her own eyes that Roland was using her life to buy time for her.
‘I can’t hesitate… I can’t hesitate! I have to help Roland!’
Re-gripping her staff, an ice-blue magic circuit quickly formed. Its appearance caused the temperature in the surrounding space to drop rapidly, and frost could be faintly seen forming.
This move was called Frost Rain. It was the only Level 3 spell Leonora had learned. She had once seen her grandfather use this magic to turn a large tree into powder; an ordinary person could never withstand it.
A downpour of ice shards like pear blossoms shot out from the magic circuit, flying straight toward the undead mage like a hail of bullets.
Just as Leonora was expecting to see what effect this strike would have, the opponent simply deployed a mana barrier and easily blocked all the ice shards.
It wasn’t the enemy’s defense that was pierced, but Leonora’s already fragile heart.
“Why…?”
She didn’t understand. She had clearly studied so hard, so why was she still so useless?
Everyone always said she couldn’t even beat a slime, so she practiced as if her life depended on it. In the end, was this the only reality?
“I’m sorry.” Cruel reality turned into tears of regret. “I’m so useless…”
But Roland didn’t think so.
“Who said your magic was useless!”
Taking advantage of the gap in the undead mage’s defense, Roland had already closed in on its back. The wand in her hand pierced through the barrier, pointing straight at the skull.
“Open your eyes and see how powerful your magic is!”
An ice magic circuit identical to Leonora’s was constructed in the blink of an eye. Freezing air spread from the center of the circuit to the back of the undead mage’s head, easily piercing the bone. Barb-like icicles grew out like a sea urchin, and then the mana instantly exploded, blowing it into a sky full of white snow.
Leonora saw it with her own eyes — just what a beautiful sight her magic could burst into.
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