Chapter 43: Towards Deeper Places

After losing its head, the Undead Mage did not fall. It remained standing, two magic circuits surfacing from the grimoire in its hand, aiming directly at Roland.

Seeing this, Leonora immediately shouted a warning, “Watch out!”

Roland had guessed that it wouldn’t stop functioning just because it lost its head, so she had already taken precautions. Ice magic appeared out of thin air, freezing its hands and interrupting the casting process.

Numerous mana bullets then shot out from behind Roland one after another, pummeling the Undead Mage.

She quickly retreated to create distance until she was back by Leonora’s side.

Time was of the essence, so Roland asked bluntly, “Do you know White Magic?”

“I… I only know one Exorcism spell…”

“That’s enough. I’ll draw its attention like before. You find the right time to hit the undead with your White Magic.”

“But… what if it doesn’t work like last time?”

At this, Roland gave a reassuring smile. “Be more confident. What you lack isn’t talent or effort, but a reckless determination. If you’re still worried about breaking through its defense, leave that to me.”

Leonora’s eyes widened slightly. Her gaze, previously clouded by gloom and fear, regained its luster. This was only the second time since her birth that someone had affirmed her; the first was her grandfather.

A surge of immense courage welled up in her heart. She nodded and gripped her staff tightly. “Okay!”

In the distance, the Undead Mage deployed a mana barrier. It raised its hand and slammed it down with force, shattering the two blocks of hard ice into pieces. Then, using its freed magical tool, it obliterated those annoying mana bullets.

It looked up, two blood-red points of light flickering within its pitch-black eye sockets. Black mana reappeared, manifesting as skeleton soldiers in front of the Undead Mage.

‘Is it trying to use numbers to gain an advantage?’

Roland saw through its plan at a glance.

Any other mage might have had to expend a massive amount of mana to clear the minions, leaving them with nothing by the time they faced the final boss.

But for her, mana was the least valuable thing.

Summoning the System, she instantly refilled her depleted MP. The sensation of being filled with mana was no less satisfying than downing a whole bottle of saltwater when one was at their thirstiest; it was almost intoxicating.

“This is really irritating.” Roland shifted her gaze to the Undead Mage at the very back. “Underestimating me will cost you!”

Last night, she had modified her Burst Magic, removing the drawback of the long charge time. The price was a significantly lower maximum power, making it ineffective against strong individuals, but relying on sustainable area-of-effect burning damage made “mowing the grass” incredibly easy.

Roland extended her wand. Rings of magic circuits rapidly appeared, and an orange-red point of light condensed at the tip of the wand, acting as the center. The resulting high temperature and firelight illuminated half of her face.

“DRAGON’S FIRE!”

Flames, like the breath of a dragon, swept through the palace, turning the already tattered carpet into ash. Everywhere they passed left behind charred remains and signs of melting. The skeleton soldiers in front were incinerated the moment they touched the flames.

The magical aftershocks hit the Undead Mage but were similarly unable to break its barrier.

However, that wasn’t Roland’s intention. She turned her wand, and the flames followed, sweeping across the front like a plow, burning every skeleton to a crisp.

A hurricane kicked up in the palace, blowing everyone’s hair into a mess. The Undead Mage was preparing wind magic.

The huge commotion also attracted the attention of Royce and Cameron, who were skillfully coordinating with each other to deal with the Skeleton Knight.

Leonora did not dare to delay. She followed Roland’s instructions and prepared to release her White Magic. To be safe, she specifically increased the count to five, which exhausted her mana. Maintaining the magic without releasing it also took a heavy toll on her condition.

Just as Roland finished clearing the minions, the Undead Mage sent an invisible tornado toward them. She immediately moved her wand, and the heatwave of the flames collided with the tornado, scattering residual embers everywhere.

Seeing her mana about to hit rock bottom and that she was slightly losing the struggle between their spells, Roland hurriedly shouted to Leonora, “Attack it now!”

Maintaining a mana barrier required a large amount of mana, but the Undead Mage had used most of its power on the wind magic. This meant its current barrier was extremely fragile.

Leonora understood this perfectly. She released two White Magic spells first. The pure white mana transformed into crosses of light that sped forward, tearing through the superficial barrier like a knife through butter.

Then, three more spells were released simultaneously. The Undead Mage sensed something was wrong and tried to cancel its spell to reinforce the barrier, but Roland wasn’t about to let such a good opportunity pass.

“I told you, underestimating me has a price!”

She also canceled her fire magic and instead activated her self-developed basic magic. A mana hammer shaped like a cone shot out at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Shield-Breaking Magic. This was a countermeasure Roland had come up with based on the characteristics of mana barriers. The structure of a mana barrier was very similar to an egg, which meant that as long as the stress could be concentrated, breaking the barrier was not difficult.

Furthermore, the magical construct was small, meaning she could put all her mana into its initial velocity, allowing it to break the mana barriers of close-to-medium-range enemies almost instantly.

It worked exactly as she had imagined. Before Leonora’s White Magic even arrived, her Shield-Breaking Magic slammed into the mana barrier the Undead Mage had just finished reinforcing.

*Crack!*

With the point of impact as the center, the mana barrier shattered like fragile glass, exposing the vulnerable body within.

The Exorcism spell pierced through the Undead Mage. Black mana leaked uncontrollably from the puncture site. Within seconds, its entire body fell apart and finally vanished into ash.

Leonora leaned her exhausted body against her staff, an unmistakable joy appearing on her face.

“Great… I did it.”

“Yeah, you did it. Now, take a rest. Leave the rest to me.”

Roland patted her shoulder and then approached the other two.

Watching the retreating figure, Leonora didn’t try to be brave. Instead, she recognized the reality of her situation and collapsed onto the ground to rest. She knew she couldn’t help anymore and going forward would only cause trouble.

Compared to the Undead Mage with its variety of tricks, the Skeleton Knight’s offensive and defensive methods were significantly more monotonous. It could only rely on its weapon and powerful physical constitution to try and crush its enemies.

However, Royce and Cameron already had experience fighting it. Coupled with their seamless coordination—which required no communication at all—the battle was quite easy.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would only need a little more time to kill the Skeleton Knight in one blow.

But Roland thought they were being too slow. She generated a magic circuit on the ground. When the Skeleton Knight accidentally stepped into it, its legs were quickly covered in thick ice, and its movement speed was greatly reduced.

Royce seized the opportunity and brought it down with a single sword strike. Cameron then quickly released White Magic, turning it into a cloud of black smoke.

“Whew, it’s finally over,” Royce said as he sat on the ground, panting from exhaustion.

Cameron did not forget Roland’s help and thanked her, “That was some impressive magic. Thanks.”