Saint Roland Continent, Far East City, Magic Beast Forest, Junior Labyrinth.
“I am going in, Young Lady!”
Elise gripped her white sword, cast a golden light shield around herself, and charged at the Water Demon.
“Support Magic—HOLY LIGHT SHINE!”
Watching Elise charge, Aetherinra unleashed her strongest support magic.
In an instant, the Boss room was illuminated by a brilliant holy light.
Under the radiance of this holy light, Elise’s attack, speed, defense, and mana were all doubled.
Meanwhile, all of the Water Demon’s attributes were slightly reduced.
“Naive! Do you think you can defeat me just by lowering my stats a little?”
“Let me show you both what true power is!”
After speaking, the Water Demon raised its hands to its chest and chanted a spell.
“Water Magic—PILLAR OF THE SKY!”
Boom, boom, boom.
In an instant, countless water columns erupted from the ground, blocking Elise’s advance.
Elise frowned as she saw the water columns erupting out of thin air before her.
“Light Magic—LIGHT SWORD!”
After casting this magic, the white sword in Elise’s hand projected the shadow of a colossal light sword.
That giant sword was composed entirely of light, sacred and inviolable.
Elise swung the light sword horizontally, and the water columns created by the Water Demon’s magic were instantly sliced in two, then faded into nothingness.
“Interesting. I didn’t expect you to be able to break through my Pillar of the Sky.”
The Water Demon was somewhat shocked to see its attack easily neutralized by Elise, but it quickly regained its composure.
“Ants are always ants. Let’s see what you do next!”
“Water Magic—WATER DRAGON STRIKE.”
As the Water Demon chanted the spell, a dragon made of water surged toward Elise.
Elise swung her sword horizontally and barely managed to block the strike.
“Blocked it? But your mana must be exhausted now, right?”
The Water Demon sneered while looking at the struggling Elise.
“How will you block the next one?”
After all, Elise was only a Second Tier Mage.
Although she could go toe-to-toe with the Water Demon for a short time thanks to the Protection of the Goddess of Light, her lack of mana became a fatal flaw as the battle dragged on.
“Support Magic—MANA RECOVERY.”
Aetherinra waved her staff and cast a mana-restoration skill on Elise.
By this point, she had sheathed her sword and brought out her staff.
With the staff’s amplification, Aetherinra’s magic was more powerful and consumed less mana.
“Young Lady.”
Feeling her mana replenishing, Elise smiled at Aetherinra after blocking the Water Demon’s attack.
“Elise, don’t worry and keep charging. I will support you from behind,” Aetherinra said.
“Yes, Young Lady.”
Elise turned back and looked at the Water Demon.
‘The Young Lady has regained her confidence; I must not fall behind either!’
“Light Magic—LIGHT FLASH.”
Light Flash was a space-jumping skill similar to Ian’s Flash Step, but this skill was even more powerful, allowing the user to move according to their will.
However, the travel distance was relatively short, only about 10 meters.
Still, that distance was enough for the current situation.
Using the Light Flash skill, Elise successfully teleported right in front of the Water Demon.
“Light Magic—LIGHT THRUST.”
Elise raised the light sword and thrust it hard at the Water Demon.
Ignoring its special defenses, Elise’s strike successfully dealt damage to the Water Demon.
“No, how is this possible? How can you two ants deal damage to me?”
“Nothing is impossible!”
Aetherinra shouted loudly at the Water Demon.
Seeing Elise’s attack land, Aetherinra finally understood the importance of unity.
Originally, Elise’s attacks could not harm the Water Demon.
The reason she was able to deal damage now was that Aetherinra had applied a “Mana Break” effect to Elise’s sword before she charged.
This rendered the Water Demon’s special ability useless, allowing Elise to inflict damage.
Aetherinra finally realized that even as a support-type mage, she could still make her own unique contribution to defeating monsters.
“Elise, that’s it! Go forward and defeat it!”
Aetherinra encouraged her.
Thus, Aetherinra stayed behind to provide buffs, healing, and mana recovery, while Elise fought the Water Demon at the front.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it! If this keeps up, I really might be killed by these two ants.’
‘I cannot let this continue.’
It needed to take them out one by one; if it could finish off one of them, the other would be nothing to fear.
While clashing with Elise, the Water Demon analyzed the situation.
Attacking the girl with the sword in front was definitely out of the question.
Enhanced by Aetherinra, Elise’s stats were now on par with the Water Demon’s.
The Water Demon could not guarantee it would be able to finish her off.
Then, it had to strike the one in the back.
Although that mage wasn’t fighting it head-on, her constant support magic allowed a mere Second Tier Mage to trade blows with it equally.
It was a total humiliation.
However, this was a perfect opportunity.
The support mage was pouring all her energy into buffing the swordswoman, leaving her own defenses wide open.
If it could strike and take down the girl in the back, the swordswoman in front would be no threat at all.
Without delay, the Water Demon forced Elise back and moved to cast its most powerful magic.
“Let me see if you can block this strike!”
Seeing the Water Demon’s posture, Elise quickly cast a light-attribute shield and held it in front of her.
Aetherinra also cast a defense-enhancement spell for Elise.
Seeing this, the Water Demon smiled; its plan had succeeded.
“Water Magic—WATER PRISON SPIKE!”
In an instant, Aetherinra was trapped inside a water prison.
“Oh no, Young Lady! The Water Demon’s target is you!”
It wasn’t until Aetherinra was trapped that Elise realized the truth.
The Water Demon’s previous aggressive stance had been a feint; its true target was Aetherinra behind her.
Elise turned and dashed, trying to reach Aetherinra to rescue her.
“Just realized it? Unfortunately, it’s too late.”
As Elise rushed back, several spikes grew from the water prison, poised to impale Aetherinra.
Feeling the dense magic within, it was clear that if Aetherinra were struck, she would die or be severely wounded.
“Damn it, I’m not going to make it!”
Even though she had turned back the moment she sensed something was wrong, Elise could not reach her in time.
Yet, at this critical moment, a sudden change occurred on the battlefield.
“Dark Magic—DARK CLAW!”
Suddenly, a black claw appeared from the sky and tore the water prison holding Aetherinra apart.