“From there…”
Liyakade, who had fallen from midair, landed on one knee, supporting herself with one hand on the ground.
She hurriedly looked behind her.
Behind her were only Alice and the other two—no one else.
Even her perception could not detect the presence of anyone else.
There was no trace of magic power, and even the towering killing intent from before had vanished.
She couldn’t see where the attack had come from, nor could she sense the presence of Darkness.
What was even stranger to Liyakade was that when her wings were cut off, she didn’t feel the slightest sense of pause.
When fighting Darkness before, it hadn’t been like this.
Even if Darkness had pierced her with magic, Liyakade’s physical strength had allowed her to resist to some extent.
But now, her wings felt as fragile as tofu.
In an instant, without any resistance or pause, they were simply sliced off, and a part of her magic power drained away.
“Where did the attack come from…”
While remaining alert to her surroundings, Liyakade pondered the cause of this bizarre phenomenon.
“Liyakade!”
Seeing that Alice and the others were about to approach, intending to protect her, Liyakade quickly spoke to stop them.
“Don’t come near me. This magic is strange. I don’t even understand why I was suddenly injured. Stay alert to your surroundings.”
At Liyakade’s shout, everyone remained where they were.
Liyakade glanced at her wing lying on the ground.
The cut was unnaturally clean, making her feel even more uneasy.
Her wings were made of flesh and blood, not weak by any means.
If Field had slashed at her wings, Field’s sword would likely have gotten stuck and couldn’t be pulled out.
Even a higher-level magic user like Sistem, using the sharpest Wind Elemental Magic, wouldn’t have made such a clean cut.
Only then did she realize that there was no blood at the wound, only blackness covering it.
She couldn’t feel any pain at her back.
If she hadn’t fallen from midair, she might not have even noticed her wing had been severed.
Liyakade tried to use Regeneration, but the ability wouldn’t activate.
It was as if her body wasn’t injured at all, making regeneration impossible.
“Seriously…”
The inability to regenerate sent Liyakade into a panic.
After all, her reckless fighting style had always relied on her self-healing ability.
Pain didn’t matter if she couldn’t die.
As long as she could fully recover, it wasn’t psychologically difficult to accept.
But now, her Regeneration seemed to be hindered.
Liyakade quickly formed a Wind Blade and sliced a bit more off the base of her wing.
She suspected that the black substance was blocking the wound, preventing regeneration.
“Puh—”
Pain spread from Liyakade’s back.
Oddly, the sensation of pain brought her relief.
Blood began to slowly seep from the new wound.
Liyakade could feel her healing power again.
She focused on the cut, and soon, new flesh grew beyond the previously unhealable area.
“Hah—thank goodness.”
Liyakade let out a sigh of relief.
As long as she could still heal, it was fine.
It seemed the black substance had caused her inability to regenerate.
No pain, no wound.
At first, Liyakade had wondered if it was some kind of conceptual attack that would cause permanent loss of that part if struck.
But now, it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Alice, can you use Light Domain Perception to search for Darkness’s location?”
Liyakade couldn’t sense Darkness’s position at all.
But perhaps Alice could.
“Mm, I’ll try.”
A faint arc of light spread from beneath Alice’s feet, sweeping past Liyakade.
As soon as she released her magic, she immediately found Darkness’s location—it was so close.
“Liyakade, she’s right under your feet!”
Alice said as she released a ball of light, blasting it toward Liyakade’s feet.
“Yaa—”
The shadow ignited, but Darkness did not emerge as before.
A scream rang out.
The one burned by the Light Element was not Darkness, but Liyakade beside her.
“W-What!?”
Unable to hold back, Alice rushed forward to Liyakade’s side, dispelling the Light Element from her.
Liyakade’s hands trembled.
The sudden burning pain left her shocked.
So this was the feeling of being scorched by Holy Fire.
“How can this be? Why did the attack hit the shadow, but Liyakade was the one injured? Why?”
Field fell into deeper confusion.
Liyakade wasn’t a Shadow Demon, nor was she inside the shadow.
How could attacking her shadow harm her?
Wasn’t that a trait of Shadow Demons?
“Could it be curse-type magic? Or did Darkness attach herself to Liyakade or her shadow?”
Sistem was at a loss in the face of this situation.
Despite her extensive knowledge from reading countless books in the Royal Library, she couldn’t guess the reason.
“Be careful!”
Liyakade’s body was still trembling.
She suddenly lunged at Alice, knocking her to the ground.
At the same moment, Alice’s skirt inexplicably tore open.
“I understand now.”
Liyakade quickly used the Wind Element to blow Alice toward Sistem and the others.
Sistem steadied Alice as she arrived.
“You understand? What exactly is happening?”
Field anxiously asked Liyakade.
“She has completely become a shadow.”
The clouds in the sky gradually parted.
Moonlight poured down on the clearing, illuminating everyone.
Alice counted: one, two, three, four… five.
Yes, though there were only four of them, five shadows lay on the ground.
It was the shadow of a certain girl.
Her lips curved like a crescent moon on the earth, twisted in a menacing grin.
No longer did her hands bear claws, nor did her body show any sign of being a demon.
All that remained was the shadow of a beautiful girl and a pair of giant black scissors.
From that shadow, there was no trace of presence, like a dead thing.
Yet this dead thing could unleash endless attacks on Liyakade and the others.
“Wh-Why? If the attack is launched from the shadow, shouldn’t it emerge from the shadow as well? Why can’t we see it?”
Field stared in shock at the extra shadow on the ground, raising her blade toward it.
In previous encounters, Darkness’s attacks had always emerged as black spikes or chains from other shadows, or as magic targeting people in reality.
So what was this?
“Because she can now directly attack my shadow.”
Without even looking up, Liyakade stared intently at the ground.
At her own shadow.
And at Darkness, who was slowly walking toward her shadow.
Shadow Burial.
This was Darkness’s final spell—an ultimate magic cast at the cost of her own life.
Once used, the caster would disappear completely.
The spell transformed everyone in the magic circle into shadows.
If Liyakade had been pulled into the shadow earlier, she would have become another Shadow Person.
The shadow would carry out Darkness’s final command, and after the command was fulfilled, it would vanish on its own.
Darkness would fade completely, no longer existing in this world.
And her final command.
One, to erase all information in the secret chamber.
Two, to completely eliminate Liyakade and her companions.