Isaiah did not choose the village dueling ground for their battle, instead leading Mia directly to the clearing behind the church.
“Come, let me test how you differ from Roland.”
As soon as he spoke, two cross light swords appeared beside him. They moved so quickly that the traces of the casting were completely invisible.
Isaiah scrambled to defend himself, but fortunately, the power of those two spells was not enough to shatter his Holy Light Shield.
“Did you really just cast magic?” he asked, his voice laced with shock.
Mia merely wrote one word with an expressionless face: ‘Yes.’
After finishing the word, Mia continued her offensive. She seemed completely indifferent to the consumption of her mana, which appeared as infinite as Roland’s.
“Why do both of you have so much mana?!”
Exhausted from defending, Isaiah could find no opening to attack. Mia’s casting speed far exceeded anyone he had ever seen. To cast spells instantaneously without the assistance of a magic tool was something even the geniuses of the magic academies could not achieve.
Perhaps to prove she was stronger than Roland, Mia disdained using any magic other than the Light attribute. She did not even use the Explosion magic that Roland had used to win before.
Isaiah knew he could not keep this up. While defending, he summoned Angel Servants to help divide the incoming fire.
But Mia didn’t even look at them. With a flick of her finger, two flashes of holy light zipped past, cutting them in half at the waist in the blink of an eye. She even had the leisure to write: ‘You cannot beat me.’
Isaiah’s face darkened.
He stopped holding back and aimed the pages of his open book forward. Dazzling holy light erupted from it, surging toward Mia with an unstoppable momentum.
Mia had not expected him to be hiding his true strength and hurriedly deployed a mana barrier.
However, compared to Roland, her proficiency was lacking by more than just a little. Before she could stabilize the barrier, it was shattered.
Luckily, Isaiah had no killing intent. He canceled the holy light just before it struck Mia, saving her.
“You are too impatient,” Isaiah pointed out, identifying Mia’s problem.
But she acted as if she hadn’t heard him, writing a question in response: ‘What was that just now?’
“Holy Burst — a technique extremely effective against the undead and the demon race. It can also be used to break free from restraints.”
‘Teach me.’
“I cannot. You are too obsessed with power. Once you obtain too much of what you have not earned, you will eventually lose yourself.”
Mia grit her teeth in frustration. She knew she was being too aggressive, but who could understand her current feelings?
‘I must become strong to receive love. If I cannot even protect myself, I will only be abandoned.’
‘I absolutely will not lose Mom again. No matter the means, I must obtain Mom’s approval!’
A white flake fell from above, slowly drifting past Mia’s eyes. She looked up at the sky and realized it had begun to snow.
Once upon a time, she had been abandoned in such weather. She had been left in the open snow, trembling with cold. If Grandma Marn hadn’t found her, she would have died long ago.
It was a memory etched into her soul, but it held only pain and despair. Even the faces of her biological parents had blurred over time. The only thing that truly remained were the small, beautiful moments at the monastery.
Until one day, someone appeared and reached out to her, saying she wanted to be her mother.
Mia would never forget that face, never forget her voice, and never forget the warmth she felt.
‘Never let go… absolutely never.’
‘As long as I can stay by Mom’s side and continue to embrace this sole happiness, I am willing to pay any price.’
‘If you won’t teach me, then tell me how to get it. I’ll go take it myself,’ Mia wrote. Her attitude was incredibly firm, and her fierce gaze looked as though she were protecting a treasure she would give her life for.
In the end, Isaiah’s heart softened.
He had failed to save his best friend, and he had failed to help his friend’s daughter. He couldn’t abandon this final chance.
“Sigh, this isn’t magic. It’s a ‘Blessing.'”
***
“Leonora, Leonora, talk to me. Can’t I just apologize?”
Inside the Glimmering Migu Cave, Roland was vigorously shaking Leonora’s shoulder. No matter how much he apologized, she refused to say even a single word.
In fact, hearing Roland still call her by her real name only made Leonora angrier.
The other two were also affected by the awkward atmosphere and remained quiet throughout the walk.
As they walked, Royce suddenly stopped up ahead.
“Careful. We’ve entered Vortex Slime territory.”
The three behind him stopped simultaneously.
Leonora, in particular, perked up the moment she heard the word “slime.” She raised her staff, ready for revenge.
“Why are they called Vortex Slimes? Is there something special about them?” Roland asked.
“Compared to ordinary slimes, Vortex Slimes have two characteristics. First, they can split and fuse infinitely. Second, they can dissolve their bodies into water and appear anywhere along the current.”
“Where are they?! I’m going to turn them all into ice sculptures!”
Finally hearing Leonora speak, Royce pointed toward a waterfall teeming with slimes. They were everywhere — on the rocks, in the water, and even above the waterfall, appearing as if they had sprouted from the ground.
“Perverted slimes, give me back my clothes!”
Without hesitation, Leonora released her strongest magic toward the waterfall. Ice spears pierced through the slimes’ bodies one after another, causing them to fall into the water.
“Don’t!” Royce tried to stop her, but it was too late. Almost all the slimes had fallen into the water, leaving only a few stragglers shivering behind the rocks.
“We’re finished.”
Before Roland could ask what he meant, the interior of the cave suddenly began to tremble. A large bulge rose from the lake beneath the waterfall. The water covering it flowed downward as an oversized slime emerged.
Royce was speechless. He stared at Leonora with a pair of dead fish eyes filled with resentment. “I told you Vortex Slimes can fuse.”
“I… I didn’t mean to…”
“Whether you meant to or not, we need to run, now!”
“Run? It’s just a bunch of slimes.” Roland took a confident step forward, sending scorching flames from his magic circuits toward the giant slime.
However, it simply opened its mouth and swallowed the fire in one gulp, digesting it instantly.
Roland turned and bolted. While running, he didn’t forget to look back and say, “Its appetite is a bit too good! Let’s get out of here!”
When even a modified version of Explosion magic couldn’t cause any damage, what was the point of fighting? Saving their lives was the priority.
Thus, the four began their escape through the cave.
The four of them ran forward desperately while the Vortex Slime chased after them, bouncing along. Every time it jumped, it slammed into the ceiling before landing and causing a violent tremor. Other adventurers in the area felt the vibration and fled toward the exit, terrified that the labyrinth had started rotating again.
During the escape, Roland blamed Leonora again. “Can you please think about the consequences before you act next time?”
“This is all your fault!”
“I didn’t tell you to attack them!”
“Aaah!! You’re just as annoying as those slimes!”