“Ian, are you okay?”
Seeing this familiar magic, Aetherinra was overjoyed.
She hadn’t expected Ian to take a sneak attack from the Water Demon head-on and still come out completely unscathed.
“I suppose you could say I’m fine.”
At that moment, Ian descended from the sky and landed beside Aetherinra.
Actually, he couldn’t really say he was fine, since he had only escaped unscathed thanks to the System’s help.
Without the System, he probably wouldn’t have survived that strike from the Water Demon.
“Young Master, thank goodness! You’re okay!”
Elise had also rushed back.
Seeing Ian completely unharmed, she hugged him excitedly.
“I, I thought you…”
Holding Ian, Elise shed a few tears.
Honestly, after seeing Ian ambushed by the Water Demon, Elise had believed he’d either be dead or gravely injured.
Now that she saw he was fine, the anxiety that had been weighing on her finally subsided.
“Alright, alright, I’m fine. There’s no need to hold me like this, is there?”
Upon hearing Ian’s words, Elise reluctantly let go of him.
“We can’t let our guard down yet—there’s still an enemy here.”
As he spoke, Ian pointed at the Water Demon before them.
“Yes, Young Master.”
Hearing Ian’s words, Elise wiped away her tears, turned to face the Water Demon, and gripped her sword once more.
She hadn’t expected this Water Demon to be so despicable as to bypass her and attack Aetherinra from behind.
Now that Ian was back, if the three of them coordinated well, they would surely succeed in slaying the Water Demon.
After all, just moments ago, she and Aetherinra alone had been able to exchange blows evenly with the Water Demon.
With Ian joining in now, they should be able to win.
“Aetherinra, how much mana do you have left?”
“I don’t have much mana left—I can only cast some simple enhancements.”
Aetherinra replied.
Because she had been continuously applying buffing magic to Elise, her mana was now nearly depleted.
“Then rest here. Leave the Water Demon’s subjugation to Elise and me.”
“Can the two of you manage?”
Aetherinra wasn’t entirely reassured by Ian’s words.
“Don’t worry, we’ll win!”
Ian flashed a smile at Aetherinra, then turned to stand shoulder to shoulder with Elise, facing the Water Demon.
Watching Ian’s back as he turned around, Aetherinra’s heart stirred.
Was she, who had once sworn to protect others, now going to be protected by someone else?
Shaking her head, Aetherinra stopped dwelling on it and sat down cross-legged.
She circulated her mana, praying she could recover as much as possible in the shortest time.
After recovering her mana, she would help Ian and Elise.
Without mana, she was far less useful than when she had it, so at this moment, Aetherinra chose to recover first before supporting Ian and Elise.
While Aetherinra was recovering her mana, on the main battlefield, Ian was engaging in trash talk with the Water Demon.
“I didn’t expect you to have a knack for ambushing people!”
“The feeling is mutual.”
The Water Demon still remembered how Ian had pretended to flee but actually hid in the shadows to ambush it.
“Enough chit-chat, have at you!”
Without another word, Ian charged straight ahead, while Elise stayed behind, casting protective magic on Ian while also ensuring Aetherinra wasn’t ambushed by the Water Demon.
“Dark Magic—Dark Cloud.”
A dark cloud suddenly appeared under Ian’s feet, accelerating him like lightning.
“Dark Magic—Dark Claw.”
As the incantation finished, a dark claw materialized on Ian’s body, capable of extending to strike the Water Demon.
“Water Magic—Water Shield.”
Watching Ian’s attack approach, the Water Demon formed a water shield in front of itself.
Thus, under Ian’s fierce assault, the Water Demon was forced on the defensive.
“No, no, no. If this continues, once that support mage recovers her mana, I’ll definitely be no match for the three of them.”
While locked in combat with Ian, the Water Demon kept thinking.
It couldn’t let things go on like this; if it did, it would surely die here.
The Water Demon made up its mind—it seemed it would have to use that move.
Meanwhile, Ian was gaining momentum with every strike.
Thanks to the Physical Enhancement Potion he had drunk earlier, his basic physical constitution had reached the level of a Third-rank Mage.
Moreover, with Elise casting defensive magic on him from behind, he could ignore the Water Demon’s attacks and focus entirely on offense.
For this very reason, he was able to keep the Water Demon on the back foot the entire time.
However, even while suppressing the Water Demon, he still couldn’t kill it.
It seemed he would have to wait until Aetherinra recovered her mana before finishing off the Water Demon.
Ian also knew that his current task was simply to stall for time.
Once Aetherinra recovered her mana, the Water Demon would be as good as dead.
With a loud crash, the Water Demon forcefully pushed Ian back.
“I admit you are strong—able to threaten me while still being Second Tier Mages.”
“But this ends here!”
A red orb suddenly appeared in the Water Demon’s hand.
Though he didn’t know what it was, the moment Ian saw that red orb, he felt a sense of foreboding.
Ian raised his sword and was about to charge forward to stop the Water Demon.
But ultimately, he was too late.
The Water Demon crushed the red orb in its hand and absorbed it into its body.
“Forcing me to this point—you can die with pride.”
‘Damn it,’ Ian thought as he saw the Water Demon absorb the red orb.
In an instant, the Water Demon’s aura surged again, reaching the level of a Fourth Tier Mage.
“Impossible, how can a Third-order Labyrinth have a Tier 4 Magic Beast?”
Ian was shocked as he felt the Water Demon’s rapidly rising aura.
Not only was it unheard of for a Third-order Labyrinth to contain such a beast, but even in the game, Ian didn’t recall this Water Demon having a way to reach Tier 4.
Could it be that Mysterious Person in Black was behind this again?
Ian seemed to have realized something.
Yes, it must have been that Mysterious Person in Black.
The Water Demon’s revival earlier must also have been his doing.
“Nothing is impossible. Now this game should finally end.”
Feeling its own surging power, the Water Demon said with great confidence.
“Water Magic—Water Column.”
This time the Water Demon didn’t waste words; it raised a hand and shot a water column straight at Ian.
It didn’t want any more unexpected changes on the battlefield, so it had to finish off Ian and the other two quickly.
“Light Magic—Shield of Light.”
Seeing the Water Demon’s attack, Elise hurriedly cast a shield on Ian.
However, the Shield of Light shattered the moment it came into contact with the water column.
Earlier, when the Water Demon was only a Third Tier Magic Beast, Elise could barely block its attacks with the Protection of the Goddess of Light.
But now that the Water Demon had reached Tier 4, her shield couldn’t withstand it.
At that moment, Ian was engulfed in the mist and smoke kicked up by the water column, making it impossible to see what had happened to him.