“Huh?”
As the golden storm of wind bent and broke countless violet-red thorns, Arns—maintaining the Dustless Realm—immediately sensed something was wrong.
‘Compared to the Captain’s attacks, this is light.’
As the Deputy Commander of the Royal Knights, Arns sparred with Captain Ulysses once every month.
Even though the Captain held back during practice, every single attack still made it difficult for him to defend.
But now, Elaril—also a Saint Realm powerhouse—couldn’t even break through the Dustless Realm’s defenses.
That forced Arns to wonder if some restriction was limiting Elaril’s strength.
“It’s Father.”
Leah swung her scabbard horizontally, the Douqi she sent out easily tearing apart the thorns outside the Dustless Realm.
“The Sacred Tree only drains Father’s life force. What’s suppressing his power is the magic on those vines covering him.”
“I don’t know what that magic is, but maintaining it must require a huge amount of Mana and Douqi. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left Elos and Garrod at the Holy Ground.”
Six 9th-tier experts had long lived in the City of Emerald Shadows.
Etheriel, who guarded the Grand History Library and the Historical Archives, was right beside them.
And Feiniyasi, Bolin, and Luonan of Our Lady’s Monastery had already been sent into battle by Elaril.
Only the two Captains of the Guard at the Royal Palace—Elos and Garrod—had been kept by Elaril’s side.
Part of the reason might be that they, unlike the three from the monastery, hadn’t been influenced by Elaril for long, so she had to keep them close for tighter control.
But more likely, it was because Elaril, in order to completely seal Alvain, needed at least the Douqi of two 9th-tier warriors in addition to her own Mana.
“You noticed? Indeed, I added a Dark Magic spell to Mother’s vines. With this magic, I can triple the power of the sealing enchantment.”
“To suppress the King, I no longer have enough Mana within me to cast high-level magic.”
Seeing her scheme exposed, Elaril answered frankly.
“But I am still a Saint Realm Grand Magician. Between me and ordinary Mages, there exists an insurmountable gap. That is—Elemental Fusion.”
Winnidith noticed that the Element Particles around Elaril were beginning to arrange themselves in an abnormal pattern.
Fire and Lightning—two violent elements—were being forcibly fused together without any other elements neutralizing or participating, forming an extremely unstable elemental structure.
And the price of that instability bought a lightning spear wreathed in pale flames, containing terrifying power.
“Uncle Etheriel…”
Leah also sensed the surrounding environment turning abnormally violent, but before Etheriel could deploy a defensive spell, she heard Winnidith’s anxious warning.
“No! Its interior is extremely unstable. It will explode the moment it touches anything solid! Dodge!”
Without any hesitation, trusting her words completely, Leah and Arns instantly abandoned all thoughts of resistance and scattered in opposite directions.
Etheriel shot straight into the sky, continuously releasing magic to distract Elaril.
Knowing she couldn’t match their physical abilities, Winnidith quickly cast a Water Element spell, forming a narrow, winding ice slide beneath her feet.
Using its nearly frictionless surface, she slid and repositioned rapidly.
But Elaril’s target had been her from the start.
No matter how sharply she turned, the lightning spear tinged with white flames always hovered behind her like the scythe of death.
‘Can’t dodge… then I have to find a way to neutralize it.’
Winnidith shifted her thinking.
As she focused, her Spiritual Power gathered toward her hands, forming a pair of gloves invisible to anyone.
But the price of splitting her attention was that the distance to the lightning spear halved in an instant.
Even Winnidith’s neck began to tingle.
‘This isn’t enough time to prepare!’
Winnidith suddenly felt a shadow streak over her head.
It was Leah!
She had drawn the sword hidden in its scabbard, using the wind pressure coating the blade to stop the lightning spear from advancing another step.
That was dangerous.
Even though Wind was a universal neutralizer that wouldn’t cause the spear to explode from violent collision, its unstable internal structure meant it had to maintain high speed to keep its form.
Once the speed slowed, the Fire and Lightning particles stored inside would react violently.
In that sense, it was somewhat similar to an atomic bomb from her previous life.
But the time it took for those elements to react was enough.
Winnidith simultaneously cast Water Element and Earth Element magic.
Yet the jutting rocks disintegrated in an instant, and the gathered water ball vanished without a trace before it could even flow.
But that wasn’t because Winnidith had dismissed the magic.
If any Mage who also grasped Elemental Vision had been watching, they would have seen a miracle beside her that completely surpassed their understanding.
The elements composing those spells hadn’t dissipated—instead, they began to proliferate!
One Element Particle split into two beside her, and the newly generated particles continued splitting into even more.
She wasn’t attracting elements from the environment.
What Winnidith was doing now was creating entirely new Element Particles!
If any other Mage witnessed this scene, it would shatter their very concept of magic.
Because it directly violated the First Law of Magic established by Archmage Moledi—the Law of Conservation of Elements, which stated that the Eight Elements composing the world were eternal and unchanging.
But now, Winnidith’s actions trampled that iron law that the magical world had revered for a thousand years.
This was a miracle!
Any traditional Mage who saw this would exclaim in astonishment.
It was indeed a Divine Skill.
After Winnidith fully mastered Spiritual Power, she had acquired her own unique Authority:
Decomposition and Proliferation.
Or it could also be called…
Destruction and Creation.
Although, given her current limited strength, she couldn’t yet freely perform destruction and creation, decomposing Elaril’s magic was no problem.
But the decomposed Lightning and Fire elements would cause a massive explosion before she could even attempt to annihilate those Element Particles.
Besides, since Elaril had so kindly offered such useful magic, it would be a waste not to make good use of it.
Once the ambient Water and Earth Element Particles had thickened to a certain level, Winnidith began assembling those elements into the lightning spear’s elemental structure, particle by particle.
‘Calm… calm, Winnidith.’
Winnidith had only fully mastered Spiritual Power two days ago, but in those two days, she had constantly tried decomposing and reconstructing magical elements.
She already knew her Authority inside out.
Even on a battlefield, with lethal danger right before her eyes, her mind worked calmly and swiftly.
It was as if she drew the magical structure she envisioned in her head, then destroyed the internal elemental arrangement without damaging the spear’s appearance.
Next, countless Water and Earth Element particles were quickly and precisely slotted into the empty spaces, as if operated by a high-precision machine.
What is this?
Elaril, who had been defending against Etheriel’s magical bombardment, suddenly contracted her pupils.
The lightning spear’s form was visibly shrinking, and the violent energy leaking out also rapidly converged.
A bad premonition grew in her heart.
She tried to detonate the spear, but was shocked to find she had lost control of it.
It worked!
Looking at her “masterpiece,” Winnidith felt quite proud.
She had used Elaril’s magical construct to perform Elemental Fusion.
But being able to use it proved she already possessed the qualification to become a Saint Realm Mage.
A fifteen-year-old Saint Realm Mage—well, she was about to turn sixteen—but this achievement could still look down upon the entire history of magic!
And now, it was time to let Elaril taste the power of fusion magic she had created herself!
“Four Symbols Return to Void!”
The four-colored mana orb in Winnidith’s hand floated slowly toward Elaril.
In stark contrast to the terrifying speed of the lightning spear, it gave the illusion that one could dodge it by simply taking two steps.
But Elaril knew that, like the lightning spear, this move would never stop until it hit its target.
She watched the four-colored orb approach, then silently dismissed her defensive magic.
BOOM!!!
An explosion like the birth of heaven and earth shook the entire City of Emerald Shadows.
All humans and Elves stared in shock toward the city’s deepest point.
They looked.
A huge, colorful mushroom cloud slowly rose.