For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

If only I could thrust my dagger through the cracks in her shield, somehow, it would work out.

With that thought, I prepared a spell of the lightning element this time.

Naturally, since low-level magic wouldn’t be able to break the shield, I would have to use all the elemental combinations I’ve theorized about but never actually practiced.

Dodging the fishermen and Melonia, I chanted the spell. My shoulder, injured earlier, caused me to slightly limp.

It didn’t matter. The spell was complete.

“Igni Spark!”

Flames stretched out like lightning. The power itself should be strong due to the combination of the potent elements of lightning and fire.

However, its trajectory was predictable, and the range was too narrow.

Melonia concentrated her shield at one point to defend against it.

Crackle!

The intense lightning scorched the thickened shield. Although it slightly cracked, it couldn’t be penetrated.

I needed to think of a different combination.

“Ugh…”

While preparing the next spell and dodging attacks, I got hit in the back by Melonia’s magic beam while avoiding a net.

Fortunately, a reflexively deployed shield and magic tool spared me a direct hit. I ended up with just a slight gouge in my back, which was a win.

With a sigh of relief, I manifested another combination of magic.

“Lightning Web!”

A spell that throws a net made of lightning combined with the water element.

It was slower than the Igni Spark, but the wider range should make it acceptable.

As expected, Melonia couldn’t dodge the net and got entangled. However, its power was somewhat lacking.

She could pump her own magic and energy into it, recovering at a speed I couldn’t match.

I hadn’t expected to succeed in one try. Calmly, I prepared for the next spell.

Another injury.

Failed.

Another injury was added.

Failed again.

Another injury and one magic tool were destroyed.

Still, it failed.

No matter what I did, it didn’t reach her. What was the problem? Perhaps because these hastily made spells were flawed?

To cover for it, I used a significant amount of mana.

My mana was now less than half. My physical strength wasn’t much different.

Even though the effects of the potions and buffs remained, I moved too violently. I was out of breath.

The problem was also the number of injuries. Even if each one wasn’t life-threatening, I had lost too much blood.

Good thing I drank a pain relief potion. Otherwise, I might have fainted from the pain by now.

…And yet, I couldn’t see a way out.

No matter how many monsters I killed, they still surrounded me.

Melonia watched from above, encased in her shield.

The eyes of a predator waiting for its prey to collapse from exhaustion.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of anxiety.

What if I was wrong? What if, as Carla and Elisha said, this was a suicidal act?

…It’s a moot point now.

I had already made my decision; this was my choice.

I could still move, and I still had some mana left.

Then, I could still fight. I was starting to catch onto Melonia’s pattern.

Combat with minimal enchantment was unfamiliar, but these were all attacks I knew.

Yes, I could still fight.

…But how?

None of the methods I tried worked.

Low-level magic couldn’t reach Melonia, no matter what. Our exchanges so far had made that clear.

Thinking back, when fighting against Edmerek, wasn’t it the other students, led by Elisha, who took care of his clones?

Was it too optimistic to think I could win against an archbishop-level opponent one-on-one?

Just because I was prepared didn’t mean it would actually happen.

Once the anxiety rose, it devoured me from the inside like a swarm of insects.

Maybe that was why. My body, which had been moving without a hitch until now, suddenly started to falter.

“Ah.”

To say my body moved as I thought meant, conversely, if my thoughts clouded, my movements dulled.

Anxiety breeds hesitation, and hesitation leads to death.

Axes and spears flew at me from both sides.

I missed the timing to block and the chance to dodge. Although I still had a shield from the remaining magic tools, it wouldn’t withstand more than one hit.

A mana explosion? Maybe that could work, but could my battered body withstand the recoil?

Losing consciousness for even a second would be the end. Blink, and I might find myself missing an arm or a leg.

And then, I’d be neatly packaged and presented before Melonia.

A clearly negative future loomed, but I saw no way out.

I forced my body to move, crossing the dagger and staff in front of the approaching axe.

An instinctive final struggle, knowing I couldn’t properly block it due to my injured shoulder.

Though my mind conceded defeat, my body desperately sought ways to survive.

Swallowing the bitterness of this irony, at that moment…

Plunk. Thud.

Suddenly, crimson rain fell from the sky.

“Mwili unayeyuka!”

“Everyone, run!”

“Help me! If you catch him…”

Simultaneously, the fishermen who got drenched screamed and writhed on the ground.

“What’s this…?”

The one about to strike me with an axe dropped it as his fingers melted away.

The one thrusting a spear from the opposite side fell forward as his knees dissolved, narrowly missing me.

Thud, thud, thud.

Like a downpour, blood droplets fell incessantly.

I recognized this magic. I had seen it not long ago.

Blood Rain.

A cruel blood magic that dissolved any enemy it touched. But it didn’t affect me at all.

Looking up with creaking movements, I saw Iona reaching out with a desperate expression in the distance.

She had sent support magic while dealing with Ayla and other archbishop-level opponents.

…Fully aware that doing so would expose her to vulnerabilities.

Boom!

Indeed, Iona was struck down by a large, gray brute… Vilfred, crashing to the ground with a loud noise.

She might not die, but being at a disadvantage was inevitable. Perhaps this choice could lead to her death.

Yet, knowing all this, Iona still cast magic in my direction, seeing that I was in danger.

Even with her own enemy before her, risking her life, she did so.

I didn’t know why she made that choice, but one thing was clear.

Iona’s will.

The determination not to let me die here was palpable.

Even if it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision, even if it meant facing the same danger again.

Even if it endangered her as a result.

It didn’t matter. Because Iona had decided to do so herself.

Different from me, who leaped in thinking I could manage and nearly gave up when it seemed impossible.

…I lacked resolve.

Realizing this, something struck me awake as if I had been hit on the back of the head.

No matter what magic I tried with what I had, I couldn’t break through the current impasse.

Unable to defeat the endless onslaught of monsters.

It was difficult even to make a hole in the flying Melonia’s shield.

But what did it matter?

A magician is a being of desire.

Hoping for miracles that shouldn’t exist, yet not praying to anyone.

Just desperately reaching out to grasp the result.

Thump.

At that moment of resolve, my heart began to beat heavily, as if responding.

My core squeezed out mana like it was convulsing. Was this a reaction?

My vision stretched as if pulled by someone, and the sounds around me blurred as if I were underwater.

Yet, something remained unchanged in this turmoil.

Thump.

The sound of my heart echoing from within.

Thump.

A violent declaration that I am here.

Thump.

With this heartbeat, I engraved my existence around me.

And my will.

Thump.

I needed power. The power to sweep away these detestable monsters and to pull down Melonia, who looked down and mocked me from above.

I already knew the way.

It was simple. If low-level magic didn’t work, I had to use intermediate magic.

The image of intermediate magic was already in my head. Then, there was no reason I couldn’t cast it.

Thump.

Lack of mana. Lack of understanding. Failure meant the end. How would I deal with what came after?

There were countless reasons why it was impossible.

But that wasn’t enough for me to give up.

Thump.

I reached out, knowing it was impossible.

It was different from hoping for a stroke of luck.

What I harbored in my heart was solely the will to make it so.

Thump.

My heart beat. My core leaped with it.

…And as my core resonated, the mana around stirred.

My overflowing will engulfed all the mana in the area.

Thump.

I didn’t hold back the tickling sensation that filled me to the brim, and I released it all at once.

“[Trust, Lightning, Quick Flash, Strike in the Blink of an Eye.]”

The power-laden words were a decree.

Everything that heard the sound of my heart hurried to carry out the command.

Mana boiled over, the sky darkened, and small thunder rumbled from all directions.

Melonia, flustered, hurriedly fired magic from her fingers, but my final declaration was a bit faster.

“[…Thunder Calling!]”

As if waiting, a giant lightning bolt struck down.

Crash!

The world turned white.