There she stood.
With a beautiful charming face suited for a homely farmwife, the plump woman twirled her hand and made the sharp black tendril she sent darting toward our necks earlier dissipated into dark mist.
The eerie gaseous matter crept back toward the woman and hovered about her. Intensifying the dark aura emanating from her every pore.
No magic runes visible. She was concealing her casting.
This mage was a highly-skilled sorcerer.
It was also proven by the silver medallion of a four-legged serpent which glimmered above her bosom.
An accessory I had seen once in my life before. The day I first committed murder.
[Kali Sorceress Lv.25]
"I was wondering where you ran off to, Your Highness."
The witch said with a warm smile.
She went on with a voice just as welcoming of a kind mother.
"You got a Serpent Festival to commence, my prince! Everyone's waiting for you! Why don't you let me escort you back?"
His Highness flinched upon her invitation.
He quickly whispered to me.
"I don't know this woman! Please don't let her take me!"
With a smile, I nodded to his plea.
"Not to worry, Your Highness. She won't lay a finger on you."
Despite my words, however, my party and I remained standing still.
Ever since the appearance of Yuxia and the other wildlings, I had been teaching my comrades how to fight a mage.
The key was to catch the enemy by surprise.
If the mage was not aware of our presence, then a preemptive attack by launching an ambush would be the proper way. Just like what this witch attempted earlier.
But, in case the mage had noticed our presence and we were on a direct confrontation like this, it often would be better to let the enemy cast the first move. Especially if we were not sure what the enemy was capable of.
As my headmaster used to say, mage duels were like a game of cards.
It depended on the hands you had and how good you were at keeping your expression unreadable.
Always have an extra card up your sleeve. Make sure the enemy is the one revealing all their cards.
Anticipate every movement. React properly to the card dealt by the enemy.
Keep your ace hidden until the opportunity comes for a decisive winning move.
"I won't ask again, Your Highness. As an imperial royalty, a descendant of the Great Pioneer, you must do what you must do."
The witch said with a colder gaze this time.
Instead of flinching, the young prince now stood his ground.
"L-leave me be! Let my guards and I continue our way in peace!"
Seeing the royalty's act of defiance, the witch let out a sigh. Like a mother upset with her son and preparing to punish him.
"Oh, Your Highness. Why won't you accept it? We wouldn't get to where we are if you would just surrender and submit to your fate."
For some reason, I did not think she was talking about capturing the prince.
The dark aura on the plump woman turned immense. Black mist accumulated around her and manifested into sharp obsidian tendrils.
With veined reddened eyes, the witch screamed rapturously.
"IT IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD! THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE! YOU CANNOT DENY IT!"
The witch flicked her hand and sent a dozen of the sharp black tendrils toward the prince.
Clang!
My new set of shield intercepted them all midway. The solid tendrils dissipated into mist upon impact.
I proceeded to instruct my comrades.
"Shanny, guard the prince! The rest of us will spread out and attack the enemy from afar! Get her attention away from His Highness!"
"Understood!"
The witch immediately formed another two dozen tendrils and launched them away.
Clang!
Clang!
I intercepted them once more before they could reach anywhere near the prince.
Darius, Devisha, and Jonah quickly rushed to the witch's flanks and assaulted her with their projectiles.
Arrows drawn from Darius's quiver, daggers snatched from Devisha's belt, throwing spears manifested in Jonah's hand through the enchanted ring's power.
All launched simultaneously from different directions toward the witch at the other side of the catacomb.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
To no one's surprise, the witch parried all the projectiles effortlessly with her own shield.
"You false heroes! Do not intervene! Do you even realize what you're trying to do by helping this boy?"
The witch grunted as she parried the projectiles while sending more sharp tendrils toward the prince.
Clang!
My shield managed to block the witch's attack so far.
Her spell was a basic Third Circle killing spell, which sacrificed firing power for the sake of casting rate.
I had a plan to take down this enemy. But I needed her to cast stronger type of spell.
In the middle of parrying and attacking, the witch suddenly raised her hand to the air. A wave of mana radiated from her palm.
The wave resonated with the counter-compulsion spell I had instilled in our minds.
The resonance prevented the mana wave from advancing further toward us, no matter how strong the witch made her mana wave radiating from her palm.
She grunted once more.
"Tch! So you've set a mental protection in your minds, haven't you? A pity we couldn't make this battle more interesting."
That mana form was specific to compulsion magic.
She was trying to mind control my comrades.
If I had not put on the counter-compulsion spell earlier, the witch would had turn my party into her puppets.
Clang!
The dark-cladded woman continued with her barrage of assaults. Sending dozens of tendrils toward all of us.
Darius, Devisha, and Jonah managed to easily evade the attacks while kept on pressuring the witch with their projectiles. While none of the tendrils could touch me thanks to my shield.
I turned my gaze slightly and found the prince safe by Shanny's side.
The former maid was a close-ranged fighter whom utilized a sword and a shield. It would be best if she just stayed on the sideline and guarded our escort target.
However…
[Time remaining until the decimation of the city:]
[00:57:33]