Within the cosmic tapestry, countless stars, empowered by the flow of Prana, grew immensely vast. From afar, the scene was indistinguishable from the true beauty of the Milky Way.
With the swing of the Sacred Sword, countless stars fell toward the earth—this was the Starlight Sword: Starry Sky!
In that instant, the brilliance of the stars dazzled everyone's eyes.
It was as though real celestial bodies were crashing onto the ground, an awe-inspiring sight.
However, the stars that struck the ground did not explode. Instead, as they spun unceasingly, they dissolved into countless motes of starlight. Yet they still left behind a vast, circular crater.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the crater was filled with countless sword marks—each one the result of Elise's earlier Prana-infused strikes!
At its core, this move compressed countless slashes into a single strike, condensing them with Prana into a sphere before launching it toward the enemy.
Once it struck, the star would envelop its target, and in that moment, countless sword energies would erupt simultaneously within the sphere, colliding and cutting relentlessly!
The destructive power it generated was enormous!
To survive this attack, one would either need defenses far superior in Prana to Elise's own, or avoid being hit by her stars altogether!
Yet this was a wide-range attack!
How could the antlion swarm possibly evade it entirely?
Those struck by the stars were immediately shredded into fragments by the raging sword energy within. Even the fluids inside their shells sprayed across the sand pit, releasing a pungent stench.
The antlions around, untouched by Elise's strikes, clearly sensed both their companions' deaths and the overwhelming might of the technique.
The vibrations from underground suddenly halted, replaced by strange calls—these antlions seemed to be communicating.
At last, the vibrations returned. But this time, they weren't attacking—they were fleeing!
The swarm burrowed deeper into the desert earth, vanishing completely in moments.
At least within Elise's perception, there were no traces of antlions within several hundred meters underground.
Regarding the technique she had just unleashed, Elise was quite satisfied. It seemed her direction in exploring the use of Prana was correct.
Although this move consumed more Prana than her usual techniques, the effect rose proportionally. If she increased the Prana output further, both the number and size of the stars would grow.
What's more, this power was achieved without relying on the force of faith! It would surely become one of Elise's main offensive techniques from now on—and she could develop it even further!
This reminded Elise of her longtime friend Sylvia, who was truly skilled at developing abilities.
The use of Prana, aside from strengthening physical abilities and serving as pure energy, also had another method of application—similar to that of a Strega: through endless practice and constant development of one's abilities!
And the most important factor among these… was imagination!
For those who sought to develop their powers, imagination was especially crucial!
Sylvia had managed to refine her singing ability to such heights precisely because of her imagination.
Her songs had to be composed and written by herself for her Strega abilities to manifest. Thus, from a very early age, Sylvia had possessed imagination far beyond the ordinary!
Elise's Sacred Speech also relied heavily on her own imagination.
But for a long time, Elise had been lazy. Most of the techniques she used were ones she had seen in anime.
Abilities like amplification or doubling were simple tricks that required no imagination at all—just knowing the effect was enough.
So Elise had to admit, when it came to imagination, the gap between herself and Sylvia was immense.
Sylvia could create her own music and become the world's number one diva. Elise, however, might never achieve that.
Though Elise's strength surpassed Sylvia's, the techniques she used were not truly her own.
Whether it was Star of Eden, Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, or other large-scale moves, they all surfaced uncontrollably in her mind—forgetting them was nearly impossible!
And in the fast-paced rhythm of battle, the enemy would never give her the time to think! It was always a matter of relentless combos: either kill or be killed!
This was also the problem Elise faced—the impression of techniques she had seen in the past was too deeply imprinted in her mind!
That was why now, she chose to rely less on external faith power, and more on her own faith and innate abilities.
Only in this way could she minimize the negative effects on her own strength.
She still needed to keep developing her abilities, to imagine more, and to draw inspiration from the world around her.
After hovering in the air for a while and sensing no danger, Elise gently lowered the caravan back down from the sky.
Of course, the faith she had just used was her own, not borrowed from this world.
"Miss Elise, that was incredible!"
"Such terrifying monsters, and you actually scared them all away!"
As soon as they landed, the merchants surrounded her, praising Elise's display just now.
In their eyes, with so many magical beasts, if it had been an ordinary Elementalist, they would surely have been devoured by now.
But Elise had guaranteed both the survival of everyone here and the integrity of the goods. Didn't that just highlight the overwhelming difference in strength?
However, Elise had no time to continue chatting with them.
"Please, everyone, speed up your progress!"
The Sacred Sword in her hand reverted back into Est's form. She silently held Elise's hand, saying nothing.
When alone with Elise, she was fine. But with many strangers around, Est would not show such closeness.
What's more, spirits favored pure maidens. Otherwise, they would not sign contracts only with girls.
How could this group of rugged men possibly interest Est?
"Although we've temporarily driven off the beasts, it's only temporary. We don't know when they'll return."
"We must leave this place at once!"
Even though Elise had cleared the area with her Starry Sky technique, the desert held more than just antlion beasts.
If they encountered another swarm, or worse, several groups of beasts at once, would Elise still have the leisure to chat with them like this? At that time, there would surely be casualties!
"Miss Elise is right! Let's move quickly!"
Allen, the caravan leader, immediately tidied his goods, preparing to continue the journey.
They had Elise's protection this time, but there was no guarantee next time. They had to run while they could!
And so, the caravan wagons set off once more. Elise returned to the carriage, beginning her meditation again.
The applications of Prana should not end here!
If combined with faith in the future, it might reach unimaginable heights!