A multitude of explosions ripped through the air, shaking the ground with deafening force.
Each blast painted the battlefield in alternating flashes of crimson, gold, and violet.
Hundreds of magic circles floated midair... rotating, humming, and locking onto a single target.
The moment they activated, they flared to life, bathing the area in light before unleashing a storm of destruction.
A wave of fire erupted from the left.
Bolts of lightning cracked from the right.
A beam of light lanced through the rear.
And from the front came countless arrows of ice, all converging toward a single point.
Dozens... no, hundreds... of spells rained down from every direction, merging into a cataclysm of heat and noise.
'They are everywhere.'
Sweat trickled down Ais' cheek as her eyes darted across the battlefield.
『Stealth』
The air rippled beside her.
The figure of Judas suddenly appeared out of thin air and delivered a punch aimed straight at her blind spot.
The movement was silent... clean, precise, lethal.
'Another sneak attack.'
Ais twisted her body with instinctive speed, bringing her scabbard up just in time to intercept the blow.
The impact cracked the air, pushing her back several steps across the scorched ground.
She prepared to counterattack, but before she could even swing... Judas vanished again, his presence fading like smoke caught in the wind.
'He disappeared again.'
For the first time, Ais' calm, expressionless face shifted.
Her brow furrowed, her lips tightening into a grimace.
Boom.
The ground erupted around her.
Before she could track his mana signature, a new barrage of spells descended from above.
Dozens of magic circles ignited at once, unleashing a torrent of explosions that engulfed her entire position.
Her figure disappeared in a cloud of dust and flame, swallowed by the storm of light.
This was a new tactic... a new approach to battle that Judas had devised.
By continuously chaining his stealth magic, he could strike from blind spots and vanish before retaliation.
At the same time, he restricted his opponent's movements by unleashing a barrage of attack spells from all directions, forcing his target on the defensive and overloading their senses as they searched for him in vain.
He had essentially turned the battlefield into an inescapable cage... one that closed in tighter with each passing second, whittling his opponent down bit by bit.
'But there are limitations.'
Judas thought as he crouched behind a rock formation, breathing hard.
"Haap!"
A sharp shout cut through the chaos.
Ais Wallenstein burst from the smoke, her golden hair fluttering amidst the glowing embers.
Though her armor and clothes were chipped and singed, and faint burn marks traced her exposed skin, she stood tall... eyes sharp, stance unbroken.
While the bombardment had looked overwhelming, the actual damage she sustained was surprisingly minimal.
"The power behind these magic attacks..." she said, brushing dust from her arm, "...they're much weaker compared to the spells you conjured up before."
Her tone was calm, but there was a note of understanding... she had already begun reading his tactics.
Still cloaked under stealth, Judas clicked his tongue in frustration.
'It looks flashy,' he thought, 'but by distributing my magic power across a hundred different spells, I've essentially sacrificed quality for quantity.'
He glanced down at his palm and saw his hand trembled slightly.
'Not to mention the extreme amount of mind I have to expend to make this tactic viable... in the end, my pool of magic power is still a bit lacking.'
If one were to look at his status sheet...
In addition to the 1,999 MAG points he possessed back when he was still Level 1, and the 901 points gained since his last update.
Combined with the Mage development ability... his total mind pool now equaled that of a high-grade Level 4 even though he was only a level 2.
For most adventurers, that would be an incredible feat.
But for the kind of opponents he'd been facing lately...
It still wasn't enough.
A faint tremor rippled through the ground.
Judas looked towards where she was, only to find that Ais had disappeared.
His eyes narrowed beneath the veil of stealth.
The dust cloud still hung thick in the air... there was no movement, no sound.
'She vanished?'
He scanned the battlefield, before casting a detection spell to find her location.
『Search』
Then—
'Shit!'
A blur of gold cut through the haze.
Ais descended from above, the air howling in her wake.
Her scabbard came down like a bolt of lightning, carving through the earth where Judas had been standing just a heartbeat before.
BOOM!
The ground split open from the force.
Judas reappeared several meters away, his clothes whipping from the shockwave.
His stealth shattered from the sudden evasion.
"So you can sense me now..."
He muttered under his breath, a half-smile tugging at his lips.
Ais straightened, pointing her scabbard toward him.
"Your movements are fast."
She said, her voice steady.
"That tactic of yours was impressive but it needs more polishing."
"Your presence leaks the moment you attack, which is a flaw that you overlooked."
Before he could respond, she dashed forward... so fast the ground fractured beneath her boots.
Judas raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The magic circles moved in front of him... dozens of them.
Flames. Ice. Lightning.
But Ais was already gone from his line of sight.
A sharp gust of wind brushed his cheek.
He twisted his head just in time... her scabbard grazed his shoulder, slicing through his coat and leaving a thin line of blood.
He clicked his tongue.
'Too close.'
『Detonate』
A crimson magic circle flared to life beneath Ais' feet.
The intricate sigils spun rapidly before collapsing inward...then erupted in a violent explosion that tore through the ground.
The shockwave blasted outward, scattering dust and debris in every direction.
Ais shielded herself with her arm, her boots digging trenches into the earth as the force pushed her back.
Using this opportunity, Judas darted backward in a flash of motion.
The distance between them widened instantly, his body flickering like a phantom.
His eyes glowed faintly, and the remaining magic circles around the field pulsed in unison.
"Miss Ais, be careful."
The sky lit up.
Every single magic circle... hundreds of them... turned toward her at once, humming violently as if the air itself would shatter.
Ais' expression hardened.
She could sense it... the density of magic power had changed.
The next attack wouldn't be weak.
He was pushing for one devastating strike.
Her fingers tightened around her sword hilt.
The storm of magic swelled.
The air trembled.
And in the next instant—
The entire battlefield exploded into light.
It seemed like the match was over.
Until...
"Tempest."
A feminine voice echoed across the battlefield, calm yet commanding.
With a single breath, Ais Wallenstein shattered her restraints and the power of her spirit bloodline roared to life.
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