Cold sweat ran down Frondier from tension.
Elodie was a powerhouse on par with Aster. In terms of pure destructive power in magic, there was no one who could match her, and among all, she was the one closest to an archmage after Ospreet.
In the game there had been no way to add her to your party, but precisely because of that, she was the character every player longed for all the more.
Elodie de Inies Lishae.
“......You’re saying you’re going to protect me?”
Frondier spoke as he stepped back a pace.
Normally, against a mage, it was better to close the distance than to retreat. The farther you got, the more you would simply be subjected to one-sided magical barrages.
But that common sense no longer applied, neither to Elodie nor to Frondier.
Elodie was a mage who could respond to close combat without taking risks, and Frondier was a warrior capable of long-range attacks.
Above all, as long as Frondier didn’t know what Elodie was thinking, he couldn’t even fight.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t.”
Elodie spoke in a deliberately composed voice, but her tone trembled. She pointed one hand toward Frondier.
“This area is off-limits, Frondier.”
Elodie stood blocking the cave entrance. As if she absolutely refused to let him see what lay inside.
'This is bad.'
Even if he went all out against Elodie, he could not guarantee victory. And right now, he couldn’t even go all out. Because Frondier had no intention of fighting Elodie.
Elodie was likely the same, but either way, at this rate, they would only be wasting time.
Right now, Elodie was more troublesome to deal with than Aster. Not only because he could not read her intent and could not fight at full strength, but because Frondier had done no preparation at all for this.
With Aster, Frondier had deliberately guided his growth. Frondier had made himself into Aster’s mental rival, a wall to overcome, in order to spur his growth.
For that to work, by fair means or foul, he still had to be able to beat Aster, so Frondier had prepared countermeasures in advance. That was why, at least in actual combat so far, he had been able to stay ahead of Aster.
But Elodie was different.
She was someone he had never once considered would become an enemy.
'First, I need to get Elodie to move away from there.'
Frondier used Weaving to create thorns and fired them.
'If Elodie dodges, that’s good. If she blocks, I’ll gauge the range of her barrier and break it first.'
Sst─
The thorn grazed Elodie’s cheek.
Elodie did not so much as flinch by a single inch. A line of blood traced across her cheek, and blood ran down in a steady stream.
“Elodie!”
The hand of Frondier, who had fired, trembled.
If that attack just now, if his aim had been a little more precise, what would have happened.
He had not intended to injure Elodie, but it was also true he had not taken painstaking care with ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) his aim, believing of course she would respond.
Would she have dodged if the attack had come head-on?
......No. Elodie probably would have.
“Frondier.”
Elodie would not do that.
“That won’t work.”
“Elodie.......”
“With attacks like that, you won’t be able to get past this place.”
Right after she spoke, sparks crackled along her hand.
The moment he saw that, Frondier rolled from where he had been standing.
Bzzzt─!
The streak of lightning that shot from Elodie’s hand carved a straight line through the ground, gouging it out. Where Frondier had been standing, a clearly visible vertical scar of charred black remained.
'She skipped even the activation words for a spell of that level......!'
If that lightning had hit, Frondier might not have died, but he would not have been able to continue the battle. That was likely exactly what Elodie had aimed for.
She had unleashed a spell of that magnitude with just a flick of her hand. No matter how skilled Elodie was at high-speed chanting, this was a bizarre speed. All the more so considering that, by her nature, Elodie could not “reserve” spells.
'Is Rudra assisting Elodie at full power?'
The four gods Elodie had released. He had assumed her magical aptitude would be amplified by that, but this felt more like the gods were stepping in ahead of her and leading Elodie.
“As expected, you dodge, Frondier.”
Elodie raised a single finger.
Fire Magic Form 1
Divine Power Agni
Instant Activation
One-Line Chant
“Flame of deep darkness, light that never cools.”
Formula Complete
Hellfire
Flame bloomed at her fingertip.
The color of the flame was black.
'Hellfire!'
Whoosh─!
Just before the black flame shot toward Frondier, he leaped back.
'What on earth are you thinking, Elodie!'
At the same time, he grabbed the necklace Heukryeon and crushed it.
Heukcheon
Full Release
The black tide, swelling like a lake, wrapped around Frondier, staining the surrounding ground and extending behind his back as wings.
Kwoooom─!
Heukcheon flew at the Hellfire and collided with it, and the Hellfire greedily devoured Heukcheon.
Frondier abandoned the portion of Heukcheon that the Hellfire clung to and hurled it far away. With a sinister hiss, the Hellfire that fell to the ground made a chilling sound.
'Do I really have to fight?'
Elodie had no intention of going easy on Frondier. Even if she did not kill him, she was prepared to do anything to render him unable to move.
Putting it the other way around, if what she said about saving him was true, that meant Elodie was convinced Frondier would die if she did not stop him.
“Elodie! Explain what’s going on! If we just talk, then surely......!”
“It’s pointless.”
Elodie’s eyes were cold.
“Even if I explain everything, your choice won’t change anyway.”
“Elodie!”
“Because that’s the kind of guy you are.”
This time Elodie stretched out both hands. Mana surged with her, heat and wind felt at once.
─Jujak Oruem is coming.
“Frondier, from the moment I decided to stop you, I put my life on the line.”
Elodie spoke.
“But you can’t do that. Because you have to save your brother.”
“......!”
“Your specialty, bluffing—this time, it’ll be hard.”
At those words, Frondier bit his lip.
Just as Elodie said.
Just as much as Frondier knew Elodie, Elodie also knew Frondier.
Frondier stretched out both hands.
Simultaneous Weaving, Heukcheon
Mjölnir, Excalibur
He gripped the sword and hammer in either hand and waited for Elodie’s magic.
Frondier could not attack Elodie. Elodie knew that.
Which meant he would only swing these weapons after Elodie’s magic manifested.
However, there was no need to wait long for that.
Elodie Original
Jujak Oruem
Kwoaaaaa─!!
Becoming a storm of flame, it flew toward Frondier.
In response, both of Frondier’s hands moved.
Aura Release, Sword Aura
Frondier Original
Jeong
Kaaang─!!
The Sword Aura shot forth by striking the end of the hilt.
Jujak Oruem and Jeong collided midair, sending shockwaves exploding in all directions.
“Kh......!”
Wind that felt like it was tearing space apart and the dust that billowed up. It was hard to distinguish anything around.
Gritting his teeth, Frondier spread his wings and punched through the dust cloud.
Thud!
Flying straight by air, he pierced his way to the cave and reached Elodie’s vicinity.
'I can’t attack Elodie, but.'
If Elodie’s gods were assisting her, then they, too, were targets for Frondier’s attacks.
Frondier pointed his hand, shaped like a gun, at Elodie.
Ecleksis. He would erase Elodie’s divine power first.
'Right now Elodie is manifesting divine power. So I can snipe the gods.'
Just as he thought that and was about to fire Ecleksis.
Frondier saw something he could not believe.
“......Elodie.”
Frondier murmured in a daze.
Elodie, too, had her finger pointed at Frondier. Though it was not in the shape of a gun like his, what it signified was clear.
“Ecleksis.......”
Elodie could use Ecleksis.
As long as Frondier had not known this information, his plan was completely overturned.
“I told you, Frondier.”
Elodie spoke with a hardened face.
“That won’t work.”
“Elodie......!”
Right now Elodie’s stance was very similar to Frondier’s. That was surely coincidence, but Frondier’s head spun.
'Can Elodie really use Ecleksis?'
Elodie had seen Frondier use Ecleksis many times.
She had seen what happened when he aimed at an opponent with his hand shaped like a gun. Right now, could it be that Elodie was just mimicking what she saw?
'Ecleksis is hard to obtain. If Arald hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known. Could Elodie have figured it out on her own?'
If Elodie could indeed do it, the most likely time would be when Vishnu appeared.
Back then, Elodie had sent Frondier ahead. If there had been any chance for her to master Ecleksis, that would be the only time. At any other time, Frondier would have witnessed it.
But the odds were low. Ecleksis was not a power you acquired easily.
Surely that gesture of Elodie’s was just a bluff, and if Frondier fired Ecleksis now, it would hit one of the gods. That side had the higher probability.
─But if there is even a 1% chance that Elodie might be put in danger.
“Kh.......”
Frondier let out a low groan, unable to move.
If, by some chance, he entered Pandemonium together with Elodie, the situation would spiral into the worst.
Inside Pandemonium, where all you could do was fire Ecleksis, Frondier would be unable to do anything. Frondier’s Ecleksis was far too lethal. Precisely because he knew that, Elodie would become even more aggressive.
They would be forced to repeat a hopeless fight they could neither lose nor win.
“......Please, move aside, Elodie.”
Frondier’s voice trembled.
Elodie saw him like that. Her pupils widened, and she looked at Frondier as if in pain.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you doing this. How exactly are you planning to save me. I have to go save my brother.”
At Frondier’s words, Elodie’s eyes wavered.
This deadlock would not end until someone backed down.
Elodie slowly drew in a breath, then opened her mouth.
“Frondier, behind this—”
At that moment.
Elodie’s vision suddenly went black. She froze for a brief instant, not knowing what had happened.
Thud─!
Immediately after, Elodie was lying on the ground, her body subdued. Both hands were bound, and something sharp and pointed pressed against her neck.
And then a voice rang out.
“Go, Mister Frondier!”
This voice.
“Selena!”
Frondier and Elodie shouted at the same time.
Selena, who had surged up from Elodie’s shadow and subdued her in an instant. In an urgent tone, she called out to Frondier.
“Mister Frondier! Hurry!”
“......Right!”
Frondier snapped back to himself and moved forward.
In close combat, no one could match Selena, but the opponent was Elodie. Elodie could defeat Selena by some method Frondier could not think of right now.
“Selena! Move!”
Elodie shouted in a voice full of fury. In that brief moment, Frondier quickly pulled away.
“Do you understand what you’re doing right now?!”
“I do.”
“No! You don’t know anything! We have to stop him!”
“I know!!”
Selena shouted.
Her expression was the same as Elodie’s.
“If we send him like this, he’ll die. Even if I don’t know all the details, I can tell from the situation.”
Frondier’s death. Elodie, trying to prevent it.
From what Selena could see, there was no other reason for the two of them to be fighting.
Elodie spoke.
“Then you know what we have to do! Move aside here! We have to stop Frondier!”
“......I can’t.”
“Are you out of your mind?! Are you planning to send Frondier to his death?!”
“.......”
Selena’s words cut off. Her body trembled.
Gritting her teeth, tears smeared and ran down from her trembling eyes.
Drip, drip, they fell down onto Elodie beneath her.
Slowly opening her trembling lips, Selena spoke.
“Yes.”
“......You.......”
“After sending Mister Frondier into the jaws of death.”
Breath was caught in Selena’s voice.
─Even to the very end of hell.
A sigh as if she were throwing everything away.
“I’ll go there too.”
