Volume 1, Chapter 22 – Flame Storm

“Wait, Anastasia, even though I only know one spell—”

But the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom below gave Fia no chance to explain.

“Finally, you show yourself, Princess of the Elves—Dofilia Alexia Yushir.”

Under the protection of shield-bearing soldiers, a man clad in armor distinctly different from the ordinary troops stepped forward. Perhaps due to some magical barrier, faint blue patterns shimmered faintly around him.

Likely something like an Energy Barrier, Fia guessed. In her own time, even personal Energy Barriers were incredibly robust, nearly impervious to conventional weaponry.

If this world could craft arrows like RPGs, an Energy Barrier shouldn’t be anything extraordinary—especially for an enemy commander.

Seeing Fia remain silent, the man mistook her silence for contempt and grew visibly angry.

“Rumors speak of the elf princess’s unmatched wisdom and courage. Surviving an attack from the Unsinkable Moon certainly proves your bravery. But to fall for such a simple trap—spreading false news of the royal family’s imprisonment in Aurora City—makes me question your famed intellect. Today, you will perish here. I’ll send your heads back to the elven kingdom as a grand gift!”

So their exposure was due to Anastasia and the others walking right into the Holy Kingdom’s scheme.

But Fia had no intention of engaging in further conversation. She wasn’t the type from magical girl comics who waited for the protagonist to finish their transformation sequence before attacking.

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As the elf princess, she couldn’t stand idly by while her subordinates were injured.

“Anastasia, brace for impact.”

“Impact?”

Fia raised her right hand.

—[Flame Storm.]

With a diameter of roughly twenty meters and a height of ten, Fia set the coordinates directly beneath the man. She called it Flame Storm because a fireball of this scale hardly deserved such a mundane name.

This was an enemy commander equipped with an Energy Barrier—a mere fireball wouldn’t suffice.

Moreover, to deal with any stragglers outside the Flame Storm’s range inside the hall, Fia summoned fireballs around herself, just as she had against the crossbowmen earlier, sending them chasing after the soldiers at the edges.

BOOM!

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Without any warning, a colossal pillar of crimson flames erupted into the sky. The entire hall was instantly torn apart by the violent shockwave—the roof and ceiling vanished in the blink of an eye, as though the world itself trembled from the explosion.

Had anyone been watching from above, they would have seen the land shrouded in Unsinkable Moon’s violet glow suddenly illuminated by a blazing sphere of orange-red light.

Most of the mansion was obliterated in the rapidly expanding inferno.

“Your Highness!?”

“I’m fine.”

Gazing at the towering pillar of fire and smoke before her, Fia replied in an eerily calm tone.

Now, only the section of the mansion where Fia stood remained intact. The spot where the hall had once been looked as though a giant had gouged out a chunk of the earth, leaving behind nothing but a grotesque crater.

Fragments of armor were scattered along the crater’s edges.

No living thing remained within.

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As expected, even after killing all those people, her emotions remained undisturbed—as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

Was this composure also inherited from the elf princess?

Fia couldn’t help but wonder.

No, more than that, she was surprised at how pathetically weak the commander of the Milcandis Holy Kingdom had been.

In her estimation, an Energy Barrier-wearing commander should have withstood at least three or four Flame Storms before falling. Yet a single strike had reduced him to scattered armor fragments.

Too weak.

Far too weak.

“This… this is… [Red Lotus of Calamity]? But I didn’t hear any incantation! Dofilia, you…”

Not just Anastasia, but even the surrounding elven soldiers wore expressions of shock. However, upon seeing that the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers had vanished without a trace, their fear quickly turned to exhilaration. Fia’s appearance was like the descent of an elven deity, saving them from certain doom.

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“Impossible…”

“High-tier magic without chanting? I’ve never heard of the elf princess possessing such power! This is monstrous! We’ve been tricked!”

“She—she’s coming! Retreat, retreat now!”

Fia had barely taken a single step forward when the surviving soldiers—those who had been standing with the mansion’s servants—dropped their weapons in terror. Along with the reinforcements surrounding the estate, they turned and fled without looking back.

All that remained was the devastation, Fia’s group, and the bewildered maids and slaves in the courtyard.

The combat morale of people in this world is absurdly low.

Expecting a fierce battle, Fia couldn’t help but make a strange face.