Volume 4, Chapter 93 – A Duel Beyond Mortals

First came the probing [Firestorm] and [Thunder Spear]. Although the Elf God had already revealed in its words that its strength had not yet returned to its full state, since it was called a god, it could not be underestimated.

Especially since the forbidden magic book at her waist had said that elements would not harm a god. Because the Divinity possessed by a god was too dense, and it was blessed and protected by the world, ordinary magic would disintegrate on its own before it could reach the god. She had to test this effect for herself.

Although it was a probing attack, it was still the product of outputting mana to the limit of the spell.

The crackling thunder spear, like the trident of the thunder god, shot straight for the giant eye of the Elf God. Following it was a monstrous flame and a golden giant hammer that fell from the dome, as if to crush the world. However, the Elf God’s size was simply too enormous. Whether it was the [Thunder Spear], [Firestorm], or [Seal of Retribution], they all appeared exceptionally small in front of it. The visual contrast was like a firefly to the bright moon.

“Foolish child.”

The Elf God’s voice was as calm as before. Faced with Fia’s magic, it neither chose to evade nor made any special reaction, but just stood there quietly. And the [Thunder Spear] and [Firestorm], just before they were about to hit it, also turned into a puff of smoke as described in the book. The only thing worth mentioning was the [Seal of Retribution], which, because it was slightly larger, had smashed into the outermost ring of the Elf God. Its power had caused the god’s body to droop a little, but it still had not caused any damage. Not even a single piece of debris had appeared.

Magic aimed directly at the eyeball dissipates on its own, but an attack on the outer ring doesn’t?

Not discouraged, Fia created distance from the Elf God while thinking of a countermeasure. The book did not say what level “ordinary” magic was. [Thunder Spear] and [Firestorm] were essentially Third- and First-Rank spells. It was reasonable that they could not harm the Elf God. But [Seal of Retribution] was a Fifth-Rank spell and was already a high-rank spell. She didn’t know if it was because Fifth-Rank magic could harm it, or if its rings did not enjoy the blessing of Divinity.

“Resistance is futile. Your power is just that of an ant before a god. Give up the struggle, and I can let bygones be bygones.”

The Elf God’s voice once again sounded in Fia’s mind.

What a big talker.

If not for the fact that she was worried that an orbital beacon bombardment would affect the people outside, she would have really wanted to give it a few shots on the spot.

“Hmph. If you have the guts, let’s fight in an open space.”

“Even if we leave this void, you are still no match for me. The strategy of delaying time does not work. I admire your courage, but even if the people of the Alexia family flee to the ends of the earth, I can still find them. No one can escape the mark of a god.”

The strategy of delaying time… could it be that it has misunderstood my conversation as me sacrificing myself to buy time for the others?

What a rich inner world.

“This is just the beginning.”

As she spoke, a wisp of faint green flame, swaying from side to side as if it would be extinguished at any moment, suddenly appeared at her fingertip. This was [Hellfire]. Once it touched the other party, it would directly burn their soul, and would only stop after being extinguished by holy magic or until death.

As she had not had a target to use it on, the [Hellfire] in her hand was the chanted version. It was worth mentioning that although it was only the size of a small flame, she could feel that it was indeed at the level of a Sixth-Rank spell.

Without hesitation, she threw the faint green flame straight at the Elf God. The flame drew a trembling trajectory in the air. This time, it did not ignore it, but instead turned the heaven-like daylight into the pitch-black space she had first seen. Then, with just a gentle breeze, the [Hellfire] was extinguished as if it had never existed.

“An elf known for their purity has dabbled in Darkborn magic. My child, I have overestimated you. The bloodline of the Saint is indeed filthy. It is too late for regrets. I will erase you along with them!”

As a suffocating storm suddenly blew in the pitch-black space, the four rings surrounding the Elf God began to rotate rapidly. Although there was no magic light, Fia felt that she had been locked on by it.

I have to act quickly.

Using [Flight] and [Flowing Wind’s Blessing] in tandem, Fia began to fly rapidly around the huge space. At the same time, she used the [Hyper-computation] enhanced [Hellfire], with the outermost ring of the Elf God as the coordinate.

But to her surprise, a larger ball of fire did not appear in her hand. Although she felt a loss of mana, the magic did not appear before her.

Was it nullified by the Elf God? For my magic to be nullified before I even use it, this guy is too much of a monster.

The thought had just appeared in her mind when the temperature of the pitch-black world suddenly rose. A bright ghostly green light from the zenith attracted her attention.

—A vast, uncountable number of ghostly green meteorites, each with a diameter of several hundred meters.

Like a green rain of fire from the sky, countless behemoths, wrapped in scorching flames, accurately found the Elf God. Unlike the [Seal of Retribution], which had left no trace, the [Hellfire] clung to the ring and burned after hitting it. As if it felt pain, the eyes on the outermost ring of the Elf God closed one by one.

However, the main body of the Elf God was still undamaged. Even a hellfire with a diameter of several hundred meters would dissipate into a black element before it could hit its largest eye.

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But this time Fia noticed something different from before. When the [Thunder Spear] and [Firestorm] had dissipated, there had been nothing in front of the Elf God. But in the face of [Hellfire], a series of golden magic shields similar to her [Bee Shield Force Field] had appeared, blocking the [Hellfire] from hitting its main body.

Has [Hellfire] reached the level where it can break through the Divinity barrier, so it has to use magic to block the attack?

Fia instantly found a breakthrough. Even a spell of the scale of [Hellfire] would not cause her to feel the dizziness of mana depletion. In that case, she would just compete with it to see who had more mana. She would continuously use [Hellfire], forcing it to have to use magic to block.

—This is bad.

Abruptly, Fia felt a palpitation. She didn’t have time to be happy about the breakthrough she had just found and immediately looked at the Elf God.

In her vision, a huge, brilliant pillar of light, like a mana pulse, shot straight at her. She subconsciously dodged at a speed exceeding the speed of sound, but the pillar of light had already arrived before her.

Sizzle.

The sound of something scorching.

Fia looked at her right arm.

Although she had dodged in time and the pillar of light had not hit her directly, her right arm, which had just grazed it, had still disappeared. The empty look seemed to be telling of the power of that energy just now.

How terrifying. As expected of a god.

Besides Laevateinn, this was the first time Fia had encountered something that had left a wound on her. Fortunately, she did not know if it was due to a rapid secretion of adrenaline or if the nerves in her arm had been instantly destroyed, but she did not feel any pain. And because she was naturally not afraid, she had no after-fear or battle-shyness.

The nanomachines swarmed rapidly, and her disappeared right arm quickly grew back—she even took another look at the mana surge on her forearm; the nanomachines could even restore that—she used [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] to cover the mana surge with an illusion.

“Non-chanted [Hellfire] and [Rebirth Blessing]. To think you have cultivated Darkborn magic to this extent, already comparable to the Goddess of the Polar Night from ten thousand years ago. Your spirit must have been corroded as well, my poor child. Let me redeem you.”

So much nonsense.

Although it had only been an instant, Fia had noticed that the beam of light just now had been fired from the four rings surrounding the Elf God. When the death beam had ended, the overlapping four rings had quickly separated. Perhaps if she paid attention to the angle of the rings, she could predict its movements and react accordingly.

“Return to the embrace of the gods—”

As expected, just as she had thought, the separated four rings once again overlapped, and a heart-pounding, bright pulse once again gathered on the rings.

I won’t fall for that again this time.

Fia used non-chanted [Hellfire] to keep it occupied while also drawing Claire’s blood-red longsword, and, at the speed of a meteor, smashed it straight at the Elf God. Since magic would be ineffective due to its Divinity, if she were to attack it with an existence that did not belong to this world, one that was outside the rules, it would surely give it a surprise.

“To borrow the power of an outsider is the height of foolishness.”

An angry emotion appeared in the Elf God’s usually calm voice. It did not dare to continue to accumulate the destructive impact, but instead used layers of magic shields to block Fia’s approach. However, her speed was faster than its use of magic. In just an instant, she had already broken through its defenses. After applying three [Strength Boosts], she poured all the strength of her body into her hands and fiercely stabbed at its largest eye!

Clang!

The huge reaction force made Fia’s hands go numb, and her whole body was sent flying back at a considerable speed. But her delicate, doll-like face was only filled with excitement. At the last possible moment, the Elf God had mobilized its innermost ring to block her, and just now she had clearly felt the sensation of shattering bone from her hand.

One could see the increasingly distant Elf God like a crumbling dessert. The innermost ring was dropping a large number of fragments, and the eyeballs on it had been smashed to a pulp by her, the blood splattering everywhere in the space with the rapid rotation of the ring.

“Aaaaaahhh!!! You damned outsider!!! I will end you with my kin!”

The roar of the Elf God echoed in the pitch-black space.

Fia, in turn, curved her lips in satisfaction. Close combat was indeed more reliable.

However, the same method would probably be difficult to use a second time. The current Elf God was covered in a layer of magic that was like an eggshell, and was also surrounded by countless apostles that were only as tall as a person, but had the same appearance as it. It was clear that it wanted to use these apostles to keep her occupied and take the opportunity to heal its broken ring.

Unfortunately, the strength of these apostles was not enough.

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Fia raised her right hand.

[Mental Shock].

An invisible wave instantly spread outwards from Laevateinn. Any apostle that collided with the shockwave turned into ash and dissipated like the Black-Flamed Monsters.

These Third-Rank apostles would have considerable combat power on the outside, but for her, they were not even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

Because she had created a distance and had ample reaction time, Fia bombarded the Elf God with [Hellfire] from afar, further depleting its mana.

Faced with the continuous barrage, even its eggshell was difficult to withstand. After just two bombardments, it was torn to shreds. The Elf God was forced to give up on repairing its ring and once again deployed a barrier composed of small golden shields.

“Continuous non-chanted [Hellfire]! Even Absolute Evil cannot do this! Who are you!”

Fia raised her head slightly.

“Dofilia.”

The Elf God clearly took her answer as a mockery. Its eyeball began to be covered in blood vessels, and its aura became more and more sharp.

“In that case, let me show you what divine punishment is!”

As its words fell, its body seemed to be about to split from the middle. Its eyeball shot out several brilliant rays that had once made Fia’s right arm disappear. These pillars of light did not have a clear target, but instead, as the Elf God rotated, indiscriminately swept through every part of the space.

Not only that, but the eyes on its rings also began to fire various forms of magic, from strange, slowly floating black spheres to spatial lances that suddenly appeared in the space. The entire pitch-black world was turned into a land of death.

It didn’t matter if she took the magic fired by the small eyes with her body. What gave her a headache were the indiscriminately sweeping death rays. [Bee Shield Force Field] could block them for a moment, but it couldn’t protect her forever. This forced her to have to dodge back and forth like in a bullet-hell game. Fortunately, she could also return fire with a non-chanted [Hellfire]. The battlefield was in a stalemate for a time.

It was just a pity that because its Divinity could exempt it from most magic, she couldn’t use [Wind of Exploration] to watch its mana slowly deplete.

Just in this short period of time, the magic she and the Elf God had used was enough to plow through Blossom several times.

No, wait.

Fia suddenly realized a problem.

The Holy Tree outside was still uprooting itself. If she delayed for too long, it might be completely uprooted and end up smashing into Blossom.

That would be a real disaster.

Fia, who was evading the brilliant rays, frowned.

Although it was dangerous to approach the Elf God at this time, it was better to end this quickly.

Fia seized an opportunity and inserted herself between two larger gaps in the pillars of light. Then, she repeated her old trick, with the speed of [Flight] and [Flowing Wind’s Blessing], she shot straight for its eye with a roar.

And then, as if it had been waiting for her for a long time, its rapid rotation suddenly stopped.

“Finally out of mana to waste with me? A lowly mortal wants to compete with me for brilliance!”

It was a trap.

Damn.

Fia flapped her wings, trying to stop her body, but under the strong inertia, her body still shot towards its giant eye. She saw it letting two rings alternate up and down, as if it wanted to crush her alive between them.

Even if her body were to be crushed, she could be repaired with the help of nanomachines, but that would be too painful.

[Mind Blast].

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A cannonball-like wave flew towards it. However, just like before, the magic dissipated before it could reach its giant eye. And at this moment, Fia had already arrived between the two alternating rings.

It was too late.

Let’s just fight it head-on!

Pouring all her strength into the mana-absorbing sword, Fia chose to attack the upper ring, her longsword meeting it fiercely.

Bang!

Another loud bang.

However, unlike before, perhaps because the Elf God had consumed too much mana, her one sword strike directly covered the ring with cracks, as if with just a little more force, she could completely shatter it. But she did not have time to pursue, because the other ring under her feet was already chasing after her.

[Bee Shield Force Field].

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—

At a visible rate, the [Bee Shield Force Field] under her feet was covered in cracks. However, this amount of time was enough for her to leave. She used her legs to push off the force field and forcefully jumped back.

And then, she suddenly felt a trance and a floating sensation envelop her entire body, followed by the sight of an incomparably huge eyeball that had suddenly appeared before her.

Although she had been on the ring just a moment ago, she felt that she could now touch the main body of the Elf God’s eye with her hand.

Illusion magic?

No, this was its main body. She had very likely been forcibly teleported in front of it without realizing. The trance and floating sensation just now were the characteristics of teleportation magic.

Sizzle.

The sound of flesh scorching.

Unlike when her arm had disappeared before, this time she clearly felt a pain in her stomach—she might have been attacked by something.

Not only that, but she also found that the innermost ring that had been seriously injured by her before had completely recovered. If this continued, they would be in a stalemate again.

This bastard.

To teleport me in front of you, I have to give you a lesson.

Anger rising in her heart, Fia urged the Laevateinn at her waist, letting it shoot straight for its eye. At the same time, three strength enhancements condensed in her hand, and her shining golden right fist, with all its might, followed the sword and smashed straight at its eyeball.

Bang.

Like piercing a balloon, when Laevateinn shot at it, the invisible Divinity blessing disappeared in the blink of an eye. The Laevateinn, which she had not had high hopes for, actually plunged directly into its eyeball.

Before she could react, her fist had also fiercely followed.

Visible pain.

Like a hard punch on a pillow, its entire eyeball caved in with a breathtaking arc. Blood gushed out like a broken dam. And Fia’s entire body was even submerged in its eyeball due to the immense force.

Huh?

Where was its Divinity?

[Strength Boost] was also a low-rank spell. When she had hit it, it should have disappeared.

That being said, now that she was finally inside it, it would be too much of a disservice to herself not to give it a lesson.

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Fia, without a second thought, used all her magic one by one in this space full of flesh.

From [Light Beam] to [Seal of Retribution], from [Dark Corrosion] to [Hellfire], and of course, [Firestorm] and [Thunder Spear], all the offensive spells were used several times.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! A weapon that destroys Divinity!!! What did you do!”

A weapon that destroys Divinity?

While destroying the inside of the eyeball, Fia recalled the strange sound that had come out before Laevateinn had pierced its eye.

For a low-rank spell to suddenly be effective against it, was it because Laevateinn had destroyed its Divinity?

While thinking this, Fia felt herself being surrounded by a trance again. This time, she appeared right below a falling ring. The Elf God had used teleportation to send her out, trying to repeat its old trick.

[Enchanted Blade].

In a hurry, Fia added pure mana to Laevateinn and met the attack from above. However, to her surprise, although she should have been sent flying, the enchanted Laevateinn, like a hot knife cutting through butter, directly cut the ring in half.

As she had not expected the enchanted blade to be able to cut through the ring so easily, she was still hit squarely by the falling ring. However, the power of the ring was clearly not as great as that brilliant pillar of light. She was just sent flying and was not seriously injured.

The sudden change made both Fia and the Elf God freeze for a moment.

“Pure mana can actually harm me… you are also an outsider!”

“You guessed right.”

For a moment, an idea appeared in Fia’s mind. She began to pour an unprecedented amount of mana into Laevateinn, stopping only when it began to tremble violently as if it were about to break. As a result, she had in her hand an enchanted blade that seemed as if it could split the heavens and the earth, a thousand meters long—in terms of appearance, it was probably more appropriate to call it an enchanted spear.

Fia had tried it long ago. As long as her weapon could withstand it, her enchanted blade could seemingly become infinitely long. Now that the Elf God was afraid of things from the outside, she naturally had to use it—if she had known that an enchanted blade could cause such damage to it, she would have done so from the beginning.

Speaking of things from the outside, she seemed to have always forgotten a spell called [Overload].

She didn’t know how much power it had.

Suddenly, Fia’s body stiffened. She lowered her head and found that a layer of stone-like substance had appeared on her body. It seemed to be a restrictive spell that the Elf God had used while she was not paying attention. And after that, her body was constantly flashing with electricity, the glow of gravity magic, and also mental and wind magic. These were all spells to restrict her movements. It was just that because this body was too super-spec, all the restrictive spells had no effect on her.

And the reason the Elf God was doing this was to buy time for itself. Like a supernova, its bloodshot giant eye turned completely white, and incandescent light streamed from its upper and lower ends. The dangerous aura was so dense that even Fia felt her heart tremble.

This should be its all-out attack. This guy no longer wanted to live.

“To be immune to so many spells… is your true form the Apocalypse… In that case, I will be the one to end you, this demon still in its cradle!”

“The one who should be ended is you!”

[Overload].

For the first time, Fia used the skill [Overload]. And then, she felt her mana flowing out at an unprecedented rate, the amount consumed even exceeding that of continuous use of [Orbital Beacon Bombardment]. The enchanted spear in her hand began to shine with a strange blue light, and an incomparably vast amount of mana gushed out. Its scale was so grand that it even created a blue pillar of light outside the Holy Tree that broke through the clouds, like the staff of God, and even the whole of Blossom was illuminated by it.

“The spear of eternal conquest, Gungnir!”

Faced with the death ray thrown by the Elf God, Fia, with all her strength, threw the incomparably huge blue javelin in her hand at it.

She had tried to say a chuunibyou line once, but it was surprisingly appropriate.

It was over.

In the huge explosion that robbed her of her sight and hearing, a dim blue flash instantly filled her vision.