Volume 7, Chapter 35 – Second Attack

She chose not to defend, but to meet attack with attack.

Magnificent flames erupted beneath Fia’s feet. This wasn’t [Flame Storm], but the broader-reaching [Blazing Wheel]. The firelight from the explosion was so intense it felt as if it would blind the eyes, and the powerful wind pressure sent Fia’s long black hair fluttering wildly as she stood completely enveloped in the blaze.

In response, the Chaos rushing toward Fia were reduced to ash without exception. Even the tentacles at a relative distance were shattered by the shockwaves rippling outward.

What kind of magic is this?

Helian, shielding her face with her arms, looked on in bewilderment. She could certainly handle Chaos with such efficiency herself, but the crucial point was the lack of an incantation. This was a spell with a range exceeding two hundred meters; considering its potency, it had likely reached the seventh tier. A chantless seventh-tier spell was something she had never heard of.

She couldn’t help but feel relieved. When she had first monitored Fia, if the girl had used such magic against her regardless of the damage to the Elves Royal City, Helian might have been forced to use her once-in-a-lifetime escape on the spot, and subsequently fallen in the battle against Claire.

The elf before her was stronger than Claire—strong enough that the two were on entirely different levels.

It was no wonder that Chaos was descending following this elf’s arrival. Chaos could never tolerate a visitor from another world who was this powerful.

But speaking of which, how could Chaos sense an “Outworlder”?

This was a question that had always troubled Helian. It was a secret told to her by The Sovereign that Chaos would arrive early if the number of Outworlders increased. The Sovereign could sense Outworlders and the strengthening of Chaos because he possessed the Eye of Calamity. Conversely, it was quite incredible that Chaos could sense an Outworlder descending upon the World Tree Continent.

No, she could investigate that later. The priority now was to uncover this elf’s trump cards and understand the characteristics of Chaos as much as possible. The former went without saying, while the latter was because this was her first time seeing the Sea of Chaos.

It made one feel insignificant.

The nearly one-sided battle in the distance continued. Fia was not content to wait for the Chaos to come to her; she flew over the ocean, far from the foundations of the World Tree Continent, and poured out her magic. From massive fireballs to continuous Thunderstrikes, followed by [Spatial Rifts] and [Holy Radiance] descending from the heavens—magic of all kinds, some never seen and others only vaguely familiar, were cast by Fia one after another, or even simultaneously, as if they consumed no mana at all. The deafening explosions echoed throughout the world, to the point that Helian tensed her nerves and remained on high alert.

She wasn’t afraid of Fia’s power. While these spells were strong, they ultimately hadn’t touched the true ninth tier. Even if Fia could use them without chanting, as long as they weren’t chantless ninth-tier spells, there would be a chance if she caught an opening.

What she feared was the Chaos. Despite being bombarded by so much magic, the Chaos below continued to surge toward Fia in an endless stream. A massive fireball two hundred meters in diameter smashing into the Chaos would certainly create a depression in the sea, yet the Chaos would fill the pit in mere seconds and continue to extend tentacles toward Fia without showing the slightest sign of being depleted.

If I were facing this Chaos, what should I do?

The question surfaced in Helian’s mind.

The Chaos in this sea was the same as the Chaos she usually saw; it would evaporate instantly upon meeting magic. However, no matter how strong she was, her mana had a limit. Flying in the sky, she would eventually have to come down. The moment her mana ran dry would be the moment she was buried in the sea. Even as a Tier 9, standing here made her feel like a mere drop in the ocean.

No, wait.

Suddenly, Helian realized a problem she had overlooked for a long time.

Where had those powerful Chaos entities that troubled her master gone?

If it weren’t for those powerful individuals who had to rely on Chaos to exist, the gods and the Darkborn wouldn’t have been defeated back then.

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She strained her eyes to search. Under the sun-like radiance brought by [Illumination], she could see not only the Sea of Chaos below but even the sharp edges on the cliffs behind her clearly. Yet, in the entire world, aside from the Chaos, there was only Fia and her magnificent magic.

Dead?

Impossible.

Helian immediately dismissed her own guess.

Chaos had no concept of a lifespan. The amount of Chaos here was enough to make one lose the will to resist. Logically, those entities should have appeared long ago; why was there no movement even now? Could ten thousand years of sedimentation have caused those monsters to fall into a deep slumber from which they wouldn’t wake anytime soon?

Helian’s eyes suddenly lit up. Thinking about it seriously, there was no protection from the World Tree’s barrier within the abyss above, yet the Chaos hadn’t reacted. It was highly likely that ten thousand years had allowed the Chaos to form a stereotypical impression, thinking that the World Tree Continent was an impregnable fortress.

In that case, wouldn’t she and the elf before her be effectively telling the Chaos that a passage existed between the World Tree Continent and the world below?

Helian’s heart skipped a beat, as if she had missed a step while walking down stairs.

The release of magic toward the Chaos had to be stopped.

Helian instinctively wanted to shout, but before the words could leave her mouth, a more intense roar reached her ears, and her face turned pale.

Clearly, even if she shouted now, Fia in the distance wouldn’t be able to hear her.

I hope this elf runs out of mana soon, the anxious Helian prayed in her heart.

Unfortunately, things went against her wishes. Fia’s mana seemed inexhaustible; even after five full minutes, there wasn’t a hint of fatigue in her movements.

Does this girl have infinite mana?

Helian swallowed hard.

Even at her peak, she couldn’t consume mana like this—she would be drained after a dozen or so eighth-tier spells. If it were large-scale magic with high consumption, that number would be even lower. Yet Fia had released so many spells she couldn’t count them, practically casting high-tier magic like they were mere fireballs.

Fortunately, the special entities within the Chaos still hadn’t woken up; otherwise, disaster would have arrived for the World Tree Continent immediately.

Just as Helian was secretly feeling relieved, Fia’s magic suddenly stopped. This caused Helian’s eyes to light up and her back to straighten—this girl had finally run out of mana.

Then, Helian caught sight of a slowly rotating silver vortex appearing on the black ocean. The scope of this silver vortex was not large compared to the previous magic, only a hundred meters in diameter. However, the moment the vortex appeared, Helian’s gaze was drawn to it as if this deep vortex were the center of the world. At the same time, she heard an eerie buzzing in the air. The sound was infinitely close to high-frequency metal vibrations, filling her heart with unease and causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. Her instincts urged her to leave immediately; this place was exceptionally dangerous.

What kind of magic is this?

Fia hadn’t used this spell before. Suppressing her fear, Helian looked on. From what she could see, this magic seemed like a pathetic byproduct of mana depletion; the object, looking like both a vortex and a disc, hung quietly above the Sea of Chaos, only to be swallowed by the rising Chaos. It seemed the magic itself would collapse from being consumed by the Chaos.

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But the disturbing buzzing continued, becoming even more pronounced. Along with it, the cold air became scalding hot. Helian saw the Chaos surrounding the disc vanish one after another, and the disc’s rotation speed increased rapidly. A suffocating pressure washed over her, and she instantly changed her view of this magic. Her expression became filled with resentment; this was a profound, mysterious magic that might touch upon the ninth tier.

However, even for this elf with a staggering amount of mana, she had to chant when using large-scale magic.

Fia flew toward her, and Helian let out a cold laugh.

“What? Out of mana? Thinking you could play the hero against so much Chaos—”

Before Helian could finish, Fia frowned. She didn’t look at Helian with anger or coldness, but rather with the look one would give an idiot. She used [Telekinesis] to drag Helian upward at an extremely high speed.

This lack of a verbal response, as if she were looking at a fool, instead infuriated Helian. Her eyes widened, and air rose from her lungs to her throat. However, just as the first syllable left her mouth, her voice came to an abrupt halt.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of white light. The world became incomparably brilliant in the blink of an eye, and then her vision went black. A piercing pain in her eyeballs was transmitted through her nerves to her brain. She let out a scream of agony, “Aakh!” as she clutched her face, her features twisting together in a grimace.

What was that?!

She’s definitely blinded, Fia thought as she heard Helian’s scream. If Helian had a better attitude, Fia might have warned her not to look directly at the blast. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Regardless, the puppet was just a mouthpiece and didn’t need eyesight. Leaving her in the Twilight Palace like this would make her much better behaved. If it were truly necessary, she could just use healing magic to fix her later.

Realizing this, Fia gripped the white crystal in her hand.

Even after using so much magic, she hadn’t been able to lower the level of the Sea of Chaos. Surely, after tomorrow’s meeting, the great nobles in the Royal City would be too anxious to sleep. This Chaos would hang over their heads like the Sword of Damocles; they would never be able to rest until it was cleared.

But then again, was this too much of a shock for them? The enemy was so overwhelmingly powerful that it could easily lead to despair and the loss of the will to fight.

They were nobles who had seen the world, after all; they shouldn’t be that fragile as long as she didn’t show this recording to ordinary people. As for those who hadn’t seen Chaos before, she had another move.

Beneath Fia, there were about three or four cubic meters of Chaos held by a [Spatial Hand]. Although Chaos had the characteristic of corroding objects, the corrosion speed was slow, especially for hard rock. Locking them in a suitable container for three or four days wouldn’t be a problem.

Casting a final glance at the stinging Sea of Chaos below, Fia let out a soft sigh.

Next time, I should wear sunglasses before using orbital bombardment.

She wondered where those humanoid Chaos were.

Shaking her head, Fia banished the thought from her mind. Immediately after, a vibration that felt as if it would shatter her brain followed Fia along with a bursting sound. She pressed her palm against the blinded Helian below, who was dripping with cold sweat, and vanished within the abyss with teleportation magic.

◇

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After Fia left Helian and the Chaos in Colita’s care, she returned to the Barony of Yarua via teleportation and headed straight for the Land of Exile.

Since Fia had notified Baron Yarua to send people to bring back the remaining children when she took Helian to the abyss, the soldiers had set out long ago. According to her calculations, the soldiers should have arrived at the Land of Exile by now and were performing the task under the supervision of her companions.

It was worth mentioning that when Baron Yarua saw Fia arrive alone and bring up the matter again, he immediately showed a terrified expression, his forehead covered in sweat and his voice trembling.

It wasn’t that Fia couldn’t understand what Baron Yarua was thinking; he was simply worried she thought he was deceiving his superiors by intentionally not taking those children.

Fia didn’t blame him for this. The criminals in the Land of Exile were seen as little more than slaves by commoners, so one couldn’t expect a noble to understand their daily activities. It was within expectations that Baron Yarua didn’t know the children there had to go out to gather food. Ultimately, Baron Yarua had no reason to deceive her; the children in the Land of Exile were only passing through his care on their way to the Royal City’s orphanage. There was no benefit for him in deceiving her, the Crown Princess.

From a distance, the sparse lights of the Land of Exile appeared in Fia’s eyes. Although Fia had chosen the largest city in the Land of Exile, it still looked poor and dilapidated from the air. Aside from the torches held by soldiers on the winding streets, there were hardly any points of light in the entire city.

There were no supplies in the Land of Exile, and few merchants passed by, so the people here couldn’t buy candles or lamp oil.

There were no cries in the town, so it seemed the work was proceeding well. Fia lowered her height and quickly found her companions among the crowd—a group of elegantly dressed women standing in an open square, hard to miss.

“Master.”

“Sister!”

Upon seeing Fia, Milu and Liti called out one after another. Because there was an edge of agitation in Milu’s voice, Fia couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and reached out to pat Milu and Liti on their heads.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes. An attack.”

“It was a swarm of things like Chaos hands. If Sister Claire hadn’t been here, Sister Anna would have been snatched away.”

If Fia hadn’t been patting her head, Liti would have surely come forward to grab Fia’s hem. The sight of countless withered arms surging forward was enough to cause nightmares at night, not to mention that the withered arms were exceptionally hard—even fourth-tier magic couldn’t damage them, which was beyond Liti’s imagination.

“Those arms again?”

Her expression turning solemn, Fia looked toward Anastasia and Claire as they approached. Claire’s clothes were neat and she was uninjured, while Anastasia’s forehead was covered in sweat and even her back seemed soaked; her expression held a clear sign of exhaustion.

It was likely because Claire didn’t have defensive magic like [Aegis of the Firmament], so Anastasia had to dodge the pursuit of the withered arms herself to buy time for Claire to sever them.

“Anastasia, were they the same arms we saw in the Holy Kingdom?”

“Yes. There were far more this time than before. Fortunately, Lady Claire was here to help, or I would have been in trouble,” Anastasia said, a look of lingering fear on her face. “Shortly after you left, we encountered those hands in the square. However, this time they only persisted for a few minutes before retreating into the rift on their own.”

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Claire’s gentle voice, tinged with a smile, rang out.

“What do you mean, ‘fortunately Lady Claire was here to help’? We’re all family, aren’t we? It’s a pity they retreated in the end; otherwise, I would have seen the humanoid Chaos with deer antlers that Little Fia mentioned. I haven’t seen Chaos many times despite living on the World Tree Continent for so long.”

“In any case, it’s good that you’re okay. Claire, how did it feel to deal with them?”

“Hmm…” A look of contemplation appeared in her clear green eyes as Claire rested her index finger against her chin. “They weren’t as strong as that demon called Helian, but they aren’t something an ordinary person could handle. I felt they were very agitated, as if they absolutely had to have Anna. They completely ignored it when Little Liti and Milu attacked them.”

“So the strength was the same as last time. There really is more than one of them, and they’ll definitely come again. From now on, Anastasia, you must be careful for your own safety; either I or Claire should be by your side.”

“Perhaps they sensed Little Fia wasn’t by Anastasia’s side, which is why they suddenly appeared. Otherwise, the timing is too coincidental—after all, Little Fia has [Spatial Confinement] to prevent them from escaping, so it’s only natural they’d be afraid.”

To ease the tense atmosphere, Claire spoke playfully.

“But why are those hands targeting Sister Anna? They look different from the Chaos we’ve seen before, too.”

Liti’s question drew everyone’s gaze toward Anastasia, who lowered her head slightly.

“I don’t know either…”

It would be strange if she did know.

Fia stepped forward to bail Anastasia out. Liti’s words held no ill intent, but as the person being targeted, it was easy for Anastasia to get the mistaken impression that she was a burden to the team.

Fia cast a glance at the soldiers of the Barony of Yarua knocking on doors in the distance, then spread her arms to pull the younger duo, Liti and Milu, together and looked toward the two in the older sister group.

“You probably haven’t had dinner yet, right? Ever since we returned to Silvar, we haven’t had a chance for everyone to have dinner together in the wild. Since we have a rare opportunity, how about having dinner in the Land of Exile tonight? It’s a perfect chance to test Milu’s cooking; she’s been learning from Claire.”

“Yes!”

Hearing that she could cook, stars twinkled in Milu’s vertical pupils, and her wing-shaped ears flapped.

“Sure~ I don’t mind either.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve never had dinner in the wild with everyone before.”

With no voices of opposition and after giving a few instructions to the leader of the soldiers, Fia’s group found a secluded corner of the Land of Exile and set about preparing dinner.