Ch.152Who Has the Harder Skull

=====[Claire]=====

There’s a fact that every mage knows well.

No matter how powerful a spell might be, until it manifests in reality, it’s nothing more than a lump of mana.

And at the precise moment when a mage weaves threads of mana into a spell, even the most powerful mage reveals a fatal vulnerability.

Targeting that timing was the surest way to defeat a mage.

When a spell fails to manifest, the backflow of mana attacks the caster themselves.

—-

The attack unleashed upon Ophelia was aimed at exactly this.

All the subordinates Ophelia had gathered over time.

Everyone who had been mobilized to create the false dungeon now simultaneously launched attacks against her.

‘Could it really be this simple?’

Watching the spells pouring toward her sister from all directions, Claire mocked Ophelia’s carelessness.

Betrayal.

It was a scheme Claire had carefully crafted for about three years.

To fill Ophelia’s surroundings with her own subordinates… without arousing suspicion.

She deliberately sent clumsy spies to be discovered, and in the gaps, placed her loyal followers.

They had performed excellently until now.

To act as if they were truly loyal to Ophelia, they captured the obvious spies to gain her trust.

Beyond that, they occasionally passed Claire’s movements and plans to Ophelia, supporting her in every way possible.

Though skeptical, Ophelia would secretly act on their information, and each time, Claire suffered considerable losses.

Of course, these were losses Claire had calculated and intended… but they were enough for Ophelia to trust her subordinates.

‘It was worth the effort.’

Even Claire had often wondered, ‘Is all this really necessary?’ finding it troublesome.

But thanks to that, until today’s opportunity arrived, her spies never aroused Ophelia’s suspicion.

For her, it was a satisfactory result.

It had been.

“Just like you, sister.”

Ophelia murmured calmly.

Simultaneously, a storm of blade winds erupted in all directions.

The spells colliding with the storm shattered and scattered.

“What…! AAAARGH!”

“Impossible…AAAHHH!”

Shock and screams, a whirlwind of blood swept through the reed field.

The ambush, executed with near-perfect timing, was neutralized in an instant, leaving everyone too stunned to react.

When the wind subsided, several of the loyal followers lay slashed and trembling around Ophelia.

“A spell in such a brief moment…? Impossible, even a high-level mage couldn’t do that!”

One of those outside the blade storm’s range shouted, trembling.

Everyone shared the same thought. Except for Claire, who had seen exactly what happened.

“…Don’t be so pathetically surprised. Look properly. She didn’t create a new spell. She used one she had already prepared.”

Claire glared at Ophelia with a deep frown.

“Hmm. You figured it out, sister. So your eyes are still working properly? I thought they’d have rotted away by now.”

Ophelia looked down at the enemies around her with contempt.

Indeed, she hadn’t cast a new spell.

Even she couldn’t complete a spell in such a brief window.

What Ophelia had done was simply disperse the mana she had no intention of using… and trigger the blade wind spears she had prepared in advance.

Even gathering mana had been a deception. A ruse to lure Claire’s spies into attacking her.

After all, she had noticed long ago that her subordinates were Claire’s spies.

“…Since when?”

“Since what?”

“Don’t play dumb. When exactly did you realize all your subordinates were my people…?!”

Claire’s voice was tinged with irritation.

She had considered the possibility of being discovered, but it was still frustrating to learn that three years of careful work had been wasted.

“You really are foolish, sister. Pitifully so.”

Taking out a mana herb and chewing it, Ophelia openly mocked Claire.

“When exactly did you think I wouldn’t notice such a clumsy scheme?”

She had never trusted them from the beginning.

And when she saw Claire calling her at the dungeon entrance, her suspicion turned to certainty.

How else could Claire have known about the trap that only Ophelia and her subordinates were aware of?

The moment Claire proudly called out to Ophelia, her scheme became meaningless.

And she couldn’t even realize that.

“Has your brain completely rotted from being the Empress’s whore? Well, I suppose spending all day beneath men would make anyone stupid.”

“OPHELIA!”

Unable to endure her sister’s continued taunts about her shame, Claire exploded in rage.

With her fierce roar, the ground around her split open.

From the cracks in the earth, black tentacles resembling tree roots shot up like thorns.

“I’ll drug you and throw you into the stables!”

“How typical of you, sister. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ophelia lightly stomped her foot.

The pressure of mana. The ground within a 3-meter radius around her sank as if crushed.

The shadow thorns Claire had launched were helplessly driven into the ground.

“I’m not done yet!”

“Wow. Should I congratulate you?”

Flashes of light and flames, violent vibrations and explosive aftershocks swept through the reed field.

Black fireballs were sliced by wind blades and scattered, while hailstorms bounced off barriers.

Ophelia’s binding spell was destroyed by black lightning, and an invisible curse, aimed at an opening, was perfectly countered by an identical spell.

The magical duel between the sisters was surprisingly even, though Ophelia had a slight advantage.

While Ophelia had greater total mana, Claire’s spells were equally powerful and efficient.

“You’re stronger than I expected, sister. Really, how many men have you rolled around with?!”

“Will you shut that mouth? That has nothing to do with magic!”

Ophelia continued to taunt, but beads of sweat were forming on her forehead.

After all, Claire wasn’t the only opponent she had to face.

“What are you waiting for! Everyone attack!”

Those who had been dumbfounded by the magical spectacle before them finally came to their senses.

Eleven knights and over thirty mages.

Individually they weren’t much, but in these numbers, they posed a significant threat even to Ophelia.

Enough to tip the scales in Claire’s favor.

The knights charged in unison, and magical bombardments rained down.

Ophelia’s response became defensive.

She poured mana into barriers to block spells, and abandoned other attacks to continuously release shockwaves that repelled the knights.

Seeing her opponent hiding behind barriers like a turtle, Claire smiled fiercely, gaining momentum.

“After all that showing off, is this it? I’ll give you credit for noticing the spies, but if you really thought you could handle all these people alone…”

“Certainly… this is difficult. I thought I could handle it with my power alone, but I underestimated your prostitution experience.”

Claire raised both arms.

Fierce mana coiled around her arms, forming two large hands in the air.

“…You still have a sharp tongue in that state. Fine, use that tongue all you want now… you’ll have other uses for it soon.”

“As expected, such realistic advice from someone with experience. Your mouth has been used for many other purposes, hasn’t it, sister? Unfortunately… that won’t happen to me.”

Ophelia snapped her fingers.

A faint mana transformed into an arrow of flame, shooting into the sky.

For a moment, everyone’s gaze turned upward.

‘A fire arrow, into the sky…? Could it be!?’

By the time Claire frantically turned her head, understanding the spell’s intent… it was already too late.

– SPLURCH!

A wet, tearing sound rang in her ears.

From hundreds of meters away.

A silver flash pierced through the reed field, completely penetrating the bodies of five subordinates.

No, could this even be called penetration?

It was closer to annihilation.

The subordinates, their torsos completely gone, collapsed lifelessly.

Blood gushed out like a waterfall, drenching the others.

“What, what is this?!”

“Magic? No, the mana reaction is…!”

Claire’s shocked subordinates shouted, looking toward the direction the flash had come from.

Claire also broke into a cold sweat.

‘So, they were here after all…!’

She could guess who was responsible, but the power was still unbelievable.

“There! Over there!”

One of her subordinates pointed toward the far side of the reed field.

A figure in a dark green robe was slowly rising from among the reeds.

Claire unconsciously took a step back.

Her subordinates hadn’t realized yet… but she knew who this person was.

The figure threw off the robe, revealing themselves to all.

With parts of the reed field burning from the magical aftermath, the surroundings were quite bright.

Bright enough for everyone to see her identity.

In appearance, she was just a woman.

Wearing armor made of fur with iron plates attached, wielding a silver-blue longsword. A female knight.

Black hair tied back.

Sharp eyes and delicately sculpted beauty.

There were rumors about her being a monster or something…

but her bare face was that of a beauty rarely seen even in the Empire.

However, no one had the presence of mind to admire her beauty.

They all recognized who she was.

“Were Eater, Aishan-Gioro…!”

Baron of Median, Haschal Aishan-Gioro.

The youngest Master of the Leopold faction who had proven her strength to the entire Empire.

Their enemy.

—-

The world darkened.

A viscous killing intent emanating from the woman with the raised longsword dyed the atmosphere, drawing a thick curtain.

The aura of murder, so terribly concentrated that its crimson hue was clearly visible.

This was not a human presence.

The reeds beneath her feet withered under the pressure of her killing intent.

Her blue eyes, burning like a ghost’s with murderous intent, pierced through them.

The longsword in her right hand, wrapped in pale radiance, emitted an increasingly intense aura.

“How is it? Terrifying, isn’t it?”

Ophelia exhaled mana herb smoke and laughed.

“Ophelia…!”

“This is my trump card. Let’s see you try to block it, sister.”

Claire gritted her teeth and summoned her mana.