In a world dyed with pure white light.

Amidst the fierce wind whirling around and the storm of intense flashes piercing the eyes.

Everyone closed their eyes and curled up their bodies.

Instinct screamed for them to do so.

Even in such circumstances, Loen did not stop casting.

‘There’s no guarantee they don’t have defensive measures.’

Given that it was a wide-area lethal artifact, Celtia and her magic battalion might have survived within the Extreme Thunder.

Assuming this, she continued casting.

‘Instead of concentration, imbue with diffusion properties to eliminate multiple enemies.’

After a while.

The light subsided.

The world regained its original color.

Only then did the sound of the massive lightning tearing through the sky pierce their ears.

Loen opened her eyes again.

Indeed, the artifact’s effect was definite.

Where the Extreme Thunder had ravaged, only charred black corpses and weapon fragments too mangled to identify were scattered. Those lucky enough to survive were trembling on the ground as if in convulsions from the paralytic effect of residual electricity in their bodies.

The Southern Alliance had suffered tremendous damage.

Their formations positioned on the left and right had collapsed without a trace.

It was effectively annihilation.

“Those elves over there are surprisingly intact?”

Psyche’s words were correct.

In contrast, the elf unit in the center was surprisingly maintaining its formation.

Of course, they too had suffered considerable damage.

But compared to the forces on the left and right hills that faced annihilation, they were in relatively good condition.

That was puzzling.

“The magic battalion must have used some sort of method.”

Loen’s eyes turned toward the elves’ core.

The magic battalion in white robes was spotted, gasping for breath with signs of fatigue.

Some of them had died, charred black.

Presumably, under the platinum-haired elf’s leadership, they had considerably offset the power of Extreme Thunder with defensive magic.

As a price, most of them seemed to have reached a state of exhaustion.

“Seraphine, Psyche.”

Realizing this was the right moment, Loen stepped forward.

The real battle was just beginning.

Extending her hand forward, Loen uttered the activation word.

“Judgment.”

Two gray spears slashed through the air.

It was magic with properties modified to cause massive explosions at the target point.

Shoooosh— Boom!

The Judgment magic, imbued with diffusion and explosive properties, struck the enemy lines.

With a tremendous blast, flames and fragments swirled, devastating the entire area.

Muskets or whatever, nothing mattered before magic.

The elves could only let out fierce screams.

Loen’s next spell followed.

From the sphere of light hovering above her head, hundreds of fragments burst out in a fan shape, showering down toward the entire elf encampment.

“S-spread out!”

“Duck your heads!”

The elves tried to widen their gaps and lie flat on the ground to reduce damage, but it was futile.

Pop pop boom! Pop boom! Boom!

The black fragments that touched the ground exploded in sequence, creating a carpet bombing effect.

Waves of explosions set fire everywhere. Those engulfed in flames writhed to escape the pain.

“Chain Lightning.”

Pzzzzzt—!

Seraphine’s following electric magic enveloped the enemies like a net.

Spreading in chains, it burned and paralyzed the enemies’ bodies.

The corps mages also launched their prepared fireballs, ice arrows, wind blades, and more.

In an instant, the corps side, which had seized the initiative, swept away thousands of elf troops one-sidedly.

At this rate, the collapse of their formation was only a matter of time.

However, not long after.

Celtia’s magic battalion, which had only been defending until now, began their counterattack.

Despite some being killed by Extreme Thunder, they still outnumbered the corps mages.

Having barely contained the chaos, they began pouring out magic.

“Magic Bullet.”

“Judgment.”

“Wind Blade.”

Loen and the corps mages did not back down either.

Some spread barriers to protect allies, while others countered with attack magic.

Eventually, magic from both sides violently collided in the middle of the battlefield.

Magic filled with killing intent, meant to pierce, burst, and burn the opponent to death.

Various magics collided, shattered, and exploded in mid-air, shaking the surroundings.

As the mages’ contest of strength continued, at that moment.

Someone from the elf camp shot up into the sky.

It was Celtia, the elf mage with platinum hair fluttering.

Her blue-green eyes stared intently at Loen.

Soon after, Loen, having spotted Celtia, also rose into the air.

“Flight.”

---

Two mages faced each other in mid-air.

‘I don’t care what happens to the others. Loen Franz. Eliminating that woman is the top priority.’

Celtia’s thought and.

‘If I can eliminate that elf leading the magic battalion, we can secure a definite advantage.’

Their thoughts aligned.

“Loen Franz.”

Celtia extended both hands forward to summon a staff.

“To reach the 6th-rank realm at the age of 21.”

She said, gripping the brown ancient tree staff in her hand.

“Quite impressive.”

Celtia remained expressionless.

The original plan was to leave the hills with the magic battalion after killing the target, intending to escape the empire.

She didn’t care about the outcome of the battle.

But the moment she witnessed the massive lightning beam strike down.

Celtia realized her plan had gone awry.

Some of the magic battalion had died, and many were exhausted, unable to demonstrate their full abilities.

Even with their power amplified through mana connection, they were barely holding their own against the corps mages.

So she had to choose.

Should she give up and escape now?

Or abandon escape and go to any lengths to kill her?

For the sake of the Queen and her tribe.

The answer was the latter.

“Holy Spear.”

Several spears of holy light appeared behind her back.

“Annihilation.”

An enormous beam of light was fired from the tip of her staff toward Loen.

The activation words for specialized magic were very concise.

Celtia’s character, which prioritized thorough efficiency, was evident.

The appearance of the magic showed no trace of flashiness.

It was a highly refined specialized magic that only someone with abundant battlefield experience could possess.

Loen also cast magic.

“Judgment. Planar Cut.”

Simultaneously, Loen, who faced two light magics head-on, frowned.

‘Using two magics simultaneously while using flight magic? Wasn’t that elf 5th-rank? Could she have been hiding her true abilities?’

Either way, that wasn’t what mattered now.

‘Let’s dodge the incoming magic first.’

A single Holy Spear flying through the explosion of Judgment, leaving a pure white trajectory.

It was moving too fast to prepare defensive magic.

Loen swiftly lifted her right foot forward.

Instantly exploding mana at her toes, she simultaneously used that recoil to kick the air strongly.

Bang—.

Due to the powerful rebound created by the collision of exploding force and pushing force, Loen’s upper body bent backward sharply like a bow.

Whoosh.

The Holy Spear, by a hair’s breadth, grazed just above Loen’s upper body, missing her face narrowly.

A few strands of her front hair burned, but she avoided a fatal wound.

It was an evasion maneuver only possible due to being suspended in mid-air.

Celtia also moved quickly to escape the range of Planar Cut.

At that moment, two beams were fired toward her from Loen’s Magic Bullet Trigger.

Shoosh—.

Celtia, tracking the beams with her eyes, swung her staff to deflect them.

The beams, colliding with the staff, scattered weakly.

“A bothersome artifact.”

She opened her mouth with an extremely emotionless face.

“Let me clarify.”

Celtia tilted her head to the side as she stared at Loen.

“Unlike you, I didn’t hide my rank.”

I really am 5th-rank.

“I’m merely using a flight artifact bestowed by the Queen.”

Loen nodded slightly.

Having finished their exploratory exchange, the two mages engaged in earnest combat in mid-air.

Celtia’s combat style was simple.

After avoiding Loen’s magic with movements close to three-dimensional maneuvering.

“Holy Spear.”

“Annihilation.”

She didn’t use any other magic.

But that alone made her an extremely troublesome opponent.

Especially Annihilation.

That specialized magic, similar to Magic Bullet, had an astonishingly fast casting speed.

The platinum light beams, fired at a rate close to rapid fire, gave Loen no moment to let her guard down.

“Annihilation.”

“Magic Bullet.”

But in terms of power, Loen’s Magic Bullet had the advantage. Thanks to the dual attribute.

When the two spells collided in mid-air, invariably Loen’s Magic Bullet would shatter Celtia’s Annihilation beam and continue flying toward her with maintained momentum.

Each time, Celtia would evade the attack with amazing reflexes and high-mobility dodging, and then…

“Annihilation. Annihilation.”

She would immediately counterattack.

Celtia pressured Loen by continuously rapid-firing Annihilation beams.

‘Her casting speed is too fast.’

Loen clicked her tongue.

Moreover, due to the elf’s quick movements, landing a spell was nearly impossible.

The battle wasn’t easily settled.

But Loen didn’t become impatient.

‘There’s no need to rush.’

That’s not to say Loen was at a disadvantage.

Loen too was effectively countering Celtia’s attacks through defensive magic and evasive maneuvers.

The Magic Bullet Trigger, fired at appropriate moments, effectively broke Celtia’s attack flow.

Above all, Loen was certain.

It wasn’t her who was pressed for time, but her opponent.

Glancing down briefly, she saw the magical battle on the ground was turning in favor of her allies.

Despite their numerical advantage, the elf magic battalion was being pushed back by the corps mages.

It was entirely thanks to Seraphine and Psyche.

Thanks to Seraphine’s powerful electric magic and Psyche’s close-range charges, the magic battalion couldn’t exhibit proper organizational strength.

Therefore, Loen had no need to hurry.

Time was on her side.

Sure enough.

A change appeared in Celtia’s movements.

Her blue-green eyes stared at Loen as if to pierce through her.

“To be capable of such movements despite having no battlefield experience.”

While she herself could engage in aerial combat due to her abundance of battlefield experience…

What about that woman? She clearly lacked battlefield experience. So how?

“Indeed dangerous.”

“…”

There was a good reason why Celtia had drawn Loen into aerial combat.

Continuing to cast magic while moving vigorously in mid-air is absolutely not an easy task.

Not everyone can do it, and it’s not easily possible even with experience.

Most mages, when entering aerial combat, tend to show openings as their concentration wavers.

Celtia had planned to exploit those openings.

But Loen Franz did not.

Rather, she showed signs of adapting to aerial combat as time passed.

At this rate, we’ll just drag on.

So I must force a conclusion, even if it means pushing myself.

Having firmed her resolve, Celtia threw away her staff.

And summoned dual mana blades in the form of daggers in both hands.

Seeing this, Loen narrowed her eyes.

Finally, close combat?

The exchange of gazes was brief.

Celtia charged toward Loen as if kicking off from the ground, explosively charging through the air.

She explosively released mana again and again to insanely increase her speed.

Then she swung her daggers fiercely.

Clang!

Loen also created a mana blade to parry the dagger.

But Celtia’s movement didn’t stop there.

Twisting her body, she slashed Loen’s side with the other dagger.

‘Fast.’

Slash.

Loen leaned her body backward, but this time Celtia’s attack was faster.

As a result, the side of her uniform was torn apart, and a stinging pain was felt.

Celtia’s following combo attacks were truly like a storm.

It made one wonder if she was really a mage.

Dazzling body movements and unpredictable dagger techniques.

Loen struggled desperately but gradually began to be pushed to the defensive.

It was only natural since she had never properly learned swordsmanship.

Meanwhile, Celtia’s close combat abilities were as excellent as her magic skills.

Loen calmly waited for the right moment while fending off Celtia’s fierce attacks.

What she was aiming for was a single decisive moment.

And finally, the opportunity came.

“Flight release.”

According to gravity, Loen’s body fell downward.

Celtia, tilting her head in confusion, immediately pursued Loen.

What is she planning? Is she trying to escape to the ground?

Accelerating her body to approach Loen, Celtia.

Soon spotted an opening, dove in deeply, and swung her dagger.

However, Loen did not avoid her dagger.

Nor did she cast a defensive spell.

Rather, she raised her left arm toward the dagger.

Stab!

Celtia’s dagger deeply cut into Loen’s left arm.

With the sensation of hitting bone, hot blood spurted like a fountain.

Celtia’s eyes grew cold.

Offering an arm?

The moment Loen’s mouth opened.

Celtia smiled faintly.

Too obvious a tactic.

“Planning to give flesh to take bone?”

Then, as if she had anticipated this, she uttered the activation word.

“Barrier.”

And prepared herself mentally to counter whatever counterattack might come.

But the activation word that came from Loen’s mouth was far from Celtia’s expectation.

“Adhesion.”

“…?”

Loen’s body, which had been falling vertically downward, suddenly disappeared to the side, as if strongly pulled by an invisible rope.

Celtia’s gaze reflexively followed Loen’s movement.

Why?

The moment her eyes returned to the front, that is, the direction she was falling toward.

Celtia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

It was because of a white line.

The line, which had been hidden by Loen’s body, was now clearly visible in her sight.

In that instant, Celtia felt time flowing slowly.

Herself falling and the white line before her eyes.

And the pitch-black darkness creeping out from the line.

That was the precursor phenomenon of Loen Franz’s specialized magic, Planar Cut, which sliced through space.

To think I would be defeated like this…

Many thoughts flashed through her mind in that brief moment, but it was already too late.

Slash—.

---

“We seem to be almost there.”

“What? Already? I don’t see anything yet.”

At Ead’s words, the Inspection Department team members expressed doubt.

Looking around, there were only trees everywhere.

“I felt a mana wave.”

It was a mana wave similar to when Loen had used the Meteor Fall artifact earlier in the duchy.

“Let’s get prepared then.”