episode_0109

Alice brimmed with confidence.

‘At this level, borrowing Marianne’s power, there’s no way you can win.’

If she were fighting the real Marianne, she would have been tense.

Even when they fought with a rusty sword, it had ended in a draw.

With a proper sword, the fight would have been even harder.

But.

The one she was fighting now was a fake Marianne.

It was Cain, clumsily mimicking Marianne’s power.

‘Well, in terms of skill utilization, he surpasses Marianne…’

But that’s it.

Though Cain wields abilities better,

he couldn’t replicate the most crucial part of Marianne.

‘Marianne wasn’t strong because of her abilities.’

Sure, her abilities were strong.

But Marianne’s power was merely an evolved form of basic mana enhancement.

Even with just mana enhancement, she could have displayed similar strength.

So.

The abilities aren’t the point.

The reason Marianne was strong enough to be the second most powerful in the demon realm was her swordsmanship—

And.

Her overwhelming close-combat prowess, fighting by utilizing her body to 100%.

But.

Cain couldn’t replicate that.

He copied her stats,

but her swordsmanship and close-combat abilities? Not at all.

‘That’s why he’s fighting using skill mastery.’

Since he can’t win with swordsmanship,

he’s trying to circumvent the fight to gain an advantage.

But.

That won’t be enough to defeat me.

‘Marianne’s weakness is that prolonged battles are tough for her.’

Her physical abilities are strong,

but her mana reserves are quite low.

Her drawback is that she can’t sustain her abilities for long due to mana depletion.

Meanwhile,

I have an overwhelming mana pool and regeneration—making me suited for drawn-out battles.

‘Cain might call it cowardly, but…’

Fighting in a way that favors you,

avoiding fights that don’t—

Master just that, and you can win most battles.

…Thinking that, I shouted:

“Snowflower Plains!”

Everything freezes.

Everything becomes my sword.

A spell that dominates all mana in this area, converting it into my power.

A spell that temporarily makes me the ruler of this domain.

Snowflower Plains.

‘How long can you last here, Cain?’

There’s no time limit.

If I will it, I can sustain this space indefinitely.

Unless I concentrate all the power of Snowflower Plains into a single strike, I can maintain it forever.

No—

Rather, this spell only grows stronger over time.

A greedy magic that devours surrounding mana, expanding its territory endlessly.

Therefore.

If I just maintain it, there’s no way I can lose.

Marianne doesn’t have the power to break through this space.

“…Or so you’d think.”

“!!!!!!”

Cain spoke as if reading my thoughts.

Then.

Pointing at me, he continued:

“I’ll shatter that careless mindset—so don’t let your guard down, alright?”

“Guard down?”

“Yeah. I don’t wanna hear you whine that you lost ’cause you got cocky.”

“So you’re that confident?”

“Of course.”

“Then try breaking through! Shatter my Snowflower Plains!”

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!

Snow cascaded like an avalanche.

But.

Cain effortlessly dodged and conjured a black smoke screen.

“Think a trick like that will work on me?”

TUDUDUDUDUK!

I barraged the smoke with indiscriminate ice spears.

Hiding in the smoke?

Pointless.

If I attack everything inside, there’s no way to evade.

…Or so I thought.

“Huh?…”

Where the smoke dissipated, only spears of ice embedded in the ground remained.

“Gone?”

No one had escaped the smoke.

‘He’s not elsewhere either.’

Snowflower Plains is a domain I created by dominating natural mana with my own.

It’s a space where I can track his position just by contact with my snowflakes.

Deceiving my eyes here is impossible.

So.

There’s no way to flee this area.

‘Then how?’

No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t detect anything.

Just as confusion set in—

KWAGWANG!!!

A massive black tendril suddenly erupted from the ground.

“Underground?!”

That was it.

Cain had fled underground.

While setting off the smoke screen, he must have dug a tunnel to escape.

The snow piling above had hidden his tracks.

…I realized that, but—

‘With Marianne’s power, he shouldn’t be able to make something this big?’

Marianne’s mana is limited.

She’s a demon who struggles just to create full-body armor for one person.

So.

She shouldn’t be able to create tendrils of this scale.

She couldn’t spawn hundreds of tree-sized tendrils to bombard me.

Then?

What is this?

“Are you exploiting the dream to fight with infinite mana?”

“Nah.”

“?”

“I’m fighting fair—only using Marianne’s stats and skills. This just means Marianne could do this too.”

His voice echoed from below.

As the black tendrils attacked relentlessly,

Cain continued speaking.

“Remember when I taught you magic?”

“You taught me?”

“Yeah.”

“?”

“Magic isn’t about creating from nothing—it’s far more efficient to manipulate what already exists.”

“Ah…”

I remembered now.

This was why Cain had been stronger during our first fight.

He wielded my own ice magic against me—

Harnessed the ice of nature itself.

That’s how he could unleash ice spells on a scale unimaginable for a D-rank.

…If it’s the same logic now?

“You absorbed all the shadows underground to make these tendrils?”

“Bingo!”

KWAGWA-GWA-GWANG!!!

With Cain’s cheerful shout, countless tendrils surged upward.

“Shadows are your power source?!”

So I countered.

I dispersed the blizzard above, letting sunlight pour in.

SHIIIIIZ-

The shadow tendrils withered under the light, losing strength.

“Isn’t this the weakness of shadow magic?”

Strongest without light,

but weak under it.

I’d heard that knowing the counter makes this magic easier to nullify than any other.

This much should be simple.

…Or so I thought—

KWANG!!!

An explosion erupted underground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

Like.

A fog that blotted out the sun completely.

“Huh?…”

The surroundings darkened under the dust.

Everything became shadow.

Everything became Cain’s sword.

A situation mirroring my Snowflower Plains—

Trapped in a hellish magic where every direction presses in.

The only difference—

Instead of snow, Cain attacked with shadows.

TUDUDUDUDUK!

“Guh!…”

Blades of darkness rained from all sides.

No room to dodge.

The best I could do was encase myself in ice armor.

‘Ah… So this is how my Snowflower Plains feels…’

With blades everywhere,

evasion is meaningless.

The only defense is a barrier or full-body armor.

But.

Even this isn’t a solution.

He can attack endlessly,

while I weaken bit by bit with each defense.

It’s practically defeat.

If this continues, I will lose.

…Realizing that—

I understood just how unfair Snowflower Plains must feel to my opponents.

‘A truly hellish technique.’

But.

There is a way to counter it.

“Blow.”

A blizzard swept away the dust.

“Spread.”

As the snowstorm cleared, sunlight returned.

SHIIZ!

Just this much was enough to dismantle Cain’s shadow hell.

But.

His real attack was just beginning.

“Time’s up.”

“?”

“My finishing move’s ready.”

KWAGWANG!

The ground collapsed entirely.

“Ghk!…”

As the earth shattered, scorching heat surged upward.

Lava.

“Welcome! I dug a tunnel straight to the magma! Enjoy the ride!”

Cain stood in an underground cavern, smiling as he waved.

But.

I wouldn’t go down so easily.

“Rage!”

I intended to freeze both lava and tunnel with a blizzard.

But.

Cain spoke calmly.

“The weakness of Snowflower Plains.”

KU-GUGUGUGUNG!

“It’s a magic that dominates natural mana to create a controlled space. Once you leave that space, you can’t wield its power properly.”

“!!!!!!”

Cain sealed the tunnel entrance with something pitch-black.

“It’s called asphalt. Makes for great adhesive, y’know?”

TUDUDUDUK!

I tried piercing his wall with ice spears—but it was futile.

Too thick to break,

and with my mana connection weakened, I couldn’t properly command the blizzard outside.

“Tch!…”

Just as Cain said.

Inside the blizzard, I’m invincible—

but exiled from it, I’m a double-edged sword with no power left.

Right now, I’m like an empty can of mana.

Normally, that would be an advantage.

The emptier my mana, the stronger my sword becomes.

But.

That’s only when I can wield it.

Falling like this, I can’t swing my blade.

‘…Or so he thinks.’

But.

As a hero party member and Sword Master, I won’t just obediently plunge into lava.

“HOOOOUGH!”

Like Cain said earlier—

I have high MP,

but more importantly, my MP recovery is so fast it refills in seconds.

So.

Even if I expend all my mana, I’ll have enough to make a few ice platforms in moments.

That’s how I created a foothold.

CREAK!

An ice platform.

‘One shot is all I need!’

If I can leap from this platform to where Cain is, I win.

…Thinking that, I lunged.

KWANG!!!

A powerful jump off the ice, charging straight at him.

“Not happening.”

Cain fired countless shadow blades to block me.

Strong, no doubt.

Shadow blades forged in a lightless underground were monstrously powerful.

But.

My sword was stronger.

SHING!

SHING SHING SHING!

Cutting through every shadow blade, I closed the distance—

Right then.

Cain grinned.

“Close. Just one step short.”

“One step?”

“Yeah.”

“Eh? W-Wait?!

Suddenly, I was being sucked back toward the lava.

What?!

Wind magic?!

“Black Hole.”

“B-Black Hole?…”

“A cosmic phenomenon often depicted as the ultimate darkness skill in fantasy. Means it’s that strong.”

Cain kept explaining, but—

I couldn’t hear him.

THUD! THUDTHUDTHUD!

The monstrous Black Hole compressed and crushed my body—rendering me deaf to all words.

—

“!!!!!!”

I woke up in the inn’s bed.

“So dying wakes you from the dream?”

Beside me, Marianne was still asleep.

Serena, too.

Sophia as well.

Seems I died first, so I woke up first.

“Ugh!… Good fight!”

Satisfied!

Thoroughly satisfied!

I even discovered the weakness of my Snowflower Plains, which I thought was invincible.

And I’ve thought of ways to grow stronger.

As expected of Cain.

A true teacher, always imparting lessons.

“Damn… Maybe I should ask him to spar in dreams more often?”

Next time, he could copy Sophia—

Or even me, for an Alice vs. Alice battle.

Either way, fights impossible in reality are thrilling.

That’s the appeal.

I was content—

Until.

“?”

I checked the beds.

Marianne, Sophia, Serena.

“Huh?”

Lia was missing.

…The moment I realized—

A voice came from the next room.

“Master! Let’s play that game!”

“GYAAAAAAAAH!!! NO!!! LIA, STOP!!! MY VIRTUE!!!”

Alice’s immediate thought:

Ah.

I messed up.