Drip… Drip...

Hmm? It’s… raining?

Before I noticed it, the sky had gone dark. Black clouds had gathered over the forest, and with them, droplets of water began to pour down from above.

I turned my attention towards the mage and the slime woman. Only the former was there to greet me, standing with an excited, almost maniacal-looking grin on her face. A bubble was enveloping her entire body.

“Well played. That’s a spell I didn’t know about.” Huh, she can still speak from inside of that.

“Well, I kept upgrading my arsenal, you know. Just in case when one day, something like this happens.”

“Spoken like a true mage.” Her smile grew wider. “You really would make a good husband. Are you sure you're not attracted to me whatsoever? They always say I'm a looker just like Mother."

Speaking objectively, she was indeed pretty. Those smooth long legs and thighs she displayed proudly with her mini-skirt—I can leer at them all day. Not to mention the hint of blue she produced every time she moved around.

"Sorry. You might be cute but your personality… they really need some work."

"Oh? What's your type then? Naive girls like your sister?"

"She's not naive. She's a better person than you'll ever be."

"Hmm, that angry tone… You really love her, don't you?" She grinned. "Don't tell me you're the sort of little brothers who are obsessed with their older sisters? 'I'm going to marry Big Sis when I grow up!'" she said with a mocking tone. "Then you shouldn't have left her, no?"

"...You're right. I made a mistake."

"Which is why I'm going to correct it right now."

I fired my Boom Cannon, believing it to be powerful enough to burst the bubble that was protecting her. It indeed launched her through several trees, but when the dust settled, she remained unharmed inside it.

“Diamond Bubble. Do you like it? Not even your powerful wind spell can pierce through it."

I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

“My turn.”

She raised her wand to the sky and chanted, "O great power that resides in the unnatural ocean—"

I wasn't going to let her finish, of course.

I aimed my wand, this time intending to use Boom Rifle since that had better penetrating power. However, just when I was about to fire, a jet of water burst forth from the ground, lifting her and her bubble to the sky.

Huh? That's—

"—come forth to this world and purify all creatures that walked upon the earth!"

She's still keeping up her chanting, which means—!

She's dual-casting!

"Bubble Storm!"

Bubble… Storm?

My question was soon answered. Above her, coming out from the rain clouds, was a massive swarm of tiny, raindrop-sized bubbles.

"Well," She grinned. "I don't need to tell you how bad it would be if you got surrounded by them, do I?"

-------------

Meanwhile, away from the fight of the two mages, another battle was in progress.

"Come now, dears! Give up! You can't defeat me on your own!"

Yulon was fighting against the fairies. After receiving the brunt of Hugo's Boom Grenade, pieces of her had scattered all over the clearing. She was lucky her core wasn't broken in the explosion, though it indeed took some damage that knocked her out for a bit. However, she already mastered the ability to rejoin and regenerate herself, so now, she was able to chase after her stolen hostages with pretty much her full strength.

And it was clear that she possessed the advantage.

"Hyaah! Go away you stupid slime woman!"

The Spring Fairy slashed her boiling water sword towards her. Only to miss her core once again, only slicing the slime body which could immediately rejoin itself moments later. The Earth Sprite on the other hand tried to swallow and bury her with her mud, only to find that she was too agile and flexible for her to do so.

Giggling, the slime woman leaped upwards, before raining herself down towards Anne and Anton. The two were already unthawed from their ice. Unfortunately, they were still unconscious. Drugs were most likely involved.

Earth Sprite covered them with makeshift earthen coffins. Quite ominous, but she had to make sure the slime couldn't reach them. She knew how much they meant to her Master, and she was ready to sacrifice herself to keep them safe.

Of course, for the slime woman, they didn't matter. Her focus now was to take care of the two summons, before rejoining Elun to kill that boy. But the fairies didn't really know that, as she kept up her aggressive moves towards the unconscious adventurers.

Then again, she didn't have to do much. Eventually, they would disappear when their time limit was up. All the advantage was on her and she knew it.

She changed her direction mid-air, firing both of her hands at the two summons. The Spring Fairy cut through the attack, while the Earth Sprite submerged herself under the ground to dodge the attack.

She sighed internally. The time out victory it is…

----------

Hugo

"Air Sunder!"

I fired the Advanced-level spell in an attempt to blow the bubbles away.

"Air Sunder!"

Elun responded by firing her own cyclone, cancelling mine completely before it could even reach the bubbles.

"Teehee, do you think I'm only good at water magic?" She wiggled her index finger. "To create bubbles, you need some wind magic as well after all!"

She was now hovering mid-air. I assumed the lift came from the bubble she was in.

The Diamond Bubble and the Bubble Rain. Those should be the two spells she's currently channeling. Or is one or even both of them autonomous, allowing her to cast other spells before dispelling any of them?

Knowing that she was going to interfere, I decided to switch my target. I might not be able to harm her, but I could certainly shoot her off the sky.

"Boom Spiral!"

I opted for the spiral version, since it should make it harder for her to dodge.

The spell roared through the air, crashing through the bubble Storm before reaching her. It connected, but to my surprise, she only moved 100 meters at the very most.

The bubbles! They weakened my spell considerably!

She did it. She managed to construct a defense that even I couldn't break. And she kept moving around with her bubble, preventing my Boom Rifle to be effective as well. Not to mention how the bubbles were obscuring her location as well.

And now, said bubbles were about to reach my location.

I started to run, away from the epicenter of the spell. If I had to guess, its range should be not that far off from the range of a Rainstorm, which would be about 1 kilometer. It wasn’t a small radius by any means, but I should be able to get out of it before the bubbles completely surrounded me.

As I ran using Graceful Step, I fired off Flame Strike after Flame Strike, to try to destroy as much of the bubbles as possible. As expected, they were much more durable than their ordinary brethrens. I managed to pop some of them but more soon replaced them from the skies. I tried Boom Grenade as well but just raw shockwave simply made them scatter at high speed without actually popping them. I nearly got hit by them too. Thankfully, my Mithril sword was actually strong enough to cut the bubbles without making them explode.

Ooh, thank you, Master Fiora, for your gift.

I saw the bubbles hitting the ground. And every time they did, a small explosion occurred, strong enough to blow the dirt. Yeah, if I got surrounded by those, I would die for sure.

“Well, look at you! Running like a shameless coward! I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t work.”

I glanced towards the gloating witch. She was raising her wand to the skies.

Wait, don’t tell me…!

Sure enough, what I expected to happen happened. Slowly but surely, the clouds above her began to move in the same direction I was running towards.

She’s manipulating the wind to blow the bubble clouds in my direction!

She already said that she too was an adept Wind mage. So this was certainly within her ability.

Shit, it’s like I’m facing off against two Master-level mages at the same time!

...Wait, hold on! I also know another Master-level spell that isn’t a Wind spell! And she shouldn’t know about it either!

I can use this! But not right away! I have to find the opportune moment, so I can strike at her and finish her in one blow!

My brain began to work overdrive as I considered all the possibilities available to me. The main problem now was to disperse those bubbles and to pierce the main bubble she’s being protected with. If I could do the two, then I could finish her off with a Boom Cannon or Spiral.

----------

“Haah… haah… haah…”

“What’s the matter, little fairy? Getting tired already?”

The two fey creatures were now reaching their limit. All the attacks they tried didn’t seem to damage or even tire her in the slightest. The slimewoman’s speed and agility were simply too much for them. And they both knew they couldn’t remain in this fight for much longer. But if they left without beating her, then they would betray the trust their master had put onto them. And that—they didn’t want to.

It was extremely rare for a fairy to act like this. However, such was the fate of those that chose to bond themselves with humans. Slowly but surely, they would absorb human characteristics as well, like loyalty and determination. No longer were they the simple, carefree fairies they once were. They had changed—evolved beyond their nature.

And yet, they were still lacking in strength.

"Give up. You guys are 100 years too early to face me." The slimewoman produced a mocking grin.

The spring fairy gave a hopeful glance behind her. No good. They were still asleep. And she would need too much time to heal their sleeping poison—time she couldn't get with the slimewoman around.

"I'll buy time. You heal them."

The sudden whisper from her friend took her by surprise.

"What? But you can't possibly—"

"Now."

The Earth Sprite moved a surge of mud towards the slimewoman—an attack she could easily dodge by swerving and twisting herself around. She didn't stop however. She summoned two pillars of mud from the ground beside her. The mud hardened in mid-air, creating a igloo-like structure with Anton, Anne, and the Spring Fairy inside.

"Wait, don't—"

"Go. Heal them."

Before she knew it, the igloo encompassed her completely, turning her vision pitch black.

"Hoo… sacrificing yourself for your friend… how noble… if you're not a summoned fairy. You guys can't die after all."

She charged forward, flying straight towards the Earth Sprite, confident that there was nothing she could do to stop her. Not without the aid of her friend.

The sprite responded by creating a hardened mud wall in front of her. Her goal was just to buy time until her friend finished healing the two.

“Ha, you think this would be enough to hinder me?! O still water of the ocean! Crush my enemies under your depths! Oceanic Jet!

A jet of water fired from her right hand, with a water pressure straight from the ocean depths. It was enough to start drilling through the reinforced mud like it was sand.

She didn’t need a wand to cast a spell. She had trained to replace its function with the core of her own body.

No… not going to… lose!

The earth sprite gritted her teeth as she tried to harden her wall as much as she could.

Master… got stronger! I’ll… get stronger as well!

Her resolve didn’t mean anything.

The wall shattered, and she was immediately impaled by the water drill the slimewoman had conjured.

M-Master…

The sprite melted into a puddle of mud.

“Told ya it’s not going to be enough.” The slimewoman grinned.

She then turned her attention towards the makeshift protection the sprite had conjured. With the same magic, she drilled through the sphere with ease.

Inside, the spring fairy could sense that her friend had fallen.

That idiot!

She gritted her teeth. Never before she felt this level of frustration inside her heart. She wanted to do more for her master, yet she was too weak to do so, even after she evolved. She could only manage to heal Anne during all that too.

She waited until the last moment, readying her sword. She intended to leap forward and do a surprise attack the moment the sphere collapsed.

And then…

“Hyaaaah!”

With a loud battlecry, she flew as fast as she could towards the slimewoman. Just one slash! If I can just slice through her core, I will win! Yulon was still activating her water jet spell, so she had to dodge to the side so she wouldn’t get hit by it.

She missed. Once again, her core moved out of the way from her slash.

“Aarghhh!”

The slimewoman’s other hand went to her throat, choking her without mercy.

“I wonder.” She smiled. “Do fairies need to breathe? We slimes certainly don’t.”

“Well, go away. You’re done.”

She moved her casting hand towards the fairy’s stomach. And then, just like her friend, she was pierced by her water spell.

“I-I’m sorry, Master… Hugo…”

It was her last words before she vanished as well, leaving a puddle of hot water behind.

Yulon gazed towards said puddle. “What a bore. All summoned fairies are the weak kind after all. The scary ones would never willingly serve humans like that.”

She then moved her gaze towards her escaped prisoners.

Oh? She cured one of them, didn't she?

Anne was now in a sitting position, coughing as she nursed the terrible headache she had.

Seems like she's still disoriented. I guess I should dispose of her before she could escape. She aimed her finger towards her head. A quick water bullet should do the trick.

…

"Hmm?! Who's there?!"

--------

Hugo

I got it!

At last, I had figured out a plan to take her down.

Now to put it into action.

I changed my direction rapidly, utilizing Wind Step to fly upwards to where that bubble mage was.

"Oh, you're done running away? Great! I'm starting to get bored over here, you know!"

I didn't let her taunts get to me. I climbed up and up, always taking the route with the least bubbles. I used my sword to cut them. As long as there weren't too many of them, I could manage doing so.

Naturally, in response, she flew away from me, seaming herself inside the thickest bubble swarm she could find. And just like before, she never stopped moving, thus not giving me a chance to snipe her with Boom Rifle.

I think this is close enough.

I dispelled my Wind Step, and as I fell, I cast another spell, aiming it right above her general area.

"Thunderstorm!"

I had no idea whether it would work, since she already had those bubble clouds above her.

But it did. The lightning clouds I summoned simply layered itself below said bubble clouds.

"A lightning spell?!"

I grinned. Clearly, she didn’t expect it.

I reactivated my Wind Step. The thunderstorm should last at least for a few seconds. That should be enough for me to bring her down for the good.

With the lightning raining down, it became much harder for her to move. She was further up than me so the lightning was all going after her. Meanwhile, from the bottom, I could bombard her with Boom Rifle. With any luck, I would be able to pierce her body with it.

“You really are a clever one!” She yelled as she swerved around in a zig-zag pattern, dodging all the lightning coming her way. “How did you know that my Diamond Bubble is weak to thunder?”

“I didn’t. I just thought I’d try something different.”

“Flexible thinking! Another wonderful trait for a mage!”

To be honest, I already had an inkling that might be the case. She stood inside the bubble, and the bubble should have some water in it. The lightning might not be able to crush it, but the electricity would still travel to her body, shocking her. It’s a similar principle with how robot-type monsters in RPGs tend to be weak to lightning, even though they’re highly resistant to every other damage type.

I began firing my Boom Rifle, trying to predict where she would be next according to the lightning pattern.

“Ah, that attack! You really aren’t holding back, are you? Makes sense! You’re on a time limit after all!”

She certainly talks a lot for someone who’s cornered.

“Well, how would you deal with this then?!”

In a flash, she changed her direction. Instead of moving mostly horizontally, she now moved vertically, heading downwards towards my direction, while still keeping the zigzag motion.

Wait, seriously? Is she going to—

She’s going to ram me. She’s going to ram me straight to the ground!

Behind her, I could sense that a lightning was chasing after her. If I stayed around, both me and her would be hit by it.

She’s smirking. She’s waiting for me to make my decision. Should I stay and try to fire a Boom Rifle straight at her? Or should I dodge and miss the opportunity completely?

They said that time would seem to freeze when you had to make a life-and-death decision in combat. This was exactly one of those moments. Somehow, I knew that if I messed this up, she would win.

A certain memory burst forth, my memory of training with Fiora. As usual, she had won our sparring practice. She had her sword pointed at me who was laying down on the ground with bruises all over my body.

“You’re too slow! It’s like you hesitate with each and every move!”

“Well, I can’t even follow your movements! You’re too fast!”

“You don’t follow my movements with your eyes! Use your instincts! Feel the flow in the air! Feel the intent behind my every swing! Thinking is how a mage fights! We swordsmen don’t think when we swing our swords!”

“Well, isn’t that just you being a dumb—Ooowww, why did you need to do that?”

“Shut up! Your analytical fighting style might be fine when you’re fighting at a distance, but it’s terribly weak at close range. Hey, Nicole! Heal this guy! We’re going for another round!

A smile blossomed on my face. I readied my sword.

Her smirk disappeared. She realized that I wasn’t going to dodge. Once again, I had done something beyond her expectation.

My instinct was right. I had called her bluff.

Her bubble crashed with my sword. But only for a moment, before it expanded, enveloping me inside it as well.

The lightning stroke, but it didn’t reach either of us, as none of our body parts were touching the bubble.

And she was now wide open.

I brought my sword forward for a horizontal swing. She tried to dodge out of the way by casting a water jet to push herself backward, but it was too late.

“Gah!”

Her abdomen was cut. Blood was now leaking out of it.

The bubble retracted in a flash, back to enveloping her own body exclusively.

However, my strike was true. She no longer could maintain her spell. It soon popped into non-existence and she fell down from the sky.

I wasn’t taking any chances. I aimed my wand towards her.

“Boom Cannon!”

“Deconstruct Magic.”

Huh?

The air cannonball I had conjured… it vanished before it could hit her.

And her landing… it slowed down considerably before she hit the ground.

Then, I saw a figure standing beside her.

It was Ilymhyrra.