“If I was a mage like Awthra, I don’t think I could have managed this much.” Said the martial artist whose lips were bleeding. He intentionally bit on it to snap out of Naell’s dragon-like mana.

Ipar smiled at his resourcefulness, he then said, “Ulos would have been proud of you Thslo.”

“I’m grateful for your compliment master Ipar, but to tell you the truth, I don’t think I can defeat that man alone.” Replied Thslo who was cautiously looking at Naell.

As the oldest pawn of Lucile, Thslo was the strongest out of all of them. Trained by Ulos himself, he was known for his resilience and a wide variety of martial arts.

His heavy greatsword which he expertly wielded as both his weapon and shield was enough to make him feared even by a battle-hungry opponent like Sult.

Thslo was also a towering being almost as tall as his master in humanoid form. His body was also well built due to the plethora of missions he had taken in his life.

‘If he was not as lazy as me, I think U’los would have been more kind to his pupil.’ Thought Ipar.

Thslo was often lacking in initiative, something he could relate to. Yet for a barbaric master like Ulos, that would have been a fatal flaw.

That was why Thslo was often put on dangerous missions. Yet as he survived all of it, he became stronger, further developing his chaotic aura.

“Don’t you worry about that, we will attack him together.” Said Ipar who then gazed at Naell.

He then said, “Last chance kid, I was not told that I couldn’t bring you without a missing limb.” Ipar, the bishop was not used to mocking his opponents but at the moment it should have sufficed.

Afterall, it was unnatural to use such massive amounts of mana as that would really exhaust anyone. Yet Naell had done so because he was trying to bid time which Ipar knew he was doing.

Not to mention, the chances of Naell having internal bleeding (due to "self-inflicted" injuries) were so high that Ipar knew he was right.

And so the priest was hoping for a more peaceful option. He was also curious about the young owl's identity.

'He might be Athena's relative but why didn't that person tell us?' Regardless, he withheld his unanswered thoughts.

And even though he said that he would let Awthra decide what happens to the young owl, he could still take the bird.

On the off chance he was not special, he will just give him to Awthra."So what do you say?" Ipar asked again.

Yet in return for Ipar’s last warning, Naell only looked at him coldly, and with the lift of his staff, arrays of ice crystals formed above them.

The battle then continued on with Thslo leading the charge toward, and Ipar providing heavy spells against Naell.

As to not use up any more concentration, Naell made his ice crystals rain down aimlessly as he casted, [ ice javelin ].

That proved to be more fatal as it made the attacks more unpredictable and more prone to hampering Naell’s foes.

Yet even then Naell tried his best to make the area as small as possible and taunt his opponent outside the monsters’ range.

Somehow, he still could not bring himself to kill anyone. Naell was even glad that Ipar even pushed Awthra off making her safe as she was still in no way able to fight.

- Owly, listen. -

Telepathically he sent his message to his friend who was now awake from his trance. Unlike the monsters and Awthra, his raging mana seemed to be less effective toward his allies.

- I’m so useless, hoot… -

Naell could only smile at him warmly, sending him some wind magic to life his feathers up.

- You’re not, and you know that.  -

Owly could only nod and hoot at Naell.

- This barrier is weaker but I don’t think my magic or consciousness could do both. -

Owly understood what he meant. For Naell to fight off the pieces of Lucile and at the same time try and destroy the barrier was impossible.

It was not a matter of Naell’s mana but his stamina which was depleting fast. Also, Owly knew that it was up to him to destroy the barrier.

Not only was his elemental magic the same as Ipar’s, but he also specialized in sealing and “damage over time” magic; this meant only Owly could destroy the barrier with his dark magic.

- I’m sure someone outside is trying to break through it, Owly. So I need you to do the same here from inside. -

In truth, everything Naell said was just wishful thinking. Yet if things worked out the way he hoped, without Reyna’s light magic, he was certain Ipar’s barrier would eventually crack.

- Okay, HOOT! -

And so, upon realizing all that, Owly stealthily flew off and went to work with the barrier.

- Don’t go dying on me noob, HOOT! -

Naell didn’t reply; he knew that the only thing he could do now was to continue distracting the pieces of Lucile.

And yet because of that, it seems it was he who got distracted as the gap between his thoughts opened an opportunity for Ipar to hit him with dark magic.