Chapter 357 : Battle Between Created Beings

A white burst erupting from the star-shaped image Irene had created began to envelop the entire area. Following the explosion, a white icy mist spread throughout the space, obscuring visibility and rendering the surroundings indistinguishable.

A few minutes later, the icy mist slowly began to dissipate. As it cleared, Irene was revealed sitting with her back against the same tree-wall as before—though the wall was now completely frozen. Four rose stems that had pierced her shoulders and thighs were also frozen solid. Beside Irene—right next to her neck—hovered a rapier that had likewise frozen in place. It was Princess Amelia’s rapier, the very weapon that had nearly slashed Irene’s throat; yet, it had halted instantly upon freezing before it could make contact. Princess Amelia’s hand, still gripping the frozen rapier, was frozen as well; in fact, her entire body was now encased in ice. She remained motionless in her original position before Irene, unable to move. Irene gazed at the frozen princess.

Shortly thereafter, Irene began to observe her surroundings. The icy mist had vanished completely, revealing the state of the area with clarity. Every surface—the ground, the tree-walls, and the canopy of leaves overhead was frozen solid. Even the rose flowers and stems that had sprouted from the ground via Princess Amelia’s magic were frozen through. Irene surveyed the area with a calm, neutral expression. After looking around, she turned her gaze back to Princess Amelia, focusing specifically on her face. Although her face was frozen, Princess Amelia's expression remained clearly visible; she appeared to be smiling.

Gazing at Princess Amelia’s face, Irene instantly recalled the moments just before the star-shaped construct she had created exploded and engulfed the entire area. At that instant—as Princess Amelia swung her rapier toward Irene’s neck and the star construct began to detonate, Irene had been looking directly at Princess Amelia. She had been startled by what she saw: Princess Amelia was smiling and appeared to be saying something. With that smile, Princess Amelia had mouthed the words 'thank you' to Irene. Immediately afterward, the explosion from the star construct had rapidly consumed the surroundings.

Recalling this, Irene continued to gaze at the smiling face of the princess. Then, she, began to smile too and spoke to the frozen figure.

"You are 'free' once more, Princess Amelia. I am sorry I had to save you in a way like this," Irene said.

As she spoke, Princess Amelia’s right hand—the one gripping the rapier—slowly began to shatter into pieces. The rapier itself also began to disintegrate. It was not just her right hand; other parts of her frozen body also started to shatter. Only her legs remained intact, allowing her body to stay standing on the ground. Aside from her legs, half of her torso remained whole, while the other half appeared to have crumbled away. Her head and smiling face also remained intact.

Several frozen roses and their stems also shattered into pieces. Among the shattered rose stems, four had pierced Irene’s shoulders and hands. Once those stems were destroyed, a significant amount of blood began to flow from the puncture wounds they had left behind. Irene attempted to treat the injuries with her healing magic, but to no avail; the blood continued to pour from the wounds.

"So, they can't be healed. Come to think of it, the four stems that pierced my shoulders and thighs are black. It looks like they were infused with Dark Magic. It’s no wonder these wounds won't heal. In that case, I’d better seal the wounds for now," Irene thought.

She then sealed the four puncture wounds using her ice magic. The wound was successfully closed, and the bleeding had stopped. Irene then used her healing magic again to treat the other injuries on her body. Most of the scratches and burns were successfully healed, though a few remained that defied her magic. It appeared these particular wounds were caused by 'Dark Magic' or an elemental attack infused with it. After tending to her injuries, Irene, who had been leaning against the frozen trunk of a tree slowly rose to her feet. Although she initially struggled to stand due to the stab wounds in both her thighs, she soon managed to steady herself.

"I can't stay here too long; I need to find Rid right away," Irene said.

She began to walk slowly, then soon broke into a gentle run, continuing along the path where she stood.

-

Meanwhile, at Miss Violetta's place.

Miss Violetta and Duchess Arnett were locked in combat, each wielding her own weapon. Miss Violetta kept up the pressure, forcing Duchess Arnett to constantly retreat. They were currently on a connecting path—a corridor linking their previous location to another area. They had ended up there because Miss Violetta’s relentless offensive had driven Duchess Arnett away from their original spot and onto this connecting walkway.

The two continued to clash on the path. Both had sustained several scratches from their opponent's weapons. After a moment of exchanging blows, they both stepped back to create some distance, then prepared to launch their next attacks.

~Rose Magic: Garden of Roses~

~Flower Magic: Garden of Flowers~

A multitude of roses suddenly appeared around Duchess Arnett, while a vast array of diverse flowers materialized around Miss Violetta. Long rose stems then emerged around Duchess Arnett and shot rapidly toward Miss Violetta. However, Miss Violetta reacted swiftly, instantly slicing through the stems heading her way.

~Flower Sword Art: Sword Dance in the Flower Garden~

Miss Violetta successfully severed the rose stems. Immediately after, Duchess Arnett darted forward at high speed, closing the distance to stand right before her. She launched a thrusting attack aimed directly at Miss Violetta’s head. Miss Violetta reacted quickly, dodging the thrust by shifting her head to the right. Yet, she failed to evade the attack perfectly; the thrust grazed her left cheek. The two locked eyes after Duchess Arnett succeeded in scratching Miss Violetta's cheek.

-

Meanwhile, at Rid's place.

I had just managed to slam Commander Dayne against one of the tree-walls in the area. Immediately afterward, I sprinted around the space to dodge attacks from the five basic elemental dragons that Senior Vyn had just conjured. These five dragons represented the elements of fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. Seeing them reminded me of my battle against Senior Vyn during the academy tournament, though these dragons appeared different from the ones back then. That is because the five basic elemental dragons Senior Vyn had created now appeared larger than they had during the academy tournament.

"The dragons you've created this time look bigger than before, senior. It seems the two of us will have to fight again, just like in the academy tournament final back then," I said.

After dodging the Dragon's attacks, I darted toward Senior Vyn, who was positioned atop the head of the fire dragon he had conjured. Seeing me rushing toward him, Senior Vyn launched an attack with his sword; the sword elongated and shot rapidly in my direction. However, I easily deflected it with my own sword, knocking it off course. Once the sword was diverted, I surged toward Senior Vyn again. Yet, before I could reach him, the five dragons he had created appeared to be preparing to unleash elemental breath attacks at me. I felt not a shred of panic seeing them ready to strike; instead, I quickly braced myself to counter the assault of those five dragons.

"As always, you conjure living beings with your magic to use in battle. For your opponents, that magic is a real nuisance. I struggled a bit against these creations of yours during the tournament final back then, too. But this time, I won't be troubled by them, because now, I can conjure the exact same kind of creatures you do," I said.

~Fire Magic - Fire Creation Magic: Great Fire Dragon~

~Water Magic - Water Creation Magic: Great Water Dragon~

~Wind Magic - Wind Creation Magic: Great Wind Dragon~

~Earth Magic - Earth Creation Magic: Great Earth Dragon~

~Electric Magic - Electric Creation Magic: Great Electric Dragon~

Suddenly, five elemental dragons materialized around me. They were slightly larger than the dragons Senior Vyn had summoned. I then ordered my dragons to attack Senior Vyn's. They immediately engaged his dragons, forcing them to abort their attacks against me. The fire dragon Senior Vyn was riding was under attack by the water dragon I had conjured. My water dragon immediately clamped its jaws onto the neck of the fire dragon Senior Vyn was mounted on. Senior Vyn, who had been positioned on the fire dragon's head, was sent tumbling down the moment my water dragon bit into its mount's neck.

As Senior Vyn fell, I instantly darted toward him and unleashed a thrusting attack.

~Secret Sword Art - Dragon Slayer Technique: Dragon Slayer Thrust~

I drove my sword straight into the center of Senior Vyn's chest. The thrust landed a direct hit, punching a gaping hole in his chest and causing blood to gush out profusely. The force of the blow sent Senior Vyn flying backward until he slammed against the tree wall behind him. I then looked over at him as he sat slumped against the tree, his chest pierced through.

"If only I had been able to use the same creation magic as you back during the tournament finals... I probably wouldn't have struggled so much against you then. Well, I was the one who won the match in the end, after all."

"And now, in this match... it looks like I'm winning again, Senior," I said.

-To be continued