Is this… how it ends?
Elliris, with blood streaming from the corners of her mouth, her nose, and her lips, collapsed to the ground, her eyes vacant, having completely lost her strength.
‘So it was instant death magic… That really is… cheating.’
As expected, given her current abilities, challenging a boss monster of this level alone was simply too much for her, wasn’t it? Had her ancestors truly encountered such a monster? Or was this an insurmountable hurdle from her future, coming to claim her life ahead of time?
Expressionlessly watching the white-haired girl who had fallen to the ground, her feet already beginning to fade and disappear, the Banshee floated away without a backward glance, preparing to leave and no longer look at Elliris.
That was her designated dead person. A true expert never looks back at the explosion.
‘I’m sorry, Sophia; I’m sorry, Nino… I’m going to break my promise…’
‘I’m sorry, Mother; I’m sorry, Aunt Rachel… I couldn’t pass the Divine Trial…’
Her vision was fading. The last thing she could hazily observe was her HP bar, normally green, turning yellow and rapidly shifting to red.
It’s over.
…
In such a hopeless situation, struck by instant death magic, with her life hanging by a thread, what hope could there possibly be?
“Don’t give up! Elliris! Mother absolutely forbids it!” A familiar, loving voice suddenly rang in her ears, its tone now filled with an iron resolve, reigniting the spark of hope in Elliris’s heart.
‘My HP wasn’t instantly cleared… Right! This isn’t the instant-death effect I understand. I can still use that!’
Summoning her last ounce of will, on the verge of losing consciousness from oxygen deprivation, Elliris brought her hands together in a desperate prayer.
[Desperate Prayer] activated!
Elliris’s mortal wounds were instantly healed. Her previously crushed heart began beating anew. She suddenly gasped for air, coughing violently to expel the blood that had choked her trachea.
“Cough, cough!…”
[Ding! First activation of Desperate Prayer in this situation. Combat experience threshold for level up has been met. Elliris Omnia’s level has increased to 60. Current HP and MP restored to full.]
[Skill Unlocked: Super-tier Magic – Febilia’s Judgment Light!]
[Skill Learned: Febilia’s Judgment Light: Consumes 99% of Max HP and 99% of Max MP. Deals massive area-of-effect true damage to enemy targets. Max number of targets: 200. Power: 500% of Max MP + 300% of Max HP + 200% of INT + 150% of SPR. Deals extra critical damage to evil-aligned beings.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Divine Sanctuary: Can be cast on a single allied target. Grants 50% damage reduction and immunity to all interrupt effects for 15 seconds.]
!!!
Elliris was ecstatic upon obtaining this skill. She had seen this skill’s name six years ago while crafting her staff, when she happened to glance at the bottom of the Life Staff’s evolution interface and remembered it.
Such a powerful ultimate light magic, its power clearly stated on the status screen, needed no further explanation.
But its cost was also something she had never heard of before, and the price for activating it was immense.
And she had also obtained another new skill, [Divine Sanctuary], whose duration perfectly allowed the long chant of [Febilia’s Judgment Light] to proceed uninterrupted. These two skills seemed like a buy-one-get-one-free deal from the gods, intentionally packaged for her.
She felt a sense of being watched by a deity throughout this trial. In fact, this was a Divine Trial. She was, of course, putting on a performance.
The deity would not intervene directly. It was still evaluating whether this trial-taker could shoulder the heavy responsibility of being its will’s executor.
Although Elliris now possessed a powerful tool to turn the tables, there were still too many unknown factors. The enemy was over thirty levels higher than her. Direct, head-on confrontation was completely inadvisable. Furthermore, the Banshee’s series of control skills were very troublesome.
Elliris tried to get up from the ground, first moving into a half-crouch, intending to lure the enemy by feigning weakness.
She then began a theatrical fit of violent coughing, her facial expression one of extreme agony, still pretending to be on the verge of death.
The Banshee, who had already moved far away and was almost at the original summoning circle, noticed that Elliris was still alive.
Her crimson blood-red eyes flashed with an eerie red light once more. She turned, floating, and prepared to return to the battlefield.
How could a bug that was supposed to be dead get up and struggle again? She wanted to come and investigate.
“Cough, cough… Don’t come over! Don’t, don’t come over, please!!” Elliris, who could cry on command, trembled as she begged for mercy. In reality, a plan was already forming in her mind. Although it was just a hypothesis, given her current predicament, she had no choice but to gamble everything.
Shadowy energy was faintly gathering in the palm of the Banshee’s right hand. Elliris noticed this suspicious detail.
Then, the Banshee opened her palm towards Elliris. This was likely the same control skill trick as before!
[High-tier Illusory Invasion]!
Before the skill could hit her, Elliris activated the Divine Mark on her forehead first, aiming to instantly cast the first step of her planned combo before the Banshee’s spell could land.
[Penance]!
This was a Priest’s interrupt skill, and its effect was more pronounced against evil-aligned beings.
Before the Banshee’s control skill could hit Elliris, Elliris’s interrupt skill landed first. The Banshee fell into a 2-3 second stiffened state, her skill interrupted!
“You bastard! I don’t want to see any more of your hellish delusional illusions and defeat CGs! Keep them for yourself to watch slowly!” Taking advantage of the opening, Elliris quickly stood up and cast [Light Bind] on the Banshee!
She didn’t know if this skill could still affect a boss so many levels above her, but to cast the upcoming super-tier magic, she needed a full fifteen seconds of chanting time.
[Light Bind] successfully restrained the Banshee, but the effect of [Penance] had already worn off.
The Banshee immediately began gathering dense necrotic energy around her body. The threads of light binding her sizzled and wailed pitifully as they resisted the necrotic energy. It felt like she would break free very soon!
As expected… it still won’t work…
The success of [Light Bind] in buying enough time for her to safely chant the super-tier magic was a crucial part of the plan.
If this key assumption failed, the subsequent plan would be forcibly interrupted and fall apart.
…
Is it over?
It seemed she still couldn’t contend with the Banshee. [Instant Death Magic: Heart Grasp] would truly and utterly end her life…
“My dear Elliris… Mother is so sorry… Please, don’t give up. We will meet again soon…”
That loving voice echoed in her ears once more, but this time it trembled with sobs. “You will be alright. Please, accept Mother’s help…”
Suddenly, numerous chains of holy light erupted from Elliris’s abdomen. Just as the Banshee shattered Elliris’s threads of light, these new chains wrapped tightly around her, rendering her immobile.
[Sacred Prayer: Shield], [Divine Sanctuary]!
“Mother…” Elliris whispered, a crystal-clear tear tracing down her cheek as she called out to Felicitala. Unlike her earlier theatrical fake crying, this was a genuine outpouring of emotion.
A massive, multi-layered magic circle began to manifest within the colosseum. Elliris focused all her attention, meticulously chanting the super-tier magic she had just learned.
“Goddess who presides over light and wisdom, Febilia! Your most devout descendant, of the Omnia lineage, urgently beseeches you to descend your judgment and shatter all darkness! In the name of Omnia! In the glorious name of Febilia!”
Although the Banshee had become a sitting duck, she refused to give up. The Banshee let out another piercing shriek, activating [Banshee’s Wail].
However, it was already too late. [Febilia’s Judgment Light]‘s chant was complete. No one could stop its destruction.
A radiant, boundless brilliance seemed intent on purifying all filth and darkness from this place. An unimaginably massive impact of light particles blasted away more than half of the colosseum’s floor.
The thick fog in all directions was dispelled, as if everything was to be enveloped in this sacred, flawless holy radiance. Any evil being would simply be annihilated by it, leaving nothing behind.
[Banshee has been defeated. HP -124,690! Judgment Light additional effect activated, dealing double critical damage!]
[Elliris Omnia’s level has increased to 63.]
Completely exhausted, Elliris collapsed to the ground. The trial colosseum beneath her feet began to crumble, and she was surrounded on all sides by a warm, white light…