For instance—right now—no one should have been able to stop the Shadow King’s magic from piercing through Helga’s heart!
Because no matter how many simulations and calculations were run, there existed no future in which she survived.
Even if one had the power to interfere with fate—if fate had already been decided with 100% certainty, then there should be no room for rewriting it!
“Let’s eliminate one first.”
That was what Shadow thought. But—
No one ever said fate couldn’t be interfered with after the fact, did they?
Shadow’s magic had indeed struck Helga’s heart. Her death had become a foregone conclusion. That was how it should have gone.
But a radiant golden light of divine energy fell at just the right moment upon Helga.
The fatal wound in her chest healed instantly.
The girl, who should have fallen lifelessly to the ground, instead took a step back—and regained her footing.
“She was actually revived?!”
Shadow turned toward the priestess. Roswitha was leaning heavily on her staff, panting hard.
During the battle earlier, she had followed Irene’s suggestion—switching her Blessing magic from group-wide to single-target. A full-powered single-target blessing had much greater potency than a group one.
And that—was exactly why Selene and the others had been able to fight on equal footing with the Shadow King!
Had Roswitha cast a group Blessing, Selene wouldn’t have even been able to pierce Shadow’s magic shield!
However, constantly switching the target of a single-target Blessing required extremely sharp judgment. Roswitha lacked that level of battle insight—but Irene did!
Roswitha gasped for breath. Her shoulders were heavy with the weight of the entire team’s survival. If her healing had been even half a second too late just now, Helga would’ve died for real.
“D-Don’t worry! With Irene and me holding the rear, we won’t let anyone die!”
Though Roswitha said that confidently, her condition was far from ideal.
In truth—none of them were in good shape. Against a foe of this caliber, they had already given their all. The toll on their minds and bodies was staggering.
But—
Selene and Raif, who were at the frontlines, might not have noticed… yet Irene wasn’t quite right either!
Why was she more exhausted than even Roswitha—despite not fighting at all?
Roswitha could see it clearly: Irene’s forehead was drenched in sweat, her chest heaving, her cheeks flushed red—something was definitely wrong.
Irene was drained.
But what was draining her?
The clever priestess instantly realized it.
—‘Miracles aren’t free!’
The miracle they’d taken for granted—that they’d assumed would always come—had been draining Irene’s mana all along!
They hadn’t noticed before, only because their previous opponents weren’t strong enough to force Irene to expend much energy.
But against this powerful enemy… they’d called on too many miracles!
At this rate, even Irene wouldn’t last much longer!
‘What do I do? How do I warn Selene and the others? If we keep charging in recklessly, we might gain the upper hand for now… but Irene will collapse first! And once Irene is down, it’s total annihilation!’
As Roswitha panicked, she suddenly saw Irene wink at her.
And so, the priestess girl instantly shouted toward the front lines—
“Selene! Start avoiding the Shadow King’s attacks—stop being so aggressive!!”
Serena snapped back to her senses when she noticed that something was wrong with Irene.
But… why would she shout something like that out loud??
With just a bit of thought, Serena understood—Irene was making a gamble, wasn’t she?
If the fight continued like this, it would drag on endlessly, and most likely, they would be the ones to lose! So…
Serena shouted to her companions, “Did you hear what Lorthwether said? From now on, dodge if you can—absolutely do not go head-to-head with her!”
The mood within the team changed instantly. Just moments ago, they had dared to charge in recklessly, but now, they began to move as if treading on thin ice.
Miracles aren’t infinite, nor are they free.
The Shadow noticed this as well. Once Irene’s mana was fully depleted, that would be the moment these people fell!
She had more than enough magic to outlast them!
But there was one thing Shadow didn’t realize—if the ability to interfere with fate came from Irene, then wouldn’t killing Irene solve everything?
Perhaps it was because Irene looked just like her sister, or because Irene had instinctively impersonated her sister earlier—whatever the reason, Shadow was hesitant. She didn’t attack Irene at all.
After all, from the moment she decided to curse everyone in Endymion, from the moment she lost her beloved sister… Shadow had already gone mad!
And a madwoman acts without logic!
She was dangerous. She had to be defeated here and now—that was the unanimous thought in everyone’s mind.
Just as Serena was about to act, she saw Shadow lift her left foot and stomp it hard on the ground! It was the casting gesture for the gravity spell King’s Vanguard—unmistakable!
This was the spell Serena dreaded the most. Its area of effect was massive and completely unavoidable. Fortunately, the casting motion was obvious. The only current countermeasure was for Helga to cast the same spell to cancel it out!
Such an obvious casting motion won’t work!
Sure enough, Helga reversed the spell and once again nullified its effects! But since Shadow’s casting speed was faster, she immediately followed up—wind pressure condensed into a giant sword of wind and slammed down toward Helga.
The wind-elemental super spell was called Sacred Sword. Although its attack power was low for a super spell, its casting speed was the fastest!
There was no way Helga could keep up with Shadow’s casting. Just then, Reigilif used her Guardian skill and took the blow for Helga! But the power of a super spell was terrifying—taking the hit directly once again triggered Reigilif’s “locked HP” skill!
Yes, a miracle happened again. Reigilif didn’t fall. The one who collapsed was Irene, far in the distance—
A faint smile appeared on Shadow’s lips.
She believed the battle was over, and unsurprisingly, it ended in her victory!
Irene’s mana had finally run dry after repeatedly twisting fate. Without her fate magic support, these people were no longer a threat!
As she thought this, the red-haired swordmaster who looked a lot like Frida had already drawn her sword and rushed toward Shadow from behind. Shadow didn’t consider her a threat at all.
She didn’t even bother dodging the Flash Step skill. Her attack range and casting speed far outclassed her! According to what her sister had once told her about video games, if her level was 100, then this opponent was at best around level 40 or 50!
So what if she was a swordmaster known for agility?
Shadow flicked each of her fingers, sending out a barrage of wind blades that easily sliced Serena into pieces. She was dead—completely dead. Just as Shadow was about to do the same to the others, the scene of Serena being torn apart began to warp—
Impossible! Didn’t Irene already run out of mana?!
Shadow quickly looked toward Irene and saw her, supported by the priestess, wearing a smug expression. In that moment, Shadow understood—she had fallen for it!
The priestess’s earlier words, Irene’s collapse—everything had been a trap to lure her in!
As she realized this, Serena’s sword had already pierced through Shadow’s heart.