“Nina!”
Sophia called out the moment she sensed Nina’s presence vanish.
Her voice echoed endlessly through the mine.
But all she heard in return was the reverberation of her own call—no response from Nina.
Panic instantly took hold of Sophia.
Since arriving in the human world, she had been accompanied only by Nina, whom she had come to regard like a younger sister.
Fortunately, Enya gently patted her shoulder, offering some comfort.
“It should be an effect of the Mist Barrier. Nina’s strength won’t be compromised.”
“But…”
Beneath her veil, Sophia’s beautiful face still showed a trace of worry, even though she knew Nina was more accustomed to this environment than herself.
She’s so small…
Gritting her teeth, the elven girl whispered to herself, “Sophia, this isn’t your homeland. You need to find the one casting the spell. That’s the only way to resolve this.”
After a moment of self-reassurance, Sophia turned to Enya.
“I understand. From now on, Lady Ain, I’ll need you to protect me.”
“Of course. I won’t let my employer suffer a scratch,” Enya replied with a gentle smile, waving her Standard Longsword.
The Mist Barrier was a type of domain magic, commonly used in labyrinths.
This strange white mist carried the same effect—if two people strayed too far apart, they could never meet again within the fog unless they killed the caster or destroyed the magic array.
Their team of three had now become two.
Enya took the lead, with Sophia close behind, her senses sharply attuned to their surroundings.
After the assault by the White Mist Worms, the cave had opened into a circular path, which was actually easier to traverse than the narrow mining tunnels before.
They had traveled some distance when they realized the underground passages were far larger than expected, as if built by ants.
The White Mist Worms no longer appeared, or rather, they no longer existed in physical form.
The thick white mist still shrouded Sophia and Enya’s vision, limiting their sight to three or five meters.
But Enya saw clearly.
As they walked, Enya suddenly turned to Sophia.
“Have you tried using wind to find the caster?”
“But wind doesn’t affect the mist,” Sophia replied, confused at first.
She soon understood why Enya suggested it, tightening her grip on her Wand.
“I get it!”
Indeed, wind had no effect on this eerie white mist, meaning the wind itself wasn’t disturbed.
But the caster was different—an actual human entity who would inevitably leave a trace in the wind!
Realizing this, Sophia raised her Wand and cast a second-tier wind magic: Wind Sense.
Enya’s tail flicked slightly, sensing the faint air currents.
The cave was stagnant and air hardly moved, but Sophia was manipulating the airflow to locate the caster’s trace.
Focused intently, she relied entirely on Enya for protection.
Soon, the elven girl locked onto a direction.
A rank, putrid stench drifted from a nearby tunnel, making Sophia frown.
She opened her eyes and looked toward Enya.
“I found it.”
“Good. You lead the way, I’ll clear the path,” Enya nodded.
They dashed toward the source of the odor.
Deep within the cavern, at the bottom of a vast, dim pit, a man in white robes sat cross-legged at the center of a magic array.
Before him stood a Celadon Incense Burner.
Its lid was covered with thumb-sized holes, from which thick white mist billowed, spilling onto the ground and creeping beyond the magic array.
The robed man constantly fanned the burner.
If one listened closely, they would hear muffled wails and screams coming from within the incense burner.
Around the magic array’s perimeter lay piles of withered, skull-like dolls, their deeply sunken eyes fixed on the incense burner.
The dense mist crawling from the burner wrapped around these dolls, seeping into holes scattered across their dried corpses.
The scene was chilling.
The robed man calmly awaited the outcome, though he was surprised when the two alien women who should have been trapped by the Mist Barrier moved toward him instead.
Quickly, he intensified the fanning of the burner, causing even thicker mist to emerge.
At the same time, he summoned back the Mist Apparitions trembling near Nina, using them to block the two intruders.
Sophia then unleashed a third-tier Elemental Magic—Wood Spike.
Sharp wooden buds burst from the ground, twisting and compressing before extending instantly with tremendous force, piercing through the bodies of the mist monsters.
After pinning one down, Sophia called forth a bolt of lightning aimed at a mist creature.
As the attack struck, the upper half of the mist monster exploded.
Enya casually swung her longsword, slicing through several humanoid mist creatures.
Watching Sophia’s efforts, she considered it only just passable.
Magic Users varied widely in strength, even among the same tier.
Some were powerful, while others could be easily overwhelmed by those two ranks lower.
In Enya’s eyes, Sophia’s real problem was that she wasn’t yet used to the rhythm of combat, hadn’t cultivated the habit of fighting while thinking, and lacked some special trump cards.
These were things that could only be developed over time.
The white mist began to coalesce into long, terrifying worm-like creatures with gaping maws.
They lunged at Sophia and Enya; Sophia dodged carefully, while Enya intercepted those she couldn’t avoid.
Sophia looked at Enya and said, “Thank you, Lady Ain.”
“Sophia, you can’t afford to be distracted right now.”
Enya didn’t acknowledge the thanks and instead focused on the advancing monsters, silently telling herself it was time to end this.
She flashed forward into the swarm, instantly cutting down over a hundred white mist creatures of various forms.
Her speed was so overwhelming that the mist barely had time to respond—or perhaps the caster behind it was stunned.
Taking advantage of this brief moment, Enya led Sophia through the blockade and straight into the pit bearing the magic array.
The robed man’s heart tightened.
Before he could speak, Enya’s sword severed his body.
Yet no fear showed on his face.
“Heh, you can’t kill me.”
Beneath the white robes was a withered corpse.
As the body was sliced into two sections and collapsed, white mist poured from the ears, nose, and mouth.
It took shape into a figure and tried to flee into the mist, using it as an escape route for this soul fragment.
But Sophia was ready.
She unleashed a fifth-tier Fire Element Magic: Red Lotus Burst!
An intense heat exploded instantly where the white mist figure stood.
An orange-red fireball blossomed like a beautiful flower.
Simply stunning!
If it weren’t so dangerous…
Seeing Sophia’s excitement after firing off such a powerful spell, Enya’s mouth twitched.
“Foolish girl, don’t use explosive magic underground like that. You’ll blow yourself up and cause the cave to collapse!”
Sophia barely had time to be happy before the ground began trembling beneath them.
She looked blankly at Enya.
Enya glanced upward.
In midair floated a fragmented white mist figure, laughing wildly.
“Just wait to be buried beneath!” it cackled. “Hehehe, the plan is complete!”
The reason it used the White Mist Worms was to tunnel underground.
Though now in spirit form, these aliens remained physical.
Buried so deep, escape was almost impossible!
Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t enjoyed his moment long before something attacked his soul, tearing it into tiny fragments.
Losing enough form, his soul was buffeted by the Spirit Realm Sea wind, shattered, and ultimately scattered like dust, returning to that ocean of spirits.
Enya snorted coldly.
This was only a fragment—a Soul Fragmentation technique used to control a puppet.
It wasn’t the same relationship as Enya and Phil’s.
She had shattered this fragment’s soul, which would certainly anger the original.
But Sophia, seeing this, mistakenly thought he had escaped.
“Damn it. If only I could use purification magic to cleanse this foul-smelling creature away!”
Elemental Magic was both a blessing and a curse.
Though called magic, it had no effect on spirits, which was frustrating.
There was no time to dwell on this, however, as something big was coming.
A rumbling roar grew louder.
The ground beneath them trembled with the approach.
Before Sophia could react, a dark torrent surged from above.
The flood descended like a ten-meter-high tsunami bearing down on them, suffocating with its oppressive force.
Hissing…
Sophia’s scalp tingled.
I don’t know water magic…
She could cast five elemental spells: wind, fire, wood, lightning, and earth.
Now, all she could do was summon a wall of earth, hoping to block the massive torrent falling upon them.
But it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The flood was enormous, charged with unstoppable momentum, carrying boulders larger than a person.
The stones shattered instantly upon hitting the torrent.
Enya flashed forward and stood in front of Sophia.
“Sophia, hold on to me.”
“Ah?”
Sophia stared at Enya’s figure, stunned.
Enya wasted no time and pulled Sophia into her arms.
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