The lead mage was both shocked and furious.
Since Dekalorin’s time, the human world had produced no other monstrous genius who could dual-cultivate both magic and martial arts like this.
They had long grown accustomed to mages keeping their distance for magical barrages or using spells to create space against knight-swordsmen before chanting powerful incantations.
But Dekalorin was the exception.
She feared neither distance—since she could close the gap with magic—nor close-quarters combat.
Even so, Dekalorin still could not force her way to the center of the totem, let alone destroy it.
She was growing anxious.
The enemy was fighting her like a war of attrition; two of them always managed to keep the totem manifesting while the third engaged her.
After a brief pause, she charged toward the totem’s center once more and swung at the tall, thin mage attempting to block her!
His expression changed drastically.
Startled by the lightning-fast strike, he hastily raised his staff horizontally and conjured a shield that was far from sturdy.
In his heart he had already braced for being sent flying.
Clang—!
The greatsword collided solidly with the staff, producing a piercing screech! The shield did shatter, but that was all.
The mage only felt a massive force slam into him, numbing both his arms… and he staggered backward several steps with a thud-thud-thud.
But… he had blocked it! He could hardly believe it himself.
His staff had not shattered; it had merely dimmed slightly.
“Huh?!”
One of the other mages exclaimed in surprise.
“When did you… get this strong?!”
In this mage’s understanding, the legendary Dekalorin was someone far beyond their ability to face head-on.
Yet the truth now stood right before them.
The tall, thin mage himself was stunned. Panting heavily, he muttered, “I… I don’t know. That attack just now…”
He quickly looked up at Dekalorin and saw that the once-dominant former Saintess was now breathing hard from the very strike he had blocked, her face even paler than before.
No… it’s not that I’ve gotten stronger! It’s her! Dekalorin has grown weaker! She’s nothing but a sheep in wolf’s clothing! Hahaha!
His voice suddenly rose, laced with malicious mockery, as if he wanted the whole world to hear and to rally his shaken morale.
He shouted at Dekalorin.
“Look at yourself now! Esteemed former Saintess! The Saintess who never fell behind even against the Demon King! Can you barely hold your sword steady anymore?”
He then waved the staff that had blocked her strike.
“Was that attack of yours just tickling me?! You outdated relic who should have retired peacefully a hundred years ago! Yet here you are, still getting in the way!”
His words exaggerated her condition, but they carried some truth.
Only Dekalorin herself knew that her body was nearing its limit.
The arm wielding the sword trembled uncontrollably, and old wounds from years past throbbed with pain.
If she had not spent most of her magic on the high-speed dash here, Dekalorin would not be in such a sorry state.
Having reached this conclusion, the mages no longer felt afraid.
The one who seemed strongest stepped forward and declared, “You two hurry and activate the ritual. I’ll hold her off!”
“Tch…”
The words grated on Dekalorin’s ears.
She was the one who usually said things like that.
“Heh. How arrogant!”
Cold light exploded in Dekalorin’s eyes.
Humiliated like this, her fury and holy light surged together.
Suppressing the pain from her old wounds, she charged forward again with her sword raised, aiming straight at the arrogant mage.
This time, however, he did not dodge.
He swung his staff, and several pitch-black tentacles erupted from the ground, barely blocking the strike once more.
But he had still blocked it.
Then he quickly retreated.
The instant Dekalorin’s body stiffened from the blocked attack—
Whoosh!
A crossbow bolt glowing with deep purple light shot toward her like a hidden viper.
Dekalorin knew this was no ordinary shot.
She lifted her greatsword to block, but a sudden spasm of pain made her vision blur for a split second.
Because of that instant, the bolt struck at a tricky angle, grazing the blade and slamming viciously into her shoulder!
“Ah—!”
The bolt sank nearly to the bone.
The frenzied demonic power it carried clashed violently with the pure magic inside her body, nearly blacking out her vision.
The greatsword in her hand no longer felt light.
It plunged heavily into the dirt, the blade quivering and dimming.
Every meridian and bone in her body screamed warnings of imminent collapse.
Seeing Dekalorin drop to one knee from her wounds, the mage raised his staff and condensed another lethal bolt.
The projectile whistled straight toward her heart.
“Time to retire, has-been former Saintess!”
But in that instant, a pitch-black beam formed from pure violent, murderous demonic power accurately shattered the incoming bolt.
The sudden change startled every enemy on the field.
They looked around warily but saw nothing.
Only Dekalorin understood.
She lowered her voice and even managed a faint smile as she spoke toward the empty shadow beside her.
“You forgot? You can’t casually use Demon Realm magic. It’ll expose you.”
From the shadow came Movira’s helpless and irritated reply, audible only to Dekalorin.
“You… are you crazy?! You expect me to just watch you die right in front of me?!”
For a hundred years they had clashed in countless life-and-death battles.
They were opponents, yet each knew the other best, and between powerhouses there existed a mutual appreciation.
“I knew you still cared whether I lived or died. Good. Don’t worry about me—hurry and destroy that totem!”
“You make it sound so easy! In my current state, you think that’s possible?”
By now the shocked enemies had regrouped and closed in once more.
Their blades reflected the moonlight, clearly intending to finish off the injured Dekalorin for good.
Hmph.
The next moment, the shadows beneath the enemies charging at Dekalorin came alive.
They transformed into razor-sharp blades that silently shredded their flesh!
After they collapsed, the shadows mercilessly pierced their hearts!
Like reaping wheat, they fell one after another without even time to scream.
After dealing with the grunts, Movira looked up and saw that Dekalorin had somehow stood again.
Dragging her collapsing body, the former Saintess charged once more toward the ever-brighter blood-colored totem at the center of the square!
“Dekalorin! You crazy old hag! Get back here!”
Movira cursed inwardly, her shadow shooting forward like an arrow in pursuit.
But she was still too slow.