On the wreckage of the carriage.
By the time Eve, the Apprentice Saint, regained her senses, the carriage had already split into two pieces.
She saw a severed arm. Blood wove into a scarlet flower in the air, blooming from the stump and trailing toward the silver-haired girl’s shoulder.
She realized one thing —
The silver-haired girl before her, this Great Mage, had her arm severed by a sudden Mana Slash.
A Mana Slash capable of severing the arm of a Great Mage…
She understood what it meant, but her subconscious refused to process the reality.
Fear caused her pupils to shrink. Her wandering gaze caught a figure clad in black robes floating in the sky.
The gemstone atop the staff beside her shattered completely at that moment.
‘Apostle of the Evil God.’
Those words instantly surfaced in Eve’s mind.
The broken carriage was tilting. Eve felt like water in a tossed basin, about to be thrown out in the next heartbeat…
But Eve’s terror was interrupted by a girl’s nonchalant voice.
“Tsk… this scene still looks disgusting!”
Eve recognized that voice. It was the voice of the Great Mage who was disguised as a frail, silver-haired girl.
This sudden voice seemed completely unaffected by the current situation, as if watching a play, or as if the splashing blood and the severed arm in the air were not real.
It was flippant, helpless, and utterly indifferent.
But the moment she looked at the silver-haired girl, Eve was stunned.
She watched as the silver-haired girl snatched the severed arm out of the air, ignored the blood splattering onto her body, and pressed the limb directly against the wound on her shoulder.
The carriage tilted further. Eve could clearly feel the pull of gravity — both she and the silver-haired girl were now suspended in mid-air.
The next moment, a green radiance burst from the girl’s shoulder —
This was an Intermediate Healing Spell!
But what shocked Eve was not the spell itself, but the fact that this silver-haired girl had cast it so quickly! She had done it without a staff or even an incantation!
Even though it was an intermediate spell, the structure of a healing spell was naturally complex — let alone without external tools, an instantaneous cast was almost impossible!
“Done!”
The moment she reattached the arm, the silver-haired girl pulled Eve into her embrace.
By now, Eve could see the ground approaching.
Eve realized the silver-haired girl wanted to hold her to cushion the impact of the fall, but —
The girl’s body was simply too petite. If anything, it would be better for Eve to hold her to reduce the impact she would take.
‘We can win.’
In this moment, Eve’s fear of the Apostle of the Evil God in the sky vanished without a trace.
As long as this silver-haired girl was here, as long as this Great Mage was by her side, they would surely be able to deal with the Apostle!
Right before hitting the ground, Eve cast a simple Enhancement Magic on the both of them.
The next second, they hit the dirt, and the world began to spin…
***
“Eh ~ is she really that easy to beat? Is that silver-haired little girl really a Great Mage?”
Staring at the ruins of the carriage, the black-robed woman tilted her head slightly. With a casual wave of her hand, she summoned a Mana Slash as if swatting a fly, clearing away the Knight who had drawn his sword to fight.
The screams and the scent of blood caused the remaining knights to freeze in place.
The black-robed woman didn’t care. She continued to stare at the wreckage of the carriage that had carried the Saintess, as if the people she had just crushed were nothing more than ants.
“Still no reaction? Or did I accidentally kill her?”
She spoke airily as she slowly descended to the ground.
The moment the black-robed woman landed, the pressure of her Mana instantly spread out. The swords of several knights immediately slipped from their hands.
They trembled. Some even had their legs give out, collapsing directly onto the ground.
The clanging of armor against swords, the strange cries leaked from pure terror… The black-robed woman frowned and turned slightly, glancing at the knights behind her out of the corner of her eye.
“So noisy ~ noisy insects only have one ending — being killed — “
BOOM!
A fireball slammed into the barrier the black-robed woman kept active around her. The exploding flames drew her gaze back to the Saintess’s carriage.
“Honestly, it’s not a very good habit to interrupt people while they’re talking ~ “
Amidst the shattered carriage, the silver-haired girl stood there, completely unscathed.
“Oh ~ your arm is fine?”
The severed sleeve could not be restored. Beneath the asymmetrical clothing, the girl’s porcelain skin felt like a deliberate emphasis.
‘I can’t see through her.’
The black-robed woman narrowed her eyes.
Earlier, she had seen the severed arm and the crimson blood — but now, that arm was perfectly connected to the silver-haired girl’s body.
This meant the silver-haired girl possessed methods unknown to others.
Yet now, the silver-haired girl not only used the lowest-level Fire Magic for a “sneak attack,” but she also stood by the wreckage full of openings, shielding the Saintess behind her…
Furthermore, there wasn’t the slightest hint of Mana flow or magic activation around her.
What exactly was this girl…
“Hey, you over there. Want to make a deal?”
The moment the silver-haired girl suddenly addressed her, the black-robed woman instinctively intensified her Mana pressure.
The terrifying pressure caused the complexion of the Apprentice Saint behind the girl to turn pale instantly —
But the silver-haired girl didn’t change at all.
“Eh ~ interesting ~ “
The Black God’s Mana, which even magic beasts feared, had zero effect on this silver-haired girl?
Or… was she actually on the Black God’s side too?
“So ~ what kind of deal do you want to make?”
“You want to take the Apprentice Saint behind me, but she’s useful to me too — since that’s the case, let’s not waste our Mana. How about a one-strike showdown?”
‘Hoh? A one-strike showdown?’
The black-robed woman’s eyes snapped wide. Her lips curled upward. The Mana in the air instantly surged toward her, even condensing into a pitch-black wind that tore at everything nearby!
A so-called Great Mage was one who had attained their path by dedicating their entire life to a specific direction — to propose a “one-strike showdown” to a Great Mage was to challenge that person’s “Path”!
‘Such an arrogant opponent! I love it, I’m so happy, I’m so excited!!’
‘I really want to snap her slender limbs and see her face when she’s hovering between life and death!! I want to use magic to torture her constantly while keeping her alive until she admits my Path is the most correct one! Until she praises the Black God from the bottom of her heart!!’
‘And then, I’ll kill her body and her soul, bit by bit!!’
The corners of her mouth pulled back into a crescent grin, stretching almost to the physical limit of a human —
“Since that’s the case ~ then I’ll make the first move ~ “
The moment she spoke, the black wind instantly etched a complex magic circle in mid-air, continuously gathering the Mana from the atmosphere into the formation.
“Tell that Apprentice Saint to step aside. If I don’t control my power well, it could be troublesome ~
Though, don’t think about using her as a shield ~ even as a corpse, she’s still useful to the Black God Church ~ “
Ai’er glanced at Eve. Meeting the Saintess’s worried gaze, she smiled and nodded. Then she turned back, looking at the extremely complex magic circle the black-robed woman had deployed.
Without any panic, Ai’er’s lips curled into a smirk.
Because Ai’er knew —
At this very moment, all the chess pieces were in place.
‘System, is it ready?’
**[Target magic circle analysis complete. Disposable Magic “Shadow of the Witch of Time” — activation conditions met.]**
‘Then let’s give it a try! Let’s see if this magic is more powerful when Elena uses it, or when that person does!’
As she finished her thought, a pitch-black beam of Mana erupted from the woman’s magic circle like a roaring dragon, surging toward Ai’er in an instant —
‘Go, System!’
**[Command confirmed.]**
**[Counterattack begins.]**