Since her previous shield buff was on the verge of collapsing, Elliris constantly observed and analyzed the Troll Warlord’s next move. She kept one hand behind her back, secretly using [Chanting Acceleration] to refresh her [Holy Prayer: Shield].
With a shield, Elliris felt full of security; without one, she was a nervous wreck.
To be honest, seeing her shield—which accounted for nearly 30% of her health—shattered by a single strike gave her a clear glimpse of the troll’s true strength.
“Roar!!”
The [Ice Block] magic the Troll Warlord had unleashed earlier had forced Elliris to move. Now that he was casting a new spell, the effects of [Light Binding] had worn off. He let out a furious howl, preparing a new offensive.
The Troll Warlord slowed his pace and slammed his spiked mace into the ground.
Across the sandy floor of the coliseum, ice-blue runes began to flow, gradually freezing the earth. A chill cold enough to freeze the surrounding structures began to emanate from him. This was his domain skill.
[Domain of Rime]!
Sensing something was wrong, Elliris immediately activated [Identification Eye]. In solo combat, she had to pay attention to everything. This was no longer just a trial; in a sense, it was a rapidly changing simulated battlefield.
***
[Domain of Rime: The Frost Troll Warlord’s Inherent Barrier. His magical and physical resistances are significantly increased. Domain Effects: Greatly reduces enemy movement speed, greatly increases self-movement speed, and extends the casting time of enemy incantation magic.]
[Frost Troll Warlord]
Level: 55
HP: 7430
MP: 1945
(Effect Active: Physical and Magic resistances significantly increased)
***
It had been far too long since Elliris had participated in a boss raid without a frontline. For a glass-cannon mage with high attack but paper-thin defense to face a melee character who could dash into her face and open with a domain, the situation was extremely dire.
The moment the troll activated his domain, the temperature was sucked out of the air within 50 yards. A howling cold wind, carrying the Troll Warlord’s roar, swept toward her.
The large butterfly ornament on Elliris’s wizard hat fluttered violently in the freezing wind. She had no choice but to launch a probing attack, praying her shield wouldn’t be destroyed by a single hit.
To be honest, since her close call in the Deep Swamp, she had always been surrounded by people protecting her. Even when she encountered danger, she only suffered light scratches and never truly lost health.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid now, but she still had an ace up her sleeve. She was by no means a delicate flower in a greenhouse, nor was she a pushover.
Elliris raised her hand and began to condense magic power. A fireball compressed to the size of a fist formed, containing three times the mana of a standard small fireball.
She had started to freely control the mana ratio of her fire magic, adjusting it to the optimal form for various types of combat. These results were naturally the fruit of her diligent daily study of magic books.
After stacking [Chanting Acceleration], Elliris quickly hurled the completed fireball at the Troll Warlord. However, as the fireball reached the edge of the warlord’s body, it let out a *sizzle*, sounding exactly like fire being extinguished by water.
“A little God Race girl’s flames dare to act so insolently before the Domain of Rime?”
The warlord’s coarse roar displayed his arrogance. Elliris knew this was because his magic resistance had spiked within the domain. An attack of that level couldn’t even break his defense.
“Tch!” Elliris was about to put some distance between herself and the warlord when she felt a chill at her feet. Ice crystals had already climbed up her ankles. As her movement speed plummeted, the air around her felt as if it were freezing solid, making every breath feel like inhaling ice shards.
‘Is this… [Freeze]? But it’s so much more powerful than Nino’s. This is bad…’
While Elliris was still stunned by the power of the Troll Warlord’s [Freeze], she found herself almost unable to walk. Behind her, the warlord had already charged forward, swinging his ice-encrusted spiked mace. His right hand was building power, intending to smash Elliris’s face with the next blow.
Through her [Identification Eye], Elliris already knew his next move. She knew she had to act, or the consequences would be unthinkable.
Driven by a survival reflex, Elliris jerked her body to the side. The giant spiked mace grazed her clothes and slammed into the ground, kicking up a spray of shattered ice shards.
The gust of air from the weapon’s impact blew the wizard hat off her head, sending her long, cherry-white hair fluttering in the wind. Her clothes were torn by the sharp air pressure of the attack. Even though her arm was only grazed, it left behind several bloody gashes that carried a biting chill.
[Elliris]
HP: 3550/3850
MP: 8415/10145
(Shield Destroyed. Status: Frostbite)
The pain of the frostbite made Elliris groan. With her shield shattered, the tide of victory seemed to have turned toward the Troll Warlord.
“You’ve got some skill, God Race brat. Since I can’t freeze you, I’ll just beat you into meat paste!” The troll wanted to follow up his victory; his bloodlust was surging! He was single-mindedly focused on turning Elliris into Elliris-jam~
This was bad! She had to change her strategy immediately!
Elliris’s gaze sharpened as she pushed her Divine Mark to the limit. Unlike before, this release caused her forehead to glow with a brilliant golden light.
This was the manifestation of a God Race Divine Mark overlimit. Once successful, every spell Elliris used would possess power far exceeding her previous limits.
[Light Binding]!
This [Light Binding] wouldn’t be like the last one, which had given the Troll Warlord enough room to use skills. Elliris utilized the power of her broken-through Divine Mark to further enhance the control and immobilization effects.
While maintaining the control over the Troll Warlord with her Divine Mark, she began chanting a high-level spell with both hands, truly performing two tasks at once.
Images of blazing thunder and exploding flames flickered in front of her staff. Once the incantation ended, she pushed a mass of concentrated fire and lightning toward the immobilized warlord.
The two elements collided violently, exploding on the spot. The air was filled with the sharp scent of ozone from the lightning and the scorched smell of the flames.
[Blazing Thunder Blast]! MP -350
Frost Troll Warlord: HP -2658!
Even though the Troll Warlord had increased his magic resistance, the fire-lightning hybrid spell still struck his weakness to the fire element, dealing massive extra damage!
“Ugh…” The warlord let out a low growl of pain. Though he was still being forcibly suppressed by the absolute mechanics of [Light Binding], he didn’t seem ready to give up.
Was it going to end that easily? Was Mr. Troll truly at his wit’s end?
As long as she maintained her rhythm of mid-tier fire magic and dealt effective damage, she could continue to wear him down. He was a sitting duck now. Even with increased physical and magical resistances, even the toughest turtle shell would eventually crack if struck repeatedly. Elliris was not far from the day that shell would shatter.
However, a troll who had fought in the Northern Snowfield for years and once ruled as a local king must have had some extraordinary survival method.
‘Is it just regeneration, you bastard!’ Elliris quickly noticed that the charred wounds on the Troll Warlord’s body from the fire-lightning magic were slowly healing at a visible rate.
Elliris bit her lower lip, her brow furrowed. She couldn’t hesitate. The energy from her Divine Mark wouldn’t last much longer. She had to use *that*.
That move had an 80% chance of skill backlash. It was a “do or die” technique that could only be used with absolute resolve. If Elliris fell unconscious and no one was there to help her, she would be in real trouble.
If this move didn’t finish off the Troll Warlord, things would be truly disastrous.
In her mother’s warnings, the Trials of God in the Gila Temple were no joke. Losing one’s life was a common occurrence. Every God Race Saintess of the past had to endure the tests of destiny from the past and future here. Those who were eliminated simply meant that the Saintess of that generation had failed the trial and was unworthy of becoming the future High Priestess.
…
She couldn’t let it end here! Sophia was surely undergoing a trial of no less difficulty on the Second Continent.
She quickly backed away dozens of meters. A giant magic circle began to emerge beneath her feet, and the temperature rose eerily as mana converged.
An unusual golden-red flame rose from her palms, with purple lightning bolts dancing and winding through the fire like living snakes.
The low-level lightning magic, boosted by the composite magic effect, evolved into high-level lightning to deliver a coordinated strike.
Thunderbolts descended from the coliseum’s sky, striking the warlord. After a complex 1-minute incantation, a massive sphere of fire was pushed forward by Elliris, generating a violent explosion that shot halfway into the sky at the center of the arena.
“Mr. Troll, I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry.”
[Thunder Incineration Hex]! MP -1000
(Skill backlash triggered: Caster is about to fall unconscious)
The remaining health of the Frost Troll Warlord was instantly emptied by this explosion, which felt like it belonged to a girl from the Crimson Demon Clan. A deep crater appeared where he had stood.
However, Elliris’s vision went dark, and she collapsed to the side…
After an unknown amount of time, Elliris woke up with a severe headache. She felt like a drunkard who was about to black out.
“I can’t let my guard down yet… [Dispel Disease]!”
A warm light of healing magic gently removed her negative status. She began to reassess her current situation.
The coliseum had not disappeared, the mist at the ceiling had not dissipated, and the tension in the air had not lessened.
Why? …Wait, could it be!
‘Is there another big guy?!’ A magic circle in front of her began to glow again. This time, it was an eight-pointed star. A dense surge of necromantic energy emanated from its center. The moment the circle activated, Elliris felt a wave of physical nausea.
‘The eight-pointed star looks like some common patterns from certain doctrines, but wait! Whatever comes out this time is definitely going to be a tough nut to crack…’
Elliris frowned, her eyes flickering. Not much time had passed since the last battle, and her mana consumption had already exceeded one-third.
In this area, there seemed to be a restriction against using alchemical potions. Before entering the coliseum, she had noticed that the items she carried had vanished.
As one wave settled, another rose. What kind of hardships and obstacles were waiting for Elliris next?