Yuri left the battlefield very quickly, which included finding a hiding spot in the shadows afterward.
She had likely hidden herself well before Pegum brought his people over.
However, when Pegum arrived near the battlefield, he didn’t look at the knights who were fighting the Abyssal monsters. Instead, he looked toward the place where she was hiding.
Hmm?
Was she discovered?
Because he was a mage, was he perhaps releasing perception magic and sensed her presence?
Yuri held her breath. The knights over there were almost at their limit; Pegum probably wouldn’t ignore them and run over here just to find her, right?
Therefore, Yuri had reason to believe that the other party might have only sensed someone crouching there and merely cast a glancing look. He wouldn’t leave the group just to confirm her presence here.
Even if Pegum really intended to come over, Yuri could leave before he arrived.
She rubbed her aching left arm. If she pushed herself, she should be able to use it once or twice more. So, what choice would Pegum ultimately make?
In the next second, Pegum withdrew his gaze. He didn’t even send a single knight over to check the situation.
It seemed he still prioritized the bigger picture.
Perhaps looking this way earlier was simply because he felt something and wanted to confirm it.
Maybe he found that she wasn’t dangerous, so he ignored her afterward?
That was the most likely possibility.
Since she didn’t have to worry about someone coming for her, Yuri could stay here and watch Pegum’s every move.
After all, based on the information she currently had, Pegum likely had a certain connection to the Abyss. Since he was a member of the City Lord’s Manor, his every move could represent the City Lord’s intentions.
What he did next would become very important.
Thinking that they might have to fight in the future, now was a great opportunity to understand his strength.
Come on, let her see just what kind of strength this Pegum, whom the knights regarded as a savior, actually possessed.
The knights who came with Pegum quickly joined the fight against the Abyssal monsters. Pegum, however, just stood in place without moving, as if the blackwood staff in his hand was nothing more than a fire poker.
Doing nothing—was it because he believed those knights were capable of handling the seemingly endless stream of Abyssal monsters, and he only needed to be responsible for commanding?
After a while, when the battle fell into a stalemate, Pegum moved.
He raised the blackwood staff in his hand, and a smear of crimson emerged from it.
Even from a distance, Yuri could still feel an extremely strong sense of pressure.
If things went wrong, something very terrifying was about to happen.
The moment that smear of crimson appeared, a low and eerie vibration quickly spread across the battlefield.
With that crimson light as the center, dark red ripples spread out like waves. Wherever the ripples passed, complex magical patterns emerged on the ground. Those patterns were like blood vessels, constantly winding and crawling across the floor.
The patterns spread very quickly, covering the entire battlefield in just a few dozen seconds.
“Iris, what is that?”
Yuri had never seen magic of this level before. At most, she had seen some area-of-effect magic with decent lethality, such as an ice storm or a lightning strike within a certain area, but she had never seen magic like this.
“It looks a bit strange, but he should be trying to complete a massive magic circle.”
After floating in the air to see the full view of those patterns, Iris immediately made a judgment.
“The moment the magic circle is finished will be the moment the magic is released. To include an entire battlefield within the range of a magic circle requires extremely high demands for both the intensity and the precise control of mana. If one step is wrong, or if the mana in the body isn’t enough to support the completion of that huge formation, all previous efforts will be wasted.”
Hearing Iris’s explanation, a flash of surprise crossed Yuri’s eyes.
She had a feeling that something big was about to happen.
However, the knights were still within the range of the magic circle. Was he sure he wouldn’t accidentally injure his own people later?
“It’s coming. Yuri, you have to watch closely.”
The moment those words fell, Pegum completed the drawing of the final pattern. As soon as the magic circle was finished, Yuri noticed that the floor beneath the battlefield lit up with a crimson color like fresh blood. Then, scarlet threads crawled out from the floor, quickly entangling the bodies of the monsters.
At first, there was no change in the monsters’ bodies, and they didn’t notice that something had trapped them.
But soon, when the threads completely wrapped around one monster’s body, Yuri noticed that the monster’s body suddenly stiffened.
It opened its mouth, seemingly wanting to let out a roar, but no sound could be made. Next, as if the moisture in its body had been drained, its body shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few seconds, that monster turned into a small pile of black dust and scattered with the wind.
He killed it just like that?
It wasn’t just that one. The moment the magic circle lit up, countless threads precisely entangled the bodies of the monsters. Within a short time, the bodies of the monsters within the circle withered one after another.
The knights swung their weapons, accelerating the deaths of those monsters.
In this way, the originally deadlocked battlefield turned into a one-sided situation because of Pegum’s magic.
“So… so powerful.”
If Yuri could use magic of this intensity herself, then maybe she wouldn’t have needed to borrow Iris’s power when dealing with the Abyssal nest that day.
“Hmm… it’s average.”
Iris made her evaluation once again.
“But for the current Yuri, it’s already quite enough. How about it? Is the power of magic beyond your imagination?”
Looking at everything happening before her, Yuri nodded gently. All along, she truly hadn’t seen genuinely powerful magic, and since she couldn’t use magic herself, she had indeed somewhat neglected its importance.
However, looking toward the battlefield, even though the glowing magic circle affected her vision, Yuri still noticed that the monsters killed by the threads hadn’t actually died.
Before their bodies completely collapsed, some black slime seeped out from the shriveled corpses, which quickly permeated into the ground after dripping down.
Those Abyssal monsters hadn’t truly died; they had only temporarily returned to the Abyss, waiting for the next attack after they recovered.
Although magic was indeed useful and the efficiency of killing monsters was very fast, it seemed unable to completely kill the Abyss.
This only stalled this particular Abyssal offensive. It was ultimately a temporary fix that didn’t treat the root cause. Not long after, the Abyss would make a comeback and attack Iron Anvil City once again, until the moment Iron Anvil City was completely breached.
“It is indeed powerful, but it’s still a bit lacking when it comes to dealing with the Abyss.”
“That’s just a problem with that guy. If it were Yuri casting the spell, you might be able to wipe out all those monsters.”
The little evil god put her hands on her hips, looking very proud.
“So Yuri just needs to learn well from me. Wanting to reach his level won’t be a problem at all.”