Celes was the first to swing her sword, slashing through the moonlit glow and blowing off the ceiling of the Ruined Temple, to avoid being trapped inside and surrounded.
Six Gifted Siren Priests appeared next, arriving from beyond the Phase, their bodies shimmering with rippling water-light.
But the moment they touched the real world, the water-light faded and their forms shifted from hazy to solid.
The girls could now see their true appearances.
The Fish Priest was basically a giant, upright fish with four limbs like an amphibian, looking incredibly strong.
The Barbed Priest, on the other hand, resembled a massive jellyfish.
Since its supporting legs were hidden among its tendrils, it seemed to float in the air.
The Naga Priestess looked much like the other Nagas outside, except her serpent tail was even larger, and her scales were more ornate.
As for the remaining three Priests, their true forms were a frog, a crab, and a shrimp.
The last two had bodies that were mostly human-like, except for the thick shells on their backs, like portable fortresses.
While observing, Ella analyzed with Vina, “Look at them—I’d guess the fish and the frog are warriors, the crab and the shrimp are heavy infantry, and the jellyfish and snake are mages.”
But the Little Witch shot her a look, “What are you analyzing that for?”
“Should I not be analyzing?”
Just then, the Naga Priestess launched the first attack.
The fins on her arms suddenly spread, forming the shape of a crossbow.
With her other hand, she drew the bow and nocked an arrow—a blue-green Magic Arrow shot forth.
Whoosh—crack!
The Sword Saint Maiden struck with a single swing, slicing it clean in half at the waist.
The brief first round ended.
Not only were the girls stunned—even the other Priests couldn’t help but cast questioning glances.
Wait, you…
“Sorry, I’m still not used to this,” the Naga Priestess gurgled, “Suddenly having this much power…”
“Go all out!” the Fish Priest roared at her, “Or you’ll die tonight!”
As if going all out would save her from dying tonight?
The Naga Priestess secretly grumbled to herself, drew the bow again, but this time didn’t fire right away.
She pulled the string and gathered strength, making the blue-green arrow thicken and grow.
Screee—pop!
A barrage of icicles burst from the Little Witch’s hand, stabbing directly into the Naga Priestess’s arm.
She cried out in pain, her fin-bow forced to retract, and the blue-green glow of the Magic Arrow fizzled out.
After all that charging, the shot was interrupted before it could even fire.
The Fish Priest flew into another rage, but not at her—this time at the Crab Priest and Shrimp Priest: “What are you two standing around for? Cover her!”
“They’re having trouble coordinating,” Ella continued her calm analysis, “And they’re not very familiar with their own strength.”
In contrast, back during the Battle of the Forest, the Hero Squad’s teamwork was textbook-perfect.
“What are you still talking for? Enough chatter!”
Vina shot her another glare, “Hurry up!” Ella blinked in confusion.
Hurry up with what?
On the Priests’ side, their clumsy teamwork began to improve under the Fish Priest’s strict command.
The shrimp and crab shielded the Naga with their heavy shells—neither icicle nor fireball could break through, letting her finally fire off her first charged arrow.
At the same time, the giant jellyfish’s barbed tendrils shot at Celes, harassing her in every way and keeping her from interfering head-on.
Whoosh—!
A thick blue-green beam flashed just above Ella’s head.
It wasn’t that the Naga Priestess had bad aim—Ella had ducked at the last possible second, barely dodging the dangerous charged arrow.
Though she’d lost her powerful body, her close-combat instincts still remained.
But that didn’t matter now.
What mattered was—Ella finally realized something: why is everyone targeting me?
“Ah!!!”
A sudden scream came from the flank.
The Barbed Priest staggered back, several tendrils severed by a sword, translucent liquid spraying from the wounds like blood.
When the Sword Saint Maiden and the Barbed Priest trembled, the speed of Celes’s sword suddenly shot up, catching the Priest off guard.
“How did you get so fast?!”
Celes didn’t answer.
In fact, after the fight at the workshop entrance a few days ago, she’d realized the difficulty of facing these kinds of enemies—her Sword Aura was too slow to catch Priests who could slip into the Nether Interstice.
Since she couldn’t attack the Nether Interstice, the girl chose another path: speed, and nothing but speed.
[Secret Technique: Beehum]
The silver-white Knight Longsword struck repeatedly, its tip stinging like a bee, leaving behind a trail of Sword Aura like a scattering of stars.
“Ah!”
Losing a few more tendrils, the Barbed Priest spewed out a cloud of ink, using the recoil to retreat sharply to the edge of the battlefield.
And Celes?
Celes simply… sheathed her sword and withdrew to stand beside the pink-haired thunder-girl.
Seeing this, Ella nearly closed her eyes.
Why are you coming back? Keep charging—weren’t you doing great?
Stranger still, seeing their behavior, the Fish Priest erupted in rage again: “Damn it! Who told you to retreat? You let her go back!”
Let her?
A warm Holy Light fell on Ella, making her sigh in relief—then she froze.
Why are you healing me?
I’m not fighting—heal the front line!
As the frontliner, Celes swung her Knight Sword to block incoming arrows for the girl, turning to say:
“Don’t worry about the Chant. I won’t let them interrupt you.”
This time, Ella really did close her eyes.
So that’s it—the teammates fell for it too!
She could only press her hands together and pretend to recite a spell:
“Hakimi nanbei mung bean, ashi ga na me ru do”
Zero, do it now!
***
Nether Interstice, Temple of Yore.
With all six Gifted Priests dispatched, only five ordinary Priests remained here.
Two of them clustered near the Altar, trying to watch the battle outside in real time.
“How’s it going, ribbit?”
“Still fighting, but they haven’t broken through their defenses. How could Lord Barbed flee in the middle of battle?”
“She’s still chanting. Don’t let her finish, ribbit!”
“Naga’s slacking off again. Lord Fish really should put more pressure on her.”
The other three Priests who didn’t go up stood nearby—not because they were being dutiful, but because there were only two spots by the Altar.
At that moment, the Priest at the very back rubbed its neck.
“Why do I feel a chill? Something’s not right—did you guys notice anything?”
The two Priests by the Altar ignored it.
Only someone behind replied, “Maybe it’s because this place is all water, with cold wind blowing through. Damp and windy always feels chilly.”
“Yeah, that’s just how it is here.”
The Priest nodded instinctively, thinking nothing of it.
What could possibly be wrong?
Only, there was one tiny problem—he was standing at the very back, so who was speaking behind him?
He touched his neck again. It wasn’t cold anymore, nor did it hurt.
He couldn’t feel anything at all.
A head dropped quietly to the ground.
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