The Sword and The Shadow

Instruction

"How can this woman be so strong…" Leguna gulped audibly with disbelief at what he saw.

It hadn't been long since Leguna fought her, so he didn't really know the extent of her power. But after properly witnessing her fight, he now knew that he had only been able to defeat him that day because of a fluke.

Angelista's spell pacing wasn't as spot-on as Annelotte's, but apart from that, Leguna believed that they were evenly matched. Both in terms of the sheer might of their spells and their fine grasp over them in combat, Annelotte wasn't that much better than Angelista.

Leguna had made some rough estimations. Based on his current power, he would only be able to last half an hour fighting Annelotte before ultimately losing. If it was Angelista, he would lose in forty minutes at most without Gahrona's help. The two women were among the most talented magi he had met and even if Angelista was weaker than Annelotte, the gap wasn't wide.

Angelista dictated another frost-resistance barrier on herself. The winter wight truly deserved its reputation as the strongest undead creature. While it hadn't managed to damage Angelista's coattails yet, the sheer frost it exuded caused Angelista to use three level-four barrier spells to resist the cold. The slightest mistake could end her life instantly against such a monster.

"Well, let's see the power of the only magus in Darklight that stands a chance of making it to the myth realm…" Sol muttered.

The wisest move was to take out Angelista as soon as possible and serve House Elvin. After all, high-order magi were in short supply. Having one of them in the house would shift the power balance considerably.

However, that didn't even occur to Sol. He didn't have much power remaining and if he truly tried to kill her, she would no doubt attack his real body instead of going after the wight. It wouldn't be fun that way.

So, the only thing he could do now was to prove his value to House Elvin and surrender after they acknowledged him.

Currently, House Andalir was effectively down. To continue to survive in an insidious place like Darklight, Sol had to prove his worth and power to ensure that he would be kept alive. This winter wight was his final trump card.

And while joining House Elvin wasn't the best path he could take, it was still better than losing his life.

Though the space around the castle wasn't that large, Angelista still managed to put some distance between herself and the wight with a flight spell. Her lips then flapped like a hummingbird's wings as she spat out seven to eight syllables in quick succession as she made hand sigils. She then dictated a level-one spell that even magi apprentice knew how to use -- an oil spell.

What made her actions even harder to understand was how she used the spell on the wight itself instead of targeting the ground around it.

"Fool!" Sol couldn't help but spit. Did Angelista panic and failed to choose the right target?

The oil spell did nothing to the wight itself. Was she trying to cover it in oil to make it slip? How laughable! The wight had the power of frost. It could easily freeze the oil into solids, rendering that tactic useless.

[Hey… is this really going to work?] Angelista asked. This was one of her soulgrasper abilities. She could form a mental connection with another person and converse even from far away.

[Just focus on your spells.] The other female voice sounded really cold and calm, as if she wasn't perturbed by this situation at all.

[Oh, alright…] she could only say.

[Continue. Make more distance and keep using oil spells,] the voice instructed.

[Huh? You can't be trying to make a fool out of me, are you?]

[Just do as I say. Don't forget who got you out of Andalir the last time.] The voice didn't seem unhappy about being doubted at all.

[Urgh… Fine! I'll listen to you!] Angelista grit her teeth hard and obeyed.

While Angelista's personality was hard to grasp, one thing was for sure. She desperately wanted to stay alive and she knew the best way to deal with the wight was to run. But if she did so, she'd be hunted down by both houses. So, her only option was to face it. If she was to win, she would have to listen to the voice without complaint.

Soon, all the dark elves watched as Angelista circled around the wight while tossing oil spells on it nonstop in annoyance.

[Hey, my mana is running out!] Angelista had covered the winter wight in a thick layer of oil.

[Is it fully oiled?] asked the voice.

[Yes! But it's useless, it's far too powerful! This can't affect its speed at all! I almost got caught by it!]

[Good. Shoot two fireballs to the feet of the wight,] the voice ordered, [If possible, use the strengthen and heighten effectiveness spellmutations on them. Make sure to be accurate. A soulgrasper like you should have no problem guiding the spell to hit the target. You must be quick. The dimensional anchor is wearing out. If the wight regains the ability to teleport, you'll be done for!]

While Angelista almost fainted from the difficult task she had just been given, she seemed to start to understand what the voice was going for.

She dictated rapidly with a crazed-out look. While the wight was only tens of meters away from her, she didn't show any fear. She focused all her efforts to form the first fireball.

[Good, now the second one! Be accurate! If you can't slow it down, you'll be in danger!]

[I don't need you to remind me! And don't look down on me! I'm a high-order magus too!] Angelista showed her dissatisfaction by intensifying her emotions through the mental link.

After the first fireball was launched, Angelista's dark face paled somewhat. She hurriedly gathered her mana once more. This kind of intense effort caused her eyes to glow silver, a trademark of her soul powers.

In the next instant, she launched her second fireball. This fireball also had two spellmutation enhancements.

[You instant cast the fireball?] the voice asked with surprise. But before waiting for her reply, she came to her own conclusion. [Now, it's soul power. Congratulations on obtaining a new ability.]

This was another special ability soulgraspers had. They could instant-cast spells without having to suffer the quadruple mana cost. The time between consecutive instant casts would depend on their own pool of soul power. Angelista's current level meant that she could only use it once a day.

[Hehe! I told you to not look down on me! I'm not much weaker than you. To celebrate my improvement, I'll go at it hard with Cydek!]

[……]`

[No, I'll get two more lowly males and have a blast with all of them at once!] Angelista said, thining that her previous thought wouldn't be enough to satisfy her.

Boom, boom!

The two fireballs struck the winter wight's legs. While the wight was extremely cool, the enhanced fireballs didn't let up. They managed to injure the legs and cause the wight to move even more sluggishly.

But that wasn't the most important point. The key lay in the layers of oil the wight was covered in. After the fireballs struck, it began to burn.

The wight screeched as it crawled desperately towards Angelista.

However, she didn't panic and watched the burning creature with a smile. The undead creature slowed down and when it was only 15 meters away from Angelista, Sol couldn't take it any longer. He used what remained of his mana and took the wight back into his necromantic pocket dimension.

"It was a magnificent duel, Miss Angelista," Sol said with a gloomy look.
"It was my loss."

"Haha, that was a given!" she said shamelessly with her hands on her hips. Defeating a winter wight was an amazing feat. In some sense, it was like managing to defeat a saint or myth-realm expert. Everyone looked at her with shock as if she was the real monster. Brani, on the other hand, looked all the more satisfied and greedy for her.

[So? Are you willing to come with me now?]

While Angelista seemed rather straightforward with the win, she knew she wouldn't be able to do so without the voice's help. The flippant dark elf mulled it over and nodded. [Alright, I will!]

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