Deadlock

Dunkel.

The balcony of the Glück residence.

Lecktirei nudged Dunkel, who was asleep on the table, and called out softly.

Dunkel woke up quickly, sat up straight, and adjusted his monocle.

"... Sorry, it seems I accidentally fell asleep."

Lecktirei crossed her arms and looked at Dunkel was dressed impeccably, with a smile.

After observing for a moment, he asked softly, "That medal, is it to recognize your achievements? Congratulations!"

Dunkel subconsciously touched the medal on his chest, nodded, and said:

"Yes, but what I received was not just this medal, but also an enormous fortune that is unimaginable to us border nobles."

"With these, you won't die..."

At this point, Dunkel paused, stopped speaking, and looked at the smiling, energetic Lecktirei.

Lecktirei tilted her head and looked at Dunkel: "... What's wrong?"

Dunkel paused for a moment, gave a wry smile, and removed the medal from his chest.

"... So, it was just a dream..."

Dunkel placed the medal on the table, his tone apologetic, as if explaining to Lecktirei, or perhaps talking to himself.

"I still vividly remember the day I received this medal."

"At that moment, I felt that all my hard work had paid off, and I originally planned to rush back to Weise the next morning."

"However, on the night of the award ceremony, I received your obituary."

"Lecktirei, I couldn't even see you one last time."

Lecktirei stared at Dunkel for a moment, then turned to look at Weise outside on the balcony.

After a moment of silence, Dunkel picked up the medal again.

"I haven't worked this hard for this medal, nor for the money."

At this point, Dunkel paused, looked up at Lecktirei's retreating figure, and said, word by word:

"... Even if it's just in my dreams, seeing you one last time would be enough for me."

Lecktirei turned around, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Finally?"

Dunkel lowered his head again and explained, "I lost to Macht."

"The gap in strength between us is too great. Even though I haven't slacked off in my cultivation for the past half-century, I still haven't been able to defeat it."

So what?

Dunkel looked up at Lecktirei.

Lecktirei said with a serious expression, "From childhood to adulthood, I've lost count of how many times you've lost to it."

But you never gave up.

Dunkel: "... That was all practice before."

Lecktirei chuckled and said:

"At least the Dunkel I know, even when faced with dire straits, will struggle ugly until the very last moment."

Dunkel froze, staring blankly at Lecktirei.

Solitär's face darkened, and she snorted coldly, saying, "I asked you to answer my question, not to ask me one!"

Rienta looked at Solitär with a serious expression.

This nameless great Demons already possessed astonishing Mana.

After transforming, it actually became much stronger.

With the Mana recovery speed provided by [Primordial Source], he can quickly increase his Mana density by compressing his own Mana.

After all, there's no need to spend time specifically restoring Mana.

However, this process still takes time.

There's no opportune time to open a domain now; Solitär won't give him that opportunity.

Because of Solitär's ability to influence wills, it's estimated that Fern and Stark will also find it difficult to offer any help in this battle.

As Rienta pondered a solution, a beam of Mana energy from the sky suddenly struck Solitär.

At the same time, Stark also appeared in his [Detection Magic].

They are rushing this way at top speed.

Solitär clutched her blood-stained shoulder and looked in the direction from which the beam of Mana had come.

It knew that the beam of Mana came from the purple-haired girl, Fern.

Its extremely fast casting speed left a deep impression on it.

Previously, even when Fern's attacks successfully hit, they couldn't cause any effective damage.

Due to its immense Mana interference, a normal [Zoltraak] will dissipate on its own when it rushes in front of it.

But this time, the Mana beam from Fern successfully injured it.

Seeing this, Rienta chuckled and stopped worrying about it.

He cast a [Magic That Heals Everything] on himself, and his mind immediately cleared, the strange thoughts vanishing in an instant.

He then charged forward with a knife and sword, engaging Solitär in close combat.

Ever since he discovered that Solitär's magic was similar to his own, he subconsciously began to see himself as the main attacker.

Aside from casting the [Rho Aias] on Stark, they have been engaged in direct combat ever since.

But.

He's not a soldier.

He is not simply a magician.

His original ability was [the Magic That Heals Everything].

In other words, he now has only one task: to fulfill the duties of Priest.

The main attacker was Fern had also discovered that compressed Mana could injure Solitär.

In the forest.

The clanging and clashing of metal echoed incessantly.

Interspersed among them were bursts of clear, crisp bell sounds.

The sky was filled with swords and blades summoned by the human and the demon.

Black streaks of light, purple lightning, and white phantoms intertwined.

After Rienta and Solitär exchanged nearly a hundred blows, Stark also arrived on the battlefield.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a scene.

So I stood there in a daze for a long time.

After Rienta seized the opportunity to rush towards the [Rho Aias] for him, she continued to apply pressure to Solitär from time to time, just like before.

On the battlefield.

Rienta focused on two things at once: maintaining her offensive pace to create scoring opportunities for Fern, and constantly monitoring Stark's condition.

This situation has persisted for a long time.

Solitär is a very experienced fighter; despite being surrounded by three people, she has only suffered minor injuries so far.

Moreover, the minor injuries were repaired by the black light at an extremely fast speed.

Rienta was getting anxious, because if this continued, it would be a protracted battle.

[Golden Land] has not yet been lifted, which means that Lady Frieren's side has not yet determined a winner, so she cannot come to their aid.

For the first time, Rienta felt she was missing a powerful spell.

No, it's magic that can end a battle with a single blow.

Normally, a combination of [Ordinary Offensive Magic] or [Projection Magic] + [Shadow-Driving Magic] is more than enough when facing Demons.

But Solitär is different.

Not only is it proficient in human Defensive Magic, but it is also unaffected by being pierced through the heart.

Fern's earlier attack had made Solitär very wary.

The priority throughout the battle was always defense.

They were given no chance whatsoever; the injuries they sustained earlier were the result of Stark struggle.

Rienta himself wanted to emulate Stark, but because his [Intangibility] had been exposed, Solitär gave him no chance at all.

"This can't go on."

Rienta frowned. He himself was fine; his Mana was not being consumed in much way.

However, it seems that Stark's stamina and Fern's Mana won't last much longer.

Especially Fern.

She was consistently using compressed Mana [Ordinary Offensive Magic] from extremely long distances.

This is absolutely not how magicians should fight!