Battle

Lichta remained silent. He placed one hand on the ground and skillfully cast a spell.

Boom--

The ground roared with a dull thud. Hundreds of meters of ground, like the spine of a giant beast, violently ripped through the earth, carrying up grass and gravel, instantly dividing the battlefield in two. Smoke and dust filled the air, blocking the view of Frieren and Duncan on one side, and also sealing off Lichta, Rabiñe, and Kanne on the other.

"Tsk!" Rabiñe clicked her tongue, and almost the instant the earthen wall rose, she made her move. She pointed her staff forward, and the moisture in the air rapidly condensed, turning into a dozen ice arrows that shimmered with cold air, shooting towards Lichta with a sharp whooshing sound.

"Ice Arrow Release Magic!"

Lichta didn't even move his feet, but kept his hands pressed against the ground. The ground in front of him rose up and formed a solid rock shield. The ice arrows hit the rock wall with a "crackling" sound and shattered completely, leaving only some white marks and splashes of ice crystals on the surface.

"Too weak." Lichta said calmly, as if stating an objective fact.

Kanne tried to manipulate the surrounding water elementals, but the parched land rendered her almost powerless. She could only hold her staff horizontally in front of her, desperately constructing Honeycomb-Shaped Defensive Magic Barrier to protect herself and Rabiñe behind her, blocking the earth and Earth and Stone Attacks fired by Lichta.

"Who told you to be so arrogant?" Lichta shook her head, watching their futile efforts. "I sensed their true abilities beforehand. Ice Magic mage lacking offensive power, Water Magic mage practically useless without water... What kind of job did that old man Duncan assign me? He's truly a master at soothing children."

"You dare to say that!" Rabiñe retorted defiantly, casually tapping the protruding rock wall in front of her, affected by Lichta's magic, with the end of her staff, producing a dull "thump-thump" sound. "You used such fancy magic, yet you... can you even maintain your magic power?"

She tried to provoke the other person with words, looking for an opening.

Lichta scoffed, completely unmoved. "Judging by your badges, you're all from the Continental Magic Academy, aren't you? What, are those old fogies still teaching a war of attrition centered on Defensive Magic?"

Far away at the Continental United Academy Faruzan suddenly sneezed, rubbed her nose, and looked at the clear sky outside the window in confusion. "Who's talking about me, senior?"

While maintaining his Defensive Magic, Kanne asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Let me give you a brief overview of the history of magic," Lichta said leisurely, as if she were truly lecturing. "Defensive Magic developed to counter Killing Magic, while possessing strong resistance to magic itself, offers almost no change in its defensive capabilities against Matter compared to before. There's a clear reason for this—because this Defensive Magic is sufficient to withstand the Ordinary Attacks of most mages and warriors."

He paused, then continued, "Secondly, Defensive Magic cannot break through existing limitations. The more perfect the defense, the more complex the spellcasting becomes, leading to slower casting speeds, which is fatal in actual combat. The history of magic is the history of attack and defense; therefore, modern offensive magic primarily focuses on manipulating matter. Do you understand what I mean?"

Before he could finish speaking, his hand pressed down on the ground again.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ground trembled violently, and several thick Earth Pillars, like giant pythons, suddenly rose from beneath Rabiñe and Kanne's feet! Their speed was several times faster than before!

Kanne almost instinctively swung his staff, and a semi-transparent, honeycomb-shaped defensive barrier instantly unfolded in front of him.

"No! Kanne! Get away!" Rabiñe tried to grab Kanne's arm and use Flight Magic to break free.

But it was too late.

Although the Defensive Magic had taken shape, the pure physical power contained within the Earth Pillars far exceeded the Defensive Magic's tolerance limit to energy impacts. The barrier shattered instantly like glass, and the two were violently thrown back by the enormous impact, their staffs slipping from their hands and rolling to the ground.

Lichta looked at the two coughing on the ground, her tone still calm. "My magic relies on the overwhelming mass attack caused by matter. Alright, just let them sleep; it's better for everyone."

Rabiñe struggled to get up, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Lichta frowned. "Please, I don't have a penchant for torturing people. Or do you really want to die?"

Rabiñe, panting, looked up, a mixture of resentment and slyness on his face. "Hmph... Is it alright to approach so casually, old man? The human body is 60%... water, you know? Aren't you afraid your blood will boil out and you'll die? How terrifying!"

She was trying to bluff, implying that Kanne might still have a chance to strike.

Lichta, upon hearing this, scoffed as if she'd heard a joke, "So what? Magic is just a world of imagination. Can you precisely imagine how water is distributed in the human body? Can you imagine how to extract and manipulate it with fine precision? What would you do against a mage tightly protected by their own magic? What cannot be imagined cannot be achieved through magic."

He walked to a protruding rock and sat down, looking down at them. "Besides, even if there were water here, a little girl like you with your control over Water Magic wouldn't pose a threat to me. Save your breath."

Rabiñe spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "Blustering doesn't work... you wretched adult. However, I have realized something."

"Oh?"

"If you really enjoy this condescending, didactic fighting style," Rabiñe stared at him, "You should have taken us down fair and square when there's water. You chose to fight here... are you afraid? Afraid that Kanne can actually do something to you when there's water?"

Lichta paused for a moment, then waved her hand. "... Hmph, behave yourself. My task is simply to put you to sleep... provided Duncan isn't defeated."

He stopped attacking and simply sat on the rock, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the other end of the fight between Frieren and Duncan. His task was simple: stall the two girls until Duncan finished the fight, though he thought... that was unlikely.

Rabiñe and Kanne exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes. The difference in strength was too great, especially in such unfavorable terrain. But... it wasn't entirely hopeless.

"I said, although you did have a chance to kill us just now, you showed mercy. However, we haven't given up yet. So, I'll remind you, we still have some trump cards up our sleeves and don't intend to surrender easily."

"Oh? Is that so? That's something to look forward to." Although he said this, Lichta didn't even blink; he simply thought Rabiñe was bluffing.

Below the rock face, on the other side.

Duncan slowly assumed a fighting stance, his aged eyes flashing with a sharp light as he locked onto Frieren, who was still holding the Birdcage and standing quietly in place.

"Are you going to make your move?" she asked, her tone still calm.