Not a Mascot

Meanwhile.

Crack, crack, crack...

The sound of shattering glass rang out as one poisoned man after another opened his eyes inside the tanks.

They had already absorbed the liquid, and they looked considerably more muscular now, pounding madly against the glass enclosures.

"Roar!"

Boom, boom, boom...

The pounding sounded as if it were hammering against the two of their chests.

Nimel took out a card and blew on it.

"Phew..."

A wave of frigid air drifted past, freezing every glass enclosure shut.

"Older brother!" Nimel hurriedly turned to look at Caroso.

Caroso was making a card and had no time to spare for her. "Don't worry about me yet. Guard the elevator entrance. Don't let a single one get downstairs."

Clearly, Caroso knew Nimel would not be able to hold them for long.

The Sword of Flames stood beside Caroso. Without Caroso needing to control it, it simply floated in midair, as though guarding its master.

"I should protect you instead. I'm worried about that sword..."

"I said, don't worry about me!" Caroso declared decisively. "I promised Teresa that I wouldn't let a single monster go downstairs, just as she wouldn't let a single monster or person come up here to me."

"But..."

"No buts. Go." As Caroso gave the order, he carefully worked the copper block in his hands. "My promise is your promise. Even if you die, you must see it through."

"Yes!"

[Hell, did we screw up?]

[If we hadn't let Boss Caro make cards and had just made him go downstairs, would none of this have happened?]

"It's not your fault." Caroso found a moment to say quietly. "Every gift fate gives has already had its price secretly marked."

"Staying here to make cards meant we would definitely encounter danger. I considered that."

That was the kind of person Caroso was. When others gave him advice and he made a decision, if something went wrong, the first thing he would consider was always his own fault, never someone else's.

Under Osiris's tutelage, Caroso had long understood that risks and opportunities went hand in hand.

With so many poisoned men here, and such an obvious place to gain benefits, how could there possibly be no danger?

It was merely that, after weighing it all, Caroso believed the underworld cards the netizens spoke of had to be powerful, and that the gains should outweigh the risks.

[Boss Caro trusts Teresa that much?]

[We've praised Sister Lei so much—how could Boss Caro not trust her...]

[Well, Baby Caro actually trusts us]

[Don't worry, Boss Caro. This card will definitely be worth every penny. It'll let you barely step through the gates of the underworld]

Nimel gritted her teeth and decisively moved to the elevator entrance.

Crack!

The first pane of glass shattered, and a poisoned man lunged straight at Nimel.

Nimel took a deep breath.

Forget older brother. Older brother said he didn't need protecting; he was the strongest.

This was a battlefield. She had to remember older brother's orders, and then... carry them out without hesitation!

Nimel's gaze hardened.

When the poisoned man pounced in front of Nimel, she flashed aside and swung her staff into his forehead, sending him flying.

Crack, crack, crack...

Just then, three more poisoned men charged out. They dodged around the one Nimel had sent flying and pounced on her together.

Nimel pulled out a card and began chanting.

A third-tier spell required a chant for reinforcement. I can't shorten the incantation.

Damn it, I'm still too weak. If older brother had made that strike just now, one poisoned man would have knocked down at least two more.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Three purple Arcane Missiles shot forth, striking the three poisoned men respectively. They visibly weakened.

As they drew near, Nimel swung her staff down, sending all three heads flying clean off.

[Holy crap? Nimel can fight in melee?]

[Doesn't that totally go against your lazy image?]

[This is the first time I've learned that Nimel is also the kind of mage who can swing a staff]

[Nimel was a noble, and not the kind who only knew how to arrange flowers. At the very least, she knew court swordsmanship.]

[Was that first strike just her getting a feel for it?]

Bang, bang, bang...

More and more poison-men emerged, pouncing separately at Nimel and Caroso.

The Netizens could see it now. Nimel hadn't been swinging her staff at the start to get a feel for it—she had simply thought there were too few enemies and was conserving mana.

Once the enemies grew numerous, Nimel flicked out a Spell Card and slammed her staff hard against the ground.

A purple Arcane Storm erupted beneath Nimel's feet, lifting her skirt slightly.

Every poison-man paused at the same time, as though they had been struck by a hammer.

Nimel's control over mana and arcane arts completely overturned the Netizens' expectations.

None of the Nature Mages below could possibly achieve mana control as precise as Nimel's.

Nimel was already among the best Elemental Mages of her age. She could not compare to a freak like Caroso, but she was far from lacking.

She understood magic better and had studied it deeply; she was not someone who had merely learned how to use magic without knowing its principles.

Nimel threw out another card, and flames spread from beneath her feet toward the poison-men.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

"Roar!"

White smoke rose from the poison-men, and the heat roasted them until they howled in agony.

Unfortunately, these poison-men were monsters. They did not fear pain. Even when they were nearly cooked through, they continued charging at Nimel.

Nimel panted in small breaths, swinging her staff as the temperature continued to rise.

Then, Nimel exhaled another breath of frost, freezing a row of poison-men.

The other monsters were not stopped by the frozen poison-men. They shoved those ahead of them aside or knocked them to the ground, pressing their attack even if it meant trampling the ones on the ground to death.

As time passed, in less than twenty minutes, the poison-men had already piled up before Nimel.

On the other side, Caroso was still focused on crafting cards. With the materials added, he was now inscribing the magic circle.

The Sword of Flames behind him swung wildly, and quite a few poison-men's corpses already lay on the ground.

Even though Caroso had told Nimel to ignore him, Nimel kept using area-control skills to buy him time and ease the pressure on him.

[Boss Caro, stop crafting! Nimel's about to die!]

[Nimel's starting melee combat.]

[Fuck, I really have a cheap hand. Why did I tell Boss Caro to craft cards? If they'd followed the normal strategy, they might've finished by now.]

[Nimel's in danger!]

[You're not really going to let her die, are you?]

Caroso did not look at the comments at all. All his attention was focused on crafting cards and defending himself; he did not have even a shred of focus to spare.

Luckily, he had not looked. Otherwise, the Netizens' words would only have made him slip up amid his frantic work.

Buzz...

At that moment, two blue lights lit up, and two cards were completed at once!

Caroso did not even look at the cards before him. He put one away with one hand, seized the Sword of Flames beside him with the other, and charged toward Nimel.