Chapter 8

"Then what did you think? Think about it. Every time you fight a Spirit, aren't you the ones who attack first? Spirits only fight you to protect themselves. They don't want to fight you at all."

"..."

The SSS members fell silent. When they thought about it as Lingmeng had suggested, she seemed to be right.

"Anyway, I'm done arguing with you. I'm leaving."

Lingmeng waved to the SSS members. She was about to leave when she sensed something hurtling toward her at a frightening speed.

She quickly looked into the distance and realized it was a person.

That's fast! Are they sending SSS reinforcements? But only one person? Aren't they underestimating me?

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes and watched carefully.

After a moment's hesitation, she decided to stay and see who it was. One more enemy wouldn't make much difference.

Seeing Lingmeng staring at something, the SSS members looked up in the same direction.

"Look! Isn't that Lady Ellen?"

One sharp-eyed member recognized the approaching figure and cried out excitedly.

"It really is Lady Ellen! She's here to save us!"

"With Lady Ellen here, that Spirit is finished!"

The rest of the SSS members began cheering too.

"Lady Ellen? Who's that?"

Lingmeng looked at their excited faces in confusion.

"Hah! You're as good as dead, Spirit! Lady Ellen is the World's Strongest Wizard. She's on a completely different level from us ordinary people."

The member's mocking tone irritated Lingmeng.

The World's Strongest Wizard? Now I'm interested!

As that thought crossed Lingmeng's mind, the Wizard named Ellen arrived before her...

Are You a Monster?

"So you're Element Make? You look pretty weak!"

Ellen pointed her enormous Light Sword at Lingmeng, her expression full of disdain.

Wow, a beautiful blonde! Her gear looks high-tech too. Did she pay to win?

Lingmeng paid little attention to the sword aimed at her. She was too busy admiring Ellen's stunning looks and futuristic armor.

"Element Make? Is that the codename you gave me?" Lingmeng paused, then said, "And you must be Miss Ellen, the Strongest Wizard?"

Ellen was startled that Lingmeng knew her name.

"How do you know my name?"

"They told me before you got here." Lingmeng pointed to the spectators nearby.

Ellen glanced at the SSS members and their awkward smiles, then turned back to Lingmeng.

"None of that matters. What matters is that I'm here to hunt you."

Ellen fixed Lingmeng with a sharp stare.

"Ugh, I've heard that line several times already. You may be the Strongest Wizard, but you're a little too confi—"

Bang!

Before Lingmeng could finish, she felt a surge of killing intent. She instinctively raised Elemental Spirit in front of her chest, only to find Ellen already upon her, swinging her sword.

Holy shit! Does she have to go that hard? Straight for my head?

The Light Sword stopped mere centimeters from Lingmeng's head. Her face went pale with fright.

"Oh? You blocked that? It seems you're not just good with magic. You can fight up close too."

Ellen looked surprised. She had meant that blow, and Lingmeng's ability to block it showed she was no slouch in close combat.

"Get off me! Who swings a sword at someone's head the first time they meet?"

Lingmeng shoved hard, forcing Ellen back.

She was beginning to regret staying. If she had let her guard down even a little, she would have lost her head.

In that instant, Lingmeng finally understood why Ellen was called the World's Strongest Wizard.

Since arriving in this world, she had never come so close to death. This wasn't pay-to-win strength. This was outright cheating!

"Did that Spirit get scared? As expected of Lady Ellen! She did what we couldn't do so easily. She's incredible! This gets my blood pumping!"

Seeing Lingmeng's frightened expression, the SSS members erupted in cheers.

Ellen ignored them and pressed her attack.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

Ellen struck faster than the eye could follow. Lingmeng could barely defend against each blow.

Lingmeng was decent at close combat, but as a mage, she was much better with spells. She couldn't let a monster as powerful as a Spirit keep her pinned down in melee.

"Elemental Spirit! Bind her!"

As if answering her command, enormous vines burst from the ground and instantly wrapped around Ellen.

"...Did it work?" Lingmeng peered ahead. Ellen really did appear to be trapped.

Good. I need to get out of here while I can. Who knows what she'll cut me into if I stay?

Lingmeng was about to turn and run when Ellen spoke.

"Is that all you've got?" Ellen increased the power of her Territory, and the vines snapped apart in an instant.

"...Are you a demon?" It was all Lingmeng could think to say. Those vines had left the SSS members utterly helpless, yet they seemed pathetically weak against the World's Strongest Wizard.

"Let's keep fighting!" With that challenge, Ellen charged at Lingmeng again, sword raised.

Lingmeng couldn't tell whether she was imagining it, but Ellen seemed even stronger than before.

As soon as Ellen broke free, Lingmeng threw the spells she usually used against the SSS at her. Ellen's powerful Territory blocked them all.

Lingmeng remained on the defensive. Ordinary binding spells were useless against Ellen, but anything stronger might seriously injure her or endanger the people nearby.

Then Lingmeng noticed the SSS members cheering on the sidelines again, and an idea struck her.

"Sorry, but I need to borrow you for a moment!"

With that, Lingmeng pulled every SSS member toward her and arranged them around herself as human shields.

"Let us go, Spirit! Using us as shields is despicable!"

The SSS members protested furiously, but they had no strength to resist her.

"I know! But I'm out of options! If I don't do this, she'll cut me down! ⊙﹏⊙"

Even Lingmeng thought it was a little underhanded. Still, with SSS members in the way, Ellen wouldn't dare attack... right?

The thought brought a smug smile to her face.

"Hmph. You think that'll stop me?"

Ellen chuckled. Without another word, she ignored the SSS members and thrust her sword at Lingmeng.

Just as the blade was about to strike them, Lingmeng scattered the SSS members, allowing them to escape.

"Have you lost your mind trying to kill me? I get that you want me dead, but these SSS members are human! Don't you feel guilty?"

Lingmeng shouted at Ellen in fury. A moment later, and those women would have been dead.

"What do I care whether they live or die? I have one objective: to hunt you down. Nothing else matters."

Ellen spoke without the slightest concern, as though the SSS members were disposable trash.

"Fine! You've crossed the line. I've decided to fight you seriously!"

Lingmeng clenched her fists, veins standing out on her forehead. She didn't mind Ellen trying to hunt her. After all, Ellen was trying to protect this world from Spacequakes.

But treating the SSS members' lives as worthless was another matter. Something was deeply wrong with Ellen. She was like a machine that knew only how to kill, and the thought sent a chill through Lingmeng.

"Hahaha... You mean you haven't been serious until now? Interesting! Come at me!"

Ellen threw back her head and laughed, then beckoned dismissively at Lingmeng.

"Then... here I go!"

The Battle Ends

"Show me everything you've got!"

Ellen's voice dripped with mockery.

"You said it! (^_^)"

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes and gave an enigmatic smile.

Whoosh!

Lingmeng vanished from in front of Ellen. Ellen froze for an instant, then sensed danger. She spun and raised her Light Sword just in time to block Lingmeng's attack from behind.

"You're fast!" Ellen broke into a sweat. "No. Even I can't move that fast, and I'm the Strongest Wizard. This must be one of your abilities!"

"Haha, you guessed it! I used Spatial Movement. No prize for getting it right, though!"

Lingmeng raised one hand toward the sky, and dark clouds instantly swallowed the clear blue overhead.

Crack! A bolt of purple lightning dozens of meters wide came crashing down.

This is bad! Ellen used her Territory to blast Lingmeng several meters away a split second before the lightning struck. Then she leaped backward with all her strength, barely escaping the bolt herself.

The immense voltage instantly turned the ground into smoking, blackened earth.

That attack was terrifying!

Ellen stared at the scorched ground, sweat on her brow, but she kept her composure.

"Aw, you dodged it? Well, I suppose you had to. If you couldn't dodge that, you might as well hand your 'Strongest' title to someone else."

Lingmeng was a little surprised Ellen had avoided the attack. Unlike the blue lightning she used while holding back against the SSS, this purple bolt had been unleashed at full strength. Its voltage alone was a terrifying billion volts.

"Hmph! An attack like that is nothing more than a drizzle to me!"

Ellen answered haughtily, though she was far less confident than she sounded.

"Oh?" Lingmeng gave her a wicked smile. "How about this?"

The next moment, countless white laser beams appeared behind Lingmeng and shot toward Ellen.

"I don't even need to dodge an attack that feeble."

Smiling confidently, Ellen stood her ground and activated her Territory.

A moment later, she regretted it. The beams weren't canceled out by her Territory as she'd expected. They passed straight through it and raced toward her.

What's going on with these beams?

One grazed her cheek and drew blood. Ellen immediately realized something was wrong.

She dropped the protective barrier formed by her Territory and relied on her extraordinary reflexes to dodge.

Lingmeng chuckled. "What made you think you could block light? It has no solid form!"

It was like using a pane of glass to block flames: it might stop the fire, but light would pass right through. Ellen's Territory was that pane of glass.

"Damn you! A mere Spirit dares to mock me?"

Ellen dodged the beams while running straight toward Lingmeng.