Chapter: 319
To intervene with the magic circle that the opponent was unfolding requires an unfathomable number of abilities.
First and foremost, one must be able to resist the opponent’s magical power.
If you can’t uphold that premise, you won’t even be able to attempt to intervene with the magic circle, and your own magic will be consumed by the opponent’s power instead.
This means you’ll be completely unable to attempt to interfere. Normally, Joy wouldn’t be able to contend with the magical power of a lazy bum like that.
It’s true that she possesses exceptional abilities. She’s definitely working hard and growing rapidly without resting on her laurels, but she is still just a first-year at the Academy.
Even though she’s honed her skills so far, there’s still so much more of her potential yet to blossom, meaning Joy hadn’t accumulated enough time to challenge the lazy bum in a power showdown.
So, Joy pulled out her trump card.
The gem that Lucy had gifted her in the past. By unleashing the magical power contained within, she forced a balance to strike.
Her original magical power combined with the power from the gem allowed her to face off against the lazy bum’s magic, but this standoff wouldn’t last long.
The magical power she was trying to handle now was supremely beyond her usual limits.
She felt a pain as if the magical circuit inscribed in her body was gradually tearing apart.
An intense heat surged through her veins, like blood boiling.
Grinding her teeth, Joy endured the pain while she moved her magic.
The second condition for intervening with the magic circle: Knowing what the opponent’s magic circle looks like.
It’s exceedingly difficult to scatter the energy of a magic circle when it has formed a solid structure and is coalescing.
Unless you possess the power of elevation to crush it, it’s practically impossible.
However, if you can slip in before the magic circle is completed, it’s a different story.
If you can intervene and prevent the magic circle from forming in the first place, even with a minimal difference in levels, or even if you have a shortfall, you can still diffuse the magic.
And Joy, who had attempted to take down the lazy bum dozens or even hundreds of times, had already completely memorized the magic circle he was about to manifest.
How the picture would be drawn.
Which part would become the core.
Where the weak links would be.
How to compensate in the event of unexpected changes.
All of these details.
That was why Joy could pull the corners of her mouth upward even amidst excruciating pain.
She already knew exactly what to do.
Now, all that remained was to move her magic.
As she lightly waved her staff, the scattered magic around her began to move into position as if each had its own will.
Her talent, blossomed after asking Lucy for help.
Her superb multi-magic manipulation skills that made the magic professor red-eyed with admiration.
As Joy proudly demonstrated her abilities, the magic circle the lazy bum was trying to draw halted in its tracks.
“How surprising, little one.”
It was something that had never happened before.
An occurrence that even the lazy bum, who used magic, couldn’t imagine.
One would normally feel confused in such a situation.
Yet, for some reason, the lazy bum remained unbothered in front of such events.
“The talent you hold is truly wondrous.”
“…Of course! For the Young Lady of the Partran family, this is no big deal!”
Straining to suppress her pain, Joy raised her voice, causing the corners of the lazy bum’s mouth to curl into a thick, sinister grin.
“But it’s not enough! Do you really think you can stop me with just this much?”
With that cry, his magical energy surged further.
The entire confrontation had been a show of courtesy on his part. Having toyed sufficiently, it seemed he was ready to end this frivolity. Facing the thickening magic, Joy internally screamed.
Was that not his limit?!
He hadn’t just whipped up magic out of desperation; he had been holding back until now!?
This didn’t make sense!
Joy desperately tried to push back the lazy bum’s magical power, but the level gap was just too immense.
If the lazy bum’s magic was a storm, then Joy’s was merely a spring breeze.
No matter how hard she struggled, the outcome would be that she would get completely swallowed up by the storm and vanish without a trace.
What should I do?!
How can I possibly stop this?!
What can I possibly use to turn around this situation?!
“Thus speaks the great god.”
At that moment, when Joy’s eyes lost their focus in despair, a voice called out beside her.
A voice carrying warmth, untouched by the slightest disturbance even amidst despair.
“Miracles follow those who do not give up.”
Turning towards the voice, Joy found Phoebe, no, the Saintess, standing next to her.
The sight of the priestess, whose goal was to spread hope through the world following the will of the gods.
“We will not forget to retreat.”
The moment the prayer concluded, the pain that had lingered in Joy’s body began to disperse, and her heart, once filled with confusion and dismay, now brimmed with conviction.
The sacred words forged for those who fought against evil infused Joy with newfound will.
Finishing her prayer, Phoebe smiled gently at the stunned Joy, raised her sacred powers, and looked ahead once more.
“Okay, everyone? Let’s show them this isn’t all we’ve got.”
“I already know that! Saintess!”
“I’m going in.”
As the powerful male voice mixed with the indifferent female voice, Arthur and Frey surged forward, passing right by Joy.
Trying to block their rush with the red energy dominating the room, the lazy bum found his magical movements clumsy compared to before.
His magic, which filled the room, was bound by Joy’s power.
“Not much for all your noise!”
“Pathetic!”
Arthur and Frey, oh-so-familiar with this lazy bum, pushed through the best he could offer to reach this point and weren’t about to stop for anything clumsy.
They deftly sidestepped all his attempts to hinder them and stood before the lazy bum.
“How dare you interfere!”
“Why is it so tough for you now?!”
“It’s just a change in words. How ugly.”
Their weapons were inscribed with aura.
A manifestation of their full-power ultimate move, as if they wouldn’t think about the aftermath.
The lazy bum, realizing this aura, swiftly swung his sword, but his strike couldn’t push Arthur or Frey back.
In fact, Arthur managed to block him, exposing an opening.
“Damn it!”
Normally, the lazy bum would have been mighty relaxed even against Arthur and Frey’s joint attack.
His unassailable presence, sturdy body, and overwhelming magical power were too much for Arthur and Frey to face.
But not right now.
Now, with most of his abilities thwarted through countless attempts, with magic spent to unleash his final spell.
The lazy bum had to do his utmost just to fend off Arthur and Frey’s combined strike.
“Honestly, swords are so dull. How pathetic.”
“Just like you! Without your magic, you’re nothing!”
“You bastards!”
As their auras clashed, a blaze erupted, momentarily bewildering Joy, who felt something resting on her shoulder.
“Joy. This isn’t the time to just sit around.”
“…What?”
“You’ve got a chance, you know? If you keep hanging around, I might have to start calling you the clueless Young Lady!”
“Wha—?! What does that even mean… Ah.”
Surprised by Phoebe’s words, Joy quickly grasped what she meant.
The red energy was gradually losing its cohesion.
As the lazy bum was pushed back by Arthur and Frey’s joint attack, the magic under his control started to slip from his command.
“I can do this, right?”
“…Of course.”
Intervening with magic that was losing its grip was as easy as interacting with the natural magic that existed.
For the past Joy, that might have been challenging.
But for the current Joy, this was nothing at all.
“I’ll help you out, Joy.”
Joy didn’t hesitate to respond to Phoebe’s promise of help.
Knowing Phoebe’s abilities as a friend since childhood, she revealed a light smile indicating her trust and moved her staff again.
As Joy’s magic seeped between the lazy bum’s magical powers, following the path forged by Joy, Phoebe’s sacred energy moved in tandem, accelerating the dispersal of the magic.
“Stop it! It can’t end like this!”
Sensing something amiss, the lazy bum’s voice quivered, and he tried to resist.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Following turns of response is just good manners. You can’t pass!”
“Get out of the way!”
In his lost composure, the lazy bum couldn’t defeat those blessed with the glorious bloodline of Soladin and the blessings of the void.
“Not happening.”
The thriving red energy, which had dealt several deaths to Arthur and company, began to fade.
“Not happening!”
The ominous air that filled the room was quelled by Phoebe’s sacred energy.
“Not happening, I say!”
Right as the core of the spell he was trying to unfold crumbled.
“No…! Huh… cough! Cough!”
A filthy voice, almost a scream, erupted from the lazy bum as blood trickled from his mouth.
The backlash from the collapse of the spell that held every ounce of his magic became a death sentence.
To those who wield magic, this was as close to a death penalty as it could get.
As Frey charged in to finish him off, Arthur held her back.
“…Why are you stopping me? Sympathy?”
“The opponent is Lucy Alrn. We have no idea what traps he could have laid for us till the end.”
“Ah. Got it.”
Though Frey complied, the lazy bum’s demise was gradually progressing.
The armor that had once protected him began to rust, crumbling into dust.
Wrinkles rapidly formed on his once-youthful skin until, at last, the flesh around them seemed to decay.
Bones weakened to the point of being unable to bear his own weight fractured, causing him to tumble to the ground.
Having fallen, he tried to rise multiple times but continually collapsed, witnessing his body breaking down from his toes up.
With a voice tinged with despair, he spoke, “Is this the end for someone who chose the wrong means?”
In a scene suggesting that the god of time was stealing away the time the lazy bum possessed.
“Ha. So this is how it’s meant to be.”
Surveying the room with regret in his eyes, the lazy bum glanced at those who ultimately brought him down.
“Congratulations. You have overcome this mansion, turning impossibility into possibility. I hope you take pride in the miracle you’ve created.”
Not exactly the words one would expect from a loser, but as he muttered to himself in a chuckle, that laughter didn’t linger for long.
As he chuckled, all the time he had left evaporated before his eyes.
Thus, the adversary that had inflicted countless failures on Arthur and company faded away, leaving only a coldly beautiful bracelet behind, a testament that something had once existed in its place.
“…Joy. I might not know much about your accessories, but is that what I think it is?”
“Prince! Can’t you see!? Look at those intricately crafted gems! The colors within! More than anything, that signature engraved there is surely from Lord Frete!”
“That’s right, Third Prince. That item was definitely made by the Apostle of the Art Guild.”
“If that’s the case… then we must be the first conquerors of this dungeon!”
With joy too immense to contain, Arthur tightened his fist.
“It’s over, ahhh!”
Joy, who had just poured every ounce of her strength, forgot her noble composure and whined about how tiring and painful it was with a smile.
“It’s over now.”
As Phoebe approached Joy and healed her with her magic,
“That was kind of boring at the end.”
Frey, still oblivious to the smile plastered on her lips, tried to act tough as she sheathed her sword.
Thus commenced the academy’s final exam as a six-day journey, without a moment’s respite, culminated in the victory of Arthur and his group.
*
– Ding!
[The final exam dungeon has been conquered!]
[Penalties will be imposed due to quest failure!]
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