Chapter: 441
Joy’s eyes watched Lucy soaring through the void.
She saw Lucy pushing herself away, taking the brunt of the attack, and rising into the void.
There was no wing, yet here she was, flying as if gravity didn’t exist.
Even though it was natural for her eyes to close, Joy blankly stared at Lucy ascending.
Then, a thump! echoed not long after.
Compared to the eternity of her ascent, the descent was instantaneous.
Watching Lucy drop to the ground and involuntarily groan, Joy momentarily forgot where she was, only gazing at her.
Because of me.
Because I couldn’t cope.
Because I didn’t notice.
The young lady.
Lady Allen.
Boom!
As a noise resembling something being struck jolted her back to reality, Joy stepped back, confirming the wooden roots blocked by the Divine Barrier.
“Prince! Young Lady Kent! Please handle the attack!”
“I’ll do my best for now!”
“Revenge… we must have revenge.”
“And…”
– Grrr!
The bear’s roar swallowed every sound in the space.
At that moment, everyone instinctively covered their ears as if the sound would tear them apart while the bear prepared to charge.
To the naked eye, the hulking bear seemed slow.
But reality was different.
Before one could blink, the bear vanished from sight.
Crash!
Behind the piercing shock, Prete stood firm.
Wearing leather gloves imbued with the Goddess’s Blessing, he held back the bear’s bulk with both hands, his veins visibly straining.
“I’ll handle this! You all focus on the tree!”
With a swift hit to the bear’s forehead, Prete pushed it back and drew his sword from his waist.
The radiant blade stood out even in this place thick with ominous energy.
Thud!
While Prete dealt with the bear, the wooden roots were battering the Divine Barrier.
Phoebe was doing her utmost to maintain the barrier, yet it was apparent to everyone that it wouldn’t hold for long.
“Saintess. Destroy it.”
“But we have no way to distinguish between the real and the fake yet…”
“It’ll be fine.”
At Frey’s firm tone, Phoebe nodded.
“I’ll count to three.”
“Okay.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
As Phoebe erased the barrier on cue, Frey’s sword sliced through the void.
Following right after, something fell to the ground with a series of noises.
What lay sprawled on the ground were blackened roots.
“Don’t trust your eyes. It could be real or fake.”
“Then how do we distinguish?”
“You can tell just by looking.”
“Damn it. That’s no help!”
Arthur and Frey consecutively defended against the incoming roots while Lucy staggered to her feet.
Considering the dent in her armor, she must have taken a heavy blow, yet she rejected Phoebe’s Divine Magic and grasped her shield and mace again.
“Do you really think I’d struggle just because I got struck by a twig? Stop messing around and do your job, you sloppy saintess.”
Joy captured the sight of Lucy stepping forward with confidence.
She had many small scars etched into her skin from the continuous battles.
Due to always standing at the front lines, her hair had lost its shine, tangled with every challenge she endured.
The fatigue was evident in her eyes.
Lucy had to be more exhausted than anyone else, despite not showing it. She must have carried countless pains inside her heart.
She probably didn’t want to stand up again, yet here she was, trying to move forward.
Crash!
Suddenly, Lucy swung past Joy, and roots that hadn’t existed moments before lay scattered on the ground.
Once again, Lucy had protected Joy.
“Haha! Look at your face. Why do you look so dumb when I’m the one who just got hit? You gonna waah and cry now?”
“Sorry…”
“Idiot.”
As Lucy interrupted Joy, who was about to apologize, she spoke.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just did what I had to do.”
“….”
“So you do your part too. Unless you want to be treated like an idiot.”
With a sly smile, Lucy turned around.
Tiny in stature, yet looking very large from behind, Joy tightened her grip on her staff.
What she said was correct.
If she continued like this, she’d always have to remain in a protective position.
Rather than standing beside Lucy, she’d have to stand behind her always.
Joy didn’t want that.
She didn’t want to be a burden to Lucy.
Friends were meant to help each other not to merely receive help.
What can I do right now?
Attack that tree with magic?
Would that really matter?
Could a spontaneous attack thrown at such a formidable opponent hold any significance?
Supporting my friends?
That’s something Phoebe could easily handle without me.
If I jump in, I’ll just be a hindrance.
Then what should I do?
I can’t even step onto the front lines like Arthur.
I’m not perceptive enough to take in everything like Lucy.
I don’t possess overwhelming power, so what can I do?
There is something.
Something I can do.
Something only I can do.
“Huff.”
Taking a deep breath, she gripped her staff tightly as she spread her magic power around.
There’s a common saying among those who research the art of magic.
Every phenomenon in this world can be analyzed and reproduced through magic.
Some laugh it off as the deluded babble of madmen engrossed in magical omnipotence, but Joy knew it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Because she knew someone who had proven it.
The strongest wizard in the current kingdom.
Her first teacher.
The greatest magician Joy knew.
The master of Partlan, she vividly remembered the scene her father had shown her, of something she thought she could never reach, and she was determined to challenge it.
As her magic sufficiently spread and Joy became assured, she closed her eyes, observing the natural magic moving within her magic.
“Is this all there is?♡ The roots are small, so they’re not strong either♡”
Not viewing the world as the world.
“Prince! That’s a fake.”
“Damn! How do you two even tell this apart?!”
Not observing phenomena as phenomena.
“O Great Lord Jushin, cleanse away the corruption.”
The mindset of a magician wanting to analyze even miracles.
Within that, Joy recalled the magic she had learned up to now.
Hadn’t it been said that the origin of magic begins with trying to reproduce the miracles of nature?
At that time, she merely brushed it off as a story of the past, but it seemed to hold more significance than she thought.
If the origin of magic lies in the reproduction of nature, then the reverse must be possible too.
It’s possible. With my current self, I can definitely do it.
As for what I can’t confirm with speculation, I’d substitute with knowledge of magic.
For the parts that seem difficult, I’d supplement them by utilizing several magic circles.
I needn’t worry about the amount of magic power.
The gifts given by the young lady are still attached to my body.
Opening her eyes once more, Joy wore a feral grin befitting a noble lady and swung her staff.
The magic that had spread through the void was forming a magic circle. A spell that would never be taught in the Academy.
Something so tangled it was debatable whether it could even be called magic.
Anyone seeing it would definitely question whether it would even activate.
The magic circle looked disheveled, but Joy didn’t doubt what she had created.
“Let’s go.”
The moment Joy’s magic manifested.
Things unseen became visible.
Things that were visible began to fade.
Joy deciphered and unraveled the Power of Void residing in the space with her magic.
In the process of using up all of her magic power, Joy fell to the ground, and upon hearing clear laughter, she forced herself to lift her head.
Lucy’s eyes.
Her eyes, filled with genuine joy, praised Joy.
“Why were you playing around when you could do something like this! Did you catch the protagonist disease? Silly Joy?!”
Hearing Lucy call her name, Joy raised her eyebrow, then tightened her grip on her staff with a smile.
She felt like she could collapse at any moment, but the fight was far from over.
In fact, it felt like it was just getting started.
Taking a breather could wait until everything is over.
“You’re just being foolish.”
A voice thick with phlegm flowed in from afar, filling the entire chamber.
Through the bandages obscuring his face, a pair of red-glowing eyes bore into Joy.
“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to cope with something like this?”
Overwhelming pressure bore down on Joy, attempting to shatter her magic.
“You can’t!♡ You idiot!♡”
What blocked that was the most reliable tiny shoulder.
A divine aura, like the sun, expelled the ominous energy headed towards Joy from her small form.
“Did you really think I’d allow that?♡ Have you rotted your brain so much that you can’t think?♡”
“Don’t think that Joy is the only one who can stand against you.”
Following quickly, Phoebe’s divine presence layered over Joy’s magic.
The saint’s divine essence, which would not permit corruption, solidified the miracle Joy had invoked.
“Now it’s getting interesting. I can finally unleash myself properly.”
Finally able to discern illusions, Arthur grinned as he took hold of his sword.
“I’ve lost interest now.”
With the fact that their opponent had weakened, Frey let out a sigh of disappointment while channeling aura into her sword.
“There are no more obstacles now.”
Phoebe bestowed blessings upon everyone around.
“Prepare to be torn apart♡ You pathetic weakling who can’t do anything without help!♡”
Lucy infused her mace with divinity.
Watching all of it from behind, Joy used her staff as a support to rise and stood proudly beside them.
It was time to take revenge on the nightmare of the past.
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