(Jeanne's POV)
"Hmm, I hope so."
I felt enormous guilt when I saw the decrease in his trust for us, but it couldn't be helped. While he was able to quickly heal us, if master didn't come in time we would have died here without being able to see him again.
'If only I was stronger.'
If we were stronger than we wouldn't have needed to rely on master to save us, and maybe he would have praised me for leading them while he was gone, but instead...
I could only blame us for not being able to overcome this with our own strength. What happened on this day would surely be a sore spot for me but there was also a refreshed drive for improvement.
"Imbue Holy."
Just as I started to think about improving myself, I witnessed another one of master's casual miracles. I still had a bit of shock left from when he broke through this cage and easily stopped the lich's attack, but as a mage this was something that hit me the hardest.
'Master he, he used Imbue Holy on a section of land!'
Beginners on the path of magic would often assume that Imbue abilities could work anything, but that wasn't so. Imbue means to add the attribute to whatever is in the user's hand, but that was usually limited to things that could be held.
Though some magic textbooks argued that anything could be defined as an object as long as the user can touch it, there was also the problem concerning how the amount of mana needed explosively increased with the size of the 'object'. Therefore calling anything that could be touched an 'object' was strictly limited to theory, or at least that's what I thought until I saw master use Imbue Holy to create a purified field.
'I wonder how many times is master going to break the common sense I got from my human memories.'
From the lich's reaction I knew that I wasn't the only one who knew how mind-blowing this was, but only us magic users could tell. The lich was so stunned that even after master left at a superfast speed, it was stuck in place.
"Should we attack?"
Due to something akin to instinct I normally always shut down any suggestion Ein had, but I shrugged my shoulders this time.
"Might as well."
It was a shame that we couldn't discuss the master's feat, but that was its fault for being on the side of master's enemy.
***
(My POV)
A few minutes after leaving my familiars I could see the army of undead again. Though their number was imposing, the lack of skeleton knights and scavengers put a smile on my face. Still, I knew I had to be quick about this.
'I hope this works.'
As soon as the army was in sight I built on my imagination and prepared a spell that would clear my path to the undead lord. However, this would be the very first time I used this magic in combat so a part of me couldn't help being nervous.
'Here goes.'
I loosened my clenched fist and swung my hand in the direction of the undead lord's carriage.
"Bone Rising!"
While I shouted the name I came up with to stabilize the image in my head, pointy bones as big as I was jutted out from the ground, forming a sharp bone wall that went straight to the target. I now understood that these bones were transformed from the dust and dirt around me so a long-range spell like this took little out of me, and the bones would stay like this even after the spell was done.
"Tch, what loyal summons."
I thought the undead lord would at least need to block or dodge my spell but instead, its subjects threw themselves in front of it. Besides creating the path that I wanted, my spell could only break open the carriage and reveal my enemy.
'It's almost funny how it's exactly as I predicted.'
The undead lord, despite being just a skeleton in a big robe, actually looked like a lord of the undead. I couldn't believe there would be so much dignity radiating from a pile of bones.
'Or am I somehow being influenced?'
At the same time as the undead lord was revealed, I used my Magic Eyes of Perception but my attempt was blocked.
'It's hiding it. Well then...'
In addition to the Magic Eyes of Perception, I also activated the Dragon Eyes of Truth. This skill was supposed to be a passive one, but I only had the incomplete version so I needed to focus to use it.
With the Dragon Eyes of Truth, I was able to peel away its shield and take a quick look at its status.
[(****)
Race: Undead Lord
Strength: 680
Agility: 567
Dexterity: 388
Defence: 650
Skills: Curse Magic (Rare) | Spearmanship (level 5) (Rare) | Riding (Common) | Summon Undead (Rare) | Command (Rare) | Charisma (Special) | Hulk (Special) ....]
I couldn't see everything with the glimpse I took, but what I did catch was enough for me to narrow my eyes.
'This guy, really won't be an easy opponent.'
In the time it took me to see its status, I entered the range of its undead army. I could dodge the arrows that flew at me with ease but instead I increased my speed and raised a barrier to protect myself. Doing this while moving was a little stressing but nothing that my Superspeed Thought Processing couldn't handle.
As I got past the arrows with brute force, I also rushed through anything that tried to block me. And when I said 'through', I made it. If blood could stick to the barrier I would be begging for a windscreen wiper function, but luckily magic was convenient like this.
As I got closer, I looked straight at the undead lord once more, and this time it spoke.
"Lucarius."
!
Something struck a chord within me. The moment I heard that name, my mind froze and so I lost my balance and was heading face first for the ground. It took less than an instant for me to realize that the undead lord had used Command to affect the pieces of the lich's and the other undead's souls that were trapped inside me. I didn't think I would fall into a trap like this after charging in, but I was obviously wrong. With the distance between the ground and my face decreasing I...
"Just kidding."
When I was almost parallel to the ground I pushed off one leg and flew at the undead lord.
"What?!"
I finally saw it express shock but I confidently smirked as I was sure it wouldn't be the only time. Just like the other undead, when I charged into the group of skeleton knights and scavengers, I broke through and then slapped my hands on the skull of the undead lord. Then, after stopping my momentum by slamming my feet down on the carriage floor, and breaking it, I delivered a strong headbutt to the undead lord.
"Kuh!"
I knew it couldn't feel pain but I hoped that it was at least disoriented. Without wasting even a second I captured our bodies with the vines and flowers that sprouted through nature magic.
"Forest's Cradle."
Once light and sound was shut out of our space, I could finally drag him to our true battlefield.
"Mind Dive."