Meanwhile, there were three main battles occuring at Elios' castle.
The undead lord and his army against the Poltergeist user was the most even fight, but the undead lord was steadily gaining an advantage since most of the enemy's abilities weren't very effective against the undead.
On the other hand, Jeanne was having a very tough fight against the swordsman. Since he refused to give her any space Jeanne was forced to battle in close range which obviously put her at a disadvantage.
She hadn't given up on using magic but her spells were being eaten faster than she could use them to create distance.
The swordsman evidently had experience fighting mages considering how he would see through all of the tricks she planned before she could set them up. If she fought how she normally did then her loss was assured, therefore she chose to emulate the one she admired the most.
After jumping back from one of his slashes, she tapped her staff on the ground three times and caused several snakes of earth to peek their heads out from the ground. But just by stabbing the glutton blade into the ground her magic was cancelled. Even so, Jeanne was pleased as the swordsman then found himself falling into a pit.
Before becoming a familiar, Jeanne could only use spells the way they were meant to be used, but as she watched her master she realized that she wasn't taking magic seriously enough. Because she only used the established spells rather than master the abilities that she gained from the magic skills, her magic was normally straightforward. This was the so-called traditional use of magic that heavily depended on using magic to overpower the enemy.
However, against troubling enemies like this she needed to think outside of the box and consider not only the intended effect of her spells but also the additional effects.
When the creatures were formed, they took in dirt from the ground below the swordsman. Therefore, even though he cancelled her spell there was still a hollow area of earth below him.
Before he could climb up, Jeanne used Spatial Perception to accurately detect his position and cast an explosion spell, then she closed the hole of the pit and forced the walls of the hole to contract.
It felt like a decent attack but that was all, this wouldn't be enough to kill him. As such, Jeanne quickly prepared other spells for when he returned.
And just as she expected, shortly after, the ground trembled and the area above the pit was blown apart. When her enemy reappeared, the cloak covering his body was in tatters and his grey skin was revealed but his face remained hidden. Jeanne noticed the armour he wore underneath but it wasn't as impressive as the glutton sword so she didn't even lift an eyebrow.
Instead, she released control over the large shards of ice which hovered over the swordsman. Despite the damage that he had taken, the swordsman was able to intercept every icicle, but unlike other times when his blade made contact with the ice, water splattered on him.
Normally ice magic was brought about by using Freeze from Water Magic, but since she used Heat Manipulation from Fire Magic and condensed water from the atmosphere the sword was only able to cancel the effects of Heat Manipulation. With this, Jeanne confirmed her theory that the sword could only cancel ongoing effects of magic and could not reverse the effects.
Still, getting wet was hardly doing any damage to him. The swordsman continued to slice the ice shards into liquid when Jeanne shot lightning at him. Rather than use his sword, he somehow dodged the lightning, yet he could not escape it.
"Guh!"
Furthermore, it wasn't just a single shock. Although he dodged it, the lightning had made contact with the puddle that formed at his feet and continuously spread throughout his body. He wouldn't get any serious injuries from this, but it would be enough to decrease his reaction speed.
Using the same method as before, Jeanne continued to shoot ice shards at him while mixing in lightning and lances of rock.
Even if he managed to dodge some of them, he couldn't escape ending up in the same electro-charged state. However, eventually he had enough of enduring Jeanne's long-range superiority.
"Ha!"
He stomped the ground to temporarily get rid of the water at his feet, and dashed towards her. He might trip due to the electricity inside him if he ran, but by launching off his feet he only needed to head straight for her.
Faster than she could react, his sword came closer to piercing her neck, but at the last minute he switched the hand that held the glutton sword and used his free hand to change his trajectory.
"Tch."
Jeanne clicked her tongue at his sharp instincts, but nonetheless he couldn't escape unharmed. It was an impressive maneuver but the swordsman still lost an arm. However, if he hadn't sensed the distortion in space ahead of him, he would have been split in half instead.
The swordsman didn't think he had underestimated her just because of his weapon, but he had to re-evaluate her once more. Just then, a figure flew out from the castle. It was the laser woman, now bloodied but strangely the cute face under her cloak was still unblemished.
After she was thrown to the ground and stumbled back to her feet, a robed black and gold skeleton gently glided towards her. Since she could tell that this was the creation of her master, Jeanne wasn't wary of it, only curious. Seeing that the skeleton was overwhelming its opponent Jeanne returned her gaze to the one-armed swordsman with confidence in her eyes.
'Victory is ours.'
The swordsman shared her opinion, and so as the leader of the group he activated their last resort. Jeanne had a bad feeling when she saw him point the glutton blade towards his stomach, but by the time she could prepare a spell it was too late.
The swordsman plunged the sword inside his stomach and roared at the sky as a devastating black aura burst from his body.
"Ahhh!"
At the same time, the Poltergeist user and the laser woman went pale as they were forcefully pulled in his direction and absorbed into his body.
'I didn't know the glutton blade could do this too...'
As she felt the black aura, the confidence that Jeanne had was washed away. Furthermore, though she wouldn't admit it, the intensity of this aura was above her master's.
Due to her stunned state, Jeanne flinched when the swordsman who became a black beast stopped roaring and glanced at her. Before she could move a finger, its claw had already torn through her neck. Fortunately, she managed to use Spirit Form just in time and escaped any injuries.
As she caressed her neck, Jeanne thought it would be nice if she could stay in this form as she fought, but she knew that would lead to a drop in the power and sensitivity of her magic.
"We have to stop it!" Jeanne shouted.
Bony agreed, "Of course."
"Normally I wouldn't listen to any orders but I guess I'll let it slide this time, Missy."
'Missy?!'
Jeanne had a problem with the way the robed skeleton addressed her, but the black beast was far more important. After missing its first attack, Jeanne wondered if it would try to get her again, but this time it went after the skeleton.
The skeleton somehow parried its incredibly fast attack with a chilling black sword that seemed to appear out of thin air, but it wasn't pleased.
"Missy, this is gonna be a problem."
"Mis-, what is it?"
"This thing has surpassed the limit."
"..."
It was a suspicion she had hoped wasn't true. Since this was caused by external sources it hadn't truly surpassed the limit, but it was still a level above all of them.
'Tch, even so. We have to hold on.'
The only saving grace was the fact that judging from the cracks that started to appear on its skin, this form had a time limit. Therefore, whether or not they could endure until that limit was the question. However, the black beast still possessed enough intelligence not to fall into that situation.
Rather than get stuck fighting them, it plunged straight into the castle and rushed towards a certain pair of children.
"No!"
Jeanne hurriedly teleported to their side and put up a barrier using the material making up the castle.
"Big Sis-!"
BOOM!
The barrier could not last more than a single blow but at least the children were safe, for now.
It jumped from the previous floor and stood a mere three metres away from them. Jeanne didn't know how she would respond if it tried to attack, but luckily the few seconds that passed gave the robed skeleton and Bony enough time to catch up.
"Bring the children away, Missy."
"But-"
"You'll just be a burden without your magic, you understand that, right?"
It was rather harsh but Jeanne had no counter so she grabbed the hands of Kaili and Lily and dragged them away.
"Now then, I guess it's time for our opening fight, master."
After transforming through the Hulk skill, Bony responded, "I only added the finishing touch, you know of your true master."
"Well, if my creator told me to kill you I would do it in a heartbeat, not that I have a heart, but you're still my master so have some pride in that."
"...Very well."