Lucy deserved her status as an Advanced Apprentice Mage. Although Leon had only said a few words, she was able to immediately discern what his weakness was.
Her innate spatial talent was still worthy of being called 'invincible.'
At least, she was invincible when facing enemies of the same level.
As long as someone was unable to break through her paper-thin protective barrier, her body was completely safe. No matter what was thrown at her, there was no way to penetrate that invisible shield and harm her. At the same time, she could always casually torment her enemy with her Spatial Cut and Telekinesis.
But no matter how resilient a shield was, there would always be a weak point, and Lucy's Protection Barrier was no exception.
To avoid being completely isolated from the world while the protection barrier was active, she had to leave a hole that allowed her to 'communicate' with the outside world. This hole was how she was able to launch attacks at her enemy while her Barrier was active.
So, to cover this 'gap,' she purposefully studied Wind Elementium spells. After that, using invisible wind Elementium, she patched the hole. The invisible protection barrier was mixed with the invisible barrier of Wind Elementium, creating a combination that had previously deceived all her enemies, giving them the impression that her protection barrier was perfect and flawless, with no weak points.
But she would never have thought that today, at the end of the world, she would encounter a group of such strange beings that challenged her invincible status. One was a disgusting man who had modified his body and transformed into a bug-man, while the other was a novice apprentice who could actually see Elementium in the world around him with the naked eye. Encountering these two strange men brought her to the unluckiest day of her life.
If that bug had stung any other Advanced Apprentice, perhaps the enemy would have been killed by his unpredictable Telekinesis ability. How could she have known she would find someone with such a strange body modification, which gave them time to discover the gap in her defense? Furthermore, without this Beginner Apprentice who was able to see Elementium with the naked eye, how could her Protection Barrier have been broken, forcing her to feel the pain of a thousand scorpion stings?
The more she thought about it, the more irritated Lucy became. She wished she could immediately rip off his skin and crush his bones, but without the information she was even more concerned about, she could only contain her rage and continue, "Is it a magical eye or some kind of special magical spell?"
"It's a spell!"
"Give it to me, and I will spare your life today!"
"Can I trust your words?"
"Hmph! It seems to me that you have no choice! Don't force me to rip out your soul. If that happens, I will tortuously dig through your entire brain!"
Although Lucy's personal image had been completely corroded by the day's events, her pride was still present, and the threatening and domineering tone of her words told Leon that she was not accepting a no as an answer.
Leon quickly examined Lucy's current state.
Either because she had suffered so much damage, or because her Protection Barrier was on standby, the Protection Barrier was nowhere around Lucy.
Was she not afraid of a sneak attack?
I will do it!
Being cautious and indecisive in front of this extremely strong Advanced Apprentice was simply asking for death.
A moment later, Leon shook his sleeve, throwing a small dark green bottle towards Lucy's face. Not needing to activate any spell, once the bottle hit the ground, the green substance released from the bottle, and a strange smoke exploded from the point of impact.
"Splash~~"
A second later, an ugly, slime-covered man, about a meter tall, slowly rose from the ground.
This low-grade humanoid puppet was only a temporary product, as it could last a maximum of seven minutes, and its only method of attack was to surround the enemy, causing them to suffocate within its slimy body. Of course, using a temporary slave to attack an Advanced Apprentice was a joke, but it could keep even a powerful enemy occupied for a second.
Meanwhile, Leon quickly took a few steps back, both hands moving rapidly through the air as he recited magical spells aloud.
"Fire Arrow~~"
"I conjure~~"
"Fire, come burn~~"
"Fire, accept my commands and take the form of an arrow...."
A Fire Arrow began to form in front of him. Once the solidification of the Fire Arrow spell was complete, compared to the previous casting time of over 10 seconds, Leon could now cast it in 5 seconds. It was obvious that this was a significant advancement in his combat power.
But, what a pity, what he did made no difference in front of that terrifying little girl. An invisible protection barrier instantly appeared between the puppet and Leon, severing the spiritual connection between them. In the next second, the slime creature fell to the ground and simply disappeared.
This was the greatest weakness of Summoning Spells.
Once the spiritual connection between the summoner and the summoning was lost, under the effect of the Principles of this world, no matter how strong the summoning was, it was forced to return to where it came from. Therefore, before that cheap doll could do anything, it transformed into a puddle of acidic liquid.
As for the Fire Arrow that Leon had launched with great effort, Lucy simply responded with a look of disdain; she didn't even try to stop him from casting.
"Buzz~~"
Soon after the Fire Arrow left Leon's hand, it instantly struck a small 'Mirror Space' hanging in the air in front of him.
Blocked by this small protective barrier that reflected energy, the Fire Arrow simply exploded.
"BOOM~~"
Clearly, this explosion was happening very close to Leon. In the next instant, the raging flames were reflected by the 'Mirror Space' and sent back toward Leon, engulfing the body of the young Apprentice.
Although Leon could sense any change in the area with his Elementium Sight, he was unable to react to this type of sudden change in the space around him. He could cast a familiar magical spell in 3 to 5 seconds, but Lucy could unleash her innate spatial magic in less than a second.
The enormous gap between them allowed Lucy to sit back and watch as Leon completed his spell-casting process. She had plenty of time to decide whether to block him or launch a counterattack. Not only that, if she wanted, Leon would never be able to finish casting any spell that took more than 3 seconds.
As she watched the flames engulf the Beginner Apprentice in front of her, a look of disdain appeared in Lucy's one remaining eye.
How dare a Beginner Apprentice take the initiative to attack an Advanced Apprentice? This guy was simply asking for death!
Suddenly, she felt something was wrong.
A pebble the size of an egg suddenly shot out from the rolling flames, racing toward Lucy. At the same time, Leon also emerged from the flames, both hands covering his head.
The raging fire obviously didn't distinguish between friend and foe, and thus Leon suffered great pain forcing his way out of hell. His body was severely burned by the flames, and both exposed arms were covered in burn marks and blisters.
With a cruel and hideous smile on her face, Lucy gently waved her fingers, sending some barely visible streaks flickering through the air. The flying stone was cut into four pieces upon contact with the streaks.
"Lightning Strikes~~"
Violent blue lightning spread through the air for a second and then disappeared.
Her attempt to use the Lightning Stone to attack was a complete failure.
Without hesitation, Leon pulled out another blackened object and threw it toward Lucy. After that, he simply turned and ran, as if trying to escape another explosion.
"Didn't you hear what I said before? You're forcing me to cut off your legs! Well, if that's what you really want…" Lucy spoke mockingly, but before she could finish, her expression suddenly changed, and she immediately turned to face the approaching object, as it had just dodged one of her casually cast Spatial Cuts.
A small bat made a quick loop in the air and avoided the Spatial Cut aimed at it, flapping its wing at an incredible speed. It quickly reached above Lucy's head.
A summoning? Was it a contracted creature or some kind of demon?
Lucy couldn't immediately identify the origin of this strange bat that had come to her. Shrugging, she waved her hands, unleashing a pair of spatial cuts and completely sealing off any path that the palm-sized bat could take. After doing this, she felt at ease, thinking the bat would be no more trouble.
But in the next second, something happened that made her scream in surprise.
"Holy shit!!"
Quickly transforming, the tiny palm-sized bat inflated like a balloon, turning into a tall, slender human girl wearing an impressive red dress. Not only that, but she didn't make any evasive moves and simply fell directly toward the spatial cuts, aggressively leaping over Lucy's body.
Enjoying Lucy's terrified expression, claws appeared on the fingers of the girl in red, becoming extremely sharp and pointed, gleaming indistinctly like molten metal. Furthermore, as she fell, the look of this young woman changed dramatically, her green eyes turning blood red, as if blood were going to drip from them.
When the red-eyed girl was caught by the spatial cuts, the sound of flesh being torn by the spatial attack echoed through the air.
"Ripping~~"
A huge amount of blood sprayed from the back of the girl in red, and several cross-shaped holes could be seen in her body. The series of cuts transformed her beautiful milf body into that of a masochist.
But the girl in red didn't stop or retreat when her bright red lips were opening wider, revealing two terrifying fangs. When she finally reached Lucy, she simply bit into her exposed neck.
Damn, she was a vampire!
Like everyone else, she had heard of these damned beasts before, but as an Advanced Apprentice Mage, Lucy immediately realized what she was facing.
"Bite~~"
Like a mosquito biting her neck, a tingling sensation was felt, which quickly transformed into a pleasurable feeling that made her feel as if she were walking on clouds.
Following the drawing of her blood, she clearly sensed her life force rapidly fading away.
"Drinking~~"
"Sucking~~"
Her body felt drowsy and was so comfortable that she just wished she could let everything go and fall into a deep sleep.
"Glub~~"
"Glub~~"
"Glub~~"
But no matter what, Lucy was an Advanced Apprentice with a strong will, and she had high resistance to the paralytic poison being injected into her body through the vampire's fangs. After being dazed for only a brief moment, she managed to regain control of her will.
For the first time in her life, Lucy felt as if death were knocking on her front door.
In her two previous battles, although he had managed to harm her, the worm controller was no match for her. As for Sinbad, if they hadn't fought in her swamp, the leader of the Ghost Nannies would have been killed instantly.
But at this moment, Lucy truly felt the threat of death.
If she didn't properly manage her current situation, she—who was very likely to become a great Mage—would die in this filthy land.
With no other options, Lucy gathered the last drops of her strength and once again let out a terrifying scream that shook the world around her.
"Space!"
"Listen to my desire!"
"Space, break and destroy my enemies!"
"Spatial Crack~~"
"Tremor~~"
In the next second, the space shattered, and everything around her was crushed to dust!
"BOOOOMMM~~"
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1994 Words