The Elderly witch approached the two adventurers with an apathetic expression, showing no signs of interest on the outside, but harboring immense curiosity on the inside.
They called her a bandit, which was odd given her appearance.
She looked nothing like a bandit and found the comment offensive to some degree.
"It's wise to be cautious, but associating me with a pack of immoral dogs is insulting. Haven't your parents ever taught you manners?"
Elizabeth stood up, stepping in front of Kyto with a smirk.
"You talk like you're older than us, but that's not possible with such scrawny arms and legs. How about you beat it before I make you regret robbing us!"
"...You have a mouth on you for someone your age."
"I'm eighteen, and so is he! Don't try to play all nice with us, we won't be fooled by your tricks!"
Grimhild glanced at Kyto who was behind Elizabeth, calculating the witch's every move. He was smart and perceptive, unlike the girl who was a loudmouth, and likely bluffing.
She couldn't detect any mana from Elizabeth, let alone willpower.
"Hmm..." Grimhild used a common spell known as Anull, infusing her eyes with small magic circles that allowed her to get a reading of someone's magical output, and or spells, however, it failed. She couldn't read Elizabeth no matter how hard she tried. "Interesting, Anull doesn't have the capabilities of reading her at all."
"What was that?" Shouted Elizabeth.
"It's nothing." Grimhild sighed, coming to a reasonable conclusion about their worrisome actions. "It's safe to say that you two are worried about me being a bandit because this road leads into the Ashen Burial Grounds, correct?"
Kyto nodded his head, saying, "Yeah, that's right. We've been told in Wyvernwood village that nobody ever crosses this road because it's infested with bandits and ghosts at nighttime!"
"I see."
Jean was peeking his head over the carriage, watching everything unfold. He was curious as to how Grimhild would handle the situation, given her nature as a witch.
"Well your suspicions are right, I am a bandit."
A gust of wind, powerful enough to blow Grimhild away, gusted over her body, nearly sweeping the witch off her feet.
She didn't realize it at first, but Elizabeth was in front of her, attacking with a direct punch to her face. The girl was quiet, focused solely on her task of eliminating the "bandit" in front of her.
"Gilfronta!"
Grimhild had enough time to react, casting an anti-magical barrier around her body.
By being able to block magical and physical strikes, Elizabeth was likely countered, until she punched right through the spell, shattering it like glass.
"Haaaaaahhh!"
Grimhild was astonished by her physical prowess, leaving her no choice but to dodge.
She slanted back to weave the attack, but Elizabeth readjusted herself in midair to deliver a straight knee toward Grimhild's midsection, knocking the wind from her lungs.
"Huaaaaahh!" After connecting such a deadly blow, Elizabeth twisted in midair and turned back around to kick her aside in the head.
Grimhild flipped sideways from the applied force, unable to match Elizabeth's Martial Prowess. She was fast, skillful, and precise with her attacks, thus, giving her the edge over the infamous witch.
"I'm not done yet!" Elizabeth landed on her feet with determination to win. "I'll finish you for good" Arching her arm back, her muscles bulged with intensity. "Battle Arts: Twofold Palm!" Thus, palming forward, her strength, speed, and sensory awareness were doubled, giving her means to knock Grimhild away with a fatal blow.
"Oh no... Grimhild!"
Jean called out her name in concern as he watched her fly across the air, tumbling against the ground like a tumbleweed.
Her body was bruised and battered all over with blood leaking from her skull.
It looked like she had been hit with a semi-truck.
"You were no match the moment you let your guard down!" Shouted Elizabeth.
"..." The witch slowly stood up from the ground, placing her palm against her chest. "Hrolma." Attempting to heal her wounds, the spell was inefficient. "I see..." She closed her eyes, barely able to stand.
Jean ran towards Grimhild, putting her arm around his neck to keep her up. "Hey, can you stand? Hold onto me!"
"Jean, please, stand back."
"What? You're hurt, I can't just let you do this by yourself!"
"You seem to be mistaken."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I was only doing this to gauge her strength, nothing more."
Jean widened his eyes, saying, "O-Oh, is that why you called us bandits, so they could attack you?"
Grimhild chuckled.
"Now you're catching on."
"But you can't heal yourself, how do you expect to fight them?"
"She's a Kaizamei." Said the witch, unwrapping her arm from around his neck.
"Wait... do you mean she's one of the Manaless?"
Grimhild nodded, standing up on her two feet, albeit barely.
"She forced some of her Antimana inside my body with that last attack, and now I can't use my magic. Even if I were to reverse time with Rilvora, the effects would remain."
"How is that possible?"
"Antimana is unbound by cause and effect, reversing time will accomplish nothing."
"T-Then what should we do? Should I rely on Ebony?" Asked the worried Jean.
"That won't be wise. That Champion of yours is still mentally recovering after our last fight. She's upset that I outsmarted, and beaten her. Champions are known to have immense pride, but I shattered it."
"Wait, you outsmarted Ebony? How? I watched the entire fight..."
"It was during our battle; I cast Imulma to freeze her in place, but she halted time and reversed my actions with Diel Provando through means of time control." She held onto her staff, lifting it into the air. "But little did she know, I predicted her time stop and cast a spell known as Eldgaid on my body." A bright light would emit from the orb atop the staff as it gathered mana. "It allowed me to reform from destruction, even if it means being banished into nildimensional space."
Jean was in awe, realizing the combat intelligence of this infamous witch.
"Are you saying you had precautions for the battle before it even began?"
"That's right, Jean, I am a woman who has more experience in battle than all of Yggdrasil's generations combined."
Jean gazed at her staff, witnessing a colossal amount of energy pouring within.
"What she's doing?" Said Elizabeth, visibly worried.
"I'm unsure, but be prepared... that's a lot of mana!" Responded Kyto.
The witch's staff was glowing with a multitude of colors, illuminating the entire area around them.
"I've already calculated an infinite number of ways our battle could've gone before it even began!" Pointing her staff at the two adventurers, her eyes were filled with conviction. "Out of those infinite possibilities, only 300,000 of them were viable, and I chose the most vicious one."
A smile crept upon her face, showing Grimhild's sadistic side.
"This is enough to destroy you." Said the witch.
"Oh, shit! Elizabeth, stand back!" Kyto grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him.
The Cyrodel realized what she was doing.
It was Catastrophe Magic; an extremely rare phenomenon that only a handful of magicians throughout Yggdrasil have performed. It can only be acquired through hard work and a complete understanding of magic.
A magician must learn, or even create their very own catastrophe spell if they wish to use it.
This rare phenomenon transcended the boundaries of fate and causality, disconnecting itself from Elohim authorities.
"Elgora Vilvanto Emedius!"
A beam of highly concentrated mana shot from her staff, ignoring the concept of spacetime, and detonating in their general area. It was instantaneous, giving them no time to react.
They didn't even have time to release a death cry.
"Was that... Catastrophe Magic?" Said Jean, looking at the massive smoke cloud from afar.
"The only way to counter a catastrophe spell is with another. These are no ordinary adventurers." Said Grimhild, gaining Jean's attention.
"Huh? Do you mean..."
"Yes, they managed to survive, look and see for yourself."
In the middle of the dark cloud, Kyto was shown with his palm facing them both, and standing in front of Elizabeth.
He managed to stop Elgora Vilvanto Emedius and come out unscathed.
"It's safe to say that you're a Cyrodel, and she's a Kaizamei. Am I right?" Asked Grimhild.
"Yeah, you're right; me and Elizabeth are friends, and I'm not gonna let you hurt her!"
Liz was standing behind Kyto, anxious about the whole situation.
"E-Even my Antimana couldn't have stopped that spell... I'm really useless, aren't I?"
"No, that's not true!" Shouted Kyto, facing the Kaizamei, "Without your Antimana coursing through her body, we would surely be dead! That spell she released was only from the mana she had stored in her staff!"
"A-Are you serious? That was only... a fraction of her power?!"
"We're not dealing with an ordinary bandit, Elizabeth, be on guard!"
She nodded her head, stepping from behind the Cyrodel.
"Right! I can still fight!"
The two of them were prepared for battle, however, Grimhild stepped forward-
"Will you two be willing to join me and my friend, on our journey?"
"Eh?"
"What?!"