"This is to make up for the gap in strength."
Ottar was not shaken in the slightest by Elise's words. Or rather, it was precisely because he acknowledged that his strength was inferior to hers that he chose to rely on the power of the equipment she had created.
"After all, your strength is far too overwhelming. With just us alone, there is absolutely no possibility of victory."
Ottar's tone carried no fluctuation, yet Elise sensed a certain composure from him. What did that mean?
"Are you saying... that with these items, you think you can stand against me?"
"Allow me to explain what Lady Freya left unfinished."
At this moment, the blond elf stepped forward—the commander of the Freya Familia, Hedin.
"This duel was never meant to be that simple."
"Lady Freya had already predicted that we would be unable to defeat you by our own power. I once thought that was an exaggeration, but now it seems to be the truth."
"Saintess of Scales, you should understand this—Lady Freya's charm is far from that of an ordinary goddess of beauty."
"Look over there."
Hedin pointed toward the corner of the wall—where Alise and the others were.
The four of them appeared unchanged at a glance, but upon closer inspection, it was clear they were breathing slightly heavier. And as time passed, it was steadily worsening.
"This is something Lady Freya prepared specifically for you. As time goes on, that power will only grow stronger."
"In the end, those girls will completely become Lady Freya's puppets..."
"You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"
By the time Hedin finished speaking, Elise's expression had completely darkened.
"You're right," Elise said as she raised her head. "Then next... you'll have to endure a little hardship."
"As I said earlier—don't die!"
In the blink of an eye, Elise vanished from where she stood, instantly putting the four on high alert.
Within the Freya Familia, the strongest was undoubtedly Ottar. As a boaz, his defense and endurance were exceptionally high.
In other words, Ottar was essentially an enhanced humanoid shield. Attacking him first was definitely not the optimal choice.
As for the others...
Allen the catman—small in stature, but undoubtedly a warrior.
Hogni the dark elf—more like an assassin, specializing in one-hit kills.
Hedin the white elf—the team's commander and highest damage dealer. In terms of raw destructive power, he might even surpass Ottar.
Since the weakest four pallums had already fallen, there was no need to hesitate about the target...
Cling!
With a crisp sound, Elise appeared behind Hedin, her starlight-infused blade already slashing toward his neck.
However...
If even the items stored at the very back of the shop had been taken out, then the rest would hardly be any exception, would they?
Lyra still had many items with absurd effects in her possession. Normally, if the shop were robbed, the mechanisms inside would have been triggered—those were things only Lyra knew about.
But if Lyra had fallen under Freya's charm, then taking those items out would have been incredibly easy.
"How troublesome..."
Gritting her teeth, Elise swung her sword and forced Allen back.
"So you've emptied out my entire inventory, haven't you?"
"I'm telling you—this isn't over!"
Before Elise could even finish speaking, a dagger had already reached her neck.
Crack, crack, crack!
At that moment, the Barrier of the Stars sprang into effect, intercepting the blade.
Though Hogni's attack appeared to have been blocked, the sound that followed told a very different story.
Cracks had actually begun to form on the barrier—something exceedingly rare...
Not only that, Allen and Ottar charged forward once more, using their bodies to block Elise's path.
Their auras were all wrong. Even if they had taken potions, the duration wouldn't last long... as long as she waited for the effects to wear off, the victor would naturally be her.
But Elise couldn't wait!
Hedin had already said it— the longer time dragged on, the stronger the charm affecting Alise and the others would become!
So Freya had deliberately seized upon this weakness?
"Damn it! I should've kept some items on me!"
In the next instant, Hedin's attack followed.
"Eternal subjugation, undying thunder soldiers!"
"Varian Hildr!"
A powerful bolt of lightning descended from the sky, with only one target—the Elise being besieged by the three of them!
Facing simultaneous attacks from all three, Elise sensed the danger, but within such a confined space, there was no way to evade. She could only endure it head-on with her Prana.
But before taking that hit, eliminating one of the more fragile opponents wouldn't be a problem! A frontal assault wouldn't work—so she would have to rely on a surprise attack!
Elise shifted her direction, appearing to charge straight at Ottar. Her holy sword swept horizontally toward him!
No one could see Elise's eyes, so they could only judge her next target based on her movements.
Seeing that she was aiming for Ottar, Allen and Hogni moved in from the sides, sealing her in place together with the descending lightning.
Ottar, meanwhile, tensed his muscles and met Elise head-on with a direct counterattack!
However...
Just as the sacred blade and greatsword were about to collide, Elise's upper body suddenly twisted aside at an unnatural angle, narrowly slipping past Ottar's strike.
At that instant, her target shifted.
Hogni!
Since taking out Hedin first wasn't feasible, eliminating a dangerous assassin was just as effective.
When he realized he had suddenly become the target, Hogni froze for a split second—but only that.
The dark elf immediately raised his dagger in front of himself while retreating.
Hogni's Stigmata and equipment all enhanced his attack and speed—in other words, his defense had received the least improvement.
If Elise's strike landed, he wouldn't be able to withstand it.
But if his defense wasn't enough, then he would compensate with speed. It was precisely because Hogni focused solely on speed and power that his attacks could threaten Elise!
So long as he avoided anything that could harm him, that would be enough.
Although Elise was also incredibly fast, under the current circumstances, she shouldn't be able to hit a retreating Hogni.
Unless...
Whoosh!
In Hogni's dark pupils, a glimmer of light began to flicker...
What was he seeing?
On Elise's holy sword, multicolored light began to shimmer?
What was this?
As her attack drew closer, Hogni faintly sensed the nature of that sword light...
Heat. Cold.
Radiance. Depth.
Violence. Solidity.
And... sanctity?
Hogni was baffled. How could a single sword contain so many different energies? Some of them even conflicted with one another!
Wasn't she afraid of losing control and causing an explosion?
Wait!
An explosion?
At that instant, Hogni's expression changed drastically—but it was already too late.
"Elemental Burst!"
With Elise's swing, the gathered energies spiraled out of control, erupting into an overwhelming torrent.
Aside from Hedin, who was casting from afar, and the unconscious Gulliver brothers, the remaining three were all swallowed by that terrifying power!
Attack Hogni?
No!
Elise intended to wipe them all out in one strike!
At that moment, whether it was Hedin's accumulated lightning, Ottar's slash, or Allen's assault, everything was obliterated within that radiance—even Elise herself was not spared.
Yes, in order to drive everyone around her back, Elise had chosen a method of injuring the enemy by a thousand at the cost of five hundred to herself.
Judging by the outcome, this unexpected attack was undeniably effective.
Allen collapsed to his knees, his entire body drenched in blood. Though he hadn't lost consciousness, his fading aura made it clear—he could no longer continue fighting.
As for Hogni, having taken the attack head-on, he had been blasted straight into a distant wall, with only his legs sticking out. He was likely only a step away from death.
Ottar's condition was the best. Though his clothes were tattered, there wasn't a single obvious wound on his body.
As for Elise... her Barrier of the Stars had completely shattered.
However, that wasn't a major issue. As long as she gathered Prana again, the barrier would immediately reform around her.
With this single move, Elise broke the stalemate between them—trading a barrier that could be restored at any time for both Hogni and Allen.
"I can still fight—I won't lose to you!"
The catman struggled to stand, but the blood flowing from his body had already made that impossible. No matter what, Allen didn't possess Ottar's level of defense.
The fact that he had survived that attack head-on was already remarkable.
And so, under these conditions, the catman collapsed to the ground and completely lost consciousness.
"Hedin, this won't work..."
Ottar's voice rang out at that moment.
"I know!"
Hedin had not expected that even after strengthening themselves so much, the gap between them and the woman before them would still be so vast.
She was monstrously strong—almost beyond human!
Hedin's lightning had indeed struck Elise earlier, but the effect had been minimal—as if something on her body had weakened the lightning?
According to their intelligence, Elise shouldn't possess any power over lightning. Then who could it be?
The holy sword in Elise's hand flickered twice before falling silent again...
If that was the case, then Hedin's magic would be ineffective.
"Leave everything to me!"
In the next moment, Hedin began chanting once more.
"Eternal hymn, undying saintess!"
Hedin possessed three spells—one that formed lightning spheres, one that called down lightning strikes.
As for the third, it was an enchantment spell.
It could not be used on himself and could only be cast on someone he acknowledged. Once activated, it would consume all of his magic power and restore the target's injuries.
It granted the target an armor of lightning, enhancing their attack, defense, and speed—while also improving reaction time and perception.
Its name was...
"Laurus Hildr!"
Clang!
Her strike landed—but not on Hedin. It struck two jet-black greatswords instead!
At that very moment, Ottar had actually matched Elise's speed and placed himself in front of Hedin.
This...
Elise was stunned. What exactly had Ottar done to become this strong?
She had already stepped into the ranks of Level 4. If compared to this world's system, she was no weaker than a Level 8 adventurer.
But Ottar had only just reached Level 7—how could he possibly keep up?
"AAAHHH—!"
Ottar let out a thunderous roar. The arm gripping his greatsword bulged with veins, clearly using every ounce of his strength.
Elise could feel the force pressing through her blade growing stronger and stronger, until she was finally flung away by the impact.
"Don't hog her all to yourself, you pig!"
Allen's figure shot forward at incredible speed, his spear-sword already aimed straight at Elise.
Hogni lowered his stance slightly—and then vanished entirely.
Hedin seized the opportunity and began chanting his magic.
To outsiders, the upper ranks of the Freya Familia were known for their constant infighting, unable to cooperate and never seen working together.
But under Freya's command, they had united.
There was a saying: the one who understands you best is often your enemy. Among the Freya Familia's elites, this was almost always the case—they knew each other's abilities inside and out.
Even without prior coordination, once they chose to cooperate, their synergy was far from poor!
Having just disengaged from Ottar, Elise was immediately struck by Allen's attack, and the two fell into close combat.
At one moment, Elise noticed a strange ripple in the shadow behind her...
If nothing unexpected occurred, that would be the vanished Hogni.
This was simply abnormal!
Aside from the four pallums she had taken down at the beginning, everyone else in the Freya Familia was abnormally strong!
"Thinking about it... I seem to have once given Lyra something like that?"
Recently, Elise had been completely absorbed in creating special items. The tools she had produced had already begun to influence the entire world.
Among them were weapons, armor, Stigmata, potions, and various items with unique effects.
After explaining their uses to Lyra, she had simply handed them over for sale. The sheer variety and quantity were so vast that even Elise herself could no longer keep track of them all.
After all, no one remembers how many slices of bread they've eaten.
But she did remember the taste of that bread.
She still remembered the effects of everything she had created!
There was one type of potion that could grant an adventurer five times their original strength for a short period!
Among all the enhancement potions Elise had made, this one had the greatest amplification effect!
But the more powerful something was, the greater its side effects.
This potion only lasted for thirty minutes, and afterward, the user would fall into a weakened state for an entire week!
Although it wasn't suitable for use during regular adventuring, Elise had still entrusted it to Lyra.
According to Lyra, it was supposed to be kept at the very back of the shop and not sold for the time being.
But now, Elise was increasingly certain that Ottar and the others had taken this potion!
Because the aura surrounding them was clearly unstable—something that would never appear in someone fighting with their own natural strength.
They must have used something to forcibly boost their power! And if nothing unexpected had happened, it was that potion!
However...