Having made up their minds, Blue Rose launched their attack with Gaguran leading the charge, her target being the Earth Elemental.
Hmph!!!
She let out a wild roar, approaching the shield-wielding Earth Elemental, and hammered its shield with her warhammer in a fierce, continuous barrage.
Even as her palms began to tingle from the recoil, her attacks did not cease.
At the same time, the ninja twins Tia and Tina circled to Lady Catherine's sides, casting two talismans from a distance that flew towards the Wind and Fire Elementals.
Exploding Flame Talisman!
Water Wave Talisman!
As the magic power was channeled, the incantations on the talismans began to glow faintly, then, with a bang, they unleashed explosive attacks of fire and water attributes.
The two Elementals were drawn by the attacks, focusing their attention on the two girls and slowly moving in their direction.
Seizing this opening, Lakyus bypassed the Earth Elemental and raised her magic sword high, launching an attack on Lady Catherine.
"Hehe, although I haven't specifically trained, I do know a few simple warrior techniques, so don't underestimate me!" Lady Catherine faced Lakyus's attack without any panic; instead, she directly raised her magic staff and used it as a longsword.
Clang!
Lakyus's magic sword and Lady Catherine's staff collided, producing the sound of metal striking metal.
"Eh~"
Just as Lakyus was stunned by her attack being blocked, Lady Catherine's slender arm suddenly exerted force, pushing her directly away.
What terrifying strength!
Lakyus slid back five meters on the ground, her heart filled with shock!
Although she was not the purest warrior, close-quarters combat was not something an ordinary Magic Caster could withstand.
Not to mention being utterly overpowered in a test of strength by a magic-user.
Sure enough, anyone associated with Lock is a monster, Lakyus muttered to herself.
At this moment, the Water Elemental guarding Lady Catherine immediately attacked her.
Water Bullet!
Despite being an auxiliary type of Elemental, the Water Elemental summoned by Lady Catherine was not without offensive capabilities; it could still use second-tier magic like this.
Three or four water droplets shot towards Lakyus like bullets.
However, for such an attack, Lakyus, an Adamantite-ranked Adventurer, merely used a defensive spell, holding her magic sword horizontally in front of her, easily blocking all the water droplets.
After fending off this attack, Lakyus once again closed in, but her target was not Lady Catherine, but the Water Elemental!
"Hm~ Not fighting anymore?" Lady Catherine said, slightly disappointed. Although she was a Magic Caster, influenced by a certain someone, she actually quite enjoyed close combat.
However, she wasn't left idle for long. A giant crystal knight's spear pierced down towards her from above.
Lady Catherine lightly leaped back, and the crystal knight's spear plunged hard into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
After regaining her balance, Lady Catherine looked closely. A small figure, entirely cloaked, slowly descended from mid-air, landing steadily on the end of the knight's spear.
"I see," Lady Catherine looked at her opponent with interest. Around them, the members of Blue Rose were fighting strenuously against the Elementals she had summoned. "Are you my opponent?"
Ibiruei said nothing, directly raising her palm.
"Magic Reinforce · Crystal Dagger!"
The tip of the exquisite crystal dagger shimmered with a sharp light, flying towards Lady Catherine like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Facing her magical attack, Lady Catherine merely smiled, making no defensive movements whatsoever.
This unusual behavior reminded Ibiruei of something unpleasant; a similar scene seemed to have occurred before her eyes.
Sure enough, when the crystal dagger reached Lady Catherine's front, it suddenly shattered for no reason, turning into dust and dissipating.
"What?!"
To confirm her suspicion, Ibiruei cast magic again. As magic power surged, three crystal arrows materialized beside her.
"Magic Resistance Penetration Reinforce · Crystal Triple Arrows!"
The arrows flew out, but ultimately shattered in front of Lady Catherine. It was as if she were enveloped in a shimmering cloak of light, rendering Ibiruei's attacks a joke.
Magic attack nullified!
And it was probably even stronger than the one on the Tiger Knights before. Among the spells she knew, Crystal Triple Arrows was the attack with the strongest magic penetration ability.
She had even used a reinforcing spell to enhance this special effect, but it was still easily nullified by Lady Catherine.
Why would such a troublesome ability appear on a human?
Ibiruei suddenly felt as if the entire world had changed; her understanding of the human race had been completely overturned in less than a month.
But now was not the time to think about this.
Ibiruei shook her head, casting the jumbled thoughts aside.
"Sand Domain · Full Area!"
With a wave of Ibiruei's hand, a fierce sandstorm enveloped both her and Lady Catherine.
If even focused offensive magic couldn't harm the opponent, let alone continuous, weak area-of-effect skills like this.
She now understood that from the very beginning of this match, they had no chance of winning.
If that was the case, then all she needed to do was protect her companions with all her might.
Lakyus and the others were currently battling the powerful Elementals summoned by Lady Catherine, requiring their full concentration to deal with their attacks.
If Lady Catherine were to target them at this moment, Ibiruedid not doubt that the Starlight Witch's magical attacks could easily take their lives.
The Sand Domain was merely to obscure Lady Catherine's vision. Even if a humwerewas extraordinary, without using magic, it would be impossible for her to gain vision that ignored this sandstorm, right?
And how to stop her from using magic was Ibiruei's job.
"Acid Splash!"
"Crystal Shot!"
Ibiruei continuously launched offensive magic at Lady Catherine. Although completely futile, these ceaseless attacks kept Lady Catherine's attention focused on her.
"Knowing it's futile yet doing it anyway, little sister, I understand your intentions," Lady Catherine said in a comforting tone.
Having long been engrossed in magical research or confined to Lock's mysterious room, Lady Catherine was not very well-informed about the outside world.
Even for Blue Rose, waswere ala so top-ranked Adventurer in the Kingdom, she only had the impression of them being "an Adventurer team of all girls."
If she had been slightly more informed, she would have known that the petite Ibiruei before her could actually be her great-grandmother in terms of age.
"You must continue to work hard in the future. One day, you too will reach my level," Lady Catherine consoled, acting like a mature older sister. "But for now, I'm going to eliminate you!"
"Magic Reinforce · Starburst!"
Lady Catherine raised her staff high, and a brilliant star appeared above her head. Accompanied by a huge explosion, the star shattered, and a powerful magical light wave spread outwards in a circle from its center.
Not good!
"Crystal Barrier!"
"Magic Effect Reinforce · Crystal Shield!"
Ibiruei continuously cast two defensive spells. First, a crystal wall rose in front of her as a barrier, and then a crystal cover enveloped her entire body.
When the light wave swept over, the surrounding sandstorm was instantly torn apart. The crystal wall only held for a brief second, then shattered with a bang after developing spiderweb-like cracks.
The subsequent attack landed on the crystal cover, and a powerful thrust swept Ibiruei into the air.
This cover also couldn't last too long. The holy attribute starlight caused immense damage to her, being an Undead.
"Ah!!!"
The burning sensation throughout her body made Ibiruei let out a mournful cry.
"Ibiruei!!!" ×4
Her voice immediately caught the attention of her teammates. Seeing Ibiruei falling to the ground from mid-air, the members of Blue Rose couldn't help but feel a pang in their hearts.
"We surrender!!!"
Lakyus shouted repeatedly at Lady Catherine, with an unprecedented tension on her face. "Lady Catherine, please stop!!!"
Lady Catherine heard her cry and immediately dispelled the summoning magic for the four Elementals. Their bodies transformed into elemental energy and dissipated into the world.
The members of Blue Rose quickly ran to Ibiruei's side.
"Are you alright, Ibiruei?!" Lakyus held the heavily injured Ibiruei in her arms anxiously. "Pull yourself together!"
Perhaps due to her overly forceful movements, the shaking woke Ibiruei from her unconsciousness, and she said with difficulty, "I… I'm fine."
"That's great!" Lakyus immediately burst into tears of joy, hugging her tightly.
At this moment, Lady Catherine walked over to them, looking at Ibiruei in Lakyus's arms with some curiosity, and asked in an uncertain tone, "Um… this little sister isn't an Undead, is she?"
The members of Blue Rose were slightly stunned.
Although many rumors were circulating about Ibiruei's identity, Lady Catherine was the first to guess that she was an Undead.
Just as they hesitated whether they should tell the powerful Starlight Witch the truth, they heard the reason why she made this guess.
"Normally, although Starburst is powerful, it would never cause such severe damage to someone hit by it. There's only one explanation for such a result."
…
Lakyus was silent for a moment, then pleaded with Lady Catherine, "Lady Catherine, could you please keep this secret for us?"
Among humans, there were also those, such as Theocracy, who rejected other races.
Before understanding Lady Catherine's attitude towards non-human races, Lakyus and the others felt very uneasy.
But to their surprise, Lady Catherine agreed almost without hesitation.
"Mhm, I understand," Lady Catherine nodded, promising confidently. Then her eyes sparkled with starlight as she looked at Ibiruei and asked a speechless question, "So, this little sister… no, it could also be an older sister—how old are you really?"
Blue Rose and the others exchanged glances, unsure how to respond.
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