The Demon Lord should have been capable of this as well, which meant that the moment the entire world was contaminated with her mana, she could have easily turned everything into a world of ice or engulfed it in a sea of flames. Frankly, she was spoiled for choice on how to destroy the world.
Thoughts and theories danced about in Eluria’s mind as she continued her leisurely walk. Eventually, she crossed a mountain range and found exactly what she was looking for.
“There it is.”
From high up in the sky, Eluria spotted the first signs of human activity she’d seen since she departed Paradise: the Altanian outpost in the northeastern region of the continent. She’d managed to make a beeline for this outpost thanks to the coordinates Raid had provided beforehand. Crusche had also informed them that according to the transmissions, the Hero they were after should have currently been stationed there.
Everything was in place, but there was just one problem. Eluria looked down at the outpost with a petulant frown. “I think they’ll attack me before I can even say hi...”
Not that being attacked was the issue here. Firstly, these people had every right to react that way—after all, she was the villain who’d led their world to ruin. Why wouldn’t they attack her on sight? Secondly, they could attack all they wanted—it wouldn’t matter much to Eluria. She wasn’t about to struggle against such a young Hero, not when she’d faced off against a real hero for fifty years. She had no intention of losing to anyone but Raid, nor did she think there was any greater hero in the world than him.
Eluria’s lips curled into a smile. “Try again when you’re stronger than Raid.”
She had one objective in this outpost, and it was neither to kill their Hero nor to massacre the soldiers. After all, that would have been counterproductive to their goal of saving the world.
“Hmm... This is a good chance to try casting a spell with all this polluted mana.” Eluria nodded to herself as she twirled the staff in her hands. She wanted to make use of the nature of polluted mana in tandem with her magic, and she had just the technique in mind. Rummaging through her memories, she slowly drew her right foot back. “I recall it went a little something like...this.”
The first time she’d seen this technique was back when she and Raid were still in the war, on the day a volcano erupted while the Altanian and Vegaltan armies were fighting nearby. Both their armies would have seen immense loss of life beneath the gushing lava and suffocating ashen smoke had Raid not stepped in to stop the eruption—quite literally, he’d jumped in and stomped on the volcano. Thanks to him, everyone returned home with their lives, and the tale of his unfathomable strength and overwhelming power birthed both fear and awe, granting him the title of Hero.
Eluria had been there to witness this feat, and the moment she saw Raid leap into the sky in one jump and smash down on the volcano with a single kick, there was only one thought in her mind:
That’s so cool!
She’d had no idea how his powers worked back then, but nevertheless she had been overcome with astonishment. The sight had spurred her on to create a spell that looked just as cool, replaying that breathtaking sight in her mind over and over as she’d sought to recreate it.
However, not once in her fifty-year battle with Raid had she used this spell in front of him. The reason was simple: she was too embarrassed. A single glance would’ve been all Raid needed to realize what had inspired the spell, and she was afraid that he wouldn’t like it at all. What if he got mad or took offense to it? Just the thought of it made her wilt. Of course, now she knew he wouldn’t have reacted that way at all.
Regardless, she just couldn’t resist mimicking him—he was just too cool. Besides, it made her happy to be matching with him. She’d even added a few improvements to the spell after her reincarnation. Instead of condensing the power into a single point for maximum impact, she spread out the force to expand the spell’s range as wide as possible. Then, she lowered its lethality to make the spell good for neutralizing enemies. Raid had used his version to stomp out a volcano, but Eluria chose to put her own twist on it, applying her favorite ice attribute to the attack. Finally, she’d added a bit of a feminine touch. As a little bonus, she enhanced all the spell’s effects with the polluted mana’s help.
And so, her new and improved spell was born: a Sage-styled Hero-inspired kick.
“Frostheel.”
Eluria whipped out her right leg in an elegant arc, soundlessly draping the landscape in ice and trapping every living being in place. From the outpost in the distance all the way back to her, it was as if a road of frost had been paved just for Eluria to finish the final stretch of her walk.
“Mm. That was pretty cool, if I do say so myself,” she muttered, nodding proudly.
It turned out much more effective than she’d imagined thanks to the addition of the polluted mana, but Frostheel specialized in catching targets alive, so the people trapped in the ice were safe and sound. A bit chilly for sure, but they would have to sit tight and bear with it until Eluria got what she came for.
“I might as well finish my walk before I start looking.”
The girl’s quiet musings faded into the frosty breeze as she resumed her leisurely stroll over the long, icy path.
■
Nobody knew what it felt like to die. After all, who had lived to tell the tale?
But at that moment, Ariel was certain that death had embraced her. The Demon Lord’s overwhelming presence, the alarm bells ringing incessantly in her head—and then, the unplaceable sensation that enveloped her body the instant she’d lost consciousness.
She thought she was done for. She was sure of it.
So...what exactly was going on right now?