Sheila’s surprise attack—which, by the way, wrecked half of my bedroom—signaled the start of our battle. I flew out of the gaping hole in the wall and up into the sky, using a barrier to both block her attack and fling her away.
“Amelia Emilia Claudia... Full Impact!”
As I withdrew, I prepared my strongest single-hit spell and loaded it with my amplified mana. It was a deadly blow, but I hurled it at Sheila without a moment’s hesitation.
The girl simply stood with an elegant smile and cast a glance at her magic sword. “Go on,” she told it.
The blade trembled in excitement as a magic barrier manifested in front of Sheila, perfectly blocking my massive attack.
“Magic Shield?!” I exclaimed in surprise.
The barrier that Sheila—rather, Crimson Rose just put up was undoubtedly Absolute Magic Shield. That explained how it completely blocked my fully loaded spell.
Fine. If quality won’t work, then how about some quantity? With my strongest single-hit spell shut down, my next bet was my most numerous spell.
“Amelia Emilia Claudia... Magic Missile, a hundred and onefold!”
“Child’s play!” Sheila spat as she cut them down one after the other with her magic sword.
Swordsmanship and speed were her expertise. Clearly, my barrage of magic missiles meant little before her masterful slashes.
I gritted my teeth. “Urgh...”
“Allow me to impart you some advice.” Sheila’s lips curled into a smirk before her figure blurred and disappeared from sight.
By reflex, I put up magic and physical barriers all around me—the ultimate defense that would protect me no matter the attack waiting on the other side.
“You are overly reliant on magic!”
Sheila’s voice was followed by a series of explosions—the sound of my physical barriers up front shattering one after the other. Before I could even blink, she had gotten right in arm’s reach.
“And might I remind you that those magic barriers...only ward off attacks!”
Suddenly, Sheila lunged and threw her entire weight at me. Caught by surprise, I stumbled back all the way until I found myself outside my barriers.
“Haaah!”
“Tsk! Time Stop!”
I froze time and escaped from Sheila’s grasp. I’d put enough space between us just in time for the spell to lose its effect.
Sheila blinked. “I see... So this is how it feels to have time stopped up close and personal.”
I swiftly held up my hand to launch a counterattack—then froze.
I couldn’t think of what to use.
“You are overly reliant on magic!”
Sheila’s words echoed in my head. She’d blocked my strongest attack with a magic barrier and easily cut down a whole barrage of my magic. Faced with Absolute Magic Shield for the very first time, I was at a complete loss.
There was no time to think, however—Sheila was closing in, Crimson Rose firmly in her grasp. It felt like my reflexes were a beat slower than usual because I was too conscious of her Absolute Magic Shield. Add Sheila’s insane speed into the equation, and I clearly couldn’t spare any time for brainstorming or strategizing.
Just then, inspiration struck.
“Contract Summoning: Liam!”
Sheila froze, stunned by my clone’s sudden appearance. She was clearly confused as to why I’d used this spell.
Without pause, I fired off a series of magic missiles at her, which she proceeded to cut down with her magic sword just like earlier.
Why did I summon my clone? Well, if I had no time to strategize because she was too fast, then I figured that she should also have no energy to spare for a second opponent. So here I was, drawing her attention with an unending wave of magic missiles while my clone fled out of her reach. Her eyes constantly darted between us.
A minute later, my clone yelled, “Hit her with something—indirectly!”
Since we were essentially the same person, I immediately understood.
First, I unleashed Full Impact. This wouldn’t take her down, but even Sheila couldn’t just ignore it entirely.
While she was dealing with that, I jumped back to make some room for my next move.
“Gnome!” I chanted, summoning the earth spirit. “Drop a boulder on her!”
The cute earth spirit heeded my command and created a huge boulder right above Sheila. She clicked her tongue and leaped away—where I was already waiting, fully trusting her to dodge the boulder.
“You don’t have an Absolute Force Shield ready, do you?” I muttered as I hit her with one final blow—my checkmate.
The girl huffed. “No, I do not,” she admitted, conceding.
This was how I managed to win our bout. My lips twitched into a smile, but not because of my victory.
“I’m overly reliant on magic, huh...?”
Rather, I was happy to have walked away from this battle with a new goal to work toward.