In the past, she wouldn’t have cared. She would have gone full throttle, blasting away without a second thought. But now… now she knew better. She’d grown just enough to think about things like risk and long-term survival. A little wisdom, perhaps.
“This cave just keeps going, huh?” she sighed. “How far in does it go, anyway?”
They’d been inside for hours already, but the passage stretched on ahead, dark and winding with no end in sight. Even with all her efforts to save energy, there was a real danger she’d run out of magical power before they reached the end.
Part of her wanted to call for a break. A short rest, just enough to recover. But outside, Belamus and the others were still locked in battle. Every second they spent in here was a second too long, and Delarosa knew it. The faster they cleared this place, the sooner they could go back and reinforce their allies.
“I wonder how much farther we’ve got…” Mimi’s voice wavered as she looked around the endless tunnel. “Everything’s starting to feel more dangerous. I really hope this ends soon…”
She wasn’t imagining it, either; the enemies were still getting stronger. If Delarosa hadn’t even been using her full power, maybe they would still be in control of the situation. But what if things escalated? What if something came after me? Could I really survive if I became the target?
I don’t want to be a burden, she thought. If someone like Delarosa had to protect me in a serious fight, I’d just slow her down…
The further they went, the heavier her dread became. She didn’t want to run into anything worse than what they’d already faced. Not now. Not ever.
Still, the two of them pressed on.
Eventually, the enemy presence began to thin. Fewer attacks, less resistance. Mimi began to relax, just a little. Maybe I was just being paranoid… The thought offered a fragile kind of comfort.
They stepped into a wide, open chamber. At the far end of the room, a staircase rose up to a wooden platform. Above it loomed a colossal wooden face, carved into the shape of an old man. The grain of the wood curled like wrinkles, and a thick beard flowed down from its chin. It looked almost… human.
Mimi’s eyes widened. “I-Is that… is that how the Emperor Treant talks? Through that face?”
Her nerves were showing again, but she forced herself to push forward. “So, this really is the last stop? Finally. We actually made it. All right… let’s just get this over with.”
She cupped her hands and called out to the towering visage, “Emperor Treant, sir!”
Silence.
No reply. Nothing stirred.
She tried calling out again, louder this time—but still, nothing.
“Maybe… maybe it can’t hear us?” Mimi tilted her head, squinting up at the towering face. “Do we have to go all the way up those stairs to reach it or something?”
Her voice faltered as she looked at the steps. “That staircase looks… absurdly long…”
At a glance, there had to be over a hundred steps. Maybe more. Mimi let out a deflated sigh. She’d already walked so far, and her stamina had been wearing thin for a while now. The thought of dragging herself up another endless climb made her legs ache just imagining it.
Still, there wasn’t much choice. Shoulders slumped, she took a reluctant step forward. But before she could even reach the base of the stairs, something massive dropped into her path.
Thud.
A hulking white figure landed between them and the staircase, just like the other enemies they’d encountered along the way, but this one was on an entirely different scale. Nearly three meters tall, its pale body resembled a humanoid doll, smooth and eerily featureless. In its right hand, it clutched a staff the same shade of ghostly white—an unmistakable signal of magical prowess.
“A white giant…” Delarosa murmured, narrowing her eyes. “Looks tough.”
Just like that, she gave it a name. A final enemy, perhaps.
“All right, Mimi. Stay back.” Delarosa said firmly, her voice calm but edged with the kind of seriousness that left no room for argument.
“O-Okay!” Mimi stumbled a few steps backward without protest. One look at that thing and she knew this wasn’t a fight she could jump into. If she tried, she’d just get in the way. Better to stay put and trust Delarosa to handle it.
The air shifted. Their final battle had begun.
It’s strong, sure. But so am I. I can take it.
Delarosa squared her stance, eyes locked on the giant. No hesitation. No fear. The confidence she carried wasn’t arrogance; it was the hardened calm of someone who knew her own power.
The white giant raised its staff high. A pulse of energy shimmered around its head, and then, in a blinding burst, several spears of light materialized above it. One by one, they launched toward her, brilliant and fast.
Delarosa reacted instantly, conjuring a glowing barrier just in time. The arrows slammed into her shield and fizzled into harmless sparks.
Her counterattack was immediate: a swift, precise Fireball. But the white giant raised its own barrier, mimicking her move with flawless timing.
Its magical skill was no joke. It was strong, dangerously strong. But even so, Delarosa could tell: It’s good. But I’m better.
It had only taken a few exchanged spells for her to gauge her opponent’s ability. It was powerful, yes, but not beyond her. The real problem was her condition. She’d been burning through her magical power while traversing the dungeon. And now, with her reserves partially drained, the edge she held might not be enough.
From that point on, it became a battle of spells.
Delarosa weaved through volleys of low-and mid-tier magic, sometimes blocking spells outright, sometimes slipping between them with agile precision. She returned fire with the same level of spells, all the while probing, calculating, and watching for an opening.
It wasn’t about raw power now. It was a chess match.
Hmph… this thing hardly moves. And it’s not using anything too strong either. No big openings, no wild attacks. Should I just hit it hard and force it down?
Even with her magical power partially depleted, she could still unleash Dragon Flame three more times. And the giant’s barrier didn’t seem capable of withstanding the full force of that spell, not entirely. If she fired off three blasts in a row, there was a good chance she could end the fight.
Still, it wasn’t the safest play. It was reckless, really. The better move was still to wait, create an opening, and strike when its guard was down. That was the surest path to victory.
She hesitated. And in that brief pause, the white giant moved again. Several arrows of light blinked into existence, then shot toward her all at once.
“Back to that trick again?” Delarosa narrowed her eyes, already summoning her barrier. “Fine. Bring it.”
She raised her hand and conjured a gleaming wall of force. But as the arrows flew closer, something felt… off.
Wait… those aren’t normal Light Arrows. Something’s different. Are they—
She didn’t finish the thought. The arrows passed straight through her barrier. And hit.
“What—?!” Her eyes went wide. “They phased through?! But, huh? I felt them hit, but… it didn’t hurt?!”
The surprise of the impact was nothing compared to what happened next: The arrows didn’t disappear. They stayed lodged in her body, glowing faintly, eerily, like ghostly needles of light. And then she noticed the threads. Thin, shimmering threads connecting each arrow back to the white giant, like strands of spun sunlight.
It didn’t hurt… yet. But something about it was deeply wrong. Grimacing, Delarosa grabbed one of the arrows and tried to pull it free.
Wait… something’s not right. I’m… losing strength. No… no, it can’t be—
Are these things draining my magic power?!
Panic surged through her. She yanked harder, ripping the arrow free. Then another. Then another.
There were more than ten. It took precious seconds to tear them all out, and in that time, she felt her magic bleeding away. Her limbs trembled. The warmth of power that usually flowed through her was fading, vanishing as water poured into sand.
Just moments ago, she’d had enough to fire off Dragon Flame three times. Now she was down to one.
The giant stood tall and silent, feeding on her stolen mana, swollen with magical energy.
Delarosa clenched her jaw. She didn’t need to say anything aloud; she knew.
The tide had turned. And not in her favor.
“Grrrgh… I’ll just have to land a direct hit, no matter what!” Delarosa clenched her teeth, her voice a growl of frustration and resolve as she glared at the looming giant.
Determined to break through and land her most powerful spell head-on, Delarosa steeled herself. She couldn’t afford hesitation, not when a single, well-timed strike could make or break the course of battle.
She held her breath and watched the enemy’s movements with razor-sharp focus. The white giant unleashed a barrage of spells—Light Arrow, Shining Lance, and more—but she danced between them, narrowly evading each one by a hair’s breadth. A magic barrier would have made it safer, smarter, even. But she chose to take the risk, conserving every ounce of magic power she had left.
Delarosa wasn’t just a spellcaster; she had trained her body, too. At Belamus’s insistence, she’d taken up physical training alongside her magical studies. “A mage who can move will always outlast one who can’t,” he’d told her. And he’d been right. While she could enhance her body with spells if needed, she’d worked hard to make sure she wouldn’t have to.
This time, conserving magical power took priority, so she didn’t use any body enhancement spells. She relied solely on her own speed and agility. Circling around swiftly, she slipped behind the white giant before it could react. In fact, it didn’t react at all. The creature didn’t move, didn’t turn, didn’t so much as twitch.
Seriously? That easy? I should’ve tried this from the start…
Kicking herself for not seeing the opportunity earlier, she gathered every last drop of her remaining magic power. This would be her final, desperate shot: her strongest spell, fired point-blank from behind.
“Dragon Flame!!!” Delarosa screamed, hurling the spell with every last shred of mana, her voice raw with desperation and defiance as the inferno erupted from her hands.
There was no way the giant could block an attack from behind—or so she thought.
Unfortunately, the blast struck something, an invisible wall. A rear barrier? The white giant had been maintaining a magic shield on its back the entire time. Delarosa’s Dragon Flame tore through it eventually and slammed into the giant’s body, but the shield had absorbed just enough of the impact to dull the spell’s force. It wasn’t enough to finish it off.
The giant turned at last, its gaze cold and towering as it loomed over her.
Delarosa didn’t need to check; she already knew. She had no magical power left.
Oh… oh, crap.
Her heart clenched. She was out of spells, out of options, and completely at her opponent’s mercy.