Golden magic surged down from above like holy light banishing evil.
Boom!
A pillar of blazing gold engulfed Sheris, surging outward in waves that tore across the battlefield.
Ur raised an arm to shield himself from the backlash, squinting into the blinding glow to catch a glimpse of the fight.
It was his first time witnessing a high-level battle this close. The sheer force radiating between the two women made his heart pound with a mix of awe and dread. Neither Sheris nor Jelka had ever trained in physical combat, but precisely because of that, their study of magic was at an extreme level. The depth of their mastery already rivaled that of S-Class mages.
Rumble.
The air itself quaked with each strike, thunder rolling across the sky.
Ur itched to slip away while they are locked in battle. But each time he so much as shifted his weight, he felt a thread of spirit power brush against him. Subtle, but unmistakable, as though someone's gaze never left his back.
It left him speechless.
His so-called convictions felt like a joke. Every time he decided on something, fate immediately tripped him up. The so-called "law of sweet irony" might as well have been written just for him.
Jelka's magic was unusual. It resembled Take OverMagic, but it wasn't quite the same. Unlike Mirajane, who assimilated the power of demons, Jelka's strength seemed to come from the divine. Not through possession, either. She merely channeled what she called "the power of God."
Whether gods truly existed in this world had always been left vague in the original tale—mere whispers and fragments. But whatever the truth, the divine power burning through Jelka's veins right now was no illusion.
Both women moved with lethal grace, their bodies tempered by years of magical refinement. Though neither specialized in close combat, their agility let them evade, counter, and retaliate with frightening precision.
Their duel was ferocious. Magic circles bloomed without end, one after another.
Jelka tapped her staff against the earth. Five golden magic circles unfurled behind her in a perfect pentagram, radiating immense power. Golden energy streamed from each one, casting her in the glow of a holy angel.
She lifted her staff, and the five circles pulsed as one. In the next instant, five blazing beams of light hurtled forth toward Sheris.
Sheris reacted instantly. Her body lifted skyward, narrowly dodging. The five beams struck the ground and detonated, carving a massive crater. Hovering in the air, she wove a vast violet-black magic circle beneath Jelka's feet, its shadow swallowing her whole.
Jelka's expression tightened. Her staff spun, and the five golden circles converged above her head, locking together into a more intricate formation. Magic erupted in a surge, wrapping her in a protective cocoon of divine brilliance.
Sheris' lips curled into a wicked smile. "Die, Jelka!"
White Flame, Nether Inferno!
Power flooded the violet array. A rain of pale fire poured down like a meteor shower, drowning Jelka and the ground around her in a storm of searing-white flame.
This was not their first clash. Sheris knew Jelka well.
This spell had been prepared for her, and Sheris was certain that even Jelka would never withstand it.
Unlike her usual flames, the Nether Inferno was a hybrid of fire and ice. Anything the white flames touched first burned to ash, then froze solid; the ashes crystallized into ice.
That was the true terror of White Flame—dual elemental destruction.
The world became a sea of white fire.
Sheris' grin widened, triumphant, feral. But it lasted only a moment.
Suddenly, a radiant burst of gold erupted at the inferno's heart, sweeping the flames aside in a blaze that outshone them all. The firestorm shattered, torn apart by divine radiance.
A slender figure stepped forth from the sea of fire, haloed in glory.
"Impossible!" Sheris' voice cracked in shock. Her smile froze, her pupils shrank.
Jelka emerged almost unscathed, save for a few charred edges on her gold-trimmed white robe. No burns, no frostbite—nothing.
It defied every calculation.
Even if Jelka survived, Sheris had expected her to be gravely wounded, not walking calmly out of the fire. She was stunned into silence, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
She didn't notice the change in Jelka's eyes.
Jelka's eyes were no longer human. They gleamed gold, cold and imperious, stripped of all mortal warmth.
She strode from the flames, each step echoing with divine weight. Her staff swept through the air, and the five golden circles blazed back into existence, this time aligning into a straight line before her.
Power condensed to a single point.
Then, a pillar of light, more than three meters thick, erupted forward, hurtling straight toward Sheris.
It struck her full on.