“What? We’re fighting three Nightmares? Is this for real?”
The sniper hidden in the rear was drenched in sweat. Taking down one Nightmare had only been possible due to her carelessness and the element of surprise.
Now, with three Nightmares, and with them already on guard, killing them would be exponentially more difficult.
“No choice but to grit our teeth and go for it… Urgh!”
Suddenly, the sniper felt her body grow incredibly heavy. From within her own shadow, a chilling girlish voice echoed.
“Hehehehehehe…”
Even more horrifying, a pale arm reached out from the shadow. It seized the sniper’s right leg, pulling her downwards.
“What is this?!”
The sniper tried to smash the pale arm with the butt of her rifle. However, it had no effect; the arm continued to drag her into the shadow.
Haa!
A flash of golden light pierced through the air. The pale arm instantly severed into two pieces, and the chilling laughter of the girl beneath the shadow ceased.
“That’s!”
The sniper looked up at the sky, her gaze fixed on a golden-haired girl. Clad in white and gold armor, wielding a golden lightsaber, she soared through the air like an angel.
“It’s the strongest Wizard, Lady Ellen!”
The sniper gazed at Ellen with eyes full of adoration. Ellen, in turn, found the admiration quite pleasing.
“I’ll go capture a Spirit; you stay put.”
As Ellen spoke, she activated her boosters. She shot through the air at a speed nearly impossible for a human to achieve.
“Hehehe… hehehehe… Is that all an SSS-rank Wizard can do… Agh!”
Suddenly, a golden lightsaber pierced through the chest of one of the Nightmares. As the lightsaber withdrew, the Nightmare collapsed, its Astral Dress dissolving into particles and vanishing.
“Damn it…”
The remaining two Nightmares attempted to retaliate. However, Ellen merely swiped her lightsaber, and simultaneously, a red line appeared across both Nightmares’ necks.
Their heads fell to the ground.
“As expected of Lady Ellen, she effortlessly accomplished what we could not. It’s truly inspiring, making one’s blood boil with excitement!”
The surrounding Wizards all showed expressions of profound admiration. Before the strongest Lady Ellen, even Spirits were not an unconquerable existence.
Yet, despite this display, Ellen’s brow remained furrowed. Her objective was to capture Spirits, and judging by the combat power of these Nightmares, they were likely mere clones.
“No need to search, Miss Ellen, I am right here.”
A voice as alluring as a siren’s echoed behind Ellen. Ellen instinctively turned, only to find a breathtakingly beautiful girl standing directly behind her.
She wore the same red and black Gothic Lolita dress, a weave of blood and darkness. Her charm, capable of captivating any man with a single glance, was equally present.
However, the aura emanating from this particular girl was distinctly more powerful than that of the previous Nightmares.
“You must be the Nightmare’s true body, then!” Ellen questioned.
“Oh, isn’t that obvious without even asking?” replied the girl, presumably the Nightmare’s true form.
“Indeed. Isaac needs a companion for Material B and Material A; you’ll do perfectly!”
With that, Ellen lunged forward with explosive speed. Her golden lightsaber descended swiftly, and though the Nightmare dodged in time, an arm was still severed.
“Oh my, oh my, truly befitting the world’s number one Wizard! However, muda muda muda…”
“Come forth, Zafkiel!”
The Nightmare brought her legs together and raised her remaining arm high. Behind her, a massive, ancient clock, more than twice her height, materialized abruptly.
“Is that your Angel?”
“Indeed. You’ll soon come to know its power. Zafkiel, Fourth Bullet.”
The Nightmare held a pistol, pointing it at the number four on the clock face. A surge of black and crimson Reiryoku flowed from the number four into the pistol, and the hands in the Nightmare’s left eye began to spin rapidly.
With a resounding “bang,” the Nightmare astonishingly fired the pistol at herself. Then, a miracle occurred: her severed arm flew back and reattached itself perfectly at the wound.
After reattaching it, the Nightmare tentatively moved her arm, finding it as functional as before.
‘Time reversal? What a troublesome ability!’
Ellen’s brow furrowed deeply, clearly finding the Nightmare’s ability incredibly difficult to counter. Even for her, the strongest Wizard, it posed a significant challenge.
What troubled her even more was why Mana, despite having fought this entity many times, had never reported this information.
“Judging by Miss Ellen’s expression, it seems the strongest Wizard is completely unfamiliar with my abilities, hehehe. I shall certainly exploit this. Zafkiel, First Bullet!”
Again, she pointed the pistol at a number on the clock, this time aiming for the number one. A similar surge of crimson and black Reiryoku flowed into the pistol, and the Nightmare fired it at herself.
With a “bang,” the Nightmare’s body blurred into afterimages. Moving with a speed impossible for a normal person to react to, she appeared behind Ellen and aimed a shot directly at her head.
“Checkmate… What?!”
To her astonishment, Ellen, even in such a dire situation, blocked the bullet with her lightsaber. Then, with a backhand strike, she aimed a blow at the Nightmare’s chest.
Urgh!
The Nightmare used her weapon as a shield, deflecting Ellen’s attack. Though unharmed, she lost the opportunity to continue her assault.
“Oh my, oh my, I still underestimated Miss Ellen.”
“How could the strongest Wizard possibly suffer defeat?”
“Hehehe, ah hahahahaha, then I shall have the honor of being the first!”
The Nightmare’s maniacal laughter erupted once more as she charged at Ellen, rifle and pistol in hand.
The two combatants clashed once more.
****
“Captain, they’re incredible!”
“Of course they are. After all, our opponents are Spirits, and our side has the strongest Wizard.”
“Captain, Captain, are we just going to watch? Not help?”
“Fool, what are you talking about? How could we possibly help Lady Ellen? Perhaps Captain Artemisia could assist Lady Ellen, but for us, simply not getting in the way is enough.”
“Captain, Captain, do you think Lady Ellen can win?”
“Idiot! How could the strongest Wizard ever be defeated?”