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  The city was broken. Space no longer obeyed simple rules; it was confusing, psychedelic to those on the ground.

  Merlin hovered above all of it.

  A small lilac sphere glowed as it tried to analyze the situation. Below, civilians ran, some screamed, others no longer had the strength to do so. Children were being carried, the wounded leaned on one another, people were trapped beneath debris that creaked with every new distortion coming from the sky.

  She moved, and the space in front of a group of civilians closed with the sphere positioned there.

  “[Follow this way]”

  The speech balloon appeared above her, simple.

  An invisible wall formed between the civilians and a distant explosion. Fragments that would have fallen on them veered away at the last instant, sliding along the edges of space like water.

  Merlin felt that something was wrong the moment the sky darkened. Spirits are made of pure energy, mana. Remaining within that space made her body unstable.

  Using her powers was difficult, but she managed to work around it with [Enlightened], even though she still had to be careful with the amount of mana she used.

  Containment fields appeared and vanished in sequence. Pressures were redistributed. Fatal trajectories were corrected. Each action was minimal, and yet dozens occurred at the same time.

  She guided the civilians away from the battlefield, but there was no place that could be considered safe beneath that barrier. Continuing to protect them the way she was doing would be a waste of mana. So she reached a conclusion.

  ‘I need to end that Lich. Then the distortions will stop.’

  Even with that decision made, accomplishing it would not be easy. Spending her mana on direct attacks would not be efficient, and piercing his defenses was nearly impossible. On top of that, the monster was a higher class than she was, and his mana was unaffected by the barrier. In a direct confrontation, Merlin would be at a disadvantage.

  Looking at the floating skeleton, Merlin stopped. In his hand—an artifact.

  ‘I see.’

  That was not merely a sealing weapon. The artifact was being used as a vessel. Telos’s power was divided between his body and the artifact, as if it had been created precisely for that purpose.

  The monster core resided in his body, while Telos’s human heart was inside the artifact. It was an instinctive creation, perhaps even Telos himself did not know this, but he would not die as long as the artifact remained intact.

  She perceived all of this thanks to her [Enlightened]. If she destroyed it somehow, Telos would eventually collapse.

  After finishing her aid to the civilians—some of whom still watched her with curiosity—Merlin flew toward the battlefield. But not directly toward Telos.

  Toward Sentil.

  A shield formed around him moments before a piece of debris fell in his direction, even though he had already been prepared to defend himself thanks to his unique skill.

  “Are you… a spirit?”

  Merlin kept her distance, but explained in few words.

  “[My name is Merlin. I am a friend of Victor. I can help in this fight.]”

  Sentil still had his doubts, but there was no reason to refuse help—not in that situation.

  “Thank you. You already know the situation, right?”

  “[Yes. We need to focus on the artifact he’s holding. It’s like part of him. Without it, he should become more vulnerable.]”

  “I don’t know how we’re supposed to do that. Our only chance was absorbed by that thing. We have no way to get past his barriers.”

  Don and Logy approached, Don still protecting himself with his own barriers. Telos seemed different. He shook the artifact, but the spatial distortion attacks no longer occurred as before. His attention seemed completely focused on the artifact.

  “Your Majesty, our team has been destroyed. Without Viola, our formation is useless. I specialize in support, while Don is our defense. Without an attacker, we’re cornered…” Logy said, exhausted.

  “We used Logy’s unique skill, [Forced Connection], to share Viola’s mana. In our current state, my barriers will become useless,” Don explained.

  Don and Logy were class (A) adventurers when they were with Viola. Using Logy’s skill, which creates a chain between group members, allowing mana to be sent and received, they relied on Viola’s almost limitless mana supply.

  Without Viola, the efficiency of Don’s and Logy’s abilities dropped sharply, forcing both of them back to class (B).

  It was risky. But Merlin had an idea. After listening to Sentil, it was still just a theory, but if it worked, the battle would turn completely.

  “[I’ll see what I can do. Please gather your group and fall back for a while.]”

  Logy watched Merlin with curiosity before speaking.

  “The barrier is affecting you, isn’t it? If you spend too much energy, you’ll enter a sleep state. If that happens here, you’ll die.”

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  The spirit hesitated.

  Merlin considered that possibility, even if only distantly. If her energy ran out and she fell asleep there, it would be the end. The distortion of the barrier would split her body apart, and she would vanish from existence. At that moment, she was still holding her form together by force; without consciousness, she would become nothing more than dispersed mana.

  But Merlin pushed the thought away.

  An agreement emoji appeared in her speech balloon.

  “[It’s fine. I’ll open a gap for you. I believe Viola isn’t dead, but imprisoned in some space inside the artifact. I’ll find a way to destroy that thing and bring her back… before I die.]”

  Logy extended his hand toward Merlin. A blue light shone around her for a moment, forming a chain that connected her to Logy, Don, and Sentil.

  “I’ve activated my skill. We’ll send mana to you. This should help for a while.”

  “[Thank you.]”

  With that, Merlin advanced, flying toward the battle against Telos.

  °??──────??°

  At the center of the chaos, Merlin attacked Telos with a burst of energy. The shot, however, was reversed midway, deflecting as if pushed away by an invisible hand.

  Telos turned his head toward her, his [All-Seeing] analyzing the spirit. In a swift motion, he shook the artifact. The wave of distortion struck Merlin instantly, smashing her into the ground.

  The damage was minimal. Being made of pure mana, she possessed natural resistance. Even so, the pressure of the barrier made everything more difficult.

  Merlin recovered and returned to the sky immediately.

  Telos launched his own bones like blades, enhancing them with his space manipulation so they could ignore ordinary barriers.

  Merlin did not try to dodge.

  Instead, she altered the trajectory of the attack.

  Using her [Enlightened], she understood the distortions caused by Telos’s powers. Then, by manipulating the ambient mana, she replicated that phenomenon. In a way, she used the same rules Telos broke, but in her favor.

  The attack was repelled, as if it had collided with an invisible wall.

  The blades returned.

  Telos was struck. So was the artifact, its surface split open with a visible crack from the impact.

  This was information Telos did not know.

  But Merlin did.

  To pierce the barrier of a space manipulator, the attack had to be his own. The barrier did not recognize it as an external assault.

  Merlin had not used her mana to deflect the attack itself. She had merely created a path within the spatial disorder, forcing the blades into a specific trajectory.

  Because her mana never directly touched the projectiles, the barrier did not register the counterattack as hostile.

  It was an absurd level of mana control, something only spirits could perform with such natural ease.

  The battle then stretched across the sky.

  Purple lights, thin as lines, cut through the air in every direction, forming chaotic patterns that could nonetheless be described as beautiful.

  Using her [Enlightened] to anticipate Telos’s actions, Merlin dodged and attacked at key moments. Even so, Telos possessed more mana than she did, even with the support of Logy, Don, and Sentil.

  Merlin felt it.

  She would not last long.

  In a swift action, she used [Psychic Order] directly on the artifact.

  The command was simple: communicate with Viola.

  To her surprise… it worked.

  The damage on the artifact’s surface was shallow, but enough for her skill to reach the interior.

  But things were not going well. Her energy was running out, and she did not want to draw too much from the others. They would still need to unite against Telos afterward.

  ‘I need to hurry, before I fall asleep!’

  It was rare, but for the first time, Merlin felt desperation.

  °??──────??°

  Viola floated in a space with no ground, no up, no down. An infinite sky of false stars stretched in every direction, too deep to be real. There was no silence, only a constant hum, as if space itself were vibrating.

  It was instinctive. The moment sound ceased, oxygen vanished, and the cold struck her, Viola used her mana and simply learned how to survive in the vacuum. As false as it was, it was a perfect replica. But something like that was to be expected from the prodigious aberration known as Viola.

  When Telos shook the artifact outside, the entire universe within it reacted. Space folded violently, and Viola was hurled like a projectile.

  She tore through an asteroid field.

  Her body collided with floating rocks at an absurd speed. Each impact tore fragments from her black armor, which shattered and vanished into the void.

  Telos had been doing this for some time. Since she could not move on her own, she focused her mana on defense, enduring the continuous impacts.

  Her blood spread in red droplets that never fell, only slowly dissolving into the star-filled space.

  Viola spun uncontrollably, her left arm hanging limply, her sword long lost in the void. The armor’s visor had completely shattered, revealing her face marked by cuts, her orange hair loose and stained with blood.

  It was as if Telos were torturing her for the humiliation from before. Viola clenched her teeth.

  ‘What a baby…’

  She remained there, floating, as the false starry dome slowly rotated around her.

  Then something changed. It was not a voice—it was a presence.

  Words appeared directly in her mind, far too clear to be her own thoughts.

  ‘[Viola]'

  Her eyes widened for an instant.

  ‘[I am Merlin. We don’t have much time. I don’t know how long I can last against Telos outside. I’m trying to destroy the artifact to make him vulnerable. I need you to get out of there and kill him.]’

  ‘Merlin? You can hear my thoughts?’

  ‘[Yes. While my order is active, our communication will be possible in any way and form.]’

  Viola smiled. She was falling toward the atmosphere of some strange planet.

  ‘I’m sorry. If I leave here, I won’t be able to fight anymore. I’ll have to use all my mana, that’s why I haven’t done it yet. So you’ll need to fight what’s left of Telos on your own. Is that okay?’

  The connection wavered for a moment.

  ‘[That… wasn’t part of my plan…]’

  Merlin was close to falling asleep, nearing the end of her life. She had hoped at least to free Viola and ensure Telos’s death. But if Viola was unable to do so, and Merlin failed to defeat the monster, he would still kill Sentil, Don, Logy, and perhaps many others before dying alone.

  Viola landed on the planet, creating a crater on the surface without bending her knees. The place was isolated and empty, but it didn’t matter.

  Merlin erected a barrier around her, consuming a large amount of mana. Neither of them had time. Merlin would still need mana for what was to come.

  ‘[How do you plan to destroy the artifact?]’

  ‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to blow everything up. I was worried I wouldn’t have any mana left to protect myself, but with you here, it’ll be fine.’

  Merlin was unsure what Viola meant by “blow everything up,” but she chose to trust her.

  Viola’s unique skill, [Nuclear Fission], had its limitations. For example, its power depended on the user’s mana, as did its area of effect.

  One of [Nuclear Fission]’s sub-skills, [Atomic Manipulation], was what allowed Viola to immediately perceive that the universe was false. Even though it was a separate space in expansion, it was not impossible to destroy if Viola used her entire mana supply.

  Thus, to create the greatest explosion of her life, something that, on one hand, made Viola immensely happy to finally let loose just a little, and on the other, frightened her with the thought that she might never be able to do it again.

  In that moment, within Telos’s false universe, an extra electron was added to every atom present in that space.

  An infernal hum reached Viola’s ears as everything turned white in an explosion never before seen.

  Viola spread her arms, laughing uncontrollably, embracing the explosive nature of her power as her mana vanished, making that entire space feel like it belonged to her.

  As blood flowed from her previous wounds and overwhelming joy sent shivers through her body, a single thought crossed Viola’s mind as space itself shattered.

  ‘Wonderful… wonderful, my power…’

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