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Oof!
At the very moment the last rib of the dying wolf shattered.
Davian and Stella arrived.
"That rock. Draw a circle with a 100-meter radius based on that. I'll keep him contained within it, so you prepare what you need to do!"
"No. Let's do it together at first. The professor will need time to adjust as well. I'll say it again, attacks won't work anyway. But if you allow even one of his attacks, some part of your body will be wrecked or..."
"I'll die."
"Yes."
Swish.
Davian, creating an ice sword, charged forward first.
Kuaaaa.
Insanis, upon spotting Davian, immediately shot out a powerful aura.
Davian raised his sword vertically and then.
Slash!
Accurately cleaved Insanis's aura in half.
Stella Cloud, witnessing this, shook her head.
'He's insane. Davian's coming out.'
He split that powerful and fast aura in half.
If it wasn't precisely in half, even a slight deviation or twist.
His body could be swept away by the aura and turn to dust.
Accurate eyes and swordsmanship.
Not only speed and strength but also.
It's something that requires unwavering faith in one's sword.
'How many academy professors can even do that?'
Meanwhile.
Insanis, closing the distance with Davian, extended his fist.
Davian, bringing the ice sword to Insanis's wrist, deflected the attack slightly.
Stella didn't miss the opening and thrust into Insanis's side.
"Attacks are useless! Professor!"
Insanis twisted his body and extended his fist towards Stella.
Stella Cloud lightly evaded the attack, spinning her body.
"It's not an attack. I'm disrupting his movements."
"Ah."
A smile formed on Davian's lips.
He brought the right party member.
They continued to face Insanis in a 2-on-1 battle for a while.
"Professor! Please!"
Davian, judging that Stella Cloud had adapted quite well, stepped back.
Whoosh.
After manifesting wind elemental magic.
He sent it beneath his feet, controlling it meticulously.
Whoom.
Davian's body floated high into the air.
Surprisingly.
As his magic power grew from absorbing the archmage's heart, his understanding of magic also increased.
Davian naturally cast levitation magic, something he couldn't even attempt before.
After raising himself high enough to see the radius he had promised Stella at a glance.
He began to control his magic in earnest.
Stella, creating some distance, gasped for breath.
Huff, huff.
'I should have done more physical training.'
Stella Cloud's breath reached her throat.
It didn't feel like much time had passed.
But facing that crazy dragon alone was harder than she thought.
Her concentration had been disrupted by her dwindling stamina, and she had narrowly avoided death more than once.
Just one second.
She felt like she could recover a bit if she could just take one second.
But that damn crazy dragon didn't allow even a single second of respite.
Even after becoming a professor, she hadn't neglected her swordsmanship training for a single day.
She had to surpass her master, Leo Martien.
And one day, she vowed to surpass Hugo Molton, the greatest swordsman on the continent.
That was Stella Cloud's ultimate goal.
The highest level one could reach as a wielder of the sword.
But.
That was only a competition among humans.
This crazy dragon in the form of a handsome man before her eyes.
Was driving her to the brink for the past 10 minutes without wielding any weapons.
Without giving her even a single second of respite.
As Davian said, Stella's sword wasn't yet sharp enough to cut the mad dragon.
And it was only because he was infinitely repeating two patterns of attack.
That she hadn't been torn apart on the spot by even a single unorthodox attack.
While keenly feeling her limitations.
Stella felt something hot bubbling up from deep within her chest.
The moment she realized that competition among humans was meaningless.
The goal she had to reach was now much higher.
Huff, huff.
She was in a state where she wouldn't be surprised if she hyperventilated or stopped breathing at any moment.
But.
Stella Cloud didn't resent Davian for not having finished preparing his magical attack yet.
Rather.
'I can still hold on, so give me a little more time.'
Stella couldn't defeat the mad dragon as she was.
She couldn't even leave a small scratch, let alone defeat him.
But this extreme one-on-one battle.
Stella herself was feeling that it was giving her a tremendous realization.
If her muscles, which felt like they would melt away at any moment, could hold out a little longer.
If the inner strength that felt like it was only a handful could hold out a little longer.
If her breath, which felt like it would give out at any moment, could hold out a little longer.
'Just a little more.'
She felt like she would soon experience a realm one step above.
An extreme situation.
Stella was taking each step toward the realm of enlightenment.
Her mind was fading.
'Davian, I can't hold on any longer... I'm sorry.'
A state where she couldn't even twitch an arm with her own will.
Originally, she should have gradually entered this state.
But because it was such an extreme situation, she had been maintaining her movements by squeezing out all of her remaining life force.
Because if she couldn't maintain her movements, she would go straight to the afterlife anyway.
But.
Not anymore.
She can't move anymore.
The image of the mad dragon Insanis was reflected in Stella Cloud's pupils.
No expression, but eyes burning fiercely.
A face of a once-in-a-lifetime pretty boy, but the aura he emitted was that of a predator itself.
He was closing the distance towards Stella.
Not anymore.
She can't avoid that attack.
At that moment.
Swoosh.
Stella's sword moved on its own.
It's impossible for a sword to move on its own.
The fact that the sword was moving meant that Stella's arm holding the sword was moving.
Following her arm, her shoulder, waist, hips, and thighs.
Began to move very naturally.
A feeling that her body was moving on its own without exerting any force.
Swish.
Suddenly, her vision seemed to blur.
The surrounding objects and background faded to white.
The only thing Stella could see was the mad dragon Insanis.
But.
The movement of the mad dragon Insanis slowed down.
'Is that monster also tired?'
No.
The aura he was emitting hadn't decreased at all.
'Then is the world slowing down?'
The mad dragon Insanis was the only thing in her vision.
But she could feel even the movement of a grain of wind and a speck of air colliding with Stella's body.
Also very slowly.
And.
Swoosh.
Stella's sword, moving smoothly.
Touched the mad dragon Insanis's chest.
Swish!
Instantly.
The world returned to normal.
And.
Black blood gushed from the chest of the mad dragon Insanis.
'Did I... cut the mad dragon?'
The mad dragon Insanis, looking down at his chest from which blood was gushing out, raised his head.
Rage.
Pure rage was emanating from his body.
A fear that Stella Cloud had never felt before enveloped her entire body.
But a smile formed on Stella Cloud's lips.
'I cut a dragon.'
The face of her master, Leo Martien, came to mind.
'Master, I cut a dragon. But... I really can't move anymore.'
Thud, thud.
The mad dragon Insanis slowly walked towards Stella.
Damn crazy dragon.
You should have walked this slowly earlier.
She could have taken a few seconds to catch her breath and replenish her stamina.
It's too late now.
At that moment.
Swoosh.
An unknown force pulled Stella Cloud straight up.
'Telekinesis magic...'
Thud.
Davian caught Stella, who had been sucked up for a while.
"You've worked hard, Professor."
"Davian."
"I waited a bit at the end to see, and I did a good job, right?"
Stella struggled to raise her head and look at Davian.
This young bastard.
He dragged out the time even after he was fully prepared.
I almost died.
This young bastard...
"Thank you."
Davian took out a green pill and put it in Stella's mouth.
"What is this?"
"A tonic."
Gulp.
"Then get some rest now."
No sooner had Davian finished speaking.
Rumble, rumble.
The entire forest began to shake.
Crack, crack.
The ground where Insanis was standing cracked open and swallowed the surface.
The mad dragon Insanis was also buried into the ground along with the collapsing surface.
Stella, who was surprised to see her fatigue instantly disappear, lowered her head and looked at the surface that was still being sucked in.
"Will that be enough?"
"Of course not."
This time, the land around where Insanis had been began to rise high.
The rising land covered where Insanis had been, becoming a single giant mountain.
"I don't think that will be enough either?"
"Of course."
"Eek! What are you doing!"
Davian, holding Stella in one arm and slinging her over his shoulder, created an ice sword with his right hand.
Boom!
Mana swords erupted from the tip of the ice sword that was pointing downwards indifferently.
"You...?"
A sight that was hard to believe even with her own eyes.
Mana swords were being fired from a sword that was held upside down pointing downwards.
Moreover, in the form of a thin sword blade along the tip of the sword.
Boom!
The mana sword pierced through the top of the newly created stone mountain vertically.
A hole as big as an adult's forearm was created in the spot where the mana sword pierced through.
"Wave of Fire."
Lastly.
Woosh.
A small flame appeared on Davian's palm.
And then went straight into the hole that the mana sword had pierced.
"Let's go watch from afar now."
Davian, with Stella slung over his shoulder, flew through the night sky as if gliding.
"I could accept you floating in the air, but what, you're flying in the sky now?"
"It's just a slight application of wind elemental magic and telekinesis magic."
Davian, landing on a high rocky hill, put Stella down.
"Let's watch from here."
"What did you do there? I don't think the mad dragon Insanis will die just because of that. Won't he break through the artificial mountain you created and jump out soon?"
"If he can withstand my fire elemental magic inside there."
"What did you say your fire elemental magic was? Several times stronger than a mid-level 9-star?"
"About 3.5 times stronger."
"Then what? That's more than 11-star?"
"Yes."
"Does that make sense? Is there even such a thing as 11-star?"
"There wasn't yet."
"Wasn't yet?"
Davian stretched out his finger and pointed to the artificial mountain he had just created.
"The mad dragon Insanis will experience it for the first time inside there. 11-star fire elemental magic created by a human."
Thump.
The ground began to shake once again.
'What is this darkness?'
Insanis's mind, which had been consumed by rage, returned.
'Ah!'
He remembered being cut in the chest by that young human female swordsman.
It wasn't a fatal wound.
But he was cut nonetheless.
By a human.
'She was a great swordsman for a human.'
Even though he fought instinctively in a state where he had lost control of his body.
She endured his attacks for over 10 minutes and even inflicted a wound on him at the last moment.
'She seemed to be spinning around to prevent him from going out of range. Did that guy with the strange energy floating in the sky make me like this?'
He knew that one of the two was fighting in the sky from a distance.
But he had lost control of his body.
Insanis's body, moving instinctively, only poured attacks at the female swordsman next to him.
'Let's see...'
Insanis, regaining his mind, moved his body.
The control over his body returned because there was no presence nearby that emitted hostility.
'First, I need to get out of here.'
He could just destroy everything and go out.
But he saw a small and long gap above his head.
'I should go out that way.'
At that moment.
A small flame quickly descended along the long gap.
It was a small flame the size of an adult's fist.
But Insanis instinctively recognized the power contained within it.
'What, did a red dragon appear?'
That's.
It's not a flame that a human can create.
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