Just before Uls pounced on Iris, Elise managed to stop him at the last second.
Uls let out a low growl.
“Come here, Uls.”
Elise gestured at the blue light gathering in Iris’s hand, warning Uls. It was an attack spell.
Iris had activated the spell as soon as Uls lunged at her.
If Uls hadn’t stopped, he would have ended up like a drowned rat.
Elise was grateful that Uls listened to her and stopped.
After looking back and forth between Elise and Iris for a while, Uls turned towards Elise.
Elise let out a long sigh of relief. She briefly shared the joy of reunion with Uls. But it was only for a moment. A voice interrupted them.
“How did you get here? And what’s with that wolf?”
Iris glared at Elise, ready to unleash an attack at any moment.
“How else? I walked.”
“What about the monsters? It must have been too much for you to handle.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“As if I would be. It’s just that something impossible has happened.”
Iris’s smirk was clearly mocking.
Elise didn’t refute immediately. Even to her, clearing the gate alone seemed impossible.
Regardless of how unpleasant Iris’s mockery was, it was true.
But Elise was at the core of the gate. With Uls. Moreover, she hadn’t been attacked by any monsters on her way here.
It’s not that there were no monsters. Their numbers decreased as she went deeper, but monsters were still present.
However, the monsters didn’t attack Elise.
‘Or rather, they didn’t attack Uls.’
When Uls appeared, they cleared the way. They seemed to recognize Uls as an ally.
Elise hadn’t even needed to draw her Skele Sword until reaching the gate’s core.
“No need for explanations.”
Iris shrugged. The confusion that had been on her face when Uls rushed at her had disappeared.
“You’re alone.”
Iris muttered, looking at Elise as if talking to herself. Her gaze intensified.
Iris was sick of Elise.
In the past, she had been merely a toy to relieve her stress, but now she interfered with everything Iris did.
Even her recent struggles in the gate felt like they were all Elise’s fault.
“Elise, remember when I said to remove anything that gets in the way?”
Iris smirked.
“What?”
Instead, Iris smiled deeply.
This was her chance. Elise was alone, and this was inside the gate, so even if something happened to her, Iris wouldn’t be suspected.
‘They’ll think she was killed by monsters.’
How stupid of Elise to walk into danger like this.
“Elise, since it’s come to this.”
Elise grabbed the handle of her Skele Sword. The sphere near Iris’s hand grew larger.
“Shall we end our relationship here?”
“Are you saying you’re going to kill me? Commit murder?”
“There’s a nice word called ‘accident,’ why use such scary words?”
Iris’s goal was simple: kill Elise and disguise it as an accidental death.
“Will you run? Or beg?”
Iris was certain of her victory. One spell would be enough to finish off someone like Elise. In fact, there were few who could win against Iris in a one-on-one fight, Elise or not.
She was truly specialized in attack magic, after all.
Elise swallowed hard. To hide her unease, she kept stroking Uls’s mane while thinking.
She needed to buy time somehow.
If she could hold out just a little longer, she felt like someone would appear to save her.
‘Your Highness.’
In dangerous moments, Karan always came to mind. Her faith in him had grown as high as a mountain before she knew it.
Karan would surely know about Uls’s rampage, and that she had disappeared. If it was Karan…
‘He will definitely come. So I just need to hold out somehow.’
Elise firmly planted her heels that were retreating from instinctive fear and drew her Skele Sword.
“You want to have a sword fight with me? How inefficient.”
“Isn’t it more efficient than fighting you with magic?”
“You know your place, but why are you being so cocky?”
“Why do you want to kill me?”
Elise asked. To buy time, she needed to keep Iris talking.
“Because you’re in my way.”
“When did I ever get in your way? I even handed over the Prince of Bedrokka to you.”
“Handed over? Wasn’t it more like dumping trash?”
Elise almost agreed with Iris’s words.
“But Elise, trying to buy time won’t help you.”
Elise flinched. Iris had seen through her shallow tactic.
With the situation turning in her favor, Iris’s mind seemed to be working exceptionally well.
If buying time wouldn’t work, there was no choice but to fight.
Elise raised her Skele Sword in front of her chest.
“What can you do with just a sword?”
The expression disappeared from Iris’s face. Instead, an indescribable killing intent enveloped her.
Grrrr.
Uls, who had calmed under Elise’s touch, immediately reacted. Its fur stood on end.
“Uls… no.”
No matter how much of a beast Uls was, it would be powerless against magic.
Between someone who could only attack at close range and someone who could attack from a distance, the outcome was already decided.
“Is that wolf your bodyguard? Then I should get rid of the bodyguard first.”
Iris, whose pride was hurt when she was scared by the wolf’s attack earlier, decided to deal with the wolf first.
She threw the sphere in her hand without hesitation.
The blue sphere grew larger as it approached Uls.
“Kyaa!”
Uls opened his mouth wide and rushed towards the blue sphere. At the same time, Elise moved.
Elise swung her Skele Sword widely. The arc traced by the sword stopped the moment it touched the blue sphere.
It was just before the blue sphere was about to swallow Uls.
Psssshhhhh!
Strong vibrations and white smoke began to rise from where the blue sphere and the Skele Sword met.
Elise struggled with all her might not to let go of the Skele Sword. Sweat beaded on her forehead and veins stood out on the back of her hand.
Gradually, the sphere’s size decreased and disappeared.
Elise’s body, which had been pushing against the force, lurched forward, but she regained her balance before falling.
Uls ran to Elise. Elise was relieved to see that Uls was unharmed.
“You… magic…You used magic?”
Then, a stuttering question was heard from behind. Elise steadied herself, using her knee for support.
She saw Iris, her face contorted.
“You used magic? That can’t be…You’re just someone who can draw magic circles…”
“It’s not magic. It’s a magic circle, just as you know.”
“You blocked my attack with a mere magic circle? What nonsense is this?”
“You saw it with your own eyes and still don’t understand? Your eyesight must have gotten worse. Well, that’s why you were still being arrogant without realizing the situation had changed.”
“Hey!”
Iris shouted angrily. Her face turned red and blue. Then it cooled into an icy expression.
“I was going to give you a clean death, but I guess that won’t do.”
Iris drew a semicircle in the air, and dozens of arrows appeared above her head.
It was fire-element magic.
Elise bit her lower lip slightly.
“Can you block this too?”
“Of course.”
Though she said that, Elise had no way to block Iris’s Fire Arrow attack.
The reason Elise was able to block Iris’s first attack was because she knew the ruler of Gate 3 was a water-attribute monster.
She had prepared for water-attribute attacks based on the gate ruler’s characteristics.
Elise had spent days drawing numerous very trivial but useful everyday magic circles.
‘Drying magic circle…’
The magic circle that evaporated the water trying to swallow Uls was one used in laundry areas of royal palaces, academies, and hotels.
‘I can’t block a fire-attribute attack spell.’
Elise looked down at the Skele Sword, which had blocked that tremendous attack without a scratch.
She was pondering if there was any magic among the densely drawn circles that could buy her even a moment’s time.
“It’s useless to rack your brain!”
Iris stretched her hand towards Elise.
“Kyaa!”
At the same time, Uls lunged at Iris.
Startled, Iris retreated greatly, and as her hand’s direction changed slightly, so did the direction of the fire arrows.
But Elise wasn’t safe yet. Some of the dozens of arrows still flew towards where Elise was standing.
“Uls! Be careful!”
Elise shouted, moving away from where she stood. However, she couldn’t dodge all the arrows flying at high speed.
The heat intensified. Elise instinctively closed her eyes.
Just as she thought she would be burned alive, she felt a strong hand grab her waist.
“Sorry I’m… late.”
An urgent voice, ragged breath, and an embrace big enough to envelop her completely.
“Karan…”
A reassuring “Mm” came in response.
“We’ll discuss the situation later.”
Karan hid Elise behind him.
“Your Highness, Iris is not an easy opponent.”
Elise worriedly grabbed his collar.
“I know. I’ve never underestimated her.”
The countless monsters he saw on his way here, Ilaria and the soldiers who fell behind unable to keep up closely with Karan because of them.
Just seeing that, he could gauge Iris’s skill in coming here alone.
Her recent attack was also incredibly powerful. Powerful enough that Karan had to deploy a shield instantly.
Karan gripped his sword tightly, watching Iris entangled with Uls.
“Your Highness, did you use magic?”
Belatedly, Elise noticed the shimmering light in front of her. Karan’s heart ached at the concern filling her voice.
He was late… she almost got hurt… yet instead of resentment, she showed worry. He felt unworthy of Elise’s kind heart.
“Elise, don’t think about anything and wait. Let’s get out of here quickly.”
Karan leapt from his position. Towards Iris, who had just shaken off Uls and was casting a spell.
Why the wolf go after Iris?