Chapter 228 – The Devouring Princess Alvelinde

Table 218: Corrosion Princess Alvelinde

A witch. Her true nature as a demon manifests as butterfly wings that shimmer with vibrant colors, along with gem-like, glowing oval decorations embedded throughout her body.

Fragments of light flicker around her form… Much like the silver smoke illusions created by that demon Zarbash we encountered before.

I can’t deny the possibility that her wing scales contain poison. As I deploy a wind defense field to cover my body, she actually deepens her smile with apparent delight, solidifying miasma into a sword wreathed in phosphorescence.

“Lady Alvelinde. I shall handle that one—”

“…No.”

Though her demon escort offers to fight me, the witch—Alvelinde—shakes her head, then laughs as she declares she’ll be my opponent herself.

It seems Alvelinde has determined me to be an enemy. She laughs while brimming with killing intent and fighting spirit.

The demon escort—Berzelius—will fight Grace and the others, while Alvelinde handles me. Both sides’ intentions align perfectly.

A one-on-one fight suits me just fine as well. We rise to face each other at eye level, glaring across the distance.

Caduceus will handle emergency support for our allies, communications to various positions.

And after Claudia activates her Teleportation Magic, he’ll secure our retreat route. That’s reassuring for me.

I shift my thoughts to combat readiness and begin refining my magical power.

Alvelinde. I did some research on demons… If I recall correctly, she’s the demon known by the epithet Corrosion Princess. They say she corroded and destroyed some kingdom from within during the era before barrier magic was established. Hence her title.

Since only her epithet has been passed down, I can’t gauge her abilities or true strength… But if she’s the same individual, she must be a considerably ancient demon.

We step forward simultaneously. Ouroboros and her sword clash, intertwining as they scatter Spark Light.

The next instant, I catch a glimmer of light at the edge of my vision. I twist my body reflexively, and immediately something like a ribbon from the lower part of her butterfly wings passes before my nose with tremendous force.

A Slash Attack. It likely possesses considerable sharpness. Using the momentum from my twist, I thrust with the opposite end of Ouroboros. Seeing her block it with a Miasma Wall, I immediately release a Magical Shockwave, knocking her arm aside. She makes a surprised face.

But Alvelinde didn’t resist the motion of being knocked back. She gracefully arcs backward as if dancing, using the momentum. Simultaneously, her sword comes sweeping upward as if to scoop me.

I twist to evade and pivot, closing the distance to sweep with Ouroboros, which her wing ribbons intercept.

Turning to face me, Alvelinde bares her teeth in a smile, then stands her ground to receive my attack. Using my staff and Chimera Coat, I counter her sword and wings. We engage in countless exchanges of Strikes and Slash Attacks at close range.

We trace afterimage trajectories across the night sky, magical power and miasma colliding to scatter explosive sparks as we spiral upward. Our bodies crash together. We rebound off each other and pivot. Exchanging low-tier magic and Miasma Bullets while closing in, we trade attacks as we pass by each other.

Her wings are essentially miasma formed into high-density butterfly wings. They lack substance, or more precisely, the wings themselves seem to lack pain receptors—even when I land impact-based Techniques, I see no effect.

Whether she realizes this or not, she’s shifted to using her wings as her primary attack method. She uses her sword to block attacks from Nemea and Capella, or alternatively, she’s begun employing methods where she wraps miasma around it, then releases Slash Attacks or Thrusts like Miasma Bullets when creating distance.

Just as we were about to charge directly at each other—Claudia’s Teleportation Magic arrived. Our surroundings were enveloped in white light, and we were transported to the Magic Light Water Vein.

For us, this went according to plan. For them, it was an unexpected development. Well then, I’ll just charge forward regardless.

I swing down from a High Stance. At that moment, she displayed another different movement. While leaping backward, her butterfly wings enveloped her body, and then her form disappeared as if blending into the scenery. The movement of an object, the flow of air. This isn’t teleportation!

Swinging Ouroboros on instinct, a metallic sound rings out. She too had been swinging her sword trying to take my head.

Baring her teeth in a smile, she slams a Miasma Bullet at me from point-blank range. When I block it with a Shield, an explosion occurs, and the recoil creates distance between us.

“I never imagined I’d be outnumbered in techniques. Those various skills. And the one who performed the teleportation was the Labyrinth’s master. I see, so it was you…”

Judging from her earlier response and words—she knows the true nature and properties of the techniques Gardinis used.

There’s undoubtedly a connection with those demons, but that raises the question of how much the Crown Prince knows, or whether the Crown Prince himself is even human. But I doubt she’d answer such questions honestly if I asked.

Alvelinde spreads both arms wide. Wing scales spilling from her wings gather and condense. Crystal-like formations float here and there.

The crystals—show no movement. They simply float in place. Probably a setup for something.

Shining miasma gathers above Alvelinde’s head—Here it comes!

I dodge at the last possible moment. A glowing bluish-green ray—or perhaps it would be better to call it a heat ray. Something carrying intense heat passes right by my body. Yes. Probably that kind of technique—.

When it hits a crystal, it reflects and comes rushing toward me. I deploy a Shield along the anticipated trajectory to defend. Even after generating mist with Dark Magic and Water Magic inside, only scorching heat comes through.

The power has likely been significantly attenuated—but she too possesses attack methods that can ignore Magic Shields. Creating mist to aim for attenuation—would be unwise. It would likely create a field advantageous to her.

That earlier technique where she disappeared is similar too. She probably has techniques that transform miasma into light-like properties, then reflect or refract it. With mist, even if I aim for attenuation, I can’t completely neutralize the power, and if she turns it against me by projecting illusions like a screen, it would be troublesome.

I raise Ouroboros into a Stance and begin amplifying my magical power. I wrap excess magical power around my body. Two, then three spheres of light float above her head.

Time to commit. Either way, engaging in a shooting battle would put me at a disadvantage. Those reflection crystals—she can probably produce them endlessly, and destroying them would be meaningless. Then it’s the same as before. She too must avoid self-destruction from reflections. Close quarters with limited firing lines is my only path forward.

“Here I come!”

Combining my strength with Chimera Coat’s, I charge straight in, kicking from Shield to Shield to perform rapid reflection movements. She responds at maximum speed as well.

We exchange magic and Miasma Bullets while flying at high speed. Strikes as we pass each other. That much is the same as before.

In the scenery flowing by at ridiculous speeds, I grasp each position. Me and her. And the crystal coordinates. The moment I detect the precursor of the light spheres floating above Alvelinde about to be fired, I deploy Shields along the firing lines. Regardless of whether they’re aimed at me or not.

From crystal to crystal. Each time a light Spear flashes, Shields instantly appear around my body. From crystal to crystal. Reflection upon reflection. In this roulette of swirling light trajectories, one particular crystal becomes the main battery aiming for me.

A flash coming straight at me. Heat at my flank. I might get burned, but since it’s attenuated, it won’t be a Fatal Wound. As long as it doesn’t have knockback properties, I can ignore the pain. I exchange perfect defense for amplifying magical power.

When I close the distance and step in, her wings swing. One, two—I slip through her Slash Attacks. The distance and angles were unique so I was somewhat confused—but I’m growing accustomed to these wing movements too. Using Nemea and Capella not for offense and defense, but adding to my mobility to suddenly plunge into close range, I slam an impact through the Shield. Then, her face contorts for a moment. While her expression twists, Alvelinde still laughs.

“You do unbelievable things!”

She spins her body. While unleashing numerous Slash Attacks with her wings, the glowing spheres above her head flash—three, four. At this range, she can’t shoot from behind!

I fly upward to disengage. A moment later, reflected light from the crystals pierces through where I was from left and right.

“Ooooh!”

Alvelinde generates a massive crystal in her palm. Making light explode from it, the light spreads radially upward. A move that anticipated me flying upward.

But while the range is wide, it lacks convergence. I deploy a Shield forward and charge straight toward the light source. Breaking through, I swing Ouroboros down. A direct hit. As she grits her teeth to endure, she slams not with her sword but directly with a Palm Strike. I block with a Shield and try to counter with a magical shock—but faster than that, Alvelinde makes light explode. Scorching heat. I too slam a magical shock into her palm regardless.

“Gah!”

We both create distance. I’m somewhat scorched too, but I’ve properly damaged her left arm. It probably won’t be usable in offense and defense for a while. Though her weapons are her wings more than her limbs.

“Are you truly human? Surely you’re not one of our kind?”

“Save your sleep-talking for when you’re asleep.”

After this brief exchange, we charge at each other as if by mutual agreement. Light Spears reflect repeatedly here and there. I too fly around with high-speed reflections from Shield to Shield as I charge in.

By dedicating Nemea and Capella to mobility, I exceed her maximum speed. Reading her movement direction, I fly alongside, forcibly bringing us to close combat. We slam staff and sword against each other, I evade her wing Slash Attacks by a hair’s breadth.

Flank. Shin. Jaw. I swing Ouroboros around and land three attacks, causing enormous miasma to erupt from her body.

“Ooooooooh aaaaaaaah!”

A roar, and chaotic reflections of light. Light Spears crisscross above and below like a cage. Spreading both arms wide, she unleashes wing Slash Attacks from left and right as if to crush me. When I block the Slash Attacks with Nemea and Capella, wing ribbons wrap around them as if to capture both. There’s—only one intention behind this. If her Martial Arts and speed surpass mine, then I should abandon defense and unleash a major Technique.

“I’ve caught you!”

Light particles converge before Alvelinde, who’s gritting her teeth. A maximum-level attack. I’ve already deployed a Magic Circle too. My only option is to counter with magic.

Water Magic 9th Tier: Abyss Serpent. From an enormous Magic Circle, a Water Dragon’s maw of corresponding size emerges. And then—overwhelming white light slams into it.

“I’ll evaporate you right here!”

Alvelinde roars. Even through the Water Dragon’s head, I feel a burning sensation from the light’s heat. The water dragon bubbles and swells from within. I cover my face with my arm to protect my retinas from burning.

It’s fine. I’m clearly tracking her form through Caduceus’s vision. I won’t let her escape anywhere.

“Wha—?”

At that sight, Alvelinde’s eyes widen, and I laugh. Yes. The compatibility isn’t bad. The only flaw is that completion takes a little time. But in this location, I can definitely finish her off.

All the water of the Magic Light Water Vein gathers toward the created Serpent. Compressing and condensing at high density, the Serpent grows monstrously large. Of course. I’ve poured in magical power equivalent to two High-Tier Magic spells.

“Take this!”

“O—oooooooh!”

The Serpent opens its massive maw and advances toward Alvelinde, who’s still emitting light. Its great jaws seize her.

It shreds the butterfly wings like paper scraps, then crushes Alvelinde with its enormous fangs. She deploys a Miasma Wall around her body to endure, but that too is futile. It effortlessly crushes her with water pressure, concentrating immense hydraulic force into a single point as it charges straight—toward the Magic Light Water Vein’s wall.

A great waterfall in the shape of a dragon moving sideways. All that water pressure converges solely upon whoever is swallowed.

The Serpent’s body contracts momentarily to apply final pressure, then expands. Following the Spell Formula’s completion, it triggers a massive water explosion.