"I don't want to talk too much." Ellen smirked and raised her staff. A rotating circular blue energy formed above her hand and expanded, gradually turning into a cloud.
"Ice Storm."
Small ice particles began to rain down, where they diagonally fell as if there was a wind blowing them.
Alea smiled and channeled her energy into her sword. Red-colored fire emerged from the sword as she launched it into Ellen's attack.
"Flamming Ge-Sword."
The fire flew to the air and hit one of the particles, evaporating it in an instant. The flame continued, hit the cloud and exploded, dispersing the cloud and ultimately canceling Ellen's attack.
However, Ellen Ice Storm was just bait. Her real attack was the five light balls that released the ice energy to her, leaving a trail of ice behind.
"Freezing Shot."
The Freezing Shot flew two feet above the ground while spreading enough for Alea to jump to the air, avoiding the attack.
Ellen knew Alea would surely go to the air if she attacked her with this Freezing Shot. Hence, she channeled a bit more Magic Power into her skill earlier, programming them to turn upward.
Alea was amused by the variation and took a glimpse of Ellen's expression, knowing that her best friend was planning something.
The fire covered her sword as she struck all the incoming Freezing Shot with one swing before finding Theo and his clone already surrounding her on the ground.
They both summoned their Magic Bullet and shot him since there was no way Alea could strike down all twenty Magic Bullets at once.
As expected, Alea pointed her sword below and summoned a translucent shield.
"Fortitude."
The Magic Bullet hit this shield, which managed to stop an attack from a monster above level 500, and disappeared in an instant.
However, an emerging presence shook Alea's body as she instinctively spun her body while swinging her sword.
Clink.
To her surprise, she could hear the clicking sound and found Phyrill not long after.
"Tch." Phyrill clicked his tongue and tried to push it, but Alea didn't budge. "You're indeed like a horse. How strong are you…"
"Wait, what did you call me earlier? Which part of me looked like a horse?" Alea widened her eyes and pushed Phyrill back as they fell to the ground.
"You should ask Theo. I'm sure he will give you the best answer." Phyrill chuckled and landed on the ground before leaping backward.
"Theo? Is this the reason why he treated me so horribly?" Alea widened her eyes and turned to Theo, only to find Ellen placing her hand on the ground.
"Ice Wave."
Ice Spikes began to emerge from the ground in succession in a fan-shaped area, heading straight to Alea.
"Wait a minute." Alea stabbed the ground with her sword and released the fire on her sword. "Grand Burst."
This was the same technique she used to create a huge explosion for Alea and Theo to cover their trail. Those continuous explosions clashed with Ellen's Ice Wave and neutralized each other.
When she was about to call Theo, the latter already charged forward with his clone while using Focused Charge and Haste. He came in two different directions.
Yet, when the actual thing happened, Theo, who wielded the spear, stumbled and dropped to his knees. "Kh."
"It must be the side effect of Haste." Alea smirked and saw the incoming clone before striking her sword to blow the clone away and making her way to the real one. Yes, Alea had seen the side effect of Haste, so she knew Theo's legs were ready to give up since he had been using it continuously.
Together with his Magic Bullet, he must have exhausted his Magic Power since his face looked so tired.
Still, even though he was on his knees, he managed to strike Alea with his spear to prevent her from getting close.
Alea saw his eyes and knew where he planned to hit her. She shifted her center of gravity lower and struck the spear upward, planning to launch it into the air.
However, Theo barely held it back before forcing it to the ground, only to find Alea's sword was about to hit him.
Phyrill obviously couldn't let this go on and interfere with her movement. Theo also seemed to prepare to grab her sword even if he needed to sacrifice his life, so Alea completed her swing hurriedly, blowing him away.
After that, she struck Phyrill's sword without a problem.
"Seriously? I feel like I don't know you anymore. Why don't you just admit defeat and get absorbed into our group? You can be with your best friend and Theo."
"No thank you. After losing against you guys, I realized something." She smiled and pushed him several feets away. "I like to create my own team, not join someone's team."
"Well, you need to defeat us first." Phyrill shrugged and jumped backward again, creating a distance.
At the same time, Ellen already released another attack. It was the same ice boulder that she threw at the bear.
"Try it, Alea. Both of them are only buying time for this." Ellen smiled. "Ice Meteor."
"…" Alea furrowed her eyebrows when she saw this huge ice boulder. She straightened her back and raised her sword above her head. "Then, it's time to test the skill that I bought when I was with Theo."
"Inch Slash."
She swung down so fast, yet so silent. There was no sound as though air resistance didn't exist. However, that slash might be the sharpest and most precise strike she had ever shown today.
There was a kind of transparent energy that flew to the Ice Meteor but didn't disturb the air in its surrounding. It simply… cut.
Bam.
The Ice Meteor split into two without any warning.
Alea could see a three-foot-deep sword mark appear on the ceiling, meaning her slash reached as far as the ceiling.
But for someone who had been working together with Alea like Ellen, they understood that there was a huge difference in Alea's swing. That swing was the same swing she did in the past, where she got her trauma. The swing was so natural that even Theo couldn't help but say, "It's beautiful." Despite not having an extended knowledge about the sword.
This also showed Alea's resolve in getting rid of her trauma. She smiled and looked at Theo and Ellen. "Now, now. Let's continue, shall we?"
"Oi, are you forgetting me?" Phyrill twisted his eyebrows, wanting to kill this woman for pretending like he didn't exist.