Since the battle started, Uriel had eliminated the vanguard of the three, and the rearguards—a magic caster and an archer—were left to deal with the opponent. Uriel had been giving Franc and Bruxo a hard time, which was why Bruxo resorted to casting a spell that could increase their chance of winning.
To win, they had to get rid of what made Uriel have the upper hand. The spell would take some time to cast. As Bruxo was ritualizing the spell, Franc had been dealing with Uriel so that Bruxo could finish his spell.
“Triple Shot.”
Once he had pulled the string of his longbow to its potential, Franc released it and let three arrows loaded on the bow fly after he used a Level 5 Shooting Art technique.
With the activation of his Supersonic extra skill, the arrows he fired flew in the air at a speed of several Machs. At that speed, no one would be able to evade it. But Uriel was not like anyone else.
“Anti-Physical Barrier.”
Uriel quickly cast a spell and conjured a translucent membrane before her. The strength of a barrier depends on the magic power of the caster. And because Uriel removed her Limiter, her barrier was tough enough to successfully block those fast arrows.
“Tsk.”
Franc did not like what he saw and clicked his tongue again. Not only were his shots missed, but his quiver was running out of arrows as well. He thought that he still had enough arrows before Bruxo finished casting his spell, so he had been conserving his shots.
For Bruxo to concentrate, Franc relocated their fight several dozens of meters away from him. The range of his spell would be vast, so its effects would reach them as long as they were inside the building.
“Flame Lance.”
Pointing her wand at her target, Uriel summoned a blazing lance of fire and fired it toward Franc. But that was slow for him, and he evaded it with minimal effort.
And suddenly, white runes and lines appeared on the floor and lit up the hallway. Uriel was surprised by its appearance and had no idea what was going on. But Franc knew what that was and grinned. Bruxo had finished casting his ritual.
Actually, those runes were a fraction of the huge magic circle of the spell of Bruxo. The magic circle was so wide that it covered the area of maximum security. The magic circle brightened up more intensively to the point that it became blinding. 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑜𝑟𝘨
It lit up for a few seconds, and once the lights subsided, Uriel felt that there was something wrong with her body; she could not cast a spell anymore. Eventually, she realized that she had been in the range of Bruxo’s Anti-Magic Field.
Anti-Magic Field is a Level 8 Pure Magic spell that restricts any magic casting within the area. But the restriction was not applicable to the spells that had been cast beforehand. Also, only spells of Level 8 and below could be blocked.
It was the card that Bruxo resorted to using just to stop Uriel from using magic. He actually did not know if it would work since he still did not know what Uriel was capable of. But at least he could guarantee that she could not cast spells up to Level 8.
Once her magic had been sealed, Uriel was not able to cast spells. It was a drastic nerf for her since the Anti-Magic Field had almost no effect on her opponent, who was an archer and did not always need to use magic.
After Bruxo had done his part, it was time for Franc to do his. Holding the shaft of his bow, Franc loaded it with an arrow and pulled the string anew. Once he channeled his bow with a portion of his fighting spirit, he then released it as he invoked a technique.
“Blast Shot.”
A single arrow, greatly enhanced by his technique, was unleashed from his bow. It was the same technique he used before, but the firepower was greater.
“?!”
Uriel then quickly reacted to the arrow and reflexively tried to intercept it by blocking it with her staff. She barely managed to successfully block the arrow, but the arrow was too powerful for her body to take, and she was blown away by the strong knockback effect of the technique.
“Ugh!!”
Even though she had her Blast Resistance, it did not help, and she was still blasted away from the impact. She even swept the floor of the hallway for several meters.
“You have been buffing yourself up with magic, right. Now that it has been sealed, it cannot help you anymore.”
Franc approached Uriel as he was pointing his bow and arrow at her. He saw how she managed to avoid a fatal hit even without magic, so he was still cautious of her.
“Nnnn!”
Still on the floor and in pain, Uriel picked up her black staff on her left and put her right hand on its upper end. Franc smirked upon seeing her state and then mocked her.
“Without magic, you are nothing but a weak and fragile girl. Now that I have taken a closer look at you, you are quite a beauty. It would be a waste if I left damages on a valuable good.”
“…”
“You’re terrified already?”
“I may be out of the capability to cast magic,” Uriel said as she struggled to stand on her own two feet. “But I ain’t out of options!”
“?!”
Out of the blue, Uriel swung her staff at Franc horizontally. Her strike was so fast and sudden that he could barely react to it. He and his bow were hit by it, and he accidentally shot the arrow to the side.
He was supposed to be hit by a wooden staff, but his bow was cleaved in half, and a deep cut had surfaced on his chest and his left arm. Feeling the pain, he dropped his bow to the floor and stepped back to get away from Uriel.
“Ahh! Did you just cut me?!” Franc yelled while stopping his arm from bleeding. “And where did that blade come from?!”
Upon looking back at her, he saw Uriel, but with a straight-bladed sword in her hand. Franc then eventually understood that her staff did not just serve to increase her magic output but also contained a hidden blade.
Uriel’s staff was actually a sword cane with a fire magic stone at the top of it. The pair of golden rings constructed on it were the magnetic locks that attached the sword to its scabbard.
The sword cane was enchanted with Ownership and only Raphael and Uriel could unsheath the staff and turn it into a sword. She never got the chance to use her staff as a sword until now.
“Your staff had a blade in it?!”
“Yeah, and I will use it to cut your life short.” You should be grateful for being the first one to taste its sharpness.”
“Wait—?!”
Uriel took a thrusting position and lunged herself forward. Since magic was useless as of now, she utilized her own set of the Unique Skill: Parallel Profile and selected the assassin mode that allocated her stats primarily to STR and AGI.
Her sudden increase in speed shocked Franc, but he paid it no further mind as he recognized that it was dangerous to him. He was almost nothing without his broken bow and could not do anything in his injured state.
Uriel was drawing nearer and nearer with a sharp and pointed mithrill blade. Franc got panicked and tried to run away. But after taking a few staggering steps, he felt a very painful sting from his back, and a shiny yet bloody blade burst forth from his chest.
“Uhh..!!!”
He had been impaled by the blade of Uriel’s sword cane. Franc writhed in pain, and blood started to gush out of his mouth and penetrate his back and chest. A moment later, Franc gave up all his strength and passed out, letting his body hang on Uriel’s blade like a picture frame on a nail.
“Phew. That was tough.”
Uriel let out a tired sigh and slowly dropped Franc to the ground. Once he got laid, Uriel pulled out the blade from his back.
“But don’t you worry; I did not stab your heart.” She said that before she looked along the hallway. “Now I have to take care of the other one.”
Afterwards, she ran and went to the location of Bruxo. But only to find out that he actually exhausted himself and passed out after casting a magic spell that huge.