The battlefield was chaos incarnate. Tentacles lashed out with crushing force, shattering platforms and sending waves surging over the makeshift battlefield. The adventurers and knights fought valiantly, rallying under Lucavion’s sharp commands as he led them with ruthless precision. His blade burned with the dark energy of [Flame of Equinox], every strike slicing cleanly through the Kraken’s monstrous appendages.
Elara stood amidst the fray, her staff glowing faintly with frost magic. Her limbs felt heavy, her breath labored, and yet—somehow—she kept moving, kept casting. She planted her feet firmly on the icy ground, drawing on reserves of mana that shouldn’t have been there.
‘This isn’t right,’ she thought, her chest tightening as another spell surged through her.
「Glacial Shard Volley」 (3-star spell)
A flurry of razor-sharp ice shards shot from her staff, piercing through the smaller creatures swarming around Lucavion. The frost crackled as it spread, freezing the water in jagged patterns and slowing the monsters in their tracks.
Elara gasped, her grip tightening on her staff as she swayed slightly. Her core felt like it should be empty, drained after so many high-tier spells, but each time she reached for more power, it was there. Her frost magic responded to her call with an intensity she’d never experienced before.
‘Why does it feel like I’m overflowing?’ she wondered, her brows furrowing as she steadied herself. The sensation wasn’t entirely pleasant—it was as though her mana was surging beyond her control, threatening to consume her.
“Elara, focus!” Cedric’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He stood near her, his shield raised to block an incoming tentacle swipe. “We can’t afford to lose you!”
She nodded, shaking off her unease. “I’m fine,” she said, though the words felt hollow. Still, she turned her attention back to the battle.
Lucavion, darting between tentacles with inhuman agility, barked another command. “Mages, concentrate on the tentacle bases! We need to limit its range! Everyone else, cover them!”
Elara didn’t hesitate. She raised her staff once more, her frost magic flaring brightly as she cast a powerful area-of-effect spell.
「Frozen Bind」 (3-star spell)
Thick chains of ice erupted from the ground, coiling around the Kraken’s nearest appendage and locking it in place. The massive tentacle thrashed violently, struggling against the frost-coated bindings, but they held firm.
Lucavion shot her a sharp glance, his smirk widening. “Good! Keep that up!”
Elara’s heart skipped at his words—not from embarrassment, but from the realization that she was keeping pace with him. He was leading the charge, his blade carving through the chaos, and she was right there, supporting him, matching his rhythm.
‘How am I doing this?’ she thought, her mind racing. Every time she felt like she was reaching her limit, like she would collapse from exhaustion, something pushed her forward. Her core, her frost magic—it didn’t falter. Instead, it surged, as though responding to some invisible force.
Another tentacle swung toward Lucavion, its pores glowing ominously. Elara’s instincts kicked in, and she raised her staff again.
「Ice Wall」 (2-star spell)
A barrier of frost erupted between Lucavion and the incoming attack, deflecting the poisonous darts that shot from the glowing pores. Lucavion didn’t even flinch, his blade slashing upward to sever the tentacle cleanly.
“Nice timing, mage!” he called over his shoulder, his tone laced with genuine praise.
Elara’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she forced herself to focus. ‘He’s depending on me,’ she realized. The thought sent a strange warmth through her chest, cutting through the icy magic swirling around her. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire
As the battle raged on, the two of them fell into an unspoken rhythm. Lucavion moved like a predator, precise and relentless, his blade cutting through the Kraken’s appendages with surgical efficiency. Elara followed his lead, her frost magic binding and slowing the creature, creating openings for him to strike.
And then it hit her.
When she stood amidst the chaos, her magic weaving through the battlefield in perfect sync with Lucavion’s attacks, a strange sensation began to creep over her. At first, it was subtle—just a faint tremor in the flow of her mana. But it quickly grew, becoming a torrent of pressure that churned within her chest.
‘What is this…?’ she thought, her breath hitching as she tried to steady herself. Her grip on her staff faltered, and the frost magic she’d been channeling flickered erratically, the crystalline patterns dissolving into faint mist.
The world seemed to slow around her. The clamor of the battlefield faded into a distant hum, and the sharp movements of the Kraken and the adventurers became sluggish, as though submerged in thick water. Elara’s heart pounded in her ears, the rhythm erratic and frantic.
The mana within her core surged wildly, no longer responding to her commands. Frost bloomed uncontrollably from her staff, its tendrils twisting and spiraling outward with chaotic abandon. The magic was no longer hers to control—it was something else entirely, as if a foreign force had taken hold.
Her knees buckled as the pain hit—a searing, wrenching agony that tore through her body like shards of ice. She gasped, her vision blurring as the frost magic erupted from her, spiraling outward in a massive, uncontrolled burst.
“NO!” she cried, but the words were swallowed by the maelstrom of magic.
The frosty energy didn’t strike the Kraken as intended. Instead, it veered wildly, arcing across the battlefield in a random, destructive path. It slammed into one of the platforms with a deafening crash, freezing it solid before shattering it into jagged shards that rained into the sea.
Elara collapsed onto her knees, her staff slipping from her trembling hands. Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath, her body trembling from the aftershock of the uncontrollable magic. She felt like she was falling apart, her core raw and aching.
‘What… what just happened?’ she thought, panic gripping her as she clutched at her chest. The sensation was unlike anything she had ever experienced before—a force beyond her understanding, tearing through her magic as if it had a will of its own.
The battlefield spun around her as she fought to steady her vision. When it cleared, what she saw made her blood run cold.
Massive whirlpools had begun forming across the ocean, their spiraling currents dark and ominous. They churned violently, pulling debris, ships, and smaller monsters into their depths. The Kraken seemed to feed off the chaos, its massive form writhing with renewed energy as the sea itself turned against them.
“Wh-!”
Before Elara could even process the chaos spiraling around her, another deafening crash shook the battlefield. A massive tentacle slammed down onto a nearby platform, sending a shockwave that shattered wood and sent debris flying in all directions.
Her eyes widened as she saw a large chunk of splintered wood hurtling directly toward her. Instinctively, she raised her hand, her mind desperately trying to summon a protective spell. But when she reached for her mana—nothing.
‘What’s happening?’ she thought, panic surging as the frost magic she relied on failed to respond. She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to focus, to try again. She channeled her core, willing the energy to rise, but it felt distant, unreachable.
The splintered wood hurtled closer. She could see every crack and jagged edge as the debris spun toward her. Helplessness gripped her as she realized she wouldn’t be able to stop it in time.
SLASH!
A streak of black light flashed before her, cleaving the debris in two. The pieces splintered harmlessly to the sides, clattering into the icy platform. Elara blinked in shock as Lucavion landed in front of her, his blade still humming with dark energy.
“-ra!” he shouted, his voice muffled as if underwater. His words barely registered through the haze of her disoriented senses.
“ELARA!” The second shout pierced through, sharp and commanding. She flinched, her focus snapping back to the present.
Lucavion’s dark eyes bored into hers, his expression a mix of frustration and urgency. “Pull yourself together!” he barked. “There’s a mana disturbance! You need to accommodate to it!”
Her breath hitched, her mind racing. A mana disturbance? It explained the erratic behavior of her core, the way her magic had spiraled out of control. But how was she supposed to adapt to something like that in the middle of a battlefield?
“I—I don’t know how!” she admitted, her voice shaking.
Lucavion gritted his teeth, irritation flashing briefly across his face. “Stop overthinking it! Focus on your core, feel the flow of mana around you. Don’t fight it—align yourself with it. You’re an Awakened, not a novice!”
Elara’s eyes widened at his words, and a flicker of determination cut through her panic. Align with the flow of mana? It was a concept she’d studied but had never been forced to apply. The battlefield, however, was no place for hesitation.
She closed her eyes, her trembling hands gripping her staff tightly as she tried to center herself. The chaos around her—the roar of the Kraken, the shouts of adventurers, the crashing waves—all seemed to fade as she turned her focus inward. Her core felt fractured, the mana within it swirling wildly like a storm. But beneath the chaos, she could sense the disturbance Lucavion had mentioned—a strange, foreign rhythm in the flow of energy around her.
‘Don’t fight it,’ she told herself, her breath steadying. ‘Let it guide you.’
She began to adjust, her mind reaching out to the erratic flow of mana. Slowly, painfully, she felt her core start to stabilize, its rhythm syncing with the chaotic energy of the battlefield.
“Good,” Lucavion said, his tone still sharp but with a hint of approval. He turned back to the Kraken, his blade gleaming as he prepared for another strike. “Now don’t waste it. We’re not done yet.”
Elara opened her eyes, her frost magic flickering to life around her once more. The mana felt different—heavier, more volatile—but it was there, responding to her will. She pushed herself to her feet, her grip on her staff firm.