[Lifespan Remaining: ???]
"O fire, burn and cinder...!"
?Ars Flare.?
Several balls of flame shot across the ice, creating a screen of fire that crashed into the lich. A burst of fire struck its raised forearm, scattering across the rusted armor.
At the same time, lightning crackled under Alice’s boots as she dashed across the ice, trying to drive her sword toward the creature’s forehead.
The lich knocked her blade aside, but before its greatsword could follow, she had already twisted past its shoulder. Her next strike came from behind.
CLANG—!
The lich turned just in time to catch it with his own blade’s guard.
"Tch..."
Alice clicked her tongue and pushed away, sliding low under the sweeping edge that followed right away. The attack passsed over her head, severing a few strands of her blue hair.
?Ars Flare.?
Another burst of flame catapulted across the ice. The lich took the brunt of it against its shoulder, yet it barely move.
Though Noct hadn’t expected to.
The fire struck the ice beyond it, creating a fresh cloud of steam around to act as a curtain. And exactly as he thought she would, Alice disappeared into it.
The lich turned, sickly green eyes rapidly darting around the environment, trying to find Alice. But before it could, a sword emerged from the smoke, scraping through the gap in its armor before she slipped back into the curtain again.
’It can’t track her properly.’
Noct kept his hand extended, controlling [Blitz Tempo] on Alice. At the same time, he observed the lake, the same place where the lich had plunged him into cold water before.
He tried pulling the power, manipulating it like how he had seen Faust do so before. It felt natural to him, like an extension of his body.
That was what wind felt like to Noct, but water was a whole different ball game. Pressure built around his eyes, causing it to swell in pain.
’Carefully...’
Across the lake, Alice stumbled half a step before recovering. The lich lunged, and she barely managed to turn its thrust aside.
A shallow cut opened along her cheek, and it was clear that she was becoming more exhausted by the second. She shot Noct a look, but it wasn’t the right time yet.
?Ars Flare?
Fire splashed across the lich’s face, but it simply shrugged the attack off. It raised its arm, and Alice darted around its opposite side.
Her fingers were beginning to stiffen. Another patch of skin peeled from her arm, exposing raw flesh, but she tightened her grip and kept moving.
The lich turned after her, but this time, it didn’t swing. Instead of trying to catch the fly, it decided to wait until the fly came by itself.
And like it thought, Alice emerged from the thinning steam, sword already rising toward its forehead.
"The same old trick..."
Its greatsword snapped upward to intercept her. It knew the fight was over, once this annoying fly was gone, all that was left was to clear up the pesky Arcadia.
But what it failed to notice, was the bubbling and swirling water right behind it...
"Now!"
Water burst through the fractured ice, helped along by various currents that carried it forth. It wound around the lich’s wrist, looped above its elbow, and pulled tight.
[Binding Water Serpent has been added to Known Spells.]
?Magia Aqua — Vincire Serpens?
"O water, take the serpent’s form. Coil around my foe and bind!"
The lich’s head jerked toward Noct.
"You can—?"
Pain stabbed through his skull, and Noct could taste blood from the inside of his mouth as the two spells strained against his concentration. But he refused to release either.
"Alice!"
One boot struck the creature’s raised knee. And using it as a foothold, she drove herself upward and brought her sword toward its face. The lich tried to reach for her with its free hand, but by then, it was already too late.
Her blade slipped under the jagged black jewel, and Alice twisted with everything she had.
CRACK—!
The black jewel tore free, and Alice fell backward along with it, landing hard on the ice.
The lich’s hand was just inches from her face. For a moment, it remained standing. But after a while, the green light inside its skull died out.
The armored body collapsed with a heavy crash, followed by a series of clattering sounds along the shore. One skeleton fell mid-strike while another dropped its weapon before crumbling into a pile of bones.
Within seconds, every undead that had been carrying the black fragments had all stopped working. Noct released both spells, staring at the motionless armor while breathing in heavily.
"Ha...it really is harder without Noelle here..."
A few steps away, Alice lay on her back, holding onto the jagged jewel with her dear life.
"Got it..."
"Cancel your spell."
"I know..."
The sickly aura peeled away from her body and dissolved into the air. Color slowly returned to her face, though the wounds across her hands remained.
Slowly but surely, she managed to stand up and make her way toward Noct. Placing an arm on each other’s shoulders, they managed to support themselves until they made it toward shore.
The fighting hadn’t stopped altogether. Ordinary undead were still pressing against the camp’s defenses, but the creatures that had followed the lich out of the lake lay scattered and motionless.
’Sylph.’
’I’m here.’
’The black fragments. Can you gather them?’
’You really do find the most unpleasant things to collect.’
Thin currents passed between the fallen body. One by one, they rose and flew towards Noct, or more accurately, toward the main piece until they all combined and became whole once more.
Then, a second later...
"YOU INSOLENT WRETCH!"
Noct nearly dropped the crystal in surprise, but a part of him was also expecting this to happen. "So it can still talk."
"DO YOU THINK DESTROYING THAT VESSEL MEANS ANYTHING? I HAVE ENDURED BEYOND THE DEATH OF KINGS. YOUR FATER CANNOT ERASE ME AND NEITHER WILL YOU—"
"Ahh please just stop, you’re so annoying!"
Noct suddenly snapped. But as soon as he did, a soft golden light began to surround the skull. Each separate particle entered the skull and came out, holding all of its impurities, until the dark inside was no more.
Now all that was left was the blue monster core in his hand, containing completely pure mana. His eyes widened as he stared at the core.
’Was that...my holy power?’
Alice sighed softly, a smirk appearing on her face. "I think I like him better when he doesn’t talk. Makes it more peaceful."
"Heh. I agree," Noct cracked a grin of his own.
Then, out of nowhere, hurried footsteps approached them as well as a nervous voice that came from just above the shore.
Celine peeked her head from the horizon, and Noct could already see the damage.
Her hair was singed and most of her robes were ripped and torn in places. Celine herself seemed tired, her skin filled with various cuts that no Mage should ever suffer.
"If you’re here then..."
"Please come quickly—" she said hurriedly, completely out of breath. "Our line of defense collapsed!"