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Inglis decided to bide her time and wait for a shift in the situation. She knew that continuously evading the Prisma’s attacks would eventually lead it to become more desperate and employ more extreme measures, such as creating a cage of light to trap her or something similar.

Inglis knew that the moment when the Prisma would resort to extreme methods would be her best opportunity. Although she would have nowhere to escape, the same would apply to the Prisma. At that point, when it couldn’t evade Inglis’ powerful techniques, she would pour most of her Ether into her attack and thoroughly defeat it.

Inglis had been preparing for a long battle of attrition, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike with a powerful attack. However, the situation took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, the Prisma ceased all attacks, surprising Inglis. She had expected the Prisma to continue to attack her relentlessly or try to block her movements again with a cage of light, but instead, it just stopped all forms of attack.

「——?」

Despite the sudden turn of events, Inglis did not stop running and kept a vigilant eye on the Prisma.

「dOn’T Mo—vE…」
「?! Human words?!」

Could it be that the Prisma had learned the human language by absorbing the humanoid magic stone beasts and taking on a more humanoid form? Perhaps its remarkable learning ability also contributed to its acquisition of human intelligence.

At that moment, the Prisma extended its massive hand, but it wasn’t aimed at Inglis. Instead, it was directed towards the city of Arlmen.

「oR—eLsE…」

As light converged on the Prisma’s palm, Inglis realized that it was taking everyone in the city of Arlman hostage. It was attempting to use the innocent citizens as leverage to force Inglis to halt her movements. Inglis had anticipated that the Prisma might try to impede her progress, but she had never anticipated that it would resort to such extreme measures.

It completely shattered her enjoyment, and her mind as well. Wisdom and critical thinking always led to dull and predictable outcomes. One could choose to avoid fighting someone stronger, while the other could resort to underhanded tricks to gain an advantage. Even the proud Dragon God Vufailbane did the same.

Inglis’ desires for a Magic Stone Beast were different from what was currently happening. She craved an animalistic creature, driven by instinct, merciless, and a machine of pure destruction.

「…The more you become like a human, the more your mind becomes cunning, huh… what a letdown. As a Magic Stone Beast, you should be a harbinger of destruction that instinctively attacks anything that moves! Don’t you have any pride as a Magic Stone Beast?!」

Inglis had to file a complaint.

「nO… OnLy—sEArcHiNg, aLwaYs…」
「Searching? What are you searching?!」
「sHar…dS—imPoR…taNt!」

The Prisma then grabbed Inglis once she was stopped, trying to crush her body in its hands.

「?! Uugh… ghh—uuuuuu…!」

Despite the tremendous pressure, Inglis remained conscious, her Ether Armor saving her from instant death. Though her body was wracked with intense pain and her bones were creaking, some even broken, she held on.

「HinDraNcE—DiE!」
「No thank you!」

Inglis had just poured all of her Ether into the dragonscale sword, and now she was ready to strike back. She refused to be defeated by the Prisma’s cheap tactics. She stopped moving as the Prisma wished, and it had now brought her close to its body, but it had never explicitly forbidden her from attacking.

「Ooooh!」

Inglis released a powerful strike, causing a surge of Ether to burst from the blade, knocking away Prisma’s hand. The Ether’s wavelength was now tuned to a new frequency.

As she was released from Prisma’s grasp, she landed on the ground, feeling pain throughout her body. However, there was no time to worry about that now. Inglis pointed her sword towards the mass of Ether before her.

「DRAGON ROAR! HAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!」

And she thrust with the full force of her Dragon Roar!

「OOOOOOooooooooo—?!」

A blinding flash of light engulfed everything in sight as Inglis unleashed the point-blank Roaring Ether Cross with full force. The impact sent her flying even further than the first time she used it. As she lay slumped on the ground, she caught sight of a massive pillar of ethereal light rising at the edge of her vision. The Prisma must have been at the center of it. However, the ground beneath her gave way, causing a massive cloud of dust to billow up.

「Kgh… ugh!! Phew. Well, how did it…?!」

Before Inglis could finish her sentence, an enormous foot emerged from the cloud of dust. The foot belonged to the Prisma, and it delivered a powerful kick that sliced through the air and produced thunderous sound waves.

「Kgh……?!」

The kick produced a metallic clang as Inglis managed to slide in between the dragonscale sword before the impact. But her injuries prevented her from maintaining her balance, and she was launched like a projectile towards the city walls of Arlman.

「Well… that’s… bad!!」

After rotating herself mid-air, Inglis plunged the dragonscale sword into the ground in an attempt to slow her momentum. However, it was not enough to stop her from crashing into the barriers.

She needed more. Inglis pushed the sword even deeper, hoping to absorb more of the impact.

But suddenly, a deafening noise interrupted her plan as the dragonscale sword shattered into pieces under pressure.

「……?! Forgive me, Vufailbane. I’ve destroyed the present you kindly gave me!」

The timing couldn’t have been worse. In fact, it was the worst possible moment. But, on the other hand, the dragonscale sword had held up remarkably well until now. Among all the weapons at Inglis Eux’s disposal, the dragonscale sword boasted exceptional performance and strength. Its ability to channel her Ether was especially noteworthy. Thanks to the dragonscale sword, Inglis had been able to unleash her most powerful technique yet, the Roaring Ether Cross, surpassing her previously most destructive attack, Ether Breaker. Without the dragonscale sword, she would not have been able to achieve this feat.

Either way, the situation had taken a sudden turn for the worse, leaving Inglis wondering what her next move should be.

「GLIS!!」

Inglis heard Rafinha’s voice from behind

「RANI?!!」

Rafinha was by the barrier, in the path where Inglis was being flung away. Was Rafinha trying to catch her? But if Rafinha tried, she would be in danger instead of Inglis.

「Get away, Rani!」
「NO!! I want to save you!」

Rafinha’s eyebrows furrowed as she pulled the string of her Flowing Radiance taut and unleashed a volley of countless arrows of light in Inglis’ direction. The arrows arched, converged, and rained down on the ground where Inglis was hurtling towards. Upon impact, they exploded, raising a pillar of earth in an attempt to dampen Inglis’ momentum. However, the pillar was shattered, and Inglis broke through anyway, still hurtling towards the barrier.

However, Rafinha’s efforts did not stop at just a few arrows. She fired off a barrage of arrows, one after another, as many as she could. Although it provided some assistance in slowing Inglis down, it was not enough to completely stop her. And yet, just when it seemed like all hope was lost—

「EEEeeiiiiiii!!!」

Rafinha let out a scream and leaped towards Inglis, attempting to hold her back.

「R-, RANI…!」

To be fair, Rafinha’s strength alone wasn’t enough to stop Inglis’ momentum. Black Mask’s strength was many times greater when it came to that. However, the strength that Rafinha was able to rouse from within Inglis was infinitely greater. It was not just tens, hundreds, or thousands of times stronger, but boundless.

「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!」

With Rafinha in her arms, Inglis forced her own legs onto the ground and planted them deep, ignoring the pain in her already damaged legs. Her priority was to protect Rafinha, no matter the cost.

The power of her determination seemed to have paid off as Inglis managed to stop just before colliding with the barrier. Her back touched the barrier, and it provided the perfect support for her.