Mona felt a certain something upon colliding with the wall.

That is, they are too strong. It’s not the difference in power or the teamwork. It is the difference in the attitude towards the fight. She felt they were different from herself.

Certainly, Yua is powerful and able to cast chantless, but before that, Mona felt her resolve to die in case she lost.

The same goes for Lily. Until now, she was just using her power in simple ways, but once she changed her form, her skill greatly increased and her attitude changed. Almost like she was resolved to protect something.

What Mona felt was right.

Before meeting Seiya, or, to be precise, before being involved in a plan of an advanced magician clan, Yua didn’t have such a resolve. However, after their journey through the Great Dalis Canyon, her attitude underwent a change.

Yua fought her best and experienced death. That’s why she unconsciously thought that she would die if she lost.

The same was true for adult Lily too. In the past, she lived in the Great Dalis Canyon and fought to protect her home.

But since losing to Seiya, the desire to protect another Lily was born inside of her.

That resolve was reflected in the fight. The Lily of the past would have played with Mona inside of the water cylinder for a while. However, now, Lily was too focused on victory and immediately attacked.

In that way, the two were resolved to fight to the death. In truth, Selena and Aishi also noticed that.

The fact that those three fought completely differently from them.

Their own fight looked like a game in comparison. Their attitude was further fueled by the「Strongest three」title.

「Selena, Aishi」
「I know」
「I know」 [¹] 「Then let’s go」
「Yeah」
「Yes」
「「「It’s our battle!」」」[²]

The three decided to fight seriously for the first time.

「Then I will start, I count on your assistance」

Selena dashed with the magic guns in her hands. The red magic stone shone and the fire-attributed bullets were shot.

She aimed for Seiya and Yua, those two. When they blocked the mana bullets, they always did so with their weapons. Selena aimed for that opening.

The bullets were going straight for Seiya and Yua.

「I have already seen through your mana bullets」
「Simple…..」

The two tried to deflect the bullets with their respective weapons. At this point, Yua switched to Yuriel again.

However, right before they were able to do it, the bullets curved as if a baseball player threw it.

And the mana bullets attacked them from the sides.

「Chi」
「This is…….」

The two soon figured out. The perpetrator behind the sudden curve was Mona.

Towards the bullet, she cast『Wind Way』to change its trajectory. But for Mona, it was a gamble.

After all, 『Wind Way』required her to set the size and weight of an object in advance. In other words, she wasn’t able to manipulate objects with the different size or weight at this moment.

「Lily」
「Yes~ Leave it to me」[³]

Against the mana bullet, Seiya exercised『Single Light』to strengthen his legs and dodged it. Yua followed suit and successfully dodged it too.

Lily, who received Seiya’s orders, was ready to attack.

「Water Snake」

The spell turned her right arm into multiple water snakes. The water snakes approached Mona.

The water snakes closed in on Mona, following Lily’s will. That’s how it should be. After all, they were created with Lily’s fingers as a base. It almost felt like she simply stretched her hand.

Mona was watching the water snakes with a grin.

「Naive.『Tempest』」

Right after, Lily’s water serpents were repelled by something. Lily searched for this something that repelled her fingers and found it rolling on the ground.

There, were several bullets reflecting the sunlight.

Their size was visibly the same as the mana bullets from before. Most likely, the weight was the same too.

「This is ice, right?」

Lily immediately understood. The bullets rolling on the ground were created by Aishi.

By creating the bullets of the same size and weight, she made it possible for Mona to manipulate them.

Normally, it is impossible to create a complete copy of an object made from mana using ice.

After all, the size and the mass of an object made from mana changes depending on the motivation and condition of a caster.

It’s impossible to produce it continuously without concentrating on it on purpose. However, there are no magicians who are able to be conscious of it every single moment.

Instead of concentrating on it, it is better to put your efforts in the casting and firing speed.

However, this time is different. Each one of Selena’s bullet is completely identical to the previous one.

After all, they can’t pass through『Wind Way』otherwise. Selena’s magic bullets were made with that in mind. That means that the size and the mass were already predetermined before. [⁴]

Knowing the size and mass, it was possible for Aishi to reproduce it.

「You reproduced them from ice」
「Correct」

That voice came from behind. Lily quickly turned around and found Aishi with a one-handed sword in her hand.

Against approaching Aishi, Lily directed her right arm, which returned to original form, Aishi’s way and cast a spell.

「Water Cannon」
「Tempest」

In that timing, Mona cast『Tempest』. However, Lily didn’t care in the slightest. At that time, Lily was sure that she had nothing to control with it. [⁵]

Lily’s confidence was justified. But Mona didn’t aim for it in the first place. Immediately after, Lily, who tried to attack Aishi disregarding Mona, sense an abnormality. Lily frowned and lost her balance.

That was Mona’s true intention. With her head and right hand turned behind her, her center of gravity shifted. Mona, who was able to perceive that, broke her balance with just wind alone.

With her balance crumbled, the water cannon, of course, didn’t hit Aishi. Aishi took advantage of it and slashed with her sword.

「I won」

Aishi was convinced of her victory and Lily agreed with her.

Seeing the ice sword approaching her, she was sure of her defeat. In those circumstances, it was too late to cast a spell and dodging was impossible too. [⁶]

(It’s my loss…….)

She was prepared to lose.

(It’s not the end yet)
(Eh?)

At that time, she heard a voice in her head. Right after, the light wall appeared above her and repelled Aishi.

The yellow wall that appeared above her was, of course, Seiya’s『Wall of Light』.

(Finish it, Lily!)
(Thank you, Seiya-kun)

Lily, who was saved by Seiya, immediately recovered. At the same time, the light wall disappeared and Aishi lost her momentum and fell down.

She tried to correct her posture, but due to rebound of the light wall, she continued to fall down.

Aishi was falling down. Against such Aishi, Lily unleashed the finishing move.

「Sword of a water fairy『Nymph』」

She turned her body and lifted her palm towards Aishi. However, nothing came out from her hand. Aishi looked completely fine.

You can think that it was some kind of failure. However, soon enough, an abnormality occurred.

When Aishi landed on the ground and pointed her sword towards Lily, she suddenly collapsed.

「Aishi?」

Mona called Aishi, but the silence was her answer. Forget about an answer, she didn’t even move.

「What did you do to Aishi?」

Mona asked Lily.

She didn’t have any external wounds or other traces of receiving an attack. Lily’s last attack was supposed to be a failure. That being said, Aishi suddenly fell down and lost her consciousness.

Mona wasn’t able to comprehend this.

「Who knows」

However, Lily had no intention to answer, she had no such duty.

Actually, her previous attack was successful. It didn’t misfire and properly reached Aishi.

Certainly, there were no external injuries, but the same wasn’t true for the insides. That spell agitated the water that naturally existed inside the human body.

More than half of the human body is made from water. In other words, agitating the water inside of her was the same as shocking more than half of her body. [⁷]

Because of that, Aishi’s body malfunctioned and was in no condition to move.

「Instead of worrying about other people, you should worry about yourself more. You don’t have your little bullet-maker now」
「Keh…」

Lily initiated a new spell by gathering vast amounts of water behind her and forming a sphere. The water sphere rapidly expanded and revealed a giant dragon’s figure.

「Gedo-chan. This is the end」

Together with the water dragon, Gedo-chan, she attacked Mona.