Two more days passed.

The group repeated the same routine as a hamster wheel.

Waiting at the enemy’s expected movement route.

Firing prepared magic and escaping through teleportation.

Then waiting again at the movement route.

Waiting for magical power to recover, and when the enemy appears, firing magic and moving again.

They repeated this pattern for two whole days.

As a result, they were able to reduce quite a number of undead.

“If we do well, we might finish this without lifting a finger.”

Choi Hyun-seok smiled with satisfaction.

After getting good rest for the first time in a while, his condition improved, and the operation was going smoothly – it couldn’t be better.

However, Park Hyun-a seemed to think differently.

“This won’t do…”

She muttered with a serious expression.

“Is there a problem?”

“The enemy Lich. Their skill in handling magical energy is improving over time.”

Sara Dunphy who became a Lich.

She showed exceptional abilities from their first encounter.

She easily blocked Abelson’s holy power and destroyed Park Hyun-a’s magic in unexpected ways.

Park Hyun-a naturally thought Sara Dunphy had finished adapting to magical energy.

However, that was a misconception.

Sara Dunphy hadn’t fully adapted to magical energy yet.

The evidence was her skills improved with each encounter.

Her defensive magic became more precise.

Breaking through our attack magic became much cleaner too.

Now even when using the same magic, it only dealt less than half the damage compared to the beginning.

“Shit! We tried to be fancy taking out the small fry and ended up leveling up the boss instead.”

Park Hyun-a bit her lip hard.

Since surpassing 550 in magic ability, she had never been pushed back by magic.

This excludes Hemis, who was a monster outside normal standards.

Whether the opponent was human or demon.

She was confident in magical combat.

But at this moment.

Park Hyun-a met a worthy opponent after a long time.

No, to be honest, she was a bit scared.

How strong would Sara Dunphy become?

If she completely finishes adapting to demonic energy… Would another monster like Hemis be born?

She thought that when that time came, they might truly be unable to stop her.

“Older sister, what should we do?”

“Hit her with a big one. Something she can’t respond to even if she knows it’s coming.”

Park Hyun-a’s eyes filled with killing intent.

“Those skeletons… I’ll completely destroy them.”

***

“This time, position selection is especially important.”

Park Hyun-a carefully examined the terrain from the sky.

A place not too far from the enemy’s predicted movement route, where the enemy would definitely be within sight.

At the same time, it needed to be somewhere they could hide from the enemy.

The last part was particularly important because after repeated ambushes, the enemy started properly utilizing scouts.

If they were discovered by scouts, they might have to flee without using the magic they had prepared.

“Let’s see…”

As the desert area was ending and green plains started appearing, she examined the terrain as thoroughly as possible.

“That spot should work.”

Finally deciding on a location, Park Hyun-a moved with the group.

“Hey. Sorry.”

During the move, Park Hyun-a suddenly apologized casually.

Choi Hyun-seok blinked his eyes in confusion.

“Huh? What are you sorry for?”

“For the past two days, you’ve just been following around like a puppy. Originally, I wanted to help you gain experience and level up.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it! Hahaha!”

Choi Hyun-seok was really fine with it.

No, he actually preferred it.

‘Sometimes you need relaxing times like this.’

He had been stuck in Inessimot fighting magical beasts for over a month.

Honestly, his mind and body were deteriorating and he was on the verge of going crazy.

Then getting to breathe fresh air like this and walking around with Abelson felt like being on vacation.

‘Watching magic is quite entertaining too.’

With Park Hyun-a and Abelson firing large-scale area magic freely, it was fun to watch.

The only thing missing was popcorn and cola.

“Phew, shall we start here.”

After arriving at their destination, Park Hyun-a began preparations in earnest.

First was drawing the basic magic circle.

“Here like this…”

Demonic energy intertwined complexly in the air, creating strange patterns.

Watching this, Choi Hyun-seok suddenly felt curious.

“Older sister, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you use magic circles?”

He had seen Park Hyun-a draw magic circles several times but hadn’t heard about their utility.

“Does it increase power?”

“That’s not wrong. The power does increase. Though in this environment, 5% would be the limit.”

Park Hyun-a continued explaining while drawing the magic circle.

“The real reason for using magic circles is stability.”

“Stability?”

“There’s a limit to how much magical power can be used in one spell. Usually, 5-10% of total magical power is used. Depending on talent, some can use up to 30%.”

“Nothing above that is possible?”

“Yeah, it causes overload. You use fighting techniques too, so you should know, right? If you pour too much magical power into one fighting technique, there’s backlash.”

“That’s right.”

For Choi Hyun-seok, this was an everyday experience.

Since he always pours magical power and demonic energy like crazy into each fighting technique, his body creaks every time he uses it.

Now he’s gotten used to it, but at first, it felt like he was going to die.

When he shared this, Park Hyun-a smirked.

“That’s because you’re unusual. Normally, you can’t fight like that.”

“Why not?”

“Remember what I said before about fighting techniques processing magical power in the body’s magic vessels?”

Fighting technique processes magical power inside the body, while magic processes it outside the body.

That was roughly the explanation he remembered.

Park Hyun-a continued explaining.

“Of course, the conditions are more demanding. The backlash when exceeding the limit is more severe too.”

“…”

“Usually fighting techniques use 2-3% of total magical power. Using 10% is amazing, and 15% means extraordinary talent and effort.”

“The numbers are much lower compared to magic.”

“Like I said, it’s because fighting technique processes internally. It can’t be helped.”

Park Hyun-a looked at Choi Hyun-seok’s body while speaking.

“Your body should have exploded and died long ago. Using half your magical power in one fighting technique? That’s impossible. Even those who brag about being legendary probably struggle to breathe past 25%. Even I’m limited to about 20% with fighting technique.”

Choi Hyun-seok fell into thought at Park Hyun-a’s words.

‘Certainly… I wasn’t like this from the start.’

When he first learned fighting techniques, he couldn’t even use 20% of his total magical power.

Even that felt like his whole body would break.

After using the fighting technique once, he had to rest for a while.

Sometimes he would even faint for days.

But how about now?

20% just makes his body a little tired.

It takes about 30% use to get proper backlash.

He even poured in nearly 50% of both magical power and demonic energy last time.

“Hmm… Is this also because of my SSS-grade potential?”

Park Hyun-a shook her head.

“It’s not just a matter of potential. I was planning to properly investigate your body after this is over anyway, so wait until then.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, we got sidetracked, but do you understand why magic circles are needed?”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded.

“Yes. Using them lets you put in more magical power at once, right?”

“Right. Magic gets stronger the more magical power you put in. 50,000 and 100,000 magical power – it’s double in amount but the power difference is more than quadruple. The more magical power you can put in at once, the better the efficiency.”

Finally completing the magic circle, Park Hyun-a stretched.

“Phew! It’s done.”

The magic circle she completed after over two hours of concentration gleamed brilliantly.

“This time I’m going with a really big one. I might be a bit dizzy after using it, so stay alert.”

“Does it matter? We’re teleporting away right after firing anyway.”

“Kid. There are always what-ifs. You never know what might happen on the battlefield.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Anyway, if something happens, you’ll need to step up, so warm up.”

“Yes.”

A moment later.

The undead army began appearing in the distance.

Park Hyun-a calmly waited for them to reach the desired position.

‘Now.’

When they were crossing the plains.

Park Hyun-a activated the magic circle.

“Huff…”

Park Hyun-a usually doesn’t show much tension in any situation.

However, this time was different.

She regulated her breathing with serious eyes and slowly released magical power.

Woong…!

Bright light erupted from the magic circle.

The glowing magic circle greedily absorbed Park Hyun-a’s magical power.

Watching from the side, Choi Hyun-seok gulped.

‘How much is it consuming…’

Usually, Park Hyun-a’s magic preparation doesn’t exceed 3 minutes.

But for some reason, she had been casting for over 5 minutes now.

“Kugh…!”

Suddenly Park Hyun-a’s expression contorted.

“Are you alright!?”

When Choi Hyun-seok tried to approach, she held out her hand.

“I’m fine. They noticed and are trying to interfere…”

Park Hyun-a smiled fiercely.

“This level of interference is nothing!”

As she shouted, the magic was completed.

Arcane Magic

Lava Tsunami

The ground began to shake.

Choi Hyun-seok looked around with a confused expression while maintaining his balance.

“What, what is this?”

“Watch and see.”

As Park Hyun-a answered.

Choi Hyun-seok could see why the ground was shaking.

Crack-!

The ground split open.

“When a crack formed in the ground at the front of the undead line, it soon began to widen.

-Grooowl!

Countless undead fell into the massive fissure.

That alone was spectacular, but Park Hyun-a’s magic was just beginning.

Kwaaaaah!

Lava erupted from the widened crack.

Not just flowing out.

The erupting lava literally created a massive wave.

“What is that…”

A giant lava tsunami at least 10m high.

Choi Hyun-seok stared blankly at the sight, not realizing his mouth was hanging open.

Groooowl-!

The undead knows no fear.

Even with a wall of lava before them, they didn’t stop their advance.

Soon, the hell tsunami engulfed the dead.

***

“Ah… This is merciless violence. Truly masterful.”

Sara Dunphy spread both arms wide.

Before her approached a tsunami that would erase everything.

“Such violent magical power. I doubt if it’s really magical power at all.”

Moreover, this was magic whose power was reduced by her interference.

Yet she felt magical power too mighty to dare oppose.

“Your Majesty. First, you should avoid…”

“No. I cannot do that.”

Sara Dunphy stretched both hands forward.

“The situation is disadvantageous, true.”

This was a battlefield prepared by the enemy.

A prepared mage exhibits power far beyond their usual ability.

Plus she had to face it with the unfamiliar power of demonic energy.

Looking at the conditions, it couldn’t be worse.

“However, making excuses and running away is what the weak do.”

A deep smile appeared on Sara Dunphy’s lips.

“Let me ask you. Am I weak?”

“No. Please forgive my oversight.”

The supreme warrior Liam knelt.

Sara Dunphy drew up demonic energy without looking back.

The lava tsunami had already approached right before them.

“Go… My dragon.”

Sara chanted, and simultaneously the magic was complete.

9th Class Magic

Dragon Spirit

The demonic energy extending from her fingertips swelled in size and soon took the form of a dragon.

-Kraaaaaaah!

The dragon let out a massive roar and charged straight at the lava tsunami.

‘Rushing it means only half the original power but…’

Sara Dunphy smiled while suppressing the backflowing demonic energy.

‘It’s enough to make a path.’

The dragon didn’t stop.

It charged into the lava tsunami, devouring lava wherever it went.

As a result, a huge path opened up in a straight line before her.

Sara turned and spoke with a dignified expression.

“The enemy’s retreat is blocked.”

Before her stood the First Warrior Corps of the Vallington Kingdom’s founding contributors, including supreme warrior Liam.

“Go. It’s your turn.”

“We receive Your Majesty’s command!”

85 Hero-level undead.

Their red eyes glowing, they began running down the path through the lava.

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