Chapter 413: Despair
It was only a single second.
That was all Millicent had to sacrifice...
Just one second .. to save Ser Alon.
But despite acting with swift precision, tapping into her stellar magic ..
That single second was all Beatrice needed to completely overpower her, ending their domain battle in a decisive, brutal instant.
"It’s over, human witch.
My magic no longer permits your existence here."
Beatrice smiled coldly, just as a bluish aura flared around both Millicent and Ser Alon.
They were about to be teleported away.
And once it happened, they wouldn’t be able to return .. Not even if Ser Alon flew back at the speed of light.
Beatrice had already sealed the area with her spell.
What she was about to do...
Would mark the beginning of the end.
"I think I’ll leave that pretty little gate you bothered creating.
It’ll serve us nicely as a backdoor into the Empire ..AHAHAHA!"
She laughed wildly, watching as the Ultras seized the momentum once more, gaining the upper hand over the Empire.
Now, the Iron Emperor and Millicent were seconds away from being forcibly removed from the battlefield.
Ser Alon understood this perfectly.
So, one last time...
Before he was taken away...
The Iron Emperor unleashed a final attack on those who had overwhelmed him.
"Ultimate Sword!"
Gathering every last drop of his aura, pouring his soul into this final blow ..
Ser Alon decided to strike with full force, even if it worsened his injuries.
Forcing his body beyond its limits, in less than a second ..
He unleashed four blindingly fast slashes in four separate directions.
"Cage of Light!"
Massive streams of radiant aura surged toward the four Ultras elites ..
Beatrice, Dragoth, Mergo, and Gavide Lindman ..
Forming a colossal prism of light that enclosed them all.
He had poured everything into this technique, shaping a field that sealed them within.
And then, without warning ..
Light engulfed Ser Alon and transported him away.
He could no longer remain on this battlefield.
"I leave the rest... to you, Millicent."
Seeing him vanish ..
Millicent nodded, her body glowing once more with stellar magic as she forcefully reactivated her spell.
The celestial energy negated Beatrice’s domain, preventing her from expelling Millicent as well .. Granting her a little more time on the battlefield.
Without delay, she shot forward with blinding speed, heading toward Frey and the others.
She knew she didn’t have long.
After losing the domain battle to Beatrice, Millicent had become severely limited ..
Now trapped inside the enemy’s territory, her magic was heavily constrained.
So, capitalizing on Ser Alon’s final attack ..
The Crimson Witch aimed to evacuate the elite class as quickly as possible and escape the area.
Ser Alon’s Cage of Light wouldn’t hold for more than a few minutes ..
Even with all his power poured into it.
But those few minutes...
Should be enough.
Or so she thought.
Because even that final move had been foreseen by the demonic witch.
Without warning, a devastating beam of black aura crashed down on Millicent mid-flight.
Barely managing to evade it, she was stunned to see Beatrice standing freely in the sky above ..
Wearing the same calm smile as always.
"You broke free of Ser Alon’s prison that fast?!"
Unable to comprehend it, Millicent turned toward the Cage of Light .. Only to see Beatrice still inside it.
And yet here she was, hovering in front of her, unbound.
"A clone?"
"Aren’t you a witch yourself?
You should know better than anyone what we do."
Dark aura gathered around Beatrice’s arms, ready to strike again.
"Always make your enemy believe exactly what you want them to believe."
Beatrice unleashed another barrage of devastating aura beams, relentlessly pursuing Millicent and driving her away from the battlefield.
"How can you call yourself a witch when all your tricks are so painfully obvious?!"
Beatrice’s onslaught continued, while Millicent used her stellar magic to accelerate herself and narrowly dodge each strike.
After observing her for a while, Beatrice had seen enough.
’She’s far beneath me in terms of magical ability.
That strange stellar magic is the only spell in her arsenal that can remotely keep up with me.’
Her smile widened further.
Victory was assured now ..
Especially as she noticed Millicent faltering, struggling to maintain her stellar acceleration for much longer.
"You’re finished, human witch."
Trapped inside Beatrice’s domain, the advantage was completely hers.
But Millicent wasn’t about to give up so easily.
Focusing her remaining magic ..
She slammed her foot into the air, her body flaring with a renewed, brighter stellar aura.
"Time Skip!"
Once more ..
Time froze.
Everything halted.
Millicent moved alone in a world of stillness, leaving behind countless afterimages as she surged forward ..
Closing the distance between her and Beatrice in a single breath.
"Stellar magic may be my strongest weapon... but it is not the only magic I possess!"
Gathering every ounce of her strength between her hands ..
Millicent conjured a crimson vortex, glowing with an intense scarlet aura.
Bringing it right before Beatrice’s body, the Crimson Witch unleashed her spell at point-blank range .. Aiming to end it all in a single blow.
Then ..without warning ..
The crimson vortex expanded violently, spinning at insane speeds until it swallowed Beatrice whole, shredding her body into pieces.
"Don’t underestimate this old witch, you damned demon!"
Using the Red Hole spell at point-blank range, Millicent managed to obliterate Beatrice completely.
Or so she thought ..
Until a rocket-like strike pierced her from behind, punching a bloody hole through her torso.
"Old witch? I’m far older than you, human."
Beatrice’s voice echoed behind her, as she emerged from thin air with a smile.
"You’re nothing but a pathetic amateur."
Grabbing her by the throat...
Beatrice lifted Millicent’s body high, charging her power for a final, merciless strike.
Millicent couldn’t even grasp what had just happened. Beatrice only laughed louder.
"I told you already...
True magic is about making your enemy believe exactly what you want them to believe."
From the beginning, even the second body Beatrice revealed had only been another clone ..
One crafted to perfectly mirror her presence, form, and aura.
The moment she witnessed Millicent’s time-skip spell, she had already calculated how to counter it.
She waited ..
Waited for the exact moment Millicent would rely on time magic again.
And when it came...
The demonic witch sprung her trap, reeling Millicent in like a fool.
"This... is the end."
Channeling her full power ...
Terror spread across Millicent’s face.
She understood now.
She had lost.
Completely overwhelmed by Beatrice ..
That terrifying demon had manipulated the battle from the very beginning.
There was nothing left to do.
Resigned to death, Millicent closed her eyes.
A faint, stellar glow flickered over her body one last time.
"I’m sorry..."
With those final words ..
She vanished from Beatrice’s grasp before the killing blow could land.
Beatrice paused, immediately realizing what had happened.
"Escaped, did you?
How pitiful."
...
...
...
Millicent reappeared on the far northern edge of the Empire ..
Collapsed on her knees atop the white snow.
Her breath trembled, her entire body drenched in sweat.
Nearby, Oliver Khan and the others were still fighting off incoming Ultras—too preoccupied to notice her.
But Ser Alon did.
"Millicent..."
The Iron Emperor called out, his face dark with emotion.
But the old witch wouldn’t even meet his gaze.
"I’m sorry..."
She had fled the battlefield ..
Preserving her life at the cost of abandoning the elite class behind enemy lines.
Now they would be left to die, alone, against enemies far stronger than themselves.
Witnessing this, rage flared in Ser Alon’s heart.
He despised those who fled the battlefield..
Especially comrades who left others to die.
Millicent, however, could only offer a broken apology... again and again.
In the end, Beatrice had simply been too much.
That demon still stood in the same spot she had before ..
Laughing maniacally, her voice rising with wild delight.
"Did you really think you could escape so easily?!"
A wicked laugh that made the very space around her tremble ..
Ser Alon’s eyes widened from across the world.
That dark glow on Millicent’s neck...
She hadn’t noticed it.
Back when Beatrice had grabbed her by the throat ..
She had planted something.
Now, after her escape ..
That very spot began to glow ominously.
Then, without warning.
Before Ser Alon could do a thing ..
Millicent’s throat erupted in a violent explosion, blood spraying across the pristine snow in a gruesome torrent.
Her neck torn apart ..her head nearly severed ..
The light vanished from Millicent’s eyes as she collapsed lifelessly, her body crumpling into her own blood.
At that moment ..
Ser Alon finally understood the true terror of their enemy.
Beatrice was truly terrifying. Turning her gaze back to the Elite Class...
The witch was ready to end it all ..
Now that the Old Order had been utterly crushed.