NOVPUBTheo grabbed onto a floating box on the water’s surface and sat Aira down on top of it. It hurt his heart a little to pry her off when she whined and clung to him, unwilling to let go—but there was no helping it.
“Then let’s proceed as planned. Lady Elga will take the front. Miss Mirna, your role is support. And I’ll strike with a powerful spell.”
What he pictured in his mind was the classic trio: tank, support, and damage dealer. Their current party was quite well-balanced in terms of roles, enough to give a sense of stability.
If there was one thing to be concerned about, it would be Queen Aira, who could become an unpredictable variable. Once the battle began, things would grow unimaginably chaotic. He might not have the luxury to keep an eye on her.
Perhaps having read his thoughts, the blonde Nymph said:
“I’ll watch over her. You guys just focus on taking that monster down.”
It was hard to gauge this Nymph’s actual power level, but she was dependable in her own way.
Good, then. Let’s go all in from the start.
—Spell chant, begin.
From the center of his brain down through his fingertips and the ends of his limbs, Theo could feel mana boiling throughout his entire body. From this point on, his body was a living cannon, a turret for launching the explosive shell that was magic.
He began parallel-processing layers of complex spell structures and diverse incantations as fast as possible in his mind—
No. In the midst of trying to summon the biggest, most extravagant magic, he realized his mistake and quickly corrected course.
What he needed to summon was something simple.
More lethal.
More destructive.
Shave off all the unnecessary elements.
Focus solely on one thing: the act of killing the enemy.
“What terrifying magic... Even I’ve never seen mana this pure and concentrated.”
“I can see it too. Looks dangerous—”
He could hear Mirna’s and Elga’s voices at his side. Then Theo shut his eyes, severing all senses including vision, and delved deeper into his inner consciousness.
What he was constructing was a single-point breakthrough.
“Magic spear.”
—Gungnir!!!
With a fierce burst of mana tearing out from within his body, the spell shot forth like a bolt of lightning toward the spider.
Crash—! Crackle—!
However, the spell that should’ve landed squarely on target was blocked by something like an invisible wall. A magical defense? That monster could use that too?
Now that he looked, a barely-visible magical barrier was surrounding the spider. In this state, no attack would have penetrated it. But honestly, it didn’t matter.
This was his full-power, peak-condition effort.
He had fused three properties into one.
Fire.
Pierce.
Kill.
The spell Gungnir, born from weaving those three into a single, stripped-down form, was something that surpassed the concept of “defense” as the spider understood it.
Clang—!!!
The blazing magic shattered the spider’s thick magical barrier and pierced clean through its grotesque torso of bone.
━━━──!!!! 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The spider, still crouched, screamed with all eight of its faces—where eyes should have been. A horrifying cry, like thunder crashing down, made everyone flinch.
He’d meant to finish it in one blow.
Had the magic barrier dulled the spell’s power more than expected?
Regardless, it was clear that his magic had struck effectively. Of course it had—this was a Rank 7 spell, Gungnir, empowered through life-force sacrifice.
There was no way it wouldn’t land.
G’rrrrrrr!!!
The real problem was that the spider’s rage now spiked instantly to its peak. It raised one of its massive front legs, made entirely of bone.
Theo didn’t know much about spiders, but he could tell this wasn’t a mere display of intimidation.
That was when Elga drew a massive axe into the air and shouted:
“It’s coming!!! Brace for impact!!!”
The spider surged forward, slicing through the water with ten legs. The sharp ends of its front limbs came down like guillotines, aiming straight for Elga.
Clang! Kagang—!
The shriek of metal against metal rang through the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) air. When the spray of black water, sent flying like an explosion, finally calmed, Theo saw Elga standing there, crushed under the weight but still holding her axe high.
“Gh—shit, it’s damn heavy!!!”
She looked almost heroic, holding her ground. But with the monster having ten legs, it could easily aim for her sides or legs at any moment.
“Sir Theo! I’ll assist—get your next spell ready!”
At that moment, Mirna burst forth from the water. Yellow talismans flew from her hand and struck the spider’s body, sparking violently.
—Paralysis talismans!
Zap! Crackle!
━━Kr-r!!!
It seemed to have an effect—the spider let out a bizarre scream and backed off a few steps. At the same time, Elga sprang up like a spring and drove her axe into the center of the spider’s head.
—Dragon Slayer!
Ka-kang—!
Elga’s axe bounced off the spider’s rock-hard carapace with a resounding clang.
She was also flung backward from the rebound—but one of the spider’s front legs was severed and went tumbling across the floor, proving the attack had worked.
“Lady Lioness, ‘Dragon Slayer’? What a distasteful name for a technique!”
“Is this really the time to be nitpicking that!?”
Good. Elga and Mirna were fighting better than expected.
After all, the ones who once defeated the full-powered Ars Nova were their grandfathers—legendary heroes.
In a way, it made sense that their descendants would be able to hold their own against a grand arcane sorcery.
But there are always variables.
Complacency and arrogance are precursors to ruin.
Theo had to hurry and prepare the next spell.
The initial attack had drained a large chunk of his stamina and mana, but he had no time to complain.
Just as he was about to start crafting his next spell to support the women risking their lives at the front—
Rustle.
He felt someone tug lightly at his pants. Turning his head, he saw Aira staring at him, panting heavily.
“If you... defeat that thing... If you defeat it... something irreversible will happen...”
