LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 293.2
Chapter 293.2. The Fairy Queen
The Fairy Queen didn’t take the bait. Unfazed, she attacked again, causing the barrier to shake.
“Let’s have a bit of back-and-forth, shall we? My name is Amano Sakimori. I run a small company.”
Though I spoke playfully, I was thinking. I had heard about Titania beforehand, and I intended to compare the information I had with the current Titania’s words to find answers.
Shizuku had told me, “Titania possesses the [Fairy Queen] skill, which allows her to use the powers of all fairies at 70% of their strength.” The downside was obvious—her skills would be weaker. Degraded skills, especially fate-based ones, could backfire, making them unusable. And even if she could use others, they’d be weaker than the originals.
But among them, there was one skill Titania was particularly adept at, and it was a troublesome one: [Tir na nOg]. It allowed her to create a land in a subspace, completely cut off from the outside world. It was similar to Shizuku’s ability to warp space within a house, but the difference was that Titania could create an entirely new space.
Of course, maintaining it consumed mana. And since she needed mana for combat as well, she likely had about an hour before her mana ran out. I pretended not to know, though.
One question was answered. She had simply set up a new space at the elevator door. It wasn’t recognized as a trap—it was likely perceived as just a regular door. The timing was too perfect—had she used a degraded version of Shizuku’s luck ability?
If so, she must have thought this was her only chance to win. Using unusable skills? Quite the gambler, I must say.
I understood why I couldn’t send mental messages or detect the trap. I’d figure out the rest while fighting.
Knowing Titania’s next attack would be powerful as she gathered mana, I prepared my countermeasures.
[Leo Flash Claw]
[Force Core Magic Lance]
The dark barrier was easily pierced as the lion’s divine claws shot forward, charging at me. I flicked my index finger like a conductor, thrusting four magic lances forward as if to take down a cavalry charge.
My lances shot through the air like cannonballs, speeding toward the enemy. The lion seemed about to be impaled, but with a tap of its foot, it slid sideways, narrowly avoiding the attack while losing some fur.
The lion closed the distance in an instant, swinging its glowing claws at me.
[Core Dark Strings]
I raised both hands, and from my fingers, countless threads of nuclear darkness spread out like a net before Titania.
These threads, darker than anything that could absorb even light, were sharper than any famed sword. Just touching them would cut. I thought the lion would retreat, but I was wrong.
Before the dark threads could fully form into a net, the lion accelerated further, charging forward. Despite its fur being cut and its skin wounded by the threads, it didn’t stop.
“Tch, too shallow.”
The thread attack failed. The lion’s claws struck with pinpoint accuracy, slicing through my throat. Intense pain surged, and I felt my mana rapidly draining as I activated another spell.
[High Dark Mine]
I set magical mines at the lion’s landing spot. Six mines, impossible to avoid, were created to drag anything that touched them to hell.
Normally, one would hesitate, even for a moment, to figure out how to evade. But the lion charged straight into one of the mines, triggering an explosion.
Darkness stained the space. The lion’s body was cleanly carved away as if cut by cheese, but it used the recoil to kick off an air wall, creating distance.
As I smirked in admiration, I was blown to the ground again. A heavy impact ran through my body, but the sharpest pain came from my left arm.
The lion had taken me down. I quickly got up and looked at my left arm—it was gone from the elbow down. Blood gushed out like a broken faucet, pooling on the ground.
[Flames, burn.]
I held my right hand over the severed left arm, cauterizing it with fire. A sizzling sound followed as the wound turned black, stopping the bleeding. I grinned, amused.
“I see. Another question answered.”
“…You… don’t feel pain?”
For the first time, Titania seemed to engage in conversation, her voice tinged with surprise as she looked at me.
“Of course I do. Look at the sweat on my forehead. I’m just toughing it out.”
I raised a hand, answering theatrically while scanning my surroundings. It was an artificial savanna, an endless plain of grass. At first glance, there was nowhere to hide—just me and the lion in this space.
“But I’ve got my answer. The nature of the visible and invisible attacks. You strike the moment I exhale and close my eyes, huh? Not bad, quite clever.”
Excruciating pain flowed from my left arm to my head, urging me to let go of consciousness, but I endured. Losing my left arm had revealed the nature of the enemy’s attack. And by declaring I understood, the lion would likely stop using the same attack. After all, I might be leaving openings on purpose.
“Anyway, thanks for that.”
“Huh? Why are you thanking me?”
The lion and I circled each other clockwise, each looking for an opening as we spoke.
“Complacency and arrogance. I must’ve unconsciously thought this fight would be easy, with my partner always by my side and reliable companions around. But that’s not the case. You’re the Fairy Queen, a powerful opponent fighting alone. And you have the home-ground advantage.”
I took a deep breath, checking my remaining mana. 6,200 left. Still plenty to spare.
“Physically, I’ve grown stronger, but mentally, I’ve weakened. I’d started to think it was fine to fight from the rear as a mage. How naive.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’m saying I’ll fight like I used to. Back when I fought alone.”
I waved my right hand playfully, then sharpened my gaze as I addressed the lion.
[Refresh]
The lion used a healing spell, enveloped in a faint white light as most of its wounds healed. Its damaged skin and fur returned to normal, and the gouged flesh was restored.
“It’s a shame, but you have no chance of winning. No matter how many attacks you land, I can heal. And your inability to block fatal attacks was proven by that left arm of yours.”
“[Fairy Queen]. You can use all fairy skills, huh? [Subordinate Skill Sharing] is indeed cheat-level.”
I grinned, showing a hint of menace.
“But I’ll show you a trick or two. Let’s see how you like it.”
With that, our mana surged, and the battle resumed.