Volume 3 - CH 5.4

Radico was the key to winning this battle. Both Folio and Aur knew that perfectly well.

The details regarding the Skill Aur used to control her mind were still unknown, but at the very least it wasn’t something that turned her from Folio’s ally into her enemy, because she retained her sense of loyalty to her. But that was the exact reason why Aur could incorporate her into his strategy and use her as a shield if needed, because he knew that Folio wouldn’t stoop so low as to hurt her own followers.

Radico’s 『Silver Arm』 is a tricky Skill. If used properly, it can be a weapon of unparalleled strength capable of breaking through any kind of defenses.

「Radico, stand down.」

That is why Aur is keeping her away from the front. That is what Folio managed to deduce.

「But…」

「Trust me. I’m not going to kill your master.」

Aur smiled in a very fatherly fashion and stroked Radico’s head.

「I’m just going to incapacitate her a little, and then persuade her just like I did with you so that we could all get along together.」

「Okay!」

Radico went behind him with a happy smile. The corners of Folio’s lips rose a little in anticipation of what exactly he was planning to do.

She doesn’t know anything about the Skills he used on Radico, but at the very least they didn’t seem to be combat-oriented, but that was all she was certain of.

「Aur, open the damn wall!」

Sarnak yelled and jumped out of it. He must have decided that his 『Steel Shield』 could stop her 『Great Flame』. He was correct in assuming that.

Since he got out, it means that a hole has been made in the wall. She fired a fireball at it to see it will go through, but od course it was blocked by another wall that replaced the earlier one. Looks like it can be manipulated into more complicated forms as well, she thought to herself. Folio gritted her teeth, thinking that this was a truly cowardly Skill.

To went some of her annoyance, she turned towards Sarnak and fired a few projectiles at him.

「Such impudence!」

『Steel Shield』 is a powerful Skill indeed. Unlike it’s predecessor, 『Iron Shield』, it can even block the heat of the flames form harming its user.

「『Tool Bag』.」

「Nuooohhh!!!」

But it was not all that difficult to deal with. When Folio summoned a mysterious hole, Sarnak fell right into it.

There is no Skill that would allow to make holes in walls or floors and Folio never heard of something similar to it, except for that one Skill that Aur possessed. However, Skills that made holes in the fabric of space itself were actually quite commonplace. 『Tool Bag』 was one of them, creating a hole large enough for one person to fit into. Originally it was a Skill for carrying luggage, but nowadays she also used it like a type of barrier, trapping Sarnak inside of it. Although it has the drawback of not being able to be closed when something was being put into it, it is enough to temporarily neutralize the 『Steel Shield』.

The Skills belonging to the 「Shield』 category are all strong. However, that is why various studies have been conducted on how to deal with them and many ways to kill their users without actually hurting them were developed as a result. The thought that someone was so overconfident in it that he thought of himself as invincible and wanted to reach the upper layer with it was actually kinda cute.

As Folio was thinking that, her field of vision shook violently.

「Alright.」

Aur muttered to himself when he saw Folio’s body rolling on the ground after being hit with a club.

「Kh… ugh… how…?」

The attack must have succeeded in giving her a concussion. Folio tried to look up with her sight still all foggy from the impact, and saw Froro standing before her. She was the one who smashed her in the head. She must have used the tall Sarnak and Folio’s flames as a cover so that she wouldn’t see her approaching.

Folio’s flames are all capable of generating extremely high temperatures. Even if you were to block them with a wall you would end up burned by the steam, and getting hit directly would turn you into a pile of charcoal. In fact, just being near them would be enough to suffer some serious burns. In short: it was all about the temperature.

The thing is: powerful as her flames are, they are incomparably weaker than the ones used by the volcano Goddess Sakuya or the ones used by Rames, imbued with the power of the Sun God. When faced with those, Folio’s flames were only a little bit stronger than the ones used by ordinary magicians. Therefore, Aur’s usual fire resistance magic was enough to surpass them.

When Froro raised her club to deliver the second strike, Folio fired a lump of water at her. She shot it at the speed that absolutely wouldn’t kill anyone it came into contact with, most likely because she was still dizzy from that strike to the head. It flew way past Froro, so she didn’t even need to avoid it.

「No, Froro! Behind you!」

Taking notice of Aur’s warning, Froro looked back behind her.

「Sarnak!」

The lump of water was now filling the 『Tool Bag』 that Sarnak has fallen into. Bubbles began to rapidly rise to the water’s surface.

The 『Steel Shield』 negates any force coming into contact with its user, even the buoyancy of water. In other words, if the hole gets filled with water, Sarnak won’t be able to float and he will have no choice but to suffocate.

「Grab onto this!」

「Stop it, Froro!」

Ignoring Aur’s order, Froro inserts the club into the 『Tool Bag』. However, she was unable to pull Sarnak out. But because of the 『Steel Shield’s』 effect, he won’t even be able to pull himself up. Sarnak has no other choice but to climb out on his own. He cannot count on the water’s buoyancy, and he still has to deal with the weight of his wet clothes. Not to mention that it will be difficult for him to climb up a slippery club that didn’t even have a place to dig his nails into, just with Froro’s. Folio couldn’t miss such a chance.

「Froro, dodge!」

The flames emitted by Folio hit her directly and exploded. Even if the heat itself could be prevented with magic, it was impossible to do the same with the impact of the explosion.

「Now then…」

Folio stood up slowly, massaging her aching cheek.

「What are you going to do next?」

「This, for example.」

As soon as Aur said that, the floor at Folio’s feet began to move around her, creating a wall. Aur hasn’t moved much since the battle began, which gave him time to take control of this room. It took some time, but every surface of this room now belonged to him.

「You did exactly…」

She summoned small flames into both of her hands.

「…what I thought you’re going to do!」

She spread her wings wide, and flew near the ceiling.

「Mu….!」

Now Aur finally knew why would she needed wings in such a narrow place. While shooting the small, detonating flames without stopping, Folio continued to fly from surface to surface, gaining more and more speed as she did so. She was just like a bird flapping its wings, except she was doing it at lightning speed now.

That was another thing Aur’s Labyrinth Magic had difficulties with. He could manipulate the walls, floors and the ceiling with no problems, by he lacked the means of catching things that stayed in the air and moved at blinding speed at that.

Aur lifted his hands off the floor and run straight towards the 『Tool Bag』 where Sarnak was trapped. If only he could manipulate the wall inside of it, then maybe he could free him. Was that his aim here?

Folio thought for a moment but imidiately reconsidered. He has an invisible wall that he can freely manipulate, so there’s no need for him to create that wall. But then, if he was able to release Sarnak, that would be one hell of a nuisance to her.

Maybe that is what he originally aimed for? Folio’s location and Aur’s path were now separated by a wall protruding from the ground, but that doesn’t change the fact that Folio was still two meters above the ground. But if he aims to confine her…

Folio soared high and landed right in front of Aur, over his invisible wall.

「That was too dangerous! I won’t allow you to keep it up!」

She created huge balls of flames in both her hands and released them towards Aur. His invisible labyrinth blocked them, but he once again had to do it at a distance to avoid the effects of the accumulating heat.

In spite of that, Folio continued to shoot the flames towards him. If he had the Skill that could completely protect him against fire, then he wouldn’t have bothered with protecting himself with that stupid wall, so that has to mean that Folio’s flames are still valid against him.

「That flame of yours…」

Among the sound of the explosion, Aur’s voice echoed unpleasantly clearly. Was that some kinda skill as well? The one that she did not understand? Folio didn’t know what she should be wary off in the first place anymore.

「A powerful flame for attacking and low-powered flame for movement. But you cannot use both of them at the same time, right?」

It wasn’t like that. There was still one more thing she had to look out for. Folio immediately stopped using the 『Great Flame』 and tried to get away with 『Little Flame』, but her back crashed against the wall.

「I’m sorry to break it to you, but I can operate both the wall and the floor at the same time.」

「Yeah, yeah, and you putting your hands on the floor was just a bluff meant to mislead me.」

When he took his hands off the floor, Folio immediately rushed in to attack him, because she thought he won’t be able to fight back. The moment Folio did that, she already lost.

「The room you are in right now is pretty small, so don’t go using your flames recklessly, unless you want to destroy yourself with your own power.」

「Oh, you’re right. It is pretty small indeed.」

And with that, the battle has been decided. Folio relaxed her stiffened shoulders and causally touched the invisible wall. About two square meters at most, she deduced. If she tried to use her 『Great Flame』 in such an enclosed space, she would undoubtedly end up burning herself alive.

But this much should be enough.

「Now then, I would appreciate it if you could surrender peacefully without any unnecessary resistance.」

「Alright, alright, I won’t.」

Folio raised both her hands in a gesture of surrender.

「But I will.」

As soon as another voice said that, something jumped out from Folio’s bosom at tremendous speed, hitting the invisible wall stretched out by Aur like a thunder. Just the sound of the impact was ear-shattering, and when it was over, countless chunks of crushed stones filled the air around them.

「My, my…」

Bran emerged from the 『Tool Bag』 hidden in Folio’s pocket, hitting it with a loud crackle.

「Not breaking after a single blow, it is surprisingly sturdy.」

And then she hit it a second time, shattering Aur’s Dungeon Cube into tiny pieces.