The next day, Zich and his companions and Marilyn entered a nearby deserted forest. A heavy thicket of trees blocked the clear sky. If one viewed the area from above, they would only see green and no ground. Yet, a large hole formed in this ocean of green.

Crash! Another tree collapsed. Zich lifted the tree that fell over with one hand and threw it.

Thud! The tree landed on a pile of cut trees that his companions had already made. Zich stuck Windur upside down on the ground and looked around his surroundings. ‘This size is good enough.’

“I am done cutting trees now! Snoc! Pull out all the tree roots!”

“Yes!”

“I understand!” At Zich’s command, Hans stopped swinging Estellade and Snoc placed his hand on the ground. Ripples formed in the dirt like skipping stones making ripples in a lake.

Drrrr! The ground began to backflow where trees’ roots were firmly established. Like vapor rising from boiling water, the dirt started pushing outwards. Likewise, tree roots were pulled out of the earth, and Zich and Hans cast them to one side. Soon, a large vacant lot was created. Zich gestured with his hands—Hans, Snoc, and Elena moved away from the lot. Only Zich, Lyla, and Marilyn stood in the center.

“Are you both ready?”

“Yes!” Marilyn gripped her staff and shouted.

“Me too,” Lyla said.

“I’m sure you both know this, but the purpose of this duel is to test Marilyn’s skills. I hope both of you don’t go too overboard.”

“I understand, sir!” Marilyn answered loudly, and Lyla nodded.

“I will intervene if the situation looks like it’s getting too dangerous,” Zich said and turned around to back away. However, as if he had just suddenly thought of something, he turned back around and said, “Lyla.”

“Huh?”

“Go easy on her.”

“Okay,” she answered. No matter how amazing Marilyn was, she couldn’t be stronger than Lyla by any means. In addition, a curse caster tended to be weak in direct combat. Yet, Marilyn wanted to protest.

“Sir Zich, do you think I will lose?” She puffed out her cheek. “Even though Ms. Lyla is a hero and an amazing mage, I am also a worthy opponent!”

In situations like this, most people would have tried to make the other party’s mood better with comforting lines, but Zich was firm.

“Still, I’m sure Lyla is stronger than you,” he said. His belief seemed resolute, and a gust of wind blew around Lyla’s face. She tilted her head and wondered, ‘Why is my mood good again?’

In comparison, Marilyn’s cheeks were more puffed up than before. Nevertheless, Zich indifferently stomped to where his disciples were. Only Marilyn and Lyla remained in the center. Marilyn pouted her lips as if she was dissatisfied, but as if she wasn’t genuinely angry, she soon stretched out her hands to Lyla while smiling. “Hope we have a good fight.”

“Me too.” Lyla grabbed Marilyn’s hands.

Then, Marilyn added, “Like Sir Zich said, please go easy on me.”

“I thought that disgruntled you.”

“Although I am confident in my abilities, it’s not to the point that I lack self-awareness. Furthermore, it’s true that black mages are weak in head-to-head battles compared to traditional mages. I just wanted to joke a bit.” Marilyn smiled widely. She was truly a bright person, and Lyla couldn’t help but also smile.

“You must really like Zich.”

“Ehehe, although it hasn’t been long since I’ve seen him, I am already head-over-heels for him.”

Lyla was already aware of this, but for some reason, she couldn’t explain the reason why her smile faltered slightly.

“What about you, Ms. Lyla?”

“…Sorry?” Lyla asked.

As if she was sharing secrets, Marilyn lowered her voice and asked, “Do you love Sir Zich too, Ms. Lyla?” Marilyn looked serious. Lyla opened her mouth to deny it immediately. The word love didn’t fit at all in her relationship with Zich. He would also probably smirk and deny it immediately. But what was the reason? No words came out of her mouth.

In the meantime, Marilyn continued, “You guys share a special relationship with each other among everyone else. I couldn’t help but be conscious of it.” Perhaps, she had felt this way since Zich and Lyla shared many secrets such as the regression, Clowon, Glen Zenard, and so on.

“So, how do you feel?” Marilyn asked almost insistently. Lyla opened her mouth to answer when—

“Widen your distance!” Lyla heard Zich yell from the farthest corner of the lot. Lyla clasped her mouth shut.

“I will hear the answer later?” Marilyn winked sweetly and walked away like Zich told them to. Lyla stared at her for a moment before she began to widen the distance between them too. Then, with a good amount of space in front of them, they faced each other. Even if this was a light duel to test Marilyn’s skills, real magic would pass back and forth between them, and the two looked quite nervous. Then, Zich threw a rock. It flew between Lyla and Marilyn as they stared at it.

Thud! The rock landed on the floor, and Lyla and Marilyn simultaneously moved.

Pop! Lyla made the first move. A fireball the size of a fist shot up from the ends of her staff. Marilyn’s face looked stunned to see Lyla perform magic with no incantation or preparatory movements at such an exceedingly fast speed. She quickly moved her body away.

Crasssh! The fireball flew forward and collided against a tree. The tree broke in half and fell over. In the severed area, sparks burned up and scattered black ashes.

Pop! Pop! Pop! More fireballs shot up from Lyla’s staff. There were three of them this time. One of them was aimed at Marilyn while the other two flew in the direction where she would most likely escape to. Yet, Marilyn had completed her own spell. Black smoke formed around her surroundings.

Pswhhh! The flames that collided with the black smoke greatly decreased in size and completely disappeared. Lyla shot out a couple more fireballs. However, all it did was shake the black smoke and did not deal direct damage to Marilyn. At the same time, Marilyn began chanting another spell.

Whoosh! A green light passed through the black smoke and stretched out; this was Marilyn’s specialty. Lyla didn’t know what its specific effects were, but it was clear that getting hit by it wouldn’t be good. Lyla stretched out her thumb.

Crackle! A bright yellow light pierced the green light, and the flying green light disappeared without a trace.

“Ahh!” Lyla heard Marilyn’s shout from inside the black smoke. Marilyn hadn’t expected that her curse would be easily nullified by one shot of Lyla’s magic. However, Marilyn was also not an easy opponent. She was only startled for a moment and immediately began casting a new spell.

Flutter! Lyla heard thousands of thin pairs of wings flapping. Something that looked like another cloud of smoke came out from inside the black smoke. However, it was not smoke.

“They’re bugs.” Hans carefully assessed them. Elena stood next to him, and she flinched after Hans said that they were bugs.

Thousands of bugs flapped their wings with a bone-chilling sound and rushed towards Lyla. She frowned in disgust, but that was the extent of her emotion. There was no hesitation in her movements.

Crackle! Flames rose from beneath Lyla’s feet and crawled through the ground like a snake. The bugs’ bodies suddenly grew as the flames approached them.

Bang! A huge pillar of fire stretched throughout the entire space. The bright red flame stretched out its red tongue everywhere as if it was trying to consume everything in its surroundings.

Whoosh! Nothing remained except for black soot where the fire pillar disappeared. Of course, this was also true for the bugs.

“Tch!” Marilyn clicked her tongue. The black smoke surrounding her had become very faint due to Lyla’s continuous attacks. If a few more fireballs hit it, the remainder of it would completely disappear.

Marilyn began uttering spells again, and she took out a few small bottles from her pocket. Lyla stared at them with a keen eye.

‘They’re potions.’ They were not healing potions made in temples. They were probably potions containing all kinds of curses with terrible effects.

Caw! Lyla heard a loud bird cry from the sky. When she looked up, ten crows were spinning in the sky. One of them came flying down towards Marilyn.

Grab! The crow tightly grabbed onto the potion that Marilyn gave to it and began flying again. When Lyla was about to shoot a magic arrow toward the crow, a swarm of bugs began rushing toward her again. There were now five swarms of bugs.

“Now that we’ve warmed up, let’s officially get started!”

Lyla heard Marilyn’s voice from inside the black smoke. She slammed her staff on the ground and said with a level-headed voice, “As much as you want.”

Baaaaaam!

Flames began erupting from beneath Lyla’s feet. However, these flames were on a completely different level from when Lyla burned one swarm of bugs. The swarm of bugs quickly turned their trajectory to avoid the flames. However, the flames swept towards the bugs like an eagle chasing down its prey.

Crackle! The five swarms of bugs became a pile of ashes once again. However, Marilyn didn’t back down and called out more bugs. The crows began spinning above Lyla’s head. It seemed as if Marilyn had planned to spill the potion on her at the right time.

‘It’s a bit bothersome.’ Lyla was about to drop the crows when she felt her body suddenly become heavy.

‘Is it a curse?’ Her eyes moved towards the black smoke where Marilyn probably was.

“Weak curses can be cast even from a distance!”

Lyla could hear Marilyn’s triumphant voice from inside the black smoke. She noticed a few more things that had changed about her body. Her five senses declined, and the flow of mana in her body twisted. They were not serious problems, but considering that she was in the midst of battle, it was not something to take lightly either. Marilyn used this opportunity to go on the offensive.

Wiiiiing! The bugs rushed toward Lyla without any consideration for their bodies.

Driip! From above, the crows opened the potions with their mouths and dropped them.

Bam! Bam! Green light burst out of Marilyn’s black smoke. It also seemed as if Marilyn had decided to increase her defenses as the black smoke grew even bigger in size and approached Lyla. Lyla might be injured by this attack. Hans and Snoc watched the battle anxiously, and Elena tightly clutched her two hands. Only Zich was indifferent to this sight.

Lyla moved her mouth for the first time to say a spell. In an instant, she was able to utter a spell at an incredibly fast speed.

Crassssssssh! It was an explosion of flames. The large pillar of flame centered around Lyla literally evaporated the falling potions and crows circling over her head. The bugs were also swallowed up by the bright red flames, and curses of light were not able to pierce through the flames. When the pillar of flame disappeared, the only thing left was Marilyn’s black smoke.

“Hyaaaaat!” Marilyn suddenly burst out of the black smoke. She raised her staff high up and launched a self-propelled charge. In a way, it was a great ambush that utilized the black smoke she had expanded to launch her previous attack. If her opponent had been an ordinary mage, this type of attack might have worked.

However, her opponent was Lyla.

Tap! Lyla smacked the staff away with one smooth motion and grabbed onto Marilyn’s collar.

“Huh? What?” Lyla’s hand dragged Marilyn. Unable to properly retaliate, Marilyn was thrown to the ground.

“Ack!” Tears started streaming out of her eyes from the pain that shot up from her back. When Marilyn managed to open her eyes, Lyla’s staff was pointed right at her.

“I won, didn’t I?” Lyla calmly declared her victory.