Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~

Chapter 346.2: Withered Once ③

Haaaah.  (Serene)

I can't help but sigh. I feel like retiring. I am doing what I can.  I am always doing what I can.

And then, the presence of magical power swells explosively. They are going to unleash a big technique.

A battle between Magi is a battle of techniques. If they can't reach a conclusion by using small techniques, they will gradually move on to using bigger and bigger techniques.

Before I know it, silence has returned to the place.

When big techniques are used, a pause occurs. This is a pause between a big techniqueA brief moment of silence.

The Magic in the air undulates and becomes a torrent splitting to the left and right. A powerful Magi even controls the Magic that fills the world. The battle will probably be decided by the next move.

Naturally, I expect the scales to tip towards Finis, but Lucia's power is stronger than I expected. It is almost too strong. When I look over there, before I know it, animal ears and a tail have grown out of Lucia. I can sense from her tail an unusual Magic power. It is a power that far exceeds those of the Magic Beasts that roam the vicinity of the World Tree.

Lucia Roje is purifying the power flowing in like a murky stream within her body and converting it into her own Magic power.

I see Is that her trump card? However, no matter how much Magic power she has, there is a limit to how powerful a technique a human being can handle.

I don't think she can surpass the power of the Guardian Spirit. I know best about Finis's power.

Once again, I sigh deeply and check each of their cards.

Apparently, it seems that Lucia Roje is planning to borrow the power of her Spirit and intercept the attack with a tornado Magic. It is probably a Magic she is good at. The offensive Magic she had been releasing up until now was by no means unpolished, but the technique she is about to release now has no stagnation and no waste in its construction at all. It seems that everything from the scale of the vortex that makes up the tornado to the direction in which it flows is specified in great detail. She has fully mastered the power of the Water Spirit.

On the other hand, the Phantom seems to emphasize power. Finis' depletion power mainly targets a wide range of areas and has the weakness of being unsuitable for pinpoint targeting the enemy. However, the Phantom Magi seems to have dealt with the problem by converging its powers.

Spirits are a threat enough on their own, but when used by a Magi, they can be even more powerful. With the Spirit in charge of power and the Magi in charge of control, it is possible to activate precise techniques with enormous power.

A jet-black spear made up of countless depletion powers is aimed at Lucia and the Members of Starlight (Hoshi no Serai). Offensive Magic that creates arrows and spears is common, but it is only by using Finis that they can create a spear with its power. The power of depletion sucks out life and brings demise to all things. How well will Lucia be able to resist the converging force of destruction?

And, right now, what can I do?ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ (ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt

An immense amount of Magic power and strength is waiting to be unleashed. I press my head to my knees and close my eyes for a few seconds, then I raise my head in determination and scream as loudly as I can right now.

Finis Come to your senses. This Princess of Yggdra will not allow any further attacks. (Serene)

The voice that comes out is surprisingly quiet, even for me. I am sure my other self is whispering to me that all my nervousness has been overwritten by comfort. If you can't feel the threat, you won't have the will to fight against it. My thoughts are calm now, but I have lost the passion to take action.

That human is probably also disappointed in me right now. As a result of becoming comfortable and calm, I have given up on everything. My help to Lucia can even be removed as a margin of error because I can only raise such an unmotivated voice.

No matter how quiet it is right now, there is no way anyone would stop after hearing a small voice like this. As I lower my head and sigh, I suddenly feel a gaze on me.

I look up. Lucia standing off from a distance and Finis floating in the air. The tornado of water that appeared in front of Lucia's eyes quickly increases in size, and behind the Phantom, countless long black spears are created by compressing Finis' power, waiting for the moment to be fired.

There is no disruption in this standoff. In such a tense situation which could be decided in a few dozen seconds, the person watching meIs neither Lucia nor Finis.

It is the Phantom. Right under Finis. The Phantom Magi wearing a mask is staring at me.

In order to use powerful Magic, precise manipulation of Magic power is essentialFocus is essential. This is the same for Humans, Spirit People, and Phantoms. A Magi's fighting abilities are greatly influenced by the conditions of the moment. Therefore, top-class Magi always keep their mind unified in order to control their techniques under the best conditions possible.

However, the Magic power of the Phantom, which has not shown any emotion until just now, is now clearly disturbed. I don't know what caused it. There are no eyes in the mask, but I feel like our gazes met. There is no killing intent. What is there isAstonishment.

And that is too big of an opening.

A slight disturbance in the Magic power would not stop the technique. However, Lucia Roje is not sweet enough to overlook the opening that occurred.

The construction of the technique must have been practiced many times. With near-perfect control, the Magic that borrows the power of the Water Spirit is released.

Hailstorm River!! (Lucia)

The torrent is unleashed. The collected water suddenly increases its mass at once, and the flowing water absorbs sunlight and *kirakira* sparkles. There were no unnecessary sounds. Contrary to its scale, the tornado, composed of water rotating at high speed, has no waste whatsoever and is surprisingly quiet as it approaches the Phantom.

Therein lies the ultimate technique called Hailstorm. A huge amount of Magic power is contained in every drop of water. The flow of that power is controlled by the caster to an unnecessary perfection. The extremely refined technique is stable and keeps all beings at bay. If you touch it, you will not even be able to resist, and you will be caught in the water current and torn to pieces.

The Phantom Magi fires its Magic against the approaching Hailstorm. However, the lackluster spears filled with depletion fired during the Phantom turmoil were fired with enough speed.

The top-class Guardian SpiritFinis' power is still alive and well even though it has lost its reason. Its power of depletion erodes all beings and brings destruction. The power that was rarely used because it had too great an impact on the surrounding nature is now given the form of countless spears that pierce the shining tornado. Maybe because of its turmoil, its control is quite lax, but there is no way it can miss the huge tornado that is approaching.

The tornado hit by the spears turns black. The power of depletion is effective even against spells. No matter how powerful and stable a spell is, it cannot withstand that power for long. Receiving the attack is not even permitted.

From the beginning, it is impossible to deal with Finis.

Just as I am frowning, Lucia waves her staff and roars.

I knooow! If I can't take iiit! I just need to return iiiiit!! (Lucia)

!? (Serene)

Countless spears pierce and erode the tornado. Inside the tornado, everything is twisted and reversed by the flow of water. The reversed spears are ejected from the tornado with the same momentum.

There, I finally understand why Lucia's Hailstorm has to be under perfect control.

In the first place, if all you want to do is destroy the target with a tornado, you don't need such perfect control. Rather, it would be better to allocate the resources devoted to the control to destructive power.

The spears, driven out by a precisely controlled stream of water, are shot towards the Phantom.

My heart beat hard once. It is a shock that overwrites the comfort that the Relic provided. A water stream created by her manipulation of Magic. The hailstorm which is released after calculating the angle, speed, and power of the Phantom's spear is definitely one of the top five spells in my long life. It is now something like an art.

Still, maybe if the Phantom's Magic had been perfect, it might have been able to avoid the flow of water and might have been able to avoid being bounced back. However, it has already lost the control of the spears of depletion.

More than ten jet-black spears are fired and accurately pierce the Phantom Magi and Finis, who is floating behind it. There is no sound. Those spears bring more than just destruction. A strong body and a powerful barrier are meaningless in front of it.

The world trembles. Is it Finis' scream? Its body suddenly shrinks and disappears. A crack appears in the body of the Phantom that is hit by the spears. The cracks expand with each thrust from the spears and even go as far as the mask that covers its face.

The Phantom collapses. The power hidden within its body suddenly diminishes, and its mask bursts open.

She won? Even though she took advantage of the opponent's turmoil, I never thought that a human would be able to defeat a Magi who is strong enough to use Finis.

Liz, who is watching nearby, whistles.

Fuuu, Lucia-chan, not bad! (Liz)

Haaah, haaah It, hasn't disappeared yet! (Lucia)

A Phantom made of Mana Materials will disappear if it takes enough damage to the point where it can't maintain its existence. Because the Mana Materials is so dense in this area, it often takes a while for it to disappear, but this shows that even if it seems like the final blow has been struck, you can't let your guard down.

Finis also disappeared, but it shouldn't have been wiped out yet.

It's okay, it was perfect. If you want I'll finish it off! (Liz)

Liz *kururi* spins the stick of Anti-Mana metal in her palm, rushes out, and easily grabs the collapsed body of the Phantom with one hand and lifts it. Then, her eyes *pachipachi* blink as she looks at the Phantom face.

Huh? This Phantom Isn't a Phantom? (Liz)

The mask shatters. At the sight of the face that has been revealed, I forget my comfort and freeze.

Clear white skin and clear eyes. Honey-colored hair that looks like it has absorbed the sunlight. The somewhat strong-willed appearance belonged to a companion whom I knew very well, someone who went to challenge the Treasure Shrine with Finis.

Thanks for reading! Nani!? The Phantom is not a Phantom!? Is it also thanks to Infinite Variety's divine strategy!? Sasuga, Cry! He can even transform Phantom into a Spirit People.

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