Before the beast could unleash its attack, Katerina raised her voice:
"Branches Fortress."
On each side of the square, multiple brown magic circles flared to life, from which an enormous wave of branches burst forth. In a matter of seconds, the vegetation wove itself together into a structure that resembled a castle, its walls made of tightly interlaced limbs and vines.
The fortress stretched across the entire square, encasing it completely to shield the remaining citizens inside.
Additionally, the magic extended beyond the square, forming branch-covered tunnels along the adjoining streets to provide safe escape routes for the people still within the square.
"Enchant Anti-Fire Barrier," Katerina added, enchanting the entire structure to render it flameproof.
Unfortunately, casting these two powerful spells consumed all of Katerina's concentration, anchoring her in place. Until she chose to deactivate the spells, she wouldn't be able to move or perform any other magic.
By this point, the chimera had finished charging its attack. From the creature's maw erupted a torrent of flame, aimed directly at the three figures on the balcony.
"Light Arrow," Lucas chanted, loosing a glowing arrow at the incoming flames.
The arrow sailed cleanly through the fire, striking the beast's shoulder, but it had no impact on the blaze itself, which continued roaring toward them unimpeded.
'Shit,' Lucas thought, realizing he didn't have time to either conjure a shield or dodge the hellish flames.
But just as the flames were about to engulf him, Aislyra leapt in front of him, raising her sword, Ice Burn. With one fluid motion, she sliced through the fire—and froze it solid.
No, it didn't turn to ice. It froze midair.
Right before his eyes, the raging flames were transformed into a glittering sculpture of crystalline frost.
"Your Majesty, are you all right?" Aislyra asked, a trace of concern in her voice.
"Yes, thanks to you, Aislyra. You saved me," Lucas replied, both relieved by her timely rescue and frustrated with himself. Just two days ago, he had resolved to protect her—and now she was the one saving him.
"Of course. That's my job," Aislyra said with a touch of pride. But then her expression grew serious.
"However, I can't eliminate that chimera on my own. I could try using Iceberg Sword, but that would obliterate Katerina's castle, risking killing the citizens inside it. Which means..." She turned toward Lucas. "You'll have to land the finishing blow, Lucas."
"What do you mean? Did you see what my Light Arrow did?!" Lucas protested. "Sure, it hit its shoulder, but it barely left a mark. None of the spells I've learned so far could even scratch that thing."
Before Aislyra could reply, a fireball shot toward them.
This time, Lucas had enough time.
"Light Shield!" he shouted, conjuring a glowing barrier in front of the balcony.
The fireball exploded against it. The shield held—but cracks spread rapidly across its surface, signaling it wouldn't survive another hit.
"That's not entirely true," Aislyra said with unwavering seriousness. "Do you remember when I told you that one of the reasons you might be able to defeat Artema is because of your immense mana reserves?"
Lucas nodded.
"That's because the power of a spell often scales with the amount of mana poured into it. Most spells have a limit, a cap to how much mana they can contain. When cast at full capacity, a spell's power can be ten times stronger than its base version. Without even realizing it, you've already been casting spells with more mana than standard—making them stronger."
She stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with confidence.
"So this time, I want you to fully charge a Light Arrow. Channel as much mana into it as the spell can take, and then fire it at the chimera. That way, you'll pierce through the beast without damaging anything else."
"Okay… but how long will it take to fully charge the spell?" Lucas asked, clearly anxious. He didn't want to repeat the mistake that had almost gotten himself killed.
"It depends on the spell, the caster's mana reserves, and their skill. My sister took six minutes to fully charge it when she first learned it. You have at least twice her mana, so you should manage it in half the time—around three minutes."
"Three minutes? There's no way that thing will just stand there and let me charge up for three minutes!" Lucas exclaimed, doubt creeping into his voice.
"Of course not," Aislyra said, flashing a confident smile.
"That's why I'll keep it busy until you're ready."
Just then, another fireball struck the Light Shield, which shattered into fragments of golden energy.
"So stop wasting time and start charging that arrow!" she shouted, and with that, leapt from the balcony straight toward the chimera.
Lucas's heart jumped. Was she trying to kill herself?!
But before he could even call out to her, Aislyra cast a spell mid-air:
"Ice Ground."
A shimmering square of floating ice formed beneath her feet, halting her descent and allowing her to stand in midair like a platform.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief—apparently, Aislyra hadn't just attempted suicide.
After a few more agile leaps across floating ice platforms created by herself, the elf found herself level with the chimera. She now stood on a larger platform, hovering in the air just across from the monstrous beast.
"Well then, let's begin, malformed monster," Aislyra said with a confident grin.
"I won't let you lay a single claw on my queen."
'She's doing her part. I can't afford to fall behind!' Lucas thought, summoning the glowing bow of light into his hands once again. He began focusing all the mana he could muster into a single, charged arrow.
Meanwhile, Aislyra and the chimera locked eyes, sizing each other up for a few tense seconds—
—and then the battle exploded into motion, faster than the eye could follow.
The beast's plasma-coated claws slashed at blinding speed, colliding against the enchanted edge of Aislyra's Ice Burn. Sparks of ice and energy flew with every clash.
In the span of a single second, over a hundred blows were exchanged—yet neither side managed to land a solid hit.
They finally broke away, creating distance between them, their breathing still calm but their eyes sharp.
'Damn, just as tough as I expected,' Aislyra thought, her gaze narrowing. 'Especially around the dragon scales. I had a clean shot at its neck, but Ice Burn just bounced off.'
But this didn't surprise her. She had known before the fight began that now she lacked the firepower to finish the chimera alone. Her goal wasn't to defeat it, but to stall—to keep its focus on her long enough for Lucas to prepare the final blow.
'Those claws... sharper than I imagined. If I weren't wielding Ice Burn, any regular sword would've snapped just from brushing them. And if one of those slashes lands would probably be fatal.'
She clenched her jaw. 'That shoulder wound from Lucas slowed it down, but even injured, it's extremely fast.'
The battle was proving even harder than expected, but retreat was not an option.
With a determined grin, Aislyra charged again, leaping toward the chimera.
What followed was a breathtaking flurry—hundreds, no, thousands—of lightning-fast exchanges, a chaotic storm of blades and claws. Each movement was precise, every attack executed with deadly intent.
After a full minute locked in this lethal dance, Aislyra finally spotted an opening. She slashed low, her greatsword biting into the beast's front leg. Instantly, a wave of frost burst from the wound, encasing half of the limb in solid ice, rendering it useless.
The chimera let out a deafening roar of pain and fury. Whipping its massive dragon tail, it struck Aislyra, hurling her across the sky.
Instinctively, she drove Ice Burn into the ice platform to keep from tumbling off into the void.
Snarling, the chimera ascended higher. Glowing red magic circles lit up across its body, flaring to life on its fur-covered torso.
Without warning, bolts of purple lightning surged outward in all directions, crackling through the air like vengeful spirits.
Aislyra dodged and twisted, doing her best to evade the magical barrage on the limited space provided by her floating platform.
But as she hesitated—considering whether to burn more mana to form another platform for better mobility—a single bolt struck her square in the side.
"Shit!" she cursed aloud.
The lightning wasn't overwhelmingly powerful—it barely scorched her—but it carried a paralytic charge.
In an instant, her limbs went numb, her movements slowed to a crawl.
The chimera didn't waste the opportunity it had created. With a burst of lightning-speed momentum, it dove down, aiming to slice through the elf with its remaining functioning front paw.
At the last possible moment, Aislyra shifted her body just enough to avoid being cleaved in half.
But she wasn't unscathed—the beast's claws tore through her waist, ripping away a portion of flesh. Fortunately, the searing heat emanating from the chimera's claws cauterized the wound instantly, stopping the bleeding.
"Aislyra!!!" Lucas cried out in horror, still focused on charging the bow of light, but shaken by what he had just seen.
For a brief second, he considered abandoning the plan and releasing the arrow prematurely.
But before he could act, Aislyra was back on her feet. The excruciating pain had burned away the lingering numbness from the earlier lightning strike. Without hesitation, she launched herself back into battle. She knew one thing with absolute certainty: she couldn't give the chimera even a second to prepare another spell.
Gritting her teeth, she let out a fierce scream, refusing to let pain slow her down.
A new, even more ferocious clash erupted. Blades met claws in a storm of force and fury, and neither fighter could do more than parry and deflect—each struggling to gain the upper hand.
Lucas felt a surge of relief seeing Aislyra still fighting with such intensity. But deep down, concern gripped him.
Yes, she was strong—incredibly so—but a wound like that couldn't simply be ignored.
He found himself on the verge of not to follow the plan and support her with the long-range spells he knew.
But then he looked at her.
He really looked.
Her eyes, burning with determination. Her unrelenting swings.
She had given him a mission. She was trusting him.
And he wouldn't fail her.
The third round of close combat between Aislyra and the chimera dragged on for nearly two full minutes. With each passing second, the pain in her side intensified—but so did her fury. Her strikes became even more aggressive, her movements sharper and faster.
By now, the chimera was fully on the defensive, unable to launch a single attack of its own.
But Aislyra knew this couldn't continue. She was reaching her limit—both mana and stamina were nearly depleted.
Still, she pressed on. Because she knew: the Light Arrow was almost ready.
Lucas could feel it too.
The arrow had grown massive, pulsing with radiant energy. Just a few more seconds... almost all of his focus now shifted to aiming.
Ten seconds left.
But so focused was he—so utterly consumed with preparing the finishing blow—that Lucas didn't notice the faint ripple in space behind him...
...nor the black portal quietly opening just behind his back...
...nor the masked assassin emerging silently from the void.