Chapter 127
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: 12th Floor - Lv. 917 Fairy Mage (2)
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The Fairy Mage's actions, setting up spells within the halted time, passed in an instant from the Girl's and her party's perspective.
The goddess, with the most experience, reacted first.
It's time magic. Probably [Time Stop]. Dodge for now!
It was meant only for the Girl. The others lacked the ability to respond.
The Hunter and the youngest were swallowed by a sudden explosion. The little mage nearby got caught up and sent flying as well.
The goddess sensed the consciousness of her three followers fading.
The Girl was under attack too.
Lightning erupted from thin air, surrounding and striking her.
Even as electrocution left her body unresponsive, her resilient flesh clung to consciousness.
Drawing on past experience, the Girl forcibly activated [Dash] to create distance.
As dangerous currents coursed through her, the fairy priestess robe she wore glowed with resisting magic.
Immediately after she escaped, flames and an explosion rocked the spot she'd just left.
A slight delay, and she'd be dead.
Her lightning-damaged nerves recovered thanks to the Healing Potion she'd held in her mouth beforehand and already swallowed.
The moment they'd sensed the Fairy Mage's presence, all party members had downed their potions. A solid response.
As her body healed, control returned in a flash.
The Fairy Mage watched from a short distance away, sneering.
That priestess robe is a fine piece. But it looks like its durability's shot now.
It was true. The magic was gone, leaving it as ordinary cloth scraps.
It no longer functioned as armor and was too torn to even serve as clothing.
Perverted old geezer!
Heh heh, nothing much to see anyway.
The truth only fueled her anger.
But the Girl stayed calm.
Her foe was showing leisure. Something to interpret positively.
Even amid their exchange, the goddess assessed the situation and offered a solution.
Her casting is incredibly fast. Likely a skill-based [Time Stop]. At mid-range, you're dead. Stay far or get very close.
The Girl grasped it instantly and closed the distance again.
She charged before her mana could even stir. Leisure bred carelessness.
Stacked [Dash]es turned the Girl into a streak of light.
Thrust before the spell completed!
It missed. The Fairy Mage vanished once more.
Behind you.
The goddess whispered. The Girl spun with near-spinal-reflex precision, unleashing a back kick on instinct.
Her strength and reflexes, superior to any wild beast, made it possible.
A bursting thud echoed, followed by flames. A horrific heat scorched her from within.
Her whole body felt like it was cooking, but the Healing Potion's effects hadn't worn off yet.
After a near-death brush, the Girl revived.
Before her, the Fairy Mage grimaced in dismay.
One arm had burst apart.
A wild swing, but enough to shred the unenhanced flesh of a mage.
She's out of spare lives now. Still, that mage isn't instant-cast. Not at your leader's level. You have time to react. Treat every disappearance as an incoming attack. Delay's about 0.1 seconds. You can dodge that, right?
Pre-Labyrinth Girl couldn't have. But she'd taken countless strikes at that speed—or faster—from sparring with Uncle.
The Girl nodded.
Tension coiled her muscles tight.
A faint tremor felt thrilling.
Ah, but I can't die.
Still... this is fun.
If I win, Uncle will praise me, right?
What should I ask for?
The Fairy Mage gestured lightly again. Not [Time Stop].
Brain lightning.
The Girl dodged. Flames, frost, and elemental spells rained down relentlessly.
Near-zero-delay magic barrage, yet it couldn't tag the Girl, nimbler than any beast.
Spells were swift, but the caster's aim couldn't keep up.
A flash of light. She dodged, but it homed in.
These had weak power.
She braced to tank with her body, then hesitated.
No armor.
She slashed it away with her sword.
A [Magic Missile] with physical impact. Her palm stung slightly.
More brain lightning followed.
And a mark embedded in the Girl's body.
Homing brain lightning.
But she timed her slash perfectly.
Experience alone couldn't fully read it.
But the goddess watched and guided.
A warrior who'd reached the divine throne knew mage counters best.
The Fairy Mage realized toppling her foe without [Time Stop] bordered on impossible.
Spells and Girl halted.
A brief breather amid the flurry.
Short clash, no hits landed—parallel lines.
Both knew this fight wouldn't be easy.
The Girl as an angel was undeniably powerful. Exactly as I'd anticipated—exceeding my expectations, even.
No blood left to regenerate my bat form.
The [Blood Reservoir] I'd filled on Floor 7 was empty.
Without more blood soon, my life hung by a thread.
Hey! Don't reach out!
Ah, aaah, it was just so cute, I couldn't help it.
Her touch, brimming with divinity, would be fatal to me now.
The old man staggered up, gaping at the Girl.
Oh, you're unrecognizable.
I grew a lot, huh? Hehe.
No, that's not what I meant.
Whatever the old man said, the angel Girl proudly spread her arms and spun.
Indeed, taller now, baby fat gone from her face—more mature overall.
She knew it and showed it off like a child, but her appearance finally screamed twenties.
This was a big problem. Not just a day or two passed. She'd grown well... too well.
Hold on, how much more time passed? In that future, how many extra days to reach the Temple of Time?
Unavoidable circumstances added about three months.
Bitter taste. How much time had I wasted? Not my intention.
Did you call in every federation ally and it still took that long?
Yeah, couldn't be helped.
Headache incoming.
Then I'll go catch that lich!
The angel Girl spoke like she'd bolt any second, then rose very slowly.
She hesitated, glancing back wistfully, then flew off.
I flapped my wings to wave. She vanished, satisfied.
Flying away, but not seeming fast.
Bats have poor eyesight anyway.
I took flight too, echolocating to scout. Obviously, the Angel of Time used [Time Stop] to save us.
This spot—designated by future me?—was near the tower.
The kid was out cold, mana drained and shattered from her axis-formed grand spell's backlash.
Best to leave her be.
Proboy writhed, divine aura scorching him thickly.
The shaman old man drew out divinity to save the poor vampire.
Huff huff, what the hell... no, what is going on?
The all-encompassing light stunned him. And as a vampire, it grated.
Right now, I was barely clinging to life myself.
Sucking Proboy's blood would help, but vampire-on-vampire rarely ends well.
I needed blood, and no humans here.
So, head where humans are.
We should join the Exile rescue effort.
I flew to the old man's shoulder and perched. Stuck as a flying mammal until blood restored my body.
Th-that was my first time seeing an angel. Can she really beat that lich?
Come to think of it, he missed the fake angel on Floor 7—not in the party then.
Matchup's rigged-perfect advantage. Angels resist magic; liches weak to physical. Even vulnerable to divinity and light.
If I were Sharkma? Near-zero odds.
Absolute worst matchup. No path to victory.
But an ancient lich would have escape holes prepped.
Like the abundance of stairs—and Exiles—here.
If an army came, he could get swept away anytime.
Leading Exiles to the next floor? Transcends space-time as escape.
Sharkma saw the light approaching.
Dazzling radiance, blazing divinity.
Years of research told him: [Divine Wrath], angels' racial skill.
Enrobes the body in flames devastating to impure darkness-aligned beings.
The blinding white blaze resembled aurora more than fire.
No time to admire.
He was the impure one it'd incinerate.
First, he shifted LFV.
Teleported to a hidden lair via preset spell. Would be found eventually, but bought time.
Enough to hold the angel while he escaped.
Even pulverized by heavenly punishment or divine flames, intact LFV meant the lich endured.
Light converged.
Not illuminating darkness.
Jet-black darkness emitted light.
Call it blacklight—darkness element manifested.
Not mere light's absence, but elemental darkness ironically luminous.
Like that Exile's odd darkness, or the city's now-tangible light.
Light and dark: two sides of the same coin.
Thus, mutually lethal.
Before the lich's outstretched palm, pitch-black magic circles arrayed.
Dozens in a line stacked cylindrically—like a barrel muzzle.
Spell activated; black beam lanced out.
Soundless darkness barrage: less lethal magic, more artist's brushstroke on void.
Maybe not "beam"—devouring emptiness, tracing countless void lines.
The angel evaded mid-flight, inertia-free, uncanny motion.
But more darkness gathered behind the lich.
Dozens, hundreds of dark strands extended.
Embroidered lines densified into pouring blackness.
Rain of darkness devoured the light-filled city.
Shadows rippled, welcoming the gloom.
The angel wove through beams at speeds even the lich's magic sight struggled to track.
In a blink, she closed in.
One strike.
Innumerable square and hexagonal barriers flared.
The angel Girl marveled at their form and solidity.
Her flight-specialized eyes instantly spotted weaknesses.
But none.
Mana evenly distributed across hundreds of layers.
Intricately interlocked: 785 solid barriers.
No flaws.
Dead center, sheer force.
Wings quivered at the last second, accelerating.
Dagger tip broke sound barrier with a sonic boom.
Barriers shattered.
Her eyes counted them crumbling.
Speed equaled power.
Physical ram pulverized 400+ circles on impact.
Remaining barriers tore rapidly.
Lich's skull nearly touched.
But demi-lich's near-infinite mana made defenses denser.
Mana density like battleship armor poured into plain shields.
The brute rush with acceleration finally stalled.
Girl shifted stance, infused mana, thrust harder.
Wings shuddered again. Clear chime as she accelerated.
[Divine Wrath] flared in response.
White flames—divinity incarnate—eroded and dismantled magic.
Remaining 200+ circles dispersed instantly.
The lich, buying time, began casting.
Mana's flow had direction.
Somewhere—a teleport.
Learned about teleports here.
Mages leave residual spell traces post-blink, fleeting.
Too instant for most speeds.
But among high races, top-speed flight angel could track.
[Ultra Swiftness]
Activated [Dash]'s superior skill.
Instant accel plus sustained speed buff.
By then, strikes whittled barriers to four.
Reach?
Lich vanished.
Before spatial rift closed, angel sucked in.
Arrival: outer space.
Lich, anticipating pursuit, chained teleports for distance.
Angel chased the skull.
Darkness billowed. Against starry expanse, lich spread arms eerily.
Non-stellar space: pure darkness.
Conceptual and physical void.
Elements in magic: caster's perception made manifest.
Intelligent life saw space as dark—so exo-atmosphere: darkness trove.
Not pure shamanism, but mages gained from element-rich environs.
Darkness materialized via magic; black walls layered, blinding blacklights erupted.
Now beyond torrent—visible dark mass rivaled mountains.
Moving black range collapsed toward the Girl.
She shrugged it off. Key: avoid darkness corruption.
Bad memories, nightmare flashbacks.
Darkness's mind-probing trait threatened angels.
Recalled Floor 7's corrupted angel, ignorant of her kind.
If angels were pure light-attuned, mutual counters posed risk.
But angels existed to purge evil, darkness.
Girl squeezed every drop of mana.
Spread light—no darkness touch.
[Divine Wrath] swelled responsively.
Furious mana drain, but she became blazing light-divinity mass.
No air resistance in vacuum; angel charged.
No finesse needed. Honest, overwhelming force—advance as light.
One flash streaked; all lich-summoned darkness crumbled.
Matchup dominance nullified sheer volume.
But at the end, Sharkma clattered in laughter.
The Girl knew its meaning.
Divine-burning sword cleaved skull, vaporizing body below.
Flames died; demi-lich's skull intact, uncrushed.
Severely sealed by divinity—impotent.
Sharkma realized capture. Immortality moot.
Mouth opened, no voice. No air.
Girl awkwardly intoned magically.
"Smashing that skull here? It'll just revive somewhere below, right?"
⟨ Telepathic Voice ⟩
Lich unflappable even unexpectedly.
"Regrettable. But can you return? Know where 'here' is?"
⟨ Telepathic Voice ⟩
Girl smirked.
"Good memory means I don't lose my way twice."
⟨ Telepathic Voice ⟩
Lie. Just placed a marker in case.
Traced her light-linked mana trail.
Wings prepped with a quiver, she flew back to the captured owner's city.
An angel cradling a skull tenderly? Probably comical.