A Beauty Descended from the Sky
It was a phrase that might have been popular in shonen manga about twenty years ago. Yet there was no better way to describe the current situation. A woman with wings on her back slowly descended from the sky. It was Serpina.
All eyes converged on the woman who had appeared out of nowhere in this hair-trigger moment. Serpina paid the stares no mind. She concealed her spread wings with magic and offered Narel a casual greeting.
"Whoa. It really is you, Narel? Long time no see. Have you been well?"
It was the light, everyday sort of greeting you might give an old high-school classmate you bumped into on the street. The kind of ordinary remark that had no business in such a tense situation. What was even stranger was that Narel accepted it as if it were perfectly natural.
"Yes. It really has been a long time, Master."
Narel knew better than anyone just how dangerous the current situation was. The fact that she could respond so calmly left even the Liberation Faction mages momentarily speechless.
"I told you not to call me Master. Why do all the kids I teach keep trying to call me that?"
"Ahaha. Got it, Benefactor. But 'kids' you teach? Did you take on a new disciple?"
"They're not really disciples. I just give them a bit of guidance."
After exchanging brief pleasantries over such trivial matters, the pair finally moved on to serious conversation.
"So what's going on? I was shocked when I suddenly saw a support request flare in the sky. I thought I was seeing things."
Right after the plane crash, before fleeing from her pursuers, Narel had launched a spell skyward. It was an ancient support-request magic. Like a flare gun, it spread her location and a rough outline of the situation through mana waves when fired upward. At the same time, it was a spell never seen on Earth. Because this was otherworld magic that could only be powered by otherworld mana, not the lunar mana used by Earth's mages.
Seeing that kind of spell appear in the sky, it was only natural for Serpina to be surprised. She had suspected Narel was somewhere on Earth. But Earth was vast. She had never imagined the high elf would be on the tiny Korean peninsula in this wide, wide world. In truth, Serpina's assumption had been correct. Narel usually operated on the American continent. Unlike Serpina—who, as a dragon, left her hatchlings to fend for themselves once they were grown—Narel had diligently made her way all the way to the Korean peninsula.
It was right when their completely inappropriate conversation was about to continue.
"She's an enemy no matter what! Attack!"
One of the Liberation Faction mages, who had been standing there dazed by Serpina's sudden arrival, shouted. Rather than waste time trying to understand the incomprehensible being before him, he wisely chose to do what needed doing. Whether that was actually possible for them was a secondary concern.
The moment his words left his mouth, a barrage of spells poured toward Serpina. The magics originally prepared to attack Narel had frozen at the dragon's appearance, but his command triggered them all at once.
A flame compressed into a single streak of light tore through the air like lightning. Dozens of suicide golems shaped like drones charged in. Spears formed from crimson blood that could pierce steel shot forward. And still more spells followed behind them. Every single one was aimed at Serpina.
A few could have curved around to strike Narel or the reinforcements, but as if by prior agreement, every attack focused solely on her. Perhaps they had unconsciously realized the truth about the being called Serpina—that she was the greatest threat present. That they had to eliminate this woman at all costs.
That instinct was both correct and incorrect. With Serpina's arrival, it was indeed impossible for them to kill Narel without first dealing with her. So to achieve their goal, they had to handle Serpina first. That much was correct. If it had been possible, it would have remained correct to the end.
"Rise."
⟨ Ice Barrier ⟩
With a light swing of her arm and those words, an ice wall surged from the ground along the path of her gesture. It was a defensive spell that enveloped Serpina, Narel, and even Lee Hogwang, who had been fighting a short distance away.
"Hah! Did you think you could hold out with some hastily made defensive magic? I'll smash it to pieces, ice and all!"
Countless spells slammed into the ice wall.
Crack!
In an instant the barrier cracked and shattered into fragments.
Craaaack!
As expected, it was nothing special. I got nervous for nothing just because she's the leader's master.
The Liberation Faction mages thought so and began to relax their white-knuckled grips on their staffs.
Crrrrrrack!!
But... wasn't that breaking sound a little excessive?
The moment that doubt arose, the final spell collided with the ice wall.
Shatter!
With a sound like breaking glass, the ice wall exploded outward. Ice fragments scattered in every direction, reflecting sunlight and blinding the battlefield.
"This is it? How disappointing."
Serpina's voice drifted from beyond the countless shards. At the same time, the tiny ice fragments—too small for the eye to follow—clung together and formed sharp icicle spikes. Each was only a few centimeters long, but there were hundreds of them. Their tips glittered.
To Negin they looked like beautiful sparkling crystals, but to the Liberation Faction mages they felt like cold daggers aimed straight at their hearts.
"Defensive magic—!"
Before the Liberation Faction leader could finish his order, the ice spikes launched. The mages had already begun preparing their defenses the moment they felt that chill, so they managed to complete their spells in time. Stone walls, repulsive force fields, distortion zones, damage-transfer curses… The spikes slammed into countless defensive magics.
And then—
Thud-thud-thud!
With a sound like pouring rain, the ice spikes drove into the ground. They pierced everything between the point of launch and their final resting place.
"Uh..."
Thump.
A Liberation Faction mage collapsed with a hole in his chest the size of a plastic bottle cap. His final words carried the bewildered confusion of someone who couldn't comprehend his own death.
More than a dozen others followed, collapsing as lumps of meat that had once been people. It was an absurdly hollow end for mages skilled enough to attempt the assassination of a leader.
Silence fell.
From both the reinforcements and the Liberation Faction, the only sounds were the pained groans of those awkwardly impaled by the remaining spikes.
In that silence, Serpina turned to Narel as casually as if they were chatting over tea.
"You. You let yourself get wrecked by these guys?"
Narel gave a bitter smile and answered.
"I'm sorry. I'm still not strong enough..."
"Ah, never mind. I can tell just by looking."
Serpina's gaze shifted to the fallen attendants behind Narel.
"You were trying to protect the weak ones, weren't you? Honestly, you haven't changed a bit since the old days."
"Haha..."
It was something Narel had heard often while learning magic from Serpina. Perhaps this wasn't simply a difference in personality, but a fundamental racial trait—something inherent to high elves who had to guide mighty dragons and their elven followers all alone.
Even though she spoke in that scolding tone, Serpina didn't entirely dislike Narel's foolish kindness. Having once been human herself probably made it even harder to hate.
"Benefactor. I'll leave the rest to you."
With those words, Narel closed her eyes. Her body began to topple backward, but Negin hurriedly caught her.
"Leader? Leader?!"
Negin frantically checked for a pulse. She wasn't dead. The sudden release of tension had simply let her exhausted body fall straight into sleep. Even though the battle wasn't over.
"Since Serpina's here, the fight's already decided..."
Negin muttered and nodded to herself. That was probably the right way to see it. The gap between them had been obvious after just that single exchange of magic. Still, to be able to entrust everything to someone and fall asleep in the middle of a battlefield like this... It meant they were close enough to trust each other with their very lives.
Just what was their relationship? She'd caught mention of master and disciple, and now she was curious what kind of history they shared.
"What do you mean, casually dumping the rest on me? Tsk."
Serpina looked down at the sleeping Narel and grumbled in clear displeasure. Yet she showed no sign of actually refusing the request.
On the other hand, the Liberation Faction leader grew desperate. He even felt it was unfair. They had spent so much time preparing so thoroughly. Success had been right in front of them. Was everything really going to fall apart because of one unknown woman who had suddenly dropped out of the sky?
"A-attack! Attack, I said! If we fail here, we're all dead anyway!"
The Liberation Faction mages snapped back to their senses. Rebellion's failure always meant death, regardless of era or location. Even in the 21st century, that truth remained unchanged. Once you raised the banner of revolt, the only path to survival was victory.
A poisonous determination filled the mages' eyes. If they were going to die anyway, they might as well go down fighting. The mood shifted accordingly.
Serpina noticed and let out a sigh.
"Haa... Whether here or there, the reaction in these situations is always the same."
People with nothing left to lose were always tenacious. Dealing with enemies who charged until the very last one died was incredibly boring, and it made her feel like the villain, which she hated.
In times like this, one decisive blow was necessary. A strike so overwhelming they wouldn't even think of struggling.
"Negin. There aren't any cities or villages nearby, right?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. That's true... Wait, what are you planning to do?"
Serpina puffed out her chest and took a deep breath.