In the middle of a lengthy hallway in a manor submerged by a turbulent storm, a dark-suited white-haired lady stood before a wrinkly-coated man. One was a dragon, and the other was a practitioner of magicraft.
"I thought that the viceroy was overreacting when he spoke about your existence in his territory. It seems that I was wrong. You really are lodged in this sea."
He squinted his eyes, observing every move of the dragoness in front of him. It was too dangerous to lower his guard as she might attack and kill him.
This was a battle to the death, and he must treat it as such.
"I have to warn others about you," The Master Magus continued and was about to send a transmission spell headed to the Frontier. But before he could do so, Laplace instantly appeared beside him.
"Sadly for you, I can't let you know that. Calling more of your friends would surely annoy Abraham. He'll cut some of my salary if that happens." She calmly uttered and threw an elbow to the Master Magus.
*Pang!*
A crack formed in the air as the barrier spell cast by the Master Magus almost broke from her sheer strength. The Master Magus stepped back as despite blocking the power of the dragoness, its momentum still forced him to withdraw.
"As expected of the dragoness, even in your human form, your strength cannot be underestimated." The Master Magus remarked and swiftly cast another barrier spell.
"Hmm… You're a lot stronger than I expected." Her punch would have blown a hole through a boulder. The fact that his spell didn't completely break was the epitome of his skill as a Master Magus.
With this in mind, Laplace knew that she shouldn't underestimate and play with her prey. Instead, she must finish this as fast as possible and complete the task given to her by Abraham.
"Firebolt!" The Master Magus cried out and a spell circle immediately materialized in front of him. Bolts of crimson lightning escaped the spell circle along with a circular ball of flames.
*PPsshhhhT!*
Without hesitation or delay, the Firebolt propelled itself into the air. Its arcs of crimson lightning destroyed the luxurious marble as its ball of flames gleamed in unparalleled radiance.
Against such firepower, Laplace's defeat seemed inevitable.
But…
*Tang!*
*BOOM!!!*
Laplace deflected the firebolt with her arm and it blew up beside her, causing the entire wall, roof, and floor to collapse. While smoke shrouded her body, she waved her arm feeling a sting on her skin.
However, she noticed something even more troublesome. The sleeves of the dark suit given to her were burned off from contact with the firebolt. It would be problematic if the United Navy wanted to make her pay for it.
But the dragoness couldn't continue entertaining her thoughts as the Master Magus threw another spell at her.
"Firebomb!" The Master Magus threw a baseball-sized compressed flame at her without a tinge of hesitance. He was mad, not caring about what would happen to those hit by the spell.
Seeing the spell heading towards her, Laplace kicked it upward into the roof. It crashed into the roof and got outside of the manor before exploding like a 1-ton bomb.
*BOOM!!!*
If that landed on the manor, it would have destroyed its entirety in a mere moment. This made the dragoness furrow her eyebrows as she glanced at the quietly observing Master Magus.
"Here I thought you Magus pride yourself on not speaking your spells." She remarked to the Master Magus, who merely chuckled at her words.
"You're correct, dragoness. It does sound stupid. But it helps." As he uttered such words, the Master Magus cast another spell on the dragoness.
"Firebolt!" It was another firebolt, or so the dragoness thought.
What escaped from the spell circle was none other than a penetrating spell.
Magic missile.
*Siiinnnngggg!*
In an instant, the magic missile arrived in front of the dragoness. This was something she couldn't dodge. Which meant that she had no choice but to take it head-on.
*BAM!!!*
Dust scattered as wind surged outward throughout the manor. Glasses from windows were broken as walls cracked from the pressure alone. The spell was deadly.
Uttering the wrong name was the oldest trick in the book. It was to make the opponent expect something whether it'd be consciously or subconsciously.
It was a useful trick against fighting adversaries. Especially to the non-Magus ones.
"That should be a hit." The Master Magus muttered under his breath, looking at the dust-shrouded hallway. But as seconds passed by, he noticed something that made him furrow his eyebrows.
The dragoness was still alive from his spell. Most Master Magus would have exploded into tiny bits when impacted by it, so the dragoness's survival was within his expectations.
Nonetheless, it was unfortunate that the dragoness didn't immediately die from his spell. But she should be extremely injured by now. It shouldn't take long before he gets hold of his victory.
Unfortunately for the Master Magus, though. He underestimated the dragoness.
As the dust shrouding the hallway settled, Laplace stood in it without clear injuries. Although her clothing was wrecked beyond relief, her pale skin still maintained its beauty.
"That's a good strategy, Master Magus. But I have fought thousands of your kind since my inception. Such pitiful trickery does not work against me." Laplace expressed coldly.
The physique of a dragon was the greatest of what was biologically capable. It was the apex of nature itself, and the limit of what was natural.
There was a reason why dragons in every myth stood above all other than the heavens.
"I'll kill you," Laplace uttered with a commanding tone.
The Master Magus realized that his opponent was now on the offensive. If he wanted to survive against her, he must unleash every defensive spell he had in his personnel.
He couldn't continue his thoughts as Laplace appeared beside him and gave him a kick. Once again, it was the barrier of the Master Magus that faced her kick.
*Pang!*
Sadly though… The barrier spell couldn't handle the power of her kick and break upon impact. Her foot continued to propel itself and hit another defensive spell.
*Tang!*
It broke in impact while several supportive defensive spells worked overtime to fight off the foot of the dragoness. It was then, that her foot met his strongest defensive spell.
It covered an inch over his body, making sure that it was impenetrable against attacks. But, there was momentum. Even with blunt resistance, the vast force beyond the dragoness's kick was exponential.
*BANG!*
The Master Magus flew backward and into the marble wall at the end of the hallway. A small and somewhat humanoid crater was made on the wall while dust shrouded it.
"Your defensive spells are impressive. But far from enough." Laplace muttered while coolly walking towards the crater she had made with the Master Magus as the projectile.
Meanwhile, the Master Magus felt his heart beating in terror. Death was slowly creeping up to him. If he wants to survive, he must withdraw.
"Ack!" He coughed blood from his mouth and realized that his bones were broken. They were practically in pieces at the moment. Each second to him was akin to thousands of bees stinging his body.
It was a painful experience.
'I need to get out of here.' He quietly thought to himself while quietly activating a spatial transmission spell. Anywhere other than this place was enough, so he didn't specify a coordinate to increase his casting speed.
However, it was saddening for the Master Magus. The dragoness was already in front of him with her pale hand slowly reaching out to his neck.
When he noticed her hand heading to his neck. He felt intense fear taking over his heart. He was going to die, and he didn't want to.
No matter how much he wanted to scream or beg for mercy. He simply couldn't. His body was broken beyond relief from the attack of the dragoness.
Although his barrier made sure that none of her attacks got through. The power and force behind it was too much for his barrier to handle, throwing him to the wall with incredible force.
'My mana isn't working well. My mind is far from calm.' The Master Magus wanted to curse out, but sadly couldn't. He could only watch with his barely conscious self as Laplace's warm fingers touched his neck.
It was then, his perception blacked out.
He died.
Laplace squished the neck of the Master Magus with her fingers and made sure to break his neck. Blood spurted outward, some droplets splattered itself to her pale and gorgeous face. Though the dragoness didn't seem bothered by it.
It took some time, but she utterly crushed the bones of the Master Magus.
With this, he shouldn't be able to resurrect himself with whatever strange spell he had in his arsenal. After all, there was nothing impossible when a Magus was included in the equation.
So, making sure that it would be impossible for them to resurrect was paramount.
"I guess this should be enough." Laplace softly mumbled to herself while summoning an electrostatic to her fingers, causing the body of the Master Magus to be fried as high current passed through his veins.
The scent of cooked meat slowly enveloped the air as the Master Magus slowly became a black-limped corpse.
"Lady Laplace, we have captured the entirety of the manor and terminated everyone except for the Governor." Out of nowhere, a soldier saluted and reported the status of the mission to Laplace.
"Good work… I just finished here, please find me a clean towel." Laplace smiled at the soldier while throwing the black and fried corpse onto the floor.