Reoloy raised his hand and pointed his middle finger at the stag.
The spectral claw flashed forward instantly, extending across the basin in a streak of pale distortion as it tore toward the creature's chest.
But a red barrier sprang into existence.
Rounded square patterns rippled outward across its surface, layering over one another like shifting panes of glass.
The claw slammed into it and stalled for a brief moment before inevitably pushing through. Even so, the trajectory shifted slightly, causing the attack to graze the beast's left side instead of carving straight through it.
"Tch. It deflected it a little."
The claw Regalia possessed the ability to tear through metaphysical phenomena. Reoloy still didn't know its full limits or what exactly qualified as a valid target, but mana itself was easy pickings—even for someone as inexperienced as him.
Still, he didn't fully understand the thing yet.
So it made sense that a prime monster's skill could resist its effects to some degree.
"I'll get you with this next one," he muttered, already lining up another strike.
The creature bellowed, and droplets of water launched into the air around it, shimmering as violent tremors rippled through them.
"Shut up. You can't come at me, and I don't need to come at you. Cheap strategy, I know, but that's the privilege of having cheat items."
Once again, the ghostly claw shot forward.
And flaunting its large mana reserves, the stag conjured fifteen layers of barriers at once.
Crimson formations bloomed into existence one after another, stacking across the basin in overlapping walls of shifting mana. The spectral claw tore through them relentlessly, shattering layer after layer, but each barrier bought the slightest fraction of time and nudged the attack farther off course.
By the end, the claw missed entirely.
It veered sharply and crashed into a stone pillar off to the side, carving through it before the structure slowly slid apart.
"Boy, did you see that?"
Gaiskas drifted around him, its purple form loosely coiling around Reoloy's torso.
The reincarnator nodded, his eyes narrowing onto the creature's antlers.
"The red horn reacted when it used that skill."
"If this was a higher-order being, then it would be cause for concern, but for a mere beast, it can only mean one thing..."
Reoloy smiled, instinctively comparing the situation to games that had to place limitations on absurd boss monsters just to make them beatable.
"Each horn corresponds to a single skill or ability."
He leapt into action.
Bursting into motion, Reoloy sprinted counterclockwise around the basin, flicking his left arm outward in a low throwing motion as he released a small white fragment.
As the monster turned toward the "projectile," he subtly manoeuvred his right hand beneath the motion, letting a discreet spectral strike slip free and thread through the blind angle toward the stag.
Faster and thinner—it stitched across the distance and stung into both of the creature's front legs just as the remnant of Reoloy's detonated mana knife dropped into the water and sank.
The stag buckled forward, halting itself by leveraging the invisible chains that bound it.
Reoloy scanned for even a flicker of a healing response before immediately launching another, larger spectral claw toward its head.
'If I can kill it before it uses another skill, that would be ideal...'
Something suddenly pricked at his senses.
He leapt away on instinct as an invisible whip lashed into the ground where he'd just been, detonating a burst of dirt and stone.
Letting out a low whistle, he re-ignited the spectral weapon that had flickered apart the moment his focus slipped.
"That would've been bad."
He was already injured from his earlier fights, especially the ones from before he properly activated his Regalia. Another major hit was too risky to take head-on.
"I've got to be sharp," he whispered, inhaling. "Was that some kind of telekinesis...?"
Reoloy shook his head, dispelling the notion.
Most monsters possessed mana, while only a handful had ki.
Casis was completely out of the realm of possibility because it was a highly technical power that practically required a complex brain structure—something even the most intelligent of monsters simply didn't have.
'If not casis, then what?'
"Gaiskas did a horn react just now?"
The laikern hummed, never taking its eyes off the beast.
"Yes," it said. "The blue one."
"What did that attack look like to you?" Reoloy winced, adjusting the cloth bindings around his injured left arm.
"Like a pulse of lightly condensed mana in the shape of a whip."
Reoloy nodded. 'Not telekinesis.'
"But if it's condensed, it should be visible, no?"
Gaiskas shook his head, coiling mana around its palm like a twister.
"Yes, it should. Mages usually resort to tricks to cover it," it explained, making the mana disappear from sight in certain sections as a demonstration. "But this is no mage—far from it. Think. What could it be doing?"
Reoloy's mind flicked back to the earlier display with the water droplets. It was likely the same thing then. But what even?
'Wait. Tricks to cover it?' he looked at Gaiskas and then at the stag, narrowly evading another invisible attack—this time, a clean slicing arc. 'The blue horn doesn't create these attacks, it hides them!'
"A stealth skill. As expected of a prime monster, the range and variety you possess are impressive."
He dropped into a low crouch, his hand pressing against the ground as he extended the spectral claw from that position. It tore forward through dirt, then skimmed across the surface of the water, sending ripples of fractured light racing ahead of it toward the stag's hooves.
As it buckled upward under strain, Reoloy dragged the weapon along its length, fighting to maintain control at such an extended range. Still, he forced it into a sweeping arc, redirecting it back toward the stag's exposed lower body.
"Just die already!"
Even if it blocked now, a wide covering slash wouldn't be deflected as easily as a piercing strike.
Checkmate.
The silver horn flared with a brilliance more intense than any before it.
"Boy, move!"
"Huh?"
In an instant, the force of a rushing beast slammed into him—coupled by the far more horrifying sensation of multiple protrusions straight through his stomach.
---
Edren blitzed into view beside the troll's ear, snapping his fingers as a spell amplified the sound severalfold.
The monster winced, letting out a low groan as it staggered to its right, its massive frame swaying from the sudden assault.
Meanwhile, the bespectacled mage was already moving. His hands flowed through a sequence of fluid motions without pause, ending with his fingers pressing together into a diamond shape formed by his thumbs and index fingers.
A brown formula ignited between them.
At the same time, the teal formulas spinning around his wrists shifted, their lines curling and rearranging like text being edited mid-air before darkening and turning umber as well.
The earth rumbled and then erupted, launching the troll upward onto an elevated pillar as jagged spikes surged up around Edren. With a sharp motion, the spikes tore free and shot forward, converging on the beast mid-air.
They struck home with wet, violent impacts—gruesome squelches echoing through the battlefield as blood sprayed from the disoriented creature.
The cerulean-haired teen's expression didn't shift.
Clenching his fist, he made the spikes explode into smaller bits just like earlier—all while they were still buried deep into its flesh.
The troll let out an agonising scream, attempting to leap off the platform and retreat toward the gathered corpses so it could feed and regenerate.
A netted fence of earth and wind surged upward in response, sealing off every escape route and crushing that intent before it could come to fruition.
Almost seamlessly, Digo leapt high with a wind-enhanced jump, landing on the platform through a brief opening in the barrier.
A smirk crept onto his face as pale green mana wisps drifted off his body.
Both he and Edren opened their mouths, announcing their spell in unison—one exhausted, the other brimming with excitement.
"Wind x Earth Fusion Magic: Suppressive Pugilist Field."
The wind picked up into a roaring tempest that swept through and around the fence as Digo brought his fists together.
The troll snarled, snapping into motion and attempting to rush him—only to find its body suddenly heavier, its movements dulled as if the air itself had thickened around it.
Its five eyes narrowed, scanning the battlefield. It caught the faint disturbances in the breeze… the subtle shifts of sand and grit clinging to its feet.
Before it could process further, Digo closed the distance.
A single punch struck its face with unnatural force, sending it skidding backwards toward the fence just as spikes of earth erupted into place.
The beast dug its feet into the ground, forcing itself to a halt and narrowly avoiding being impaled.
It had been too close.
Almost as if the friction against the earth itself hadn't slowed it as much as it should have.
The troll's beady eyes widened as much as physically possible.
It understood.
Digo came down with a high diagonal dropkick.
The troll tried to evade—but the air itself resisted its movement, dragging at its limbs like invisible weight.
Spikes of earth suddenly erupted beneath its feet, hooking into its stance and locking it in place.
Ignoring the strain and pain, the beast roared and tore itself free, ripping through the restraints and leaping away a split second before Digo's strike could land.
The monster was clearly phased.
Unable to heal, it made a cold, deliberate choice. It tore into its own flesh, ripping free a handful of the insect creatures embedded within and snapping them into its mouth like peanuts. It chewed them down with loud, sickening crunches.
The brunet scoffed, then smiled, adjusting the spell's formula to push even more wind enhancement around his body.
With the beast fully recovered and Digo raring to push the fight to its end, every opening became a trigger for the next exchange, but then...
The fusion magic faltered, and the earth altered by magic crumbled, sending them barreling toward the surface.
Gathering his bearings, Digo altered his positioning, going legs first and using a pulse from his hover shoes to slow down right before hitting the ground.
A short distance away, the troll crashed down heavily, but it didn't stay down for long. It rose almost immediately, a warped, triumphant grin curling across its face at its regained freedom.
"What's going on?!" Digo turned to Edren, who panted slowly, falling to his butt and throwing his head back. "You shouldn't be out of mana just yet!"
"Of course I'm not." The brown symbols shifted yet again, turning teal. "Our turn's over."
Behind them, Amali's eyes snapped open just as Edren released two sharp, overlapping sound bursts into the beast's ears. The troll staggered, roaring in frustration and pain before immediately charging the boy.
"I'm tagging out," Edren said flatly. "Deal with her instead."
Obsidian-blue formulas spread across the ground and began marking targets—specifically, all the monsters in a three-hundred-metre radius.
All the mages stared in awe.
Not just because of the range and the complexity of the spell formula, but because of the control and precision used in completely isolating the spell to just the monsters and leaving out allies and natural landmarks.
The beasts remained completely frozen in place, trembling and whimpering as if they were in pain as brown-green markings emerged from the blue formulas and their flesh started to falter and decolourise.
Amali strolled up to the troll that was stuck with its fingers desperately extended just short of Edren's face.
"That took way longer than I would've liked..." She stretched her arms, her left hand still in the same formation. She tapped the beast, releasing the hand sign. "You can rest now."
Instantly, all the monsters decayed and fell onto the ground as completely deteriorated corpses.
'So that's the Ink x Decay Fusion Magic Spell—Great Rot Curse...' Edren thought, taking off his goggles. 'It's terrifying.'
"So when did those guys say they were getting here?" Amali asked calmly, looking up at seemingly nothing, her face alarmingly pale and slick with sweat.
"...It shouldn't be long," Edren replied, running his hand through his hair. "Not like we need them anymore. Why?"
Screams of pain erupted as one by one—in rapid succession—the squad members were picked off by an unseen force.
The five mages regrouped instinctively, forming a defensive cluster as confusion turned into alarm.
"What is that?!" Belonica shouted before catching sight of the unusual state of her comrade and rushing toward her. "Amali!"
Amali's eyes closed. "Tell them to hurry."
She then leaned forward, falling unconscious in Belonica's arms.
A wind wall formed around them while Edren sent earth spikes haphazardly across the field, careful not to hit their friends.
And one of the earth formations just so happened to pierce something.
For a split second, a warped outline shimmered into view.
"You guys saw that?" Edren muttered, already entirely done with the day.
"A stag," Belonica said, laying Amali down gently. "We've never recorded a monster like that."
"But then again, this entire mission has spawned weird new things," Digo chimed. "How's your mana looking?"
"If I'm frugal, I can manage maybe seven or eight spells."
Belonica nodded. "Same here."
"I think I can do way more than that!" Aylo declared brightly.
She was only met with dry stares.
"Just sit still and do nothing," all three said at once.
Shaking his head slowly, Edren sighed.
"I don't even think physical attacks or effects work on it," he said. "If they did, my attack earlier would've done more than just reveal it."
Digo adopted a thinking posture.
"The spike went straight through it too..." he added. "What do we do?"
They stared at the seemingly empty, silent field.
"Wait," Belonica replied. "And pray."
---
"Boy. You can't take much more than this."
Reoloy stumbled back onto his feet, blood spilling from his mouth as his face went pale from the sheer extent of his injuries.
"I saw it that time..." he muttered, his voice rough and hoarse.
"It was a different skill." Gaiskas floated slightly above his head. "Of course you did. That silver horn has been active since we got here. Its glow got brighter just before you hit it, and then that thing got you instead."
Reoloy tried to force a laugh, but it hurt too much.
Extend your world.
He blinked.
The pain suddenly numbed, and he moved around with an unnerving lack of suffering.
'What actually is that...?'
It was the third time now those words had carved through his mind, and each time he was left more confused than before.
Reoloy coughed, turning his attention to the shimmering distortion flickering through the air around him, waiting for another opening to strike.
"That thing... isn't it—?"
"No," Gaiskas spat sharply. "It's not, and can never be a laikern. At most, it's an imitation."
Reoloy stared at the ancient entity for a moment, then checked his mobility just in case his injuries would keep him from moving as he needed to.
'Even though I don't feel pain, I'm still hurt,' he thought seriously. 'My leg's kind of shot and it feels like my guts might spill out... I'll have to fight standing in one spot.'
"Whatever it is, I can still win," Reoloy said, ripping the entirety of his shirt and wrapping it tightly around his stomach. "Warn me faster if you notice a new reaction from the main beast."
Gaiskas's brow rose. "You still don't want help?"
Reoloy crouched, taking a deep inhale.
"Nope."
The ghostly copy of the stag surged in from behind, but Reoloy quickly swung sideways, his spectral claw whipping around through the air—just barely missing the apparition, but forcing it to recoil.
The spirit broke apart, dispersing into fragments of smoky light before reforming at a distance once more.
The boy exhaled, his mind sharpening to a razor edge. Every thought went quiet, stripped away until only cold calculation remained, suspended in his awareness.
Unexpectedly, his right leg buckled, and he began to fall.
The ghostly stag seized the opening immediately, surging forward with its horns angled to impale him again, but it stepped exactly where he wanted it.
Reoloy twisted mid-fall, stabilising just enough to adjust his angle. His right arm snapped up, and he pointed his middle finger at the apparition.
The weapon extended in an instant, skimming past the ghost's cheek and continuing onward—threading through straight toward the true stag behind it.
Rather than raising its red barrier like before, it summoned two more ghostly copies between itself and the incoming claw.
Reoloy's strike impacted the foremost apparition point-blank and came to a complete halt, drawing an irritated click of his tongue.
Meanwhile, the stag beneath the tree reacted for the first time with something unmistakably human.
It was pleased.
Not instinctively, not mechanically—but with plain, undeniable satisfaction, as if it had just accomplished something significant.
Without missing a beat, the silver horn's light flared brighter, and two more ghostly copies formed behind Reoloy, synchronising with the first to launch a three-pronged assault.
Rather than pulling the claw back, Reoloy deactivated it and reactivated it instantly—cutting out wasted time.
He dove sideways under the incoming strike, twisting through the gap and forcibly parrying one of the ghosts into the path of another, using their own momentum to break the coordination.
One of the two that had been in front of the real monster then slammed into him.
Reoloy barely managed to bring the expanded claw up in time, catching the impact on his guard and stopping another vicious stab. The force still detonated through his body, and he was hurled backwards several metres across the field.
He rolled roughly across the ground before finally skidding to a stop in the shallow portion of the basin.
Pushing himself back up, Reoloy lifted his gaze toward the stag and immediately caught the subtle shift in its condition.
It had been maintaining an air of elegance this entire time—distant, composed, almost aloof—but cracks had begun to show. Beneath that façade, the strain was becoming obvious.
'Its reaction earlier... it became certain it can beat me in that moment,' he mused. 'But we're both fighting a handicap match. The winner will be determined by who slips up first.'
A ghost stag suddenly descended, its forelegs crashing down toward him.
Reoloy twisted out of the way at the last instant, water exploding beneath the impact. Another apparition rushed him immediately after, then another.
He met both in a blur of movement, violently parrying the consecutive charges before driving his claw into the water's surface.
The basin erupted.
Sheets of water burst upward, creating a temporary veil between him and the growing swarm.
Despite his earlier decision to keep the fight contained, Reoloy forced himself forward, running around the basin straight at the actual stag with his claw drawn back for a sweeping strike, but it never hit.
The four roaming ghosts instantly converged with the one lingering by the beast's side, reforming its defensive line and completely intercepting the attack.
All five turned toward him in unison.
Then charged with frantic desperation.
The spectral stags thundered forward at once, their combined run carrying only one intention—
To kill him here and now.
Reoloy watched plainly before grinning.
"You're looking pretty scared there... prime!"
He redirected one, then another, before kicking off a third and landing a claw strike on the fourth that did little more than inflict superficial damage that recovered instantly.
Yet he didn't panic.
What followed was a careful dance of weaving and parrying, his movements threading through strike after strike even as his body looked ready to give out at any moment.
'Come on.'
He bobbed.
'Come on.'
He jumped.
'Do it.'
Then dived and rolled.
'Do it...!'
He blocked two sets of descending horns with gritted teeth before rolling beneath the spectres yet again and immediately weaving through the remaining three.
'Do it already!'
In what looked like a desperate gamble, the beast summoned a sixth copy.
Its stance faltered instantly, its body nearly giving out before the invisible chains pulled taut and held it upright once more.
It panted.
The silver horn flickered erratically.
"That's it, isn't it?" Reoloy asked, slowly straightening.
All six ghosts leapt at once.
Their bodies dispersed into smoky trails of light before reforming high above, descending like radiant horned comets crashing toward him.
Reoloy's face contorted into a twisted expression of glee.
The claw expanded and then extended, cleaving cleanly through each and every one of them—much to the real stag's shock.
"Your limit," he finished, his voice chilling.
He let out a long exhale, stepping forward but nearly stumbling.
"Use your other tricks if you want..." he said, lifting his head with a grin. "I'll still kill you, though."