Lilith drew her sword from the scabbard hanging on the left side of her waist. She then extended her right hand, gripping her sword tightly as she assumed a battle stance.
As Flynn took his stance, he held his claymore, Exceed The Storm, in front of him. Flynn briefly glanced toward Lilith and was slightly surprised by the stance she was using.
He remembered having seen a stance like that before. It was one in which the user held their sword behind them while leaving their left hand open. To an amateur observer, a stance like this might seem to leave an opening for the opponent.
However, there were times when such a stance could be used effectively by the right person. This was because Flynn could now see some kind of energy and aura gathering around Lilith's left hand, as though she was about to use some kind of magic.
(Is she chanting a spell in her mind...?)
Well, that wasn't particularly surprising.
Seraphim were blessed with pure energy within their bodies, known as Mana.
Mana, a pure energy that served as the root of every concept existing in the world, was spread throughout the entire world. It could not be seen, but it could be felt. It could not be touched, yet it could be used to create miracles.
This Mana energy was also present within artifacts.
However, Flynn soon stopped questioning everything and decided to focus on the situation he was currently facing.
That was why he whispered to Lilith.
"Be careful. Although that little girl looks innocent, I can sense some kind of energy within her that I can't explain."
"Alright. Shall we begin?"
"Yes." After responding to her signal, Flynn and Lilith immediately pushed themselves forward and charged ahead.
Meanwhile, the little girl waved her hand, signaling all her swords to advance and attack the two of them. "Go!"
All the floating swords immediately shot forward at incredible speeds, cutting through the air, with one of them heading straight toward Lilith.
The sword was about to stab Lilith from the front.
Without stopping her movement, Lilith swung her sword, sending the incoming blade flying into the air and halting its movement.
However, that wasn't the end of it. Another sword appeared from the opposite direction.
Lilith realized that her back would be struck if she didn't do something.
".....!"
On the other side, the sharp blade was about to pierce her back. Fortunately, Lilith reacted first, her reaction speed far surpassing that of the sword. She twisted her body and turned around, causing the sword to simply fly past her without hitting anything.
That was a close call.
However, Lilith had to remain focused. She swung her sword once again, striking the blade flying toward her and sending it hurling uncontrollably into the air.
—However.
The little girl did not allow the swords that had been deflected by them to go to waste. Using her ability, she regained control of those swords and directed one of them toward Flynn from above.
Realizing this, Lilith immediately warned Flynn to be careful.
"Sir Flynn!"
Flynn immediately jumped, reaching a height of more than two meters. He did not feel burdened by the sword he carried, which should have been incredibly heavy. However, thanks to his already well-trained physique, he was able to lift his massive sword and swing it with enough force to destroy the incoming blade.
He then landed safely without losing his balance.
Flynn resumed running toward the girl, while Lilith also remained focused on the petite girl.
"Oh... That's quite impressive," the little girl remarked. "But what about this...!"
After saying that, she snapped her fingers, producing a sound as she activated one of her abilities: using magic without an artifact.
Without chanting a spell, and without using an artifact that should have served as a medium for casting magic.
The energy was a form of pure energy resembling the Mana within a Seraphim's body.
A moment later, red light formed a magic circle in the middle of the room, facing Lilith and Flynn, who were still halfway toward their destination. The light continued to multiply, forming a total of five magic circles arranged in a straight line.
Flynn and Lilith immediately increased their speed, trying to reach her. However, they were too late.
Each circle was enveloped in red energy that illuminated the entire room, filling what had previously been a somewhat dark space with a reddish glow. At that moment, all the magic circles unleashed incredibly powerful blasts of energy, locking onto Lilith and Flynn as their targets.
As the energy was released, a buzzing sound filled the silence.
"Huh....?!" both of them reacted.
Lilith immediately raised her left hand, which had already prepared a defensive spell. It created a green energy barrier in front of her, preventing the tremendous energy from striking her directly.
At the same time, Flynn also raised his Exceed The Storm, creating a barrier of energy generated by his sword.
The red energy collided with the barriers they had created, exerting a tremendous force against their bodies as they struggled to withstand it.
DUGGH!
"U...ohhh!!!"
"Ngh...nn!!"
Lilith and Flynn groaned simultaneously, desperately trying to deflect the enormous blasts of energy unleashed by their opponent.
Their feet were gradually pushed backward as the energy slowly began dragging them away.
Until finally, they could no longer withstand it. The barrier created by Lilith was not strong enough to hold back the attacks from two magic circles at once, while the remaining three were aimed at Flynn.
Those two powerful blasts alone were already enough to crack her barrier before finally shattering it.
"....?!" Lilith's eyes widened, unable to believe that her barrier had failed to withstand the attack.
As a result, the energy blasts broke through her defenses and struck Lilith directly. Although she had managed to resist some of the force with her sword, it was still not enough. The red energy then sent her entire body flying backward at tremendous speed.
Lilith let out a hysterical scream as she felt the immense pain.
"UWAAAH!!!"
Flynn, who witnessed this, was taken aback and immediately called out Lilith's name.
"Lady Lilith!"
However, he forgot that he still needed to focus on what was directly in front of him. His sword was also unable to withstand the tremendous force from the three magic circles.
He consequently lost his balance, and his defense was shattered.
The energy struck Flynn's body, leaving him with no chance to evade it. This resulted in a massive explosion that engulfed the entire room.