The moonlight was bright and clear.
Behind the Aqua Deer Squad's base was a forest, and at its center lay a vast lake. Under the moonlight, the water shimmered with a crystalline blue radiance.
Above the yellow-glowing pitcher plants, unknown insects occasionally flitted, sparkling brightly.
"Ah, the moonlight and the lake are so beautiful, so inspiring." Captain Rill stood on the open ground by the lake, gesturing at the moon and water with his paintbrush, as if outlining their colors and patterns. "For the moon, what should I use? Ground seashell powder?"
"White would be too stark, wouldn't it? How about silver-glittering stone powder? That sounds wonderful."
Captain Rill smiled brightly, "I can try that."
Bai En and Nancy, standing nearby, exchanged glances, not quite understanding his soliloquy. Nancy was the first to break the awkward silence: "Captain Rill, may we begin?"
Captain Rill, holding his paintbrush, turned around and scratched his messy silver hair. "Ah, sorry, I was so caught up in how to paint tonight's moon and lake that I almost forgot about you two."
"Then let's begin!"
"Everyone, give me a little inspiration, and let me paint to my heart's content!"
A palette laden with various pigments flew out from Captain Rill's grimoire. The grimoire's pages, glowing with white light, were colorful and rich in hues.
Captain Rill flicked his paintbrush from the palette, and the pigments spread like ink. He made the first move: "Painting Magic, Arrows of Holy Radiance!"
Under the moonlight, silver droplets of ink stained the canvas of the night sky. The droplets began to outline and form, and countless chilling arrows hung in the high sky. As the paintbrush swept down, a rain of arrows descended.
"Watch out—"
Nancy stepped forward with her right foot, brandishing a three-leaf clover grimoire that glowed with a brown light. Her silver armor reflected the moonlight, and red vine patterns highlighted the girl's valiant and heroic spirit.
"Earth Magic, Protection of Thick Earth."
She had intended to protect Bai En as well, but realized that the person who had been standing beside her was already gone. The ground beneath her rose up, forming a sphere that enveloped her.
The arrow rain fell with a whooshing sound, turning the brown earthen sphere into a hedgehog.
The moment Captain Rill unleashed his magic, Bai En had already activated Water Breathing and Mana Skin. Thanks to the technique of blending into nature he had developed over the past six months while climbing mountains to evade Yuno's magic, he dashed out of the arrows' attack range in the blink of an eye.
Zhan Yan stirred the flowing water, and the waterfall of water, interwoven with thread-like slashes, "Unleash."
"Water Breathing, First Form, Water Surface Slash."
A horizontal sword light slashed towards Captain Rill's neck. Facing a monster like a Magic Knights Squad Captain for the first time, he was not careless, giving his all with every strike.
Captain Rill sidestepped backward with an incredible speed, just barely stepping out of the range of the slashes coiling around the Zhan Yan blade.
"Here it comes, here it comes, fast movement and strange water slashes!"
Captain Rill, who had seen Bai En fight before, was exceptionally excited: "Eh? This time there's magic in the water flow, giving it a very sharp feeling! Hey, Bai En, what is this? Is it your magic?"
"And how do you make the water flow? Can you teach me? Please!"
Bai En raised his sword, moving forward with a flowing motion. Tidal waves of water spread out, and the sharp blade cut directly at Captain Rill.
"Fourth Form, Striking Tide."
Captain Rill swayed in the tide like a lone boat, his toes lightly touching the ground. The churning, surging water splashes somehow couldn't wet his clothes. He skillfully dodged all of Bai En's attacks.
In just two or three breaths, Captain Rill had familiarized himself with Bai En's attack style, becoming effortless. His movements became faster and smoother, as if he were walking on flat ground.
He even had time to joke: "Moshi Moshi, Bai En, can't you hear me now?"
"How—do—you—make—the—water—splashes…"
As Captain Rill muttered word by word, Bai En focused on his movements, then changed his technique in the next instant: "Ninth Form, Water Wheel, Turbulent."
By combining his sword form, muscle strength, and Mana Skin, several swirling torrents of azure water, shimmering with waves, instantly appeared around Captain Rill. They flowed and rotated, obstructing his vision.
Bai En pushed off the air, his body flipping. Incorporating techniques from Eighth Form, Waterfall Basin, he brought his Zhan Yan down with a fierce chop, and a column of water rose upwards within the whirlpools.
Captain Rill waved his paintbrush, and pigments bloomed. Cold air suddenly appeared in the night, and a layer of sky-blue ice rapidly condensed and spread across the ground. Using the smooth ice surface like a skating dance, he dodged the water column slash falling from the sky.
But a strand of silver-white hair still drifted in the air.
It was Captain Rill's hair.
In the instant he dodged, the blade threads of "Unleash" on Bai En's Zhan Yan still touched him.
"Captain, you have too many questions; I don't know which one to answer!"
"Can you ask one question at a time?" Bai En leaned on his sword, looking at Captain Rill standing on the ice.
Captain Rill's smile never faded, even when he saw that strand of his own hair. Though slightly surprised, his smile grew even more joyful. The sense of danger and excitement made his inspiration explode.
"Then I'll answer your first question… The flowing water and splashes on the blade are not paint, but technique!"
Bai En stepped onto the ice, warm breath exhaling from his nose and mouth. Veins bulged on his leg muscles. He advanced with his sword, the cold glint on the tip of the Zhan Yan blade faintly visible. "Water Breathing, Seventh Form, Drop Ripple Thrust."
A sharp thrust, accelerating continuously on the ice! The air rippled like a water surface, looking like a stacked spiderweb from afar.
This strike was frighteningly fast!
Captain Rill continuously slid backward on the ice, the condensed ice spreading all the way to the vast lake surface.
A long blue line was sharply cut through the air. Bai En followed like a shadow on the ice, passing through the wind net, carrying water splashes.
Occasionally, fish leaped out of the water, their scales catching the light, but quickly plunged back into the lake amidst the moving wind and cold air, swimming inward to hide themselves.
The sword light continuously magnified in Captain Rill's eyes!
Facing this deadly yet poetic strike, Captain Rill's inspiration reached its peak, erupting instantly. The grimoire with its colorful cover rapidly flipped, and magic script began to appear on the blank pages.
With just a simple stroke of the brush.
The vast lake surface immediately stratified like a cliff. A chilling aura permeated the air, and a massive sheet of ice split the lake water, floating in mid-air. Bai En thrust into empty space, his blade plunging into the thick ice cliff!
Under the moonlight, Captain Rill, standing on the ice cliff, seemed as if he could reach the moon in the sky.
High in the air, he was incredibly excited, having long since forgotten all the questions he wanted to ask earlier. He kept muttering, "It's coming, it's coming, it's about to come!"
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form, Constant Flux!"
Outside the ice layer beneath the ice cliff, Bai En pulled out his sword, twisting his body to cleave the falling ice blocks with Zhan Yan. He moved upwards, and faintly, a water dragon swirled within the ice cliff!
The ice blocks shattered layer by layer with blue light.
When the biting form of the water dragon burst out from beneath the ice, the ice cliff crumbled with a roar, splitting into pieces.
Broken ice blocks continuously fell into the lake, creating ripples.
Captain Rill lost his footing, but his paintbrush did not stop. Using two floating ice fragments, he soared into the air and painted another picture. The magic power surging from him was as vast as the sea.
The giant ice cone formed by sky-blue paint on his brush continuously expanded, until it faintly overshadowed the moon in the sky.
The roaring water dragon attacked, and the ice cone slammed into it. The water dragon and ice cone collided, sparking friction, but Bai En's water dragon fell downwards, eventually plunging into the lake. The ice cone and the tiny figure created an astonishing waterfall!
"Earth Magic, Chains of Dust and Sand!"
Nancy, who had been waiting for an opportunity, seized it and launched her attack. Chains of sand and earth erupted from the ground, striking at Captain Rill, who had lost his balance in mid-air. The chains bound him, suspending him in the air.
The moonlight under the full moon was exceptionally bright. Captain Rill's eyes reflected the moonlight, and with just a casual flick of his brush, a white storm instantly appeared, sweeping over the chains. The dust and earth chains snapped and fell away piece by piece!
He allowed himself to float downwards. In a moment of silence, the pages of his grimoire had just finished concocting a new spell. The paintbrush swept through all the colors on the palette, and the color that appeared was—black!
This was a color Captain Rill rarely used!
Under the moonlight, the figure rapidly descended. The lake, shimmering with blue light, turned pitch black, and ink-like black bloomed like a flower in the night.
"Painting Magic, Warriors of the Shadow Moon!"
...