Thelvaria, after finishing her swing, lowered her blade and watched Violet's trembling stance.
"I'm disappointed, I must admit."
Her expression twisted into something strange.
Is she… bored!?
"I was hoping for a stronger opponent… Someone who could give me a real fight."
She rolled her shoulders, almost lazily.
"Oh well. I'll play with you a little before I kill you."
She lifted her blade again and unleashed a second strike.
Violet was hit head-on.
The impact was just as violent as the first.
Her feet skidded back across the dirt—her barrier flickering, cracking under the force.
Keeping it up felt like pushing against a collapsing mountain.
But she couldn't give in.
It wasn't only her life on the line.
Nainai was right behind her—relying on her to protect him.
Instinct took over.
Violet thrust her staff forward.
It flared with light—releasing a sharp, whistling bolt of magic that shot toward the wolf-woman.
Thelvaria raised her sword and swatted it aside with contemptuous ease, shattering it like glass.
"I expected at least one proper hit…"
Her eyes narrowed with a predator's amusement.
"How pathetic."
She stared at the pair as a wild beast might gaze upon toys meant to be broken.
"You humans truly are weak. It amazes me you're still resisting the Demon Army at all. But it won't last. Your little struggle will be crushed soon enough."
Violet's body shook.
The gulf between their strength was too enormous—utterly impossible to close.
Thelvaria pointed the tip of her massive blade directly at her heart.
"Give up, little human. Accept your defeat."
There was no escape.
This was the first real battle Violet had ever fought.
She was alone, in the middle of nowhere—and no help would come.
Still, she forced herself upright, legs trembling violently.
"I won't… let you kill us like this."
"What was that?"
Thelvaria lowered her sword a fraction, leaning in mockingly.
"I can't hear you if you mumble, girl."
Violet's breath burned in her chest.
She drew every scrap of strength she had left, straightened her back, and locked eyes with the demon commander.
"I said… I won't give up. Not like this."
Thelvaria's grin widened into something chilling.
"So you've finally found your courage… Good.
Then prepare to suffer."
She swung.
At that exact moment, Violet heard movement behind her—
Nainai was trying to step past her.
No—Nainai, please, not now—!
Distracted for an instant, Violet shifted her body to shield him—
And Thelvaria's attack struck her full force.
It was a brutal strike.
The barrier she had raised with the last of her strength shattered with a sound like splintering crystal.
The blade of wind tore through cloth and skin, hurling her backward and slamming her into the ground.
Distorted sounds, dust, and then a stabbing, burning pain.
Thelvaria's Wind Fang, after colliding with Violet's barrier, had deflected slightly before breaking through—saving her from a direct hit, but still leaving her bleeding, broken, and sprawled across the dirt.
Violet lay on the ground, agonizing, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.
"D-Damn it…"
Her voice was a mix of fury and pain.
"All because of that… damn seal…"
Images flashed chaotically in her mind—the Guild, the journey, the missions—and now this.
Thelvaria's ears twitched. She stepped closer.
"What?"
"What did you just say?"
Caught off guard, the wolf-woman lowered her blade.
"Seal? That Seal?
Answer me."
Violet, dazed and half-blind, let the words fall out of her mouth.
"The seal… the Void… Sigillaria…"
Thelvaria's expression twisted in sudden anger.
"How do you know about the Seal?
Who are you?
Answer me—now!"
Violet tried to speak, but the words were slurred, disjointed.
Thelvaria stared down at her, nostrils flaring.
"Answer me! What do you know about the Seal!?"
She wanted an answer—
but the girl's state made it clear she wouldn't get one.
"Damn it…
I don't know who you are, little girl, but you know far too much."
She raised her blade again, rage burning in her eyes.
"Better to end this now.
Prepare to die."
Thelvaria lifted her sword for the finishing blow—
but something moved between them.
"What now?
Move aside, runt!"
Hearing that voice, Violet forced her head to turn.
Nainai had stepped past her.
And now he stood between her and Thelvaria.
"Out of the way!
After I'm done with the girl, I'll take care of you too!"
Nainai did not move.
His face—usually blank, quiet—was twisted with pure anger.
"Evil."
The word rang out, sharp and shaking.
Thelvaria blinked, genuinely thrown off.
"What? You talking to me?"
Nainai raised his arm—slowly, steadily—
and pointed straight at her face.
"Evil."
The wolf-woman's expression darkened.
"Do you want to die first, you little gnome?
If that's what you want, I'll—"
She jerked her sword downward in one violent, furious strike—
And Nainai, without flinching, without moving his feet, raised one hand… and stopped the blade mid-air.
Nainai's power caught Thelvaria completely off guard.
She pushed against her blade with all her strength—yet it wouldn't budge.
"What? How is this possible!?"
With a sharp motion, Nainai lifted the hand holding her sword, forcing Whitetooth to leap backward to avoid being thrown onto her back.
Crouching low, Nainai tilted his head forward.
A swirling white aura rose from his body, flickering with small, crackling black sparks.
On his forehead, a vortex of magic formed—spinning faster and faster—drawing in the energy of the world around them with a terrifying, humming roar.
"What? What do you think you're doing!?"
Thelvaria, who had ignored the dwarf entirely throughout the fight—convinced he was incapable of battle—finally understood.
The technique he was unleashing was far beyond anything a novice warrior should be able to perform.
"This… this is impossible…"
Nainai was ready.
He gathered every particle of energy he could reach.
And when the flow finally stabilized—he released it.
The vortex enveloped his head completely, and with a guttural, terrifying roar, he shot forward like a lightning bolt.
Thelvaria raised her blade, desperately trying to defend herself—realizing, too late, that the moment had already passed.
Nainai slammed into the sword with monstrous force.
The she-wolf braced with both hands, muscles bulging as she fought to withstand the impact.
The blade began to crack.
Thelvaria could do nothing but hold on, teeth bared, as the pressure drove her backward.
"No… No! Impossible!!!"
With a sharp, ringing snap, the sword shattered.
The path was clear.
Nainai burst through the broken guard and struck her square in the stomach.
Thelvaria lost her grip on the hilt, the remains of her weapon torn from her hands.
She was blasted backward, launched like a projectile with uncontrollable force.
Her scream echoed across the plains as she flew, tracing an arc through the sky before crashing into the distant treeline—shattering trees like twigs and sending a towering cloud of dust into the air.
Violet, who had managed—through sheer agony—to turn her head, witnessed the scene.
She tried to call out to him.
"N… Nainai…"
At the sound of her voice, the dwarf—still staring at the impact zone—turned and rushed to her side.
His expression was stricken with terror.
Violet was bleeding heavily, her consciousness hanging by a thread.
With the last remnants of her strength, Violet reached for him.
Their hands touched—
and then her eyes closed.
The world faded.
The sounds dulled to distant echoes.
The darkness swallowed her.