Selena's needles severed the flow of mana within living beings. Until now, her techniques were solely meant to directly target her opponents.

Because the needles directly targeted the enemy, they couldn't recklessly use magic or ranged attacks, effectively serving as a deterrent.

But just now, the magic itself was struck by a needle and vanished, just like every living being that had been hit by Selena's needles before.

‘Could it be, the flow of mana...!’

Did she read the flow of mana from the magic her opponent cast? In this short amount of time?

As if to confirm his thoughts, this time a needle shot towards the ceiling, piercing through all the shadow blades and making them disappear.

‘Frondier was almost devoured by countless evil spirits.’

Back when they destroyed the Fragment of Helheim.

Selena remembered the feeling of helplessness she felt then. Standing beside Frondier as he took the brunt of the liquid from the Fragment of Helheim, she couldn't do anything.

As his supposed escort, that moment remained a source of immense guilt and humiliation for her.

If only she could have interfered with the souls, or even touched their mana...

She wouldn't have cried like a helpless child.

‘I can't show such pathetic behavior again.’

Now.

Two needles left.

Tap!

Selena jumped up and kicked off the wall. Reversing her body mid-air, Selena...

She launched a needle towards the ceiling. The shadow magic collapsed, and the cave ceiling became safe.

Her foot touched the ceiling.

Of course, Selena didn't have the ability to stick to the ceiling. Her foot only made contact for a brief moment.

But in that instant, Selena balanced her body and exerted strength into her muscles.

One needle left.

Boom!

Her aura-infused foot kicked off the ceiling, and Selena's figure flew towards Hagley.

With the last remaining needle in hand, she drew a line aiming for the enemy's neck.

“Foolish!”

Hagley used Shadow Transfer. There was nothing at the spot where Selena was about to land.

However, Selena knew Hagley.

Hagley would definitely...

‘Now.’

He would target this moment when she was in mid-air.

Swish!

Selena turned her body and extended the needle towards her back.

Hagley would arrive there. He had to.

──However.

Thwack!

Even though all her predictions were correct...

“That was dangerous.”

Hagley blocked Selena's needle.

He had read that she would reach behind him through Shadow Transfer, but anticipating her movement, Hagley deflected the last needle with his shadow.

Just as Selena knew Hagley...

Hagley also knew Selena.

Thud!

Selena fell from mid-air. Hagley stood above her.

“You've grown, Selena.”

“…….”

“But that's all there is to it. You couldn't surpass my expectations.”

Hagley's shadow twisted, splitting into multiple strands and extending outwards. Like tentacles, they formed thorns aimed at Selena.

Selena blankly stared at the sight.

She couldn't predict what would happen next. That's why she tried to settle things with the remaining four needles.

But she failed. Her best efforts and strategies crumbled.

Therefore, Selena...

‘……What the...’

The needles, which she always held four in one hand, should have been loaded in multiples of four.

‘What is this remaining needle!’

She loaded the last needle inexplicably embedded in her clothes and shot it at Hagley.

She didn't know where this needle came from.

She didn't know what would happen if she used it.

Whether it would help her, or lead to something even more terrible, or if it was something else disguised as a needle...

She didn't want to use it because she didn't know.

But...

The needle Selena threw was, unlike the others, pitch black.

“……!”

Hagley's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Selena's needle.

However, even that...

Swish─

Hagley barely dodged it by tilting his head back. It grazed his skin, but the flow of his mana remained unaffected.

“……Hmph, you're still doing pointless things.”

Hagley said, breaking out in a cold sweat inwardly. He pretended to have expected it, but he hadn't.

If there had been one last needle, they wouldn't have been driven into such a dangerous situation.

It truly was the last remaining needle. Selena relaxed her body, drained of strength.

‘She's finally given up.’

Confirming this, Hagley aimed his shadow thorns at Selena.

And just like that,

Thump!

He collapsed sideways.

“……?”

“??”

Both Hagley and Selena were momentarily stunned, unsure of what had just happened.

Hagley tried to exert strength into his hands to raise his fallen body. However, his body wouldn't budge. No, he couldn't even exert strength into his hands in the first place.

Hagley had fallen beside Selena. Slowly, she rose and distanced herself from him.

Selena couldn't understand what kind of trick this was; it seemed as if Hagley was playing some absurd deception.

“Sel-, what did you do to me...!”

But Hagley's face was filled with bewilderment. His outstretched hand towards Selena was definitely not an act. There was no point in him putting on such an act, and she could see through it anyway.

And above all...

“……No way.”

Selena had seen that look on Hagley's face once before.

─Is he dead?

─Not yet.

It was when she and Frondier entered the Sacred Forest.

After hitting the bat with a dagger, Frondier had said those words.

‘Could it be... Could it be...!’

─There are exactly 24 needles in this wrist right now.

Selena had explained about her attire.

About the structure of the needles she launched.

─Some adjustments need to be made to the sleeves and waist. There's not enough storage space.

─The needles are always loaded in multiples of four. When I hold them in my hand, exactly four are launched at once.

Frondier, who knew that Selena judged the remaining number of needles by their weight and always loaded them in multiples of four...

He knew that if he placed just one needle in her clothes, Selena would sense it.

A single needle that even Selena herself was unaware of, a single needle that Hagley could never suspect.

A single needle made of 'Obsidian,' imbued with the poison of the Slevb.

─It's alright.

Selena's eyes trembled.

For some time now, she had experienced moments when an unknown emotion would well up inside her.

It would sometimes overflow, uncontrollably dyeing her, a former assassin, in various colors.

She didn't know what it was.

No, she tried not to know.

─You have nothing to cherish.

“……Huu, uhuk…….”

Selena covered her face with both hands.

She wanted to hide the tears that flowed, the distorted expression on her face...

And above all, she wanted to conceal the overwhelming emotions that poured out, dyeing her in colors she couldn't handle.

Selena had tried for so long to ignore the emotions that colored her, but...

In truth, she knew clearly.

From the very first moment they touched her, a long, long time ago.