Having saved her supernatural ability until now, a golden light erupted in her vision.

Swapping her view, astonishingly, there was a beautiful aura flowing like the northern lights.

Rosha realized that it was Cassis’s ability.

Swishhh-

Blue lights swiftly appeared in the air.

They soon formed into sharp swords and plunged into the creature.

-Just wait a bit. I’ll create something impressive with this power.

He had confidently said those words, and indeed, it was a result worthy of showing confidence.

However, the snake seemed more like a porcupine, not seeming to have taken a significant hit.

It contorted its body and stared directly at Rosha, opening its mouth wide. It looked like it was preparing to shoot that beam again.

“Oh no.”

“Block it!”

Duke Feriel’s sword radiated with magic.

A hazy mirage sharpened and was fired towards the snake’s eyes.

Kyaak!

But it continued to gather energy, risking blinding one of its eyes. It was as if killing Rosha would solve everything; the malice in its eyes was terrifying.

‘I didn’t realize the aggro from hard mode would be this strong.’

It was astonishing.

Trying to figure out how to dodge the beam, Duke Echerzen whispered and made his move.

“Just continue what you’re doing. I’ll handle that.”

In front of her, a powerful energy, not magic, spiraled at the tip of his fingers.

Suddenly, a red beam shot towards them. In that split second, the Duke forced energy into the space in front of them and literally ‘twisted’ it.

‘Is that… even possible?’

No matter how many ways to use this ability, it was truly an incredible level of creativity and application.

There was a reason why the [Guide’s Light] didn’t show any path even though the beam was about to be fired.

Kieeek-!

The snake, hit by its own attack, writhed violently. It managed to avoid a fatal blow, but a part of its skin was severely exposed.

“Phew.”

Duke Echerzen, looking exhausted, immediately suppressed the snake’s head. Hissing and sticking out its long tongue, it glared at Rosha, ignoring the others’ attacks on his exposed skin.

However, its eyes began to tremble.

Because the amount of magic she had gathered was now immense and even ordinary people could feel it.

Grrrrr-

She unleashed one of the most powerful fire spells.

She squeezed every bit of her magic, including the ambient magic, her potions, and her magic stone. Casting such a great spell was still challenging for her current body, but she managed to do it somehow.

A tiny white flame ignited from her trembling fingers.

Just the size of a fist, but it was packed with magic and slowly moved towards the snake.

Kieek!

Feeling this energy, the snake struggled free from the Duke and tried to escape towards a crack. But, it couldn’t evade a casted grand spell.

However.

“Damn…”

“My God.”

People sighed as they saw the air suddenly shake and dozens of small rifts appeared. The snake had one last trick up its sleeve.

From the rifts, demonic beasts began to emerge. Seeing this, Rosha cursed under her breath.

‘Damn…’

It was a moment of choice. Whether to kill the creature or save the people.

It’s always like this.

Fighting at the boundary between life and death, she constantly found herself making choices. Complaining about this unreasonable demand was even a luxury.

But this time, she decided to choose both, not just one.

“I’m going.”

The white sphere heading towards the creature started to turn golden a little earlier than expected.

The protective shell that emitted a white light peeled away, revealing flames tinged with red and blue that ignited at an appropriate height in the air.

A sea of fire that wasn’t scorching.

It spread like there was another layer in the airspace, not emitting the kind of heat that would melt one’s entire body.

It simply waved gently, becoming a physical entity that swallowed the beasts who had been arrogantly looking down on the flames.

Kwaaah-

As the waves covered the rifts and blocked the demonic beasts, those who watched were astonished.

“Unbelievable…”

“What in the world…?”

However, as the fire waves gradually consumed the demonic beasts that had been chasing the snake, its speed slowed. Of course, the snake was also significantly slower, but it didn’t stop moving.

“…Ha.”

She felt like she could capture it with just a little more effort, but her magic power was running low. She felt as if her entire body had emptied, and her breath was choked.

But Rosha didn’t give up.

‘Guide God’ encouraged that there is still a way.

Looking at the sea of flames spread out before her, she inexplicably pulled out a sacred relic from under her dress.

When she looked at it through the [Guide’s Lantern], it shone brightly in a golden color.

“…”

She felt a strange certainty that it was left for this moment.

Her concentration was at its peak, and strangely enough, she knew what to do. Rosha instinctively moved the magic power contained in the gun slowly.

Then it made a clicking sound.

-Unique ability ‘Prediction’ temporarily unlocked.

-Unique ability ‘Magic bullet’ temporarily unlocked.

A hologram in the shape of a circular band, like a lie, appeared in front of the gun’s muzzle. Transparent scales and gauges attached to the band pointed in the same direction as the [Guide’s Lantern].

Gathering all the magic power contained in the gun into one bullet, she silently pulled the trigger.

Baang!

Everyone stared at that bullet as if they were entranced.

A silver bullet made of magic power went through the sea of fire.

Instead of slowing down, it caught fire and formed a long tail-

It struck the snake right between the eyes when it turned around.

“…!”

Silver seeped between the scales.

The creature, which had been wriggling for a moment, fell heavily without being able to support its massive body.

Checking that the light in the creature’s eyes was gradually extinguishing, Rosha looked up at the sky.

Perhaps because the Master of the Trial had died?

The pitch-dark sky began to regain light, as if it were clearing up after a rainstorm. The rifts that the creature had opened also gradually disappeared, like a wound being healing.

And the most important part.

‘The Master of the Trial’ has been defeated, and the first trial is completed.

Individual rewards will be given after the merit calculation. You are first place.

Ha. She delivered the finishing blow.

Exhausted and staggering as if all her strength had left her, Rosha fell unconscious.

Without knowing that someone was hugging her body.

* * *

After the trial, the sky was as clear as after a rainstorm.

Cedric placed fresh flowers in a vase by the sunny window.

The reason he was at home when he should have been busy with a sudden disaster was purely thanks to the Empress’s consideration.

After arranging the flowers in the vase, he sat down and looked at the letters on the table one by one. They were all curious about the same thing, only the content was different.

-By the way, how is Lady Aper? …It would have been nice if I could give her a seat when it’s convenient for her…

-Please accept my regards to Lady Aper, who we hope will recover safely. We will send medicinal herbs that are good for the body as well.

-If you accompany Lady Aper to the charity event held by our family next month, it would be an honor without equal.

With each letter, there was no shortage of mentions of his younger sister.

Cedric frowned and looked at the bed beside him.

“…”

Rosha was lying there as if she were dead, with his hands clasped together.