Chapter 14: The Taunt’s Weakness

For a moment, every bat-winged demon on the field charged madly toward Alesia.

Clearly, her signature spell, [Taunting Verdict], had a huge area of effect and worked incredibly well.

“Using that spell on a battlefield is just asking to die!”

Luka’s head ached. He muttered quietly, “I know you mean well, but I could have retreated on my own. I really didn’t need you to save me…”

Moye had sidled up beside him, grinding her teeth. “I know these high-and-mighty nobles all too well. She simply can’t stand being saved by people she considers beneath her. Our help makes her sick. She’d rather die than accept that a noble lieutenant had to rely on a recruit and a ‘deserter’ to survive. Hah, these Patino family lunatics are all like this. If I’d known, we should have minded our own business and let her die!”

Moye’s face, pale from heavy mana consumption, had flushed red with anger.

She steadied her breathing, grabbed Luka’s arm, and urged, “Let’s get out of here while that lunatic buys us time!”

But Luka stayed silent, as if deep in thought.

By all logic, the plan to rescue Alesia had fallen through. She wasn’t willing to cooperate, so there was no point trying to kiss up to her.

But when he calmed down and thought it over…

Moye’s guess about her motives wasn’t necessarily the truth.

After all, Moye was a seasoned old soldier. Her only two principles were molesting little girls and keeping her own hide safe. She would never hesitate to assume the worst about an “Imperial elite” like Alesia.

Besides, other than Luka, no one had the Death Rewind ability. Their fear of death was far greater than his.

The fact that Moye kept trying to flee despite believing in his danger sense said it all.

Under these circumstances, Alesia had a chance to escape, yet she chose to sacrifice herself.

Whether it was out of honor and pride, or genuine care for him as a new recruit, not wanting him to die saving someone…

Either way, it deserved respect.

Moreover, her signature spell, [Taunting Verdict], was something any comrade would kill to have.

People could complain all they wanted, but who wouldn’t beg a fellow soldier to cast a taunt and draw all the enemy fire?

If he had to critique without mercy, someone like Alesia was probably more reliable as a comrade than Moye… probably?

It was worth trying to save her.

After all, he had already steeled himself to burn some Death Rewind charges here.

“If we leave now, all our efforts are wasted!”

Having made up his mind, Luka looked at Moye and said seriously, “While she’s drawing their attacks, we can launch a surprise strike on the bat-winged demons. Trust me, my danger sense says the risk isn’t high. We’ll win!”

With that, he pulled his arm free from her grip and flew toward Alesia without giving Moye a chance to argue.

Moye was stunned. Watching Luka fly away, the corner of her eye twitched.

She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and chased after him.

Hundreds of meters away, Alesia was already exchanging fire with ten crazed bat-winged demons.

Fleeing at high speed was one thing; fighting head-on was another.

Alesia’s strength wasn’t much different from Moye’s. Both were two-star magical girls.

Moye had already struggled against eight bat-winged demons.

And Alesia, having burned through a lot of mana during the long chase, was now facing a full ten enraged bat-winged demons attacking at once.

Danger loomed on every side. She was on the verge of collapse.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luka flying over with Moye to support her. A trace of complex emotion appeared on her pale face.

Beyond anger, there seemed to be faint respect.

“Recruit, I order you to leave at once and continue the mission. Don’t waste the time I’m buying you!”

Alesia shouted, “There’s a powerful magical girl nearby who can fire light cannon blasts. Find her and report that I, Alesia Patino, served the Empire faithfully and gave my life!”

At those words, both Luka’s and Moye’s expressions turned awkward.

Moye let out a “pfft,” a mocking look on her face as she pointed at Alesia, about to say something.

Probably nothing nice.

Luka quickly turned his head and shot Moye a harsh glare, signaling with his eyes.

The taunt on the tip of Moye’s tongue was forced back down, her cheeks flushing red.

Luka sighed. Ignoring Alesia’s warning, he raised his magic gun and carefully aimed at the nearest bat-winged demon.

This bat-winged demon seemed trapped in an irrational frenzy, focused solely on attacking Alesia, completely ignoring Luka behind it.

“Wait, don’t…”

Seeing Luka’s movement, Alesia’s expression drastically changed.

Before she could finish her warning, Luka pulled the trigger of his magic gun.

Bang!

The magic bullet shot out, blasting a huge hole in the demon’s chest. Flesh and blood splattered.

With a pained howl, the bat-winged demon fell from the sky.

Luka felt a surge of joy.

Alesia’s taunt magic could actually make enemies lose all reason and completely fail to notice attacks from behind.

This was almost a wide-area crowd control spell, more powerful than he’d imagined.

As long as Alesia could hold out for another thirty seconds, he and Moye could easily pick off the bat-winged demons one by one from behind!

But before he could enjoy it for even a moment, the excitement froze on his face.

That single shot seemed to trigger an alarm, snapping the other bat-winged demons awake.

The remaining nine, as if roused from a dream, turned as one and looked straight at Luka.

“Magica! Kill!”

The bat-winged demons howled in fury, raising their magic guns one after another, aiming at Luka, who was caught off guard, ready to fire.

“What?! Attacking breaks the taunt on all enemies instantly?”

Luka was shocked.

In his understanding, a taunt should be an independent mental state on each enemy.

Even if you attacked one, it shouldn’t cancel the taunt on the others.

Clearly, Alesia’s [Taunting Verdict] wasn’t a control spell that directly dominated the enemy’s mind.

Its effect was probably just to amplify the bite of her words, making enemies more prone to rage and temporarily losing their reason.

The moment an enemy realized their irrationality had put them in mortal danger, they would snap out of it.

Thoughts raced. In an instant, Luka understood the principle behind the spell.

But the realization came too late.

He had charged straight into the demons’ firing line with no guard up.

Nine magic guns all pointed at the unprepared Luka.

Deadly magic bullets were about to rain down.

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