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Join the ServerTheresia watched in dismay as her strategy team members, the very key to securing victory, were shifted by the terrain from less than ten meters away to over a hundred.
Stone walls then rose, completely blocking their path.
The sudden plummet from triumph to despair left her heart in turmoil, unable to find peace.
‘Petrified’ was the only word that came to mind to describe Theresia’s current state.
Adding to her frustration, the very individual with ill intentions towards her was leisurely making sarcastic remarks nearby.
“Oh dear, it seems your comrades have more pressing matters to attend to.”
Theresia silently turned to Theodore, took a deep breath, and spoke with grave sincerity.
“Are you truly forcing my hand? You know how incredibly terrifying I am in my dragon form.”
“That’s why I said I’m not the same as before.”
As he finished speaking, Theodore’s body and the long spear in his hand rapidly expanded.
Amidst a brilliant white light, he transformed into a ten-meter-tall giant, towering before Theresia.
Theresia’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. What was with today? First, a transforming belt, and now a giant transformation?
She asked, bewildered, “Did you find a Spark Lens or something?”
His inexplicable words were completely ignored by Theodore, who had grown accustomed to Theresia’s eccentricities.
“Theresia, I understood one thing long ago: to reach an extraordinary black dragon, one must possess extraordinary means!” Theodore’s voice boomed like thunder through the boss room. “That is why I drank the blood of giants and gained their power. All of this is so I can *pursue* you!”
Theresia felt her scalp tingle. She decisively transformed into her black dragon state, matching Theodore’s size, and roared at him, “Theodore, it’s not too late to regret this! When I turn savage in my dragon form, even I get scared!”
With that, Theresia relentlessly displayed her fangs, sharp horns, and tail to Theodore.
She leaped about, continuously shaking the ground.
Perhaps she believed she appeared incredibly fierce and intimidating, hoping to deter Theodore.
However, in Theodore’s eyes, it was utterly adorable. Was she actually trying to flirt with him?!
He couldn’t look anymore. Theodore used sheer willpower to wrench his gaze away; if he kept watching, he wouldn’t have the heart to strike.
“Theresia, there’s no need for such theatrics. My resolve to *pursue* you will never waver!”
Theresia was utterly disheartened. In this form, she couldn’t easily hold back, but it seemed this man would never abandon his delusion unless she thoroughly subdued him with her dragon body.
“If you don’t want me to beat you too badly later, don’t say that word again, starting now!”
Theodore, feigning ignorance, asked, “Are you referring to ‘pursue’?”
“I said, don’t say that word again!”
A furious Theresia took a step, lowered her horns, and charged towards Theodore with her colossal body.
The duel between a giant and a colossal dragon, all over the word ‘pursue’, officially began!
****
Meanwhile, Lola was aiming the magic staff, which Theresia had spent a fortune procuring for her, at the witch who had supported her for many years.
Past events replayed in her mind like a rapidly spinning lantern. The thought of herself, a dignified Elf Princess, being treated as a servant, pet, pillow, cook, cleaner, and so on, ignited an uncontrollable fire within her.
Had Lola known that on numerous occasions, the Elf Queen herself had disguised as Samuel to enjoy her daughter’s meticulous service, she would likely have suffered a mental breakdown on the spot.
Originally, she had been magnanimous, considering these trials a necessary part of life.
Yet, she never imagined this witch would be so overbearing as to demand she simply return home.
Did Samuel think she was some stray kitten?!
She was a house cat! Someone else’s house cat!
Pah, no, she was someone else’s Elf Princess!
Elves shouldn’t be bullied like this!
“The s*ave contract seems to have given you an unclear perception of my current strength. Since you refuse to be civil, I shall make you so!”
Elves possessed extraordinary talent in magic, and Lola, being an Elf Princess, was no exception.
Previously, she had been restricted by the s*ave contract, and her mother had stripped her of all her equipment.
Several times, she had attempted to rebel against her superior, only to be beaten senseless by alchemy puppets before even seeing Samuel, leaving her unable to sit for days.
Over a hundred escape plans had ended before they even began.
But now, everything was different!
Numerous sparks erupted from the magic circle, striking Samuel like a flock of birds.
Samuel, seated on the stone giant, didn’t even react. A stone wall instantly blocked all the sparks, and amidst the numerous explosions, she shrugged.
“You still like these flashy things, don’t you?”
“Of course, and I also like performing tricks!”
Lola sneered, pointing her staff. The sparks that had exploded against the stone wall, seemingly harmless and drifting behind Samuel, suddenly flared, forming a fiery tornado that surged towards Samuel.
Samuel was slightly surprised. Just as she intended to have the stone giant block the attack, the previously agile, lifelike stone giant moved with mechanical stiffness.
‘Is this alchemy?’
Just as she could imbue inanimate objects with vitality through alchemy, that same vitality could also be stripped away through alchemy.
Lola had always feigned disdain for alchemy when she was with Samuel, but in reality, she had secretly studied it whenever Samuel rested.
The essence of alchemy was equivalent exchange. Although it was also driven by magic power, it wasn’t the same category as magic.
Magic involved converting magic power into specific elemental attributes and then wielding these elements to achieve effects like healing, destruction, or shaping. Simply put, it was like creating and using one’s own products.
Alchemy, while capable of achieving similar effects, utilized equivalent exchange. It bypassed the process of converting magic power into elements, much like a merchant’s trade. Magic power was treated as currency, and different alchemical arrays were like merchants selling various goods, allowing one to directly purchase the desired effect.
Its efficiency far surpassed magic, and its power was no less formidable.
However, alchemy was not as widely spread as magic because of its extremely high learning difficulty, requiring immense casting precision. Moreover, the very act of substance exchange carried significant risks.
Unlike stable magic spells, the intricate arrays and many small tricks of alchemy could only be discovered through practical application.
In essence, alchemy relied excessively on talent and intuition.
The further an alchemist delved into the field, the less of themselves they retained. Many misguided alchemists transformed themselves into monstrous beings, losing even their sense of self.
Though it began by chance, Samuel discovered that Lola’s talent in alchemy was in no way inferior to her own.
While she felt a little guilty towards her old friend, she couldn’t resist secretly guiding Lola to explore alchemy.
The initial firebirds were indeed magic, but the subsequent transformation of the sparks into a fiery tornado and the stiffening of the stone giant were all alchemical maneuvers.
If it had been purely magic, it wouldn’t have been so abrupt.
The fiery tornado engulfed the stone giant completely. Within the scorching flames, Samuel revealed a captivating smile, the intense heat unable to even singe her clothes. With a gentle snap of her fingers, the flames dissipated into a breeze.
But Lola had vanished.
The floor beneath her feet, however, transformed into a swamp, swallowing the stone giant’s legs.
‘Magic Devouring Swamp?’
Samuel recognized the spell. This magic swamp could continuously devour the magic power of any creature caught within it. However, it was the stone giant, not her, that was trapped.
Samuel stood up, intending to leave. Yet, to her surprise, countless plants erupted from within the stone giant’s skin, binding Samuel tightly.
By establishing a connection between her own magic power and the stone giant’s through the Devouring Swamp, Lola then used alchemy to convert Samuel’s magic power into her own.
With this converted magic power, she then cast the elven spell, Thorned Vines.
This was intended to catch Samuel off guard.
To prevent Samuel from using alchemy to convert the Thorned Vines, Lola had also applied an alchemical interference overlay to them. If Samuel attempted to convert them using her usual alchemical formulas, she would suffer a backlash.
Next, she only needed to increase her magic input, making the Thorned Vines constrict like giant pythons and grow even tougher. Then, victory would be hers!
She, Lola, hadn’t wasted all these years!
Previously, her magic spells leaned towards powerful, wide-area destruction. However, after being disciplined, she realized these spells were unsuitable for single combat.
Such magic required coordination with multiple troop types or a team to unleash its true potential.
Single combat demanded spells with low cast times, instant activation, and strong utility. Even seemingly low-level magic, when combined with alchemy and other spells, could unleash power no less than chanted incantations.
‘Just a mere spiritual body! Die!’
“Oh dear, little Lola has truly become incredibly strong.”
“Eh?”
Upon hearing the voice, Lola instantly erected a magic barrier and cast an acceleration spell on herself, first retreating from her current position.
After moving to a slightly safer distance, Lola finally looked at Samuel, who was leisurely observing her.
Samuel had appeared behind her without a trace.
Lola stared at Samuel in astonishment. “Spatial transfer? How is that possible? The labyrinth’s space is very unstable; using spatial transfer here, even with alchemy, makes it easy to be sucked into an alternate dimension.”
Samuel pointed to the constricting Thorned Vines. “Not quite, it wasn’t spatial transfer.”
Lola’s peripheral vision caught sight of stone fragments, resembling human skin, being squeezed out from within.
‘Gulp.’
Lola’s expression stiffened as she looked at Samuel. “Why is this happening? You brought more than one alchemical body?”
A spiritual body couldn’t arbitrarily attach itself to other objects; doing so would cause it to rapidly dissipate.
Therefore, alchemists typically prepared alchemical bodies. These bodies were stable, flexible, and their power could be adjusted based on their crafting quality.
Unlike magic puppets, which required continuous magic input and were difficult to control, an alchemical body was essentially an alchemist’s second body.
Attaching one’s spiritual body to it created a clone.
Of course, useful items came with a higher production cost.
She had just destroyed Samuel’s alchemical body. It should have been correct.
“It is an alchemical body, little Lola.”
Samuel affirmed Lola’s thought, cupping her own cheek with her right hand and smiling lightly. “It’s just that, after that alchemical body was trapped by little Lola, I hastily crafted another one using the available materials outside.”
“Honestly, little Lola’s progress is so fast, it truly surprised me.”
Lola: “!!!”
“How is that possible?! Crafting an alchemical body is extremely troublesome; the steps are very complex. I still haven’t mastered crafting one, and you’re saying you just hastily crafted one? Haha, you’re trying to scare me, right?”
“Oh dear, little Lola seems to have mistaken me for an ordinary alchemist.”
Samuel’s lips curved into a beautiful smile, and countless profound alchemical arrays shimmered in her golden eyes. “I am an alchemist who abandoned her human body for alchemy, surviving in this world for over a thousand years. In fact, I am the strongest alchemist of modern times.”
A terrifying sense of oppression swept over Lola. “!!!”
‘This person is definitely not human!’
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore The Moon Reflected In The Water. Start reading now!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
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