Chương 107: Chapter : 107

The triangular shields snapped into place right above their heads. But they didn't just block the lava. Zaima specifically angled the shields like a slanted roof. The boiling magma hit the white light and slid right off, completely missing the team and splashing harmlessly onto the cave floor.

"They are wide open!" Zaima called out. Elma didn't need to be told twice. She kicked off the ground, moving with incredible speed and absolute grace. She didn't use wild, flashy magic like Laxmi. She used pure, calculated precision. She jumped up, actually using Zaima's slanted triangular barrier as a stepping stone. Elma launched herself into the air, spinning her twin silver swords. She didn't swing wildly. She aimed exactly for the weak, glowing joints between the spiders' rocky armor. Slice! Slice!

With two perfect, clean cuts, Elma severed the legs of both magma-spiders while they were still in mid-air. The monsters shrieked and crashed to the ground. Before they could even try to recover, Celia was already moving. Celia threw a handful of small, glowing silver darts onto the ground around the fallen spiders. The moment the darts hit the stone, they connected to each other with a bright web of magical energy.

"Trap set. Execute," Celia stated calmly. The magical web suddenly exploded upward like a cage, completely trapping the spiders in a tight net of energy. The web squeezed shut, crushing the monsters into dust in a single second.

"Flanks are clear," Celia reported, stepping back into her exact position in the formation. It was absolutely flawless. They knew exactly who should strike first, who should defend, and how to chain their magical attacks together for maximum damage. They didn't shout over each other. They didn't get in each other's way. They didn't even have to look at each other to know where their teammates were standing. An Ash-Troll roared, charging forward and swinging its massive lava club at Elma.

"Switch!" Zaima commanded. Elma immediately dropped to one knee, ducking under the swing. At the exact same moment, another servant stepped right over Elma's shoulder, firing a high-powered blast of freezing wind magic that shattered the troll's lava club into a million brittle pieces. Elma stood back up, thrust her swords directly into the troll's chest, and kicked the monster backward. It was like watching a highly choreographed dance routine, but incredibly deadly.

They dismantled the first wave of the horde in less than two minutes. They didn't waste a single drop of mana, and more importantly to Elma, they didn't get a single drop of dirt on their white uniforms.

"Is that all of them?" Elma asked, flicking her swords to clean them off. She didn't even sound out of breath.

"I was hoping for a bit more of a challenge. These monsters are just big, clumsy targets." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Do not lower your guard yet," Princess Hestia said, speaking for the first time since the fight started. She was standing in the exact same spot, looking completely relaxed.

"The opening act is over. Here comes the main event." Deep inside the dark tunnel ahead, the ground began to shake much harder than before. A low, terrifying growl echoed off the stone walls. The heat in the cave suddenly skyrocketed, making the air shimmer and distort. Stepping out of the shadows was the boss of this tunnel. It was a colossal Magma-Drake. It looked like a wingless dragon made entirely of molten rock and burning fire. It was massive, taking up almost the entire width of the cavern.

Its eyes burned like mini-suns, and thick, liquid lava dripped from its jaws, melting the stone floor beneath it. Elma gripped her swords tightly.

"Zaima, we are going to need the heavy reflection barriers for this one. Its core temperature is way too high for close combat." But before Zaima could summon her shields, Princess Hestia slowly stepped forward. She walked right past her elite vanguard, her white silk dress trailing elegantly behind her. She looked up at the towering, terrifying Magma-Drake with a look of absolute, complete boredom.

"Stand down, girls," Princess Hestia ordered softly, waving her hand dismissively.

"You have done enough for now. Allow me to clear the path."

The elite servants of the 16th Unit instantly stepped back, completely clearing the way for their Princess. They didn't argue. They didn't try to protect her. They just lowered their weapons and watched, fully knowing exactly what was about to happen. Princess Hestia stood alone in front of the colossal Magma-Drake. The monster roared, shaking the cavern, furious that this tiny, fragile-looking human in a white dress was standing in its territory.

Unlike Princess Iris, who usually stayed in the back and let her vanguard do all the fighting, Princess Hestia had absolutely no problem stepping onto the front lines. In fact, she loved it. She loved showing off why she was considered one of the most untouchable Royals in the entire Empire. The Magma-Drake opened its massive jaws. A blinding, roaring pillar of pure, super-heated fire shot out of its mouth, aimed directly at Hestia. It was a blast of fire so hot it could instantly melt solid steel into liquid.

"Princess!" Elma smirked from the back, not worried at all.

"Don't let it ruin your dress!" Hestia didn't dodge. She didn't summon a glowing wall of energy. She didn't even raise her hands to protect her face. She just stood perfectly still and let the massive wave of fire hit her directly. But the fire never actually touched her. Exactly one inch away from Hestia's skin, the roaring, super-heated flames completely changed. The bright, blinding orange fire suddenly lost all of its color. The terrifying heat instantly vanished.

By the time the blast washed over Hestia's face, it wasn't fire anymore. It was just a gentle, perfectly comfortable breeze of warm air. It fluttered her auburn hair slightly and made the silk of her dress ripple, but it didn't burn a single thread. Hestia closed her eyes and smiled softly, enjoying the breeze.

"Ah, that feels quite nice," Hestia sighed pleasantly, acting like she was standing in front of a cozy fireplace on a winter evening.

"It is a bit chilly in this cave, anyway. Thank you for the warm air." The Magma-Drake snapped its jaws shut, looking completely confused. It had just unleashed its most powerful, deadliest attack, and the human hadn't even blinked. This was the terrifying power of Hestia's magic: Thermal Equilibrium. Hestia could not shoot fireballs, and she could not shoot ice beams. Her magic was completely defensive, but in a totally absolute way.

She could force any object, any spell, or any area around her to instantly become a constant, perfectly normal room temperature. It didn't matter if an attack was a thousand degrees hot or a hundred degrees below zero. The moment it entered her magical field, she forced the energy to perfectly balance out into harmless, seventy-two-degree air. To Hestia, elemental attacks literally did not exist. Fire and ice were just different flavors of gentle wind.