Chapter 420: Practical Test

The light in the eyes of the lion head flashed violently.

“Is this what you’ve been doing all these years? Finally dug up some ancient, scrapped project?” the masked Jilannis asked, her tone biting. “Tell me, how much time and Energy did you waste making this… contraption?”

“What’s its purpose? Is it an alternative Spellbook to help you with your Casting? Does it increase the number of spells you can memorize each day?”

“Give me a break! Jilannis is no longer the helpless, pitiful wretch who was hunted by a few Elemental Lords! I can send them scurrying back to the Elemental Plane with a single hand, trembling in fear!”

“But it *does* have practical applications!” Jilannis could no longer hold back, retorting loudly. “It’s replicable! It can be subjected to repeated experimentation! Once the research on reducing costs and increasing efficiency is complete, this will be the most astounding creation in millennia!”

“Oh, please. Are you trying to fool yourself now?” the other Moon Elf sneered. She extended an index finger and began writing line after line of complex equations in the air. “Then let me show you what it would take to accomplish all this! How much Energy it would consume, and what the returns would be!”

“That’s just your bias!” Jilannis retorted, showing no weakness as she began to write out her own numerous calculations. “You should have faith in the results born from combining theory and practice!”

…

「Nine hours later.」

Ron emerged from his meditation and slowly opened his eyes. The Weaving Introduction floated before him, all his spells once again committed to memory. This Spellbook, which belonged to the Elf Grand Mage, seemed completely uninterested in participating in the debate between its former master and herself, and had instead grown a little closer to Ron.

“You’re awake?” Silvia glanced at Ron, looking somewhat exhausted. “I’m so jealous of you humans. You need a full eight hours of rest. I can only spend four hours on it, and not a minute more.”

Under normal circumstances, that twofold difference would have given her an overwhelming advantage over a human Caster. At this moment, however, Silvia only wished she could meditate all over again.

The reason was simple. As a student of Jilannis, the Vampire Mage could only understand her lessons because the Moon Elf was actively trying to teach her. But when she wasn’t trying to teach, Silvia could understand… no, she couldn’t even comprehend the individual words!

Listening to two Moon Elves argue with themselves was nothing short of torture for everyone else!

“Hush, some of us are trying to listen!”

A wheezing rebuke interrupted Silvia’s complaining. The group turned their heads, only to discover that the two Old Elves were actually listening with rapt attention. Beside the one who still retained a humanoid form lay several empty Alchemy Potion Bottles, without a single drop left inside!

“Didn’t you say you’d rather die than drink those?” Silvia’s lip twitched. “Did you lick them clean?”

“At least show some respect for your elders,” the Spider Elf added, much to Silvia’s surprise, also joining in on scolding her. “If you’re not going to listen, don’t disturb those who are.”

These two Old Elves had maintained their love of learning right up to the last moments of their lives!

Ron sized them up with a peculiar look, a trace of admiration rising in his heart.

Looking over at the two Jilannises, however, their argument seemed to be nearing its end. Although their long lives and vast experiences provided them with more than enough evidence to support their respective points, facing an opponent who was identical to themselves was draining their patience several times faster than usual.

“Enough! This is a waste of time!” the masked Jilannis said, hatefully swiping away the equations before her. Her voice was cold and harsh. “My only regret is not giving you more of my brain back then!”

“Then my regret goes back even further: I never should have done this foolish thing in the first place!” Jilannis, her arm wrapped in its gauntlet, looked just as frosty as she wiped her own writing from the air. “Without a proper driving motivation, even the highest efficiency is useless for achieving a goal!”

“That’s why I couldn’t save the Hailan Empire and chose to run away instead!”

“Enough talk. Let’s put it to a practical test!” Above her mask, gleams of Arcane Magic began to swirl, quickly converging into spell models, poised to strike. “Richthofen, stop these riffraff!”

“At once!” The Vampire Count stepped out from the black mist once more, striking a most magnificent pose. He was impeccably and beautifully dressed, poised, and impossibly elegant. “How much time do you require, my lady?”

“Three minutes will be enough!”

“Very well!” Count Richthofen performed an incredibly flamboyant bow toward the newly rested Ron and made a “please” gesture. “Lord Ron, while I have no confidence in defeating you all, I can certainly manage to stall for three minutes.”

“Then please.”

“What a show-off,” Silvia muttered, rolling her eyes and leaning toward Ron’s ear. “We already ruined his clothes earlier. That whole outfit is just an illusion created with Magic.”

“In other words, right now he’s…”

“You little brat! Before I hold anyone off for three minutes, I’m going to tear that mouth of yours apart!” The Vampire Count was already seeing red before the Vampire Descendant could even finish the last, most critical part of her jab.

The Two-Handed Heavy Sword appeared in his hands once more. Count Richthofen’s eyes lit up with a bloodthirsty red glow, and his entire body transformed into a black shadow, lunging straight for Silvia!

“This path is closed!” With a war cry that rivaled the roar of a monster, Sera charged in from the side. There were no advanced combat techniques to speak of; under the effects of the Giant Transformation Magic cast by Silvia, the barbarian, now like a true giant, slammed her entire body into the Lord Count, knocking him sideways out of his high-speed lunge!

“What’s so great about picking on Silvia? Pick up your weapon and try a few rounds with me!”

“‘Is that… the Grip of the Vast Wave?'” The two Jilannises’ spells exploded within the cavern, shaking the very ground. The masked Moon Elf glanced at the greatsword in Sera’s hand and instantly recognized its origin. “‘In that case, that boy from the Laine family—'”

“Stone dead. They did it,” the other Jilannis replied, her expression unchanging. With the aid of the Sword-Singing Lion Armor, she didn’t need to make an opening just to speak. “That slate has also basically fallen into their hands.”

“Then I suppose that’s good news for you—an incomprehensibly impressive toy actually turned out to have a use.”

“Not everyone is me, I’ve told you that many times,” Jilannis said. Amid a deafening clang of metal, she saw her chance. Her arm, encased in the Sword-Singing Lion Armor, stabbed like a sword toward her other self’s chest, almost completely shattering the Protective Magic. “All the research that you see as useless, for other people—”

“But unfortunately for you, you’re facing me today, not ‘other people’.” Facing the gauntlet less than two centimeters from her chest, Jilannis sneered. Her palms suddenly clapped together in front of her, catching her opponent’s hand before it could be withdrawn. “Is *this* the toy you’ve been researching? Then take a look at mine!”

“Command—!”