Although she was furious and silently scolding Alex in her mind, Phoenix reacted quickly to the dangerous attack.
As soon as he moved, she knew she couldn't block this spell.
The destructive energy was so intense that even from over ten meters away, it made her skin tingle painfully.
Without hesitation, Phoenix dodged swiftly to the side, even feeling herself almost tumbling to the ground.
There was no other choice; the sword's piercing aura was too fast.
If she had delayed by even a fraction of a second, she would have been struck by the terrifying magic blade, and those depending on her might have been completely destroyed.
Alex's strike was as powerful as he intended.
When the blue-silver sword energy shot out, it illuminated the area like a flashlight, stabbing through the fireplace where Phoenix had been moments before.
The sword sliced cleanly through the thick wood without any loud noise or violent vibration, just a sharp "swish," as the magic sword sank deep into the fireplace.
After releasing the magical power, Alex's strike left a perfectly smooth, fist-sized hole in the wood, almost invisible to the eye.
"Cut..." Alex muttered with a curl of his lips, clearly disappointed he hadn't finished off the phoenix in one blow.
He had been refining this move, [Fulmen Percutio], for quite some time.
The spell failed for the first time in actual combat, which left Alex feeling a bit frustrated.
Seeing the disappointed look on his face, Phoenix, who had just barely escaped, suddenly grew angry.
Because she had acted so hastily, she found herself in an even more awkward situation than before.
Her arms and legs were covered in scratches, and she was injured.
The nightdress she wore was torn in several places.
She wasn't wearing much to begin with, so now she was practically exposed.
But at this moment, she didn't have the luxury to worry about her embarrassment.
Alex's cold, no-nonsense attitude, focused solely on defeating her, weighed heavily on Phoenix.
What worried her most was the incredible strength and deadly skill he displayed.
On top of that, she remembered that he wasn't alone; he had several companions nearby.
If they showed up, her chances of escape would shrink even further.
To make matters worse, most of her equipment and magical items weren't with her.
If only she'd taken her space-controlling charms to bed with her, her habit of sleeping naked was definitely backfiring.
Cursing quietly to herself, Phoenix's eyes hardened with determination.
She knew that if she didn't pay a price today, she might not make it out alive.
"Umbra Excidium!"
"Tremor Metus!" she shouted, springing to her feet.
She swung her wand wildly, casting more than a dozen of her signature dark spells in rapid succession.
She also used [Earth Sticking Curse] and [Hidden Curse], hoping to cloud Alex's senses and slow him down.
But Alex was just as skilled in dueling, and these tricks barely did more than delay him.
His swift, powerful spell attacks were cut through effortlessly by Alex's sword energy burst, which sliced through the darkness like a shadowless blade.
Still, Phoenix wasn't trying to defeat Alex outright with these spells; she only wanted to buy herself a few precious seconds.
Suddenly, she flipped her wand upside down and drove it sharply into her own palm.
The wand, not designed to be sharp, pierced her skin under her determined force, and blood immediately welled up, dripping down her fingers.
Without showing any sign of hesitation or pain, Phoenix carried out an unimaginable act of self-mutilation.
Calmly, she pulled her wand out from the palm of her hand.
To everyone's shock, as the wand was drawn out, it dragged a long strip of blood from the wound, thick and slow like syrup, forming what looked like a whip made entirely of blood.
Once she had fully pulled out this blood whip, she lowered its tip to the ground, letting the blood stain the floor beneath her.
Then, Phoenix spun her body swiftly, using the blood whip like a pen dipped in ink, drawing a spiral pattern on the ground that curled inward, much like the she'll of a snail.
When the pattern was complete, she suddenly dropped to a squat and plunged the blood-stained wand straight into the center of the spiral.
"Guardian of the Netherworld!" she shouted, her face pale from blood loss.
At that moment, an incredible surge of magical energy burst from both her and the lines drawn on the ground.
The spiral pattern quickly shifted from bright red to deep black, and then a ring of smoky red and black mist began to rise from its edges.
As the smoke slowly faded, the spiral transformed into a circular, red-black hole on the floor, its surface bubbling with a thick, viscous liquid.
At that moment, the pool of liquid beneath Phoenix's feet glowed a deep, oily red, giving off a disturbingly grimy vibe.
Yet, Phoenix's snow-white feet stepped into it without a trace of dirt or stain, as if the slime itself had a life of its own and refused to cling to her.
Across from her, Alex was already moving at full speed, desperately trying to dispel the spell Phoenix was casting.
Despite his efforts, he couldn't stop her from finishing the ritual.
His magical senses picked up on the dangerous nature of the magic in play.
He could detect elements of space, darkness, and death swirling within that liquid pool.
This kind of ritual, which required sacrificing one's own blood, was usually tied to extremely dark and evil magic.
If Phoenix completed it, the threat would grow exponentially.
Without hesitation, Alex struck back, unleashing several blades of shadowless sword aimed at Phoenix, then lunged forward to close the distance for a direct attack.
Just as his invisible sword sped toward her, the ritual reached its climax.
The muddy liquid on Phoenix's feet suddenly exploded outward with a sharp bang, like oil bursting into flames.
From the churning pool came eerie howls, ghostly wails mixed with wolf-like cries.
Thin, skeletal hands emerged first, followed by arms, shoulders, torsos, and finally heads.
The creatures Phoenix had summoned through her magic, the so-called "Guardians of the Nether" from her earlier spell, stood before Alex.
Unlike the slow, zombie-like yin corpses he'd seen before, these monsters were clearly elite fighters.
They were humanoid but clad in tight-fitting armor, wielding either short or long-handled weapons.
Their gaunt faces were strange and dry, their eyes glowing red with an eerie light.
Oily, slime-like filth clung to their skin and armor, making them look like wet, armored skeleton soldiers.
Of course, they weren't actual skeletons, just skin stretched over bone, but their presence was every bit as unsettling.