Spinning her staff to the left, Yumeha twisted her body along with it, aiming the staff at Flora's head. Lowering herself in time to dodge, Flora opened a hole in the swamp beneath Yumeha. With an upward motion of both hands, water rose along the edges of the hole, covering her enemy in a bubble.
"Forest attack."
Her trees, empowered by the magic of the skulls, released spells of sludge, water, fire, snow, thorns, and many others toward the bubble. Before they could reach it, both the bubble and the attacks were frozen in midair.
"You're not the only one with companions."
A line wrapped around Flora's leg, managing to melt it away very quickly. With a small expression of pain, she cut off her foot and leapt into the air using her other leg.
"This magic is going to be annoying."
Her severed foot regenerated as she looked at a rather disgusting long-haired creature. It was Akaname, and Yumeha had even decided it would be female, just as she had promised her master.
'With this, my master won't feel jealous.'
With a proud nod to herself, she summoned a second staff. It had a blue appearance with white lines crossing through the center.
"Ego Weapon Hakōshō."
A blue staff appeared in Yumeha's hand as if it had simply teleported there. That staff was the one Yumeha had carried with her for a long time, and by strictly following everything her master said about ego weapons, she had managed to unlock hers.
Her ego weapon could be used for any magic she infused into it, so Yumeha activated its special ability together with her magic. It was such a good weapon that she could even slightly change that characteristic by switching magic.
"Release."
Pointing her blue staff at Flora, a glow appeared, forming a translucent blue crystal. The crystal at the tip fragmented into dozens of blades of pure light. Swiftly, each blade flew in spirals or straight lines in a completely random pattern, confusing her opponent just long enough to make several cuts across her body.
"Swamp Serpent."
Moving away to dodge the remaining crystals, Flora summoned a creature behind Yumeha. The serpent bit Yumeha's shoulder, catching her by surprise since she felt nothing behind her. The reason she felt nothing was because this summon could hide its presence at an absurd level.
"Byakko, kill it."
A white bolt emerged from Yumeha's back in the shape of a white tiger. Its bite was so powerful that it split the summon in half with a single attack.
"Beautiful summon, but I have many, and just like that one, they will poison you constantly to hasten your death even more."
Several swamp serpents appeared throughout the area, hiding their presence. Yumeha clenched her hand and felt a tremor of pain from the poison. By her calculations, those five minutes had dropped to four minutes and forty seconds.
'If all these serpents hit me, I'll die immediately.'
With a smile, she summoned Hitodama beside her. In just a few seconds, it could constantly heal her, increasing her poison resistance by at least three times. This wiped the smile from Flora's face, which now became serious.
"Looks like now I can endure fifteen minutes."
"You… really are irritating."
Stepping on the air, Flora began to control the wind. Her magic could create anything that existed within a forest; this magic was very unique in this world and was exactly why her master chose her as his most loyal follower in the Dark Castle.
"Natural Wind Cannon."
An explosion of wind began to be fired through the air itself toward where Yumeha stood. With a simple movement of both staves, she created an ice barrier capable of holding those attacks momentarily.
Byakko moved around, white lightning enveloping his body. Swiftly, he went around eliminating all the swamp serpents. Lowering Hakōshō, she activated the second ability of her ego weapon.
"Expand."
From Flora's body, several crystals tore through her skin from the inside out. The second ability of the ego weapon needed to be used after the first, because when "Release" hit, it left trails of mana within the opponent's body. Of course, she could use it in other ways as well, like the one she would use now to defend against the giant tree behind her.
"Explode her."
The tree opened a second shattered mouth at the spot where the warrior stood, right in its center. With a burst of mana, a blaze of fire engulfed Yumeha, and the swamp below began to evaporate from the heat. After the flames subsided, the tree raised one of its branches and slammed it down with all its might.
"My master's is better."
The branch struck something hard, revealing a blue crystal shield. Whenever Hakōshō launched an attack, it also left mana trails in the air, giving Yumeha access to use the air itself to create her magic whenever she wished. Flora lunged at her, trying to tear her apart, but Yumeha managed to dodge in time. The carnivorous plant on Flora's body opened its mouth, surprising Yumeha. Biting into her arm, blood sprayed everywhere; the bite was strong enough to pierce her bone. Flora smiled as she watched it happen.
"Tsk."
Yumeha grimaced but endured it, clenching her jaw. With a movement of her palm, she erased Flora's smile when Koma Inu appeared beneath her, biting both her legs and tearing them off at once.
"Aaaahhh, you—"
"Now we're even— well, not really."
While her opponent began to regenerate, Yumeha poured a large amount of mana into her arm using the magic of the Yokai Aka-Oni, blowing the carnivorous plant into pieces and making Flora scream in pain once again. With this transformation, she could use up to two magics at the same time, with even better results than in her normal form.
"AAAAHHHH, DAMN YOU!"
With hatred on her face, the Nartheis used her strongest magic. The entire swamp darkened, and the trees rotted with each passing second. Yumeha noticed her body beginning to weaken along with everything around her.
'I see— she's connecting the surrounding magic to my body. She must have started doing this the moment I entered the prison.'
It seemed her opponent might be easy to anger, but she wasn't as stupid as Yumeha thought. Unfortunately for her opponent, she had done it far too late.
"Nartheis, I would like to say something to you people of this castle."
"I have nothing to say to someone who's going to end up in my collection—"
"It seems my master had a lot of fun with one of yours. Thank you."
With an almost gentle smile, Yumeha raised one finger upward. Flora noticed a shadow above her head. With eyes wide open, she saw the staff she had forgotten—yet the most dangerous one.
'Wai—'
The staff was wrapped in dark lines on the ceiling, and before Flora could react further, the lines that seemed to be holding it snapped, releasing Kagebarai. With tremendous force, it struck the head's shadow, opening a massive hole in the swamp, the ground, and even Flora's head, which was several steps ahead of it. With a twist of Yumeha's hand, the staff followed through with a dark explosion, completely destroying the shadow, causing the Nartheis to disappear without even having time to speak.
"Well, I've already thanked them for providing some entertainment for my master, so I don't need to thank any of the others."
With a smile, feeling that her master had finished a fight in a satisfying way, she undid her transformation. Behind her, Yuki-Onna congratulated her on the battle.
"That was the first time we fused, and you did so well. That's wonderful, Lady Yumeha."
"If you think so, then I'm excited to tell my master."
With a certain excitement about telling Enrico about her battle, she walked out of the prison together with her Yokai, while being healed by Hitodama, which removed the remaining poison and took care of the broken bone.