Gacha Kingdom Building

--This chapter is written using Licia's POV--

Three Gifts in thirty seconds. Our pace was barely enough to even create a chance of striking down a Giftless Normyu.

However, out of his seven remaining Gifts, we knew that one was the Black Spot Curse.

I thought that Claire would be cautious around it, and that her performance would suffer a little since this was the curse that almost killed her, but surprisingly, she almost instantly shook off any fear and uncertainty in her heart.

From the look in her eyes, I could tell she was determined to win this fight, no matter how dangerous it might be.

Her courage was impressive, but as much as I wanted to admire her, I couldn't afford a second.

She had swung her fire-coated sword, launching several flame slashes against Normyu, who blocked them all with his spear as a slow-moving water stream trailed its tip.

As the spear swirled, the water stream launched a few water bullets to counter-attack Claire.

These weren't a problem at all, and she swiftly destroyed all of them.

However, as the flames had not dissipated and Normyu was forced to block them with his spear and magic, we believed he had changed from his gravity control Gift, and so, we rushed towards him.

Luckily, I was in a pretty good spot, standing almost directly above him in the ice pillar I had created to escape.

All I had to do to get to him was jump down, but he took a few steps to intercept Claire, so I decided to make the most of it and turn the ice pillar into a small ramp by curving its end.

This way, I gained a lot of momentum and reached him before Claire.

Of course, I also turned the pillar behind me into a bunch of icicles, forcing him to intercept them with his spear and expose himself.

The timing worked perfectly, and I raised my sword to strike him, but...

Licia: "...!?"

Claire and I fell right into his trap.

He didn't use his Gift and blocked Claire's magic with his lance on purpose, knowing it would lead us to believe he had changed Gifts.

He also read our plan well, knowing that we would rush him to keep up the pressure as soon as we thought the gravity control was over.

When Mia told us about her battle, she always expressed how much the White Knight's fighting style resembled Melissa's.

At the time, I dismissed this information a little since Mia was mostly trying to argue about the White Knight's identity and Melissa had always been a more instinctive-type of fighter, but...

I should've thought about the implications more carefully.

Gerbil's undead knights, while not able to think, still seem to retain enough information to employ the tricks and strategies they were used to when they were alive.

Even if unconsciously, they can still read the battle and their opponents.

Licia: "...[Ice Veil]."

Claire, who fell to the ground at the same time as I, couldn't help.

Even if she tried to use magic, now that he had revealed his hand, Normyu would probably dissipate it or redirect it.

Her only option was to retreat.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do the same.

Facing the incoming blade, I activated one of my skills.

[Ice Veil] has reached such a high level that I can decide how much mana I can use on it, up to my entire mana pool, even.

This would practically guarantee that any attack coming my way will instead cause the attacker to be frozen solid before their weapon reaches me, but this time, this was not what I intended.

Long ago, before Miwen summoned me, I also had this skill at a high level.

And at that time, I noticed something curious about it.

While the user's mana leaves the body the moment the skill is activated, this mana remains in the air, coating the user's body until an attack reaches this mana layer.

As such, as long as an attack doesn't reach it, the mana will stay there.

So, by choosing to spend 20% of my total mana on this skill and cancelling it before the Black Knight's spear reached me, I could completely ignore my mana output limit by taking control of the mana around my body.

With this, I sprang forth two ice blades from the ground, blocking Normyu's attack and saving my neck.

Since I didn't have time for a spell, this was the only way to get enough mana to create a powerful enough ice formation.

Claire: "...!"

And well...

It also allowed me to create a third ice blade that pierced his chest.

Although I couldn't tell whether or not I touched his heart, since as an undead, even if that were to be cut in two, he'd still stand.

Nonetheless, just before stopping him, I felt the weight on my body being lifted, so I used this opportunity to engage him as Claire came from behind to strike him down.

For a moment, it felt like we would win right there and then, but as expected, it was not that easy.

With his lance still pointed at me, he launched a water jet.

It was fast, but not something I couldn't dodge.

The real problem was that he continued this attack, following me with his spear and not allowing me to get close.

This should have left him exposed for Claire to attack, but aware of the danger, he raised his lance above his head, swirling it in a circular motion and releasing the water jets in every direction like a barrage.

Claire cut through it with ease, but when her sword was about to reach him, lightning covered his body before an immense shockwave sent her away.

The water puddles that formed on the ground because of his water jets also became a problem.

It was like running through a minefield, and we couldn't stop for a moment due to the water jet.

Claire: "...Enough!"

Yeah... She was pissed.

I couldn't blame her either, even I was getting fed up. There were too many things to watch out for at once.

His mana control was as good as mine, if not better, so I couldn't outright freeze all of his water puddles, but I could create enough of them to create a safe path for me and Claire to reach him again.

As for the water jet...

Claire took care of it.

She prepared a fire tornado and forced Normyu to meet it with his lance.

As their magic clashed, steam covered everything, and I tried to use the opportunity to cut one of his limbs off.

It didn't work too well for me, but Claire actually managed to do it.

Claire: "You've gotta be kidding me."

We heard from Skuld about how the undead would fight even if their limbs were cut off. And that even the cut-off limbs would still move, but this was definitely something else...

The arm Claire cut off was still moving while a new one grew in its stead.

Licia: "That's... Isn't that a little unfair?"

With this ability, our plan was screwed.

He didn't have to change Gifts anymore, as long as he kept this one up, he could stall us until all other Gifts had returned.

Claire: "He has died once already, though."

Licia: "True..."

So, the question is... How?

Was it poison? Maybe a curse?

Hm...

No, he died on Maides Island, supposedly right after his battle against Melissa.

Even if he is this strong, if something was already destroying his body from within, Melissa would probably have won.

Not to mention the timing...

Licia: "There might be a limit."

Claire: "Same plan, then?"

Licia: "Yeah..."

We did our best, but we failed on our first attempt.

Whatever this Gift's limit was, Normyu managed to stall us long enough with it for the other ones to go off their cooldown.

This wasn't enough to make us give up, though.

We tried again, again, and again...

Hardly anything was changing, except for...

Licia: "He's not using as much magic."

Claire: "Maybe he is low on mana?"

Licia: "Probably."

Since his level was so high, his mana pool was much bigger than ours, so it was hard to notice it at first, but his fifth Gift probably had a mana cost, even if small.

Unfortunately, I had also spent quite a bit here and there, and Claire was never the type to use hers sparingly either, so we weren't doing much better in that regard.

Licia: "Huff... Fifteen seconds left..."

Claire: "How many left?"

Licia: "Three."

Claire: "Shit..."

After we got past his regeneration, we became acquainted with his sixth Gift, as flowers decorated the handle of his sword, and its petals accompanied every single one of his strikes.

Whenever he cut down the petals, any magic was instantly deactivated.

The seventh Gift was even more fun.

His reaction speed increased to what felt like tenfold, and against two humans who get tired surprisingly easily, this felt like another insurmountable barrier, as Normyu's corpse never tired.

With this Gift, he handled both of us in close-quarter combat, and we couldn't get a single hit in.

The only way we found to defeat him was to have Claire make damn sure that no reflex would save his ass while I used my magic to bind his feet to the ground.

And when we did, we finally met his eighth Gift.

He couldn't dodge Claire's attack, so he had to use his water magic to protect himself.

However, this time, the magic he cast was strange.

While still liquid, whatever he was using had a reflective silver color, resembling metal much more than water.

Not only was he able to block Claire's magic with this, but it seemed like he got the upper hand against both of our combined attacks.

With only fifteen seconds left before his Gifts started to go off cooldown, three Gifts left to use, one of which we still didn't know, it felt like this attempt was going to be another failure.

However...

Licia: "It's not over yet. Start chanting with whatever mana you have left."

Claire: "Huh? Wait, you're not going to-"

Licia: "Trust me!"

Frankly, this battle was incredibly tiring to me.

It was short, but we had to keep a constant offense, which meant using almost every trick I had at my disposal.

While Claire could keep her fighting style for as long as her mana lasted, I was bound to lose effectiveness by showing the same hand over and over again.

If we didn't win in this attempt, our chances would be too grim for me not to have Skuld and the others take over.

So I charged forward, doing my best to move my tired body to evade his magic and block it whenever possible.

When I reached him, I did my best to force him back and have him reveal his last Gift, but it was to no avail.

I felt the pressure on my shoulders.

His gravity control had returned.

It took me all the strength I had just to stand, and the most I could do was make sure his spear didn't hit any vitals by allowing the gravity to pull my body down.

He pierced my shoulder, just barely above where he was aiming...

Then, I felt it.

A black spot started to spread, making my blood gush out.

Licia: "...Looks like I won."

It was a 50-50 bet, but if he could really strategize, then the chances of him keeping one Gift hidden, just for the sake of keeping his opponents on their toes, were actually a little high...

Which meant he would probably use this one to finish me off.

Grave mistake, though.

[Ice Veil] activated, turning him into a popsicle almost instantly.

As the two fast-approaching suns Claire had cast approached us, the black knight popsicle standing in front of me melted in seconds.

It brought me enough time to drink a mana potion and save myself, but this was it.

Not only had the ice melted, but the corpse inside the armor did as well.

The pieces fell to the ground as the man had turned into a blob of boiling... grotesque stuff.

Claire: "You absolute-"

Licia: "Don't worry, if it's just this much I'll be fine..."

It was just one potion after all, so... Not the same as before at all.

Or so I thought.

I ended up losing the strength in my body and almost falling...

Licia: "Shoulder? Pretty please?"

Claire: "You sure know how to make the best of any given situation, huh?"

Licia: "Tehee~"

Although the undead could still attack even with their removed limbs, in the state Claire left Normyu, he was no problem at all.

There wasn't anything he could attack us with.

However....

Licia: "...!"

Claire: "...What the hell was-"

A section of the castle right in front of us started to fall.

The sound was explosive and almost deafening, and the shockwaves it sent through almost made both Claire and me fall this time.

Claire: "I hope that was Anna."

That would mean Mia lost, though...

But it would be better than having her-

Licia: "Let's go. No matter the result, we should be there for Mia. Skuld, can you give me a shoulder too? And have the others bring the black knight to Angelica..."

Skuld: "Yes..."

Claire: "You..."

With a beauty on each side, I was escorted inside the palace.

There, we witnessed the final moments of Mia's fight.