I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 226

The soldiers led by Ariel immediately joined the battle, engaging Shepard’s elite guards.

As soldiers stationed beside the Robeheim Family’s master, they were among the crème de la crème, overpowering Shepard’s guards and steadily pushing the front line forward.

Observing this, Ariel seated Edgar and decided to focus on his treatment first.

There were no severe injuries, but it was clear that he was in a bad condition due to the excessive exhaustion of his stamina and mana.

Though she had never had much interest in healing magic, Ariel had picked up a few things from Minette and the healers in the castle just in case something like this ever happened, and it proved to be quite useful.

“… When did you learn this?”

As a faint red light emanated from Ariel’s hands, wrapping around him, Edgar felt his body healing and was taken aback.

Not only did his wounds heal, but he could feel his vitality and mana returning.

Just the other day, she had only been capable of the most basic healing magic, so it was bewildering to think when she had learned such advanced spells, especially considering the lack of time.

“Just here and there. You always push yourself, so I thought I should learn this kind of stuff.”

“Good grief… I give up.”

Even though talent was everything in magic, Edgar couldn’t help but scoff.

Seeing her casually mention high-level healing magic as if it were the simplest thing was just absurd.

Though he wasn’t well-versed in magic, this meant she might be more talented than even the legendary Albrecht.

“Oh, by the way, I saved your aide on the way here. Just in case you were worried.”

Ariel’s unexpected announcement brought a smile to Edgar’s face.

The situation he was most worried about was the fate of Leonel, who had infiltrated the enemy’s center with a handful of soldiers, and now she had saved him.

“Leonel? How?”

“At first, I almost killed him since he was wearing a Bertus family uniform… but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be your aide. He must have disguised himself to infiltrate, right?”

“Yeah. He thought this would be the best way to buy some time…”

As the memory flooded back, Edgar instinctively clenched his fists tightly.

Losses are inevitable on the battlefield, but thinking back to putting his friend in such a dangerous situation was disheartening.

Had Ariel not saved him, it was highly likely he would have met a tragic end.

In many ways, he felt indebted to her today.

“……”

Meanwhile, watching this scene, Shepard silently gritted his teeth.

Although the opponent was focused on healing her lover and not looking his way, he felt no urge to attack.

The red magical energy swirling around her felt as if it had taken on human form, glaring at him.

‘Is blood thicker than water?’

Hearing that the bloodline of royalty is rarer in some ways, the pressure it exerted was truly beyond imagination.

He had felt it before when they met at Robeheim Castle, but somehow this time it felt even more overwhelming.

He flinched.

As her gaze shifted back to Shepard after tending to Edgar, his body trembled slightly in response.

It wasn’t the pressure of a killing intent or magical power, but rather an instinctive reaction to her red eyes.

It was like the survival instinct of a rabbit encountering a lion.

With heavy footsteps, Ariel slowly approached Shepard, treading softly through the underbrush.

Without indicating any intent to attack or shifting her stance, that sight rang alarm bells in Shepard’s mind.

– Run, run.

Listening to the voice echoing in his head, he bit his lip until it bled.

His instincts were screaming at him to flee, warning him that she was not an opponent he could confront.

It was reminiscent of the first time he faced his master. Perhaps this was the majesty of the Robeheim bloodline’s power.

Soon, a drop of cold sweat rolled down Shepard’s cheek.

Since receiving grace from his master, he had never considered himself human.

And today, for the first time, he was face to face with someone he couldn’t regard as human apart from his master.

‘No, even if that’s the case, my duty remains unchanged.’

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he steadied himself.

Even if he couldn’t completely fend them off, he had to buy time until his master was ready.

An undying body is meant to be used at times like this.

Noticing the unease lift from his heart, Ariel’s brow quirked slightly.

She had assumed that a dog sensing the difference in authority would tuck its tail and run, but this was somewhat unexpected.

Still, it was just a dog, albeit a loyal one, she thought, as to her, they were nothing more than despicable beings allied with Albrecht.

“Does that mean you won’t run away like last time?”

“This time, I won’t let you go that easily. I’m not stupid enough to let my guard down.”

“You sure catch on quickly for no reason.”

Ariel smirked at Shepard’s nonchalant answer, finding it quite agreeable.

As he said, she had come up with a plan this time to ensure she wouldn’t let him slip away.

Having seen how he escaped last time, she wanted to avoid falling for the same trick again.

‘Even so, creating an opening could work in my favor. If worse comes to worst, I might have to target that man too.’

Noticing that Edgar made no moves to prepare himself, Shepard figured he wouldn’t join the fight.

In that case, he thought he could take advantage of his inattention. He might be able to deceive him twice by pretending to target him and then slip away somehow.

With that thought, without a moment’s hesitation, Shepard cast his spell.

Suddenly, hundreds of sharp spikes appeared behind him, rushing toward Ariel.

It was the same spell she had witnessed back at Robeheim Castle.

“Humph.”

Even in a weakened state, Ariel effortlessly wiped away the magic that even the best of Karvita warriors had struggled to dodge, as if she were merely swatting away a fly.

The spikes vanished from sight as if melting away like butter on a hot pan, leaving Shepard dumbfounded for a moment, but he quickly regained his focus and prepared his next attack.

Grumble.

As if to prevent her from catching her breath, a strange sound arose from the ground, and a thick, black liquid surged up and engulfed Ariel.

It was the same attack that had caught Edgar moments earlier, and the fact that it moved like it was alive made it difficult to fully defend against it.

Just as Edgar was about to shout for her to dodge, Ariel waved her hand lightly through the air again.

Before the grotesque liquid could even touch her, it dissipated into nothingness as if it had lost permission to approach her.

“What!?”

As confusion filled Shepard’s eyes, he let out a scream of disbelief.

No matter how much of a skill gap there was, erasing magic without a hint of warning was far beyond the limits of humanity.

Was she employing some kind of trick?

“Expetonium.”

But stopping the attack would be a suicidal act.

Knowing this, Shepard prepared to cast his spell in earnest, constantly unleashing a torrent of attacks.

The purple energy that rippled from him started to fill the surroundings like fog, poisoning and disrupting the mana flow of its victims.

Seeing her defenses appear quite sturdy, he changed his approach to a magic type that she couldn’t defend against, instead of trying to take her down immediately.

“Ugh…”

As Ariel staggered slightly, she seemed to sense it was the perfect opportunity for Shepard to unleash his great magic attack.

A moment’s distraction was all he needed. Thanks to the effects of the Expetonium spell, he knew this was the time to gather mana!

“Salamandra!”

In an instant, Shepard condensed the mana and launched a high-level fire spell.

As two massive magic circles appeared in the air beside him and unleashed golden flames, Edgar, thinking she wouldn’t be able to defend against it, hurriedly rose from his seat to use the Aura Blade.

Ariel’s lips curled up slightly at the corner as one side of her mouth raised at that moment.

“El Kertha.”

“……!?”

The incantation for the top-tier ice spell flowing from her lips filled Shepard with confusion as he had been ready to celebrate victory.

Could it be that this was her plan all along?

Creak!

Almost immediately, the grand fire spell Shepard had confidently cast froze with an eerie sound and began to be consumed from the edge onward.

Realizing it was impossible to defend, he hurriedly canceled his Salamandra spell and surrounded himself with the remaining mana for protection, but it was still a hair’s breadth slower than Ariel’s spell.

“W-what the hell…!”

As the ice absorbing the flames swelled, it ultimately engulfed Shepard as well.

A massive ice pillar that seemed to tower at least four times his height obstructed the passage they would need to take, leaving the surrounding soldiers gaping in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.

A spell that devoured flames? Wasn’t that something out of legends only mentioned in ancient texts?

They had never imagined their master would be capable of such a feat.

What they remembered was the sight of a very young, innocent princess frolicking through the garden in her childhood.

“… Talk about chilling.”

Meanwhile, realizing that Ariel had emerged victorious, Edgar retrieved the weapon imbued with mana and let out a sigh of relief.

While he hadn’t believed they would lose, he thought he had become careless when her body had wavered.

However, who would have guessed it had all been a ruse to draw out his great magic?

“Are you okay? After sealing him up, he might escape if you aren’t careful.”

Seeing Ariel not deliver the final blow, Edgar expressed his concern.

She smiled and added a brief explanation about the magic she had used.

“It’s a spell that seals not only the consciousness but also the mana within the ice. Unless someone breaks it, he should be trapped for over a thousand years.”

After failing to discover how Shepard had escaped when he invaded Robeheim Castle, Ariel consulted Minette about it afterward.

Minette mentioned that it was likely a type of dark magic, suggesting that simply capturing or killing the body wouldn’t suffice; the soul or consciousness needed to be restrained.

The result was the scene before them now.

“That’s grim.”

Edgar chuckled as he stood before the massive ice.

Though there were ways to kill him if they truly wanted, leaving him trapped and writhing inside would be the fitting punishment.

In essence, death would be a luxury for a sinner. Truly an approach befitting Ariel.

‘She wouldn’t lock me up there if we ever had a domestic squabble, would she?’

Suddenly struck by an absurd thought, Edgar involuntarily shivered.

He kept it to himself, fearing it might become a reality.

If it were the likes of Ariel, it was entirely possible she might just do that.