"The shadow of death hangs above us all. Some may be harder to accept than others, but unless you get past that there be no future!"— Tsunade, Naruto

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  "So this is the mining city of Gedonelu's like a ghost town," Ri ented, the dipidated surroundings.

  "It's been abandoned for decades. It's no surprise it looks like this," Cire replied, her eyes narrowed as she peered into the darkness.

  The ruined buildings were dotted with flickering will-o'-the-wisps, emitting an eerie pale light.

  These were low-ranking spirits, drawn to the abandoned city.

  Evil spirits often gathered in such desote pces.

  "Hey, you get off him now?" Cire gred at Fianna, who was still ging tightly to Roy.

  "No, I have to protect Roy. I 't leave his side," Fianna insisted.

  Roy sighed inwardly.

  She was clearly terrified, yet she still cimed to be proteg him.

  "You're the one who needs prote! And where's your tracted spirit? The Elementalist who stole the dots might be nearby. You should summon your spirit and be prepared," Cire chided, though her words held a hint of .

  It was true that they could enter da any moment in this pce. Being prepared was crucial.

  "Well..." Fianna faltered, uo refute Cire's logic.

  But summoning her spirit was easier said than done.

  She bit her lip and turned away, trying to maintain her posure. "It's... not the right time yet! The tracted spirit of the Ordesia royal family is different from your cat. It 't be summoned casually."

  "What did you say?!" Cire bristled.

  Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

  "What's happening?"

  "Is that ahquake?!"

  "It must be the Strategic-Css Elemental. The seal has been broken," Roy said, looking towards a nearby mountain.

  The mountain crumbled, colpsing inwards.

  Smoke and dust billowed from the newly formed chasm, obsg the se.

  "This is bad!"

  "That thief must have dohis!" Ellis excimed, g her fists.

  "What do we do? If the Strategic-Css Elemental falls into enemy hands, it'll be disastrous," Ri said worriedly.

  "Let's go check it out. If the Elemental has been released, we'll have to deal with it," Roy said with a shrug.

  The girls nodded in agreement, and they cautiously approached the colpsed mine.

  ...

  As the dust settled, they could finally see the Strategic-Css Elemental.

  It was Jandr, a monstrous serpent from hology, said to be rge enough to encircle the world.

  It was the most powerful monster among the giants, known as the "Midgard Serpent."

  It was the sed child of Loki, the god of mischief, and the giantess Angrboea.

  Its siblings were Fenrir, the monstrous wolf, ahe goddess of death.

  Its nemesis was Thor, the god of thuhe stro among the gods. Due to its destructive potential, Odin had cast it into the depths of the o.

  The Jandr before them, although not the one from mythology, was simir in appearance.

  And its fate was also quite simir. Due to its ferocity aructive tendencies in the Elemental Spirit World, it had been sealed by the Elemental Lords and cast out.

  It was then used by humans as a on of war.

  But it was eventually sealed again.

  Now, freed from its seal, it rampaged, destroying everything in its path.

  Cire and the others were terrified by its monstrous aura.

  "Is... is that a Strategic-Css Elemental?"

  "It's terrifying!"

  "There's no way we defeat that!"

  "It has been pletely unsealed. I 't reseal it now."

  "Don't worry, I'll hahe big snake. Your oppos are over there," Roy said calmly, pointing towards a group of figures approag them.

  The girls followed his gaze.

  A horde of skeletons, armed with rusty swords and clubs, marched towards them.

  Bck mist seeped from their bones, creating an eerie atmosphere.

  "What are those?"

  "Are they spirits?"

  "Maybe they're corpses possessed by low-ranking spirits."

  "Someone must be trolling them."

  The girls were startled but quickly regaiheir posure.

  "Protect Fianna while you fight," Roy instructed Cire.

  "Why do we have to protect her?" Cire gred at Fianna, but she would obey Roy's orders.

  Fianna couldn't use her tracted spirit yet.

  But Roy didn't want to embarrass her by pointing that out.

  He smiled and vanished in a fsh.

  Cire, as the leader of Team Scarlet, took charge.

  "Ellis, you're the Knight. Ehe enemies head-on. I'll provide support from the middle. Ri, you're the sniper. Stay bad watch out for whoever is trolling those skeletons," she ordered.

  "What about me?" Fianna asked, pointing at herself.

  "I don't know your strength yet, and Roy told us to protect you. So, just stay behind us," Cire replied.

  In battle mode, Cire was a pletely different person, a reliable leader.

  "I help too," Fianna mumbled, but she didn't argue.

  She had no way to defend herself and had to accept their prote.

  Following Cire's instrus, the girls charged towards the approag skeletons.

  "Sylphid Hurrie!"

  "Fme King's Breath!"

  "Ice Shot!"

  Ellis, at the forefront, summoned her Ray Hawk and unleashed a whirlwind that scattered the skeletons.

  Cire, behind Ellis, shed out with her Fme Whip, then unched a powerful fire spell that obliterated a rge group of skeletons.

  Ri fired a barrage of arrows, each pierg through several skeletons.

  She also sed the surroundings, trying to locate the one trolling the skeletons.

  The three girls worked together seamlessly.

  With Ellis holding the front line, Cire and Ri could focus on attag from afar.

  Fianna, realizing she couldn't tribute, bit her lip in frustration.

  The skeletons seemed endless.

  Even after fighting for a while, they were still surrounded.

  And they were starting to tire.

  "This is bad!" Cire cursed under her breath. She shouldn't have charged into the horde.

  She suspected there was more than one person trolling the skeletons.

  Otherwise, their divine power would have beeed by now.

  Just as they were struggling, Fianna finally spoke up.

  "Cire, I have a way to deal with these skeletons!" she decred with determination.

  ...

  ...

  "What? You have a way?" Cire asked, surprised, pausitacks.

  "Yes. I learned a ritual da the Diviual Institute. It cause these skeletons to go berserk," Fianna expined.

  Cire sidered this for a moment, then decided to trust her.

  "Alright, prepare the ritual dance. We'll protect you from these skeletons."

  If the skeleto berserk, they would attack each other.

  Then, they could use the chaos to escape.

  Fianna smiled, grateful for Cire's trust.

  She took out a small fan and began to dance.

  Ritual dances could produce various effects depending on the dance performed.

  They could strengthen seals, bless Elementalists, and much more.

  Fianna erf the seventh ritual dahe Dance of Berserker.

  It could activate and enrage sealed spirits.

  As Fianna dahe fmes within the skeletons' eye sockets turned crimson.

  The skeletons started attag each other.

  The pressure on Cire, Ellis, and Ri lessened siderably.

  Only a few skeletons still targeted them.

  "That should take care of them," Ri said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

  "Don't let yuard down. The one trolling them hasn't appeared yet," Cire warned.

  Despite the improvement in their situation, she remained vigint.

  Just then, a voice echoed through the horde of skeletons.

  "Lightning Spirit, ma!"

  A bolt of lightning fshed.

  It tore through the skeletons, heading straight towards Fianna.

  "Look out!" Ellis shouted, jumping in front of Fianna and thrusting her Ray Hawk.

  BOOM!

  "Aah!"

  The lightning bolt struck the Ray Hawk, sending Ellis flying.

  "Ellis, are you alright?" Cire caught her.

  "I'm fine. He's strong!" Ellis said, wiping the blood from her lips, her expression stoic.

  "Don't worry, we're not alone!" Cire reassured her.

  "O fangs of ice, pierce my enemy! Ice Shot!"

  Ri had spotted the attacker when he unched his lightning attack.

  She fired an ice arrow.

  "Hahaha, not bad!"

  The attacker dodged the arrow and emerged from the shadows.

  He had short red hair, crimson eyes, and his body was covered in strange markings.

  He didn't look like a good person.

  This was Jio Inzagi.

  In the inal story, he had cimed to be a Demon Lord didate.

  But he was actually just a subordinate of Rubia Elstein, a test subject.

  He had bee here by Rubia to unseal and trol the Strategic-Css Elemental.

  "Who are you?" Cire demanded.

  "Hahaha, I am Jio Inzagi! As expected of the Sylphid Knight Captain. You actually blocked my attack," Jio sneered, looking at Ellis.

  "Damn it! I won't allow you to tarnish the honor of the Sylphid Knights!" Ellis decred, standing up and pointing her Ray Hawk at Jio.

  "O winds of disaster, transform into tless bdes and cut down my enemy!"

  She unleashed another Sylphid Hurrie.

  Wielding her Ray Hawk, she charged towards Jio, tless wind bdes swirling around her.

  Even if he dodged the spear, he would be torn to shreds by the wind bdes.

  But...

  "Mirror Spirit, appear! Reflect!" Jio shouted.

  A shiny red mirror materialized before him.

  Ellis's attack struck the mirror, and the wind bdes were reflected back at her.

  "Look out!" Cire cried, shing out with her Fme Whip and ing it around Ellis's waist.

  She pulled Ellis back, saving her from her own reflected attack.

  "Thank you," Ellis said gratefully.

  "Now's not the time for that. We're a team," Cire scolded her for ag alone.

  "Y-Yes, I was reckless." Ellis apologized.

  "Alright, let's attack together. He's no match for us," Cire decred fidently.

  "Okay!" Ellis and Ri nodded in agreement.

  They attacked as one.

  Ellis held the front line, blog Jio's attacks.

  Cire and Ri unleashed their full power.

  Their coordinated assault forced Jio onto the defensive.

  Strictly speaking, Jio wasn't aal Spirit tractor.

  He had been impnted with numerous cursed seals.

  These seals provided him with divine power, allowing him to use sealed spirits.

  Sealed spirits were different from ordinary Elemental Spirits. They were single-use ables.

  He didn't have any tracted spirits.

  Uhe girls' relentless assault, Jio began to falter.

  Just as he was about to be defeated, a clear voice rang out from behind him.

  "Retreat."

  Jio looked towards the Strategic-Css Elemental.

  It had vanished.

  "Did you succeed?" he asked as he retreated.

  "No. Things didn't go as pnned. It seems the Dusk Wittervened," the voice replied. "Retreat. Although you're just a test subject, you're still valuable."

  Jio's face torted with rage.

  "Taste the agony of rotting innards! Putrid Poison Spirit, ma!" he roared, attempting to escape.

  As Cire and the others pursued him, a thick purple mist enveloped the area.

  Cire coughed, c her mouth and nose.

  Ellis and Ri also covered their faces, but it was too te. The poison had already eheir bodies.

  Just then, a gust of wind dispersed the mist.

  The girls gasped for breath, relieved.

  "Roy, you're back!" Ri excimed, seeing him.

  Roy had casually waved his hand, creating a gust of wind that blew away the poison.

  "You did well," he praised them.

  He had been their battle after dealing with Jandr.

  Overall, they had performed admirably.

  But they had been too eager to chase after Jio and had fallen for his trap.

  If Ellis had noticed the poison mist sooner, she could have easily dispersed it with her wind spirit.

  "Damn it! He got away!" Cire cursed.

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