Jack of All Trades, Party of None

"...Thank you for waiting, his royal highness the Crown Prince."

"Everyone here is going to die anyway. At least I'll let you have a proper farewell. Besides, I want to make the most out of this chance to fight you seriously!"

A faint light shone in Felix's cloudy eyes.

"By the way, didn't you say something like that back in the Reglyph Territory? As the rumors said, you really love fighting, huh? That part hasn't changed at all. Well then, to meet your expectations—I'll play with you a little."

Shion assumed a battle stance.

A geometric pattern appeared in her right eye.

"I wonder how long you can keep that composure!"

Felix shouted as he swung his sword.

An invisible slashing attack mixed with repulsive force, created by his supernatural ability [Repulsion Control], was unleashed toward Shion.

However, Shion, who bore the Spirit's Eye, could clearly see the slashes.

"How long, you ask? That would be—"

Shion spoke as she activated [Teleportation (Shift)].

Her figure vanished.

"—Until the very end, I suppose."

Felix looked up in response to Shion's voice from above.

In the sky, countless orbs of hail appeared alongside Shion.

"—[Feifei (Strafe)]."

As Shion cast the magic, the floating hailstones around her shot toward Felix all at once.

Seeing the ice chunks falling at near subsonic speeds, Felix immediately used his supernatural ability.

By surrounding himself with repulsive force, the hailstones stopped midair before reaching him.

Unfazed by the hailstones being stopped, Shion moved to her next move.

"—Diffusion."

In response to her voice, the hailstones suspended in midair shattered.

The finer ice shards broke through the repulsive barrier.

"Damn...!"

Felix deployed a magic barrier to protect his vital points.

By quickly focusing on defense, he avoided a fatal injury, but still received several small cuts on his body.

Shion did not let up her attack.

Landing on the ground, she swung her staff toward Felix.

"—[Great River of Stilness]."

Like wielding a paintbrush on a canvas, the area within Shion’s view was instantly swallowed by a massive chunk of ice that followed the staff’s trajectory.

Encompassing part of the royal palace and the castle town, Felix was trapped inside the ice.

[Great River of Stilness] was Shion’s original magic, an expanded and improved version of her [Stilness].

Those trapped within the ice had their time effectively frozen due to Shion’s supernatural ability.

It was a kind of cold sleep, so even if a person was inside the ice, they would not die.

"Restraint complete."

With Felix incapacitated, Shion slightly relaxed—at that moment—

"—To think it would end so easily, the title of world’s strongest is meaningless in this case."

Next to the ice-encased Felix stood another man.

"—?!"

Shion gasped in surprise but quickly tried to resume her battle stance.

However, she found herself unable to move, as if paralyzed.

"I didn't expect you to be in the Royal Capital too, 'White Demon.'"

The man spoke to the immobilized Shion.

He was a young man missing his left arm and wearing an eyepatch over his right eye.

"Belia Sans...!"

Shion shot a killing glare at Belia.

"—Huh. You recognized me at a glance. Seems I’m more on your mind than I thought."

"Don’t say such disgusting things! You make me sick! I’ll send you straight to hell! Right here, right now!"

Shion shouted in rage.

In response to her voice, several ice spears emerged from the ground, attacking Belia.

Belia swung his sword at the incoming spears.

The force of his sword shattered them before they could reach him.

"To launch such a powerful attack under my supernatural ability’s control? And is that magic?"

Currently, the entire area around Belia was forcibly immobilized by his supernatural ability [Eternal and Unchanging], affecting everyone but himself.

Due to this, magic could not be used within this space.

Belia believed this completely neutralized Shion, a mage, but he was mistaken.

"So you’ve become a transcendent. Was it when you fought the water demon humanoid (Due) at the farm? ...Plans have changed. I will kill you before Lucilla N. Edelweiss."