While the clash raged on, Tom and Risa had already drawn near. I noticed their presence at the edge of the battlefield, but since they made no sudden moves, I saw no need to signal them to hold position—they understood the rhythm of these moments.
"So… when exactly are we helping him?" Tom asked, eyes fixed on the skirmish with a hint of impatience.
"Not yet," Risa replied calmly, arms folded.
Tom scowled. "Aren't you supposed to be his security? The guy signs your paycheck, you know. You should probably be helping him even when he doesn't need it."
Risa shot him a sideways glance. "Does your ability also come with the power to induce an existential crisis?"
"No," Tom admitted, smirking faintly. "But that would be a pretty cool ability."
Risa exhaled through her nose, her expression relaxing into resignation. "As you said… if I jumped in every time, he'd probably cut my salary in half. The Young Master doesn't like being interrupted when he's enjoying himself. Unless it's a true life-or-death situation, we don't interfere. That's the unspoken rule."
"That's valid," Tom remarked, nodding in reluctant agreement.
All of a sudden, the ground trembled beneath their feet. Towering trees—so massive their crowns seemed to brush the underbelly of the clouds—erupted from the earth with a deafening rumble. In mere seconds, they formed an impenetrable barrier, sealing off the battlefield and cutting off any route to me and Yelena.
"…Looks like your paycheck's getting cut in half after all," Tom muttered, eyes fixed on the colossal wall of bark and leaves that now stood before them.
"Shut up," Risa snapped, her voice carrying her frustration.
Unlike Tobias, who had focused solely on mastering his most powerful spells, Yelena had dedicated herself to refining her mana control to its absolute limit. That was why creating a barricade of this scale barely put a dent in her reserves.
It seemed she had designed this enclosure to trap me beneath the looming thunderclouds, using them as a kind of living roof. She was probably growing uneasy, confused by the fact that I hadn't launched a single offensive move yet. That hesitation—subtle as it was—hinted that she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
If I hit her with a charged spell, she'd be forced to reinforce the dome around her—something that would cost her far more mana. But if I delayed, left the attack hanging in the air like a storm that never broke, then her own uncertainty would slowly siphon her strength away.
But then… she did something I hadn't anticipated at all.
"Mutatio."
The lizard—the one I had been carefully tracking, waiting for it to make a move—suddenly blurred, its body contorting mid-motion. Scales thickened, limbs elongated, and a second pair of legs burst from its sides. Its once-sluggish eyes ignited with unnatural awareness. In a blink, it vanished from sight.
I barely had time to register the threat before a thunderous impact struck me from behind.
CRACK
Claws like steel talons drove into my back, and the force of the hit launched me through the air like a ragdoll. I crashed into one of the towering trees Yelena had summoned—its trunk split open as I tore through it, carving a jagged wound into the wood with my body.
"How many mutations did you give it at once—?!" I managed, coughing as I tried to push myself free from the splintered cavity.
But before I could move, the tree pulsed—its bark throbbing with life energy, as if responding to her will. Vines slithered from the edges of the wound, and bark crept inward like closing jaws.
In seconds, the trunk sealed itself shut around me, entombing me in a living, breathing prison—a natural coffin of wood and mana.
"Nice move. Did you get him?" I asked, appearing beside the dome Yelena had encased herself in. My eyes shimmered with a green glint as I deactivated my ability.
"Ella, don't—!" Yelena tried to warn her, but it was already too late. The lizard had closed the distance.
I raised my right hand, calm and deliberate. In an instant, a wave of frost burst outward from me—reality itself seemed to shatter as the world froze over in a crystalline flash. The ground, the trees, the very air—everything locked in solid ice.
Just as I had suspected, the lizard was right in front of me—caught mid-pounce, entombed in a flawless coffin of frost.
It didn't last long, however. Yelena quickly used the thunderclouds overhead as a diversion, buying herself just enough time to unravel my spell.
CRACKLE
BOOM
A blinding flash tore through the sky, followed by a deafening roar of thunder.
"So, how many mutations does she have right now?" I asked, casually sidestepping a bolt of lightning that split the ground beside me.
"A lot," Yelena replied, her tone deliberately vague.
It was strange—seeing someone so gentle, so pure-hearted, willingly mutate her own pet. Did that lizard just have an exceptionally strong physique, or was there something else going on?
The Mutation Spell was a form of enhancement magic—one that forcibly altered the vessel of another living being to amplify its combat potential. It granted new traits, new powers… sometimes even abilities comparable to those of Meta-humans.
But once cast, the change was permanent. There was no going back.
And while the transformation granted strength, it also came with a heavy price—each use carved away at the creature's lifespan, burning through their time like dry tinder to a flame.
Unless...
As the frost cleared, the lizard dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Its body shimmered faintly before shrinking—its frame compressing until it was no larger than an ordinary lizard.
"So it was a special physique," I murmured, eyes sparkling with interest.
I couldn't help the flicker of curiosity that tugged at my thoughts. I really wanted to run some experiments on that lizard… but I had the distinct feeling Yelena wasn't going to let me anywhere near it.
Where did she even find a pet like that?
I reached out with telekinesis, trying to lift the lizard—but the connection snapped. A sharp pain surged through my left leg. Without hesitation, I severed it with my saber—cutting clean through before the toxin could spread further.
The limb dropped below as I shot upward, telekinesis flaring around me just as I regained control.
Yelena had struck while my mind wandered—poisoning the roots beneath me with a neurotoxin, and I'd stepped right into it.
Blood streamed through the air as I activated my ability to regenerate my leg. My suit had already begun reshaping itself before my leg fully regrew, the fresh fibers stained slightly from the inside—but it was manageable.
"You're insane…" Yelena breathed from within the dome, her voice barely reaching me through the thick barrier of bark and mana. She probably hadn't expected me to go that far.
"I don't want to hear that from a Half-Immortal," I replied, hovering above the ground, keeping a healthy distance from the massive, twisting roots below.
I could have suppressed the neurotoxin. That would've been the efficient choice. But this? Cutting off my own leg without flinching? That was far more effective—especially against someone like her. Someone who refuses to kill.
It was traumatizing—and what's better than that?