We were now surrounded by waves of raging lava. And below us, the red wall that emitted tremendous heat was approaching.

There was no way to escape. At this rate, we’ll be swallowed up in the lava.

『Fran?』

(I’m still fine!)

I could use teleport to get us out of this situation, but Fran still seems to think that she can handle this on her own.

「Furyaah!」

What Fran did was simple. She put up her barrier with the front thickened at full power and plunged into the lava at full speed.

It seems that she thought the faster she goes, the less time she has to be submerged in the lava.

「Guh!」

『Is it the metal balls!?』

A sudden, violent impact caused Fran’s path to veer off to the side.

It seems Mordred had predicted Fran’s path and fired his metal balls at her.

The lava and the metal balls were clothed in the same type of magic so it’s very difficult to find them with magic detection. It was also difficult to detect them physically because the lava was disturbing their presence.

If she stopped in the lava, the barrier would soon reach its limit. If she tried to force her way through, she would be attacked by the metal balls.

Either way, the odds are against Fran.

We’ve been completely dragged into Mordred’s field. I see, so this is how veterans fight.

I wonder what would Fran do now? If it were me, I’d use teleport or dimensional shift to get out of here.

Fran tried to suck the lava using her dimensional storage, but it didn’t seem to work since Mordred was in complete control over the lava.

As I watched to see what she would do, Fran moved forward again. This time, she was on the same course as before, heading straight toward Mordred.

Is she planning to plunge towards him with the determination to take some damage?

Just as Fran started to run toward the bottom of the sea of lava, the metal balls attacked her again. Even I didn’t notice it until just before it touched the barrier.

However, Fran managed to parry them with her barrier.

She achieved this by adjusting the angle of the barrier slightly. I thought it was just a coincidence, but Fran succeeded in parrying the attacks one after another.

It was almost as if she could clearly detect the movement of the metal ball.

But how? I’ve tried everything but nothing works.

Moreover, Mordred was very good at hiding the presence and the flow of his magic. It was probably a skill that he had honed from dealing with magic beasts that were sensitive to presence.

I’d like to ask her how she did this, but I don’t want to disturb her now, so let’s leave it for later.

「Haah!」

「Uooh! Rising Impulse!」

After breaking through the wall of lava, we found a small empty space. It seemed that the lava was only avoiding Mordred’s surroundings. Fran immediately slashed at Mordred. Mordred, on the other hand, responded with his next technique.

Just like an anti-aircraft tactic, he thrust his spear above his head and shoots a shockwave.

I guess Mordred was trying to use this technique to kill Fran’s momentum before using his metal balls for protection.

However, Fran, who had been rushing down while continuing to use aerial jump, slashed at Mordred without him managed to kill her momentum.

Mordred responded by shooting another shockwave and used his spear to twist his body so that Fran’s slash would miss his vital point. As a result, Fran only managed to slightly cut the left side of his body and the wound was not a fatal one.

Furthermore, he quickly used the metal balls to hit Fran one after another.

And naturally, Mordred’s quick response managed to hinder Fran’s movement by using the metal balls to wrap around my blade again. However, his expression showed no change.

After all, he must have noticed that Fran had dared to attack the metal balls.

Yes. Rather than avoiding the metal ball, Fran was intentionally attacking it with me. As a result, she was pulled downward with tremendous force, and after she landed, she couldn’t maintain her stance and fell forward.

Mordred, on the other hand, not knowing Fran’s aim, unleashed his spear techniques to finish her.

「Quick Pierce!」

The technique that focused on quickness struck Fran in the head. But this was the moment Fran had been aiming for.

「Thaah!」

「You’ve been aiming for this, huh!?」

Fran holds me out and aimed at Mordred. The metal balls have also gone from my blade.

How, you ask? Well, Fran used her dimensional storage to store me for a moment and then take me out since any object under one’s control couldn’t be stored by others. And just like that, I was freed from his metal balls.

No metal balls, no spear, and no armor transformation, he wouldn’t be able to stop Fran’s attack this time.

「Khaa!」

「Guh… Ghahaa!」

At the same time Mordred’s thrust snatched Fran’s left cheek, Fran’s thrust pierced Mordred’s stomach, and black lightning burned his body from the inside out. Smoke then billowed from his entire body, and Mordred collapsed.

He has lost his consciousness. It’s a win for Fran, it’s finally over, or… It’s supposed to be…

『Fran! Open your dimensional storage!』

「Nn!」

A huge amount of uncontrolled lava began to flood down on us all at once. If this continued, Mordred would be in danger.

We then sucked clean the lava that was already out of Mordred’s control by storing it in our dimensional storage.

『Whoa! Just when I thought the arena was filled with lava to the brim, the lava disappears and the battle has already been settled! I wonder what had happened inside!? Also, earth mages-san, healing mages-san, it’s time to work!』