My sword burst into purple flames as I swung it at the tree with everything I had. Three hours of hiking through monster-infested woods, nearly getting mauled by a Crenox, and burning through half my point savings—all for this moment. And naturally, it was about to be a complete waste of time.
The blade met some kind of mana barrier around the trunk and cracked like cheap glass.
"You've got to be kidding me." I clicked my tongue, staring at my damaged weapon. So the fairy was listening after all. Did she think a little magical shield would stop me?
I stepped back and raised my hand. Magic wasn't exactly my strong suit—my mana pool was pathetically small, which is why I'd avoided using spells against the Crenox earlier. Miss once, and I'd be fighting a predator with no energy left. That's a quick way to become monster food.
But this tree wasn't going anywhere.
"Elemental magic," I muttered, feeling that familiar stirring in my chest. "Flames of Ephynia."
I poured as much mana as I could into the spell. The result was the same disappointment as always—a fireball no bigger than my fist. Still, it packed more punch than it looked.
The flame shot forward and exploded against the tree with enough force to knock me backward. When the smoke cleared, I had to laugh. The surrounding trees were snapped in half, but my target didn't have a single scorch mark.
"Not a scratch," I said to the empty air. "You're really going all out to protect this thing, aren't you?"
According to what I knew from the novel, maintaining this kind of illusion was a massive drain on her mana reserves. and she has been doing this for years, so yeah... she can't attack me, and now, protecting this tree is taking even more mana, so if my calculations are right for once in my life, she is going to run out of mana before I do... I hope.
I raised my hand again, this time keeping the incantation silent. To my surprise, a fireball still formed above my palm. Interesting. I fired it, then immediately created another, then another, launching them in rapid succession.
I couldn't afford to wait and see the results. This tree had to fall today. With Lucas's ridiculous plot armor, there was no telling what would happen if he stumbled across this place tomorrow. The fairy might emerge from the wreckage just in time to hand him the relic with her dying breath.
No chance in hell.
I was already surrounded by enough enemies without adding another overpowered artifact to the protagonist's collection. Given how much weaker I was compared to the novel's version of myself—where the original had actually merged with his blessing—I might not survive a direct confrontation with Lucas.
So I'd weaken him first. Every relic I could steal or destroy was one less advantage he'd have when we inevitably clashed. I wasn't some naive villain who'd sit around hoping fate would be kind.
And if fate decided to mess with me by making these relics impossible to claim? Then I'd burn them all.
"WAIT! Please!"
I froze, several fireballs hovering around me like deadly ornaments.
Jackpot.