“A blessed aura user…absorbing mana? Impossible! Your entire body rejects mana, cursed by the world. What kind of monster are you?" Velexa's tone fluctuated between disbelief and panic, her composed demeanor faltering as the situation spiraled out of control.

“You’re mistaken; it's not my host accepting your generous gift of mana. It’s me, Ravatel. You mages usually refer to us as mana demons, particularly those irritating portal church mage priests. That elf woman did me a favor, making him forget all about me. You've also helped, serving me up the most delectable energy source. As thanks, I’ll be taking more of this delicious mana of yours. Oh, water attributed? My favorite.”

The coursing mana no longer burned Ravatel; instead, it began to rejuvenate him. Like a parched desert, he ravenously took in all the mana generously given to him. In mere moments, he had taken all the mana Velexa had previously forced in. True to the insatiable nature of mana demons, he began to absorb forcibly from her, his ravenous hunger obliterating the mana barrier she had erected earlier.

"No eyes, huh? Not a problem; they'll come back soon. A couple of marks? Boy, you sure are popular, Falond. Even marked by a transcendent? What a fantastic host you are! This is going to be fun. I can't wait to see how your family likes serving as my personal mana demons. You'll be over the moon, Falond! I'm going to give you everything you've ever wished for!" Ravatel burst into fits of raucous laughter, reveling in the chaos.

“I refuse to let an unholy mana demon like you taint the world. I am Velexa, the grand mage protector of Reverent's eastern front. A prodigy from the Halani lineage. Creatures like you and unholy practitioners against mana will be eradicated by my hand.”

Her eyes shimmered with a frosty blue hue, and with a burst of force, she pushed Ravatel back. Seizing the chance, she executed a mana step, a tactical retreat to regain control of the fight.

"Truly, you are a cursed man, Falond Conmor. Allow me to put an end to your torment."

Ravatel mirrored her action, performing a mana step of his own, instantly bringing him dramatically closer to Velexa.

"Those pests will be here soon. I'll do both of us a favor; how generous I am!” Ravatel continued to cackle with a sense of victory. He summoned a massive mana dome around him and Velexa, with a hundred-meter diameter. Gelben and Methuselah had been thrown clear by the previous impacts, adding on the distance the two moved; they were just outside the dome.

Then, a fissure of energy cropped up from the ground, reinforcing the mana dome.

"Ley line summoning? You're not just any mana demon. How could such a boy contain an entity like you? You're a disaster waiting to happen, a blight on any world you touch. Disappear, you abomination.”

With grim determination, Velexa shattered the staff in her left hand. Her eyes clouded with pain as she did so. Then determination came just after that. A brilliant spire of blue mana enveloped her, her eyes becoming beacons of the same radiant hue.

She murmured under her breath, "I promise, partner, I will bring you back." Her gaze lingered on the remnants of her shattered staff.

Now faced with a demon of tremendous power, Velexa steeled herself for an imminent clash that would push her to the brink, testing the very limits of her magic.

"Oh? A final, desperate gambit?" Ravatel crowed in delight, an eerily jovial note to his voice. He treated the impending confrontation as nothing more than a game. "Show me then, grand mage, what you're capable of!"

The mana demon began to summon a dark spell circle, augmented by red, blue, and green overlays that expanded to nearly fill the apex of his mana dome. The ley line's potent energies fueled his dome and his spells.

He was using the power in the very blood of his host, invoking the black drake summoning. The head had already fully come out this time. Unlike the last time he attempted to cast this, no suppression occurred. The two began their battle.

Velexa responded with a fluid sweep of her hand, conjuring a mana barrier to envelope her. Instead of multiple summons, she created a mana domain around her, expanding against the dome. As a result, the environment was soon to her advantage, with mana-infused rain pouring down.

The clash continued with a dazzling display of raw power. Velexa unleashed torrents of arcane water, each imbued with the intensity of overflowing mana. Brilliant mana bolts arced through the air, seeking to strike down Ravatel. But the creature, fueled by an ancient well of dark magic, deftly maneuvered, evading the attack's supernatural agility, even as the black drake continued to emerge.

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The battlefield became a chaotic symphony of mana and darkness. Velexa called upon the elements, conjuring swirling gusts of wind with the rain and cascades of rivers floating through the air. Yet, Ravatel seemed impervious, his form shifting and morphing, absorbing the energy and growing in strength with each passing moment. Accelerating from the absorbed energy, the black drake came into complete being. A faint dragon might came over the battle as a black fire began to charge up its maw and then erupted towards Velexa in a deadly cone.

The clash of mana and darkness created shockwaves that rent the air, causing the very fabric of reality to quiver. Velexa pushed herself to the limit, tapping into reservoirs of magic she had rarely accessed before. Arcane sigils blazed across her skin, amplifying her abilities as she sought to overcome the evil entity before her. Torrents of water came to assist her. Understanding the danger of the drake, she summoned her water knight. With more focus on him than before, sigils adorned his armor, a sword with the symbol for slayer on its blade, and the tower shield gleamed with water mana. Twisting its structural mana, the tower shield and sword became ice.

Ravatel, sensing an opportunity, unleashed his onslaught. Blasts of corrupted mana erupted from his form, tainting the surrounding environment. The snow melted, the ground cracked, and tendrils of dark energy snaked toward Velexa, seeking to ensnare and drain her magical essence. The black drake clashed with the knight, roaring to disorient its enemies. Amidst this storm of chaos, Velexa managed to weave intricate mana barriers, deflecting the onslaught with unwavering focus.

The battle stretched on, each combatant pushing their limits and testing the boundaries of their powers. Velexa, driven by her unwavering resolve, tapped into the deepest wells of her magical potential. She summoned a devastating storm of lightning. Pillars of cascading water hurtled downwards, becoming her mighty lance in this war of energies. The skies above wept electric tears, hoping to strike a decisive blow against the consuming darkness of Ravatel.

Between them hung a silence as if they knew a slight lapse in concentration would decide the battle.

Ravatel was relentless, fueled by an insatiable hunger for power. He retaliated with a surge of dark mana, corrupting the very essence of Velexa's spells. The lightning twisted and warped, transforming into volatile tendrils of destructive energy that threatened to overwhelm her. The water pillars darkened and then turned on her.

Velexa, undeterred, channeled her inner strength, realigning her focus and redirecting the corrupted energy back towards Ravatel, starting a deadly game of control, turning the battlefield into a grand chessboard with the players locked in a lethal dance of wills.

The clash of their powers intensified, the battlefield becoming a battleground of cataclysmic forces. Arcane explosions illuminated the darkened skies, reverberating with a thunderous roar. Ravatel, growing desperate, unleashed his most potent attack, a wave of chaotic mana capable of obliterating anything in its path. The black drake rose off the ground, letting its black flames blaze the entirety of the dome.

Velexa, recognizing the imminent danger, tapped into a wellspring of untapped potential within herself. She had plateaued as a grand mage ever since becoming one, and this was the perfect opportunity to break that barrier. She gathered her resolve, weaving a complex web of intricate, thick mana strands. With a flick of her wrist and a surge of concentration, she redirected the oncoming wave, causing it to collide with Ravatel, engulfing him and the black drake in a cataclysmic explosion. The knight, ever faithful in its service, defended Velexa with its life, melting away before her. Her mana shield shattered, and blood gushed from newly made wounds.

As the dust settled and the battle subsided, Velexa stood amidst the remnants of the fierce clash. The dome had shattered, and she found herself surrounded. Ravatel was practically in pieces, barely alive, with ethereal wisps wrapping around him, its dark presence extinguishing. Though battered and exhausted, Velexa emerged triumphant, a testament to her unwavering spirit and unyielding determination. She was the guardian of the eastern front, the exterminator of the aura vermin and demon abominations.

The long battle had come to an end, leaving Velexa and the surrounding area scarred by the intense magical exchange. The grand mage, panting heavily, surveyed the aftermath, her eyes flickering with exhaustion and satisfaction. The victory was hard-earned, and the memory of the fierce struggle would forever etch itself into her magical legacy.

“No eighth seat shall be added to the seven demon sinners, not while I still breathe.” she declared, blue wisps of mana spilling from her eyes as she spoke. Emotion laced the sentence with far more primal anger compared to her usually icy demeanor.

As Velexa stood amidst the aftermath of the battle, her breath still ragged from the intense confrontation, she felt a subtle shift in the air. The mana around her seemed to ripple and twist as if responding to an unseen force. Suddenly, a surge of energy emanated from Falond's body, and struggle overcame his eyes.

It was bitter-sweet then that the most powerful of the ancient order in her world was all around her—the elf woman who forced the kingdom to allow an encampment in its forest. The headmaster of the auramancers, someone even she feared. Blood giant, a true master of blood. Finally, Austoria Darkthorn, the headmaster of the elves, second only to the elf woman.

All eyes were on her, watching for her next move. The elf woman and her Saintess had their eyes on the exile not so far from Velexa. An elder of the aura branch also had his eyes intensely focused on the man, grief clouding over him.

Even she, a grand mage, had her limits. With that, she threw up her hands. There would be no way out of this predicament, for now.

“I surrender,” she stated with a plain expression back on her icy face.