This time I didn't hesitate.

"Disruption." The Fire Witch was a bad influence on me, starting to announce my spells too. But with all this energy released, the others couldn't hear it anyway. Before they saw the results it was too late, but for me, it only started. The barrier around the cat toy deity broke first.

Addas cast it before the other plush trapped him because he got annoyed with her. He let his guard down, the only benefit of taking my sweet time with the runes. But leaving it up to chance when all our lives depended on it didn't sit well with me.

Gadurien could get caught up in this mess though, once the spell launched I had no control over it. Her behavior was unacceptable, but she fought on our side so making her our enemy seemed like a bad idea. The Princess had a difficult relationship with her though.

I had to wait and see what happens. The magicules became critical, distorting reality, unsure if it affected the others too. But there was no way to ask them now, with my mouth no longer opening and closing at normal speed.

Sound didn't travel either, so whatever Gadurian wanted to say had to wait. The disruption spell did its thing, and it was the right choice, as always. I couldn't wait to see the full effect. The ring started outside Gitaut's barrier, so we were safe.

The crystal in my staff didn't only teach me things and helped me use them, it also observed my surroundings. It identified spells and monsters and provided me with the best counter. From the outside, it could look like I learned every trick after seeing them once.

But in truth, it was a cheat item. The longer I had the magic stone, the more overpowered it seemed. Dueling a wizard without this would be impossible, let alone a deity. Before Fenna gave it to me, I couldn't cast a spell, and now it made me the strongest magician here.

The witches looked at me with envy, and Gitaut began to keep his distance once he felt overtaken. It wasn't earned, but from the moment Alex brought me to this world and mentioned magic, I wanted it. To release my spells, create magic, and learn everything about it.

Even if not this spell in particular, and not with a cheat item, I couldn't complain. And to use this power for the good of others, I needed to survive this battle first. Better yet, my spell protected these companions. This made it sound much better, not some mindless massacre.

The stone analyzed everything and found the best solutions. It behaved like a personal assistant and a teacher. If something crazy happened, it gave me no time to panic. The crystal suggested a spell to solve the issues, making me question it less over time.

Addas restored all the monsters we had slain before, but it wasn't as big of a deal as it first seemed. These creatures didn't come from parents and had no real genetics. Most of their organs and body parts were the magicules imitating life. I didn't understand it at first.

They were like the golems but without the solid frame, we used to create them. So when they died, it meant the mana could no longer operate their shell. When the Dragon God resurrected them, they got a power injection to move a little longer.

How much of it was real, and how much I told myself to help me cope with the devastation unleashed was a mystery. But it felt better thinking that these weren't living, breathing, and feeling creatures. They were like mobs in a computer game, only the imitation of life.

The crystal offered a simple yet devastating solution against them. I could overcharge their shell with mana, as Addas charged them with his magicules to keep them going. Disrupt the structure, and wipe them out like a nuclear reaction.

By bombarding their magicules with mine, they'd split and hit the formations nearby. It deconstructed their entire body in an instant. And like when putting all my strength in the seal, time slowed down again, giving me a good look at the whole process.

The single wave of magic I sent out crept closer to the first line of enemies. The moment it passed through them, they turned into sparkling dust. No wounds, no corpses, nothing remained. It was clean, without splattering blood or guts, or even memories.

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All their mana dissipated, returning to the dungeon core or filling my reserves. The monsters made out of them were no more. No injection could keep them going now that they ceased to exist. Line after line of creatures met the same fate, unable to avoid the Disruption spell.

Nobody else saw it moving at this speed. The others had no time to blink before the transparent wave reached the enemies farthest from us. But to me, it took almost ten minutes. Fake creatures or not, watching them disappear, their existence weighing on my soul.

And it didn't matter if they were the weak monsters swarming us or the minotaurs in their solid formation. Addas kept them in reserve until things got nasty. But once he ordered them to attack, they got swept up in my magic too, disintegrating with the rest.

Their bodies each released an insane amount of mana, compared to the other creatures. No wonder Aoi struggled to wound them. The minotaurs were stronger than her after the ritual, close to Gitaut and my level. But it didn't save them, their body wasn't ready to take my attack.

It was all thanks to the Dragon God being arrogant. They could wipe the floor with us if he didn't hold them back until it was too late. If he didn't decide to feed us with the monster's souls in his merciless ritual, I'd never have the strength to pull it off.

And the crystal couldn't find the simplest counter if he didn't panic and try to resurrect them. They disappeared, even the corpses, blood, and everything from the brutal fight. The castle's courtyard became deserted. The ground still bore the memories of the battle.

"W-what the hell was that?" There was no sign that it raged moments ago. As the massive energy dissipated, time sped up again. It was hard to tell who asked this, with everyone staring at me with disbelief. Gitaut's pupils were wide, sweat dripping down his green face.

My sister's eyes gleamed with awe, her mouth hanging open but the corners turning up. Ember's and Omerta's face mirrored their envy. The humans couldn't decide how to approach the situation yet.

The Princess cheered while Cath dropped on her bottom, out of breath. Aoi attempted to hide behind them both. The stuffed toy duo remained silent, but Addas wasn't about to give up. He wasn't affected by the spell and I held him in my arms in his new stuffed animal form.

He reinforced it, kicking and biting me like a bewildered cat. The fabric became hard as steel, and while he couldn't cast any offensive spell, he was far from helpless. I let him go for lack of a better solution, and since I didn't want to damage his new shell, put some distance between us.

"What a fierce little dragon," Emi noted, kicking it hard into the ground. "Have you seen what Nati did to your monster horde? You don't want to end up like them, so you better behave."

"I still don't know what the hell was that," Omerta complained, looking around stunned like the rest. "One moment Addas monologued, and the next both he and everyone else disappeared."

"She used brute force to dispel all abyssal creatures," Gitaut explained. He shivered at the thought. "The fact that you could pull it off means you're at least a warlock now. And if all that strength migrated into your body, I can't even imagine what you are."

"I um, don't know." He made me blush, lowering my staff. "I only did what the crystal recommended, and didn't think about how much it would cost me. I kept holding back until now because the dungeon amplified magic, so I'm sure it's that in action. I'm nothing special."

"Yes, you are." Emi and the Princess claimed in unison. The blue-robed Saipole girl turned pale, but I couldn't pay attention as the ground shook. Was it the byproduct of my spell? Will the castle crumble? The stuffed cat still floated above us.

Gadurien prepared a spell of her own, and while my sister reigned in Addas fast, she had no limiting runes on her. With the common enemies defeated, she did not hesitate to stab us in the back. And the way she aimed her shell, it seemed obvious who was her target.

"I wouldn't do that." This voice was mine, but didn't come from me. It took longer than usual to realize what happened, but the recent events dazed me. The stuffed cat no longer floated in the sky alone. A colorless mirror image of me flew next to her.

"Alex!" I yelled surprised, since she warned us many times that she wouldn't be able to help us. She didn't come alone, but her response had to wait.

"Now she can clone herself too?" Gadurien scoffed, ready to strike. But the Goddess of Luck dispelled her magic before it materialized. "What the heck, you aren't a simple copy, are you?"

"What a rude stuffed cat you are." She giggled, nodding towards Lambert, hanging by his wrist below Alexandra. "I can forgive you for not recognizing the Goddess of Luck because I don't know how you are either. But this gentleman will cast banishment on you if you try something."

"B-banishment? Can he?" This did the trick, and the cat toy goddess dialed back on her hostility. "First a Seal and now this?"

"He worked for the Inquisitorias," Elizabeth confirmed, proud as if she had anything to do with it. "He banished the Demon Lord's brother, so you can bet he could deal with you too. He's Lambert, my former servant, and now the ambassador of mankind in Nateaser."

"And she told me your true name through telepathy." The wizard tried to behave like a threat but took the edge off his claim that he could only hang there. "Both of yours, Goddess Gadurien and the Dragon God Addas... So Alexandra was right about this dungeon."

"Wait, this cat is Gadurien? The Crantan Gadurien with the Appenon God?" Our Goddess raised her eyebrow, letting the court wizard down at last. "That's a strange duo. You guys will have to tell me everything. But first, grab the core and get out of here."