A few ice lances surrounded by glistening flakes materialized around Sophia and she readied them for hurling.

Will did not wait for her to launch her attacks and instead launched his own ice lances at her. Sophia scorned Will in her mind.

'Does he think Ragnarok Series spells are ordinary?'

Frozen Asgard Mana was of a high tier, capable of reinforcing the average water blade to the point that it could compete with an E-rated spell. Sophia was confident that her lances strengthened by Frozen Asgard Mana would crush Will's seemingly ordinary ice lances, but to her horror, her lances exploded together with Will's own.

This caught the attention of the other maidens, Giselle who was quick to react, "His lances have multiple concepts in them, don't be fooled!"

Giselle's warning snapped Sophia out of her stupor. She looked at Will with renewed respect.

Everyone present had started to implement concepts into their attacks, but it was difficult to apply them to complex skills and spells. Normally one would practice by applying concepts to basic skills like waterblade. Even then one would normally only apply one concept at a time. But this swordsman was capable of infusing multiple concepts into his lances. Although Ice Lance was not a complex skill, it was still more complicated than Water Blade.

'Natasha was right, this Giselle is quite the sharp one.'

Will spared a moment to glance at Giselle as he instantly marked her as a dangerous foe. Will continued to exchange a barrage of ice lances with Sophia while Alison and Gianluigi also continued their exchange.

Alison was sweating profusely because Gianluigi was someone normally out of her league. Thankfully, Gisselle and her Hela's Dominion eased the burden on her. Not only was Gianluigi unable to use the full might of the Unrelenting Hunt due to the limited space by the riverbank, but he also had trouble locking onto his enemy thanks to the dominion's suppression.

Hence even though Gianluigi was stronger than her, he was quite limited. He also had no intention of using his class skills yet as it would be revealing too many cards too early.

'I have to trust in Natasha's plan. I hope her trust in Peerless' men won't get us killed.

Gianluigi sighed as he entered a stalemate with his foe, while Will happily entangled Sophia.

Sophia and Will exchanged dozens of water projectiles until the former started to suspect the motives of the latter. Will didn't even bother using his sword or the water blade attached to it and merely did as Natasha asked, stalling for time.

Natasha and Lisa on the other hand entered a clash of Frozen Asgard Titans as they exchanged multiple spells. Giselle made sure to match her movements with Lisa's and stayed as close to her as possible. Lisa used the armour plating around the hem of her Valkyrie's Guard to attack Natasha while Giselle would hurl debuffs and sealing spells from time to time. Unfortunately for the duo, Natasha wasn't simply a water-type mage.

Natasha's image flickered from spot to spot as she rapidly dodged her opponent's attacks. This was a spell that Will was quite familiar with because it had caused him quite a headache.

Frozen Asgard Arts: Bifrost Shift!

Natasha however was not the only master of this spell. A few hundred meters away Gianluigi struggled to lock onto Alison's ever teleporting figure. Natasha used Bifrost Shift intermittently. Only activating it at crucial moments just before she received an attack.

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On the other hand, Alison spammed the spell whenever she could, causing Gianluigi to frown. Due to the Unrelenting Hunt's need for the caster to lock down on their foe, Gianluigi was having a hard time using his most powerful bloodline skills.

'I can't use Bloodline skills to the fullest, and I can't use my class skills either. Looks like I have to show these wenches why we are clothes Veritas.'

Gianluigi quickly abandoned his five senses as they were already useless thanks to Hela's Dominion. On the other hand, his higher senses, his Truth, in particular, started to act in full swing.

'There is a reason Truth wielders are called seekers.'

Gianluigi relaxed his shoulders and breathed out heavily, almost as if he was letting go of worries plaguing his mind.

This odd action did not escape Giselle's ever-watchful gaze as nothing within the dominion escaped her notice. Alison was not idle either. She saw a gap in Gianluigi's defences and decided to take advantage of the situation by teleporting to the young man's back.

Her target responded quickly and reached behind his back, displaying an abnormal flexibility. He gripped the maiden's throat and turned his head. Gianluigi's red eyes narrowed as he quickly squeezed his grip.

'Her reflexes aren't bad.'

Instead of blood and gore, Alison's body turned into chunks of ice that fell to the ground while her real form materialized a few metres back.

"Is running all you wenches are capable of? If so, then at least make this a bit more interesting." Said Gianluigi with scorn visible in his eyes.

Alison was well aware that under normal circumstances she was not his match, but she had a mission to complete and she knew that Gianluigi could not fight with his full strength. Thus she did not hesitate to use sneaky methods.

'He is able to locate me through intent. This is why it's annoying to face a Veritas.'

Despite her ability to teleport frequently, and even though Gianluigi's 5 senses were under suppression, his sensitivity to intent was still at its peak. Any cultivator worthy of being called a Truthseeker had to be a mental energy cultivator with a somewhat mature mental energy field.

Alison had found that as soon as she moved within 25 meters of Gianluigi, he could easily locate her and react.

'His mental Area is at least 25 meters in diameter, and this is under the suppression of Hela's Dominion and Fafnir's Dragon Force. He indeed deserves his reputation as a Veritas Core comparable to a Valkyrie Candidate like Natasha.'

As Alison and Gianluigi's battle ensued, Natasha continued holding Giselle and Lisa at bay. Lisa and Giselle were inseparable. Lisa's close combat ability coupled with Giselle's support resulted in multiple combinations that could give any top-tier talent troubles, but Natasha was able to keep them both at bay using only basic Frozen Asgard Spells.

After blocking an attack from Natasha, the two ladies responded with an attack of their own. A large orb of Frigid Energy coalesced in Giselle's Palm as she thrust her hand forward.

"Nifelheim Burst!"

A blizzard capable of blowing away houses burst forth towards Natasha, covering the latter in a raging snowstorm of mana. This attack caught Natasha by surprise as Giselle had refrained from using direct attacks. It had always been Lisa's job to do that. This time, Lisa only acted as the mana supply and distracted Natasha for a moment, allowing Giselle to deliver the blow.

After releasing her first real attack, Giselle jumped back a few dozen meters along with Lisa and the duo started to converse, taking advantage of this small intercession. Lisa did not dare to take her eyes away from Natasha as she communicated to her partner via intent, "Natasha is abnormally difficult to deal with. It seems as if she is able to counter everything we throw at her. I feel incredibly stifled. We can't let this continue."

Giselle frowned and replied, "Natasha is an orthodox mage obsessed with basics. She is good at using simple spells to maximum efficiency. She is also an analysis expert. She is probably more familiar with us than we are with her."

They were all Valkyrie Candidates but Natasha was far more infamous. Despite this, little was known about her actual abilities. Of all the leaders in the dungeon with fame, Natasha was the least understood and thus the most unpredictable in battle.

"Most of her high-tier battles were in isolation or far away from observers. She is very careful about that. Francis allowed herself to become famous to act as Natasha's shield. This has made it more convenient for Natasha to act in the shadows." Said Giselle as she gathered the mana that Lisa was supplying her.

The duo were now taking this brief respite to collect information and try to take back the initiative in the battle. It was becoming increasingly clear with each second that the tide of the battle was slowly shifting away from their favour.