Chapter 348: Believe in Frieren
This time, even Serie temporarily ignored her irritation with Frieren. Her expression became somewhat grave as she clearly sensed the pure mana contained within that attack.
"Olivia... has become much stronger," she sighed with emotion.
In Serie's perception, the degree of mana condensation displayed by Olivia's strike had already reached an extremely high level.
She felt that the current Olivia might only be slightly inferior to herself. Looking across the entire continent, apart from her and Rhodes—two existences outside standard specifications—Olivia would likely find no match.
It should be known that when they fought side by side a thousand years ago, although Olivia was powerful, she had only just stepped onto the threshold of a legend, still some distance from being a true legend.
In fact, even Serie didn't consider herself a legend back then.
If Rhodes hadn't used a massive amount of faith power to forcibly pull the Goddess's main body down from beyond the world and shackle her with layers of restrictions, it would have been difficult for anyone to withstand her attacks.
But now, with a thousand years of accumulated experience and Rhodes's help, the elf lady's strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
Yet Olivia had merely stayed in that Heavenly Kingdom. How did her strength increase so quickly?
Did Rhodes give her some unknown magic back then?
Serie guessed.
After all, in a sense, Olivia was his only familiar. Even the Goddess of Life herself hadn't said anything about it.
As if possessing mind-reading abilities, Rhodes saw through the fleeting suspicion in Serie's eyes. He took the initiative to explain, "Stop guessing blindly. I didn't give Olivia any secret magic."
He continued, "The Sky-Winged race was created by the gods. Their growth doesn't entirely rely on acquired accumulation; the awakening and enhancement of their own bloodline can also increase their strength."
"Before the Goddess of Life left this world, she left a portion of her residual power to Olivia as a final gift."
"This gift from a god is the fundamental reason for her current advancement in strength."
Serie nodded. "I see."
On the other side, with Olivia making her move, Alvin and the others reacted immediately.
No wonder Frieren was so fearless; someone had been protecting them in secret all along.
Having figured this out, the group hesitated no longer. With a roar, they all pounced toward the Count.
"Stop them! Quickly!!!" The Count's face changed drastically as he ordered the guards around him to intercept Alvin and the others.
However, as soon as these guards moved, several attacks rained down from the sky, forcing them to defend desperately.
Clearly, there was a mage on the enemy's side in the air as well.
The guards exchanged glances. Some powerful mages among them who could use flight magic immediately took to the air, preparing to take down the enemy above.
However, judging from the screams that followed, it was probably they who were taken down.
Thus, the remaining powerful guards could only steel themselves and head to the rooftops, trying to stall the mysterious mage in the sky.
Without these powerful existences, the pressure on Alvin's group decreased sharply, and they closed the distance to the Count rapidly.
Outside the Count's mansion, groups of soldiers had already surrounded the estate, but not a single one entered.
Their commander had long received orders to turn a blind eye to the Magic Association's actions, as long as innocents weren't involved.
Lights also lit up in the surrounding mansions. Shadows moved about; clearly, everyone was closely monitoring the development of the situation, and the air was filled with tension.
"It seems there should be no problems," Rhodes said softly. "I estimate Fidel really will come knocking tomorrow."
Serie snorted coldly. The anger in her eyes hadn't completely subsided, but her attention had shifted more from Frieren's foolish act to the trend of the entire event. "Hmph. If he cannot even quell a storm of this magnitude, his throne is too unstable."
Although her words were unforgiving, she had quietly strengthened the range of her detection magic, capturing every subtle energy fluctuation and personnel movement in the entire capital.
Serie was judging whether further measures were needed to prevent the situation from spiraling completely out of control.
After all, purging nobles was the goal, but if it caused large-scale turmoil in the capital and harmed countless civilians, that would violate their original intention.
"However," Serie changed the subject, mentioning Frieren again, her tone carrying undisguised distaste, "although she is hopelessly stupid, I cannot deny that the level of that move wasn't bad."
She recalled the bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky.
Pure, without any frills, maximizing destructive power.
She liked this style. For a qualified mage, magic shouldn't have too many fancy embellishments; one only needed to consider how to defeat and kill the opponent.
And in current combat, increasing magic power to break the opponent's shield in one hit was undoubtedly the best fighting method.
After all, modern mages relied heavily on magical shields for combat.
"But still too reckless," Serie couldn't help but speak again. "I remember when she met Flamme, it was like this too. Fighting a demon general alone to the death. If Flamme hadn't arrived in time, she probably would have died at the opponent's hands long ago."
Listening to Serie's complaints, Rhodes didn't discuss Frieren but asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Serie, what do you think is most important for a mage?"
Serie raised an eyebrow and answered without thinking, "Power, of course! Absolute power sufficient to handle any challenge!"
This was her deep-rooted belief.
"Then, what about the path to acquiring power?" Rhodes continued to guide her.
"Talent and effort, naturally," Serie answered. These were things she had practiced personally and believed in firmly.
"Then, which one do you think Frieren lacks?"
Serie was momentarily speechless.
Talent? Frieren's magical talent was unquestionable.
Effort? That child practiced diligently, her love for magic no less than anyone else's. Even Serie couldn't pick a fault with it.
She just... just felt Frieren's method wasn't steady enough. She should be more careful.
"Frieren knew Olivia was protecting them. Therefore, in her view, using the most direct way to break obstacles and achieve the goal quickly—even if it caused a commotion—was worth it as long as the final result was controllable."
"If the situation were different, say Olivia wasn't here, Frieren would naturally choose a different combat method. Believe in Frieren! And believe in Flamme's teaching!"
Serie was silent for a moment, then finally nodded somewhat reluctantly.
She had to admit, Rhodes understood Flamme and Frieren better than she did.
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