Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

In terms of magic, there were three ways to deal with elemental energies like the one used by the first arsonist and the recent intruder.

The first was to use overwhelming force to overpower it. The second was to be better at manipulating the specific elemental energy.

Unfortunately, while Mandra was skilled at all kinds of magic, she was not adept at the unorthodox way the intruder was using his fire energy. It was close to but not quite magic. It moved like an extension of his body.

If she had her peak strength, she could have taken control of it. But with her limited pool of strength right now, she had to rely on the third method. She had to use elements that naturally suppressed the fire.

Water, ice, and wind if used correctly were all good against it.

A fire strong enough would evaporate water or melt the ice. With how easily the intruder melted the cast of ice Mandra gave him, she figured her best option would be to use wind magic to control his fire.

Magical fire, unlike mortal fire, wasn't powered by air. Even in an atmosphere without oxygen, magical fire could still burn. But that didn't mean it wasn't affected by oxygen. It was fire. It burned things. And it reacted mostly the same as mortal fire when it came into contact with things it could burn.

So, when the intruder tried to shoot fire shots at Mandra or anyone else, Mandra wrapped them in a veil of strong wind that caught, exploded, and redirected the fire shots. And when the intruder tried to douse the Nilma chief in a stream of red fire that seemed to melt the ground, Mandra just blew it away in the intruder's direction, turning it into a firestorm centered around the intruder.

Since it was still his fire, he could have controlled it if not for the magical energy of wind mixed into it. By diluting his fire energy with her own magical energy, Mandra wrested the control away from him.

However, the intruder wouldn't be burned by his own fire, and the wind magic wasn't powerful enough to injure him. It was just a way to prevent him from injuring anyone else.

Mandra left attacking him to the chief and Alzara as she took on a supportive role. She would have preferred if Yanael joined the fray and participated in attacking the intruder since they needed another heavy hitter, but she also understood why Yanael stayed in front of Zach to protect him.

The intruder was strong enough to break through Zach's barriers. Leaving Zach alone would put him in danger. Yanael was also the only one who could stop him. Nora couldn't. Soara probably couldn't.

For Zach's safety, Yanael had to stay passive. Nora was staying passive because she was too weak to join the fight. Soara…she wasn't participating because she was also too weak.

Until Alzara's curses weakened the intruder further, Soara's powers wouldn't do anything to him. The intruder's life force was overwhelmingly strong. It was to the point where it didn't match the strength he displayed. She frowned as she looked at the dead snake-like arsonist.

That guy's life force had also been suspiciously strong for how easily he died.

But it could be that they were just long-lived beings. Life force didn't translate to strength, after all, unless they knew how to use it like she did. That thought made her look at the Nilma chief.

She wasn't sure if he knew how to use it, but something about him was related to life force. The more he fought, the more he bled, the stronger his life force grew. It was slow, and it was more like it was waking up, but it was undeniable that the translucent green flame that only she could see was growing in size and volatility.

In tandem, he was growing faster and stronger.

The chief could somewhat keep up with the intruder's fire shots at the beginning. But he had missed the first one. It was only because he was always ready and anticipating what the intruder was going to do next that he could deflect them with his blades. However, after several minutes of tense fighting where neither managed to land a solid blow on the other, the chief was breezing past the fire shots.

He didn't need to deflect them anymore. He could just shift to the side before closing the distance, slashing with his sword, stabbing with his dagger, and kicking with his leg before stepping back nad letting Alzara do something similar.

He was catching up to and surpassing the intruder's speed. It wasn't that he had held back int he beginning. He was slowly raising his limits while he fought and his blood surged.

Soara wasn't the only one who noticed it. The intruder noticed it. It was becoming more difficult for him to scratch the chief.

Alzara, Mandra, Yanael, and Zach also noticed it. Nora could tell that the tides of the battle were shifting in their favor, but she couldn't pinpoint the reason.

Visla also noticed it. She also knew better than the others why it was happening. Her eyes widened in admiration.

It wasn't a sight that was easily seen outside life-and-death battles involving the stronger Sesha on the steppes.

The Nilma tribe was one of the animal tribes. Their motif, symbol, and source of worship was a leopard. It was the spiritual guide that led to the founding of the Nilma tribe. It was the source of the Nilma tribe's strength and unity.

Right now, the Nilma chief was channeling their leopard's spirit through the tattoo on his back. He was manifesting the power both laying dormant within him through his ancestors, and the one added to his blood through the tattoo. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

He was displaying the highest level of strength of the barbarians, the tribal tattoo.

Slowly, he was reaching above his human limits when faced with a threat beyond his level.