Chapter 31
All the nobles who had remained in the tent joined forces, but the high-level monster did not fall easily.
It didn’t help that the creature shared the same fire attribute as Liriope—her magic had little effect on it.
And unfortunately, the guardians of the younger nobles were mostly of baron rank or lower.
That meant Liriope, who held the highest title among them, was also the most powerful one present.
So, no matter how much the others attacked with various elemental spells, their blows were far from fatal to the monster.
The high-level monster, amused by their futile efforts, darted about—killing one noble in an instant before retreating to its original spot, toying with them.
Realizing that if this went on, the nobles fighting alongside her might all die, Liriope decided she had no choice but to shift from offense to a defensive strategy.
“Everyone, get inside the tent! There’s a barrier around it—you’ll be safe there!”
If only she had studied the academy’s spellbooks sooner, if she could control her fire attribute magic better, she was sure she could easily take down a single high-level monster like the one before her.
Even though it shared her element, Liriope’s “Undying Flame” was strong enough to have made her a top graduate of the academy.
‘I should’ve started studying right after transmigrating…’
Lamenting her still-clumsy power, Liriope stretched out her arms, forming a long wall of fire before the monster.
At that moment, however, the creature vanished from sight—only to reappear beyond the wall, flying straight toward the tent to attack the people inside.
Fortunately, Theo’s wind barrier surrounding the tent was strong enough to stop the monster in its tracks. His wind magic, fused with Liriope’s fire barrier, held firm—the creature could not break through.
‘Ah!’
Something flashed through Liriope’s mind.
In the original story, the dark mage pretended to follow the empress’s orders while secretly planning to gather a massive number of souls through the monsters.
That meant this high-level monster, under the dark mage’s control, wasn’t after Liriope alone—it was trying to kill as many people as possible in the tent.
Liriope quickly gathered fire in both hands and shouted to the trembling people inside.
“The Grand Duke of the North’s barrier is surrounding the tent—it won’t break! Don’t panic! Protect the children!”
As she yelled, the flames in her hands stretched and split into several long, whip-like strands of fire.
They shot toward the monster, coiling around its neck, arms, waist, and legs.
“Everyone in the central tent, put up your own barriers!”
Then, pulling the pre-set fire barrier she and Theo had created earlier, she wrapped it tightly around the monster’s body.
The creature thrashed, twisting violently to escape the fiery cocoon.
But the wind attribute surrounding the fire barrier began to spiral inward, slicing into the monster’s body from within.
Using Theo’s wind attribute—since fire against fire was ineffective—had been a clever move.
And it worked perfectly.
Trapped inside the blazing sphere, the monster was torn apart by Theo’s wind.
Even Liriope, watching it happen, could hardly believe the power of his element.
Once she confirmed the monster was dying, she quickly re-cast a protective barrier around the tent, just in case.
Moments later, the high-level monster shattered into pieces within the flames.
Liriope let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground.
“Lady Liriope!”
“Are you all right, my lady?!”
The nobles rushed out of the tent to support her.
Liriope looked down at her trembling hands and let out a faint, weary laugh.
It seemed she had nearly exhausted all her mana.
She had forgotten that mana wasn’t infinite.
“H-hurrah for Lady Liriope!”
“Hurrah!”
“She saved our lives!”
The nobles surrounded her, cheering and clapping.
Even the young ones were crying and laughing, clapping their hands.
Though she hadn’t done it alone, Liriope found herself suddenly treated as a hero. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly remembered Theo—he was likely still battling monsters just as strong as this one.
Despite her depleted mana, she was sure she had some strength left to help.
Ignoring the nobles’ pleas to rest, she dashed toward Theo’s hunting grounds.
Thanks to the map she’d asked Gemma to prepare beforehand, she easily found the right location.
As she ran, however, a thought worried her—what if, as in the original story, the Crown Prince had gone to Theo’s area first to hunt monsters?
Judging by the sulky expression he’d worn earlier beside the emperor, it didn’t seem like Carden had planned to steal Theo’s hunting ground.
Still, that uneasy sense that the story would play out the same way wouldn’t go away.
So she kept running, breath ragged in her chest.
Deep inside the forest, by a lake, she finally spotted Carden locked in battle with a monster.
He had already slain three high-level monsters; now, facing the last one, his shoulder was bleeding heavily.
‘Of course. That idiot really did steal Theo’s hunting ground again—just like in the original.’
Liriope sighed, scanning the area for Rosaline.
Remembering that Rosaline only appeared after Carden collapsed in the story, she sprinted toward him.
Since he was already injured, that scene would probably still happen—but if Liriope could at least minimize his wounds, maybe his obsession with Rosaline would lessen.
‘Well, I’ll just have to see how it plays out.’
Still, she couldn’t just leave him there bleeding and fighting alone. Drawing on the last of her mana, she conjured fireballs in both hands and hurled them at the monster.
The sudden blast of flames from behind startled Carden, who turned his head in surprise.
His once-handsome face was a mess—his forehead cut and bleeding.
“L-Lady… no, Liri?”
Eyes wide, he stared at her in shock.
Liriope sighed and raised a wall of fire before him.
He instinctively stepped back, watching her.
“I’ll handle this! Stay back, Your Highness!”
As she shouted, Liriope formed a blazing cloud above the monster’s head while summoning more fireballs in her hands.
The monster unleashed a massive whirlwind from its mouth toward her, but she countered it with her fireballs, burning the wind away.
‘Wind attribute!’
Relieved, Liriope realized she was lucky—it would’ve been much harder if it were another fire-type monster.
It also made sense now why Carden had defeated the other monsters but left this one for last.
As a royal, he wielded both wind and water attributes, but his wind magic was stronger—making it harder for him to fight a monster with the same attribute.
Liriope pushed her nearly drained mana to its limit, trying to think of how to kill it efficiently.
Fortunately, after battling Carden for so long, the monster was clearly weakened.
The fiery cloud above it poured down rain after rain of burning droplets, forcing the exhausted creature to focus all its strength on defense.
Searching for an opening, Liriope gathered every remaining drop of mana into her palms.
Pressing her hands together, she concentrated until a massive ball of fire began to form between them.
As her palms slowly parted, the fireball swelled larger and larger.
Finally, she hurled it toward the struggling monster.
The “Undying Flame” wrapped around its body, devouring it.
“SKREEEEE!”
The creature’s shriek filled the air, and the gusts it released tore up the surroundings.
Liriope ran to Carden’s side, reinforcing the fire barrier before him.
The wind only fed the flames further, burning the monster completely until it collapsed with a heavy thud.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
As soon as the monster fell, Liriope turned to him.
But instead of answering, Carden just stared at her, eyes wide.
‘Did he hit his head?’
His vacant expression worried her, so she approached him cautiously.
“Did you injure your head?”
She reached up to examine the cut on his forehead—just as his previously unfocused eyes began to tremble slightly.
‘He really must’ve hit his head…’
With concern written all over her face, Liriope carefully checked the wound—
—and at that very moment, words that made her freeze came out of Carden’s mouth.
“…You’re amazing.”
