"Is Nostic not done yet?" Saresha asked as she tapped the table impatiently. They already saw the party coming with one of their scouts, which was killed instantly, and understood that a fight will break out soon. Without Nostic around, there was no point fighting them since the chances of victory are null.

"Be patient, can't you sense his growing power? Just wait a little longer." Wyslia shook her head.

"All we've been doing is sensing his growth. Can't you tell us something else?" Quinrad asked with a glare.

"There is nothing else for me to say other than reaching tier 6 is not easy. All we can do is wait for Nostic to reach that tier and hope that he can occupy the white haired girl long enough for us to seal her away." Wyslia shook her head as she could understand why they would be anxious. Their lives are on the line after all.

"Asphil has joined their side too. I suppose the chances of having our plans leaked is rather high." Fellia sighed.

"Indeed. She could be expecting the use of the artefacts to seal her away along with the fact that we're going to isolate them. For them to continue, it could be that they're not afraid of single combat." Wyslia looked down and sighed.

However, just as she sighed, they felt an explosion of mana which dwarfed their power easily.

Widening their eyes, they quickly looked over and saw Nostic walking over with a neutral expression while glancing at his fist.

"Mn, tier 6 is indeed different but I don't think this is enough." Nostic said as he looked up at the candidates.

"I may have reached tier 6 but the chances of me coming out victorious are less than 10%. Have you retrieved the sealing artefact yet?" He asked as they glanced towards Saresha since she was the one responsible for getting the sealing artefact.

"We're just one or two steps away from getting it. If we can delay them a bit longer, we'll be able to claim the artefact." Saresha replied as Nostic furrowed her brows.

"Hm… That's too long. I'll go get it myself." Nostic said as he made his way out of the castle.

"Is there anything else we should do during this?" Wyslia asked.

Thinking about it for a moment, Nostic glanced back at the candidates.

"Get everyone to follow me. There's no point in waiting in one spot. We'll move towards the artefact location and fight them where it is beneficial for us. If I remember correctly, there should be rather large forest with the demonic trees near the artefact. We'll use that to our advantage." Nostic said as Wyslia furrowed her brows.

"But we don't know how to use the demonic trees. They'll attack us as well." Wyslia replied as Nostic didn't say anything and glanced towards Prisaya, the second ranked candidate.

"Why are you looking at me?" Prisaya smiled.

"You have a way to control them don't you?" Nostic asked as his eyes seemed to look past her façade.

While it may sound like a question, Prisaya knew that it was basically announcing that she could and not asking for her confirmation.

"Tch, fine I can. My family has found a way to use them not too long ago." She clicked her tongue as Nostic nodded his head.

"We'll have Prisaya control the tree's so that they don't turn on us."

"Just be warned though, our control over the tree's aren't amazing just yet. If you hit them, they will disregard our instructions so you have to be careful. You can still use them as jumping platforms or something like that but if you damage them, you will be classed as an enemy for them." Prisaya warned.

"I see… that's fine. We'll just have to create our own platforms which shouldn't be too hard now should it?" Nostic asked as the candidates nodded his head.

Leaving the castle, he looked back.

"Is there something you missed?" Wyslia asked as Nostic stayed silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

"We'll make this place a trap to delay them further."

Slamming his hand down, a giant tier 6 magic circle expanded out as the castle disintegrated in an instant before being reconstructed by a strange black mass.

Activating a few other tier 6 magic circles, he nodded his head and left without looking back.

###

Sensing a sudden spike in power in the far distance, Shiro understood that Nostic had probably reached tier 6 and that none of the party members here can face him.

Before she could say anything, Aarim frowned and looked towards the party.

"Nostic reached tier 6. I just felt a spike in mana similar to when Shiro uses her tier 6 spells." She informed the party, which surprised Shiro since this meant that her senses for mana was reaching her level.

{That's quite impressive isn't it?} Nimue smiled since Shiro's senses and control over mana was simply monstrous. For Aarim to be able to keep up was crazy in her own way.

'Indeed. Perhaps in the future we'll have Lyrica and the other's being able to reach 100% control of their body.' Shiro smiled since being able to control 100% of their body is what allows her to react quickly both in body and mind when it comes to danger.

{Mn…. 100% control is a little harder especially since you were able to achieve it because of how your brain works. It'll be hard for the other's.} Nimue furrowed her brows.

'True. Honestly, if they can even reach 90% it'll be impressive since that was my limit in the first life. Also, how is it going with talking to Estrella? Has she been able to forgive herself yet?' Shiro asked as she couldn't see Estrella.

{Oh it's going fine. She just needs a few moments to herself so that she can sort things out. But don't worry, next time you see her she should be more casual.} Nimue grinned as Shiro nodded her head.

Focusing her mind back on reality, she created a few drones to scout on ahead since Nostic had reached tier 6.

Approaching the castle with the drones, she couldn't help but notice that the entire thing seemed to be made from mana. While the signal was weak, she could still sense it. But before she could get a closer look, all of the drones started to break apart and turn to ash.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Shiro didn't expect Nostic to be able to destroy her drones without being here since the castle was empty.

Narrowing her eyes, she wondered where he had gone.

Sending out another wave of drones, Shiro had reinforced them so that they could stand up against the corrosion. Scanning the area thoroughly, she noticed the fact that the castle has been turned into a giant death trap that would kill them. There's a few fake signals inside but Shiro knew better than to think they're huma since the signals were 'one dimensional'. They stayed consistent and didn't fluctuate.

Real mana signals would change slightly depending on the little shifts in mood so it was much harder to make a fake signal that one would think. Of course, she had to applaud his efforts in trying to make the trap look real.

Sending out some tracking drones, Shiro was able to find their track.

"We're turning left. The castle is empty, it seems like they've evacuated the castle and turned it into a death trap."

Hearing this, Asphil furrowed her brows.

"If we go left, that is where they will find the sealing artefact. I don't think they have obtained it just yet hence why they're making their way towards the artefact." Asphil said as Shiro nodded her head.

"Well regardless of whether or not they get the artefact or not, using something that deals with souls against me is rather stupid." Shiro shrugged as Asphil was confused.

"How come?"

"Because I'm basically half a reaper. My mother's half of the lineage deals with souls. Plus, I'm the spirit queen and my spirit nature is soul related too." Shiro grinned. While the party didn't know about her lineage, they knew about her power over souls so they weren't too shocked.

As for Asphil, she was different since it was the first time she found this out about Shiro. The fact that she was actually a queen was plenty shocking!

"You're a queen!?" She asked as Shiro nodded her head.

"Well I say I'm a queen but I'm actually a rank above that. I'm an empress." Shiro laughed as Asphil was speechless.

She knew that there are candidates and queens but the fact that there was a rank above queen was news to her. Though it does explain her monstrous strength.

Thinking about this, Asphil sighed inwardly. There is no chance for a candidate to kill an empress. Plus, they were also going to be using a soul related artefact against someone who uses souls. No matter what they chose, they were being countered by Shiro!

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