Chapter Forty Five: Forbidden Energy

Eliza stood her ground, her eyes locked on Forbidden Energy with unwavering resolve. She was nervous, but at the same time she felt a sense of determination within her, driving her forward despite the weight of the soon to be battle pressing down on her shoulders. With each breath, she focused on steadying her heartbeat, gathering her inner strength needed to confront him. With every inhale and exhale, she honed her focus, preparing herself both mentally and physically for the daunting challenge ahead.

Forbidden Energy's gaze bore into Eliza with an intensity that sent shivers down her spine. The malevolent green aura emitting from him was intense, tainting the air around him. As he began to walk forward, each step resonated with an echo. With every movement, the air seemed to thicken, tainted by the darkness that surrounded him. Eliza braced herself, her resolve firm as she prepared to meet him, her heart pounding with a mixture of fear and determination.

"Let's see what you're made of, cat," Forbidden Energy taunted. With a swift motion, he raised his hand, conjuring another sphere of void energy. He fired it towards Eliza, the energy leaving a trail of void energy in its wake as it hurtled towards her.

"Siphon Magic, Black Hole!" Eliza extended her hand and a swirling vortex of darkness manifested on the palm of her hand, its pull drawing in the void sphere unleashed by Forbidden Energy. As the sphere was sucked by the black hole, Forbidden Energy showed no signs of stopping. He continued his assault, conjuring and firing more void spheres at Eliza. She exerted herself, successfully drawing several of the void spheres into the black hole. However, with the onslaught intensifying, she found herself having to dodge the majority of the spheres, evading them with nimble footwork and quick reflexes.

"Your lousy defenses are no match for my power," Forbidden Energy taunted, "Void Tendrils!" He conjured tendrils of void energy from the very ground beneath Eliza's feet. She remained focused on protecting herself from the incoming void spheres, unaware of the danger. As she finally realized the threat, it was too late, the tendrils quickly coiled around her legs.

However, thanks to the black hole, the tendrils were sucked in. Eliza couldn't help but release a sigh of relief, "If I don't start attacking soon," she whispered silently, "I'll start suffering from mana sickness, or even worse, my mana reserves might burst." With a sense of urgency, she prepared to attack.

"Oh, it seems you possess the ability to siphon magic. How troublesome," Forbidden Energy remarked. "Very well, it looks like I'll have to take a closer approach." With a swift motion, he fired void spheres at the ground around them, causing dirt and dust to fill the air, creating a natural smokescreen that obscured their surroundings.

Eliza's black hole spell was only effective against energy based attacks, rendering it useless against the dirt and dust. Thinking quickly, she activated her mana conversion spell, transforming some of the void spheres into earth magic using her mana manipulation abilities.

Using her heightened hearing senses, Eliza heard Forbidden Energy's footsteps drawing closer and closer. She activated Energy Vacuum, passively absorbing mana from the surroundings and revealing his location. This gave her a tactical advantage, allowing her to anticipate his movements and plan her next move accordingly.

"Expel!" Eliza exclaimed, unleashing the earth magic she had converted towards Forbidden Energy before he could even execute his own attack. He reacted swiftly, narrowly blocking the crudely made lance of stone, which shattered into pieces upon impact.

"Nice try, cat," Forbidden Energy quickly closed the gap between them. As he drew nearer, his hands crackled with swirling void energy, intensifying the potential damage of his impending strike.

"Expel!" In a moment of panic, Eliza unleashed a void sphere at point blank range, hoping to fend off Forbidden Energy's advance. However, he intercepted the attack, grabbing the sphere in his hand and crushing it with ease. The resulting explosion sent shockwaves through the air, pushing Eliza backwards with considerable force.

As Eliza struggled to react and find her footing, Forbidden Energy wasted no time in launching a barrage of attacks, each strike delivered with relentless ferocity, overwhelming her. With a swift motion, Forbidden Energy delivered a low kick, sending Eliza falling to the ground. But even before she could fully feel the impact, he followed up with another kick, sending her into the air with brutal force.

"This is your end, cat," Forbidden Energy said as void spheres began to materialize in the sky, surrounding Eliza as she fell. However, much to his surprise, each void sphere exploded in the sky before they could reach her. Eliza landed on her feet, albeit clearly injured from his earlier attack, she remained defiant.

Eliza smirked as she spoke, determination in her tone. "Hey, you're made of energy aren't you?" she asked.

Forbidden Energy gazed at Eliza, "I suppose you could say that," he replied. Despite the setback of his failed attack, Energy was aware that he still held the upper hand in the battle.

Eliza casted her spell "Energy fission!". However, to Forbidden Energy felt only a faint tingling sensation within his core, but nothing more. It seemed her attack had little effect on him.

Eliza let out a sigh, realizing that defeating Forbidden Energy wouldn't be as straightforward as she hoped. "How do I beat this guy?" she wondered, her mind racing for a strategy. "If he decides to get up close and personal, I'll be at a disadvantage."

"If that's all, then allow me to take initiative," With Forbidden Energy charging towards her, Eliza's mind raced to come up with a plan on the spot. She had no time left for strategizing as he approached rapidly.

As Energy leaped into the air and delivered a powerful punch, Eliza quickly raised her arms to block the attack. However, the force of the blow was overwhelming, shattering her defense and leaving her vulnerable to the next attack.

"Draining strikes," the aura surrounding his fist shifted to a white hue as he began his assault on Eliza. With each strike, his spell drained away Eliza's mana.

As the blows rained down on her, Eliza quickly shifted her focus to her healing magic, she then cast speed enhancements on herself, which gave the her reaction time and agility just enough to start evading his strikes.

"This is going to be a problem," Eliza thought to herself as she dodged each of Forbidden Energy's attacks. "I can't just keep playing defense all day." She knew that she needed to turn the tide of the battle and find a way to go on the offensive.

"Slowness!" Forbidden Energy casted a momentary curse on Eliza, causing her movements to slow down considerably. As the curse took effect, Eliza found herself struggling to evade his attacks, her agility diminishing with each passing moment.

"What the- mmph?!" Eliza gasped as a sudden blow landed in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. With a swift follow up, Energy conjured a void sphere, sending her across the courtyard with its impact.

As Eliza struggled to regain her breath, she realized that her natural magic barrier had been completely shattered by the attack. Now, she was left truly vulnerable, her defenses compromised and her body exposed to further attacks.

"Do you realize how outmatched you truly were?" Forbidden Energy's voice echoed across the courtyard as he walked towards Eliza.

Eliza drew in a deep breath, "That's why when I beat you, it'll be embarrassing for you," she said defiantly.

"Nothing but bravado," Forbidden Energy said as he stood in front of Eliza.

"Perhaps," she replied with a faint smile, "but hey, at least you're in range for my attack."

Just as Forbidden Energy was about to strike Eliza, she took the opportunity, channeling the stored void spheres she had earlier absorbed into the black hole. Using mana conversion, she converted them into a powerful blast of icy energy, freezing him in place.

Eliza gathered the remaining void spheres and merged them into a colossal sphere of energy. Struggling to contain its power, she exerted every ounce of her will to control it. She aimed the sphere at Forbidden Energy and unleashed it, releasing a devastating blast towards him.

As the blast hurtled towards him, Forbidden Energy broke free from the ice, "Energy Devastation!" Forbidden Energy prepared to parry with his own attack, but to his shock, he felt all of his void energy suddenly cut off.

"Siphon magic, Null!" Eliza casted, effectively nullifying both her and Forbidden Energy's ability to use their Ornaments or attributes, including the use of mana.

"There's no way, I can't go out like this..." Forbidden Energy said as the colossal void sphere drew closer, his voice in disbelief.

Soon enough, the void sphere completely engulfed Forbidden Energy, consuming him. As the void sphere made contact with a nearby tree, it triggered a massive explosion, sending shockwaves through the surrounding area.

As soon as Eliza saw the explosion, she quickly cancelled the Null spell. Yet, in that very moment, a spike of void energy emerged from the ground beneath her, ruthlessly impaling both of her feet.

As the smoke cleared, multiple clones of Forbidden Energy appeared, walking towards Eliza.

Eliza's voice trembled as she whispered, "N-no way, I thought that was it..." She focused on drawing in the energy spikes into the black hole, releasing her.

Eliza's voice was barely audible as she whispered to herself, her mind racing with the urgency of the situation. "Which one is the real one. Energy Vacuum is absorbing mana from all of them..." She swallowed hard, releasing her depleted mana reserves. "I barely have any mana left either..."

"Heine, you have to help me, I'm sorry but I wasn't enough to defeat this Forbidden," She said, but was met with silence.

"Don't tell me," Eliza whispered, her voice barely audible over the approaching clones, "he expects me to defeat him, but how..?"

Eliza let out a frustrated sigh as she quickly switched to her healing magic to tend to her injured feet. She began to mend the wounds, wincing at the pain with each movement. Once satisfied with her progress, she quickly transitioned to her siphon magic, using her own mana. "Damn it, Expel!" she muttered under her breath, she converted her own mana, shaping it into a blazing wall of fire that erupted before her. As she used the opportunity to create some distance between herself and the advancing clones.

As expected, a trail of deadly spikes trailed behind her, Eliza used the power of her black hole once more, absorbing in each one. The void consumed the malevolent energy, swallowing each spike whole as she moved. With each spike she absorbed, Eliza felt a surge of energy replenishing her depleted mana reserves. The stolen energy flowed through her, she used the dark power of the void to fuel her own strength, converting the void energy into pure mana.

After replenishing her mana reserves by converting the spikes into her own energy, Eliza launched the remaining spikes towards the clones. Four of the clones were struck by the spikes, dissipated, and transformed into void spheres, which were then launched towards Eliza . The fifth clone, the real Forbidden Energy, dodged the spike.

Before the void spheres could pose a real threat, Eliza snapped her fingers, causing each of the void spheres to explode near Forbidden Energy.

"This is all I can think of," Eliza converted her own mana to light magic, conjuring a barrage of shining arrows and launching them towards Forbidden Energy.

Despite his efforts to defend himself, Forbidden Energy, still weakened from the earlier attack, couldn't block all of the arrows. Several of the arrows pierced his chest.

"Energy fission!" Eliza exclaimed, snapping her fingers before Forbidden Energy could remove the arrows. In a dazzling display of light, the arrows exploded, intensifying the damage to his already wounded chest.

Eliza quickly switched to her healing magic, to increase her speed with her enhancement spells as she rushed towards him. As Forbidden Energy came to the realization, it was already too late; Eliza converted her mana into an icy blast, trapping him once more in a freezing prison.

"Mana conversion, earth!" Eliza exclaimed, changing her mana to transform it into earth once more. She crafted a rock lance and aimed directly at his wound.

As Forbidden Energy struggled in his weakened state, he was unable to break free from the ice, leaving him vulnerable to Eliza's attack. The rock lance pierced his wound, inflicting even more damage upon him.

"To be pushed this far, not by the White Trial, not by The Victorious Ten. But some cat, fine, if you wish to see my true strength then so be it..." Forbidden Energy's voice echoing, his right green eye flashing with anger. He extended his hand to grab the lance, expecting to crush it with ease, but the moment his fingers closed around it, the lance erupted in a violent explosion, intensifying his rage.

"Forbidden attribute, Energy Vortex!" The atmosphere around them shifted dramatically, the once vibrant sky darkening to a deep hue, while the surrounding flora and fauna began to wither and decay. Eliza felt a sudden drain on her mana reserves the moment Forbidden Energy unleashed his devastating attack.

"T-This feeling, is he drawing in all mana. It's reaching even the White Trial..." Eliza whispered to herself, her voice trembling with realization as she felt Forbidden Energy's power. "It's as if he's a singularity, drawing in every ounce of mana within range..."

"Luckily, I don't use mana, Spirit Technique, Gale slash, level zero!" In an instant, Forbidden Energy found himself slashed across the chest.

Forbidden Energy glanced at his assailant, he was met with the White Crusader and Vaos, standing side by side. Their presence alone was enough to send a chill down his spine.

"One problem after the other," Forbidden Energy whispered as the Energy Vortex slowly dissipated.

"Cat, don't think this is the end. Next time we meet, I will kill you..." With a glare, Forbidden Energy activated spatial retreat, vanishing into the void.

"Hah... T-that was scary," Eliza managed a faint smile, her legs wobbling as she was on the brink of collapse. With a mix of relief and exhaustion in her expression, she fell to the dirt. However, before she could hit the ground, Vaos came in, catching her in his arms with a gentle yet firm grip.

"Vaos, I didn't defeat him, but I managed to hold him off for a while. Are you proud of me?" Eliza spoke weakly, her body quivering from exhaustion.

"Eliza, I'm immensely proud of you," Vaos replied with a reassuring smile. "You faced a formidable opponent and held your ground admirably. That's something to be proud of, regardless of the outcome."

"Thank you, Vaos," Eliza whispered softly as she closed her eyes and fell to sleep. As she drifted off, a gentle green aura emitted from her, a manifestation of her healing magic springing to life, working passively to mend her battered body.

"Hmph, I must admit, I'm impressed. When I first saw her, she appeared far from a skilled combatant. Yet, here she is, successfully holding her ground against one of the stronger Forbidden." The White Crusader complimented.

Vaos remained silent for a moment, before turning to Sun who led them to the sanctuary of the White Trial.

"Take me to the Soul Harvester, Heine..."