"Is there really such a good thing?"
Fíliya felt the changes occurring within her body and found them nothing short of miraculous.
First, there were the Emotional Points, which for some reason were pulsating and rising continuously. This level of fluctuation instantly reminded her of the scene when Serie saw the young Flamme.
Of course, aside from the skyrocketing points income, what surprised her even more was that her body was steadily receiving a stream of familiar mana.
This sensation of being replenished just as her mana neared total exhaustion made her feel as if she were bathing in a spring breeze or tasting sweet dew; she couldn't extricate herself from the feeling for a long time.
There was only one possibility for this sudden situation...
Did my copy, created by the [Water-Mirror Demon], actually activate [The Other Side]?
These exaggerated Emotional Points, along with this steady stream of mana, were obviously a gift from that white-haired elf.
She didn't know who exactly that white-hair had met to get so excited... Was it Flamme? Or could it be Himmel?
Hmm... The Emotional Points are easy to understand, but what is going on with this mana? Logically speaking, shouldn't it be extracted into the copy's body? Why would it come to me? Is there some marvelous deviation in the judgment system?
A series of questions began to well up in Fíliya's heart, but she had no leisure to think deeply about them right now.
She still had a powerful enemy she had to face.
In the end, this mana sent by Frieren couldn't guarantee her victory; it merely gave her a chance to start over.
But that was precious enough. She had to make good use of this gift.
Thinking of this, Fíliya immediately burst into action, unfolding a seesaw battle against the counterfeit Frieren.
"There must be something... There must be something I haven't noticed..."
Miss Fíliya, having regained her confidence, was now splitting her focus three ways. While keeping Frieren occupied, she carefully observed Frieren's movements, and even spared a portion of her mental energy to recall everything related to Frieren.
She had to find a third weakness in Frieren that she could exploit.
After all, the gap in true strength between her and Frieren was just that massive. She had to seize every single instant that could lead to victory.
In this fierce exchange, Fíliya felt as if her thinking was becoming increasingly active.
She finally remembered something... It was a bit of gossip Flamme had mentioned when they were chatting.
"That child, Frieren, really gives me a headache. It's clearly a flaw so basic it couldn't be more basic, yet she just can't seem to correct it."
"Did you know, Fíliya? When Frieren casts spells, her Mana Detection cuts out for a split second... I really don't know who introduced her to magic for her to develop such a bad habit... I tried to correct her for a long time, but she still couldn't fix it. In the end, it even made me lose a bit of confidence. Sigh..."
Flamme's expression of 'hating iron for not becoming steel' surfaced in Fíliya's mind. This detail clearly gave Fíliya the inspiration she needed.
"Mana Detection..."
Fíliya took a deep breath, feeling a flash of insight illuminate her mind.
That's right, I should have noticed it sooner... That fellow Frieren seems to rely a bit too much on her [Mana Detection]... Although for a mage, trusting one's own mana detection is certainly not wrong, this also means that once [Mana Detection] fails, or a situation arises where [Mana Detection] cannot function, it becomes a fatal weakness for that mage.
Coupled with Frieren's own bad habit... Yes, this is worth gambling on.
Fíliya immediately formulated a plan in her heart.
At this moment, the counterfeit Frieren began to brew a large-scale magic spell again, but it suddenly misfired just as it was about to be unleashed.
Because she realized she had lost her target.
If it were just High-Speed Movement Magic, Frieren would have long since grown accustomed to that speed. No matter where Fíliya moved, Frieren could re-lock onto her. But this time was slightly different.
Because this time, after Fíliya used speed magic to move to her desired position, she immediately suppressed her mana to a considerably weak level.
Although she really disliked the act of [Mana Suppression], she had to admit that it was an incredibly useful method when dealing with mages.
Frieren could suppress her mana to near nothingness, and while Fíliya wasn't as good as Frieren, the difference wasn't large.
In this way, Frieren—who possessed the bad habit of 'interrupting perception at the moment of casting'—would need to spend extra time to re-lock onto Fíliya after regaining her perception.
And this amount of time was enough for Fíliya to launch one round of [Ordinary Attack Magic].
Speaking of which, this could be considered giving her a taste of her own medicine. It was time to let this white-hair taste what it felt like to be sneak-attacked by someone hiding their mana.
A pure white line sliced through the sky, directly grazing Frieren's shoulder. If it were a real chaotic body, Frieren's collarbone would have been broken by this blow... but unfortunately, the opponent was just a lifeless mud puppet.
"Pity... just missed by a tiny bit. If it had been a little slower, maybe it would have hit the head..."
Fíliya bit her lip in regret, but she was already very satisfied with this result. After all, this was the second time she had inflicted actual damage on Frieren.
So, what she needed to do next was very simple: she just needed to replicate this simple operation countless times.
No sooner said than done. Fíliya began to think of every possible way to seize that moment when Frieren interrupted her perception during casting, dodging into the blind spot of Frieren's vision, and then launching a sneak attack from that blind spot while hiding her mana.
Without a doubt, she achieved a very good result. Frieren's left hand falling from mid-air was the best proof.
"Bad habits formed in daily life can be fatal in crucial moments, you know."
Watching that scene, Fíliya couldn't help but reveal a smile, expecting Frieren to launch her next attack so she could repeat the old trick.
But Frieren clearly reacted as well. She directly opened up the distance from Fíliya and then pressed her back tightly against a distant wall.
"Tsk... Who exactly said copies don't have wisdom?!"
Fíliya's heart instantly sank. She hadn't expected this heartless creation to actually come up with this method—backing against a wall to gain a wider field of vision while simultaneously removing the need to guard her rear.
At the same time, Frieren no longer had any intention of brewing attacks. After all, starting from that strange moment earlier, every time she proactively attacked, it had backfired.
"What's wrong? Are you really not going to make a move? You are a Great Mage; is it really okay to be so scared by me that you dare not move? Can't you have a little dignity?"
Fíliya taunted unhappily. Although her previous attacks had achieved good results, if this creation continued to refrain from attacking like this, she naturally had no way to catch the recovery lag of Frieren's [Perception Interruption].
Then should she take the initiative to attack? No, that wouldn't work either. That would only turn into a boring battle of attrition again, and in the end, she would only repeat the previous ending of running out of mana.
Tsk... I didn't expect that Frieren's simple action of pressing her back against the wall would once again force me into a sort of dead end.
In the final analysis, the disparity in strength was just too great. Without using petty tricks, she had no chance of winning at all.
Thinking of this, Fíliya couldn't help but clench her fist.
____
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