Adelaide and Snotlout stood strong against Letolie, but when Adelaide attempted to cast a spell, she found she could not form it.
"Unfortunately for you, this is a sealed space, which means no matter what you do, your attacks won't reach me," said Letolie.
She then fired several compass needles at them, and Snotlout quickly formed mercury shields to block the attacks.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!" Adelaide yelled.
Unfortunately, her water barrier was unable to form itself.
"You're just wasting magic and energy," said Letolie. "What a shame, and I tried so hard to give you a peaceful death."
Adelaide couldn't believe this was happening. 'She's too good. What am I going to do? Even with Mana Skin, Sea Dragon's Lair won't have any effect in here.'
Snotlout to were struggling as it took everything he had just to defend them. 'Despite using all my strength, this is the best I can do.'
He then winced from the pain from his injured shoulder, losing concentration for a brief moment. One of the needles managed to pierce through his mercury and headed straight towards Scoldlout and Alvilda, but Snotlout quickly extended his hand and defended them with a mercury barrier.
'All I can manage now are simple movements at close range,' Snotlout grimaced. 'There's only one strategy.'
"You're quite determined," Letolie acknowledged, "but I wonder how much longer you can keep this up?"
She continued shooting out compass needles, and Snotlout kept blocking them, but he was reaching his limit.
'He's struggling,' Adelaide noted. 'Come on, think! If Dak and the other Black Dragons were here, I bet they could come up with some sort of crazy idea.'
Snotlout could barely stop one of the compass needles from reaching Scoldlout and Alvilda, but his strength waned.
"Damnit!" Scoldlout cried. "If we don't figure out something to counteract her magic, we'll have no way out!"
Adelaide's eyes widened upon hearing this as it gave her an idea. 'No way out?'
She then had a faint memory of when she trained with Hiccup.
"When your back is against the wall, use it," he instructed.
"I may not be able to use creation Magic in such a controlled environment, but what if…" She then quickly extended her hands. "…if I lose control?"
Suddenly, shooting out from her hands was a torrent of water.
"Snotlout, lend me a hand!" Adelaide yelled.
Snotlout got the idea quickly in case all of them were within his mercury, with only Adelaide's hand sticking out. Thanks to Another Atlas, the water had nowhere to go and began to fill the room with Letolie trapped inside.
"This is…" she said before the water consumed her. 'I don't understand? You fool, you've just flooded a completely enclosed space with water. Another Atlas combined everything within its vortex; if I don't want to be drowned in my own spell, I have no choice but to call it off.'
Reluctantly, she cancelled the spell, causing the water to shoot out of the tower, and she quickly swam to the surface so she could breathe.
She then glared down at them. 'You wretched human.'
Snotlout was quite quick to react. Now that he had regained control of his mercury, he quickly extended it and wrapped it around Letolie.
'No,' she said, horrified as the mercury began to cover her, 'I don't believe it. She annihilated me in a mere instant.'
Once all the water was flooding out of the tower, Snotlout pulled back his mercury. Scoldlout just stared at Adelaide, looking absolutely terrified, while Alvilda lay in his arms, looking shocked.
"Amazing," she said. "It makes sense for Snotlout but not from her."
"Hmm, guess we pulled it off, huh, Snotlout?" said Adelaide. "Hey, I really appreciate you going along with my idea, even though there was a bit of a shot in the dark and all."
"It certainly was an unorthodox," Snotlout admitted. "Fighting outweighs befitting of royalty, but it still resulted in a victory for us. You learned many impressive things under Hiccup's tutelage."
Snotlout stood there, thinking back to just before the Magic Knight Entrance Exam. He was sitting at a fancy restaurant when Hiccup suddenly appeared.
"Thought I might find you here," he said as he sat down opposite him.
"This restaurant is only to serve Royal," said Snotlout, not looking up from his food.
"It's also the best place to talk about people overhearing us, especially regarding your baby sister," he said.
"Here to insult my House, are we?"
"Nothing of the sort; I just want to know what you intend to do with your baby sister. You know it is customary for the royal families' main branch to send their children to the Magic Knights, but I have yet to hear where you going to place Adelaide."
"Not that it's any of your business, but I have no intention of having her join the Magic Knights."
"That's what I figured, but you know she wants to prove herself to your House. Therefore, one can only assume she gonna try and take the Magic Knight Entrance Exam."
Snotlout sighed. "What am I going to do with that girl? She'll embarrass herself to everyone if she does so."
"You could have her join my squad."
Snotlout stared at him. "Are you out of your mind? She'll die on her very first mission."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do.
"No, you don't! Snotlout, listen to me. I know it's hard for you not to always be there for her. She's gonna go out there; she's probably already out there training. You can't stop. You can only prepare her."
Snotlout looked at him but then shook his head. "No, I can't, I can't lose her."
Hiccup sighed. "Then you leave me no choice, calling for that favour you owe me years ago."
Snotlout stared at him. "You've waited 13 years to use that favour and want to use it to recruit my sister?"
"She reminds me of when I was starting out, and I want to help."
Snotlout looked at him with a fierce expression. "If anything happens to I'm coming for you."
"Understood."
"You can't tell her about any of this."
"I won't, that's your job."
Back in the present, Snotlout was now confessing everything to Adelaide.
"I feared, because you look so much like our late mother, that I might lose her a second time," he said.
Adelaide's eyes widened.
"I didn't expect expect you to become a strong person. I wanted to protect you at any cost, so I tried to keep you from the battlefield. Hiccup finally managed to convince me to have you join his squad, and you surprised me. You are more capable now than I ever could have predicted you would be."
Snotlout then shifted awkwardly. "What I mean is… I apologise, Adelaide."
Everyone just stared at him.
"Snotlout apologised?" said Alvilda shocked.
"That's impossible," said Scoldlout.
"Um, thank you, Snotlout," said Adelaide surprised.
"We aren't out of danger yet; we better see to Alvilda's wounds," he said.
Snotlout eyes then widened as he was suddenly stabbed by several compass needles.
'What?!' Snotlout gasped, coughing out some blood.
"Snotlout!" Adelaide screamed.
Then suddenly, surrounding the tower was Another Atlas, much larger than the previous one, which decimated the tower walls.
"How did this happen?" Adelaide cried as she knelt next to Snotlout. "Please, wake up!"
The mercury surrounding Letolie then melted away, freeing her.
"I almost feel bad for you," she said, unleashing an incredible surge of mana. "You're trapped now here in this place. There's no stopping it any more; it's far too vast and powerful."
"You're lying!" Scoldlout yelled. "There has to be some way to escape from this madness."
"All you can do now is accept your fate," said Letolie. "This is the price you'll pay for your sins, Royals."
'I won't give up,' said Adelaide determinedly. 'There is a solution to this; I know there is. Think hard, Adelaide; you can defeat her. You've finally proved yourself to your brother, right? So you can do anything. If you don't, Scold and Alvida won't make it.'
"I would prefer to watch as you gradually give in to death, but I think I'll have mercy on you sinful human fools and get this over with quickly instead," said Letolie as she created more compass needles.
'They've been cruel to me, but still, I won't let her take away my family,' she vowed.
Her grimoire opened, and a new page was created within its cover. Suddenly, she felt a huge surge of magic flowing through her body.
'Long-range spells out magic manipulation, too,' she said. 'I need something simple that packs a punch. Something that doesn't need to travel far.'
Letolie stared at this intense mana that surrounded Adelaide.
'This is a spell that only I can use because of where I am and who I am at this exact moment,' said Adelaide.
The most crucial component in manifesting a magical ability is the user's natural talent. However, unwavering effort in training may also play a part. In rare cases, a deeply heartfelt wish can empower them during a time of crisis.
As a result, many royal mages are able to enquire spells intuitively by using their prowess and natural resourcefulness, and because of their advantage, those individuals rarely undergo training, do research or have their lives in danger on the battlefield.
Although Adelaide possessed considerable magic power and talent, she also worked hard to improve herself and risked her life many times in combat with the Black Dragons. Her long-suffering and resolute desire to protect her siblings gave her all the power she needed to overcome her current challenge.
Everyone watched as Ali began coaching herself in water-like armour and wielded a lance of water.
'Water Creation Magic: Valkyrie Armour!' she yelled.
"Adelaide…" said Scoldlout, shocked.
'What kind of magic is that?' said Letolie, stunned. 'She's giving off an enormous amount of power.'
However, she quickly composed herself and narrowed her eyes at Adelaide. "That won't be enough, Royal!"
She sent her compass needle straight to Adelaide, but he suddenly moved with incredible speed and flew up into the air. Letolie jumped on one of her compass needles to put some distance between them, but she kept on flying towards her.
Letolie fired off more compass needles, but Adelaide began dodging them with incredible greats like she was dancing midair.
'How does she move so swiftly?' Letolie stared. 'Is she riding the mana in my attacks and the disturbance they're creating in this concealed space like waves on the sea? That armour must be a spell that allows her to control nearby mana. Fine, but can you avoid all of these?'
She unleashed an onslaught of compass needles.
'I still have the advantage here,' she said. 'If I can find the slightest hole in your defence, this world I created will rip your armour clean off.'
However, Adelaide was able to dance around them effortlessly. It was as if this was completely natural to her, and it felt like she was being embraced by her mother.
'Just moments ago, I was struggling, but now it feels like I've burst out of my cage,' she said, smiling as she flew around. 'I had no idea magic could make me feel so free. I wonder if this is the same feeling my mother had?'
Snotlout watched Adelaide dance around the attacks, and for a brief moment, he thought he had seen his mother.
'Mother…' he gasped. 'The Dancing Princess of the Battlefield.'
No matter what she did, Letolie couldn't land a single hit on Adelaide, so she went on the offensive. Using her lance to destroy the needles, she set her eyes upon her.
"How?" said Letolie, shocked. "How did you cut through everything I threw at you?"
Adelaide then launched herself directly at her and thrust her land at her. "It's over!"
'Wilful Compass!' Letolie yelled, creating a compass barrier to block the attack. She then began using it to disturb Adelaide's armour. "These mana currents you seem to dance from so elegantly I'm about to redirect them and send you straight to hell!"
Letolie positioned her compass needle directly behind Adelaide, ready to skew her. "You're mine now, Royal brat."
However, through determination, Adelaide somehow managed to reverse the compass needle on her barrier, and it began spinning erratically.
"Did she overrule my mana compulsion?" she said, shocked.
"I'm not concerned with elegance," said Adelaide. "This armour, anything that comes into contact with this mana, is under my control. I'm fighting with everything I've got so I can move forward! I'll crush you and this world you made!"
She broke straight through Letolie's barrier and stabbed her with her lance, unleashing a powerful stream of water from the tip. Letolie was rendered unconscious and began falling back to the ground. With her finally defeated, Another Atlas faded away, freeing everyone once again along with the compass needle stuck in Snotlout.
"Did I win?" Adelaide asked. She then turned around to Scoldlout. "Come on, let's get Snotlout and Alvilda to safety."
Unfortunately, before they had a chance to do that, more possessed Magic Knights had arrived and were now floating around the ruined tower.
'Oh no, I don't have enough magic to fight these guys,' Adelaide panicked.
"How dare you hurt Kivn," said one of them, looking down at Letolie. "It appears we might have underestimated your strength, humans." He then began to open his grimoire. "But that will not happen again. Begone!"
He then fired a powerful stream of fire straight down at Scoldlout, who was still in shock, and Alvilda.
"Scold, behind you!" Adelaide screamed.
A magic circle then suddenly appeared directly behind Scoldlout and absorbed the attack. A split second later, the magic circle fired straight back at the elf, who had no time to react and got hit by it.
"See, now that's how you do a surprise attack," said Zora, who had appeared out of nowhere carrying someone in his arms. "Not bad, huh? Even better when you do double it."
The elf who got hit by the attack was rendered unconscious and fell to the ground.
The other elves were completely stunned by what had just happened.
"What magic was that?"
"I've never seen anything like it."
"Damned, humans. Stay on guard."
"That last battle was flashy, to say the least," said Zora. "So I kinda assumed it was going to draw a crowd."
"Zora?" Adelaide gasped.
Zora then looked down at the young man he was carrying. "Hey, kid, don't you work for these people? Make yourself useful."
He then dropped the young man onto the ground, who clearly had no desire to be there.
"What's the matter with you?!" he yelled. "Dragging me into something this dangerous?"
"I'm the guy who saved your ass, remember?" Zora reminded him. "So you had better listen to me."
"I can't."
"You can and you will," said Zora, gesturing to Snotlout and Alvilda. "Hop to it, kid, or you won't have masters any more."
The servant's eyes widened the moment he saw them. "Hey, it's Lord Snotlout and Lady Alvilda! They need my help!"
He quickly rushed to his feet and opened his grimoire. "Bubble Recovery Magic: Bubble Refresher!"
He instantly created a bubble bath around Alvilda and began to heal her.
"Lord Scoldlout, please bring Lord Snotlout over here," said the servant, but Scoldlout was still in shock. "Lord Scoldlout?"
"What's wrong? Are you taking a nap?" Zora asked, rolling his eyes. "Some Royal Magic Knight you are, buddy. How can you let this chick beat all three of you? Maybe if you snobs didn't run your mouths off all the time, you'd fight better! I mean, this moron over here is a captain, and he could even look out for his own family?"
Zora's words were harsh, but they rang true, for Snotlout began thinking back roughly 15 years ago.
His mother was still alive and was about to give birth to Adelaide any day now.
"Snotlout," she said as she rubbed her stomach. "You'll be getting your grimoire very soon in two years. I'm looking forward to finding out what sort of amazing things you're going to do."
"I'll learn spells of unparalleled power so that I can become a strong Magic Knight Captain just like you are, Mother," Snotlout vowed.
She smiled and gave a small chuckle. "That's great; Scold and Alvilda both have water Magic like your father does. And I have a feeling the same might be the same for the little one, too. The only one of my children who inherited my steel attribute was you, dear. So be sure you use it to protect your siblings, okay."
Snotlout nodded.
'That's right, I should.'
"Royals like you are supposed to be more powerful than us peasants, right?" said Zora. "Come on, show a little spirit."
"I think we've heard quite enough from you!" Adelaide snapped.
"Stop!" said Snotlout as he rose to his feet.
Adelaide looked at him, confused. "But Snotlout… I don't…"
"Everything he's saying is true," said Snotlout as he sealed his wounds with his mercury. "If I let this be the end of me, I'd be a disgrace to the Royal House of Jorgenson and the Silver Eagles!"
He then glared up at the elves. 'I'll reinforce my body with magic.'
Adelaide looked at him, speechless. 'He can fortify himself with Mercury Magic? What an advanced technique.'
"Are you ready, Adelaide?" Snotlout asked.
"Yeah," she nodded, landing beside him.
Zora chuckled slightly as he opened his grimoire. "You snooty rich kids have so much magic power, it makes me sick. Tone it down for the rest of us, would you? Ash Magic: Revelation of the Cowardly!"
Ash then flowed out his grimoire and surrounded Adelaide and Snotlout. The two of them then looked at one another and nodded.
"Now!" Zora yelled.
Adelaide then immediately launched herself into the air.
"Take my magic with you, Adelaide!" Snotlout yelled as he extended his mercury after her.
An elf fired a lightning bolt at her, but she quickly dodged the attack. Another elf tried to strike down with ice, but she missed as well.
"I've got you!" said an elf as he raised a metal hammer.
"Not quite," said Adelaide, dodging his swing.
Adelaide continued to fly around and try; as they might be elves, the elves were unable to land a hit.
"She's too fast."
"We'll capture her."
Three of the elves then moved in after, only to trigger some trap spells paralysing them.
"It's Trap Magic."
"And there's more where that came from," said Zora. 'The Revelation of the Cowardly shows where I place each of my trap spells. The second they screw up, these royals will be all over them.'
Snotlout's mercury then ensnared them and trapped them in place, giving Adelaide the perfect opportunity to strike them down.
An elf, coating himself in rock, hovered above Snotlout. "In that condition, you won't be able to avoid this!"
He fired rock bullets the size of boulders, and Snotlout quickly created mercury shields to block the attack.
"Snotluot!" Adelaide cried.
An elf using Wind Magic flew straight toward her, but she nimbly dodged him as he continued to strike down with tornadoes.
Zora just stood there and observed them, and he noticed that all the elves were rather surprised with his trap spells.
"Bunch of amateurs," he snorted. "Guess you don't know about complicated techniques like my Counter Traps."
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar!" Adelaide yelled, unleashing her attack on the tip of her lance.
However, her spell completely missed the elf.
"It looks like your control is starting to falter, little girl," the elf smirked.
Snotlout had managed to withstand the attack from his opponent. "Mercury Magic: Rain of Silver!"
He then had his silver bullets rained down from the sky, but the elf managed to protect himself with his Earth Magic.
"That's nothing to me," he said.
However, the elves didn't realise that Snotlout and Adelaide were not aiming at them. Rather, they aimed at the Counter Traps spells Zora had created around the battlefield. Seconds later, the attack spells shot out of the counter traps, headed straight back towards them at double the strength, and struck them down.
'The spells have been evolving for years,' said Zora. 'It's complex human magic, but you elves will know about that either, would you?'