I was doing the same thing as she was, but even with Flare's support, my abilities were drastically inferior.

'What am I doing wrong here?'

Nothing conclusive came to my mind except a question.

'Is this my limit as a human?'

I was gradually improving. My abilities were getting better, but there must be a limit. Like how a normal person reaches his peak in his youth after which his abilities start degrading gradually.

I wasn't sure if I would ever be as strong as her. Unlike her, my lifespan was limited.

Compared to others, I was lucky. Lucky in the sense that I was able to improve my abilities with considerably less training. But despite all that, I was nowhere near her.

Unlike last time, Olive didn't stay quiet. She charged towards Zagan who was on the opposite side of the lake. I tried flying towards them, but my distance to them was greater and she was simply too fast.

I was worried, but my worry was probably unnecessary because it looked like Zagan was prepared to counter her. Dark smoke was coming out of his body, and his eyes that were golden had turned red.

He had released his aura and I could sense a huge amount of mana from him. But compared to Olive's, it wasn't even one-tenth.

When she reached closer, she dashed towards him at an incredible speed. She was so fast that it looked like she disappeared from where she was and reappeared on his left.

Without even wasting a fraction of a second, she attacked him with a high kick. That kick supported by her speed was a deadly combination. Zagan had not time to dodge that, he probably didn't expect her to appear on his left.

He tried blocking her using both of his hands. And in doing so, he was able to protect his body, but the impact sent him flying towards the wall.

"BANG!"

He collided with the wall and fell on the ground. But she didn't stop there, she dashed just like before and appeared in front of him. And before he could even try to stand up, she kicked him in his guts. His back was against the wall so the damage was several times severe than before.

He coughed blood as the impact created a huge crack on the wall.

When all this was happening, I could do nothing but just watch. This helplessness reminded me of the time when Ronald was attacked by Beelzebub. I wasn't able to do anything back then too.

"Dammit!"

I was enraged by the frustration of not being able to do anything. I was tired of looking at people around me getting hurt. But what could I do in this situation? I lacked the power to act in time.

'Even if I was able to reach them on time, would I have been able to do anything?'

Olive looked at me and grinned. It looked as if she was able to sense my frustration and self-doubt. She disappeared from her position and appeared right in front of me. But before I could react, I felt a heavy kick on my shoulder. The next thing I remembered after that was drowning in the mana lake.

The water felt nice, it felt like I was being one with it. I couldn't breathe but it felt like I didn't need to.

Several of my bones must have been broken by the impact. I had no energy to swim up. My whole body felt numb.

Soon, the bottom of the lake felt closer than the top. And right when I was about to reach the bottom, my consciousness faded.

"Woah! This place looks familiar."

I woke up in a dark space. There was complete darkness as far as I could see. It felt like I had been here before, but I couldn't perceive where exactly I was. I had been transported to a different space several times before, and at this point, the surprise wasn't as great as it used to be. But the anticipation of what was about to happen next was still there.

"So, we meet again."

'Wait! That voice.'

I remembered the voice. It was spoken slowly like an old man talking to his grandchild. This voice made me realize where I was.

"Black Dragon King?"

"Oh, you remember me?"

"Yeah, of course. How could I forget? By the way, thanks for your help last time."

I remembered that he could sense my thoughts in this space. I had to be really careful about what I think here.

"It's alright. But even after I helped you get stronger, you got yourself beaten up again."

"Please don't make it sound like I wanted to get beaten up. She is really strong compared to Beelzebub. And this power you told me about takes a lot of toll in my body."

"Hahaha.. It's not like you trained for thousands of years to get that power. It will take time for your body to get used to it. Hmm.. maybe a few thousand years."

"Thousand years?! I am not sure if I will be able to survive for few more seconds!"

Even though his voice sounded like an old wise man, what he just said sounded extremely thoughtless. The lifespan of a human was around 100 years at most.

"Hmm.. lifespan is not the important thing here. For now, let's focus on what's important. And that is to get you out of this situation."

That sounded reasonable. This wasn't the time for complaining about the lifespan. We were in the midst of battle, and complaining about those things at this point was fruitless.

"Yeah. Even if I am able to get out of the mana lake somehow, I don't think I will be able to do anything against her."

"That is true. She even gives me a run for my money."

"Huh?" I said in confusion.

"Ignore what I just said. It is not important here. More importantly, have you tried using spirit magic?"

"Spirit magic?" I asked. I remembered Princess Eliane telling me that Elves make contracts with the spirits. But I wasn't familiar with Spirit magic in specific.

"Hmm.. didn't the Elf girl tell you? You can use your spirits as your power source directly. And by doing so, you will be able to use some of their abilities as your own."