Gardenia joined her on the way down the stairs, voicing a minor concern she held onto, "Are you going to be able to maintain enough mana to cast those new spells at the rate you were using the previous ones?"
Ash nodded slightly and dismissed another notification she'd received after creating all of her new spells. It indicated that her mastery over magic itself had increased and that her mana pool had also grown as a direct result. Her mana manipulation had also increased, slightly reducing the mana spells took to form. Those alone likely wouldn't be enough to keep her mana high enough for continuous casting but she did have other methods to do so.
Mana Thief had been one of the skills she'd upgraded, though only by adding enchant to the rudimentary spell she'd made. The result was that it returned a flat percentage of the damage she dealt as mana, literally taking the target's mana during the attack and making it her own. It no longer reduced the damage of the attack either.
Between that and her ability to absorb the dungeon's mana with Mana Absorption, she'd manage though she feared there might be some repercussions to deal with later. She didn't normally absorb mana in dungeons in her own world. She purified it with spells and then used it for magic without actually absorbing it herself.
Once they rejoined with the others, they talked very little about strategy or even Ash's acquisition of new spells considering their opponent was sentient. Instead they prepared themselves, checked their supplies and made their way through the barrier with Yarrow in the lead.
The boss monster seemed surprised when Ash stepped through as well and she could almost sense satisfaction rolling off of it as it spoke, "And here I thought I'd have to break my way through the barriers to get to you," its laugh felt icy, magic weaving its way through the room with the simple action to plunge the temperatures to uncomfortable levels, "My knowledge says that pure ones like yourself are quite cowardly…your bravery will be your end."
It moved fast in the frigid room and Ash and Fi both reacted swiftly even as Yarrow moved to intercept its attack. Fi prepared her defensive spells, ready to help keep its blade from hurting Yarrow. Ash cast the party version of her shielding spell as well as an elemental shield for fire like the wind shield she'd made earlier. This one was less to take blows though and more to keep everyone warm in the suddenly frosty room.
Fel once more existed only on the very edge of Ash's perception. A slight shake of her head as Ash formed the fire shield kept her from using it on the stealthy elf. Without it the others seemed to glow in comparison with the warmth they gave off. Fel slipped by her, words whispered into her ear to request a particular spell be cast just as she decided to attack that way she'd have the best chance possible of being overlooked in the chaos about to unfold.
Gardenia readied her attack spell, starting with light since the creature was made of chaos magic. They had no idea if Yarrow's aggro skills would work considering the monster had intelligence. It meant they had to stay ready for anything.
Yarrow caught the scythe on his shield, Fi's magic helping to guard against what would have been a lethal blow without both forms of protection. If any of them took a single blow, the best they could hope for was extreme injury. The paladin wove his own spells, starting with the one that should force the monster to pay attention solely to him.
Its blow deflected, the reaper had stepped back slightly as if to target someone else only to turn a wrathful gaze back onto the paladin, "How bothersome, to be bound by such rules," it snarled as it swung the blade down as if to slice the bothersome opponent in half.
Yarrow dodged swiftly, another spell of his own bolstering his physical abilities to make it easier to do so. A swift chant wreathed his blade in strong light even as he swung it at the monster in front of him. The boss took him by surprise, the blow landing squarely on one of its arms rather than it trying to move out of the way.
Within an instant the blade disappeared and it stepped forward into Yarrow's defenses, one of its fists coating itself in magic even as it aimed a blow for Yarrow's chest. Fel's blades sank into an unprotected leg. Each blade glowed with what appeared to be unaugmented magic though the effects conjured upon their strikes told another story.
One charred where it struck while the other flashed brightly. The charred magic merely flowed away, replaced by other magic as if the creature was left without injury. The brighter spot, though, lingered behind and a chunk of magic disappeared from its leg throwing off its balance. Given just enough leeway by the change in its balance, Yarrow narrowly dodged the fist that should have squarely hit him aided in his endeavor by Fi's shield taking part of the blow.
Ash's shields came into play next as it unleashed a wave of frost magic strong enough it should have frozen them all to the spot. It did successfully freeze Fel and the monster rounded on her, the magic wreathing its hand changing forms to a sickle that would easily remove her head from her shoulders.
Ash took the opportunity to hammer all of her waiting spells into it even as Gardenia did the same. The light magic she'd woven was a lot stronger than what it had seen of her before and the little priestess' magic hurt just as much as it had figured it would. It staggered under the pressure and the lithe little target he was about to destroy disappeared before his very eyes only to reappear almost instantly behind the only one that hadn't attacked him yet.
Its inky gaze on her, Fi held her head up defiantly and snarled, "You will not win."