With a bloodcurdling roar, the greater spirit materialized as a human figure amid the flames. The spirit had taken on the appearance of a man with spiky red hair and dragon horns. His chest was bare, and he wore exotic gold ornaments.
“Lady Witch, why did the jewel break all of a sudden?” Teto asked me.
“Probably because we came near it.”
The gem had already been on the verge of breaking, but my approaching it must’ve been the final straw. The greater spirit held a deep grudge against humans; by coming close to him, I must’ve exacerbated his anger, giving him the strength to break free.
When the greater spirit spotted us, he roared once more, reaching out after us as he loosed a volley of fireballs, his face twisted up into a mask of rage.
“Lady Witch, watch out!” Teto exclaimed, then dropped down and put her hands against the ground. “Earth Wall!”
She conjured an earth barrier that intercepted the fireballs before they could reach us. They all exploded upon impact, but Teto’s wall didn’t budge.
This seemed to displease the greater spirit even more, and he spread the flames surrounding his body in all directions; the trees and shrubs around the mansion all caught fire. Using the trees as fresh fuel, he shot another round of fireballs at Teto’s wall. This time a crack formed on the surface, dirt particles scattering everywhere with each explosion.
“The wall’s coming down!” Teto warned us.
Meanwhile, the greater spirit had started burning yet more trees. If we didn’t mount some kind of counteroffensive, we were doomed.
“Let’s isolate him! Multi-Barrier!”
I created a dome-shaped barrier all around the greater fire spirit and the burning mansion, trapping him inside.
“I’ll keep him contained. Teto, go extinguish the fire so it doesn’t spread to the rest of the forest!”
“Roger!”
The greater spirit grew increasingly agitated, relentlessly attacking my barriers with flames and explosions, but every time he managed to break one, I swiftly conjured a new one in its place.
“Lady Witch, is everything okay?” Teto asked.
“Yeah, everything’s fine for now. I’ve cut off his oxygen supply, so he can’t set up the feedback loop he wants.”
My barriers were blocking mana and oxygen from getting in or out. Up until now, the greater fire spirit had been using very little mana to attack us, mostly relying on the environment itself to feed his flames. But it was only a matter of