Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Novel

"...damn!"

Alice looked at Blake who was rampaging as a 30-meter-tall giant and couldn't help but feel awed.

And while she does feel happy and amazed that her friends had certainly become stronger, she can't help but feel a little bit inferior compared to them.

She knows that she's invaluable to the team. And technically, Blake and Mary were her subordinates in the eyes of many. That being said, she never really felt as if she was that special, and this is even though she is a reincarnator herself.

Blake has a one-track mind, but even if that was the case, he always excels at the things he chooses to do. Mary, on the other hand, was effortlessly sensible and smart. She knows herself more than any other and she always carried herself with such grace and dignity which made her a little inferior.

And Ashton...well, he's a wild card. One can never truly guess what he's up to.

Her friends held such uniqueness in them that she felt a little bit bland. Aside from being good with the sword, what else could she offer?

She's not as pretty and elegant as Mary, Blake's obviously much stronger than she, and Ashton is...well, Ashton.

It's these things that made her feel out of place somehow. Not to mention, she will always remain different because she's a reincarnator. Even if her intentions were good, things will just be different when it comes to her despite her blandness.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Alice jumped in alarm, just enough time to see at least three demons being reduced to ashes before getting to her. She looked back and saw Ashton's guns smoking.

"...sorry." she said.

"Now's not the time to be distracted. Just do what you can. Stop thinking that you're a burden and focus on proving that you are not."

'Clear and concise. A little bit painful to hear but it was necessary. As expected of Ashton, I guess.'

Alice slapped her cheeks and removed the distractions from her mind. Ashton was right, now's not the time for this. There is too much at risk here.

What she must do, hasn't changed. The training she received back then was all for this, and now's the time to apply what she learned.

Gripping her sword with both hands, Alice took a deep breath and dashed forward.

Gone were all the distractions from her mind. All that's left is her duty to uphold.

Kill all demons out here, and make sure that the Black Fog never reaches the Last Bastion even if it kills her.

Letting out a war cry, Alice slashed forward, leaving a wide gash in the air which turned into a projectile.

She sliced through demons with such a ferocity that matches theirs. A sharp Sword Intent hummed from her, causing the demons to feel a distinct threat whenever they see her.

Alice whizzed past through waves of demons, leaving them bisected as she danced with her sword.

Even though some demons had powerful vitalities which allowed them to regenerate even after being sliced in half by her, that didn't matter. Alice would just cut them away again if they dared to stand back up. It's as simple as that.

In her focused state, she didn't notice the sheer rate at which she was growing.

Ashton however, could see it all.

Alice was fighting with just pure technique at this point, the only skill she was using was 'Mana Blade' which made her sword sharper. That's it.

He could see how slowly but surely, her techniques were being polished until they became second nature to her. By the looks of it, she doesn't even realize that this was happening either.

Her surroundings were starting to get affected by her swordplay. Little by little, as the fight went on, she was growing.

At some point, the distance was slowly beginning to lose its meaning for her since all she needed to do was to 'want' something to be cut by her sword, and so long as they were within her line of sight, that was usually enough.

At one point, Alice discovered that Blake's large size was somehow working against him.

The smaller and more agile demons were able to crawl into his body and penetrate his defenses to hit him where it hurts.

Noticing this, Alice of course went and did something about it.

Her eyes glowed blue and all of a sudden, she could see past his armor, allowing her to see the bugs and cricket that are making Blake incredibly irritated.

She gripped her sword and with unparalleled confidence, she swung at Blake.

She didn't hurt him. She never would. Her targets were the insects that made their way inside his armor.

With precise slashes, she sliced them all in half, effectively killing them in the process and not hurting Blake at all.

She didn't even stop to consider just how ridiculously difficult that was to pull off. She didn't feel like it was such a big deal even though she did that on her first try.

Instead, she immediately dashed to Mary's side and killed the demons who were trying to harass her.

Just a reminder, Mary didn't have a bow right now. Her only means of attacking was with her fists and legs, her bow wouldn't return unless she purposefully stopped the Perpetual Rain of Light Spell.

Mary could of course fight barehanded. And to be completely honest, she has mean legs, especially with those heels on. They've seen her kill some demons with a single kick, meaning that she's not completely helpless.

But Alice knew deep down that she needed help. Mary didn't have to ask cause she could tell at just a glance. They'd been friends for so long that she memorized her body language.

Plus, she's sure that Mary wouldn't mind. After all, she's not fighting alone here. She could depend on them.

Like a phantom, Alice appeared by Mary's side, slicing away at the demons who were out to get her. After making quick work of them, she nodded at Mary before leaving her behind to kill some more demons around.

It's been roughly an hour and some minutes since the battle started, at this point, Alice had grown considerably stronger and she could wipe out large groups of demons with just a single slash of her sword.

Ashton could tell that she broke through in her Sword Arts and her new realm has been consolidated.

1-star Phenomenon Rank.

For someone who had never been in such a large-scale battle like this in the past and barely had any resources to use for cultivation, it is quite an achievement for her to reach this far. And her growth is simply just starting...

She might not know this but as a Children of Destiny and a reincarnation of a literal Hero, she still has so much potential dormant in her. There's still a large room for her to grow, and only by facing pressure like this would that potential be squeezed out of her.

It also had to be known that Alice had already made her way to the depths of the Black Fog.

In there, she slaughtered demons again and again while remaining agile, elusive, and energetic. It's as if she doesn't know the concept of exhaustion at all.

It's also here that her Sword Art was being continuously polished and her comprehension of Sword Laws was deepening.

And knowing that she's not fighting alone, of course she's aware whenever Blake would once again attack the Black Fog directly, killing even more demons while he's at it.

Through everybody's combined efforts, slowly but surely, the Black Fog was becoming smaller and smaller.

Alice was like a well-oiled machine with a limitless energy source as she kept killing and killing demons. She has killed so much that the demons were starting to become afraid of her.

Mary and Ashton, who's hanging out at the back could see this.

"Wow...I didn't know that was possible." Mary was amazed at the sight of some demons visibly cowering at the sight of Alice.

Ashton just whistled. He was impressed too of course, but it wasn't new to him. After all, he had seen such a scene before.

He had terrorized demons before too and it was such a glorifying feeling. It's a pity that Alice was too focused to notice this.

With the combined efforts of the trio; Mary's endless rain of light arrows, Blake being the rampaging giant that he is, and Alice slowly turning into a demon slaughtering machine, the Black Fog was nearly gone.

At this point, it couldn't support the resurrection of most demons it nurtured on the way. In fact, only a few demons are lurking around and they're certainly not a problem anymore.

Blake had returned to his original size and was helping Alice clean up the remaining demons left.

And then...once the last demon present fell to Alice's sword. The threat was over. No more demons resurrecting and no more Black Fog. No more threat to Last Bastion.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Good work everyone!! You certainly showed them who's Boss, huh?"

At first, they thought this was said by Ashton but they're wrong. The voice didn't come from behind...

It came from above them...