Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 185: Trouble Again (4)

Mistress Vexia froze mid-cast. The crimson lights beneath her hood flickered.

"Your attacks are all for show," Riku continued, his tone conversational. "The only spells with any real power are the ones meant to bind me. Why are you holding back? Are you afraid?"

The hooded woman tilted her head. "I do not understand what you mean," she said, her voice a low, raspy whisper.

"Don’t you?" Riku taunted. "Or are your orders simply to capture me, not to harm me?" He smiled, a sharp, predatory expression. "Unleash your full power. Let’s see what the Head Mage of House Falco is truly capable of."

Vexia did not answer. Instead, the crimson points of her eyes shifted, her gaze flicking back towards Lord Falco. She was waiting for an order.

Lord Falco squinted his eyes, his expression unreadable. He stared at Riku for a long, tense moment. Then, his eyes moved just slightly, a subtle gesture that Vexia understood instantly.

A new wave of power, far greater than before, began to gather around her.

The oppressive fog around Mistress Vexia swirled faster. It condensed, forming into a dozen sharp, obsidian-like shards of pure shadow that hovered in the air around her. The crimson light from her hood intensified, casting an eerie glow on the swirling mist.

"So, you’ve chosen defiance," Vexia’s voice rasped, no longer a whisper but a low, dangerous hiss. "A foolish choice."

She thrust her hands forward. The shadow shards shot towards Riku with incredible speed. They didn’t dissolve this time. They were solid, real, and humming with lethal energy.

Riku didn’t move. He simply raised a hand.

Barrier. Tier 3. [-50 Goodwill Points]

A translucent, golden shield shimmered into existence just in front of him. The shadow shards slammed into it with a series of sharp cracks, like rocks hitting thick ice. The shield held, but faint spiderweb fractures appeared on its surface.

She’s serious now, Riku thought, his expression turning grim.

Vexia didn’t give him a moment to rest. She stomped her foot on the ground. The earth beneath Riku’s feet erupted. A cage of twisted, shadowy thorns shot up, attempting to impale and imprison him in a single motion.

Riku pushed off the ground, a flicker of mana propelling him backward, out of the cage’s reach. He landed lightly on his feet a dozen paces away.

"You are fast," Vexia noted, her voice flat. "But you cannot dodge forever."

She began to chant, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air. The fog around her swirled into a vortex. The ground trembled. A massive, shadowy serpent, its eyes burning with the same crimson light as her own, began to rise from the ground behind her. It was a high-tier summoning spell.

Lord Falco watched, a smug, satisfied look on his face. "Yes, Vexia! Show this peasant the true power of House Falco!"

Riku knew he couldn’t let her complete the spell. A summoned beast of that magnitude would cause immense damage to the village, even if he defeated it. He had to act now.

He didn’t charge forward. He didn’t prepare a counter-spell.

He simply raised his hand again, his palm open.

Dispel Magic. [-200 Goodwill Points]

It was not a flashy spell. There was no explosion of light, no thunderous roar. Just a single, silent pulse of pure, concentrated energy that shot from his palm.

It struck the swirling vortex of shadow around Vexia.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the vortex wavered. The shadowy serpent let out a silent scream as its form began to dissolve. The thick fog that had shrouded the valley thinned, breaking apart under the invisible pressure of Riku’s spell.

Vexia stumbled back, a choked gasp escaping her lips. The crimson light in her hood flickered violently. To have a high-tier summoning spell dismantled so effortlessly, so casually... it was impossible.

"What... what did you do?" she stammered, her voice filled with disbelief.

"I stopped you," Riku said simply.

He took a step forward, his eyes cold and hard. "This is your last chance. Take your men and leave. Do not make me repeat myself."

Lord Falco’s face was a mask of pure, apoplectic rage. His Head Mage, his ultimate weapon, had been neutralized with a single, silent gesture. The humiliation was more than he could bear.

"Do not listen to him, Vexia!" he roared. "He is bluffing! Destroy him! Destroy them all!"

Vexia hesitated. She looked at her Lord, then back at the calm, unreadable man standing before her. She could feel the immense, terrifying power radiating from him now. It was like standing at the edge of a calm, deep ocean, knowing that a monstrous leviathan lurked just beneath the surface.

She had made a grave miscalculation. This was not a simple battle-mage. This was something else entirely.

"Vexia!! Don’t hold back." Lord Falco shouted.

Spurred by her lord’s furious command, Vexia gritted her teeth. She thrust both hands towards the sky. The swirling fog that remained coalesced above her, forming a massive sphere of roiling, chaotic shadow energy.

"Then face the abyss!" she shrieked, her voice cracking under the strain. "Shadow Nova!"

The sphere plummeted towards Riku. It was not a physical projectile. It was a wave of pure, life-draining void magic, designed to snuff out the soul of anything it touched.

Riku watched it fall. He didn’t erect a barrier. He didn’t try to dodge.

He simply raised one finger.

Purify. Tier 5. [-350 Goodwill Points]

A single point of brilliant, white light appeared at his fingertip. It was no bigger than a candle flame, but it was intensely bright. It shot upwards and met the massive sphere of darkness.

There was no explosion. No grand collision of opposing forces.

The sphere of shadow simply... vanished. It was unmade. The point of light touched it, and it ceased to exist, as if it had never been. The oppressive fog was completely erased, and the clear blue sky of Elowen was visible once more.

Vexia stared, her body trembling. The crimson light in her hood died completely. She fell to her knees, her strength gone. Her ultimate spell, a technique that could wipe out an entire platoon of knights, had been erased by a flicker of light.

She had not been defeated. She had been rendered irrelevant.

Riku lowered his hand. He looked at the kneeling, broken mage and the terrified, speechless lord.

"Enough," he said, his voice quiet. He looked directly at the stunned Lord Falco. "Now, we are going to talk."