Millennium Witch.

Chapter 9 - 9 - One Hundred Years
After her first combat experience, she became addicted, and every month thereafter, Yvette would "fish" two or three times on the water platform.

Although she only ever tried it out briefly, striking twice and then running away, it did help her adapt to the feeling of combat much better. She was no longer as flustered and clumsy as she was in the early days, often launching her frost into ridiculously inaccurate directions.

She also discovered the king hidden there, a mutated giant snake with rotting scales, a body length of over thirty meters, and a single eye on its forehead.

The appearance of this "One-Eyed Serpent King" greatly disrupted Yvette's escape plan, because its existence meant that if she wanted to leave using the "flying board" in the future, Yvette would have to be strong enough to face an attack from a giant beast in the lake.

This is putting a lot of pressure on her right now.

……

Soon, another 20 years have passed.

At this point, a full 73 years had passed since Yvette traveled from the past.

Because of the threat from the "One-Eyed Serpent King," she reduced the frequency of going to the water platform to avoid being instantly killed by the terrifying giant mouth that leaps out of the lake.

He also worked harder in his cultivation, and finally on this morning, he accumulated 100 points of magic power and compressed a small magic core into his body.

According to the "rune siphon effect" theory, a high-density magic core will naturally attract surrounding magical elements. And indeed, this was the case; her cultivation efficiency significantly improved, increasing her magic power by 2.5 points per year. At this rate, she could gain 250 magic points in just a hundred years—at that point, she might be qualified to rival that snake king.

Hmm, nothing much.

……

In addition to the breakthrough in magic power, Yvette also spent her spare time over the past 20 years iterating and developing the final forms of three magic formulas: "Frost Bullet," "Flame Dance," and "Wind Walk."

Among them, the mana cost of "Frost Bullet" has been reduced to the terrifying number of "1", truly achieving the goal of "how many points of mana equals how many bullets". Furthermore, the attack method has been adjusted, allowing multiple virtual launch points to be created when necessary, enabling the Frost Bullets to be unleashed like a Gatling gun, creating a frost storm.

"Flame Dance" not only optimizes the handling and mana consumption, but also allows for specifying the launch location. Through the "Dual Rune Set" technology, each additional fire pillar only requires an extra 10 mana points, and a maximum of four fire pillars can be released simultaneously, forming a "Full Power Mode" with 50 mana points.

As for "Wind Walk," it has been renamed "Wind Chaser." It consumes 8 mana points per second and can be used to create strong winds. Whether it's to accelerate oneself, briefly float in the air, or blow away enemies, it is highly functional.

Unfortunately, Yvette did not possess advanced theoretical knowledge, nor did she have sophisticated equipment to assist her.

Otherwise, she might have been able to create magic more suitable for flight, bypassing the snake king's threat directly and escaping easily.

……

For the next hundred years, apart from an offensive spell called "Wrath of Thunder," Yvette did not attempt to design any new magical spells.

After all, instant-cast magic requires two conditions: memorization and a lot of practice.

Her current memory, plus the "Wrath of Thunder" spell with 500 runes, is at its limit. Forcing herself to memorize the fifth and sixth spells would easily lead to confusion and cause her to misunderstand the spells she already knew.

Therefore, she repeated the same routine every day: "meditation," "magic practice," "going to the water platform to gather inspiration and rest," "watching the mutants fight," and "spying on the snake king." Her routine was calm and regular, and she almost lost control of the passage of time.

Only during the coldest part of winter each year would she be startled to realize that another year had passed so quickly, so fast that she could hardly form any memory anchors. At this time, her magic power was approaching 400 points.

That morning, as she squatted at the entrance of the facility, watching the snow fall again, she thought that perhaps she could finally try to experience the power of the giant serpent in the lake.

……

Through long observation, Yvette has gained a considerable understanding of the Cyclops King, discovering that this creature has no concept of day and night, as if it doesn't need to sleep and can emerge from the water at any time.

So she was quite decisive and went straight to the edge of the water platform, throwing some magic vines into it to see if she could lure it out.

The seduction took a long time, but Yvette was not discouraged because she knew the giant snake must be down there, otherwise the other mutated creatures would not have been so far away.

As dusk approached, the enormous, pale, pupil-less snake eye, resembling a nightmare, suddenly emerged from the water. Though only a small part of it was revealed, it was enough to send shivers down one's spine.

"Roar--"

Without waiting for an opportunity or hesitating, the giant snake burst out of the water in an instant, creating a splash dozens of meters high!
Yvette was prepared. With a tug of her wind, she dragged herself dozens of meters behind the platform, dodging the attack and looking ahead.

On the lake at dusk, a giant snake, more than ten meters above the water, looked down at her, like a god looking down on an ant.

Then, the giant snake's snout split open from the middle of its lower jaw, revealing a bright red forked tongue. But upon closer inspection, it became clear that this was not its tongue, but rather a dozen or so slippery tentacles intertwined together.

After they separated, they darted towards where Yvette was standing with lightning speed, seemingly intending to snatch the small, delicious prey right in front of them and swallow it whole.

Yvette was on edge, using Wind Rider to pull herself back again. This was her first time fighting this king of the lake, and given her susceptibility to thalassophobia and megalophobia, she dared not be careless. After dodging the tentacles' attack, she immediately used her half-control, half-output magic.

Frostfire, but Gatling gun mode!
Blue projectiles rained down from multiple angles, firing forty or fifty shots in just a few seconds, freezing the snake's head and tentacles into an ice sculpture. The unbalanced snake head slammed heavily onto the platform, causing the entire structure to tremble.

Then, seeing the giant snake struggling, Yvette did not choose Fire Dance to avoid helping it escape quickly. Instead, she used another spell, which was also her only new achievement in the field of runes in the past hundred years—Wrath of Thunder!
This is a magic that is completely different from the past. It no longer pursues the ultimate mana cost ratio, but instead maximizes the single-target damage to the maximum. At least within the 500 rune limit, this is the highest damage she can achieve, and it also brings the highest mana cost.

A full 240 magic points!
One use and most of the blue solution is gone!

As the spell was activated, a runic ring with a diameter of over ten meters appeared in the air. A thick, dazzling bolt of lightning fell from it, striking the still struggling frozen serpent's head. The strike caused its body to stiffen and convulse. Even though its ice shell had shattered, it remained in a state of paralysis, trembling incessantly.

Yvette held her breath, her heart pounding. She had less than 100 mana points left, making it impossible to cast Thunder Fury a second time. Therefore, she summoned the rune ring representing "Flame Dance" beside her, preparing to unleash Pillar of Flame.

but……

Before she could launch another attack, the giant snake stopped moving. It ceased convulsing, its massive head hanging stiffly on the metal mesh floor of the platform, its eyes and tongue tentacles turned black, and a foul, acrid smell permeated the air.

Is this...dead?
Yvette was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but she did not stop moving at all. She immediately used Flame Dance to wash the half of the giant snake's body that was stuck to the platform with flames, doing her best to scorch every inch of its skin.

Only when the giant snake's half-body, which had collapsed on the platform, was completely charred and lifeless, and she used Wind Chaser to throw it into the lake, could she finally be sure that this guy was probably, perhaps really, dead.

(End of this chapter)