You're willing to do it, huh? Frieren whispered.

  A faint smile tugged at her lips. She saw Carin's fingers glow , and a thread of mana began weaving toward the ball.

  Kraft still hadn't seen it.

  The workers were focused on the ball in the air. Sunny shifted on Kraft's shoulder, head tilting.

  But Frieren's eyes never left Carin's hand.

  The girl who claimed to hate magic was about to use it.

  Even Sunny went still , watching the line like it might burn.

  The ball floated in the air — then froze for a second.

  "W–what… Carin… you—!!" Kraft said in disbelief.

  Carin staggered backward, eyes fixed on the ball.

  Like gripping a blade she'd forgotten how to hold.

  Here we go, she whispered.

  "Take this!!" then she lets out a desperate shout

  The ball exploded forward.

  The workers didn't breathe.

  Kraft's whistle fell from his lips.

  The ball screamed through the air , faster than anything Carin had hit before.

  And Frieren was already moving.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I've lived hundreds of years… yet I've never seen someone wield magic this way.

  Worth studying.

  Frieren didn't hesitate — her staff shook slightly in her grip as she pointed it at the ball.

  Frieren frowned, resisting the pressure.

  Definitely worth studying.

  The ball spun against her barrier — wild, erratic, alive with raw intent.

  This wasn't elegant magic.

  It was new magic.

  And very unique magic, Frieren knew, was the hardest kind to predict.

  Frieren's eyes shifted to Kraft , sharp, unwavering.

  Her voice dropped.

  "Clear the court. Now. You too."

  Kraft's hand froze on the whistle.

  "Frieren—"

  "Now, Kraft."

  Her staff hummed faintly in her grip.

  He'd never heard her voice sound like that before.

  "Ah… alright…" Kraft clapped.

  "Everyone, go," Kraft said — yet the workers were completely engaged.

  Kraft sighed. But he felt an invisible weight slam into his shoulder.

  Then he shouted: "LEAVE NOW. OR NO PAYMENT THIS MONTH."

  Every worker was confused, yet they didn't rush — they only walked.

  "Aah, you ruined it," one of them muttered.

  Frieren stared at the departing workers. Then at Carin. Then at the moving ball.

  Her expression went flat.

  She has no idea what she just unleashed… Frieren whispered.

  The ball was still spinning — faster now, pulling at the air around it.

  Carin's hand trembled.

  She was gripping nothing, yet her knuckles bleached white.

  Frieren's staff pulsed once in her hand.

  This could go very wrong, very fast.

  "Okay. Let's settle this."

  Frieren's knuckles tightened. The more her grip tightened, the more the ball compressed — until her knuckles went white.

  BOOM.

  The explosion echoed through the KraftsmanInc building. Workers inside froze mid-step.

  Even distant seagulls scattered at the sound.

  The wind became a storm.

  Frieren resisted the blast, but Carin was thrown backward into the sea, losing consciousness before she even hit the surface.

  Frieren flew , then dove into the sea.

  It was only a game, wasn't it? she thought, watching fish flee through the clouded water.

  Until she found Carin, drifting.

  She really reminds me of Fern somehow.

  Frieren caught her gently.

  The water around them was still trembling.

  Frieren kicked upward, pulling Carin with her.

  Above, sunlight filtered through the surface in broken shafts.

  She didn't let go.

  She looked at Carin's face , pale, still , and something softened in her expression.

  Then she smiled faintly.

  "If this ball had landed on the ground… I doubt anyone would've survived."