Theresa looked on with a grim expression as her Demonic Puppet Legion was ravaged by the Heaven Incinerating Inferno, but there was no despair on her face whatsoever.

In fact, even from so far away, Erwin could see a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

He had a clear recollection of this expression as he had seen it once before during his battle against Cheren at Count Onen's tea party.

He carefully recalled his battle against Cheren, and he knew that as long as Onean's Heaven Incinerating Inferno possessed sufficient power to wipe out all of these modified cavaliers in one fell swoop, then they wouldn't have to worry about these cavaliers absorbing the magic energy within the spell.

However, looking at Theresa's expression, he knew that things weren't going to be so simple.

Initially, Mackney and Onen were quite relieved to see this devastating sea of fire. If Erwin turned out to be the ultimate victor of this battle, then neither of them would be very worried. After all, neither of them had any bad blood with Erwin. In addition to that, they were both of the opinion that Erwin wouldn't be able to do anything significant even if he were to come out on top on this battlefield. As long as this fiery spell could destroy this unit of cavaliers under Duke Eru's command, then the three major powers of the Boll Dukedom would've all suffered heavy losses, thereby allowing them to maintain a tenuous balance.

However, the scene that unfolded next had the two of them completely bewildered.

Many scorched bodies began to crawl out of the craters smashed into the ground by the descending fireballs. They were all completely unrecognizable, but they were most definitely moving. Furthermore, their speed of movement was becoming faster and faster at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye, and shortly thereafter, over 1,000 scorched corpses had emerged from the craters.

It was truly a disturbing sight to behold.

Even Onean couldn't help but look on with tightly furrowed brows. Given the magic power that she had injected into her spell, she wasn't expecting there to be any survivors on this battlefield.

The anticipation on Theresa's face immediately turned to elation upon seeing this, and a sinister gleam appeared in her eyes as she pointed her icewood staff up at Onean in the sky.

The scorched corpses that had emerged from the craters looked up at Onean in unison, and they immediately understood what Theresa wanted from them. Aside from the whites of their eyes, the rest of their bodies had been entirely charred black, and it was truly a harrowing sight to behold.

Erwin knew that they were in trouble now. These scorched corpses were not going to be easy to deal with. After all, they had absorbed the magic power from the Heaven Incinerating Inferno, so they had to be significantly more powerful than they had previously been.

In the next instant, all of the scorched corpses sprang into action, charging directly toward Onean.

Erwin also began to move, dismounting his steed and rising up into the air through the use of a space split technique, then issued an instruction to Sherry, Shiba, and the others. "Stay here and await further instructions. Don't move unless I tell you to."

At this point, Onean was naturally also aware that she couldn't just continue to casually attack these scorched corpses with her spells. It was literally a case of whatever didn't kill them would only make them stronger, so continuing to attack them recklessly would only make the situation even more perilous.

Right as the scorched corpses were about to reach Onean, a light shield was conjured up around her.

The countless swords and blades being wielded by the scorched corpses were like a series of charred black torches, and in the instant that they struck the light shield, the layer of black ash on the outside of the blades instantly shattered, revealing the shiny silver blades within. With so many of these blades converging at once, it was as if a silver net had enveloped the entire light shield.

Erwin immediately let loose a cry of pain within the light shield. Veins began to bulge on his neck, and his entire body was trembling uncontrollably.

"Looks like that little witch has some tricks up her sleeve, after all," Erwin said with a wry smile as blood trickled down from the corners of his lips. "I think what I did to Cheren last time served as a warning to her."

"Indeed, the magical defenses of these puppets are more potent than I expected," Onean replied with a slight nod, but there was no hint of tension or concern on her face at all.

However, Erwin was unable to see Onean's face as he was shielding her from the front, so she was standing behind him.

"Why does it sound like you don't seem concerned at all?" Erwin didn't even dare to expend the energy to turn around to look at her, and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead.

"If you can dedicate the time that you spent thinking about women to thinking about actually important things, you won't have to risk your life like this every time," Onean remarked with a hint of mockery in her voice.

A wry smile appeared on Erwin's face upon hearing this, and he knew that Onean was referring to the incident where he had seen Lana within the black mist a couple of days ago.

Finally, a gentle look appeared in Onean's eyes as she gave Erwin a gentle pat on the shoulder and said, "Alright, I have a way to deal with them. Save your magic energy."

"You could've told me that earlier!" Erwin complained.

"Well, I didn't ask you to come and save me."

"Oh, alright, so it's all my fault then," Erwin grumbled in a disgruntled voice as he withdrew the light shield around him.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of holy light began to spread from the tip of Onean's staff, and the two of them had worked together in perfect harmony.

Onean closed her eyes as she focused her attention entirely on injecting her magic power into her staff, and her silver hair began to flutter and dance in the air again.

All of a sudden, the dim heaven and earth were illuminated by the burst of scintillating radiance glowing from the tip of Onean's staff, and the holy light was like a bright sun that was giving off haloes of radiance.

"Eternal Dispersion!" Onean's eyes abruptly sprang open, and the holy white light immediately became so bright that it was impossible to look at it directly.

In that instant, all of the living beings on the battlefield were forced to close their eyes in the face of the dazzling white radiance.

At the same time, the converging scorched corpses were so frightened by the white light that they hurriedly retreated back several dozens of feet.

These scorched corpses harbored no fear of death, but for some reason, they were horrified by this white light.

The reason for this was because Onean's dispersion spell was dispersing the modification spells that Theresa had cast onto her Demonic Puppet Legion.

Without Theresa's magical modification, the so-called Demonic Puppet Legion instantly returned to normal, and all of the energy that they had absorbed into their bodies also dispersed.

Only then did Erwin realize why Onean had been studying that copy of "Enhancement of Dispersion Magic" in her hotel room this entire time.

It looks like she's already predicted this battle against Theresa, Erwin remarked internally.

However, he still couldn't help but feel a little concerned. As a magician himself, he was able to clearly sense just how much magic power Onean was having to expend.

After casting the Heaven Incinerating Inferno and this Eternal Dispersion, Erwin could sense that Onean had already exhausted all of her magic power.

The bodies of these scorched corpses had actually already been decimated by Onean, and they were relying solely on the magic power that they had absorbed to move.

In the face of Onean's dispersion spell, they no longer had any source of energy with which they could support themselves, so they were instantly all reduced to ashes.

All of the painstaking hard work that Theresa had put in over the course of many years was destroyed, just like that.

Looking at the black dust and ashes that were drifting through the air, Theresa bit down onto her own lower lip with fury as she glowered intently at Erwin and Onean with indignation, resentment, and despair in her eyes.

Both Onen and Mackney faltered slightly at the sight of the black ashes that were spreading through the air, and they knew that there weren't going to be any more significant twists in this battle.

Theresa's arrival had presented a massive threat, and this surprise attack of hers was sufficient to completely alter the power balance within the Boll Dukedom, but ultimately, it had failed.

The true victors of this battle were that mysterious artist and his wife, who had only arrived in the Boll Dukedom not long ago.

However, Theresa was completely unwilling to accept such an outcome. She had painstakingly built up her Demonic Puppet Legion puppet after puppet, and this was supposed to be her moment under the sun, yet the Demonic Puppet Legion had been destroyed along with her hopes and dreams by the combination of Onean's Heaven Incinerating Inferno and Eternal Dispersion Spells. How was she supposed to stomach such a bitter pill?

For a normal mercenary legion, lost members could simply be replenished with new recruits after battles. However, the Demonic Puppet Legion was different. Every single member of the Demonic Puppet Legion was like a container. With each battle that they endured, they were able to store more and more destructive energy into their bodies. As long as these containers didn't break, and they could return from the brink of death, their powers would be further enhanced. This was a characteristic shared by all those who had had their bodies modified by Theresa: so long as they remained alive, they would become more and more powerful. Thus, the incredible power that the Demonic Puppet Legion had displayed was a result of years of accumulation.

The Demonic Puppet Legion only had around 5,000 members, but all of those members were carefully selected elite warriors. However, Onean hadn't even left a single one of them alive. Essentially, she had completely uprooted Theresa's Demonic Puppet Legion, and in doing so, she had completely dashed Theresa's hopes for the future.

All of a sudden, Theresa threw her head back and let loose a guttural screech of fury. As she did so, her long hair fanned out around her in a disheveled manner, and with her eyes opened with fury and ferocity, she had already completely lost the composure and poise expected of a noble like her. Those 5,000 toys were her most precious treasures, and they had all been destroyed right in front of her, so the only logical next step was to take revenge on the perpetrators.

The icewood staff in Theresa's hand swept through the air in a bright green arc that resembled a green wave, and she rode this way up from the ground, rising up into the sky as she sped directly toward Erwin and Onean.

Erwin's brows were tightly furrowed as he watched the approaching Theresa, and he positioned himself in front of Onean. He recalled that Onean had once told him that Theresa's magic power was nothing remarkable, and that what was outstanding about her was her ability to magically modify the bodies of others.

However, at this moment, Erwin felt like that wasn't the case.

Onean could see the peculiar look in Erwin's eyes, and she asked, "What is it?"

"Do you think... she would've modified her own body as well?" Erwin asked.

Onean faltered slightly upon hearing this, and the astonished look on her face clearly indicated that she hadn't even considered such a possibility.

With her magic power completely exhausted, she no longer had her sense of magic energy, so she was unable to detect the magic energy imbued within the wave that Theresa had conjured up.