The small, exquisitely crafted balance — no larger than a toy — suddenly began to sway up and down. The white pan rose first, then the black, before settling into equilibrium after two or three oscillations. Instantly, the area within ten meters of Bayer began to emanate an inexplicable, eerie aura.
The cyan wind-ropes wound tightly around his body disintegrated without warning, the massive spider-web beneath his feet vanished without a trace, and the distorted magnetic field around them grew still as though it had never existed. Denis's sword — which had blazed with lightning and thunderous serpents, resembling a Thunder God's punitive blade — shed all its flamboyance to reveal its plain metallic luster, while the brilliant starlight enveloping Alten silently dissipated as well.
Sophia, standing at the center of the great hall, beat her six pairs of snow-white wings against the wind, but the cloud brimming with dense death energy that had just materialized beside Bayer vanished in an instant.
On Denis's fine-featured face, his teeth bit hard into his lip. The lightning power he had always prided himself on seemed beyond his ability to summon.
Within the range of the Balance of Order, all supernatural power returned to order!
Seizing the chance to break free from his bonds, Bayer felt a lightness and freedom he had never known. He raised the ghostly-green longsword called "Devil's Horn" and declared in a booming voice: "Come! Show me what you've got to kill me!"
"With just a Great Knight propped up by artifacts?" With a light flap of his radiant wings, Bayer appeared beside Alten as if teleporting through space, his longsword slashing diagonally from upper right to lower left.
At that moment, the Balance of Order's power had been completely exhausted.
Alten raised his shield to intercept Bayer's strike, but the instant it made contact with the ghostly-green blade, Bayer's wings beat and left behind an afterimage, causing the shield's interception to find nothing but air.
Not good! Alten's starlight longsword swept back over his shoulder to guard his rear.
Clang! A tremendous force surged through him, and Alten stumbled forward, unable to maintain his balance — he was about to be cut down by Bayer!
A blinding silver flash of lightning erupted as Denis, gripping his sword with both hands, intercepted the lethal blow on Alten's behalf, stumbling back several steps himself.
"With just a Great Knight who hasn't even touched the threshold of a Sky Knight?"
Bayer's fighting spirit blazed, his speed terrifyingly fast. After a few stomping steps, he was locked in close combat with Denis, and between the flickering ghostly-green flashes of his blade, Denis could never shake the agonizing sensation of his strength weakening and his speed dulling.
The two fighters left countless afterimages within their small arena of combat, making it completely impossible for Sophia to lock onto Bayer, lest she accidentally strike Denis.
Although several suitable spells flickered through her mind, she couldn't cast any of them — they belonged to the force-field school, the transmutation school, and the like, outside the scope of her bloodline power.
Such was the tragedy of warlocks — which spells they could wield was determined solely by their bloodline, with no regard for their own effort!
Clang, clang-clang — the sounds of longswords clashing nearly merged into a continuous chain. Then, with a sudden flicker, Bayer broke free from the fight, causing Denis to lunge at empty air, before swiftly appearing above Sophia and bringing his sword crashing down from midair.
"With just a freshly promoted Rank 5 warlock?"
Bayer's battle-cry of a question shook Sophia so hard her entire body trembled — she couldn't even leap with the wind!
The ghostly-green longsword struck the cyan wind barrier orbiting Sophia, instantly carving a hideous gash into it that crumbled inch by inch.
But this brief obstruction bought enough time for Alten to arrive, sword raised to block Bayer's follow-up attack, while Sophia retreated several steps and rallied her forces.
Freed of his bonds, Bayer was a magnificent and terrifying sight. With nothing but his own strength, he drove Sophia, Denis, and Alten to the point of suffocation — and even found a moment to cut down one of the noble youths besieging Claire, greatly easing the pressure on her.
"As expected of a powerhouse approaching the rank of Sky Knight — no wonder Sophia went to such lengths to restrain him beforehand." Lucian observed the battle with leisurely composure. He had never fought a Sky Knight before, so witnessing Bayer's combat firsthand was at least some useful experience.
Beside him, Relph watched with his heart in his throat, his hands unconsciously clenched tight, completely oblivious to Lucian's calm — prompting Lucian to silently quip: had this fellow forgotten to learn spellcasting focus? In comparison, Sophia in the thick of battle appeared exceptionally composed, without the slightest tremor of panic.
Let them fight. Lucian had no intention of joining a children's brawl. While watching from the sidelines, he continued to decipher the location of the hidden chamber, planning to seize this opportunity to infiltrate the inner levels of the underground palace and activate the Magic Circle.
Based on the areas he had already passed through and the layout of this great hall, Lucian had already deduced that the hidden chamber was nearby! But its precise location still required further decryption.
"You dare come to kill me with just the lot of you joining forces?"
Bayer's battle cry rolled like thunder. A relentless barrage of attacks forced Denis and Alten to keep retreating, and with sweeping strokes of his longsword, he severed Sophia's "Ropes of Wind" — which she had tried to restrain him with once more — into nothing more than idle breezes!
Seeing this, Sophia quietly retreated a few more steps.
Once he had confirmed the rough area of the hidden chamber, Lucian's deductions grew increasingly precise, and he soon pinpointed its exact location.
"There!" Lucian's gaze fell upon a pale grey stone brick at the center of the great hall.
At that very moment, a foot clad in an elegant riding boot stepped onto that very brick — and stamped down hard.
"Sophia?" Lucian traced the foot to its owner. Sophia's earlier retreat had brought her right to the entrance of the hidden chamber!
A muffled boom rose from the depths of the great hall, and a stone wall nearby twisted violently, morphing into an ancient, weathered gate that slowly swung open.
Relph was not surprised by the hidden chamber's sudden appearance, but he was quite bewildered — he couldn't understand why Her Highness the Princess would choose this moment to open the gate!
Bayer, Denis, Alten, and the others remained locked in combat, none of them letting their focus waver. Only Bayer seemed to grow even more ferocious, as though he intended to cut down the two Great Knights before any further changes could unfold, eliminating future threats.
In the ancient manor of the Golden Beryl family, Duke Ulrich and the others had already noticed the strange changes within the underground palace, but the dark gate before them refused entry to anyone.
"Break through by force! If both His Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess die inside, there's no telling what His Majesty the Emperor in his fury might do — it could well be the end of our Golden Beryl family!" Behind Count Nulenberg, a vision of profound, inky darkness suddenly manifested, with countless dim stars revolving within it.
With a sweep of his hand, those countless stars crashed into the dark gate, erupting in violent, terrifying sounds of explosion and collapse.
But could the palace of a Legendary mage really be so easily broken?
Another count was assisting him, snarling with rage: "If I find out which bastard did this, I'll peel his skin off slowly!"