From the Northern Alliance soldiers' perspective, they probably had no idea what was going on.
A mysterious boy who had suddenly appeared just as they were on the verge of cornering the fleeing enemy soldiers. And with a single shot of magic, every one of the soldiers at the front had been rendered combat-incapable.
It was an impossible situation to accept — one that would naturally leave anyone in disarray.
But even so, their judgment was swift.
"A-All hands, on alert! There's only one of them — likely a duke-class Bloodline Magic user!"
The person who seemed to be commanding the soldiers immediately shouted. Then he continued:
"It's fine! Even if they're duke-class, they're alone — with this numerical advantage, we can overwhelm them! Offense-type magic users, prepare for a volley! Their magic is also projectile-type — keep your distance and engage in a firefight!"
"Yeah, we've come this far on an unstoppable streak! We're not about to let someone rain on our parade at the very end!"
"We have the blessing of the Star God! Don't be afraid — fire, fire!"
With words of encouragement on their lips, the soldiers quickly began to prepare.
...Their judgment was, in all likelihood, appropriate.
They had minimized the confusion from the sudden ambush, seen through the enemy's magic, and quickly shifted to a firefight that leveraged their numerical superiority. Their training, situational awareness, and speed of transition to action were all remarkable.
However, there was one miscalculation.
Ermes was not a mage who could be contained at the level of "duke-class."
And so, he calmly observed the colorful magic flying toward him, and began to chant.
"Formula Replay — [
Four Winds of the Heavenly Demon
]
Formula Fusion — [
Sacred Guardian of Radiance
"!
Composite Bloodline Magic. A mass of fiery storm manifests.
It appeared before Ermes, and not even the magic launched by the soldiers of the Northern Alliance could make it so much as quiver.
It became such a wall of despair that it swallowed their magic whole and vanished.
"What the—"
Ermes, unscathed. One of the soldiers cried out in shock upon seeing it.
Meanwhile, Ermes gave them no opening to recover. Before they could fire off the next spell, he had already completed his counter Bloodline Magic preparation.
"Formula Replay—
Magic Bullet Archer
"
—
Attribute Enchantment
:
Flame
"!
A flame magic bullet. Even more powerful than the strike he had unleashed before, with more than enough force to pierce clean through the barrier the soldiers had set up.
In fact, the explosion would leave not just the front line but the entire forward area of soldiers incapacitated, every last one of them.
There was no means to stop it... The soldiers of the Northern Alliance simply didn't have any.
This was Ermes, wielding the full extent of his power.
And as is the norm in battles between mages.
The number of soldiers does not directly translate into an absolute military advantage.
With a handful—or, as in this case, alone.
There sometimes exist pieces capable of overturning the entire course of a battle—
—and that is—
On their side,
even—
there is
no
exception.
"Oh!? This is bad!"
Just before the fiery magic bullet strikes the enemy group—
Just as a voice—somehow goofy, yet powerful—rang out,
something unbelievable happened.
"...Eh?"
Seeing that sight, the one who couldn't help but let out a stunned voice was—Ermes.
In the midst of all this, after the 'unbelievable thing' had occurred—
Landing gently before the unscathed soldiers and turning his gaze this way... was a single young man.
His age—perhaps in his early twenties.
Navy-blue hair with a distinctive wave and golden eyes. To put it simply, he had the refined features of a gentleman, yet his expression and gaze also revealed an unmistakable sharp intellect and fierce vigor.
His attire was an active set of combat gear, thoroughly befitting a warrior. Though his overall build was slender, you could tell at a glance that his body had been honed through training.
But above all of that—what seized Ermes' gaze first and foremost was.
"…………"
—A sword.
The young man's right hand. Gripped within it was a great sword—rough-hewn in design, yet radiating an unmistakable air of nobility.
What particularly warranted note was that it was a two-handed sword.
Clearly a blade of the weight and size that demanded both hands to wield. And yet he handled it effortlessly with just one—a testament to extraordinary strength and skill, far beyond what his slender frame would suggest.
…At the same time, his thoughts turned back. To the unbelievable spectacle that had just unfolded before Ermes' very eyes.
His eyes had barely managed to track it. And precisely because they had, he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
What had happened was simple enough. The flame magic bullets Ermes had launched—just before they would have struck the soldiers unopposed, the young man in question had leaped into their path.
He dropped his hips into a stance, and then—
He slashed through them.
.
The magic bullets—magic that should have possessed no physical substance—he cut through them physically, with a great sword.
And what's more,
all twenty-odd
of them that should have been there—
magic bullets,
,
every single one
Without a single one left.
Almost.
At the same time.
.
Why could they all be cut down, how could everything be sliced simultaneously, and how could anyone even execute such movements in the first place—even with Ermes's powers of observation, he hadn't the faintest clue.
But what had occurred before his eyes was an undeniable fact. The fire magic bullets had detonated far short of their mark, scattering without a single one unleashing its full power.
And then,
"—Oh! It's Lord Lucius!"
"Lord Lucius has come! Victory is assured now!"
At the young man's appearance, the soldiers who had been steeped in despair moments ago stirred with renewed vigor.
Amid all of this, the young man called Lucius spoke.
"…I see, I see!"
His golden gaze pierced straight through Ermes without so much as blinking.
"That bearing, that station, and that terrifying magic just now!
If I'm not mistaken—you must be the hero of that academy incident everyone's been whispering about."
"—!"
At the same time, from Lucius erupted a staggering torrent of magic power, and alongside it—a killing intent so ferocious it could only be called sword aura, as though his very body were being torn asunder.
Feeling the weight of that presence, Ermes braced himself instinctively.
…Ermes, too, had come to a realization.
The information about the Northern Alliance that Yurugen had told him before he came here.
It was said that the six great families of the Alliance boasted extraordinary morale — and that among them lurked an absolute monster.
No doubt about it. The extraordinary swordsmanship displayed just moments ago, the trust radiating from every soldier around him, and atop it all, a staggering reserve of Magic power coupled with an unmistakable aura of a true powerhouse.
He was the so-called "absolute monster" in question.
"I suppose I should give thanks to the Heavens! I've been wanting to cross blades with you for quite some time."
"...Well, thank you."
A rare, curt reply from Ermes.
This was not born of arrogance. On the contrary — it was born of the utmost respect and wariness he could muster.
After all,
(this man... is probably
stronger than me
)
He sensed the same suffocating presence he had once felt when confronting Laplace.
Laplace had been cloaked in an atmosphere like an unfathomable abyss, whereas Lucius radiated something raw and pure — like an immense, unyielding mountain range.
The two were different in nature, yet the threat his instincts screamed at him was identical.
...To think such a powerhouse had been lurking in this country all along. Ermes felt every hair on his skin stand on end.
And precisely because of that.
"Then — shall we begin at once?"
Both combatants realized that a clash was inevitable.
Simultaneously, they drew in a breath, preparing to activate their magic once more.
New character introduced.
This chapter was split into two parts for pacing — the next chapter will be updated shortly!