'Let me see what your true colors are.' Zald thought, releasing his aura.
A crushing wave of pressure swept through the entire battlefield like a tangible storm. In an instant, the sounds of battle came to a halt. All eyes widened in confusion and dread.
"W-What is this?!"
"Why won't my body move?!"
Alise, especially sensitive to magical pressure, snapped her gaze toward a single direction. Her instincts were screaming.
Click. Click.
The grinding of armor and the slow thud of boots echoed in the now-silent factory. Under the flickering light of the magic stone lamps, a towering figure gradually came into view. His massive sword caught the light, reflecting a cold gleam in the dark. Then, without warning, he swung.
Where the sword passed, reality fractured.
The flash of dark energy that erupted from the blow swallowed everything it touched. It wasn't just destruction, it was annihilation.
Darkness surged from the blade like an insatiable beast, devouring light, hope, and life indiscriminately, order, chaos, and all that lay between.
The blast tore through the factory, silencing the air itself. It felt as though the oxygen had been wrung out of the world. Every breath tasted like fear.
The strongest adventurers, Alise, Ryuu, and Kaguya, all reacted instantly. Their instincts, sharpened through countless battles, flared in warning. Their magic surged reflexively, their bodies preparing to strike back.
But before they could move—
CRASH!
An invisible force slammed into them like a tsunami.
The residual shockwave from that casual swing obliterated the factory roof, blasting debris into the sky. It felt as if the very laws of nature had collapsed under the weight of that swing.
Alise's breath caught as she was hurled backward, her chest exploding in pain. She hit the wall with a violent crash, followed by Ryuu and Kaguya. Cracks splintered across the factory's walls like spiderwebs.
Weapons were torn from hands.
Other adventurers dropped like dominoes, knocked unconscious by the pressure alone.
The battlefield went dark and still. The night breeze flowed in through the destroyed rooftop, illuminating the ruins.
A moment later, Alise groaned and pushed herself up with her weapon, coughing hard.
"Agh... Ahem... Everyone, are you okay!?"
The magic item around her neck flickered wildly, and she quickly used her remaining mind to stabilize it. She didn't understand, how had they survived a blow like that without a scratch?
But there was no time to dwell on it. They needed to regroup, fast.
"Alise, we're alright." Kaguya said, dragging herself to her feet with Ryuu's support.
From another pile of rubble, Neze emerged, carrying a groggy Lyra. Both looked like they'd been through a storm.
"We're here. Still breathing."
Neze's werewolf instincts had flared the instant Zald appeared. Without thinking, she'd thrown herself over the LV 2 pallum, shielding her from the blast. They'd blacked out immediately after.
Lyra stood shakily. Her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed. "W-We can't beat that guy. We really can't."
She stared at her hands, still trembling. That sword swing... she'd felt her life about to end. If she hadn't come out unscathed, she would've already used the emergency item Akira had given her and run.
Alise frowned deeply. Her eyes scanned the faces of her comrades, looking for hope. But what she saw instead was fear. Exhaustion. Helplessness.
Still—
"Everyone... you know what to do."
No time for panic. As the captain of the Astraea Familia, she made her decision without hesitation.
Kaguya slid her sword back into its sheath with a grin. "We're not the kind of women who cry behind someone else's back."
Ryuu nodded, expression calm. "We stand together."
Neze raised her fists. "Let's show him we're not to be looked down on."
Lyra sighed, half-exasperated, half-admiring. "Guess I don't have a choice, huh?"
"Good." Alise took a deep breath and raised her voice. "To those still standing, escort the civilians and blacksmiths out of here. The rest of us will hold the line."
"Understood!"
"We've got this, Captain!"
"Move out!"
The remaining adventurers snapped into action, quickly helping the non-combatants evacuate.
Then, a voice echoed from the shadows. Cold. Contemptuous.
"So weak… these so-called righteous familias."
Zald stepped forward, his massive blade glinting in the dim light.
"Is justice really such a brittle branch, one that snaps in the slightest breeze?"
He raised his sword again. "That was just a light swing. If that's the extent of your strength, you're not even worth devouring."
He stood tall, unmoving, his silhouette outlined in the moonlight like a statue carved from wrath itself. The chaos around him didn't seem to matter. He ignored the retreating adventurers. His contempt-filled gaze was fixed solely on Alise and the others.
Alise watched the last of the civilians evacuate. Then, she turned toward the man who stood like death incarnate.
'So his target is us.' She thought grimly. 'But I've never heard of anyone this strong in Evilus. Who is he?'
She clenched her jaw, inhaled sharply, and whispered, "We only get one shot. Give it everything you've got."
"Understood!"
Lyra moved first, her hands diving into the pouch at her waist. She pulled out a set of enchanted bombs and hurled them like a scattershot.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
A dozen explosive spheres, each crackling with electric energy, shot toward Zald like miniature meteors.
Alise began chanting as she ran, magic flaring to life. Flames spiraled around her, growing hotter and more violent with each second. Her body ignited with the scarlet glow of her skill: Lubrude Bequia.
"Haaaah!"
With a deafening roar and a trail of fire behind her, Alise launched forward, the ground cracking under her feet. Her blazing sword slashed toward the figure cloaked in smoke from Lyra's explosions.
Inside the smoke, Zald raised his greatsword with a single arm, meeting her strike calmly.
Clang!
Sparks flew as steel met steel. The force of the collision made Alise's arms tremble. It was like striking an iron mountain. Her momentum had been stopped cold.
Before the clash could settle, Kaguya appeared beneath Alise in a crouched stance, her sword sheathed but ready. Her breath caught with exhilaration. "My turn!"
"Gokou!"
In the blink of an eye, her sword flashed. It was like five blades had been drawn at once, slicing from five different angles, converging into a single, lethal point, right toward Zald.
Above, Neze leapt high into the air, claws glowing with wind energy. With a savage roar, she descended like a predator, slashing down at Zald's head.
...10 seconds in.
Zald's expression didn't change. He calmly shifted his sword downward to block Kaguya's strike, then raised his free hand—
Boom!
Alise was thrown back as if hit by a battering ram. Kaguya's technique shattered against Zald's blade. Neze was blasted away mid-air by a wave of force from his fist.
"Is that it?" Zald said, voice laced with disdain.
The entire assault had lasted barely a dozen seconds, and it was dismantled effortlessly. But Alise didn't flinch. She twisted her body midair, landed hard, then rose again. Her grip on her sword tightened as the flames reignited, hotter and wilder than before. Her skill's effect had peaked, yet it still wasn't enough. A bitter taste rose in her mouth but her eyes burned with stubborn resolve.
Kaguya, panting slightly, didn't lower her sword. She stared Zald down, preparing for round two.
The flames around Alise surged violently, expanding in a tidal wave of searing heat. The air warped. The ground cracked beneath her feet, spiderwebbing in every direction as molten flame consumed the battlefield.
At the same moment, Kaguya whispered, "Flash."
Her body vanished in a blur of black lightning. In an instant, she was at Zald's throat, blade aimed to pierce his neck with blistering speed.
Neze was already back on her feet. Growling, she dropped low, then dashed forward on all fours, claws trailing streaks of wind energy. She was faster, angrier, more focused than before. She pounced, fangs bared, claws aimed to rip through his defense.
And Zald?
He turned his sword. Just slightly.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He blocked everything. The three fighters swarmed him like fire, wind, and steel snakes, attacking from every angle, striking without pause.
The air rang with crashes and howls. Flames erupted. Slashes flashed. Wind clawed through the ground. The battlefield trembled under their assault.
But Zald didn't falter. His expression was calm and dsmissive.