From instincts sharpened by countless battles, Hedin, Allen, Hogni, and the Gulliver Brothers moved without hesitation.
Seven first-class adventurers... each a calamity in their own right.
A group whose combined force could raze entire nations outside of Orario.
They focused their minds and began chanting.
They weren't holding back.
This was everything they had.
"We refuse to lose!"
Their voices overlapped, swallowed by the roar of magic erupting around them.
To understand just how overwhelming their combined spells were, it helped to consider Ottar's perspective... the Ottar, the strongest adventurer in Orario.
If Ottar stood against their attacks without dodging or deflecting...
"If I take it head-on with my normal body... I would be defeated."
Not "maybe."
Not "it would hurt."
He outright admitted defeat.
And what if Ottar were to beastify... a transformation that boosted his combat power by a full level, elevating him to the realm of a Level 8?
"In that case... my body would endure it. But I would be far too injured to continue fighting for long."
That was the verdict from the man closest to the pinnacle.
The combined magic of these seven first-class adventurers... their attack power had reached the threshold of Level 8.
What did level 8 signify?
Level 8 was not a number thrown around lightly.
Not since the era of the Zeus and Hera Familia captains, over fifteen years ago.
Right now, in the entire Lower World, a level 8, no such adventurer exist.
A few Level 7s... like Alfia in her prime... could strike above her level, but even then, no one in the current age had stepped into the territory beyond Level 7.
To the world, Level 7 was the summit.
The absolute pinnacle of mortal strength.
But to Ottar, Level 8 was the next mountain, the height he yearned to reach... the standard set by the legends of the previous era.
The prestige of Level 8 was beyond measure.
It was the mythical threshold that had been reduced to being known only through stories.
And now...
Seven adventurers, fighting with everything they had, had managed to produce power worthy of that realm.
That was the weight carried by their magic.
Seven elite adventurers, combining their strength, had managed to produce an attack powerful enough to be compared to the legends of the past.
...
And yet...
Despite the overwhelming display of firepower, all eyes were inevitably drawn back to the sky.
Drawn to the colossal magic circle above, still growing... still rotating... still gathering a power that dwarfed all others present.
A single drop of light peeled off from its edge, drifting downward like a falling star.
When it touched the ground, it carved a smoking crater the size of a man's fist.
Silence spread across the ranks.
If a speck of leaked energy could do that...
What would the completed spell do?
"Hah~ hah~ ...Amazing... how marvelous..."
Freya's breathing grew ragged, each exhale trembling with unrestrained excitement.
Her cheeks were flushed a vivid shade of pink.
Just watching this spectacle was enough to send shivers of pleasure down her spine.
"My Odr..."
Her voice melted into a sultry moan as she clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with feverish delight.
Her subtle... but unmistakable... cheering for Judas immediately made a vein throb on Hedin's forehead.
"Riveria!"
Finn's sharp command cut through the rising tension like a blade.
The high elf snapped to attention.
She nodded once, then lifted her staff high.
"Dance around, spirit of the atmosphere—lord of light. Contract with the guardian of the forest, and envelop us with the song of the land. Surround us, become a great barrier of forest light, and protect us... My name is Alf—"
A radiant green magic circle bloomed beneath her feet, expanding outward like rippling leaves.
"Via Shilheim!"
A high-grade barrier spell capable of nullifying both physical and magical attacks.
It was the only reasonable precaution... the impending collision could easily wipe out half the courtyard if left unchecked.
And Riveria wasn't the only one preparing.
"Ottar."
Freya spoke a single word.
The Boaz warrior stepped forward immediately, positioning himself before her... not blocking the view, but standing ready as an impenetrable fortress should the worst occur.
Meanwhile, the other Freya Familia mages scrambled into formation, chanting their own defensive spells in unison.
A lattice of protective magic began forming around them.
"Brace yourselves! The moment that brat releases it... we follow!"
Hedin barked, his teeth grinding, lightning crackling faintly around his fists.
Above them, the spell in the sky pulsed... once, twice... each rotation growing tighter, brighter, more suffocating in intensity.
The final circle clicked into alignment.
It was complete.
On the ground, Judas downed a potion in one breath.
Sweat streamed down his face... his complexion ghostly pale.
His mind reserves had been scraped down to the last embers, his consciousness teetering at the edge of Mind Zero.
But even so... he grinned.
Slowly, deliberately, he raised his hand.
『Punisher』
The moment the name reverberated through the air... the heavens split.
Thousands upon thousands of swords made of pure light erupted into existence overhead, arranged in a formation eerily similar to Hedin's lightning storm... but far larger.
Far denser.
Far more overwhelming.
A divine armory poised to erase everything below.
The wind vanished.
The world held its breath.
And the spell... descended.
What followed...
Was an orchestra of destruction.
...
Allen's blue aura rippled violently, the earth beneath him cracking as he trusted his spear, with a speed that spiked beyond mortal limits.
Hogni's demonic chant deepened, causing shadows to writhe unnaturally around his feet.
Hedin lifted his staff as a thousand arrows of lightning shrieked into the distance.
The Gulliver Brothers roared in perfect unison... a harmonic vibration that caused their fused spell to swell outward.
Raw magic power curled off their bodies like steam, the ground trembling each time their magic pulsed.
Their attacks launched upward, converging at the same point... and collided with Judas' falling swords of light.
The sky erupted.
A blinding bloom of white swallowed everything, followed by a shockwave that devastated the environment around them.
The earth buckled, sending tremors that rippled all the way to the far edges of Orario.
The very air screamed, as though space itself was tearing apart from the force of the collision.
And at the center of it all... the clash between seven first-class adventurers and a single long-activation spell continued to churn, devouring the sky in rolling waves of destruction.
"What the hell… don't tell me that kid is causing trouble again."
In front of the Ganesha Familia's base stood the massive statue of Ganesha himself, its sheer size impossible to miss.
Unfortunately, the entrance to the building happened to be placed right at Ganesha's crotch... much to the quiet dismay of anyone who had to pass through it.
Shakti watched from a distance, her eyes reflecting the glow of the magic circle lighting up the sky.
...
"The mage who is the most prepared wins."
For some reason, Akasha's voice echoed in Judas' mind.
He rose to his feet, wiping the sweat from his brow as he gazed ahead.
When the smoke finally cleared, he saw Hedin and the others sprawled across the shattered ground... bleeding, coated in dirt, unconscious and foaming at the mouth.
"Looks like its my win."
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