The main gate of Avelina, near the Mage Tower.
“What the hell is that noise!”
Gus struggled to fend off the continuous waves of the Albus army’s attacks, his strength beginning to fail him.
Wave after wave they came.
No matter how battle-hungry Gus was, he was still only flesh and blood.
After fighting for so long, he was reaching his limit.
‘Maybe we shouldn’t have listened to that young master. He wants to emulate Isabena and cast High-Level Magic while still at Tier 2. Isn’t that a joke?’
He had never heard of anyone other than that monster Isabena performing such a feat as a Tier 2 Mage.
“Gus, don’t stop!”
Alan used every ounce of his strength to drive the Blade of Laws and kill the enemies.
It had been effective at first, but after suffering losses, the enemies had become incredibly smart.
They were wary of his Blade of Laws and gave him no opportunity for a finishing blow.
‘Is this the discipline of an army…?’
The Albus army before him felt like an impassable mountain.
No matter how many he killed, more appeared!
“We can’t hold on much longer!”
The common students, whose combat power was inferior to the two, were having their defensive lines eaten away bit by bit.
They were nearly pushed back to the base of the Mage Tower they were supposed to be guarding.
“Charles! Aren’t you ready yet!”
Lilian used all her strength to help Charles construct the magic circuits.
Charles had his eyes squeezed shut, sweat pouring off him like rain.
He had forced all of Yuan’s recovery potions into his body like an IV drip.
It was a miracle of endurance that he hadn’t vomited them up yet.
Blood slowly trickled from his nose.
His brain and body were severely overclocked, to the point where he couldn’t even respond to them.
Charles didn’t know how to identify the specific location of the Divine Messenger Lin Yue had mentioned, but High-Level Magic was a universal solution.
As long as he could blow them all to hell, it didn’t matter if he targeted the messenger specifically.
Indeed, killing the Divine Messenger in the game was merely a strategic choice—information only obtained by completing a side quest.
Charles’s plan to simply use overwhelming force to blast everything was a valid solution.
But with his current ability, could he really pull off this High-Level Magic?
Everyone, including himself, could only view it as a massive uncertainty.
At that moment, the fluctuations caused by the battle between Liya and the Forbidden Demonic Beast caused the ground beneath them to tremble, interrupting the Albus army’s offensive rhythm.
However, it was only a drop in the bucket.
This wasn’t the center of the conflict.
After a brief moment of reorganization, the army launched another assault.
‘With only fifteen percent of the charge remaining, I just need to stall for a bit more time…’
His High-Level Magic didn’t condense as quickly as the spells Liya cast normally.
The casting speed of a low-tier mage was incredibly slow.
He was forcing the mana to coalesce, and whether it would succeed remained an unknown.
‘What should I do…?’
The front line was collapsing.
He couldn’t let people throw their lives away to fill the gap…
Just as everyone was locked in a bitter struggle, a black and blue figure carved a path through the enemy in front of Alan and Gus amidst a flurry of sword light.
With a single move, he killed over ten Tier 1 peak warriors.
Alan’s eyes widened.
The mysterious man before him, roughly his height, wore a bear mask and held dual blades.
The Nightingale mark on his left hand glowed as he spoke in a cold voice:
“Go help the others. Ensure the High-Level Magic is cast. I’ll… handle things here.”
With that, he moved again, killing many more enemies like a god of war.
“Who the hell is he?”
Gus looked at the man showing off in front of them with an annoyed expression.
He didn’t understand why this person had suddenly intervened.
“I don’t know…”
Alan only noticed the Nightingale mark on the man’s hand.
He looked down at his own bandaged hand.
“But since he’s this strong, he should be able to help us…”
At the same time, the demonic beasts around Avelina sensed the revival of the Forbidden Demonic Beast.
They swarmed from the outskirts toward Avelina in a spectacular, chaotic surge.
The Albus army was caught like the filling of a sandwich—Avelina in front and a tide of beasts behind.
They were being thoroughly squeezed.
“That feels good, hahaha!”
Watching the situation gradually improve and seeing the red light around Avelina begin to dissipate, Alan breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when everyone thought victory was within their grasp…
“Ants…”
A pressure unlike anything they had ever felt descended directly behind the two of them.
Alan spun around and found a figure in white robes staring straight at him.
“You are…”
A beam of Holy Light fell, instantly knocking out the thick-skinned Gus and Alan.
“Alan!”
Seeing the sudden turn of events, Lilian no longer cared about Charles’s magic circuit construction.
She sprinted toward Alan, mana condensing in her hands as she prepared to act…
Snap!
The white figure suddenly seized her by the throat, lifting her into the air.
His eyes were filled with the joy of a successful plan.
“Indeed… indeed! Hahaha!”
She was far better than ‘cargo’!
Attacking Avelina, the diversion, disguising themselves as enemy soldiers—everything had been for this moment.
This moment when no one would notice him!
“You’re… that Bishop…”
Lilian struggled to speak through the grip on her throat, but she recognized him.
He was the Bishop, Mordecai, who had attended the ceremony with the Saintess that day!
“What if I am?”
Suddenly, a green light shot out from Lilian’s chest.
The mark left by Loserf’s origin power emerged, attempting to obstruct him.
“That fellow Loserf… he really did meddle…”
“But you aren’t in Avelina. What can a mere mark do?”
The only threat, Liya, was also tied down by the suddenly appearing Forbidden Demonic Beast.
Although his second body had been destroyed, as long as his goal was achieved, he could have as many puppets as he wanted in the future.
Just as he was about to make his move, an invisible blade swept past his neck, slicing off a lock of his long hair.
He raised an eyebrow and looked toward Alan, surprised to see him still moving.
“Let… Lilian go!”
“Ho… this is a power I’ve never seen before.”
Perhaps he should take him back to the Holy See to see if he had any utility.
…
Just as he raised his hand to take Alan along with him, dual blades came whistling toward him.
Unable to dodge, he could only activate a Divine Shield to block.
He turned his head and saw the mysterious man in the bear mask.
“One comes, then two, then three. Tsk. A bunch of trash.”
He was growing impatient with these ants.
The priests disguised as the Albus army were pinned down by the demonic beasts and couldn’t help, so he had to deal with them himself.
If Sefina’s avatar divine technique lacked mana support, it wouldn’t retain even a tenth of its power.
He could kill them, but the avatar would also vanish.
He should just finish his business and leave…
“Ah!”
Lilian let out a tragic cry as a mark suddenly appeared on her neck.
The mark slowly faded, melting into her skin, and she collapsed to her knees, unconscious.
“Lilian!”
Seeing Lilian’s life hanging in the balance, Alan’s blood suddenly boiled.
“…”
“It is time to go.”
Mordecai looked toward the horizon where the High-Level Magic was about to finish condensing.
Knowing there was no reason to linger, he simply dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace behind…
Alan fell to his knees, his hands trembling as he shook his beloved.
His eyes were filled with instability.
“Ah… ahahaha… ah!”
He had studied magic so hard and enrolled in Avelina just so he could protect Lilian and let her do whatever she wanted.
In the end… he still couldn’t protect anything!
‘In the end! In the end, you changed nothing! You useless trash! You couldn’t change a thing!’
Just as his heart began to pound wildly and he was on the verge of awakening the second stage of his Law power, the man in the bear mask knelt beside him.
He checked Lilian’s breathing and said: “Calm down. She’s still very much alive…”
Those words acted like a stabilizing pill, causing the nearly out-of-control Alan to lose his strength and slump onto the ground.
It had all happened so suddenly that no one could react.
And at that very moment, Charles’s High-Level Magic finally finished condensing.
In an instant, the overcast, cloudy sky was illuminated as if it were a clear, sunny day.
No, it was even brighter than that…