"You bastard! Flying away like a coward!"

  The masked people I had met on the roof could use magic well, but it seemed like these guys couldn’t?

  I once read in a book that magic based on divine power was separated into classes and flying was forbidden depending on the religious class. If I remember correctly, it was probably because the sky was God’s territory and only the class chosen by God could fly.

  Did it say that flying magic is possible from bishop-level or higher?

  So then they won’t be able to chase me if I fly away like this?

  "Good bye, everyone! I’m ridding myself of the fetters and shackles of this world and am leaving to find happiness. I wish you all happiness!” I soared higher as I cheerily greeted.

  "You bastard!"

  The indignant masked group threw sword auras in retaliation. But it was all blocked by my shield, never reaching me. The farther the sword aura from the sword, the weaker it was. So, it was only natural.

  "And this is my last gift! Justice is pouring from the sky!"

  Circulating the magic circuit at full power, I shot thousands of magic bullets at the masked people. The rising dust obscured the masked people, but regardless of whether they were hit or not, I continued to rain magic bullets. When I was slowly running out of mana and got tired, a bolt of white lightning suddenly came towards me.

  Kulok!

  As the powerful magic hit my shield, I felt a large chunk of my mana being shaved off. Of course, I stopped shooting the magic bullets and looked around to find the source of this magic.

  An old man in a golden mask was flying over.

  Is he with the masked people?

  "Who the heck are you!" The old man in the golden mask shouted at me and continued to attack without waiting for an answer.

  "Nevermind! Just die!"

  When the old man in the golden mask waved his ceremonial-looking staff, hundreds of magic bullets shot towards me. I cut off the mana that I was supplying to the sleeping magic on the princess and executed an emergency evasive maneuver.

  At the high-speed maneuver, the magic bullets barely missed my body, but the princess moaned in her sleep.

  "Hmm—"

  Dammit, I’ll have to see after I survive if I can wake you up.

  "Wind maiden!"

  Wind awls quickly surrounded the old man in the golden mask like an iron maiden.

  "Hnng! God’s iron mace!"

  The old man in the golden mask conjured a sphere of light, struck out a part of the wind’s awl to create a gap and escape.

  "Divine punishment!"

  White lightning flew out of my hands towards the old man in the golden mask.

  "You are a fool! Do you think you can hurt me with false light!"

  The old man’s beckoning deprived me of the white lightning’s control, and the lightning flew back towards me. I was just going to use this magic to provoke him, but it was definitely better to not use magic that I had ridiculously copied.

  My opponent knew this magic a lot better than I did, and I only mimicked it after a side glance. So, it was natural to lose control of it.

  "Delete!"

  Easily erasing the white lightning, I cast another spell.

  "Minefield!"

  The old man wearing a golden mask seemed to be preparing for my magic, he laughed at me when nothing happened.

  "Hahaha! Did the magic fail? What a fool!"

  He raised his ceremonial-looking staff at me and flew towards me.

  Kwang! Kwakwakwakwang-!

  The old man in the golden mask was rushing at me when he touched a transparent magic mine I had laid in the air. As a result, due to being stunned or having fainted, he crashed down. However, he did not seem to have suffered major injuries so he probably had a magic shield up to cushion his fall.

  Personally, I was reluctant to kill people. But with my future in mind, it was better to end it here.

  My intuition was murmuring that this old man would bother me in the future. And if he were to disappear, that masked lot wouldn’t be able to stand again. There was no basis for it, but it was better not to spare potential future trouble.

  Let’s completely crush their psychology, so that even if we were to meet again in the future, they wouldn’t dare to be hostile.

  "That’s one trajectory."

  I didn’t like this magic because the incantation was cheesy.

  "The ends of the seven spearheads fix the future."

  It was the best magic for the current situation, so I couldn’t help it.

  "What occurs is from a single result."

  It was magic that belonged to the great magic category, so my low mana was even further sucked out.

  Ah, ahh, mana depletion was making me dizzy.

  "Shortened incantation! Gae Bulg!"[1]

  A red flash of light came from my hand. It cut across the sky with a gleam of avarice as it shot towards the old man in the golden mask.

  "No!"

  As the dust settled, a masked man sprang from the ground. But it was too late. Even if he blocked it, that old man would die unless there was a miracle.

  At that moment, a white light barged in between the old man in the golden mask and the red light to block it-

  o-

  Paladin Vibrio, the masked person called Fox, was chasing after Bloody and William. She saw Leo, Cardo Fernando, and someone, engaged in a battle of magic in the distance. Sensing something strange, she wondered why Leo was suddenly in a battle of magic in the air.

  Perhaps, is the opponent in that magic battle the source of the strange feeling she felt from the direction of the Magic School?

  Vibrio was not certain but assumed that that man was indeed the source.

  Then where were Paladin Mario and his subordinates who were supposed to be initiating the revolt?

  She spotted the Leopards led by Paladin Malive, just below the place where the magic war was unfolding. She felt momentary anxiety winding all over her body.

  There was no way he got done in by that guy who seemed to be the main culprit, right?

  No, there was no way. Vibrio braced her heart.

  Vibrio regretfully, but objectively, judged that the Eagles led by Mario were stronger than the Foxes she helmed. But even the Foxes had succeeded in tying the feet of the Crow, Bloody and the Butterfly, William.

  Although as a knight, she was a bit ashamed at achieving such a feat through long-range weapons instead of a close combat battle, she couldn’t help it. In swordsmanship, they were no match for Bloody. Also, she and her knights were not as skilled at hiding magical traits of divine power like Fernando.

  No, Fernando, who could easily hide the characteristics of holy magic in front of a Butterfly, was a ridiculous sham.

  "Fox!"

  A voice called Vibrio from behind.

  "Eagle!"

  It was Mario. Vibrio could tell even though he was wearing a mask. As she thought, there was no way Mario would have been done in, but then she couldn’t help but freeze when she looked at Mario again. His right arm that should have been attached to him was missing.

  "Wha-what happened!" Vibrio cried.

  Mario turned his gaze towards Bloody and William. "Later. We are on a mission right now."

  Vibrio gritted her teeth and continued to chase after Bloody and William.

  "Bloody! I sense Arelia is in the air. What’s going on?"

  At William’s cries of confusion, other than Bloody, Mario and Vibrio also looked skyward.

  “That-that’s!"

  For some reason, Vibrio couldn’t recognize it until just now. The princess was lying on the back of a man wearing a half-white mask and a suit.

  Vibrio was astonished at the reason her superior was engaged in a battle of magic, and at the same time understood. But on the other hand, she started doubting her own conjectures.

  Man? Did I think he was a man just now?

  It was strange. She couldn’t clearly recognize it. He was definitely right there, but she couldn’t recognize him. This unfamiliar feeling seemed familiar to Vibrio.

  The engrossed Vibrio was suddenly struck by a realization.

  Half-white mask! Lupin!

  Before she could voice her realization, Fernando was already falling due to an unknown explosion in the air.

  You have to catch him! Vibrio thought as she binned the order to stall Bloody and William, and ran at full speed. While keeping her eyes on the falling Fernando, Vibrio noticed a chaotic red light in Lupin’s hand. Then, the ferocious red light turned into a beam and flew at Fernando.

  Malive was watching the scene as well. He jumped dozens of meters, but it wasn’t enough to stop the red flash.

  No, no, no!

  Vibrio grasped the rosary around her neck and yelled a prayer.

  "God! Merciful God! Please save him! I don’t mind being a shield!"

  As if Vibrio’s prayers had been heard, a flash of white light burst out of the rosary. The brilliant white light was the light of a miracle.

  When Vibrio made a wish for a miracle, Mario had grabbed Vibrio’s hand.

  "Mario?"

  "I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ll come back to pay you back for this sin."

  After saying that, he hit Vibrio in the stomach and knocked her unconscious. The white light moved him between the red flash of light and Fernando.

  "Ma……rio?" Fernando called out as his senses returned.

  "I will protect you," Mario said.

  "These…… foo……lish."

  Because of the golden mask, he couldn’t see Fernando’s face; but Mario had served him for a long time and could tell. He was sure that under the mask, Fernando wore an expression of sharp disapproval. No matter how hard he tried to block it, he realized that if hit, he would at best land up in a critical condition.

  "Please don’t reprimand Paladin Malive too much. He tried his best."

  Mario didn’t even check whether Fernando was listening or not. It was nothing more than self-consolation. Despite the red flash seemingly approaching slowly, being able to have a short conversation, was one of the little miracles bestowed by the white light.

  But even that miracle was running out of time.

  Mario cemented his determination, boosted his magic power as much as possible, and blocked the red flash of light. But the red flash still passed through the defensive magic he had put up with all his might and penetrated Fernando’s heart.

  "No!!!"

  Mario shouted a prayer in a voice full of despair.

  "God!"-

  o-

  The sacred-looking white light was blinding. It had emerged from the arm of the masked person. It was a waste of time. My magic was already flying towards its target — the old man in the golden mask.

  I indifferently watched the red light’s trajectory pass through the heart of the old man wearing the golden mask. The magic seemed to successfully crush his heart.

  But at that moment, the white light seemed to blindingly explode encompassing the entire area. I closed my eyes for a second. When I opened my eyes, the one plummeting with blood spurting out of his chest was a masked person who had blocked the red flash of light. The old man was falling with blood pouring out from his left abdomen, not his heart.

  What happened? I was sure the magic had been successful.

  Did it fail because I shortened the incantation? It couldn’t be.

  If magic had failed by omitting incantations, all the magic I’d ever used in my life should have failed.

  Was it related to the white light? I don’t know.

  I took out a MP potion, or officially called, mana recovery potion, from my pocket space and drank it.

  "Keuh, gross!"

  Why were there no artificial flavoring agents in this world! I wasn’t expecting flavors like cola, but it would have been nice if there were at least fruity flavors. Anyway, it didn’t matter if the magic failed or not. It’d be over once I used the magic again.

  I waited for my mana to fill up again. The masked people on the ground caught the still warm body of the one whose heart was crushed in place of the golden masked old man.

  "Retreat!"

  The old man, my original target, was in such bad condition that he poured out healing magic while shouting in an urgent voice.

  I reached my palm out to the hastily fleeing masked group. I aimed at the poor golden masked old man who was being carried princess style, even though he wasn’t a princess.

  "Huh?"

  The mana recovery potion that I drank was gross, but had an excessively fast recovery rate that put a strain even on my body. But even after that, I still had no mana. Realistically, it wasn’t like a MP potion in a game that instantly filled up your mana tank, but mana should gather at least somewhat by now.

  However, my mana had not recovered even at the level of natural recovery. It was as if something around me was blocking the connection between me and the surrounding mana.

  It felt as if there was something that made my lethal move miss, kept that old man from dying, and prevented my mana recovery.

  1. Gae Bolg means “a spear of mortal pain/death” from Irish mythology.