Seeing Yuuki so relaxed, Mariella felt anything but at ease. The tension in her heart did not lessen in the slightest; instead, worry and vigilance filled her expression.
"My lord, the assassination unit sent a total of thirty people this time, including the squad captain, Galeo. He wields Spatial Magic—he's an extremely troublesome opponent."
Mariella delivered her report swiftly, her tone heavy.
Her concern was hardly unfounded. With so many members of the Assassination Division present, even Instructor Fanzell would likely have only one outcome if faced with such a situation—capture.
"I remember you mentioned before that the Assassination Division has sixty members in total," Yuuki said, his expression turning regretful upon hearing the number. Then he smiled lightly.
"Only half came. That means the other half are still out there. That's a bit of a shame."
He continued calmly,
"A mage's battle isn't decided by numbers."
Seeing that Yuuki remained so composed, Mariella's nervousness finally eased somewhat. At the same time, her curiosity about his true strength grew even stronger.
Facing thirty elite assassins and a captain proficient in Spatial Magic, yet still this unhurried—she had never seen such a person before.
"My lord, what should we do now?"
"We'll have to break through this magical seal."
Mariella straightened her posture. Ice magic gathered in her palm, forming a sharp dagger.
She knew that Yuuki also wielded Spatial Magic. Escaping this sand-and-mud confinement spell shouldn't be difficult for him.
"You just stand back and watch."
Yuuki chuckled softly. With a casual motion, he retrieved the Demon-Dwelling Sword from subspace and put on an ordinary mask.
Slash!
Whoosh—
A silver blade of light shot forth from the Demon-Dweller Sword, cleaving straight into the barrier formed of flowing sand.
Boom!
Before the assassins outside could even understand what had happened, the earthen barrier was cleanly split apart and shattered.
Yuuki and Mariella appeared directly before all members of the Assassination Division.
"How is that possible?!"
"The barrier was destroyed!"
"Everyone, be careful!"
Shock spread across the faces of the assassins who had surrounded them.
But soon, they noticed something even more unsettling. The person they were supposed to have cornered—Fanzell—was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood a tall figure wearing a mask.
Beside him was Mariella, gripping an ice blade, her gaze cold and unwavering.
At that moment, everyone understood.
They had been deceived.
Fanzell was never here.
"Mariella! How dare you betray the kingdom!"
Squad Captain Galeo roared, his expression ferocious as he glared at the two surrounded at the center.
Even as he shouted, his eyes constantly swept the surroundings, wary that hidden enemies might already have them encircled. The other assassins were likewise tense, their bodies coiled tight.
"Relax, everyone," Yuuki said calmly.
"There are only the two of us."
As he spoke, he produced a magic tool shaped like an hourglass.
"And your opponent… is only me."
The instant his words fell—
Yuuki tossed the barrier hourglass into the air. Infused with his magic, it shot upward, releasing a beam of white light from its lower half.
A massive barrier formed, enveloping everyone inside.
From the outside, it looked as though all of them had vanished into thin air.
Under the dim night sky, only a single hourglass floated in midair, fine sand steadily trickling within it.
Inside the barrier was a vast, pure-white space.
Mariella, just like the assassins, stared at the surroundings in astonishment.
She had worried that even if Yuuki's strength was overwhelming, an actual battle would cause a commotion large enough to draw the Magic Knights.
Now, seeing this isolated barrier, realization flickered in her eyes.
This was no spur-of-the-moment decision. Yuuki had prepared everything in advance.
"Damn it!"
"Mariella! Do you even understand what you're doing?! Falsifying intelligence, betraying the kingdom—any one of these is enough to condemn you to the harshest punishment!"
Galeo's furious bellow echoed throughout the barrier.
"Even if you defect to the Clover Kingdom, your past crimes won't be forgiven! You'll be hunted by the Diamond Kingdom forever! You'll never know peace—not until the day you die!"
Behind Galeo stood thirty members of the Diamond Kingdom's Assassination Division, their gazes icy as they fixed on Yuuki and Mariella.
Mariella fell silent, her grip tightening around the ice-forged dagger.
Pat.
Yuuki raised a hand and gently placed it on her shoulder.
"Just stand behind me."
He stepped forward, positioning himself in front of her, and looked calmly at Galeo and the assassins.
"I already told you—your opponent is only me."
Galeo activated his magic. A red spatial portal formed before him, but what should have been effortless now consumed far more mana than usual. The portal itself shrank to barely twenty centimeters in diameter.
Passing through it was impossible—getting even one's head inside would be difficult.
"As I thought… this barrier interferes with Spatial Magic."
Galeo's expression darkened further.
"There are only two ways to leave this space," Yuuki said with a smile, raising two fingers.
"First—defeat me. Once my mana supply is cut off, the barrier will naturally collapse."
"Second—forcefully destroy it. But with your abilities… that's probably impossible."
Of course, there was a third way.
When the sand in the hourglass finished flowing from one glass bulb to the other, the barrier would vanish on its own.
That would take half an hour.
"So what if that's true? We outnumber you fifteen to one—"
Galeo sneered. The instant the word one left his lips—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless tearing sounds erupted through the air as magic was unleashed simultaneously.
Flames, gales, lightning, sand—spells of every attribute surged forth at once, intertwining into a deadly barrage that sealed off every direction around Yuuki!
At the same time, several figures within the assassination unit vanished from sight.
"Squads One and Two, magic bombardment! Squad Three, advance and assassinate!"
Galeo's commands rang out sharply, issued in rapid succession.
His earlier words had merely been a distraction—buying time for his subordinates to prepare their assault.
Mariella's betrayal meant their information had been compromised. And since the enemy dared face them alone, his strength was undoubtedly formidable.
But so what?
The Assassination Division existed to eliminate powerful mages.
And against such foes, they had their own methods.
Facing the sudden onslaught, Yuuki showed no surprise. If the Assassination Division fought openly and straightforwardly, that would have been suspicious.
He wanted to see what techniques they truly possessed.
"Slash."
Yuuki raised the Demon-Dweller Sword and swung it upward.
A silver arc shot forth, colliding head-on with the incoming spells.
There was no thunderous explosion.
The silver blade effortlessly cleaved through every spell—flames, lightning, wind, sand—dispersing them into nothingness.
Yuuki stamped the ground and vanished from his spot, shifting to the side.
In that same instant—
Two daggers struck the position he had just occupied. Two assassins appeared simultaneously.
A miss.
One assassin vanished again at once. The other twisted mid-motion and lunged straight at Yuuki.
"So it's invisibility magic."
Yuuki's eyes gleamed with interest as he watched the disappearing figure.
(End of Chapter)
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