Chapter 501 – Battle at the Dock

I faced Hybla. But—the creature grinned and fired a water spear not at me, but toward the soldiers on the wall. I instantly flew toward them and smashed the water spear aside.

“You…”

“Kuku. I see. So you’re a capable magician. My perception seems dulled on land.”

In other words, this was both to gauge my abilities and to create distance. How cunning.

“Largo!”

Hybla leaped backward—and upon calling that subordinate’s name, one of the Sea King’s Familiars responded.

A Sea King’s Familiar I’d classified as a knight, with different equipment from the others. It wielded a weapon resembling a spear made of crystal coral. Wrapped in an immense amount of Fighting Spirit, it charged toward us.

As if synchronized, Grace stepped in from near the rear carriages with cannonball-like speed. I ignored Largo and charged toward Hybla—as Grace crossed beneath my feet.

A water spear came crashing toward me head-on, but I evaded by twisting my body and advanced along the shortest path. For just a moment, my gaze met Grace’s crimson eyes as she passed below.

I threw my entire body toward Hybla, bringing Ouroboros forward to clash against the golden Khakkhara in its hand.

“Tch!”

Hybla clicked its tongue in annoyance. Being a Sea King’s Familiar, it apparently possessed enough brute strength to not be easily overpowered.

Almost simultaneously—Grace’s axe and Largo’s spear collided violently behind us, each deflecting the other.

Seeing Grace standing between us as if cutting in, Largo’s eyes widened in shock. Grace stood poised with an axe in each hand and quietly spoke.

“I am your opponent.”

“I see… That’s tremendous Fighting Spirit.”

Largo bared its fangs in a grin as it looked at Grace. It filled its entire body with Fighting Spirit and Evil Energy, holding its spear horizontally, and shouted toward the Subordinates waiting in the rear.

“This one is my prey! You lot provide support for Lady Hybla!”

“Yes!”

The Sea King’s Familiars answered energetically, but one’s shoulder split open, spraying blood.

“Gah!?”

It was shallow. But stunned by the unexpected blow, the creature groaned while clutching its torn shoulder.

Sheila had descended from the castle walls surrounding the docks without a sound or visible form. A Surprise Attack that left only the glimmer of Fighting Spirit in the air. After delivering one strike, she kicked off a Shield and retreated with complex, ricocheting movements to left and right.

“Th-this one!?”

Following Sheila, Dullahan and Ignis leaped out into the docks, cutting toward the Familiars. Though the strength-focused Familiars somehow managed to block Dullahan and Ignis’s blows with Fighting Spirit, we had the advantage in raw power. In the collision between massive bodies, the Familiars were overpowered and sent flying.

“These guys… where did they come from!?”

“L-look! The water gate—!”

With a grinding, creaking sound, the water gate leading out from the docks—along with the surrounding seawater—was freezing shut. Ashley stood upon the frozen sea surface, using a Defense Field to establish a defensive position.

That wasn’t all. On the castle walls stood Claudia, Old Sigmund, Valentina, and Charlotte. Magical Power flashed simultaneously among the four, completing the blockade of the docks so that even flying escape would be impossible. With this—.

“With this—you think you’ve trapped us?”

Pushing against each other with our Magical Power at close range in a stalemate, Hybla looked at me and twisted its lips.

Hybla wrapped in water. It was probably producing water through Magic. Water spheres floated here and there. It must have calculated that being near water would be advantageous.

And as if in response, the large amount of seawater remaining in the docks began rising in level. Even though the water gate was sealed, cutting off water inflow. It seemed to be resonating with the Evil Energy rising from the group. Hybla was likely interfering with the seawater through some Technique.

“Before long, this plaza will be submerged! You’re the ones with nowhere to run!”

“That won’t happen.”

I unleashed the Magical Power I’d been holding back all at once and swung Ouroboros, easily breaking the equilibrium and sending Hybla’s body flying backward.

“Wha—!?”

Strength enhanced by circulated Magical Power. Hybla’s eyes widened as it regained its stance, astonished by the amount of Magical Power Ouroboros was amplifying.

“Do you think you have that much time left?”

“Y-you bastard…! What are you all doing! Capture that female blocking the water gate! Support me!”

“Y-yes!”

When Hybla shouted, the Familiars who had been stunned by the changing situation sprang into action.

Three Familiar Warriors came toward me. Including Hybla, that made four.

Grace was holding off the knight-class alone. Sheila and the other Vanguards were facing five Warriors. And five more Warrior-class headed toward the Rearguard’s defensive position. Well… that seems about right for assignments. Then—let the battle begin.

“Ooooh!”

With a war cry, the Familiars charged toward the water gate where Ashley was. The area near the water gate was frozen all the way to the seabed—so even with seawater between, they would have to fight on the ice and break through the constructed defensive position. Given their aggressive nature, they seemed to have chosen to attack rather than withdraw into the remaining water.

Either way—if they holed up, we’d just freeze everything, so they’d have to attack eventually anyway.

To stop the Familiars’ Charge, ice bullets, Lightning Strikes, Light Arrows, and sonic bullets poured down from the defensive position and from above.

“Guh!?”

Exposed to the barrage, they defended with Fighting Spirit, but it was a volley of sheer quantity. They couldn’t block everything.

Several attacks sliced their skin and scorched them. Still, they pushed forward recklessly, relying on their innate toughness. Drawing water from the sea, each created a water Shield wrapped around their left arm and tried to break through the barrage.

The moment the lead one touched the Defense Field—and their attention turned toward forcing a breakthrough—Magical Power threads rained down from above onto their limbs.

“A shame.”

A cool voice.

The Familiar whose body movements had been hijacked swung the spine-like blunt weapon in its hands with all its might toward the flank of a comrade behind it.

“Gah!?”

A merciless blow. A perfect Surprise Attack. Rosemary, camouflaged on a wall protrusion using Lantern-generated illusions, had seized control of the Familiar’s movements from above and made it attack its ally.

That too was temporary; Rosemary smiled faintly as she released the Puppet Strings, then entangled Magic Threads around the limbs of the Familiar writhing in agony from the flank strike.

All of this occurred within the pouring barrage. Whether the Familiars could comprehend what was happening to them remained unclear.

Bypassing the two still reeling from the shock and confusion of friendly fire, another one was assaulted from all directions by Marlene’s rapidly spinning Saucers.

Trying to catch the Saucers that crashed into them while continuing to spin, scraping away their very skin, but Marlene’s control was masterful. Unable to distinguish illusion from reality, the Familiar flailed uselessly alone.

Then—from the Magic Stone of Cerberus floating beside Claudia, a crimson line of fire was unleashed.

A blow charged to the limit. Even if it couldn’t exert its full power in Magic Stone form, the heat and DPS were tremendous.

It easily shot through the shoulder, setting the right arm ablaze from there. As the Familiar writhed in agony and rolled across the ice, a chunk of ice swung up by Ashley came crashing down.

With a sound like shattering glass, the flames vanished too. The Familiar, crushed between the ice block and the ice field, lay buried in ice fragments, spread-eagled with eyes rolled back. That made three.

The remaining two—looked around with astonished expressions. Around them—illusions created by Marlene danced. Unable to advance or retreat, they were swallowed by crossfire.

“This side—”

“Y-you bastard!!”

No sooner had Sheila’s voice been heard than she unleashed a Slash Attack and retreated. Her form appeared and vanished in an instant. Only the glimmer of Fighting Spirit remained etched multiple times in the air.

Trying to remain and fight on land was a mistake. They couldn’t keep up with Sheila’s three-dimensional movements at all. Their Fighting Spirit defense was insufficient, and their bodies were being shallowly sliced.

Even so, they couldn’t pursue Sheila deeply. The moment their attention was drawn there, they’d be smashed by Dullahan or Ignis facing them.

The Familiars, seeing they were losing in strength, immediately created a two-on-one situation against Dullahan and Ignis. One focused on defense, the other on attack. That seemed to barely hold them back.

Against Sheila, they probably thought they had the advantage in brute strength. They tried to hold her with one. That was a misstep. The Familiar facing Sheila couldn’t keep up with her movements at all. It couldn’t track her actions.

In and out with attacks and retreats. And along the way—as if collecting tolls on the go, she sliced through the Familiars fighting Dullahan and Ignis in passing. They swung their weapons like windmills, but she had completely read their moves.

Shallow and light—but each blow was precisely carved, and that began to cause fatal delays in movement for Dullahan and the others. They understood the situation. But they had no countermeasures.

Because the more attention they paid to Sheila, the more pressure Dullahan and Ignis applied.

Dullahan smashed down its Greatsword from a High Stance. They blocked it with a weapon concentrated with Fighting Spirit, but Sheila, who had slipped out from beneath the horse, sliced through their flank in passing. She vanished while leaping diagonally upward, kicking off a Shield to fly in an absurd direction.

“You bastard!”

The Familiar sliced by Sheila—must have reached its limit. It raised an irritated voice and tried to pursue her but—the next instant, it was crushed under the horseshoes of Dullahan’s steed. Power enough to crack the dock’s ground. The sound of breaking bones and a voice of agony.

Once the equilibrium broke, it accelerated. The moment they were distracted by their comrade’s defeat, their ribs were shattered by Ignis’s War Hammer. The two-on-one structure collapsed in an instant. Blown away by Dullahan’s Greatsword, punched flying by Ignis, the five who had confronted the Vanguards ended up rolled on the ground with white eyes.

“Kyaaah!”

Largo’s spear, leaving multiple glimmers of Fighting Spirit in the air, charged toward Grace at high speed. Grace expressionlessly intercepted the high-speed spear work, fast enough to leave afterimages, with her axe.

Sparks scattered numerous times in the air. But Grace used Dual Wield. As a sweeping strike from her other arm approached, Largo leaped far back. Grace stepped in to match the distance.

Blocking one blow with the spear’s shaft, he knocked up the spear’s butt and launched a counter against Grace. Intercepting by striking with the chain wrapped around his arm.

One might think he couldn’t move in midair, but Largo called seawater, wrapped it around his feet, and used it to hold position in the air. Gliding through the air, he maintained spear distance and exchanged attacks with Grace.

“Not bad, girl! So you’ve learned to fight flying through the air too!”

At Largo’s cheerful words, Grace narrowed her eyes.

“I see. So this is your level on land.”

“…What?”

Largo seemed unable to understand the meaning of Grace’s murmured words. The next moment, Grace stepped in. Parrying the axe blow, he thrust his spear toward Grace’s body as she flowed with the movement—but what seemed a clean hit was deflected by concentrated Fighting Spirit. Largo’s eyes widened in shock.

Concentration. No, that was a Barrier Wall of Fighting Spirit. Armor of Fighting Spirit covering Grace’s entire body. It was beyond comparison with the Sea King’s Familiars.

Grace’s Fighting Spirit gathered in her hands as she shifted form. A bullet of Fighting Spirit was fired toward Largo, who had been trying to maintain spear distance.

An unexpected projectile. Largo failed to dodge and blocked it with his spear. There—Grace, having kicked off a Shield, stepped in with ferocious momentum.

That position—was completely inside spear range. Even closer than the distance where axe power could be fully utilized. Without hesitation, Grace drove a fist wrapped in Fighting Spirit into Largo’s shoulder.

“Guh!?”

It didn’t stop. As Largo’s armor shattered, Grace’s twin fists rained down like hail. Being able to fix her body with Shields meant she could deliver blows with full body weight even in midair. Moreover, for self-defense, Grace had even asked Rosetta for instruction in Fighting Arts. Each high-speed blow was a textbook example of beautiful martial movement.

Largo fell toward the ground from above, exposed to the barrage of fists. He released his spear, crossed his arms, and tried to defend by concentrating Fighting Spirit. But it was useless. Crushing armor, crushing gauntlets—ignoring everything, Grace’s fists poured down, crushing through Largo’s defenses.

One particularly heavy blow created an even larger crack, and then it grew quiet.

Grace emerged from the rubble. Largo, grabbed with one hand, was thrown aside and rolled on the ground. His armor and limbs crushed, he twitched and convulsed.

We could anticipate they would fire water spears from below once they flooded the area.

They probably wanted to create distance, keep me away, then immerse themselves in the sea to fight—but that was pointless.

Barrage barrage. Water bullets flew trying to shoot me down. I flew through them as if threading a needle, circled around, and attacked the Vanguards.

“Th-this guy!”

Together with Mirage Body clones, I charged while changing altitude, swinging Ouroboros without regard. Misreading my move, the Sea King’s Familiar had its ribs shattered and was sent flying.

I expanded the magical power condensed at my feet to create a foothold, riding on it as if surfing on a board to fly. This way, I could ignore attacks from below.

Using Levitation to float my body and Balor embedded in the magic board for propulsion, Nemea and Capella’s strength allowed us to kick the shield to alter our trajectory. My body was more stable than just riding Balor, and I could engage in hand-to-hand combat using both hands and feet while flying at high speeds.

Not bad at all. This should work well even underwater.

I charged straight toward another vanguard protecting Hybla. The magic board could serve as both a weapon and armor.

The subordinate concentrated their fighting spirit to block the charge from the magic board. But the next moment, Ouroboros’s strike hit the back of their head, sending them flying behind me.

Aiming at another one who was staring wide-eyed in astonishment, I unleashed a Lightning Strike at close range. The distracted subordinate was blown away without even reacting. That made three.

“What is this!?” Hybla roared.

The water enveloping Hybla transformed into a massive dragon’s jaw and lunged at me. But its trajectory was poor. Calling subordinates as escorts was a mistake. To avoid hitting them, the attack path was limited, making it easy to read.

I slipped past the jaw and swung Ouroboros upward as if tearing through the dragon’s neck. After slicing through the water dragon, I sent the magic board charging forward with its momentum while I myself flew in a different direction.

“U-oooh!”

The subordinate concentrated their fighting spirit to block the approaching magic board—but ultimately, the magic board was just a mass of magical power. It transformed into a giant hand, seizing their movements, while the separated Balor slammed into their solar plexus.

Catching the collapsing subordinate in the periphery of my vision, I charged at the last remaining escort. Striking with Nemea’s Claw, Capella’s headbutt, and a palm strike from different angles, the subordinate writhed in agony, unable to mount a proper defense.

“…On land, this is about what I expected.”

As I thought, they seemed to perform better underwater. Despite having little difference in skill or vitality, their concentration of fighting spirit felt sloppier than that shark man’s. This wouldn’t serve as a useful reference for gauging their true abilities.

Conversely… if I fell behind these guys on land, then helping the mermaids would be presumptuous.

“Y-you… you! If we were in the water, you wouldn’t stand a chance against us!”

Hybla released all the magical power they had been building up in one go. In response, the seawater at the pier surged upward. A massive wave approached from behind me, crashing down. They were trying to create an advantageous field while attacking. Originally, that magical power should have been for landing a big hit on me. They must have been buying time by making me fight their escorts.

But having lost their vanguard, they probably thought they couldn’t compete in close combat and adjusted their tactics.

The wave crest shattered, and the massive wave loomed over me from behind.

“Kuhahaha! Ha ha…! Ha!?”

Hybla laughed at the sight, but their expression froze as they noticed something strange. The massive wave changed direction mid-course, transforming into a whirlwind that enveloped me.

This wasn’t under Hybla’s control. I had crushed the approaching wave with my own magical power, wresting control of the water’s movement. Circulated magical power surpassed normal magical power at close range, making this feat possible.

“Impossible!?”

“Pierce!”

Following my spell formula, I took control of the massive amount of water that had become a whirlwind. Swinging Ouroboros, the whirlwind spiraled into a rotating water projectile and shot toward Hybla.

“Guooh!”

Hybla blocked it with a hastily deployed Magic Shield. But then—

“Guhah!?”

Simultaneously with firing the water projectile, I pulled the magic board back to my hand, mounted it, and charged. I slammed into Hybla’s side with the magic board while they were defending against the water projectile, crashing them into the outer wall with the same momentum.

The impact was enough to shatter the wall’s surface—but they were tenacious. They were still defending with their shield. Supplied with power from the magic board, Balor scattered sparks. Ouroboros predicted what came next and let out an excited growl.

“W-wait! You…!? Wh-what are you planning!?”

“Fly.”

Balor began flying at high speed—of course, while still pressing Hybla against the wall with the magic board.

“Giiiiih!”

A grinding sound echoed as Hybla screamed, trapped between the outer wall and the magic board. They seemed to be building up magical power to endure being scraped against the wall and counterattack—but I wouldn’t allow that.

I slammed a magical shockwave into the magic board spread beneath my feet, easily penetrating their defense. The moment their control was disrupted and their shield collapsed, Hybla’s body was crushed into the outer wall, scraping through it.

“Gugyagagogogaah!”

Something like a scream erupted. The strength drained from Hybla’s limbs, which were sticking out from the rubble.

Aiming at the motionless Hybla, I unleashed a Sealing Technique. Chains of light wrapped around their entire body.