The Magic for entering the Ancient Ruins was still active, so I was able to get out without difficulty. The problem was—

“Sofia!”

“Lord Ruon! I heard something…”

“They are Angels that were sleeping in the Ancient Ruins. I don’t know what they intend to do, but they’ve gotten out.”

“What about the Knights?”

“The Angels took care of them. Anyway, we need to do something about them—Resveil!”

He creates an Armored Angel.

“Their location is—”

The answer came right after he tried to ask. It’s outside the Forest.

“I don’t know their objective, but we have to stop them. And they’re the kind of enemies we can’t deal with without a Weapon Vessel containing a Dragon Demon Stone. I did manage to snatch one Knight’s sword, but…”

I’ll help too.

Yusuka said. Romilda also showed her intention to accompany us with her expression. I had some anxiety, but… I nodded and ran towards the Angel’s location that Resveil had found.

Let’s leave the Forest. The Angel is there.

Everyone ran. The Angel hadn’t moved since it was located, but… it suddenly went outside. Anything could happen.

We quickly exited the Forest. What we saw next were the two Angels that had defeated the Knight earlier.

Red and black… they’re eerie.

Sofia said. Richard nodded in agreement, and we readied ourselves.

The Angels looked around for a moment, but… eventually, they noticed us and turned their bodies towards us.

We’ll stop them here. I’ll go forward and hold them back.

I declared, drawing my sword. Sofia and the others nodded—and the battle began.

The Angels reacted to us and attacked simultaneously. Their massive bodies approached in unison. I, in turn, stepped forward to meet them.

Well then…

I imbued the drawn sword with Magic Power. Last time, I managed to strike a blow before the sword shattered. It’s almost disposable, but I have no choice but to use it to take down one of them.

Immediately after, Sofia cast a Magic.

Perish with the Wind—ancient revenant!

The Magic she unleashed with her voice was the Wind-attribute Intermediate Magic, “Spear Wind.” It’s a Magic that gathers Wind Power at a single point and releases it. She concentrated more Magic Power than usual from her Magic Power and aimed it at the Angel.

However, since she doesn’t possess a Weapon Vessel containing a Dragon Demon Stone, the damage would be zero—but I quickly understood her intention.

The Magic directly hit the Angel on the right. Since it’s nullified, it didn’t pierce, but the impact was considerable, sending the massive body flying in the opposite direction.

Division—that was her aim.

Alright…!

With a shout, I brought the Angel into range. I’ll finish off one of them here.

I poured Magic Power into the blade and unleashed a single slash. The Angel prepared to receive it. But I instinctively felt that I could cleave it in half, sword and all. So I swung through without hesitation.

In an instant, it clashed with the Angel’s sword—and suddenly, Magic Power surged.

What…?

Just as I muttered, I felt a flow of Magic Power. A considerable force was being generated in the Angel’s sword. Was this an action to stop my attack?

Meanwhile, my sword was nearing its limit—the moment I managed to withdraw my Magic Power and prevent damage, I understood.

It learned?

This is more troublesome than I expected. By observing the offense and defense with the first one, it had devised a counter-strategy.

My sword only lasts for a very short time. For the Angel, if it can endure even that short time, it can defend itself.

In that case—since I take zero damage, I’ll intentionally take the blow, and when an opening appears, I’ll strike it down… The Angel that flew backward regained its posture, but it will still take some time. There’s plenty of time before it returns to the front line, and I should be able to defeat the Angel in front of me in time.

I saw the Angel attacking and stepped in further, trying to receive the sword—the next moment,

—Hyah!

It was Romilda’s voice. I was momentarily confused by the unexpected situation, and immediately after, I felt Magic Power.

The Angel—retreated sharply before it could unleash its sword on me. It was blown away by the attack she unleashed.

What…

Sofia also cried out. At that moment, I turned my gaze to Romilda.

She had both hands extended. The attack I had just seen was, to describe it, a purple light. It took on the shape of a sword or spear, hit the Angel, and blew it away.

My gaze shifted to the Angel. The attacked opponent immediately regained its posture and charged. And the one that was blown away first was also approaching, slightly delayed.

I thought while re-positioning my sword—due to the Magic Convergence earlier, there were fine cracks in the sword. I might be able to generate enough power to defeat an Angel one more time—but should I save it until the very end?

I sent a glance to Yusuka. He, too, had entered battle readiness, his sword drawn.

If there was anyone with the skill to defeat an Angel, it would be him, but… I opened my mouth.

“Sofia, coordinate with Yusuka to suppress the following Angels.”

“Understood.”

“Romilda, I’ll block the attack while you hit the Angel once. Can you do it?”

“Yes.”

With a light reply, we sprang into action. Sofia used Wind Magic like before, blowing the Angel away. It wasn’t ‘Spear Wind,’ but a different Magic. After watching our exchange, she seemed to have considered that the same method might not work.

Yusuka tried to provide support as well, but Yusuka, who mainly specializes in close combat, had limits to what he could do… For now, Sofia seemed to be doing fine, so I’ll let her keep suppressing them.

And I swung my sword to counter the approaching Angel. The first time was almost even, but the second time I pushed the Angel back.

However, there’s a limit to this too. It seems there’s a limit to how much Magic Power my body can hold, and my sword is also definitely getting damaged.

We don’t have much time. Therefore, I shouted.

“Romilda!”

A powerful surge of Magic Power from behind. The power she unleashed was, of course, still far less than Sofia’s or my full power. But there was no doubt that for a girl, it was quite substantial and astonishing.

And the power she unleashed was a spear-shaped light, still purple in appearance. It rapidly approached from behind me, and I dodged to the side.

The Angel was hit directly, unable to avoid it. I had intended to coordinate with Romilda to blow it away and continue attacking, but the result was even better.

The spear easily pierced the Angel’s body. It destroyed its chest… I don’t know if its heart was there, but at the very least, the Angel’s movements significantly dulled, and it fell, that was a fact.

I immediately turned my attention to the other Angel. It’s not over yet.

“Romilda, prepare for the next attack!”

Without waiting for a reply, I aimed at the other Angel and began a Magic Incantation. Sofia was suppressing the opponent’s movements with further Magic.

Yusuka also approached the Angel and launched an attack. He has a technique where he slashes his sword along the ground, unleashing a Shockwave a few meters ahead. He used it at the same time Sofia cast her Magic.

As a result—the Angel was hit directly, but it wasn’t a one-shot kill like with Romilda.

This means Romilda’s attack power is higher… Thinking that her power must have awakened due to something, I raised my voice.

“Romilda!”

A clear Magic Power from behind. The Angel took a stance as if to meet me… and at the same time, Romilda unleashed her attack.

Magic Power closing in from behind. As I tilted my body, the Angel also paused, wondering what to do.

Presumably, it would have moved to evade in the next moment. What Romilda unleashed was an extremely simple attack. Therefore, it probably thought that if it could just avoid it, there would be no problem.

However, Sofia and I wouldn’t let it. We simultaneously cast Magic. I used a Magic that interfered with the ground, a Intermediate Magic called ‘Gaia Bind’ that uses the Magic Power of the earth to seal the opponent’s movements.

And Sofia used ‘Magic Chain,’ an attribute-less Magic. It unleashes silver Magic chains at the opponent to stop their movements.

My and Sofia’s simultaneous attack succeeded, and the Angel finally stopped moving. Then Romilda’s attack struck. It easily bypassed my and Sofia’s Magic, piercing the Angel’s chest.