Layla didn't feel the slightest bit annoyed by being looked down upon; instead, her heart was filled with gratitude.
She had originally thought the situation would be a five-on-six fight where she would inevitably have to face one of the demons. But as it turns out, you guys are planning to go four-against-six?!
Great!
That is simply wonderful!!
"No problem! I'll use every ounce of my strength to cheer you on from the back!!"
"Everyone, do your best!!"
As Layla cheered for them like a high-spirited young girl, her feet moved rapidly backward. By the time she finished her sentence, she had already retreated more than ten meters.
Descartes and the others: "..."
Even though "cheering from the back" was exactly what we said, abandoning your teammates this decisively is a bit much...
Oh well, fighting the demons is more important. The four of them refocused their gaze on the six demons before them.
Torafuzar of the "Darkness," user of Water Curse.
Ezel of the "Dôjigiri," user of Demon Blade Curse.
Keyes the "Black Archbishop," user of Necromancy Curse.
Tempester of the "Calamity," user of Sound Effect Curse.
Jackal, user of Bomb Curse.
Deliora, user of Destruction Curse.
All of them were demons specialized in group combat, making them perfectly suited for this external battlefield. It seemed the enemy intended to end the battle here quickly before turning back to launch a pincer attack on the magic soldiers who had already breached the interior.
The six demons ignored the "escaping" Layla, focusing all their attention on Descartes and the three others.
"I thought the 'Seven Kin of the Holy Knights' had all charged inside with the main force. To think five of them stayed here."
"They actually chose to split their forces when facing Tartaros?"
"Humans are like that—easily blinded by their own minor past achievements. They become arrogant and forget their own weakness; that's why everything they do ends in failure."
"Don't worry about these few!"
"Although the current situation deviates slightly from the plan, it's not a big problem. End the battle here at top speed, then return inside for support."
"Mere humans daring to set foot in the Gates of Hades... they truly have a death wish! Watch me slaughter them all!!"
Plan? These guys even have a plan?
While Descartes was wondering, the ground suddenly shook violently.
"What's... the situation??"
"It's 'Alegria'! This thing is starting to move!"
The rapid shift of the distant scenery made Descartes and the others realize instantly that the demon beneath their feet was taking flight.
"What do they plan to do?"
"If they wanted to divide the battlefield to reduce the number of enemies, they should have done it at the start. No need to wait until now!"
"So, where are they moving to? Or do they simply want to send us into the sky?"
Descartes pondered for a moment and reached the most likely conclusion: "Perhaps they plan to take us high into the air, then suddenly release the gravity to drop us all to our deaths..."
The tactic seemed simple, but it was actually very logical. Tartaros didn't have intelligence-gathering capabilities as advanced as the Council's and wasn't familiar with Descartes' magic; they didn't know he could use Space-Make magic to create an inverted gravity field.
Therefore, the tactic of taking people into the air and throwing them down was completely viable. If successful, they could eliminate more than half of the magic soldiers, vastly increasing the demons' chances of victory.
Even now, knowing Descartes had a way to create gravity spaces, the plan could still work. Maintaining a gravity field to ensure thousands of magic soldiers could stand and fight without falling required an absurdly high consumption of magic power and mental focus. For an ordinary wizard, it would be impossible, and even those who could do it wouldn't last long.
Furthermore, the demons present were all of the Nine Demon Gates—the highest tier of Tartaros' combat power. Trying to maintain a gravity field while distracted by a fight against them seemed like a fantasy.
After Descartes pointed it out, the others realized the demons' intent as well.
"So, how long can you maintain a gravity space like the one before?"
"If you can only hold it for a short while, we should make breaching the caves our primary goal and send the army inside!"
Hearing this, Descartes' lips curled into a confident smile.
"Hahahaha..."
"With my magic power, a spatial field of that level can be maintained for seven days and seven nights!"
"If they truly have that plan, they're wasting their effort!"
Seven days and seven nights? For real??!
Even the members of the "Seven Kin" who had been with him for half a year were stunned. They had always known Descartes was strong, but they didn't know exactly how strong. If he truly could maintain a gravity space for a week without it dissipating, his magic power might be greater than Gildarts and Serena's combined...
Descartes acted as if he didn't see the shock and doubt on his comrades' faces and continued: "Besides, since the Council already knew 'Alegria' was a mobile fortress, how could they not have prepared in advance to prevent them from escaping?!"
As if to validate Descartes' words, the moment he finished speaking, the ground beneath them let out another loud clunk.
Alegria suddenly stopped moving. A sensation of extreme G-force hit them simultaneously, pressing everyone's bodies down toward the ground. This change was so abrupt and unexpected that not only the humans, but even the demons of Tartaros were stunned.
"What's going on?!"
"What happened? Why has it stopped moving?!"
"Did those humans pull some kind of trick??"
"I have no idea!!"
At the same time, five hundred meters directly above the demon "Alegria," Chris hovered in the air, slowly withdrawing her palm.
The turn of events on the battlefield originated from her magic. Using Celestial Phenomenon Magic to trigger a magnetic storm, she had created an "Absolute Inescapable Domain" in the atmosphere—any object attempting to leave this area would be subjected to massive inward pressure, making escape impossible!
Chris used this to completely pin Alegria down, preventing it from leaving the ground. In fact, Descartes could have achieved the same thing with Space-Make magic—the principles were different, but the effect was the same.
On the battlefield, feeling the familiar magic power coming from high above, Descartes felt a sense of relief.
"It looks like we don't have to worry about being thrown from the sky."
"Everyone, go in with full focus!!"
Before the sentence was even finished, Silver had already charged forward impatiently.
"Leave that guy called Deliora to me!"
"I don't know why, but I feel like I have a very deep history with him!"
"I feel... like I must kill it with my own hands!"