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The ceiling above collapsed in a spiderweb pattern, large chunks of stone falling, and deep cracks appeared in the ground; the entire Magic Palace shook and disintegrated.
Seeing that the situation was dire, while Bai En used his Mana Zone to float forward and block the giant ore sword, Yuno cast his Wind Creation Magic, "Heavenly Wind Ark," calling for everyone to board it and escape.
The surge of Mana in the Slash of the Face collided with the giant ore sword, and after only a moment of stalemate, the giant ore sword was knocked off course by the muscle strength enhanced by Breath Style and Mana Skin; the flaming sword body also cracked with countless long and short fissures along the point of collision with the Slash of the Face.
The entire greatsword shattered, dispersing into countless sparkling ore fragments in the air.
Bai En quickly ran and leaped on the ore fragments, and a small black sword, emitting a faint glow, flew out of his grimoire, stabbing directly at Mars; a blur flashed, and before the sword body arrived, immense gravity pressed forward.
The ore heavy armor, derived from ore magic, shattered into countless tiny fragments, and a hemispherical imprint was pressed out; Mars, along with the pile of ore, uncontrollably retreated backward, the monstrous giant figure in front, the small sword following like a shadow behind.
Bai En burst forth from the last fragment of the giant ore sword, leaping out like a silver-white arrow, shooting towards Mars at extreme speed.
The immense gravity crushed Mars all the way against the wall he had originally crashed into, making the already shattered wall's cracks even more gruesome.
Under the Flame Recovery Magic, "Phoenix's Robe," an unwilling Mars unleashed all his Mana; several curved, flame-entanglement ore scimitars moved against the immense gravity, their speed not slow, all stabbing towards the incoming Bai En!
The gravity quietly dissipated in the next second.
Mars breathed a sigh of relief, shifting his body within the crater-like indentation in the wall; the ore scimitars were even faster.
But... an invisible slash instantly filled the space, like a scythe swung by the Grim Reaper, shattering all the ore scimitars; silver stone dust appeared, and lines of blood also lit up on Mars's body.
Bai En arrived, his figure crossing with Mars's, the long blade stained red as he thrust.
Blood flowed profusely.
The long blade was pulled out, Mars lost consciousness and collapsed in the crater, and the ore, like ice flowers, all withered and dispersed.
Bai En's fair face was splattered with blood, his indifferent eyes glanced at an empty space nearby; although there was nothing there, he stared at it for a while.
The Magic Palace collapsed from the inside out, and the wall Mars leaned against also began to crumble, large chunks of stone falling one after another, hitting the ground with thudding roars.
"Bai En!"
Yuno and his group, who had come out of the treasure vault, called out to Bai En; he turned and looked back once more, then, using the rubble as stepping stones, Bai En leaped onto Yuno's wind boat.
"Go left!"
Mimosa guided Yuno's wind boat with her Plant Magic, "Magic Flower's Signpost."
"Wait... let's save that guy." Asta looked at Mars, who was lying unconscious in the crater below, and said to the others around him.
"Huh? What are you talking about?! That guy is an enemy from another country who tried to kill us!" Klaus was naturally very confused... Of course, compared to Asta's request to save Mars, he was even more surprised... how Bai En had defeated that pervert from the Diamond Kingdom in such a short time.
The opponent was a terrifying Mage who controlled two magic attributes!
'Who exactly is this guy, who, like Yuno, comes from that remote village? To be able to defeat such a strong opponent in such a short time... perhaps only the captain could do it? Wait... how could I compare him to the captain, who has achieved great things and possesses immense power?'
'I'm giving him too much credit.'
"But we came to conquer the Magic Palace... not to kill enemies... and if we capture a high-ranking enemy general, wouldn't that also be a great merit?"
Several huge rocks falling from above submerged the battlefield, and as time passed, more and more rocks fell!
"Tch, even so, there's no time; first clear the obstacles for Yuno, then we'll talk once we're out." Klaus replied while using his Steel Magic to generate spinning steel spears to clear the rocks falling towards them; the others on the wind boat also each took responsibility for an area.
Just as Yuno steered the wind boat out of the collapsing Magic Palace and sped away, from a corner of the ruins, Lotus, known as "Lotus of the Abyss," whom Luck and Asta had defeated before heading to the treasure vault, also successfully escaped.
He carried a large amount of gold, treasures, and the unconscious Mars on a lazy cart generated by his Smoke Creation Magic.
"Ah, ah—thanks to them for clearing a path, I'm saved." Lotus leaned lazily on the smoke cloud: "It was really thrilling, and I don't know if that guy noticed me in the end; he kept staring at me, which really made my scalp tingle, Uncle."
"...He probably didn't see me, right?"
"This is Uncle's unique secret technique, 'Hermit's Dense Smoke,' which can make me transparent and weaken my Mana."
He sighed faintly: "Anyway, as long as I'm alive, everything's fine."
His gaze turned to Mars, who was lying unconscious on the gold: "You too~ You almost got killed; that guy even left you a breath of life. I thought you were a goner then."
Under the clear blue sky, Lotus took out a pocket watch from his pocket, looked at the photo hidden inside, his eyes filled with uncontrollable tenderness: "My child is truly beautiful."
He briefly indulged in the moment.
He closed the pocket watch and put it back in his pocket, then stood up and walked towards Mars, the tenderness in his eyes gradually fading: "Once might be a coincidence, but twice is not so simple."
"The slashes completely avoided vital areas... even the final stab into the body wouldn't be a big problem if treated in time."
"Mage of the Clover Kingdom... what exactly do you want to do?"
Lotus searched Mars's clothes and found a note left by Bai En, "Mars... do you two know each other? Such private contact is not good; after all, we are opposing nations."
"For your future, let me read it and then help you dispose of it." He slowly opened the note, and there wasn't just one, but two... "Strange, two?"
But suddenly, a line of text that caught his eye made Lotus pause.
[Don't peek at the second one, Lotus, or else next time we meet... I'll kill you!]
'That guy?! As expected... did he discover me? But... unfortunately, you're not here now, so after all,'
After a brief thought, Lotus opened the second note.
[Just kidding, there's nothing.]
"???"
"...Is it fun to fool Uncle like this? You clearly said something into Mars's ear at the very end, and Mars's surprised expression... what could it have been? Uncle is really curious."
...