The moment Nozel Silva gave the order, the plaza ceased to be a battlefield and became a crucible.
Grimoires flared open across shattered stone, mana igniting the air in layered waves. The ruins of the Royal Capital groaned under the pressure as magic of wildly different attributes surged into existence at once.
Silver liquid rose behind Nozel like a living tide.
It was not chaotic.
It was disciplined.
Mercury spread outward in smooth, controlled arcs, separating into dozens of sharpened lances that hovered in perfect alignment. Each spear vibrated faintly, reacting not only to Nozel's will, but to the battlefield itself—adjusting angles, weight, and trajectory in real time.
"Mercury Magic—Argent Execution Formation."
The spears launched.
They did not streak forward recklessly. They curved, split, and accelerated with terrifying precision, targeting spellcasters, escape routes, and spatial anchor points simultaneously.
The Eye of the Midnight Sun reacted instantly.
Space twisted.
Valtos snapped his fingers, and translucent distortions bloomed like fractured mirrors. Several mercury spears vanished mid-flight, swallowed by folded space—only to reappear at impossible angles, redirected toward the Magic Knights themselves.
"Spatial Magic—Reversal Gate."
"Scatter!" Klaus Lunettes shouted.
Steel surged up around him as his grimoire flared.
"Steel Magic—Bulwark Array!"
Interlocking steel plates rotated into place, intercepting the redirected spears. The impact rang out like cathedral bells, metal shrieking as mercury slammed into reinforced steel.
At the same time, Sol Marron stepped forward and stomped once.
The ground answered.
"Earth Magic—Colossal Guard!"
Stone erupted upward in a massive wall, absorbing several redirected projectiles in a violent explosion of dust and debris. The shockwave rattled the ruins, cracked stone cascading down nearby buildings.
The battlefield vanished into smoke.
And within that smoke—
Mist spread.
"Now," Nebra Silva whispered.
"Mist Magic."
Fog exploded outward, thick and unnatural, infused with mana dense enough to distort perception itself. Shapes blurred. Distances warped. Sound dulled and echoed incorrectly. Mana sensing became unreliable, signals bending and overlapping.
Illusions bloomed instantly.
Multiple Nozels. Multiple Charlottes. False grimoires flaring and vanishing.
"Do not trust your eyes!" Charlotte Roselei commanded.
Her curse-broken briars erupted from the ground in a violent crimson surge.
"Briar Magic—Scarlet Binding Garden!"
Thorned vines ripped through the plaza, splitting stone, snapping upward with frightening speed. They coiled around cultists, crushed limbs, pinned bodies to shattered walls. Blood splashed against stone as thorns tightened.
A cultist screamed—
And then laughter cut through the chaos.
"Heehee… incredible tensile strength!"
Gel splashed across the battlefield.
Sally emerged from the mist, eyes gleaming, thick translucent gel coating her arms.
"Gel Magic—Polymer Lock!"
The substance slammed into Charlotte's vines, instantly hardening. Several briars slowed, then froze in place, encased in magically reinforced gel.
Charlotte clicked her tongue. "Annoying."
Sally tilted her head, delighted. "Oh? That reaction rate is fascinating!"
She hurled another wave toward Sol.
Sol growled.
"Earth Magic—Titan Knuckle!"
A massive stone fist erupted from the ground, smashing through the gel wave and obliterating it in a spray of hardened fragments. The fist continued forward—
And vanished.
Valtos intervened.
Space folded sharply, Sally disappearing an instant before impact.
"Hey! Don't break the specimen!" she complained from another angle.
Wind roared.
One of the Eye members raised his grimoire, mana condensing violently.
"Wind Magic—Gale Sever!"
Compressed blades of wind screamed through the mist, slicing through illusions, carving trenches through stone, shredding anything caught in their path.
Asta moved.
"Now!"
He surged forward, Demon-Slayer Sword sweeping in a wide arc.
Anti-magic erupted outward like a void tearing through reality. The wind blades dissolved on contact, erased completely. The backlash slammed into the Eye's formation, sending several cultists skidding backward.
Leopold followed immediately.
"Fire Magic—Crimson Eruption!"
Twin spirals of flame detonated from his fists, blasting through the disrupted formation. Fire clashed violently with dark magic shields, explosions rolling across the plaza.
A dark fire user countered, launching blackened flames toward him.
Leopold met it head-on.
Teeth clenched. Flames roaring.
Noelle stepped beside him.
Her stance was calm.
Controlled.
"Tide Lance."
Water compressed instantly into a dense, spiraling spear. It punched through a dark barrier and slammed a cultist into a collapsed building, stone exploding outward.
Mimosa's voice cut through the chaos.
"Plant Magic—Golden Bloom Recovery!"
Glowing vines wrapped around Asta and Leopold, warm mana flooding into them. Burns sealed. Fatigue eased. Breathing stabilized.
Klaus advanced beside Alecdora.
"Steel Magic—Phalanx Drive!"
Steel constructs formed into rotating spear arrays, drilling forward through curses and dark shields.
Alecdora roared, mana flaring violently.
"Sand Magic—Scorching Cyclone!"
A massive sand vortex erupted, grinding against enemy magic, tearing visibility apart even further.
Siren Tium raised her grimoire.
"Glass Magic—Prism Barrage!"
Dozens of razor-sharp glass shards refracted through the mist, bending light as they flew. Illusions shattered. Reflections disoriented enemies mid-cast.
Hamon slammed his hand down.
"Crystal Magic—Fortress Bloom!"
Crystalline structures erupted upward, forming layered defensive walls that redirected curses and dark projectiles harmlessly into the sky.
The Eye of the Midnight Sun was forced back—formation cracking, escape routes narrowing.
Valtos clicked his tongue, sweat forming at his temple.
"So much pressure," he muttered, opening multiple portals to stabilize the field.
Charlotte advanced again.
"Briar Magic—Queen's Dominion!"
Her vines surged faster, stronger, crimson thorns piercing dark constructs as if they were paper.
Nozel stepped forward.
His mercury condensed.
Focused.
"Enough."
The spears reassembled—larger now, heavier, rotating with lethal precision.
"Mercury Magic—Sovereign Rain."
They fell.
Perfectly spaced.
Perfectly timed.
Each spear targeted a pressure point in the enemy formation, forcing Valtos to burn spatial mana rapidly just to keep his allies alive.
Above the battlefield—
Unseen.
Unfelt.
Lencar observed.
His Composite Magic Vector Perception Field mapped everything:
• mana depletion rates
• spatial instability thresholds
• casualty probability curves
"…They're holding," he murmured.
But the Eye was not finished.
Valtos raised his hand again.
Space screamed.
And the battlefield bent.