The battlefield no longer roared.
It pressed.
Mana layered upon mana until the air itself felt dense, resistant, heavy in the lungs. Every breath tasted faintly metallic, saturated with residual magic that had nowhere left to disperse. The Royal Capital's central plaza groaned beneath the strain, cracked stone grinding against itself as spells overlapped and distorted.
This was no longer a clash of power.
It was a contest of endurance.
Nozel Silva stood at the center of the Magic Knights' formation, posture straight, expression carved from steel. Behind him, mercury flowed more slowly now, thicker, heavier—each movement deliberate, conserving mass and momentum.
"Do not relent," he ordered, voice calm and absolute.
"They are looking for an opening."
"Yes, Captain!" Klaus Lunettes responded immediately.
Steel surged outward from Klaus's grimoire, forming rigid frameworks across the plaza.
"Steel Magic — Rampart Vector!"
Interlocking beams erupted from the ground, creating segmented corridors that forced movement into controlled lanes. Every structure locked into the next with practiced precision, denying the Eye of the Midnight Sun free positioning.
Charlotte Roselei moved in perfect synchronization.
"Briar Magic — Crimson Weave."
Thorned vines threaded through the steel constructs, wrapping, reinforcing, tightening. Where steel dictated shape, briar punished intrusion. Thorns snapped outward at any cultist who moved too close, drawing blood and screams in equal measure.
Sol Marron slammed her heel into the ground.
"Earth Magic — Grasp of the Titan!"
Stone hands burst upward beneath enemy positions, crushing ankles, throwing bodies into the air, slamming them down with brutal, bone-rattling force. The plaza shook as if protesting the violence done to it.
For several precious seconds—
The Magic Knights dominated.
Then the Eye adapted.
Dark mana surged unevenly across their formation as Sally skipped sideways through the chaos, gel forming beneath her feet midair. Her eyes glittered with manic fascination.
"Ohhh, layered reinforcement with mixed attributes," she said cheerfully.
"Messy. Inefficient. Let's fix that."
Her grimoire flared.
"Gel Magic — Adaptive Capture."
Gel erupted from the ground in jagged, crawling waves, reacting instantly to mana signatures. Where steel rose, it hardened and wrapped around it, binding joints and locking motion. Where briars struck, viscosity shifted, slowing thorns mid-snap and dulling their momentum.
Alecdora Sandler snarled.
"Annoying woman—!"
"Sand Magic — Scouring Spiral!"
A violent sandstorm exploded outward, grains spinning at lethal speed. The gel was shredded through sheer friction, chunks torn apart and scattered across the plaza. The backlash slammed into cultists nearby, forcing them to retreat.
A wind mage from the Eye seized the opening.
"Wind Magic — Vacuum Rend!"
The air vanished.
Pressure inverted violently, dragging debris, broken stone, and bodies toward a sudden void forming at the center of the plaza. Magic Knights stumbled as footing vanished.
Asta reacted instantly.
His sword expanded violently, cleaving downward. Anti-magic erased the vacuum field mid-formation, pressure snapping back with a thunderous shockwave that threw everyone backward.
Asta skidded across cracked stone, boots carving grooves.
Leopold caught him by the shoulder.
"You alright?!"
Asta nodded, breath heavy. "Yeah. Still standing."
Noelle stepped forward, stance steady despite the chaos.
"Tide Shield — Rotational Layering."
Water spun outward in overlapping currents, absorbing shockwaves, redirecting force, stabilizing the front line. Her movements were precise—no wasted motion, no panic.
Mimosa's voice rose behind them.
"Plant Magic — Verdant Field."
Soft green light spread outward, vines glowing faintly as they wrapped around injured knights, restoring stamina, sealing shallow wounds, keeping them upright.
Even so—
The pressure did not ease.
Valtos stood near the center of the Eye's formation, hands trembling slightly as spatial distortions pulsed around him. Sweat ran freely down his face, staining his collar.
"…They're pushing too hard," he muttered.
"This won't hold much longer."
Sally tilted her head toward him.
"You're exceeding safe output."
"Then stop talking," Valtos snapped, "and help."
She smiled wider.
"Of course."
Dark tools embedded in her gel glowed faintly.
Her mana spiked unnaturally.
The ground beneath the Eye lit up with warped sigils—unstable, flickering.
Nozel felt it immediately.
"…Spatial array," he said quietly.
Charlotte's eyes sharpened. "An escape spell?"
"Likely," Nozel replied. "And a dangerous one."
Before orders could be given—
A thin, distorted curse slipped through the layered defenses.
Almost invisible.
Almost silent.
It struck Hamon Caseus square in the chest.
There was no explosion.
No flash.
Just collapse.
Crystal constructs shattered inward as Hamon was hurled backward violently, slamming into broken stone. Blood sprayed across fractured tiles.
"Hamon!" Mimosa screamed.
She ran instantly, dropping to her knees beside him.
"Hamon—stay with me!"
His breathing was shallow, erratic. Crystal growths flickered, cracked, dissolved.
"…Mana… slipping…" he gasped weakly.
Mimosa raised her grimoire, hands shaking.
"Plant Magic — Golden Restoration!"
The spell activated—but stuttered.
Her eyes widened in horror. "His mana flow—it's disrupted!"
Charlotte moved instantly, briars snapping outward to shield them.
"Nozel!"
Nozel's expression hardened further.
"Defensive shift. Protect the wounded."
Mercury surged outward, forming layered barriers around Mimosa and Hamon.
The Eye pressed forward.
They felt the shift.
Valtos smiled grimly.
"There," he said. "That's the crack."
Dark mana surged violently.
"Spatial Magic — Departure Array."
The sigils beneath the Eye flared brighter. Space twisted inward, screaming as layers began to fold. The plaza trembled violently, stone cracking under the strain.
Asta clenched his teeth.
"He's getting away."
Leopold stepped forward instinctively.
"Then we stop him—!"
"No," Nozel snapped sharply.
"Hold position."
Mercury slammed into the forming array, destabilizing it—but not breaking it.
Valtos grunted as blood trickled from his nose.
"Tch—persistent bastard."
Sally laughed breathlessly.
"So much resistance! This is amazing!"
She hurled reinforced gel into the array, stabilizing spatial collapse just enough.
The Eye clustered tighter.
The spell intensified.
Mimosa poured every ounce of mana she had into Hamon, tears streaking down her face.
"Don't you dare leave us—!"
Hamon's breathing steadied—barely.
But he did not rise.
Asta stepped forward, anti-magic flaring instinctively—then stopped.
No.
This wasn't his call.
Nozel raised his arm.
Mercury condensed into a single massive spear.
"Eye of the Midnight Sun," he said coldly, "you will remember this."
Valtos met his gaze.
"So will you."
Space collapsed inward.
Light warped.
The escape spell reached its final phase.
And the capital braced for what would come next.