Boom——!

  A terrifying storm, so dense it had turned pitch-black, descended from the sky, bearing down on the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  “ROAR!!”

  The Tyrant Giant Bear roared up at the heavens.

  BOOM!

  The ground around it surged upward instantly, forming a sand barrier that encased it completely.

  The storm collided with the sand barrier, unleashing a violent clash—both forces rapidly eroding each other.

  “I can’t take it down alone! You come too!”

  The wind mage shouted urgently.

  “Got it!”

  On the other side, the fire mage began chanting the incantation for a Fifth Circle spell at breakneck speed......

  Inside the sand barrier,

  Alicia spoke quickly:

  “Abandon defense! Channel all power into a single strike. Target......”

  Outside the barrier, the fire mage finished his chant.

  A gigantic blazing fireball materialized in the sky.

  His gaze sharp with malice, he slammed his wand downward, locking onto the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  “Perish——!”

  “ROAR——!!!”

  At that exact moment, the Tyrant Giant Bear rose to its full height with a deafening roar.

  The sand barrier that had shielded it twisted and reshaped itself in an instant.

  Boom——!

  The transformed sand barrier, now resembling a colossal battleaxe, cleaved straight through the opposing storm, then hurtled toward the wind mage’s position.

  The wind mage dodged the attack with ease.

  “Hmph~!”

  The fire mage sneered,

  “Asking for death, aren’t you? Throwing away your defense like that!”

  Boom——!

  In the next instant, the Fifth Circle fire spell slammed into the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  In the split second before the attack landed, the Tyrant Giant Bear pulled the two girls on its back into its chest, then curled its massive body into a ball—using its impenetrable back to take the full brunt of the strike.

  The fiery shockwave unleashed by the Fifth Circle spell incinerated nearly every tree within a radius of several hundred meters.

  “Hehe~!”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The two Gulos A-rank mages ceased their attacks, staring down at the smoking Tyrant Giant Bear in the center of the explosion and sneering:

  “Dare to oppose us, even a tyrant must die~!”

  “Exactly! We thought it was some big shot, but it couldn’t even land a proper hit!”

  “Let’s finish it off with the killing blow.”

  “Right!”

  The two mages flew toward the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  But at that moment, the beast stirred once more.

  “Hm? Still moving?”

  “No matter—one more strike will finish it!”

  As they raised their wands again,

  “......Before you attack, may I ask you a question?”

  A voice rang out from the Tyrant Giant Bear’s embrace.

  The colossus stood fully upright, setting the two girls it had protected back onto its broad back.

  “It’s those two students?”

  The two mages frowned.

  The girls were far too weak to pose a threat—they had paid them no mind during the battle.

  “Hmph! A question?”

  The hot-tempered fire mage pointed his wand at the two girls and the bear,

  “Save your questions for your tombstones! Though I doubt you’ll have enough left of yourselves to bury!”

  Alicia paid no heed to his taunts, instead smiling faintly:

  “Oh really? I’d suggest you take a look behind you first~. Do you honestly think that attack missed?”

  “Hm?”

  “Hm?!”

  A sudden sense of foreboding shot through the two mages.

  They spun around in a panic.

  There, a hidden prison now gaped open with a massive fissure—and the restraints that had bound some of the most powerful beings inside were shattered to pieces by that very strike.

  “No——!”

  “Stop them! Hurry!”

  The two mages’ faces paled drastically.

  They immediately darted toward the prison.

  But it was already too late......

  “Well done, my students——”

  A soft murmur echoed from the center of the pitch-black prison, where a figure lay bound.

  Crack. Crack......

  The black chains that had held him snapped one by one.

  Boom——!

  A shockwave erupted from the prison,

  reducing the entire structure to fragments in an instant.

  All the beings imprisoned inside were freed at last.

  “T-This is bad......”

  Staring at the completely shattered prison, the two Gulos mages’ faces twisted with dread and panic.

  “Shouldn’t you be watching your own backs more carefully?”

  “ROAR!”

  A shadowy form suddenly plummeted toward them from above.

  Bang——!

  One of the mages was slammed directly into the ground.

  He would have been crushed to a pulp if he hadn’t thrown up a defense at the last possible second.

  Even so, he was in agony.

  The Tyrant Giant Bear’s strength was so immense that even A-rank adepts dared not face it head-on—especially a fire mage like him.

  “Ugh!”

  He spat out a mouthful of blood, straining to hold up a flame barrier to block the bear’s descending claw.

  He could feel his internal organs screaming in pain, countless bones fractured beneath his skin.

  Without immediate healing, he would be left with permanent injuries.

  “Hurry and help me!”

  He ground out the words through clenched teeth.

  “I’m coming!”

  The wind mage launched an attack at the Tyrant Giant Bear, hoping to force it back.

  But just as his spell was about to hit, a shadow curtain unfurled in its path.

  His attack vanished into the darkness without a trace.

  The wind mage’s face turned ashen.

  “Dammit—has he arrived already?!”

  As if to confirm his worst fears, a man with long black hair stepped out of the shadows, a short wand in his hand. His cold gaze pinned the wind mage in place.

  “I am your opponent.”

  “Damn it...... Has Lord Cassim not returned yet?”

  The wind mage glanced sideways at the camp.

  Chaos reigned everywhere—unlike anything the camp had ever seen.

  Led by Miko and Alicia, who had somehow dismounted from the Tyrant Giant Bear’s back, hordes of Manacos students charged into the camp, launching a full-scale counterattack against Gulos.

  Gulos still had plenty of B-rank adepts to suppress the students—but only if the teachers hadn’t joined the fray......

  “Charge!”

  A teacher shouted,

  as dozens of figures exuding B-rank mana fluctuations followed him into the fray,

  clashing head-on with Gulos’ elite forces.

  “Dammit! You fools dare attack us unarmed?!”

  “So what if we have no weapons? We outnumber you!”

  “......Cowards! Fight me one on one!”

  “Fight you in hell! Surround them!”

  “You bastards! You leave us no choice! Everyone—Demonic Transformation——!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom......

  Pitch-black mana fluctuations erupted across the camp.

  “Hahaha! Let’s see you deal with this!”

  A Gulos B-rank member, his body already twisted and mutated, stared down at several Manacos teachers with a triumphant grin.

  “I’m unstoppable now!”

  “All you old fools—one by one, I’ll kill every last one of you!”

  “Meow——!”

  Just as he was gloating, a giant black cat suddenly emerged from a patch of shadow on the ground before him.

  Its golden eyes fixed on him, cold and merciless—as if staring at a dead man.

  “......”

  The triumphant grin froze on his face instantly......