Boom——!!!

  Titanic shockwaves erupted repeatedly across the chaotic battlefield,

  each detonation sending scores of Gulos agents flying skyward.

  “Ah——!”

  Screams tore through the air.

  The Gulos members who had relied on the Demonic Transformation Potion to delude themselves into thinking they stood a chance now wore nothing but panic on their faces.

  “Damn it! Why is there another A-rank!”

  “Run! Hurry!”

  “We’re done for!”

  Boom!

  “Ah——”

  “......”

  Elsewhere, the wind mage locked in combat with Grisa ground his teeth in fury at the sight.

  “Curse that cat! We never should have let it escape!”

  “Where are you looking?”

  Whoosh!

  A jet-black beam pierced his arm in the blink of an eye.

  “Dammit!”

  He gritted his teeth against the searing pain, darting back to put distance between himself and Grisa.

  As an intelligence operative, his combat prowess paled in comparison to the warriors under the Warlord’s command—he was no match for Grisa.

  But fortune favored him: as a wind mage, no other elemental adept could outpace him!

  It was this speed that had allowed him to hold his own against Grisa this long,

  unlike the fire mage, who’d been crippled by the earlier ambush and now lay pinned to the ground, getting pummeled by the Tyrant Giant Bear.

  Worst of all, the fire mage couldn’t escape. If he’d been the one ambushed, fleeing would have been child’s play......

  The wind mage’s mind raced as he realized the battle was lost beyond redemption. Retreat was his only option.

  Before he fled, he whipped around to hurl a final threat at Grisa:

  “Don’t think this is victory! You only won because you lured Lord Cassim away! When his lordship finishes off that brat and returns, you’ll all meet your end!”

  Whoosh——!

  With that, he vanished into the horizon in a flash.

  Grisa watched him go, a frown creasing his brow.

  To catch a wind mage mid-flight, one would either need to be another wind mage, or possess power overwhelming enough to render speed irrelevant.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Grisa was far stronger than his foe, but not to the point of utter dominance. Once the mage had made up his mind to run, stopping him was impossible.

  What’s more, the man’s parting words kindled a flicker of worry in Grisa’s chest.

  “......Who exactly lured Cassim away? I hope they’re safe.”

  ...

  On the other side, the wind mage wasted no time after escaping, streaking toward the direction Cassim had gone.

  He had to report the camp’s fall to his lord at once.

  “Just you wait! When Lord Cassim returns, you’ll all die! No—death would be too merciful! I’ll make you suffer through the most agonizing sacrifice before you draw your last breath!”

  Rumble——!

  As he raced onward, plotting torturous deaths for Grisa and his allies,

  a deafening clap of thunder boomed overhead without warning.

  “Hm? Why would there be thunder out of nowhere?”

  The wind mage frowned, a vague sense of unease creeping over him. He glanced upward—

  and froze mid-flight, his eyes widening in dumbfounded terror.

  Above him,

  countless bolts of lightning roiled and churned, forming a colossal ocean of crackling thunder.

  “I-Impossible! Why here......”

  He muttered, his voice trembling.

  He refused to believe what he was seeing—but a voice echoing across the sky shattered his delusions completely.

  “Ten Directions Thunder Surge!”

  Rumble!

  As the words rang out, the ocean of lightning overhead coalesced into countless thunderous dragons, plummeting toward him.

  “No——! Why are you here!!?”

  He stared at the descending lightning in abject despair, screaming a name in his final moments before the thunder engulfed him entirely:

  “Ming——!!!”

  That single name belonged to one man and one man only.

  The Headmaster of Manacos Academy, the A-rank pinnacle lightning mage—Holstin Ming Dawson.

  The sea of thunder crashed down.

  Nearly a kilometer of the Monster Great Forest was reduced to scorched wasteland, and the fleeing Gulos wind mage was incinerated into nothing but ash......

  At that moment, three figures stood not far away.

  Each exuded the formidable mana fluctuations of an A-rank adept, and the white-haired mage at their lead emanated a power so overwhelming it made the other two seem like mere amateurs in comparison.

  “Headmaster, you were absolutely right. The Gulos dogs really did make their move.”

  “It seems modifying the magic circles ahead of time was the right call.”

  The two mages flanking Holstin spoke up.

  Rewind time to before the Group Tournament Assessment......

  Office of the Manacos Academy Headmaster

  “Headmaster, you want to modify the magic circles for this event?”

  Dize stood before Holstin’s desk, his face etched with confusion.

  “But we’ve always used the same setup in years past. Why change it now?”

  Holstin fell silent, his brow furrowed as if lost in thought, a faint shadow of worry lingering on his features.

  Seeing this, Dize leaned forward anxiously:

  “Headmaster—does this mean something terrible is about to happen?”

  Holstin lifted his gaze to meet Dize’s, his voice steady and deliberate:

  “I have nothing but a nagging sense of foreboding.”

  “Foreboding?”

  “Yes.”

  Holstin continued,

  “Gulos has grown bolder by the year, and His Excellency has left Langard for the time being. I fear Gulos will seize this opportunity to strike......”

  “What?!”

  Dize’s face paled.

  “Should we cancel the Group Tournament, then?”

  “No.”

  Holstin shook his head firmly.

  “This is nothing but a hunch. I cannot halt the academy’s proceedings because of a mere suspicion......”

  He fixed Dize with a solemn gaze.

  “That is why I ask you, Professor Dize, to modify the magic circles. Think of it as adding an extra layer of insurance.”

  ...

  Back in the Monster Great Forest,

  “I doubt Gulos ever expected the magic circles to be enchanted with a constant mana signal transmission function.”

  “Any abnormal disturbance to the circles would cut the signal instantly, alerting the academy at once—even if they used other magic circles to block signals inside the camp.”

  “This time, we’ll deal Gulos a blow they’ll never forget!”

  The two mages flanking Holstin declared with resolve.

  “Compared to that.”

  Holstin spoke up, his tone heavy with concern,

  “I care more about minimizing casualties among our students and teachers. Make haste.”

  “Yes, Sir!!!”

  The three figures streaked across the sky at blinding speed, closing in rapidly on the Manacos stronghold.

  ...

  “Damn you, you bastards!”

  The gravely wounded fire mage shrieked curses,

  “When Lord Cassim returns, you’ll all burn!”

  “Is that so?”

  Grisa stared at him, his expression cold and impassive.

  “But you’ll be dead long before that happens.”

  “You——!”

  The fire mage’s face drained of all color.

  A horrifying realization dawned on him: even if Cassim did return, he couldn’t save a corpse......