[-Enemy detected from the west of the capital. The enemy is approaching on the ground, not via airship!]

Gaviny, who was responsible for defending the western stretch of the capital, couldn’t believe his ears. He had previously obtained information that the enemy was approaching via airship; It was hard to believe that they would suddenly abandon it to approach on land.

‘They’re approaching on land?’

Gaviny could not hide his laughter. He was taken aback by their unexpected decision, but he was dumbfounded by how defenseless this left them.

Pittsburgh was a city nestled in the middle of plains. Due to the nature of plains having no cover, it made it very easy to intercept enemies that approached on the ground.

Gaviny loudly issued his orders.

“Prepare your artillery magic! Teach those dogs of the Allied Forces a lesson!”

As soon as he gave his orders, countless magic calculations bloomed like flowers atop Pittsburgh’s castle. The quality and quantity of them was impressive.

The 7th Magical Division that was stationed there was visibly different than any other unit in terms of quality. Every member was a magician of the Third-Circle or higher. They were a magic unit nurtured with great care by the Kingdom of Divide.

“We can’t miss this great opportunity.” *Whirrrr*

Gaviny, too, started invoking magic atop the castle. The magic that he was formulating was much more complicated than what his underlings were capable of.

A Sixth-Circle spell.

Gaviny was one of the few Sixth-Circle magicians that existed across the entire continent.

Skull Mask was thorough in planning Pittsburgh’s defense. Under normal circumstances, someone as powerful as him would have been kept in reserve, ready to be played as a trump card in their international war. Instead, he was on the front lines, fighting to defend their capital.

“The enemy is continuing to advance!”

Something was off. Even though countless Sixth-Circle calculations were being completed and an enormous amount of mana was fluctuating, indicating that this super-massive spell would soon be invoked, the Allied Forces did not back down and continued their advance.

It was impossible for them to advance so confidently without a trick or two up their sleeves. All of these thoughts flooded Gaviny’s mind, filling him with anxiety. He shoved them down, refusing to let his resolve sway.

‘Even if they have Desir Arman and the Aurora System, it’d be impossible for them to invert all of this magic.’

It didn’t take too long for him to realize that he’d made a mistake.

* * *

“There are more troops than I expected.”

That was the first thing Raphaello said after seeing the countless arrays of magic ahead of him.

Sensing that the level of magic Divide’s magicians were invoking was a real threat, he was about to pull his sword out before someone approached him.

“I’ll go first.”

It was Desir that spoke out. With a wave of his hand, the air around the party began to distort as countless magical spells were simultaneously invoked.

The mana in the surrounding area raged like a torrent of water. This was what Desir focused on. Through the movement of the mana, Desir was able to discern quite a bit about the enemy’s spells.

The type of magic that was being invoked.

What formula they had used to invoke that magic. ‘I think I’ve got the gist of it.’

He figured out the enemy’s level immediately. A unit of magicians, all above the Third-Circle, was comparable to the Magic Kingdom’s elite troops.

But that only applied to normal magicians. ‘How simple.’

Compared to the magicians who normally surrounded Desir, like Zod, or his sworn enemy Icarus Quirgo, these magicians were pathetic.

Because he knew exactly how skilled the two Seventh-Circle magicians were better than anyone else, he could not help but look down on the magicians that were invoking magic in front of him.

Desir’s mana thrust out towards Divide’s magicians.

One of the magicians in 7th Magical Division sensed that something was off. The magic calculations laid out before him started to fade away before suddenly disintegrating entirely. That was the start of it.

The dozens of magic calculations that had been invoked atop the castle started getting reversed at a terrifying pace.

“The spells are getting inverted!”

The flowers of mana that had been embroidered across the top of the castle quickly began to fade. Desir had thoroughly inverted the entirety of the 7th Magical Division’s magic.

‘Was the 7th Magical Division’s work all in vain?’

Watching their spells being inverted at an amazing speed, Gaviny murmured to himself.

He had known about Desir’s inversion skills, but he had been confident that, as Divide’s greatest magical troops, they would be able to go against him.

But that confidence had disappeared a long time ago. Instead, there was only one thought that remained in his head.

‘_Magic is useless in front of the man who stands before us._’

Gaviny grit his teeth. Their spells were rapidly being inverted, but that did not mean that all of the spells were destroyed.

The 7th Magical Division hurried to complete the calculations of their spells. As their goal had changed from coordinated artillery fire to completing spells no matter the cost, the timing of their shots was bizarre and unfocused.

Unlike their first attempt, when they had attempted to invoke their magic in an orderly fashion, one could say that their current formation was a complete mess.

In response to the sporadic shelling, the Allied Forces invoked the Aurora System. *BAANG*

Countless spells collided with the Aurora System in front of the Allied Forces, leaving behind shockwaves and the sound of explosions.

The magic that had been completed in a hurry did not have much of an impact compared to the amount of mana consumed casting them.

As Desir’s continued inverting their spells, the 7th Magical Division’s mana pools were drained to thirty-five percent of their typical capacity.

In a way, it may have looked like Divide was helpless before Desir, but they were still Divide’s most elite unit.

*Craack*

In the face of this never-ending high-circle magic, the Allied Forces’ Aurora System began to crack. Although it was humanity’s strongest shield, it was not invincible.

*BAAANG*

Countless spells collided and roars rang out all over the place.

The Aurora System’s capacity also declined in proportion to the neutralization of Divide’s magicians. Gradually, the shield’s strength weakened, and the cracks began to get bigger. *SHATTER*

Soon, the Allied Forces’ Aurora System consumed all of its energy and broke down. After a long struggle, they had finally succeeded in penetrating it.

But at that point, most of the magic invoked by Divide’s magicians had been inverted, and only one spell remained.

The spell of a single man.

Now there was only one person left in the 7th Magical Division who could invoke magic, but they did not despair because the last person standing was the Sixth-Circle magician, Gaviny. Gaviny felt a crushing sense of crisis, but on the other hand, he could not hide his excitement as he watched his magic spell reaching completion.

All of the magic except his had been inverted, but all of the Sixth-Circle spells he had cast had been fully invoked. And the Allied Forces’ Aurora System had shut down.

This was a golden opportunity.

The spell that he had invoked had enough power to blow away an entire mountain. Even if it could not annihilate the Allied Forces, it would definitely deal a devastating blow.

[Hell Fire]

A fire that would never burn out or be extinguished. The highest level of fire magic that was named after its side effect of turning the designated area into an eternal burning hellscape.

“I guess it’s my turn this time.”

Dark red fireballs rushed towards the Allied Forces as their shield that had been protecting them thus far went down.

“You’re using pretty dangerous magic.”

Looking at it, Raphaello stepped forward. He pulled out his sword as he watched the flames that slowly approached.

It was a massive sword, curved as though a massive wave had been stolen from the ocean and forged into its blade.

Gram.

It was the S-Tier artifact that Raphaello had been bestowed by the Emperor when he became the Royal Guard’s shield.

*Whirrrr*

Unlike the sword he had used during the spar with Desir, in what felt like an eternity ago, Gram could handle all of the power that Raphaello poured into it.

The massive amount of aura rotated along with the blade and a deafening noise rang out in all directions.

Soon, wheels of aura started to materialize. There were only three of them, but they were at least two times bigger and brighter than the ones that he had showcased in the past. And the flash that followed.

Following the sword’s trajectory, the wheels spread out. A massive shield covered Raphaello’s allies, promising to protect them from any attack.

*CRASH*

The huge fireball and Raphaello’s wheels collided, causing an explosion and resulting shockwave.

The fire seemed to wrap around the wheels, attempting to slide through the gaps, but it was eventually ground away, unable to withstand the wheels’ rotation.

It was a materialization of aura that surpassed the strength of the aura flower that Kei Hazmaryoon had demonstrated in that Shadow World. In a world where swordsmen and magicians were renowned equally, the swordsmen of Raphaello’s time all trained proudly and earnestly, competition driving every individual on the planet to be as powerful as possible. Even amongst them, Raphaello’s ability to materialize aura had reached the highest echelon. As powerful as Kei Hazmaryoon was, he was still a swordsman restrained by his time.

Despite having not even used the entirety of his power, Raphaello had blocked the Sixth-Circle magic far too easily.

“Wh-What the… How did he… … ?”

Gaviny spit out curses - the attack he had expected to deal a major blow to the Allied Forces was entirely blocked.

But Desir wasn’t kind enough to give him the time to panic.

Gaviny felt a strong flow of mana emanating from the Allied Forces. When he turned towards the source, he saw Desir standing there.

Desir had pulled out his cane and was aiming it towards him.

Normally for magic of this level, it would have taken a long time to invoke the spell, let alone calculate and arrange it. However, Desir’s spell was already on the verge of completion.

That was when Gaviny came to the realization.

The reason why his magic had not been inverted was not because Desir was incapable of doing so.

‘He stopped inverting because… ’ He was going to cast his own spell. [Earthquake]

There was a huge earthquake.

The ground felt like it was flipping over and ominous rumbles emanated from deep below the surface.

*Crraaaack*

The ground opened up like a mouth and swallowed them whole.

The castle walls that had been protected by high-circle magic and the Aurora System collapsed under such an onslaught.

Gaviny stared blankly at the sight before him atop the crumbling castle. ‘Is this what Seventh-Circle magic looks like… … ?’

When he looked down, the ground he was standing on had also started cracking. *RUMBLE*

With the sound of thunder, Divide’s western walls disappeared without a trace of them ever existing.

And Desir’s squad took their first step into Pittsburgh.