The air in the one-kilometer crater was ionized, crackling with the residue of Amano Tetsu's final, failed gambit.
Markil stood amidst the cooling glass and scorched earth, his Kareno Eyes glowing intensely beneath the visor of his mask.
The world wasn't just physical anymore; it was a map of lethal possibilities.
His gaze flickered toward Sasha.
The data flooded his mind—an overwhelming catalog of destruction.
I can see... I can see it all, Markil thought, his heart racing.
Shout of Destruction... her most lethal attack.
Fire Magic: Antares—she manipulates it with simple gestures, but the scale is apocalyptic.
He saw the blueprint of her Spiritual Body Manifestation.
If she let go, she would become a fifty-foot humanoid monster with hair of fire-orange locks—a flame so intense it reportedly took 1,800 firefighters and 14 top-tier mages just to contain a single outburst.
He saw her Telekinesis, her Physical Dominance, and the terrifying techniques:
the Milon Kick, the Merzer mana sphere, and the Galzaro meteor.
And that Domain...
the Domain of Hell's Fire, Markil noted, a cold sweat breaking out.
Black lava, inescapable flames, a furnace where knights crush you while you can't even move.
Elemental Infusion... she doesn't just throw fire; she is the fire.
"Woow," Markil whispered to himself.
"She is really so overpowered."
Then his eyes shifted to Roric.
The yellow glow in the knight's eyes and the golden, vein-like patterns across his skin weren't just for show.
They were mana indicators.
Roric's Spiritual Body Manifestation was a scaling, glowing golem with torso-eyes and black horns—a creature that wielded a Sword of Light capable of incinerating enemies with lightning and thunder.
Markil analyzed the skill set:
Bazler, the high-speed charging slash.
Light of the Sword, which ignored all defenses.
And the ultimate catastrophe—
Light of Death, summoning billions of heavenly swords from the sky.
Between the energy waves of Karzon and the piercing power of Fatal Strike, Roric was a godlike engine of speed and strength.
Markil smiled under his mask, the thrill of the threat mixing with the weight of his own power.
"Is he Amano?" Roric shouted, his voice booming across the crater.
Markil flinched slightly.
What? They don't know who is Amano? So they are not here for me... yet.
Merlin skidded into the center of the zone, breathless.
"Sir, he isn't! He is the one who was stopping him!"
Sasha stepped forward, her eyes narrowing into a lethal death-stare.
"So where is he, you unknown jerk?"
Markil didn't speak.
The silence only seemed to agitate the SSS-rank duo.
"So where is he?" Roric demanded, his hand tightening on his hilt.
Merlin's eyes darted around the rubble until they landed on a pile of ash and scorched armor on the ground.
She ran forward, touching the cold earth where the warrior had stood.
"Ma'am!" she shouted.
Sasha and Roric both blurred across the crater, arriving at Merlin's side in an instant.
Merlin looked up, her face pale.
"He is dead."
"What?" Sasha hissed.
"He's dead? How did he make this type of crater?"
She looked out at the one-kilometer scar in the earth.
"So you said that person was fighting him?"
Roric's eyes began to glow a brilliant, agitated yellow.
He turned, his gaze locking onto Markil.
"So... he is dead."
He began to walk.
It wasn't a normal stride; it was a "death walk," each footfall heavy with the intent to kill.
Sasha watched him, her eyes flicking to Markil's white hair.
Don't tell me... is he the one? she thought.
That white hair... the height... but his face is under a mask.
Roric stopped a few paces from Markil, the golden veins on his skin pulsing.
"Gentleman... I would like you to take off your mask."
Markil's eyes narrowed.
He has quite an eye. He already knows me, I guess, by my white hair.
Sasha joined Roric, her fists beginning to glow with a flickering, orange heat.
Merlin stood back, horrified.
"Ma'am! What are you—?"
Sasha ignored her.
Roric's mind was racing.
Could he be?
He remembered the battlefield—the carnage, the white-haired calamity.
"Hey, Roric!" Sasha shouted suddenly.
Roric stopped, looking back at her.
"What is it?" he shouted.
"We both know he is likely to be... so just check it! After all, we are not sure! We have to check everyone!"
Sasha's fire flickered and died.
She looked down at her hands, the memory of her mother and the old days of Roric as a child softening her resolve for a split second.
But Roric had no such hesitation.
He stepped directly in front of Markil.
"Didn't you hear? I told you to remove your mask."
"Sorry," Markil said, his voice cold and distorted by the mask.
"But I can't."
Sasha gasped.
The surrounding knights immediately dropped into fighting stances, weapons drawn.
"What?" Roric's voice was a low growl.
"I didn't hear. Could you come again?"
Fuck this, Markil thought.
I don't care if they are his students. I have to get away by force.
"I said I can't," Markil repeated.
He turned his back on the most powerful knights in the kingdom and began to walk away.
Before they could react—
he vanished.
"What?!" Roric shouted.
Markil teleports—but Roric is already a flash of golden light.
"Speed of Light!!!!!!!" Roric roared.
He moved so fast that he became invisible to the naked eye, a literal bolt of lightning tearing through the streets of Zephyros.
Sasha wasn't far behind, her fire-shrouded body a comet of orange flame as she searched every street in seconds.
Markil reappeared in a new sector, landing in front of a quiet, upscale coffee shop.
He barely had time to breathe before the air behind him detonated.
Roric was there, his sword mid-swing for a Light of the Sword slice.
Sasha arrived from the other side, her fists cocked for a high-explosive strike.
"You can't get away with this!" Roric shouted.
Oh no... I can't move, Markil thought.
But as the attacks closed in, something inside him snapped.
He didn't teleport.
He didn't hide.
He released his Aura in a violent, localized burst.
CRACK.
With brutal force, Markil's left hand shot out and caught Sasha's flaming fist.
His right hand clamped onto Roric's blade.
The collision created a shockwave so immense the ground split into ten different directions.
The pressure was so great that blood sprayed from the mouths of both Roric and Sasha as their own momentum was turned against them.
Markil's mask shattered, falling away in pieces.
Inside the coffee shop, the world remained eerily still for a second.
Maren Walberd sat at a table, leaning toward a beautiful girl.
"Hey," Maren said smoothly.
"Do you really love me?"
"Yeah," the girl whispered.
Suddenly, the massive shockwave from the battle outside smashed through the windows.
Maren didn't even turn around.
He simply raised two fingers, and the entire kinetic force of the blast was pushed aside, redirected away from the girl.
The shockwave continued past them, destroying everything else in its path—
buildings, trees, and stone—
leaving only their table untouched.
Roric and Sasha, still struggling against Markil's grip, looked at the redirected destruction in absolute terror.
How did he—?! they both thought, their eyes wide as they stared at the man who had just caught them.
(Chapter 51 Finished)