The silence that followed was absolute.
It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the plaza.
Catherine froze. The seductive, confident smirk physically slid off her face, replaced by a look of sheer, pure anger . Her eye twitched. The skin around her jaw tightened until it looked like it might snap.
"Old?" Catherine whispered, her voice trembling. "Hag?"
Lencar leaned comfortably against the brick wall. And there goes the trigger, he thought.
"I am not old!" Catherine shrieked, her voice skyrocketing into a deafening, hysterical scream. The facade of aristocratic grace shattered completely. She looked like a rabid animal. "I am beautiful! I am eternal! You arrogant, disrespectful little brat! I'll peel the skin from your face! I'll suck every drop of youth from your veins and leave you as a rotting husk in the dirt!"
Her grimoire flared with blinding gray light.
"Ash Magic: Joyful Cursed Ash!"
She thrust both hands forward. A massive, rolling cloud of dense, dark gray ash exploded toward Yuno. It wasn't just a physical attack; it was a sensory deprivation field combined with a parasitic drain. It spread rapidly, threatening to swallow the entire plaza.
Yuno didn't move. He simply raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers extended.
"Wind Magic: Towering Tornado."
A ferocious, rotating column of emerald green wind erupted from the cobblestones surrounding Yuno. The tornado spun with the force of a hurricane, acting as an impenetrable shield. When Catherine's cursed ash hit the wind barrier, it was immediately caught in the updraft, violently dispersed, and thrown harmlessly into the sky.
"You think a little breeze can save you?!" Catherine roared, leaping onto her broom and shooting upward into the sky. She began to circle Yuno at high speed, firing dozens of jagged ash spikes from all directions. "I'll bury you!"
Yuno deflected the spikes effortlessly, stepping out of the tornado. He raised his hand, pointing his palm toward the flying witch.
Suddenly, a tiny, brilliant green light materialized on Yuno's shoulder.
Sylph, the Spirit of Wind, fluttered her translucent wings. She glared up at Catherine, her tiny hands planted on her hips.
"Hey! You ugly old lady!" Sylph yelled, her chiming voice carrying surprisingly far. "Stop throwing your dirty dust at my Yuno! Yuno, let's blow this ugly lady away so we can go do something fun!"
Catherine nearly fell off her broom. "UGLY?! I WILL KILL YOU BOTH!"
Lencar watched the battle unfold with keen, analytical interest. He wasn't just watching a fight; he was studying the integration of spirit magic.
Hmm, Lencar noted in his mind. Yuno's connection to the Wind Spirit is incredibly raw. It's newly formed. He doesn't fully understand how to channel her ambient mana into his own spells yet. He's using her as an auxiliary battery rather than a true symbiotic partner.
Despite the rough integration, the output was undeniably ridiculous. Every time Yuno cast a wind blade, Sylph amplified its speed and cutting power by a massive margin. Catherine was forced on the defensive, flying erratically to avoid being cleaved in half by wind strikes that easily carved through the stone buildings around them.
Lencar pushed himself off the alley wall. He had seen enough here. Catherine was outmatched. Yuno's sheer, overwhelming talent and his lack of hesitation made this a settled equation.
There was nothing left for Lencar to harvest from this fight. If he stayed, he risked being caught in the crossfire of Yuno's massive wind spells, or worse, drawing the attention of the Wind Spirit, who might be sensitive enough to detect the strange, composite magic masking his presence.
He turned his back on the plaza, slipping deeper into the shadowed, winding streets of the residential district. The true objective of this invasion wasn't out here in the streets. The streets were just a distraction. He needed to get closer to the heart of the kingdom to see the broader tactical picture.
High above the burning streets and the chaotic clashes of magic, the Royal Castle of the Clover Kingdom stood as an untouched, opulent fortress.
It rested on the highest plateau in the center of the capital, surrounded by massive, reinforced magical barriers. Inside, the halls were paved with flawless white marble, and chandeliers of solid gold cast a warm, luxurious light over the velvet-draped walls.
But the atmosphere inside the highest throne room was anything but luxurious. It was frantic, panicked, and steeped in cowardly desperation.
King Augustus Kira Clover XIII paced frantically back and forth across the thick, imported carpets of his chambers. He was a large, rotund man with a ridiculous, overly groomed beard and a crown that looked far too heavy for his head. He wore layers of extravagant silk and ermine, but his face was slick with terrified sweat.
"Where are they?!" Augustus screamed, his voice cracking as he waved his jewel-encrusted hands wildly in the air. He pointed toward the massive, floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the burning lower districts. "Look at my city! It is burning! The peasants are screaming! Where are the Magic Knight Captains?! Why are they not out there crushing these invaders?!"
Standing near the heavy oak doors of the chamber, desperately trying to maintain his composure, was Marx Francois.
Marx, the young, mushroom-haired assistant to the Wizard King, looked absolutely exhausted. He had a massive magical communication array active in front of him, several floating blue screens displaying frantic, static-filled reports from the various squad vice-captains.
"Sire, please, you must calm down," Marx pleaded, wiping a hand across his forehead. "The situation is highly erratic. The Captains deployed immediately when the vanguard attacked. But... we have lost contact with them."
Augustus stopped pacing, his eyes bugging out of his head. "Lost contact?! What do you mean you lost contact?! They are the strongest mages in the kingdom! Did they desert me?!"
"No, Sire! Never," Marx said quickly, checking another glowing screen. "Our sensory mages reported a massive, coordinated spatial trap. It seems the Captains were targeted and forcefully teleported away from the capital. We do not know their current location, but the remaining knights are doing everything they can to hold the defensive lines."
"Incompetent fools!" Augustus shrieked, kicking a gilded footstool across the room. "They let themselves be captured?! Who is protecting me?! Where is the Royal Guard?!"
"The Royal Guard is securing the perimeter of the castle, Sire. You are perfectly safe here," Marx assured him, though his own voice trembled slightly.
"Safe?! I don't feel safe!" Augustus ranted, wringing his hands. He stomped over to Marx, his face turning a furious shade of red. "If the Captains are gone, then bring me the Wizard King! Bring me Julius immediately! He is supposed to be the ultimate shield of this kingdom! Where is he standing?! Why is he not in this room protecting his King?!"
Marx swallowed hard. He looked down at the communication array, his fingers hovering over the runes. He had been dreading this exact question.
"Sire..." Marx stammered, avoiding the King's enraged glare. "I... I cannot reach Lord Julius."