Grisa screamed his lungs out.

  Lina, impaled by countless spikes, slowly turned her head toward Grisa at that moment.

  “......Run...... now......”

  As if sensing her will, the jet-black beast clamped its jaws around Grisa and, without hesitation, fled upward.

  “Hmph. Do you think you can escape?”

  Crackle!!!

  Countless black spikes hurtled toward the jet-black beast.

  Just as they were about to strike—

  the beast’s body liquefied, transforming into a shadow in an instant.

  It then accelerated upward at an astonishing speed, easily evading the pursuing attacks and passing straight through the structures in its path.

  In the span of mere seconds, it escaped the facility and vanished toward the horizon.

  Behind it,

  an enraged shout echoed through the facility:

  “Everyone—chase them——!!!”

  ...

  ...

  Boom! Boom! Boom......

  Pitch-black beams of light tore repeatedly through the forest.

  “You’re truly impatient. Are you that desperate to kill me, Grisa?”

  Dodging the attacks, Cassim spoke in a calm tone.

  “Between you and me——”

  Grisa swung his wand forcefully,

  “there is nothing left to say!”

  Countless shadows converged across the ground, forming spikes that stabbed toward Cassim.

  Clang! Clang! Clang......

  Yet all these attacks were blocked by the barrier Cassim raised.

  “Very well. If you insist on testing your strength, I’ll humor you~.”

  Cassim pulled a short wand from his robes unhurriedly.

  “Let me see how much you’ve grown since those days——”

  Boom——!

  A massive shadow beast erupted from the ground beneath Grisa’s feet.

  It opened its inky maw, attempting to swallow him whole.

  Grisa flew into the sky just in time to evade the attack,

  then pointed his wand at the shadow beast below.

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  A black curtain unfurled behind him,

  and countless towering black spears extended from it, piercing straight toward the shadow serpent below.

  The shadow serpent was impaled by the spears in an instant, then slowly dissipated into the air.

  “Bravo, bravo!”

  Cassim clapped and laughed,

  “You’ve truly grown powerful~. But......”

  Boom——!

  The sky darkened in an instant.

  Cassim raised his wand at Grisa.

  “You’re still far from enough~.”

  “Roar!” “Roar!” “Roar......”

  Heads of shadow serpents emerged from the dark clouds above,

  lunging toward Grisa to strike.

  Grisa waved his wand rapidly,

  sending countless jet-black blades slashing at the attacking serpents.

  But the serpents regenerated far faster than they were destroyed.

  In the blink of an eye, Grisa was completely surrounded......

  At the camp, the remaining Manacos teachers stared up at the massive sphere formed entirely of shadow serpents in the sky,

  their eyes filled with worry.

  “Teacher Grisa—will he be alright......”

  “You have to hold on......”

  As everyone fretted for Grisa,

  Cassim seemed to sense something. His expression shifted slightly, then a smirk tugged at his lips.

  “【???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????】”

  “Gates of the Dark Prison!”

  Boom——!!!

  A terrifying suction force erupted from the center of the shadow serpent sphere in the sky.

  All the shadow serpents were shattered in the blink of an eye,

  and a violent storm swept through the forest.

  Where the shadow serpents had once surrounded Grisa, a jet-black portal materialized—

  a bottomless abyss that greedily devoured everything around it:

  trees, mana, even the air itself......

  After lingering for a moment,

  the portal began to destabilize,

  then collapsed rapidly,

  finally shrinking into a single black dot!

  Grisa gritted his teeth and swung his wand forcefully at Cassim.

  The black dot shot toward Cassim,

  devouring everything in its path.

  “Heh. Now this is more like it~.”

  Faced with the approaching fatal attack, Cassim remained calm and composed.

  He did not use his wand—instead, he stretched out one hand,

  just as he had done years ago when facing Grisa’s attacks......

  The black dot collided with his right hand, and he clenched his fist, grasping it directly.

  “I told you——”

  Crack......

  “You’re still not strong enough!”

  Boom——!

  A terrifying shockwave surged through the forest, snapping countless trees in half.

  The attack, condensed with the power of Fifth Circle Magic, was crushed by Cassim with his bare hand......

  “I-Impossible......”

  “He destroyed Teacher Grisa’s attack with his bare hand!?”

  All the teachers who witnessed this stared in disbelief.

  “Grisa—let me teach you what true Fifth Circle Magic is~.”

  Cassim raised his wand at Grisa once more.

  Boom——!

  Without warning,

  a massive jet-black beam of light descended from the sky.

  Relying on instinct, Grisa raised a barrier at the last possible moment—but was still blasted downward by the attack......

  Boom——!

  An even larger shockwave erupted through the forest,

  clearing another vast expanse of land with a bottomless crater at its center.

  “I-It’s Incantationless Fifth Circle Magic——!!!”

  The teachers’ faces paled with terror.

  “How powerful is this man......”

  Cassim strode toward the crater in the forest.

  “Enough, Grisa. Stop pretending. I didn’t strike to kill with that last attack~.”

  Boom——!

  An attack hurtled toward him from ahead,

  only to be blocked by a suddenly appearing barrier just before it reached Cassim.

  “Oh~? Still resisting?”

  Cassim advanced toward Grisa, pushing through his attacks.

  “After all these years, I thought you’d have grown wiser~.”

  Whoosh——!

  A black ray arced through the air, curving around to strike Grisa.

  Blood splattered across the sky.

  Grisa stumbled,

  but gritted his teeth and raised his wand again.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh......

  Yet he was met with a denser, endless barrage of black rays—

  their angles unpredictable, their speed unavoidable, their power unblockable.

  Grisa’s wounds multiplied rapidly.

  “What’s wrong? Is this all you’ve got?”

  Boom——!

  A particularly massive black ray struck Grisa, sending him flying.

  Cassim stopped and stared calmly at Grisa lying on the ground.

  “It seems our game is over~.”

  “Roar——!”

  A jet-black beast with golden double pupils burst from the ground,

  lunging at Cassim from behind.

  Boom——!

  In the next instant, it was blasted away.

  “Roar!”

  The jet-black beast crashed to the ground but quickly rose again,

  fixing Cassim with an enraged glare.

  “Oh~?”

  Cassim looked at it with interest.

  “That test subject from years ago. You’ve grown quite perfectly. A pity I let you escape.”

  “Sphinger!”

  Grisa shouted, raising his trembling right hand to point his wand at Cassim.

  “Roar——!!!”

  Sphinger roared and charged at Cassim as well.

  ...