I and Flore jump out into the jet-black field.

　Followed by 30 men in white dressing gowns, we jump down.

　We pass through the falling white snow and land in front of the members of the 《Black Swan》 who had been caught off guard.

''"What?"''

　Even they can't seem to hide their shock at our sudden appearance, with no hint of our presence.

　They took a step backwards and their expressions twisted bitterly under the hood of their jet-black coats, which they were wearing deeply.

　But this is a secret society, trained by the Reis.

　They immediately put themselves on guard and start activating their magic.

　The palms of their right hands are turned in unison in a sophisticated movement.

　A glowing magic circle unfolds there, and the magic power increases in order to release it all at once towards us.

　But the next moment.

　The dark night flashed.

　The enemy did not shoot magic. The intense light was shot at the enemy from above diagonally.

　Looking over, 30 men of B squadron are simultaneously releasing fire and lightning magic from the top of the hill.

　Each of them is firing a series of attack-specific magic skills in accordance with their own abilities.

　The Black Swan were one-tenth of a second late in reacting to this unexpected attack, because they had their full attention focused on us.

　On the battlefield, that one delay can be fatal.

　Thirty per cent, if not half, were struck by the attack and lost their lives. Ten per cent were damaged and stood on two feet.

　The remaining 60% were unhurt. Or only slightly wounded.

　Drawing attention to us, B Squadron will make the initial attack.

　This strategy was communicated to them lightly during the move.

　The purpose was to spot the able-bodied men who could withstand a surprise attack, and to take out the miscellaneous soldiers en masse first.

　If possible, I wanted to reduce their numbers a little more in the initial attack, but it seems that there are more capable soldiers than expected.

　I can't let my guard down.

""!""

　The enemies again deploy a magic circle all at once and turn their gaze towards us.

"All troops, split up!"

""Aye, boss!""

　The A squadron reacts to my order and falls to the ground in a fluid motion.

　At the same time, I jump back.

　A moment ago, flames and storms licked up where we had been.

　I regain my stance and at the same time knead my magic.

　Magic is skill. The more magic I have, the more I knead it, the more powerful it becomes.

 

"Fireball l!"

　From the shining magic circle unfurling in the right hand, a mass of flame, which has already turned into a sun, blows out.

　It is already too big to be called a ball.

　I focused the huge mass of flames on a person in the back of the group and shot it out.

　This person alone had a strange aura about him.

　My heart was beating a warning bell that this was clearly a strong opponent.

　The fired fireballs gouged out the ground, burning it to the ground as it surged forward.

　In the face of the tremendous heat, the black-coated group scattered to the left and right. But this one put in enormous magical power and activated the "Firebal" with the greatest power that could be released at the moment.

　The hot air passing through penetrated the group's magical defences and burnt their bodies.

　As a result, nearly ten of the group hit by the heat wave were unable to fight.

　And while such a dangerous fireball was approaching even if I didn't even touch them, only the person I was aiming at stood there and didn't move an inch.

　As if to say that he wasn't interested, he just stood there.

　--And the next moment.

　The small figure pulled out a large dagger as long as his own height, which he was carrying on his back.

　Its design was rude, and if it were to be likened to a huge de-aberated kitchen knife. The glistening single-edged blade was blood-red.

 

　It was obvious at a glance that it was a weapon specially made for that person.

　The man looked at the approaching fire like the sun, took up a large dagger in the upper stance, and swung it down in a great swing.

　A moment later - the flames split.

　The mass of the raging heat and magic power was cut with a single sword, as if it were a piece of fruit.

　The fireball, which split vertically in half, passed through both ends of the figure and exploded at the back.

'It's warm, .......'

　The figure suddenly muttered.

　From the tone of the voice, it was a woman.

　A glimpse of red hair peeks out from behind a pitch-black hood.

　When I sensed the fiery aura she radiated, I knew.

　Her aura was the same quality as that of Zorn-Lefistos, with whom I had fought two months ago.

　Well, I had predicted that it would appear.

　So this development is within the realm of the expected. But when I faced reality once again, I felt a certain amount of pressure.

"One of four Heavenly Kings, ......."

'That's a good answer.'

As if in response to my mutterings, she laughed deeply under her hood.