Display of power-2

Overwhelming mana pressure erupted from Julian as the surrounding light dimmed, influenced by Julian's immense power.

For some of the Magic Knights, this was the most formidable presence they had ever encountered.

Yami, Fuegoleon, Nozel, and William tried to exert their own mana pressure, but they were utterly overwhelmed as they felt their control over their magic slipping through their fingers.

Despite the captains unleashing their full potential, they only managed to draw a single drop of blood from Julian.

Langris swiftly enveloped everyone in his magic, whisking them away from Julian's dangerous aura.

Julian harnessed the power of his Mana Zone, taking to the sky and swinging his sword, releasing a devastating slash that cleaved a kilometer of land beneath him in two.

"Don't just stand there! Fight as if your lives depend on it! Our enemies won't show mercy, and neither will I!" Yami bellowed, his mana exploding around him.

The pages of his Grimoire turned, inscribing a new spell: [Mana Zone: Black Moon]. A miniature dark moon formed above Yami, casting a shroud of darkness around him.

"No matter how formidable the opponent, it can always be sliced," Jack declared, anticipation in his eyes as his blades grew larger.

Boom! Yami and Jack surged towards the Susanno in the air. Yami swung his sword, surrounded by multiple magic circles, while the Black Moon compressed even more Dark Magic around him. Jack moved his hand, releasing an enormous slash in the form of a serpent.

Julian brought down his sword, intercepting the two attacks and creating a shockwave that unleashed a chaotic storm of mana.

[Abyssal Magic: Celestial Shower]

Julian seized control of the chaotic mana generated by the clash, transforming it into a cascade of elemental rain that rained down upon the battlefield. Drops of darkness, light, flame, water, and lightning descended, prompting the captains to employ the flash step of the mana zone to dodge and counter.

[Spatial Magic: Shattered Space]

Magic circles materialized around Langris's hands as he struck the air. The surroundings shattered like glass, erasing the chaotic mana in its wake. Despite his recent appointment as captain, Langris displayed capabilities that surpassed even some of the veteran captains.

Fuegoleon's flames shifted to a dark orange hue as the armor around his arms thickened.

"Let's show him our pride, Salamander!" Fuegoleon roared, charging toward the Susanno. Their clash ignited a furious explosion of black and orange flames, each vying for dominance.

Nozel ascended into the sky, employing the mana zone to create an enormous magic circle behind him.

[Mercury Magic: Gate of Babylon]

The air rippled as a barrage of weapons shot toward the Susanno at nearly the speed of light. Unfortunately, no matter how many weapons struck the Susanno, they couldn't even leave a scratch.

Dante's attacks could destroy even something as resilient as the Susanno, giving an estimate of his immense power.

Even Yami's Dimensional Slash couldn't pierce the Susanno's defense. Fuegoleon, Yami, and Jack engaged Julian in close combat, but they were continually pushed back.

The Susanno rampaged through the battlefield, obliterating every attack that hurled its way.

Despite Julian's declaration that he wouldn't show mercy, the captains were keenly aware that he was holding back, making their situation all the more frustrating.

Rill, William, and Dorothy exchanged knowing glances before unleashing their magic.

[Painting Magic: Rise of the Ancient Demon]

Rill's brush conjured layer upon layer of magic circles, resurrecting the ancient demon whose skull still resided in Hage Village.

This was Rill's most potent creation yet.

The demon's size and appearance mirrored that of five hundred years ago, but its presence still couldn't match Julian's Susanno.

[Dream Magic: Shattered Reality]

Dorothy floated in the air as the sky shattered above her, revealing a pink dimension. It seemed as if Dorothy had bridged the gap between the real world and the dream world.

A reptilian head emerged from the dream world, further fracturing the gate, as an enormous blue eastern dragon with lightning crackling across its body soared out of it.

Dorothy's eyes and nose bled as she struggled to maintain the connection between the two realms.

William pressed both hands to the ground, causing colossal trees to sprout and merge into a gigantic wooden golem. The battle had now shifted from a contest of humans to a clash of titans.

As if the sky itself descended upon the earth, the dragon showered Julian with lightning. The Susanno absorbed all the lightning, redirecting it back at the dragon, causing its form to shatter and reform repeatedly while it continued its relentless assault.

Julian looked at Dorothy and immediately understood the reason behind the Dragon's endless regeneration.

The demon swiftly condensed an enormous energy orb with its four hands and launched it toward Julian.

Simultaneously, the wood golem aimed its outstretched arms at Julian, firing beams of solar energy.

Julian swung his sword, cleaving the energy orb in half, and used his hair as a shield against the solar beams.

Julian surveyed the battlefield; most of the captains had vanished, except for Rill, Dorothy, and William, who remained in control of their giants.

A wicked grin crossed Julian's face as the Susanno ignited with black flames.

"Now, it's time to get serious," Julian declared.

With surprising agility for his colossal figure, Julian ascended into the sky, slashing the dragon above.

The dragon regenerated instantly, but Julian hurled his sword at it, causing both dragon and sword to crash to the ground.

The sword impaled the dragon, and black flames consumed the very mana it was composed of.

The dragon roared as a massive vortex of lightning formed around the Susanno, but Julian reversed time, erasing the storm from existence.

Julian exited his Susanno and appeared behind Dorothy, slashing toward the gate with a Dimensional Slash, destroying it and making the dragon vanish.

Before Dorothy could react, she found herself enclosed in a capsule of Time magic.

"One down, nine more to go," Julian announced, snapping his fingers as he returned inside the Susanno.

The wood golem clapped its hands, causing trees to sprout and attack Julian like whips. Different trees emerged from the ground, giving rise to smaller golems, though none as colossal as the previous ones.

Magic circles enveloped Julian's legs as he kicked the ground, engulfing everything in black flames, and incinerating everything in its path.

The flames coalesced into dragons, feeding on the golems.

The demon ascended into the sky as the wood golems burned to nothingness. Julian snapped his fingers, and a time capsule captured William Vengeance before he could succumb to the flames.

The demon roared as four orbs of energy materialized behind it, launching destructive beams at Julian.

An equal number of orbs formed behind Julian, retaliating with [Cero] to obliterate the incoming attacks.

Aquila's Favonia manifested in Julian's hands as the Susanno swung its sword, destroying two of the demon's right arms.

Julian propelled himself toward the demon with a ground-shaking jump, leaving behind a colossal creature and appearing behind the demon.

The demon roared as its body was split in half, vanishing into the black flames of the Abyss.

Rill tumbled out of the demon, exhausted and instantly bound by time magic.

Multiple magic circles appeared all around Julian as the captains reappeared, launching their most potent spells simultaneously.

[Abyssal Magic: Mana Suppression Seal]

All the spells halted mid-air and vanished as Julian reversed time by a few seconds. Simultaneously, chains appeared out of thin air, encircling every captain and depriving them of their ability to use magic.

Just then, a portal opened right behind Julian. Yami emerged from it, pointing his sword at the crystal within the Susanno.

[Mana Zone Dark Magic: Death Thrust]

Yami's spell shattered the Susanno, creating a massive hole in its center. But to their dismay, there was no one inside.

"It was a good strategy... As expected, you always manage to surpass your limits, Captain Yami," Julian's voice resounded from behind Yami as his time spell ensnared Yami as well.

"You all did well….

Now wait for me to fix the area," Julian said snapping his fingers as all the captains appeared on the ground completely healed by Julian's magic.

Magic circles appeared all over the battlefield changing the environment.

Julian's mana expanded and covered every single corner of the battlefield.

The chaotic mana in the air completely calmed down.

The clouds disappeared revealing the evening sky.

The broken and destroyed ground started to fix itself.

The completely vaporized lakes reappeared and finally, the vegetation regrew.

In a matter of minutes, the entire area which was completely destroyed turned into a lush green land.

"How are we supposed to compete against this?" Dorothy muttered.

"Can humans really wield such power?" Charlotte pondered.

"We were utterly beaten by someone who was not even serious," Kaiser said.

"He didn't even use the power of the Lightning Spirit, yet he was still able to dish out this level of destruction. Hah, Julian is something else," Fuegoleon remarked.

After healing the environment, Julian teleported in front of the captains.

Since the battle was over, Julian commanded that the telecast be turned off.

"You all performed very well...

Don't be disappointed that, even working together, you couldn't defeat me. It's not that you are all weak; it's just that I am too strong," Julian proudly stated, making Yami's eyebrows twitch.

"Let's talk about your individual performances...

The ones who contributed the most to the battle were Captain Langris and Captain Dorothy.

Although capable of casting attacking spells, they mostly played supporting roles and executed their tasks wonderfully.

Absorbing attacks, negating attacks, moving key attackers away from harm, and positioning at the right place require a lot of mental power and precision.

I am happy that someone as capable as you took the position of the Golden Dawn captain, Langris.

Your attack potential surpasses your actual potential, so I want you to create a perfect balance between the two.

Captain Dorothy, connecting the two worlds takes a toll on your body, which hinders your creations from utilizing their full potential.

I want you to work on that.

Next is Captain Yami...

There is no doubt that his dark magic was the most effective in the fight, not only managing to cut through time and space but also shattering my Susanoo and making me bleed.

Please continue to refine your magic, as it will be needed in the future against arcane mages and devils.

Next is William Vengeance; I don't have any complaints about you.

Your use of World Tree magic to absorb magic, provide support, and launch large-scale attacks is exactly how I imagined it should work.

The only advice I can give you is to increase the speed of your spell-casting.

Captain Fuegoleon, Captain Jack, I have no problem with your performance either.

Captain Jack, your magic is simple, slicing through everything, which is exactly what you did. Although I saw you cutting through Time magic like Yami did once, so if you work on that, I am sure you can slice through space and time effortlessly.

Captain Nozel, your defensive walls, bullet attacks, and rain of weapons are your strongest abilities; keep working on them.

Captain Fuegoleon, you are utilizing the power of Salamander very well, but there is still a huge potential left to be tapped into.

Lastly, Captain Rill, Charlotte, and Kaiser, I am disappointed with your performance.

Captain Kaiser, your wind magic works best against a large group of enemies, but against a single target, your best bet is to combine your wind with elements like wind. You did that at the beginning, combining your magic with Fuegoleon, but you didn't do that in the later half, making your magic ineffective.

Next, Captain Rill, please control your magic. I can see that your creations and spell casting have increased, but it seems to have come at the cost of your control. Several of your spells attacked your allies, forcing Langris and Dorothy to counter them. The last demon you created was strong indeed, but you could barely control it. Please create something you can control.

Lastly, Captain Charlotte...

You were the least effective in the battle. I understand that your magic doesn't have destructive power like World Tree magic, but it has its own potential. You are strong in close combat, but you abandoned that and focused on ranged attacks, which your magic is not meant for. I expect you to focus only on close combat for now.

War is almost upon us, and we are supposed to be the kingdom's protective shield. We all have important roles to play, so we must get stronger. This battle is just the beginning; for the next three months, I will be personally training all of you so that you can utilize your full potential. That's all I had to say... Dismissed!"

**********************

Magic knights and people showed various reactions to the battle.

People's respect and fear of Julian increased even more.

Unlike Julius Novachrono, who kept his powers mysterious, Julian displayed them openly for people to see. He wanted to show them that they were safe under his leadership.

Aside from Julian's overwhelming power, many people saw the captains working together for the first time and how strong they are.

For Magic Knights, this battle gave them an idea of the scale of the future battles.

Most of the higher-ranking members are aware of the power of their captains, so they were impressed to see their captains grow stronger.

Many of them had dreams of one day becoming the captain or even the Wizard King; this fight gave them a rough estimate of the power they needed to achieve.

In the end, everyone had just one feeling... a feeling of being safe under the captains and the Wizard King.