Chapter 29

Under the clear sky, at an altitude of three thousand meters, two high-speed streaks of light continuously collided, generating shockwaves that swept across the ground. Trees and grasslands were blown away, leaving behind a devastated landscape.

"Very good, I am quite pleased," one of the streaks of light, Banir, said after a fierce clash, revealing a figure. There was a fist mark on Banir's mask as he stood high above, laughing heartily.

On the other side, Hiroshi emerged from the white light, rubbing his reddened eye while staring at the seemingly unharmed Banir across from him. He grinned and said, "You know it's not cool to hit someone in the face, right? My eye's all swollen now. Your ability to see through everything, combined with your amazing melee skills, is just unfair."

"I had no choice," Banir shrugged, looking at Hiroshi's face, which was now free of any injury, and said helplessly, "Your physical toughness is something I've never seen before. Even after I hit you with full force dozens of times, you only got a harmless red mark. Honestly, I feel helpless. I could probably smash a mountain thousands of meters tall with a single punch, you know."

Listening to Banir's complaints, Hiroshi recalled how he had been completely led by the nose in the close-quarters battle earlier. If it wasn't for his strong body that rendered Banir's blows ineffective, he wouldn't have been able to retaliate with a heavy strike while enduring his opponent's punches. Though the attacks didn't hurt much, it was still frustrating.

Determined, Hiroshi resolved to find an opportunity to learn some systematic close-combat skills when he returned. Clapping his hands together, a white domain began spreading out from his body, enveloping the area.

On the other side, the fist mark on Banir's mask was quickly healing. Seeing Hiroshi release his domain, Banir's lips curled into an excited smile, and a massive magic array appeared behind him, covering the sky. "Very well, I also enjoy magic battles. My magic is the strongest in the world."

On the distant walls of Axel, Ruri Gokou hovered in the air, guarding the safety of the city's eastern and western sides. Countless demonic beasts rushed forward, most of them instantly crushed by the domain, turning into a mist of blood. Only a few mid-to-high-level monsters managed to push forward, sustaining varying degrees of injury depending on their strength, before being shredded by wind blades raining down from the sky. Not far away on the city wall, Hinata Gokou looked up at Ruri, her face full of admiration, as if watching a goddess.

Elsewhere, to the west of the city, two gigantic beams of light shot down beyond the walls, accompanied by two loud explosions. As a result, two new artificial lakes of different sizes were created in Axel's western region. Klee, carrying Megumin, whose feet dragged on the ground, cheerfully ran toward Ruri's direction. Along the way, the adventurers left on the wall looked on in astonishment as Klee hurried past with Megumin in tow, their faces blank with confusion.

To the north of the city, Xiaohei stood on the wall, his small frame as steady as an ancient mountain, unmoved for thousands of years, withstanding all incoming storms. The white domain partially spread out, releasing a swarm of agile flying swords that danced across the battlefield, carrying out a merciless massacre.

The flying swords moved nimbly through the battlefield, piercing the monsters' heads and silently exiting through the back. Xiaohei, out of kindness, would not spare bloodthirsty creatures that slaughtered others. The mercy he granted them was the instant of their death.

The flying swords soaring in the sky seemed to receive their master's will and instantly disappeared over the horizon.

At the city gate, Mu, with hands behind his back, looked toward the battlefield, which was still in chaos.

Kazuma Sato dodged in mid-air, evading the deathly flames shooting toward him. He turned around to face the knights charging through the sky, leaving fiery footprints, and reached out his hand.

"Steal!"

Feeling a heavy object in his hand, Kazuma casually tossed it into his spatial storage and resumed running.

Beldia, whose armor was now only partially intact, furiously held the head hanging from his chest, his massive hand now empty. He caught a sword handed to him from behind, and as dark death magic wrapped around the blade, black flames ignited once more. Despite many knights now lacking weapons, they pressed on with the charge.

They had attempted to divide their forces to corner Kazuma Sato once before, but without Beldia's suppression, Kazuma had easily taken down the separated knights.

Caught in a dilemma, Beldia could only continue this chase within the fused domains, unable to leave unless one of them deactivated their domain, keeping them locked together in pursuit.

"Steal!"

Beldia's hand was once again empty. He looked at his now weaponless hand and let out a furious roar. He grabbed his head, which hung from his waist, and prepared to smash it violently, but Kazuma Sato, who had been observing the situation, suddenly accelerated and ran away.

"Only a fool would fall for that," Kazuma scoffed as he flew away at high speed. He glanced back at the knights, who had taken up new swords, and muttered, "Once I've disarmed all of you, I'll deal with you one by one. You guys think you can bully me just because you have the numbers."

"Steal!"

"Aaargh!" Beldia, empty-handed again, slammed his head against the saddle in fury, picked up yet another new sword, and pointed it at Kazuma in the distance. "Shameless thief! If you have the guts, come down here and face me in a one-on-one knight duel!"

With a smile on his face, Kazuma yelled back at Beldia, "Sure, I'll grant your wish."

"Steal!"

Looking at the sword in his hand once again, Kazuma sighed, turned around, and fled. Hearing Beldia's powerless roar from behind, Kazuma wore a pleased smile.

"Once I've stripped you all bare, I'll deal with you all properly."

Having watched Kazuma Sato's fighting style for some time, Mu silently closed his eyes, then turned to gaze at the distant sky, where a massive glow was appearing. Kazuma's smug smile under the stealing light was etched in Mu's mind, and it would not disappear for a long time.

In the sky above, Hiroshi's domain was rapidly gathering platinum-hued flying swords that clashed with incoming spells, creating fierce shockwaves. The shattered magic dissolved into energy in the air, while scattered flying swords fell across the sky.

Banir watched Hiroshi respond with stronger firepower as he escalated the intensity of his spells, and his excitement grew with each passing moment. The magic array beneath his feet shifted, drawing in scattered magical energy from the surroundings to initiate his ultimate spell.

"Oh mighty opponent who excites me, take this ultimate killing magic: Banir's Killing Ray!"

The enormous magic array behind Banir transformed into a similar one at his feet, and countless beams of light converged into a massive pillar that instantly tore through space, reaching Hiroshi.

Two dragon horns sprouted from Hiroshi's forehead, a faint white glow enveloping him. With one hand, he crushed the pillar of light in front of him, then clasped his hands together. The flying swords scattered across the sky each took their positions, forming a massive circular sword formation that enclosed both combatants.

Seeing Banir completely fired up, Hiroshi waved his hands, and countless sword lights shot toward Banir. The immense pressure within the sword formation left Banir unable to dodge.

"The warm-up ends here; let's begin the real match, Banir." Hiroshi looked at the spot emitting smoke in the distance. "I think you have a problem with naming things. Calling that attack a 'ray' was ridiculous. Plus, didn't you know that smoke usually means no real damage was done?"

"Oh, that's the first time I've heard that. I am quite pleased," came Banir's changed voice from within the smoke. Waves of intense magical energy began spreading out in every direction.