Chapter 35: A test

After pushing open the iron door of the security passage on the 32nd floor and entering the corridor, Tatsuya Suzuki clearly sensed the signs of renovation on the entire floor. It was completely a magician's stronghold. With every step forward, he could feel the magical fluctuations of the barrier.

"Twenty-three..." Tatsuya muttered to himself. "No, it's twenty-four layers of barriers... Is Keyneth trying to transform this place into the Japanese branch of the Magic Association?"

As if in response to his words, restless magic energy flowed along the walls and ceiling, surrounding Tatsuya from all directions. It was a magical attack triggered by someone breaking into the barrier. The dark red current quickly enveloped Tatsuya, making a harsh noise.

Snap--

With a snap of his fingers, the current disappeared completely.

"Are you underestimating me, Keyneth El-Melloi Archibald?" Tatsuya said, writing runes in the air as he walked forward. Each rune disappeared into the air as he wrote it.

Tatsuya didn't dislike delicate work, but he didn't have the patience to deal with the twenty-four barriers bit by bit. So he decided to destroy them all at once. A genius like Keyneth would naturally have prepared counterattacks for when the barriers were destroyed, but those magical attacks were too weak for Tatsuya.

Not enough, absolutely not enough. This level of magic power was not even as challenging as the practical magic lessons from Scathach, his mentor, in the Shadow Fortress. Every move revealed the craftsmanship unique to a Clock Tower instructor. Every step was well-timed, and every attack was perfectly timed to destroy the barrier. So, it's totally unacceptable, Tatsuya commented.

He was not a researcher and had no interest in theoretical research on magic. From the day he came into contact with magic, he learned how to apply it as a fighting method. It might seem a bit of a waste to use the rune magic of the Age of Gods in a duel against modern magicians, but Tatsuya always wanted to use it as much as possible. Keyneth was such a talent and had been so well prepared; this level of challenge shouldn't be a problem at all.

With an excited smile that he was unaware of, Tatsuya stretched out his hand, gently grasped the void, and then exerted a gentle force. The entire space seemed to be cut open, shattered, and then restored.

"No, it's impossible…"

Keyneth observed Tatsuya's movements through the barrier and his familiars. He was confident that he would launch a defensive counterattack to defeat Tatsuya Suzuki and show his strength to his fiancée, Sola-Ui, who was always cold to him. However, the 24 carefully arranged barriers, which Keyneth originally thought would consume most of Tatsuya's magic power, were all destroyed in an instant.

The twenty-four layers of barriers on the top floor of the hotel completely disappeared, leaving Keyneth with no chance to repair them or exhaust Tatsuya.

"In that case—"

Keyneth controlled his temper, regained his usual composure, and waved slowly. Dozens of evil spirits that served as watchdogs emerged from the shadows, carrying magical powers. Seeing these monsters, Tatsuya was slightly surprised.

There were a lot of them, and their magic power was substantial. The magic power of Keyneth himself and his fiancée was probably far from sufficient.

"I see. So you brought the magic furnace from the Clock Tower specifically to participate in the Holy Grail War?" Tatsuya muttered to himself.

After all, he is from a famous family in the Clock Tower, the Archibalds of the El-Melloi faction. His family is wealthy enough to bring such priceless items.

While he was thinking about these things, the evil monster dog had already come close. The three-meter-tall beast opened its mouth, revealing pitch-black fangs, and bit towards Tatsuya. However, the familiar, with little thinking ability, could not understand why it was unable to move. Only Keyneth could see it clearly.

With just a raise of his hand, Tatsuya grabbed the upper jaw of the evil monster dog. Tatsuya slowly raised his eyes, and a sharp light suddenly flashed in them. He turned around, dragging the evil monster dog with him, and smashed it into another one attacking him from behind.

In the blink of an eye, the corridor had turned into a demon's playground. Evil dogs, wild wolves, lions, cheetahs, tigers... the evil spirits had transformed into all kinds of ferocious beasts, and they all had unparalleled speed and strength. With one swing of their sharp claws, they could penetrate the reinforced concrete walls of the hotel. The distance of ten meters could be closed with just one pounce. The evil spirits that were beaten back surrounded Tatsuya again, pacing slowly around him.

Magicians are not good at close combat, so Keyneth specially prepared this kind of familiar just in case of emergencies.

Another snap of fingers.

This action of Tatsuya became a signal for the monsters to attack. However, when they tried to pounce on Tatsuya and bite him, their bodies were swallowed up by an iceberg that had appeared out of nowhere and then crushed. He spun around and waved his hands. Five lightning bolts appeared around his body, entangling the monsters that had avoided the iceberg.

The monster that was hit suddenly lost its power, fell to the ground, and turned into a ball of black mist, disappearing.

Watching all this indifferently, Tatsuya stepped on the broken ice edges, making a crackling sound, and continued to walk forward toward Keyneth. Of course, things would not go so smoothly. The evil spirits were only repelled but not completely eliminated. More monsters awaited him ahead.

In the dim corridor, these monsters gradually stood up, transforming from wild beasts into orcs.

"Oh? This is quite interesting. It turns out there is more than one form."

Tatsuya retreated swiftly, avoiding the monsters' claws, then turned around and kicked, hitting the monsters straight with his right foot. Mixed in with the hand-to-hand combat were magic attacks from the monsters, such as wind blades or water swords.

The exquisitely decorated top-floor hotel corridor became messy and disreputable in the blink of an eye. Keyneth used magic behind the scenes to assist these familiars in their actions and to launch various magical attacks.

"You still refuse to show up, Keyneth!" Tatsuya shouted.

After avoiding several monsters, Tatsuya landed at one end of the corridor.

"If you have the ability, break through my familiars and come over here. The combat power of the designated executor of the seal is definitely not just this."

Keyneth's confident voice echoed down the corridor, transmitted through magic.

"Is that so? Then I... won't hold back."

Tatsuya's voice gradually lowered, even though he had never held back from the beginning. Monsters rushed towards Tatsuya from all directions, and together with long-range magic attacks, they formed a dragnet. Seeing that he had no way to escape this time, Keyneth was quite excited.

Swoosh——

The sound of objects being cut interrupted Kenneth's thoughts, and he noticed that the familiars were completely destroyed this time. Tatsuya stood in place, holding a spear somewhat similar to the "Gáe Bolg."

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