Chapter 190 – Combined Power

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As time passed, the masked man felt that the power of the Royal Magicians was growing.

It was clear that the gap was not as wide when it came to their fighting force.

Their strong will was raising the quality and power of their magic.

It was just a small difference.

But he understood how much a small difference could affect the outcome when it came to magic battles.

(It would be dangerous to try and finish this the safe way. I must take risks to take them down one by one.)

And he knew which one had to be stopped.

Their morale was on the rise.

The inexperienced magicians were calm in the darkness, and coordinating and attacking with precision.

It almost seemed like the small magician was moving them.

However, even if he knew this, stopping her was no easy thing.

Because if they focused on her, Luke Waldstein would quickly react.

Amidst the chaos, he never took his eyes off of her.

(If she was crushed, the battle would be over at that point. In that case, I will use the most reliable way…)

“We will go with Plan C.”

The other two masked men nodded.

They had noticed it as well. The small gap when Noelle was fighting. It was clear that she was overextending herself in order to protect everyone.

(Not being able to cut them off is her weakness. And so we should spread out her attacks in order to increase the burden.)

And so the other two unleashed their attacks to the far edges, where it would be more difficult for her to support them.

“Muna, to the right…!”

The Royal Magician was not reacting quickly to the attacks, and so the man focused his attacks on her.

As they unleashed their attacks, Noelle used acceleration magic and desperately tried to cover the others. With inhuman speed she moved and nullified the enemy attacks.

However, she could not stop all of them.

The deadly fire magic shot towards Muna. And the barrier shattered in a flash.

(Am I going to die…?)

Time seemed to move slowly. Fear made her freeze. But then the small magician flew towards her.

And then she used wind magic to try and kill the attack.

However, it was not enough. And the flames slammed into her.

“Ms. Noelle!”

She shouted with horror.

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I thought I had lost my own back.

The pain was so bad that my mind went blank.

Exploding fireballs.
The smell of burning flesh.

There was no strength in my body.

I could not even stand up.

Spell Boost deactivated.

My vision blurred.

I was feeling the effects of rapid mana depletion. I had already passed my limit…

However, I also noticed something else. The attacks had focused on me and Muna.

That meant they were less focused on the others. And he would definitely take advantage of that.

Thunder magic slammed into the man in the mask.

Taking him by surprise, he disarmed him in an instant before moving to the next one.

There was something intense in Luke’s face that I had not seen before. In order to protect his comrades and the thing that was important to him.
He was trying to take down all three by himself.

However, it did not happen.

The other two men dodged Luke’s attacks and unleashed their magic at me.

A rain of ice spears.

Just then, nine layers of magic barriers appeared in front of my eyes.

Misha and the others had frantically activated them.

“I won’t let you…!”

Still, it was not enough to stop the masked men.

A second wave of ice spears were unleashed, shattering the barriers immediately and sending the new recruits flying into the air.

Now that we were defenseless, the men prepared for another attack.

But just as the deadly wave of magic was unleashed, three figures jumped in front of me.

“I said, I won’t let you do that!”

Misha unleashed fire magic with all of her might.

Ilis and Miles supported her desperately.

But even when the three of them were working together, all they could do was buy a little time. However, that was enough in this situation.

The six stood up again and unleashed their magic towards the masked men.

Probably, they had seen how I combined all their magic and optimized it. And so there was something in this magic that was different from anything before.

“Gah…!”

The barrage hit the masked man.. He was knocked off of his feet, rolled on the ground, and then did not move after that.

And then Luke’s electric attack knocked the second one unconscious, disarming him.

The hole had become quiet, they sighed with relief.

“Are you alright, Ms. Noelle!?”

I couldn’t help but smile as Ilis rushed towards me.

“I’m fine. Though, I hardly have any mana left, so I don’t think that I can fight anymore.”
“Me as well. We just barely made it.”

Everyone had used everything they had in the fight. I did not want to think about what would have happened if the fight had dragged on for any longer.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Noelle. It was all my fault.”

Muna said with a worried look.

“It’s fine. If anything, it is all of you who helped me.”

They had worked desperately. And that strength and warmth still remained in my heart.

“Thank you.”
“I was only repaying you back.”

Said Miles.

The others nodded in agreement.

I was just glad that I was able to protect them all. I thought with a sigh of relief.

And then I felt it. The presence of magic energy. The air seemed to grow cold.

The atmosphere was tense, and there was something deadly mixed in.

In the next instant, I was stunned by what I saw.

There were four masked men standing as if to surround us.

They were not the same as the first three men. They must be reinforcements.

“No way…”
“Damn it…”

The others gulped. I could almost hear the sound of their hearts shattering. It was no wonder. We did not have the strength left to fight. I could tell. There was no way for us to get out of this situation.

The masked men activated their magic.

“Kill Noelle Springfield first.”

Magic attacks shot towards me.

The impact and heat.

It was strong enough to turn me into dust in an instant. And yet, it did not reach me.

“Luke…!”

Luke was standing protectively in front of me.

However, it was clear that he could not go on like this.

He had used the last of his remaining energy to activate five barriers. But they were blasted away in a flash, and the attack tore into Luke.

“Why…”
“I won’t let you get through…”

Even though it was clear that he was depleted, he desperately hung onto his consciousness and tried to activate barriers.

He was on his knees now, but would still not move out of the way.

The rest of Unit 7 had collapsed to the ground.

Whatever they had left, was not gone.

There would be no more magic barriers.

(I was supposed to protect them…)

I had tried so hard. So had Luke.

He was always thinking about me.

Watching me.

He has saved.

He protected me.

And yet, my body would not move now.

(I’m sorry…everyone…)

The four men activated their magic.

And the deadly attacks rained down on us.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the pain… And then it happened.

“Zero Obsolete.”

I sensed the presence of powerful magic.

I didn’t understand what had happened.

Everything in my vision was frozen. It felt as if time had stopped. Everything was blue.

“Please be careful.”

A cool voice rang.

“You trapped our magicians and hurt them. This is now personal.”

The person had descended into the hole without making a sound. And he looked down at us in the dim light.

“And so I suggest you use all the barriers you can. Or this might kill you.”

He was the captain of the 2nd unit. Chris Sherlock.

And there was someone else. A tall man with white hair stood in front of us—Eric Rushford. The Sword Saint.

Furthermore, there were numerous other Royal Magicians and knights surrounding them.

“Springfield. Are you alright?”

Asked director Shamus.

The Vice-captain of unit 2 who had also helped with the investigation of Count Wilhelm.

“If you thought you were the only one looking into this, you are greatly wrong. We caught up with you this time, Waldstein.”

He said with a smile.

“You bought us some time. Not bad.”

And then the masked men unleashed their attacks.

However, the difference in number and power now was too great.

And so one after another, they were taken down and disarmed.

It was an unbelievable sight.

However, the pain in my body proved that it was real.

(Good. I’m so relieved.)

We have protected everyone.

I had fulfilled my duty as the Vice-captain.

Once the tension was gone, the strength left me.

“Hey, Springfield!? Springfield!? Wakeup…!”

I heard Mr. Shamus shouting as I lost consciousness.

Next Chapter

Expelled From a Black Magic Item Craftsman Guild I Was Picked up as a Royal Magician