At the very moment Cruz’s strike landed on the golden Magicraft, the Dominion was blown away. It spiraled uncontrollably before crashing violently to the ground.

“Kuh… What just happened!?”

Skullfy hesitated momentarily upon witnessing the Dominion’s defeat, but he didn’t halt his coordinated attack with Cruz. Raising his sword, cloaked in a dark aura, Arondight unleashed a devastating magical blow.

A crescent-shaped jet-black blade hurtled towards the golden Magicraft. Slowly, the golden Magicraft lifted what appeared to be a staff. At that moment, countless ice-like crystals sparkled and danced in the air. The instant the jet-black blade made contact with the icy crystals, the blade, though merely an energy construct, froze solid and shattered into fragments.

“What the—!!”

The scattering ice crystals didn’t stop at destroying the jet-black blade. Like a ferocious blizzard, they lashed out toward Arondight, piloted by Skullfy. Despite his efforts to evade, Arondight’s movements grew sluggish. Soon, its armor turned white with frost, halting entirely.

“This can’t be! Such cold, strong enough to freeze Magicraft armor…!”

The two Divine Generals’ combined all-out attacks had been effortlessly repelled. Moreover, they were now in a dire predicament. I immediately commanded the nearby units to assist them and instructed the two to retreat.

“Retreat, you say! Yui! Are you telling me to return with only disgrace as my prize!?”

“A mere frozen surface won’t defeat me! The real fight starts now!”

Both of them, having lost their composure, seemed unable to grasp the disparity in strength between them and their opponent. They intended to continue the battle, which would undoubtedly lead to their destruction. Left with no other choice, I decided to deploy myself.

After ordering preparations for Elvara’s deployment, I handed over command of the entire force to the Chief Strategist and left the bridge. Without needing to say a word, Mary, my friend and adjutant, led a detachment of elite guards to accompany me.

“This deployment is strictly to rescue the two vice commanders. Do not aim for enemy annihilation—be ready to retreat if necessary.”

“I know. Risking our lives for those two fools would be utterly ridiculous.”

Mary, clearly dissatisfied with their reckless behavior, openly voiced her criticism.

For the rescue operation, I deployed alongside Mary and fifty elite Magicrafts from the guard unit. No matter how formidable the opponent, this force was more than adequate to facilitate a retreat.

By the time we reached Cruz and Skullfy, their forces were on the verge of complete annihilation. To our astonishment, the golden Magicraft alone was responsible for this devastation.

“Vice Commander Cruz, Vice Commander Skullfy, you must retreat immediately,” I said to the two, who were barely alive despite their battered states.

“Kuh… Retreat!? Don’t say that so lightly! There’s no way to escape! What is this monster? None of my attacks work on it!”

“This thing isn’t normal! No matter how you look at it, its strength is beyond reason! We don’t even have an opening to retreat!”

“I’ll create that opening for you. Use that time to fall back to headquarters.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Mary and the guards sprang into action. They moved to position themselves between the golden Magicraft and Cruz’s group, trying to hold it off.