* * *

Meanwhile, Jeriel and Lydon were tasked with disarming the circle. Things were not looking good between the two men.

“Wait, a minute…… Something’s wrong…….”

It was quite a complicated magic circle. The tangled mana was more than 10 times that of ordinary magic circles, the composition was meticulous, and it was so difficult that it was impossible to guess how it worked.

But as complex as it was, the disarming was certain. With so much entangled mana, it would be possible to break the strands as soon as you could grasp them. Given enough time, the disarming itself wasn’t too difficult.

Or so he thought.

“……Huh? What’s wrong, what’s the matter? You don’t want to do it?”

Lydon’s questioning gaze flicked to Jeriel, who had fallen backward over the magic circle.

Since Van had left to help Cadel, he had focused on keeping an eye on the situation on Cadel’s side of the battle rather than trying to break the circle. Lydon didn’t think it would be a difficult task to dismantle the magic circle, so he focused on the demon’s movements as he fed it with his mana.

Suddenly, the human next to him collapsed. His crouched back jerked, and his fingertips scraped the ground roughly.

“Cough…cough, the, the mana is…….”

Blood gurgled out of Jeriel’s mouth. Jeriel reflexively clamped his mouth shut after spitting out a mouthful of blood, but the bleeding didn’t stop.

Not only that, but all the holes, like the nose, eyes, and ears, were dripping with blood. It was a gruesome, ghastly sight. Lydon’s brow furrowed slightly as he surveyed Jeriel’s condition.

“You…….”

If the magician was bleeding profusely from internal injuries, there were only two possible causes.

Mana depletion, or mana rampage.

Mana depletion was what happened when you literally scraped your body’s mana beyond its limits and strain your mana vessel.

A mana rampage was the opposite. When more mana flowed through the mana vessel than it should, it damaged the expanded vessel. Bones, muscles, and internal organs were exposed to the force. The technique that Lydon used to tear Ergo to pieces, [Soul Killing Ice Thorns], was also an attack that utilized the principle of mana rampage.

However, the cause of a mana rampage was usually external. Unless someone was intentionally injecting mana into the vessel, there was no way for the vessel to expand.

If that was the case.

“There must have been a trap in the magic circle.”

There was a trap to prevent the circle from being disarmed, and there was no other explanation for Jeriel’s condition. He had diligently disarmed the magic circle and had honestly stepped on a landmine.

And mana rampage was bad, in that it caused severe external damage, both before and after the target’s death. Especially if the target was a magician of great power.

“Please, please run awa…… Kkyagh!”

A strong vibration rumbled from the ground beneath Jeriel’s feet. Lydon watched the ground begin to crack around him and thought vaguely.

‘So, when an earth magician goes on a rampage, it causes an earthquake?’

Sellev’s black sphere didn’t show the inside at all. The same goes for sound. The pitch-black demonic energy was protecting the inside as hard as a piece of iron, and not a single sound of breathing escaped from the outside.

Sellev had purposely trapped Dreyfe She had cornered the arrogant human who dared to hurt her. As if that wasn’t tense enough.

“What the hell is this……!”

The earthquake came out of nowhere. Cadel struggled to find his balance on the frantically shaking ground, and Van, in front of him, constantly tried to destroy the sphere. The shaking of the ground seemed to have no effect on him.

The aura that collided with demonic energy became a vast flow, visible to the naked eye. Its destructive power increased accordingly, but even so, Van’s attack failed to leave a single scratch on the sphere.

Unable to accept that fact, Van’s attacks became increasingly harsh. His power distribution was sloppy, and he wasn’t focused enough on controlling the aura. At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a rampage at any moment. Cadel staggered to his feet and managed to squeeze between Van and the sphere.

“Wake up, Van!”

Van’s eyes widened at the unexpected appearance of Cadel. His greatsword had no regard for anyone’s interference, and its angry trajectory struck Cadel with precision. Cadel, of course, had been shielded from the moment he stepped in, but even with his attack blocked, Van seemed shocked that his blade had been pointed at Cadel.

He barely caught the greatsword he’d almost dropped and quickly scanned Cadel’s complexion.

“Com, Commander. Are you okay?”

“That’s what I’ want to say, it’s been a while since we’ve been fighting, and your aura looks like this. Do you want to go on a rampage again?”

Cadel sharply sliced through the black aura that fogged Van’s surroundings, revealing a face as pale as a battered puppy.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to control it, but it’s harder than usual because I’m sensitized to demonic energy…….”

“You’re not weak enough to be swayed by this crap of demonic energy.”

Cadel gripped Van’s other shoulder tightly. Here was his most trusted subordinate. He couldn’t afford to be shaken like this already.

His sunken eyes scanned the dynamics of the battlefield.

The Guardian Knight Order was still dealing with the Red Men, and while they seemed to have the upper hand at first glance, the number of monsters that had reached the gate was not insignificant. If they began to carry out Sellev’s orders in earnest, the protection of the gate would be overwhelming.

Even a cursory glance at Jeriel and Lydon’s side of the magic circle revealed a crisis. That was the source of the earthquake.

The earth magic presumably belonging to Jeriel was making a strong presence, and Lydon’s mana was trying to swallow it up, widening the gap more than necessary. This was not simply a move to break the magic circle.

‘A mana rampage.’

Mamil had taught him well about mana rampage. He didn’t know what was causing it, but he knew that if he didn’t deal with it properly, it would damage his allies.

‘Nothing is going well.’

Protecting the gate, disarming the circle, and slaying Sellev. None of the three showed any signs of being solved. The same went for the level of contribution, which had been on a slow upswing since facing Sellev.

‘I already knew it was going to be tricky, and I can’t afford to panic if it doesn’t work out.’

This was more important than any quest he’d ever undertaken, a main storyline in which even the thought of failure was unacceptable. With nerves sharpened like never before, Cadel calmly assessed the situation.

The tightly clenched eyes turned to Van once more.

“You and Lydon are the only two people I can trust here, so keep your mind sane somehow and fight by my side until the end. Do you understand?”

In Cadel’s eyes, there was a clear trust, a clear determination. A determination that could never be defeated. This was as strong as ever. To disappoint him like this was worse than death.

The unsteady aura quickly settled back into place. Van nodded heavily, and Cadel released his grip on his shoulder.

“……Okay, leave the magic circle to Lydon, we’ll destroy this sphere. We need to get Dreyfe out.”

It was unnerving to leave Lydon alone to deal with a magician on a mana rampage. But now there were no more seals binding him. With his power restored, he would surely not disappoint.

Cadel trusted Lydon.