“Manaka, don't listen to the words of criminals. The knights who were supposed to be holding them back are missing. They must have killed them to get this far.”

A voice cut into our conversation, the speaker being Henning, who appeared to be the leader, wielding a massive sword.

“Wh-what... did you... kill the knights?”

Manaka’s expression faltered as he processed the words, but I didn’t deny it. I hadn’t held back intentionally to prevent them from dying, and it was possible that some of them had unfortunately died.

But, this is a world where killing and being killed is common. I had nearly died myself. Rio had nearly died.

The other classmates looked a bit pale, as if they weren’t used to witnessing murder. Well, they were originally just high school students, so it made sense.

Henning, holding his massive sword, was flanked by Waldemar, holding a shield, and Dafit, who began chanting a spell.

“I’ve heard they use a strange magic that pins metal armor to the ground. Be careful,” Henning warned.

As he issued the warning, the knights and mages began moving to surround us. I had wanted to talk with Manaka a bit longer, but it seemed that wasn’t possible now. Waiting to be surrounded was foolish.

Besides, I doubted anyone outside our class would let that happen.

“Shu! They're coming!”

With Rio’s words, I felt the surge of magic coming from the mages. At the same time, it seemed Rio had activated a gravity field, and the gravity around me automatically adjusted to counteract the force.

I briefly considered activating my Magic Disruption Field, but the mages were still too far away.

“Ice Javelin!”

“Earth Blast!”

The magic flying toward us was a combination of ice and rock, heavy and fast. With Rio’s gravity field in place, their aim was thrown off, and the projectiles fell harmlessly to the ground.

I took a moment to brace myself in case something managed to get through, but everything landed harmlessly.

“What! They fell!”

Seeing the projectiles fall, I closed the distance and made my way toward the Heavy Knight. Though he seemed slow and cumbersome, if I could take him down, the rest of them would be easier to deal with.

I focused magic into my left hand. Imagining the explosive power, I felt the magic absorb into the Crimson Dragon Gauntlet. Fire and earth magic came to mind, and as I launched my attack—

“Aaaaghhh!!”

I smashed my left fist into the knight’s large shield, simultaneously releasing the magic stored in my gauntlet. The resulting explosion sent a violent shockwave and flash of light, nearly deafening and blinding me for a moment.

When the flames subsided, I saw the Heavy Knight, with all his weight, was sent flying about five meters before crashing to the ground, landing on his back.

Waldemar, the bloodied knight, lay sprawled out next to his shattered shield.

“...Huh?”

Henning, witnessing the scene, let out a stunned gasp.

“Damn it, don’t let him attack! Attack now!”

As expected of the leader, Henning quickly regained his composure and issued the next command.

“Waaaaghhh!”

Following Henning’s shout, the heroes, though clearly shaken, charged at us. They didn’t seem as determined as before, though; perhaps the knights had been conditioned to keep pushing forward despite their fears.

Oda, the berserker, moved toward Rio with a sway to his midsection—though he was quickly ensnared by Rio’s gravity field and collapsed. Hino, seeing this, tried to stop but failed, meeting the same fate.

“Duf...”

It was as if he could no longer say anything other than his usual creepy laugh.

“What the hell is going on here?!”

Henning charged at me, raising his greatsword high and preparing to strike in an overhead motion. Though it was fast, it wasn’t fast enough to catch me. I sidestepped and countered, stepping in close to land a punch to his side—but he managed to evade.

“Flame Javelin!”

At the perfect moment, I saw Manaka launch a magic attack at me. Henning, having regained his stance, charged in to retaliate, but I positioned myself to face him, making sure I was in a position to intercept.

“Dispel!”

With my shield, I blocked the Flame Javelin, nullifying its magic just in time. At that moment, Otori, who had been chanting, cast a magic that dispelled all effects.

“I can move!”

The gravity field was dispelled, and I saw Oda and Hino moving again. At this point, I sensed that Rio, who had been preparing magic, was in danger of being targeted. But I also felt a surge of magic from her, so I held back from intervening.

To think that even Dispel could counter something like this... it was an unexpected revelation. But there was no time to think about that right now; the battle was still ongoing.

“Dammit!”

I quickly intercepted Henning’s strike with my right fist, aiming for his sword’s midsection. With a powerful punch, I was sent flying backward into the air.

“Here it comes!”

Just then, Rio’s magic went off, sending a shockwave out from her waist in a radial burst.

“Guh!”

Oda and Hino, who had been the closest to Rio, were blasted away, followed by Henning, who was knocked backward and rolled across the ground.

Landing near Rio, I took a moment to survey the area.

The knights, who had been trying to surround us, seemed affected by the shockwave as well. Several of them had fallen, while the mages seemed to have more resistance, standing unfazed.

“Well, looks like one’s out of the fight for now,” I said, glancing at the fallen Heavy Knight before turning to Henning.