"I said, it seems like he's really angry."

"Whatever, he's just a Holy Rank, a beating will settle it." Tiran nonchalantly drew his sword and stood up.

Seeing the two of them stand up, Hazel also regained his spirits. No matter how they felt before the battle, they had to take it seriously once in combat. That was something Hazel was capable of.

"Hey, let me ask you something?"

Tiran suddenly waved his hand towards Hazel, "Are you that confident? Dare to pick a fight alone?"

"Silver War Maiden, are you always this talkative in battle?" Hazel raised an eyebrow, his left hand indicating upwards, rows of bright unknown characters appearing on the ancient spell fragment serving as his weapon.

"Well, not really..." Tiran's mouth curled into a mischievous smile.

?!

Even Hazel, who was also extremely experienced in battles, suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. A sense of crisis overwhelmed his senses, prompting him to quickly shield himself with a light golden ancient circular shield projected from the spell fragment in his hand, easily blocking the silent rock spear that shot out from the ground.

Seeing his plain yet sharp rock spear made of metal elements extracted from the ground easily shattered upon impact with the shield, Aya could only sigh in regret.

He thought the surprise attack with encrypted communication through Dragon Knight contract would catch them off guard, but it seemed he was overestimating it.

"We already said it wouldn't be that easy. Later on, people will even criticize us for lacking sportsmanship." Aya recalled a new term he learned in East Land.

"Well, it's within expectations. Although he looks like a fragile mage, he's still a Holy Rank... but trying won't hurt." Tiran remained optimistic, swinging his sword to unleash three freezing sword lights that skimmed the ground before creating distance. "Besides, sportsmanship is discussed after the fight. There's no talk of sportsmanship if you lose."

Hazel skillfully deflected the sword lights one by one with a shield projected from his hand. After the shield dissipated, the ground behind Hazel suddenly erupted with a dense rain of arrows, descending upon the two like a dark cloud.

"Tsk!"

Aya raised a rock barrier from the ground, layering them overhead to shield against the arrow rain. Though the visual effect of the cloud-like arrows was intimidating, they only bounced harmlessly off the sturdy rock barriers.

"Huh? These seem like ordinary arrows... Is it Maston's army?"

Tiran picked up an arrow that had been deflected by the rock barrier. With its smooth wooden shaft, white soft feathers, and hefty metal arrowhead, the quality was quite good. Only countries like Milanía or Maston of that caliber had the capability to produce such arrows.

But in the next moment, the arrow disintegrated into specks of light from Tiran's hand, disappearing like fireflies in the night.

"That's his attack. Arrows appear out of thin air behind him."

Aya summoned thunder from the sky using Dragon language Magic, aiming it directly at Hazel, who was trying to disrupt his spellcasting by pressing his hand onto the spell fragment. However, the thunderbolts struck a freshly formed earth elemental giant beside Hazel.

"So, he's a Magic user... Earth element?"

After the first earth elemental giant deflected Aya's thunder call, three more earth elementals rose from the ground successively, leaving behind craters where they had been summoned. Each of their bodies emitted a metallic gleam, and with a stature of five meters, their rugged and powerful appearance indicated they were high-level earth elementals.

One earth elemental giant stood guard beside Hazel, while the remaining three strode forward with an unstoppable momentum.

"But underestimating me to this extent is just too much, don't you think?"

Before the earth elementals could reach him, Aya had already sprung forward, launching a fist imbued with golden Chi, which directly struck the leading earth elemental giant's face.

"Eh?"

Somewhat embarrassingly, the hardness of the earth elemental seemed to surpass Aya's estimation, as even the punch from the Golden Dragon's strength left only a shallow dent on its face. For this creature made of clay-like material, akin to magical constructs, such an attack was almost ineffective. In return, the earth elemental swung back with an unexpectedly massive iron fist, catching Aya off guard and ending up slamming her face-first into the ground, bouncing her twice.

"Aya, are you still alive?"

"I can't die..." Aya mumbled from the pit in the ground, feeling embarrassed and not wanting to get up. It was humiliating, terribly humiliating.

But the earth elemental seemed relentless, following up with a kick after smashing Aya to the ground, with an air that seemed determined to crush her skull.

Yet, as the foot descended, it encountered an unyielding force halfway, unable to press down any further.

"That was a mistake. Let's get serious now!"

"Aya, you look so cute trying to cover up your embarrassment..."

"No way!"

With one hand propping up the ground and the other forearm blocking the earth elemental's stomp, Aya, despite the apparent mismatch in size between her arm and the giant foot, somehow managed to support against the attack.

"And now, shatter!" Dark golden spikes arose from the ground, piercing upwards through the earth elemental giant's leg in a series of teeth-gritting cracks, causing large rocks to scatter. As Aya leaped from her position, her right fist covered in dense earth elements easily penetrated the chest of the earth elemental giant that had lost a leg, creating numerous cracks on its sturdy body.

Contained within the compressed seed of high-level Magic, flames erupted within the earth elemental's body, swiftly growing along the previously created cracks, almost instantly filling its being and shattering the hardened dark gold earth elemental to pieces.

With the lava greatsword she had just pulled out, Aya turned her gaze towards the remaining two earth elementals.

"Oh, I see. It takes Magic to defeat Magic. Got it."

Looking at the high-density earth element enveloping her right hand, Aya suddenly understood, exchanging her Disaster Branch Greatsword to her left hand as she rushed towards the two remaining earth elementals.

Despite possessing the strength to rival a grand knight, the high-level earth elemental giants' true advantage lay in their boundless strength and sturdy bodies. However, they lacked the agility comparable to opponents of the same level, especially against someone like Aya. Having even her strength and solid body countered, the battle's outcome was utterly predictable.

Utilizing her speed, Aya skillfully replicated the attacks, piercing through the earth elemental giants' defenses with gilded spike fists, creating cracks and then impaling them with the Disaster Branch. Methodically dismantling the remaining two earth elementals covered in high-density earth elements, the one giant protecting Hazel, though still robust, appeared precarious facing Aya's ferocity.

But then again...

"I said, Miss Tiran, are you just going to watch me fight? It's supposed to be two against one in the name of justice, it's pointless to just stand by and watch."

"Well, that guy hasn't moved either, right? If the enemy doesn't make a move, I won't either. I'm providing moral support with my eyes." Tiran defended herself.

"..."

While Hazel indeed hadn't moved, did you really just stand there motionless a moment ago?

Hazel suddenly chuckled at the opposition.

"Thanks to your ignorance, permit me to express my gratitude."

He graciously bowed and gestured like a conductor acknowledging the end of a music performance.

Meanwhile--

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

A series of explosions resounded continuously, so dense that it was impossible to discern how many were detonated. This time, what emerged from behind Hazel was--

"What in the world! Is he cheating?!"

Tiran brandished his sword in front of his chest, fully manifesting his frost Chi to conjure numerous three to four meters long huge ice spears beside him and Aya, launching them in a concentrated array towards the barrage raining down from the sky.

【Storm Bunker】

【Cascade of Firmament】

【Layered Rocky Barrier】

In the brief moment Tiran bought for them, Aya pushed Dragon language Magic to its limit, nearly simultaneously completing three defensive spells at the magnitude of grand Magic, protecting both herself and Tiran with triple layers of shields.

Though the ice spears barrage was substantial, it was still inadequate compared to Hazel's assault. After mitigating some, the concentrated fire of projectiles struck the shields created by Aya.

The first Storm Bunker was nearly instantly demolished by the explosion's hot gust, while the water-based magic barrier exhibited a resistance far superior to the wind, complemented by the sturdy rock barriers which adequately withstood the dense explosions. However...

"He's quite persistent, isn't he? What is this madness?!"

Aya couldn't help but reinforce the barrier with her magic while complaining.

Attacks of this scale and intensity were beyond the realm of an ordinary Magic user. Even a Holy Rank Magic user would typically unleash city-devastating forbidden spells at best. Hazel's relentless bombardment, though momentarily less intense than a forbidden spell, was more than capable of leveling a city to the ground with its sustained assault.

"Did he concentrate all of Maston's cannons here?"

"If Maston had the ability to amass such firepower, they wouldn't have let us occupy the palace earlier." Tiran sighed, "It must be his own ability... But this level is truly absurd, isn't it?"

"So... What do we do? Retreat?" Aya felt embarrassed, "Two against one and we're being driven away. Isn't this too shameful?"

"If you don't want to retreat, we'll have to tough it out." Tiran solemnly patted Aya's shoulder, "Hang in there, lad. Just endure it."

"Am I the one doing all the work again?!" Aya lamented.

The incessant bombardment continued, causing intense vibrations and deafening noises even through the double layers of magical shields. The ground tremors felt akin to a small earthquake, and Aya had to grit her teeth and increase her magical output.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but in reality, it should have been around half an hour; however, for Aya, it felt like at least a month.

In conclusion, it was extremely torturous orz.

The vibrations gradually subsided and ultimately ceased, allowing Aya to relax her magical shield. The rock barriers and water walls dissipated instantly.

It was thanks to the abundant magical reserves of the Golden Dragon that they managed to withstand it, otherwise, an ordinary Magic user teamed with a dozen magical rings would have been depleted long ago.