The heads of a Red-Crested Rooster and a helmeted Ape rolled to Zoldio's feet. Their bodies lay not far off, and even further away were two messes that looked like chunky pulp.
"Nani?! How...?"
Behind his sunglasses, Zoldio's eyes were wide, and his goatee twitched wildly in the wind. 'In less than ten seconds, four of the guild's elite vanguards were taken out. Who is it?'
Suddenly, he felt something and spun around, only to see a shock of crimson hair and a pair of cold, sky-blue eyes—right in front of his face!
Swoosh!
Years of accumulated battle instinct allowed Zoldio to skillfully leap backward. This was an enemy far exceeding his strength; he had to create distance and observe and test them first!
"The Hero of Ruben Caldo, Sanjow Singh!"
"The Hunter of Bellbaraso, Samakou!"
Zoldio continuously summoned two high-level puppets. Both were famous figures who had left their marks on history but then suddenly disappeared—only to be turned into Zoldio's puppets. Still, he didn't feel safe enough and prepared to summon a few more fighters.
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"The Five Generals..."
However, before Zoldio could even summon the Five Generals, the black silhouette had already flashed from its spot and reappeared before him, a mass of white light clinging to its hand.
'So fast!'
"I don't have time for your nonsense!"
Kira roared, smashing his right fist, loaded with powerful magical energy, into Zoldio: "Pierce!"
"Guh—aah!"
Zoldio couldn't react in time and was sent flying backward. He felt a tearing pain in his chest, as if he were being blasted in two right down to his very soul.
At last, Zoldio finally understood what the sense of dread he felt today represented.
Kira flashed again, jumping into the air above Zoldio in almost the exact same posture. Only then did Zoldio get a clear look at the man, his eyes widening unconsciously.
"You're from Fairy—"
Kira had no time to listen to him ramble. Taking advantage of his elevated position, he slammed his fist down again: "Soul Strip!"
Voom! The magic struck Zoldio, and immense magical energy rippled outward!
"Aaaahhhh!"
The feeling of his soul being torn was intensified. The surging magic, forming an overwhelming and tyrannical force, directly blasted Zoldio out of the Caprico body!
A scrawny man suddenly flew out of the Goat-man. It was a bizarre sight, but Kira knew that this man was the real Zoldio, and the Goat-man was the Celestial Spirit, Caprico!
Boom! Splat!
The falling bodies split into two and slammed hard onto the ground with two dull thuds.
Zoldio struggled to his feet, staring at his hands and body in disbelief, before bursting into manic laughter. "This is... Hahaha, I'm restored! I'm restored!"
However, the laughter lasted less than three seconds before cutting off abruptly, replaced by a cry of terror: "What's happening?! What is this?! My body?!"
Zoldio's terror was understandable; anyone would feel this way watching themselves vanish bit by bit. But soon, he seemed to realize something and suddenly slumped.
"The forbidden... the taboo of magic..."
Kira didn't look at his miserable state but turned and walked towards Caprico. "If you're not dead, squeak a bit!"
Caprico's voice was weak, and his goat eyes beneath the sunglasses looked at Kira. "Although I don't know who you are, I must thank you! I..."
"Don't say anything more. Head back to the Celestial Spirit World and rest up. I'll call on you later, Caprico!" Kira cut him off directly. "Now is not the time for your life story. I know all about your situation anyway."
Caprico was stunned for a moment, then realized that this was indeed not the time to talk. He could only respond, "Very well!"
After a flash of light, the Goat-man's body vanished from the battlefield, leaving behind only a golden-glowing Celestial Spirit Key.
Kira bent down to pick up the Capricorn key. As he turned to walk toward the group of elderly and children, he happened to catch Zoldio's final moment: he turned to ash.
"Mr. Kira, what was that all about?" Hyberion walked over, asking Kira confusedly. "That looked like some sort of magical backlash?"
Kira nodded, showing him the Celestial Spirit Key. "Ancient Magic. The forbidden art of Human Subordination. When used on non-human beings, it forces a fusion with the target. That Goat-man was the Celestial Spirit of Capricorn."
Hyberion nodded. "We should hurry and support the other areas!"
"Right!"
The two split up, heading in opposite directions.
With Zoldio's death, the Human Subordination magic immediately dissipated. All the puppets in the academy instantly vanished. Kira wasn't sure if they died or returned to where they were, but they were no longer here. The academy staff finally had a moment to breathe.
As he advanced through the ruins, Kira counted on his fingers: "The small fry are gone, so now the only enemies left are Zancrow, Azuma, and Bluenote..."
The Demisore Magic Academy was huge. Even with his magic sensing pushed to the maximum, he still couldn't detect the magic of the remaining enemies, nor could he find the magic of Principal Coronus or Councillor Gran Doma.
"Judging by the power levels, we should be able to handle them, but I wonder how the fights inside are going?"
In Kira' view, Coronus, as one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints and the Principal of the Magic Academy, and one who uses a BUG-level magic like 'Aged' (Aging), should be fine. She could probably handle three opponents, let alone one-on-one. He was mainly worried about the old man, Gran Doma. Prison/Cage Magic (Jail Magic), it just sounded like a power that was destined to lose.
...
In another battlefield within the academy, a white prison cage and black flames collided again in the air, magic power surging!
Boom!!
"Flame God's Axe!"
Through his God Slayer Magic (Flame God Slayer Magic), Zancrow could change the nature of the black flames in his hands, easily condensing them into a thin battle axe. Its sharpness was easily on par with the sharpest weapons in any high-end magic shop.
The axe slashed wildly, leaving deep, ugly gashes in the ground. If it landed on a person, especially the skinny old man in front of him, it wouldn't take much effort to slice him in two.
"Flame Prison!"
The most significant feature of Jail Magic (Prison/Cage Magic) was its restraining ability, which far surpassed other magics. Not only matter but also energy, magic, humans, or any other life form—as long as they touched it, they would be completely trapped.
The magic poured out as commanded, transforming into a milky-white wave of light. Controlled by Gran Doma, the white light changed shape at will, regardless of length, width, or thickness. It was clearly soft and formless like flowing water, yet hard as unbreakable steel!
The moment it touched the black flame axe, it sealed its inherent property of 'burning' and its artificially added quality of 'sharpness.' Zancrow instantly made a decision, forcefully throwing the entire black axe out of his hand, aiming it toward Gran Doma's position. At the same time, he flipped backward, narrowly dodging the incoming wave of white light.
Just as Kira could freeze Natsu's flames into solid chunks, Gran Doma's Jail Magic could bind Zancrow's flames into solid white lumps of iron.
The black flame axe lost Zancrow's control midway through its flight and crashed to the ground with a loud clatter.
On this battlefield, there were already dozens of white iron lumps just like the axe. More than seven-tenths of them were weapon-shaped, like swords, arrows, spears, hammers, and whips. The rest varied in size and shape but were clearly recognizable as remnants of flames.
"It's like this again! You old geezer, you are so irritating... I can't help but want to burn you to ashes, aaaaaahhhh!!!"
Zancrow vented his inner frustration verbally, but it was ultimately just impotent rage.
In the past half hour, he had used almost every attack he had. Whether it was long-range magic or close-combat spells, whether it was the fast-moving Meteor Black Flames or the numerous Black Flame Meteors, they were all, without exception, immobilized by the old man's magic, losing their original destructive power.
"I told you, old man, I will capture all of you and bring you to justice today!"
As the saying goes: A cage (Jail) is unbreakable!