Shane stood calmly with both spears in hand, silently facing more than a hundred fully armed elite attendants surrounding the hall.
The pressure, almost tangible in its weight, made the air in the entire grand hall heavy and viscous.
"This presence…"
Below the steps of the throne, the short chief of staff, Byro, broke into a cold sweat.
"Your Majesty, this aura is far too dangerous! We absolutely cannot let him make the first move. We can use his companions as leverage and force him to submit!"
Seeing Shane's presence change so dramatically, he hurried to Faust's side and whispered venomously, "Your Majesty, there may be variables. Why not use his companions as bargaining chips and force him to stop?"
Byro was skilled in alchemy, and his interest in a heart capable of creating endless magic from nothing was no less than the king's.
"…"
Byro's despicable suggestion clearly reached Mystogan's ears.
Before Faust could nod and give the order, Mystogan stopped hesitating. He pulled a small bottle from his coat and hurled it toward the surrounded Mira.
"Catch! This is medicine that will let you use magic in this world!"
"Oh?"
At the word "magic," Mira's eyes instantly lit up with astonishing brightness.
Lisanna's reaction beside her was even more perfectly in sync.
With her legs unbound, she suddenly kicked hard, driving her foot into the back of the knee of the spear-wielding attendant beside her.
The moment the attendant cried out in pain and dropped, opening a gap in the encirclement—
Mira lunged forward, caught the small bottle steadily in midair, and flipped the cap off with her thumb.
"What are you all standing there for?! Useless fools, move! Capture them!"
Byro was furious at the attendants, who only knew how to stand around dumbly without orders.
"Yes, sir!"
Snapping back to themselves, the attendants roared and thrust their coldly gleaming spears down toward the white-haired sisters.
"It's all up to you now, Sister!"
Looking at the forest of spear tips stabbing down from above, Lisanna did not dodge. Instead, she shouted loudly.
"You don't need to tell me!"
Along with that deeply reassuring shout, magic so dense it felt almost physical exploded outward like a hurricane with Mira at its center.
Boom—!
A violent storm of magic swept across the entire hall in an instant. The royal attendants holding spears tried to press forward, only to be brutally blasted away by that force.
When the dense current of magic gradually dispersed, a thick, long tail impatiently slapped against the ground, producing a heavy thud.
The silver-haired girl slowly stepped out from the swirling dust.
Eerie blue scale patterns appeared on both sides of her cheeks, and the corners of her eyes tilted upward slightly, carrying a long-absent arrogance and wildness.
"Feels good… this feels really good!"
Mira stuck out her soft red tongue and licked the corner of her mouth.
"As expected, this powerful form really is the best!"
"That is an unfinished prototype medicine. It can only last a few minutes!"
Seeing the girl get carried away, Mystogan hurriedly reminded her.
"Ah, that's enough."
Mira rolled her neck unconcernedly.
"This form probably can't last much longer than that anyway."
Then she raised her healthy left hand, now covered in blue scales. Without any unnecessary movement, she simply slashed lightly toward the hunter lady ahead.
Shhhk—!
Powerful magic wrapped in terrifying wind pressure sliced through the floor tiles in its path and roared toward Knightwalker.
"Erza… no, I should call you Knightwalker. Stop wearing that annoying face while pestering Shane. Come play with me properly!"
"Iron Spear!"
Knightwalker reacted extremely quickly. The long spear in her hand instantly changed form.
The iron spear swept horizontally, and with an ear-piercing metallic scrape, she barely blocked that arrogant invitation to battle.
"What a vulgar and cheap-looking form."
Amid the clashing of refined iron, Knightwalker steadied herself and coldly swept her gaze over the transformed white-haired woman behind her.
"I have no interest in crude women like you."
"…"
Being mocked like that, Mira's voice caught.
To be fair, her current form was indeed extremely impactful.
Her clothing was like a second skin, clinging tightly to her graceful figure.
Not only did it lift her chest high, but the large cutout at her abdomen completely exposed her pale, flat stomach to the air.
The look truly did carry a rather indescribable sense of embarrassment.
But Mira had always been a broad-minded, carefree girl. Very quickly, she threw that subtle feeling aside.
Then, relying on her many years of experience fighting Erza back in Earth Land, she deliberately said with contempt,
"You make it sound so proper… but how about it? Are you actually just scared?"
"What a clumsy provocation. But I accept."
Knightwalker turned fully around and pointed her spear at Mira.
Before moving, she did not forget to glance coldly back at Shane. "Evil dragon counterpart, you had better not collapse before I personally defeat this woman."
"…"
Shane was left speechless.
The Knightwalker in front of him and the girl from Earth Land were obviously not the same person.
So why was it that, the moment she met Mira, they could still clash so naturally and smoothly?
Was this the legendary irresistible bond of fate?
Thinking that, Shane no longer hurried to act. Instead, he watched that battlefield with great interest.
"So this is the new power Mira bragged to me about?"
The two fierce women were already fighting like sparks crashing into the earth.
Knightwalker truly deserved her reputation as the kingdom's strongest warrior. The magic spear in her hand constantly shifted forms—
ice flame, explosion, gravity—dazzling attacks rained down like a violent storm.
The aftershock of any one strike was enough to make the attendants caught nearby suffer.
However, as the battle went on, this incredibly powerful hunter lady gradually began falling into a disadvantage.
Mira's way of responding was simple and brutally direct.
No matter what flashy technique Knightwalker used, she neither dodged nor avoided it.
Relying entirely on her overwhelming magic and her absurdly tyrannical physical strength, she used a punch, a tail, and raw force to smash, crush, and flatten everything head-on.
"Mira-nee actually used Demon God Halphas right away!"
Lisanna, hiding behind them, swallowed as she watched.
"That's a dangerous form the Master strictly forbade her from using. This is bad. When we get back, she's definitely getting scolded."
"Is it really that powerful?"
Shane calmly stepped forward a little, shielding Lisanna behind him as he asked casually.
"Um…"
Lisanna's expression became a little ashamed. Covering her face, she answered quietly,
"Last time, Sister secretly used this form just to scare some enemies during a job. But she accidentally failed to control her strength and ended up completely destroying their entire city…"
"Cough…"
Shane's expression, which had still been leisurely enjoying the fight a moment ago, instantly froze. Once again, he fell into deep speechlessness.
That was an entire city. Destroyed just like that?
Even he had never pulled off something that extravagant before…
Sure enough, no matter how steady this girl looked on the surface now, the unreliable "problem child" genes in the eldest Strauss daughter's bones could never be erased.
Good thing I was asleep when she demolished that city.
Shane wiped away nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and suddenly felt grateful for those four years of sleep.
Otherwise, that astronomical compensation bill would definitely have had a portion assigned to him, her master, by the old man.
Yeah. Some bad things really were better missed.