The townspeople watch in awe as the fierce battle unfolds—three battlemage students against a horde of houl soldiers. The sheer speed and intensity of their attacks leave the monsters no chance to even glance at the civilians as targets.

  Waves of water, gusts of wind, and bursts of electro power strike in relentless succession, tearing through the dark creatures one after another.

  Yet the massive red-black portal keeps spawning more monsters from within. The stamina of Tseryo, Vichel, and Zeff is gradually put to the test.

  “They just keep coming!” Tseryo growls, eyes fixed on the houls endlessly emerging from the portal as he continues unleashing water strikes through his blue sword.

  “Getting tired already, young master?” Zeff teases, still full of energy as he attacks at lightning speed.

  A group of houls suddenly clusters together, attacking Tseryo and Zeff as they stand close to each other.

  “Tseryo!” Vichel shouts, releasing a powerful gust of wind from afar.

  Tseryo quickly calculates the timing, then unleashes a wave of water. The two elemental attacks converge precisely at the predicted point. This time, Zeff refuses to be left out and launches a massive sphere of electro energy.

  The resulting explosion—born from the fusion of water, wind, and electro—obliterates the entire houl group in a single devastating strike.

  Jacelin watches in awe from among the crowd.

  Vichel clenches her fist, impressed by how effective their combined attack was.

  But Tseryo winces, having been struck by the leftover sparks of Zeff’s electro energy.

  “Hey! Didn’t you form an ally circle before fighting in a team?” he protests to Zeff.

  Ally circle is a magic circle formed among team members during group battles, preventing them from being harmed by each other’s powers.

  With a mischievous grin, Zeff replies, “Of course—but only for Vichel.”

  “You bastard!” Tseryo bursts out, swinging his water blade fiercely toward Zeff.

  It’s not hard for Zeff to dodge to the side, letting the sharp water slash instead annihilate a houl behind him.

  “Your parents would be so proud to hear that!” Zeff taunts, fueling Tseryo’s anger even more.

  “Stop arguing!” Vichel cut in, quickly joining her teammates. “The houls are still coming!”

  The crimson-black portal spewed out another swarm of the creatures.

  Zeff grumbled at the sight. “What a damn troublesome portal!”

  But Vichel refused to give in. “Let’s hit it again—with the same elemental combo as before!”

  Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and Jacelin’s shout comes from behind as she runs closer. “Everyone, use this!” Her right hand grips a medium-sized clear glass bottle filled with yellow liquid.

  But without paying attention to why Jacelin—who isn’t a mage—comes running, Vichel, Zeff, and Tseryo immediately grow anxious seeing her approach.

  “Lady Lurca! It’s dangerous here!”

  “Jacelin, don’t come any closer! Stay back!”

  Zeff adds sarcastically, “Are you rather die than being matched with Tseryo?”

  Tseryo is deeply offended, but Jacelin’s anger explodes first.

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  “Just listen to me!!”

  The Lady Lurca’s shout silences all three of them.

  But there’s no time left to argue—the pack of houls is closing in, ready to pounce on them.

  Tseryo quickly moves closer to Jacelin’s position. Out of the corner of his eye, Zeff glances at the girl for a moment. Seeing that Tseryo is already protecting her, Zeff steps nearer to Vichel, gripping his black dagger tightly. For a brief second, relief flashes across Tseryo’s face at the sight of Zeff near Vichel.

  The two young men react instinctively, shielding the girls beside them.

  The attack from the dark creatures comes. Jacelin immediately shouts,

  “Attack together with my potion!!”

  She hurls the clear bottle forcefully toward the pack of houls. Tseryo, Vichel, and Zeff have no idea what Jacelin has planned, but her sudden command in such a critical moment makes them instinctively follow her lead.

  As the clear bottle Jacelin throws shatters, scattering the yellow liquid over the pack of houls, a simultaneous attack from Tseryo, Vichel, and Zeff follows.

  The three elements—water, wind, and electro—react powerfully within the area covered by the yellow liquid, creating an explosion of elemental energy that instantly obliterates the houl pack.

  With lightning speed, Zeff swiftly turns around, wrapping an arm around Vichel’s waist, then grabbing Jacelin as well, pulling both girls away before the blast radius reaches them. Tseryo quickly uses his water-bubble teleport to relocate.

  They land in a safer spot.

  The nearby townspeople are left in awe, watching the massive, shimmering explosion—the result of the fusion of three elemental powers.

  “Your potion is really effective, Lady Lurca,” Tseryo praises. “Is that a lighter version of the Carrion military catalyst potion?”

  Jacelin blushes slightly. “Yes, alchemy students aren’t allowed to make catalyst potions stronger than that.”

  “Why does it look like piss?” Zeff complains.

  Jacelin snaps, “Next time, I’ll make you drink it, Zeff!”

  “The houls are still there!” Vichel shouts.

  Everyone snaps back into alertness.

  Some of the houls at the edge of the pack were only thrown back by the explosion. After getting up, the dark creatures charge forward again, as if they have no sense of fear.

  Two head toward Tseryo and Jacelin, while three rush at Zeff and Vichel.

  Tseryo steps forward once more as a protector, unleashing a sharp wave of water through his blue sword. The two houls charging at him are instantly torn apart before they can get close.

  Jacelin’s face can’t hide her awe at Tseryo’s power. In that moment, standing behind his back feels like being in the safest place in the world.

  The three houls rushing toward Zeff and Vichel are met with a swift counterattack of elemental power.

  Zeff fires a large electro sphere first. Vichel sprints forward and slashes the sphere with a powerful wind-infused strike. The fusion of the two elements triggers a massive electro explosion, instantly obliterating all three houls.

  But that’s not all—the remnants of the blast scatter like shimmering dust, raining down on Vichel standing beneath it. Zeff’s eyes widen, unable to blink, once again captivated by the sight of Vichel glowing amidst the glittering electro fragments, his heart pounding all over again.

  For a moment, Tseryo’s eyes pause on Zeff and Vichel, who are just a short distance ahead. The sight suddenly stirs a feeling of déjà vu within him.

  But the cheers of the nearby townspeople snap Zeff out of his daze.

  “The portal’s changing color!”

  The four former Verlyn Academy students turn their attention back to the portal, where the interdimensional gate now glows with a deeper shade of red. The sight heightens the alertness of Tseryo, Jacelin, Zeff, and Vichel.

  “If the portal turns that red, it means a high-level houl controlling it is about to appear.”

  Sure enough, moments later, a far more terrifying dark creature emerges from the portal—much larger than the soldiers the young mages had just defeated. The aura it exudes is far more dangerous.

  This time, the relaxed look on Zeff’s face is gone. “Now I’m seriously doubting whether a combo attack like before could even scratch something that big.”

  “Your logic’s finally working,” Tseryo mocks.

  “My logic always works, blind-date mentor!” Zeff snaps back.

  A man in a high-ranking security force uniform lands behind the four young mages.

  “Thank you for helping wipe out all of its houl soldiers,” says the tall officer with straight red hair flowing past his shoulders.

  As they turn toward the voice, Tseryo, Zeff, and Vichel freeze in shock, instantly recognizing the man. Meanwhile, Jacelin lets out a hysterical gasp.

  “Sir Bernice Thaolz?!”

  Bernice Thaolz—the man who serves as Head of Security at Verlyn Academy and is hailed as the strongest battlemage from Carrion—now stands before them at the very site of the houl portal’s emergence.

  Jacelin, who’s an ardent fan of his, looks as if she might faint from meeting him face-to-face. Meanwhile, Tseryo, Zeff, and Vichel feel immense relief at his presence, yet have no idea what to say to someone of such importance.

  Bernice continues speaking, his deep voice carrying a calm, gentle tone beneath a faint smile.

  “My apologies. The security force arrived late because two other houl portals appeared at the same time elsewhere.”

  “Three portals at once?”

  Zeff and Tseryo exchange uneasy looks—it’s an odd occurrence.

  “I didn’t expect the one here to be this large. I should’ve come here first,” Bernice says, his eyes fixed on the approaching high-level houl.

  “Now, please step back as far as you can. The sparks of my power can’t be dampened by an ally-circle.”