"What is that, don't tell me it is a seal?"

After waiting for a while with no reaction, Cyra looked confused and finally couldn't help but ask.

"Heheh, that's no thing, that's the entrance to a sub-space!"

Staring at the distant black sphere, Judith actually had an excited smile on her face, as if very interested in what was happening. But at the same time, a drop of sweat trickled down from her temple. It was clear the situation wasn't good.

"This is a sub-space seal. If the entrance is opened, whatever is sealed inside could be released at any time."

"So it's just a space portal? So that's what they look like..."

Though she said that, upon hearing the seal could be undone, Cyra muttered and stepped back two paces. As wondrous as this sight was, nothing was more important than her life. Who knew what might come bursting out next?

This black sphere was similar to Edenmere's entrance, of the same type. Only Edenmere's entrance was normally hidden by magic, so its true form couldn't be seen. For regular folks, space entrances seem like holes, but seeing it in person revealed it was actually a sphere.

"What does it matter what it is? If we destroy this thing, the seal can't be undone, right?"

Brennan, on the other hand, was bold and impatient. Rather than just waiting, he decided to take action. Without a word, he raised his hand and attacked the sub-space entrance.

"Come forth, Phoenix!"

As he spoke, the little phoenix appeared with a shrill cry, spewing flames as it charged the black "sphere". Though we didn't know if this would work, we all hoped fervently that it would.

"In theory, the fire element is way more powerful than others, so it might actually disrupt it!"

Even Reed stared intently ahead, as if victory hung on this move!

But just as the flames were about to hit, a huge tortoise suddenly emerged from the sphere's surface! In an instant, it blocked the attack with its hard shell a half-meter away.

"What the... It's got defenses too? What is this thing?"

We all watched dumbfounded as Cyra nearly cursed out loud in frustration.

"No, that's not the seal's inherent defense, it's likely a temporary spell added on. And the caster is nearby..."

But Judith shook her head, gaze shifting down to the huge whirlpool still raging in the lake's center.

"Down there!"

Huh? Was there something in the lake? As I wondered, a black figure suddenly shot out from the massive whirlpool, hovering steadily in mid-air.

It was a human male!

I'm not certain he was human, just judging by his appearance and muscular build, and that he wasn't emanating an overly dense dark elemental aura.

But from another perspective, his current state was more shocking than what species he was.

Because he could fly!

Unlike angels using wings, he had nothing on his back. Yet he hovered steadily over the lake, arms folded arrogantly, obstructing the black sphere from us. Clearly defending the sub-space entrance to stop our attacks.

Perhaps some unknown flight magic, with wind and earth elemental spells rumored to have such abilities, though requiring immense magical power and not freely used. But his overly burly frame seemed more like a warrior class, contradicting the frail physiques of high-level mages.

Could someone in this world achieve mastery of both magic and martial arts? Wouldn't they be famous if so? I'd never heard of it.

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"Who are you?"

Brennan demanded gruffly, taking a combat stance. The man's slick defense clearly made him wary.

"..."

But he gave no answer, not even deigning to address the redhead. Only glancing back at me and the other angels behind, he suddenly raised an arm toward us.

"Dark Devouring Dragon!"

"Watch out, move!"

Shockingly, he attacked without a word! As a massive three-headed black dragon appeared charging us, I quickly pulled Reed and Cyra into the air to evade. I heard a soft "crack" as the three heads snapped shut just below our ankles, making my legs go numb.

But he didn't let up, the dragon turning to chase our retreat.

So he thought we were pushovers!

Enraged, I unleashed my ultimate "Paradise Shockwave". The massive beam of light elicited an anguished roar as the three-headed dragon dissipated into black mist.

"Huh?"

I expected a corpse, but it just vanished? Then I saw Brennan roar "Fire Claws", flinging five crimson claw-shaped blasts at the mysterious man, going on the offensive rather than helping us - the right move.

But the opponent was terrifyingly strong. The man sneered, and a jet-black serpentine creature appeared, spewing lightning at Brennan.

"Argh—"

As the redhead convulsed, stunned, the man flashed in front of him and delivered a single punch. Brennan's anguished cry cut off as he spiraled into the lake, not resurfacing.

The whole sequence took less than a second...

"Brennan!"

Alarmed, Yulanda leapt into the water to rescue him. But the airborne man ignored her, his focus still on us three.

He seemed to have a beef with angels, his gaze never leaving us.

"Didn't expect Dark Devouring Dragon to be so feeble. You six-winged angels are tougher than I thought. No wonder my underlings died to you..."

Finally, he spoke! But then launched another assault without letting us respond.

"Then try this - Nightmare!"

With a gesture, an intensely thick dark elemental miasma surged toward us. What was this?

The miasma took a ribbon-like form, appearing as black smoky tendrils to the eye, with no direct offensive power. But bizarrely, it coiled tighter and tighter around us until we were engulfed in pitch darkness, blind.

I was like a headless fly, my eyes useless. The dark element contacted my body but light deflected it from harming me for now. But no matter how I flew erratically, the smoke clung, as if attached.

"Aah!"

Cyra's scream rang out from somewhere nearby as she seemed to be struck down. Then Judith warned us,

"Feliciana, be careful! While you're blinded, he's attacking from outside the smoke!"

Damn, so underhanded? If not for his lack of significant dark or light elemental aura, I wouldn't have been caught so off-guard, relying just on eyesight. But darkness was no obstacle for angels - I just had to use light to negate it.

Before I could act, Reed released a light spell, dispelling the smoke around us within seconds.

But those seconds were enough...For the man to pummel us into defenselessness. Luckily, he didn't follow up, his attention drawn elsewhere, along with Judith's as she dragged the unconscious Brennan to shore.

"Look, at the sub-space entrance!"

Judith pointed to the black sphere above the lake. So focused on fighting, we hadn't noticed the changes happening there. A golden rod-like object was slowly emerging from the sphere's surface. If you didn't know it was a spatial gateway, it looked like something had been forcibly inserted, bulging out as the sphere was too small to contain it.

The mysterious man had halted his attacks on us, entranced by this strange phenomenon. Of course I wasn't foolish enough to strike from behind while he was distracted. I was more worried about the golden object emerging - was this the sealed entity itself?

...But why did it resemble a cross?

Indeed, it was a cross! As it fully emerged, a golden cross with a circle in the middle hovered before us, giving an eerily familiar impression. The man swiftly flew over and caught it.

"Hmph! Half of Lake Sun was ruined before I could expend great effort to retrieve this!"

"That's the Celt Cross!"

Cyra recognized it, as a True Church devotee. Though seldom used in churches now, historically it symbolized prohibition and sealing.

Sealing? Wait!

Realizing this, I sensed something amiss. But the man just sneered and crushed the cross with one grip!

"Rumble rumble..."

As the Cross shattered, the black sphere vanished without a trace. At the same time, I could feel the ground beneath my feet start to tremble lightly, like the prelude to a massive earthquake.

"The seal has been undone!"

Reed sighed beside me, glancing at the mysterious man as she warned, "In that case, we shouldn't linger here. It's best we leave soon!"

"But will he let us go so easily?"

This battle wasn't over yet. Even if we didn't want to fight, who knew what he intended? Moreover, from the recent skirmish, it seemed our side was at a disadvantage.

"Dong———"

As I wavered, a distant bell tolled from behind us - from the direction of Parristol City!

I immediately recalled that Mirium and the red-haired demon Arick had left the city center after hearing a similar bell. Could it be...?

"I have other important matters to attend to. Consider yourselves lucky! You'd better pray we never cross paths again - scram while you can!"

Sure enough, upon hearing the bell, the mysterious man lost all interest in continuing the fight. Waving dismissively, he instantly vanished from our sight.

"Cocky bastard, teleporting?"

By now Brennan had regained consciousness thanks to Yulanda's aid. Struggling up, he glared resentfully at the man's departure point.

"It might actually be teleportation..."

Judith turned with a wry smile. Outmatched, she hadn't dared attack him at all. Luckily he paid her no mind either, making her the only one to witness the entire battle.

"Because I sensed an intense release of earth elemental energy just now."