The vampire girl nodded, her expression grim. "Yeah, I flew around for a bit. It's not looking good. Some of the hunters have arrived at the scene, but they're struggling to hold back the monsters. There are more on their way, but it looks like it's going to take a while until the stronger reinforcements arrive."

Arlo's brow furrowed, a sense of resignation settling over him. "That makes sense. This was so sudden that it must've caught them all off guard. What about the civilians, what's happening to them?"

Vielle's hand clenched into a fist, her voice tight with barely contained anger. "They're being slaughtered, one after the other. It's a bloodbath."

"I see..." Arlo muttered, lowering his head as the weight of the situation bore down on him.

'At this rate, everyone will die... It sucks, but there's nothing we can do about it. I came here to save Sylvia alone... If I try to play hero now and save everyone, then the existence of magic will come to light... That's something I absolutely have to avoid.'

Vielle stared at Arlo, her eyes filled with an unspoken plea. She seemed to be wrestling with her own thoughts, hesitating to voice the words that hung between them. Arlo could sense what she was thinking, but he still decided to ask.

"What's on your mind?" His voice was gentle, encouraging her to speak her mind.

"...I know I have no right to say this... but can't we help them?" Vielle asked, her words tinged with a desperate hope.

Arlo considered her question for a moment before responding. "...Do you know a way of casting spells without generating the magic circles?"

Vielle's expression fell, a look of dejection crossing her features. "Yeah... You'll have to fully master a spell. It goes beyond the mastery required to cast it chantless, however... It's challenging, even for me."

"We don't have time for that," Arlo said, his voice firm as he gently lifted Sylvia onto his back, securing her unconscious form. "If we choose to save them, we're going to have to reveal the existence of magic."

Vielle silently lowered her head, her voice tinged with a bitter resignation. "That would be very troubling for you, wouldn't it?" She hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile onto her face. "I can't trouble you any more than I already have. Please forget I mentioned anything. Let's head back home."

Arlo stared silently at the forced smile on her face. His gaze drifted to Sylvia's face, resting peacefully on his shoulder, and he recalled the final words she had imparted to him before slipping into unconsciousness.

A troubled expression settled over his features as he grappled with the decision that lay before him, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation.

"Ha..." he sighed, coming to a decision. "Let's save them."

Vielle's eyes widened, a flicker of hope igniting within her at his words. "A-Are you sure?" she stammered.

Arlo nodded, his resolve unwavering. "Yeah... Sylvia rarely ever asks me for anything. She's taken care of me ever since I lost my parents... If it's her wish to save them, then I'll grant it."

"Then let us hurry. We have no time to waste," Vielle said, her hand reaching out to grasp Arlo's as a shimmering grey magic circle materialized beneath their feet.

As the magic circle activated, their figures vanished from sight, leaving behind only the faintest trace of their presence.

-

The scene that greeted them upon their arrival was one of utter chaos and devastation. The once pristine floors of the central shopping center, known as Cardinal Place, were now slick with blood and riddled with cracks.

The walls were crumbling, their surfaces marred by gaping holes and deep fissures. Countless corpses littered the ground, their lifeless bodies being torn apart and devoured by the monsters that had invaded the space.

Those who had managed to survive the initial onslaught were running for their lives, their faces contorted in fear as they sought any means of escape from the nightmare that had engulfed them.

“Help!”

“Somebody please!!”

“It hurts!! It hurts!!”

The exits to the shopping center were blocked off, guarded by a thin line of security personnel and hunters who fought desperately to hold back the tide of monsters that threatened to overwhelm them.

But for every creature they managed to slay, two more seemed to emerge from the swirling red portal that had opened up near the center of the complex.

From their vantage point atop one of the shop roofs, Arlo and Vielle surveyed the scene before them, their expressions grim. Vielle's fists were clenched at her sides, her bloodlust seeping as she glared at the monsters with her crimson, slit-pupiled eyes.

Arlo, too, was agitated by the sight, his gaze as cold as ice as he looked down upon the creatures that had brought such devastation and suffering. In his eyes, they were nothing more than filth, a blight upon the world that needed to be eradicated.

"Arlo—" Vielle called out to him, her voice strained with the effort of holding back her own rage.

"I know. I also want to kill them... those fucking monsters," Arlo muttered, his words laced with a venom that matched the bulging veins on his neck and forehead. "But we can't just jump down there and risk exposing our identities."

Despite his decision to reveal the existence of magic, Arlo was adamant about keeping his own ability to wield it a closely guarded secret.

Vielle shifted impatiently, her grip tightening on her staff. "So then what's the plan? We need to hurry."

Arlo frowned, his mind racing as he tried to formulate a strategy. "...Do you have a spell that can gather up all the monsters at once and lift them up into the air like your flight spell?"

Without hesitation, Vielle readied her staff, aiming it down at the ground below. "Yeah, I have one. But it's a powerful spell. It'll take some time to cast."

"Cast it," Arlo said, his voice firm. "And after you do, make sure you send them far up into the sky..."

With a nod of understanding, Vielle got to work, fully aware that every second counted. She began to chant without delay, her words infused with a power that seemed to ripple through the very air around them.

"By the power of the divine, oh forces of nature, release your hold and bend to my will..."

As the chant left her lips, the crystal on the tip of her staff began to glow with a brilliant crimson light. A wave of crimson energy pulsed outward from the crystal, causing reality itself to warp and bend in its wake.

"I call upon the cosmic energies that flow through the very fabric of existence... Unravel. Let the chains which bind us to the earth be shattered..."

The chant echoed through the air, heard only by Arlo as a massive, bright purple magic circle manifested in the air below them. Miniature versions of the same circle began to appear throughout the area, their presence causing the air to hum with barely contained power.

Arlo's eyes widened as he realized where the miniature circles were appearing. They were forming directly above the heads of all the monsters, locking onto them and keeping pace with their movements, no matter how erratic or fast they were.

'...It can't be... she's singling out all of the monsters by activating the spell on only them... just how much control over your magic power do you need to be able to do something like this?'

He watched in awe as the magic circles continued to multiply. The sheer level of precision and mastery that Vielle was displaying was something that far exceeded his current abilities.

While he could unleash a powerful attack over a singular area, carefully manipulating a spell to target multiple moving targets with such precision was beyond his comprehension.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

But even as he marveled at Vielle's abilities, Arlo knew that they had no time to waste. The monsters below continued to wreak havoc, and every second they delayed meant more lives lost.

"Heed my call," Vielle demanded, her crimson eyes snapping open. "Saint-Class Gravity Magic: Zero Gravity."

The instant she activated her spell, the purple magic circle beneath her flashed, and the monsters began to lift off the ground, rocketing upwards into the sky as if pulled by an invisible force.

They crashed through the glass ceiling, shattering the panes into countless shards as they soared higher and higher, reaching the very clouds themselves.

With a graceful sway of her wand, Vielle manipulated the floating monsters, causing them to collide with one another as if drawn together by a powerful gravitational pull. The creatures merged, forming a colossal sphere composed of all the monsters suspended in the air.

Hunters, civilians, and even the guards who had blocked off the entrance found themselves staring up at the sky in disbelief, their minds struggling to comprehend the display of power unfolding before their eyes.

Arlo, too, was awestruck, his gaze fixed on the awe-inspiring spectacle, his mind reeling as he tried to grasp the sheer magnitude of Vielle's magical prowess.

Vielle's crimson eyes blazed with fierce determination as she glanced down at the portal, noting that there were still more monsters emerging from its depths.

"Arlo..." she muttered, casting a glance in his direction, snapping him out of his reverie.

"I know. Don't worry, the hunters will be able to handle the monsters coming out of the portal," Arlo responded, his voice steady and confident as he opened his grimoire and gazed up at the sky, his eyes cold with rage.

"Vielle. I'm going to need you to do one final thing… can you set up a barrier to contain my spell after I cast it?"

“You’re really making this challenging, aren’t you… but yeah, I can do that. I can’t guarantee its durability though for one that big.”

“That’s fine… I’ll direct the force of the spell up into the sky either way. I’ll make sure no one gets hurt by it.”

With those self-assured words, Arlo held the grimoire in his hands and began to chant the incantation for the most powerful spell at his disposal.

"By the power of the divine, oh forces of destruction and might..."

-

Speeding through the roads was a heavily reinforced black car. Inside, a single man sat, his long blonde hair ruffled and messy as he kept his head lowered.

His body was encased in a high-tech battle suit, red stripes running along its length, and an expensive-looking retractable spear hung at his waist.

The man in the car spoke with a hint of boredom in his voice, glancing at the secretary seated in front of him. "Is there really a need for an S-Rank hunter such as myself to make a move?"

His assistant, a young woman with moderately long braided brown hair and hazel eyes, sat with a stoic expression, her attention focused on the screen of the tablet in her hands. She wore a crisp black suit, her demeanor exuding professionalism and efficiency.

"You're the closest S-Rank Hunter available," she responded, her tone devoid of emotion. "Even though a group of A-Rank hunters should be able to handle the situation, the association requested our cooperation to keep the damage to a minimum."

The man scoffed, a hint of disdain in his voice. "Because it's in the center of their little kingdom that they're trying so hard to protect, huh? If it was the outskirts, they wouldn't even bother."

His secretary remained silent, her eyes widening as she stared intently at the screen on her tablet.

Noticing her reaction, the man raised an eyebrow. "What? Why are you looking at the screen like that?"

"Is that... what I think it is?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What're you talking abou—"

His words trailed off, and his eyes narrowed as he seemed to notice something unusual. Quickly, he rolled down the window and leaned out, his gaze drawn to the sky above.

What he saw caused his eyes to widen in a mixture of surprise and intrigue. High above the shopping center they were approaching, a massive ball composed of countless monsters floated in the air, their bodies jumbled together in a grotesque amalgamation.

But that wasn't all. Above and below the monstrous sphere, large orange magic circles began to form, layering themselves in concentric patterns around the writhing mass of creatures.

A grin spread across the man's face, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Would you look at that? Things are getting amusing..."

Without hesitation, he opened the car door and leaped out, his feet hitting the ground running. "I'll be getting off here. I'm far faster on foot," he called back to his secretary, his spear gripped tightly in his hand as he sped down the road toward the unfolding spectacle.

-

Inside the shopping center, Arlo stood behind Vielle, his hand outstretched toward the sky, a bright orange magic circle manifesting before his palm. The air around him crackled with electricity, the wind whipping both his and Vielle's hair into wild frenzies.

As Arlo's chant neared its end, three brilliant orange circles began to form, layering themselves above and below the ball of monsters suspended in the air above.

The magic circles illuminated the sky with a brilliant glow, a swirling vortex of dark energy manifesting within them, growing larger and more powerful with each rotation.

Arlo's thoughts raced as he focused on the spell, his anger and determination fueling his magic.

'They hurt Sylvia... I won't spare a single one of them.'

[MP: 84% -> 74% -> 64% -> 54%]

The grimoire and magic circles began to glow with an even brighter intensity as Arlo poured more power into the spell. Several circles manifested, layering themselves both above and below the initial ones while expanding ominously.

"Heed My Call... Advanced Class Explosion Magic..."

Despite reaching the end of the chant, Arlo still hadn't unleashed the spell. Instead, he continued to pour more of his magic power into it, his eyes blazing with a fierce determination.

'That's not enough... there are several monsters. To get rid of them all, I need a more powerful explosion.'

[MP: 54% -> 44% -> 34% -> 24%]

More magic circles manifested as the magic power radiated outwards from Arlo, the air crackling with electricity.

Vielle felt chills running through her body as she watched, the scene reminiscent of their previous encounter, yet somehow even more menacing.

"Arlo..." she whispered, her voice laced with concern. "Don’t you think that’s too much…? I don’t think my Barrier will be able withstand..."

But Arlo seemed deaf to her words, his focus entirely consumed by the spell he was weaving. The magic grew more intense with each passing second as he poured every ounce of his power into it.

[MP: 24% -> 11%]

'This is... my strongest...'

"Explosion!"

With a final, echoing cry, Arlo released the spell, the magic circles above the monsters flashing with a blinding light.

*Ka-BOOM!*

The explosion that followed was unlike anything Vielle had ever witnessed. The sky split open, a blinding, searing burst of energy roared upward painting the clouds in hues of fire. It consumed the monsters in an instant, their bodies disintegrating into ash and dust.

Despite Vielle's efforts to contain the blast as Arlo had requested, the three layers of barriers she had stacked one upon another shattered in quick succession, unable to withstand the immense force.

Within seconds, all the barrier layers had crumbled, allowing the shockwave to ripple outwards, shattering windows and sending debris flying in all directions. The ground shook beneath their feet, the very earth trembling under the force of Arlo's magic.

Vielle shielded her eyes from the intense light, her hair whipping around her face as the wind howled in the aftermath of the explosion. Those not engaged in combat watched in disbelief from the ground, their hair billowing in the gale.

“Seriously… just how much magic did you put into that thing?!” She asked, her ears ringing.

As the dust began to settle, the true extent of the destruction became apparent. The clouds had parted and the monsters that had once posed such a terrifying threat were now gone without a trace, their remains scattered to the wind.

Vielle stared at the sky, her eyes wide with shock. '...Not only did he let off the explosion up in the air so that it wouldn't harm any civilians... he redirected the force of the blast into the sky away from the ground to avoid causing any destruction...'

"And the force of that blast... easily exceeds Advanced Class or Saint-Class Magic..." she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was in the realm of King-Class Magic... wasn't that overdoing it, Arlo?"

But Arlo didn't respond. His body swayed slightly as he stood there, his hand still outstretched, his eyes glazed and unfocused.

Without warning, he collapsed onto his knees, still holding onto Sylvia as she remained on his back.

"Arlo!" Vielle called out, rushing to his side.

"I'm fine..." Arlo responded, his breathing heavy and labored. "I used almost all of the Grimoire's magic power at once... I just need to catch my breath for a bit."

Vielle looked at him, confusion flickering in her crimson eyes. Her gaze slowly fell on the Grimoire shimmering faintly in his hands.

'Almost all of it? What's he talking about? That book is still overflowing with magic power...' Vielle thought to herself, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of Arlo's words.

Arlo, on the other hand, suddenly began grasping his head, as countless screens manifesting in front of him while notifications rang inside his mind.

[You have killed-]

[You have-]

[You have killed 19-]

[+15 Experience Points-]

[+75 Experience Points-]

[LEVEL UP!]

[+245 Experience Points-]

[+145 Expe-]

[LEVEL UP!]

The notifications rang repeatedly inside his mind, one after another, making it impossible to think clearly. He felt as if his head was being torn open from all of the information entering it.