Watching the pale-skinned youth being thrown over, Bartolo did not make any move.

His followers, however, quickly took over the task and dealt with the boy who had just been thrown.

"Since the task is complete, we’ll be on our way," Bartolo said to Lidon.

"Wait!" Lidon called out.

"There are still a few things here that need to be dealt with. Since this is a joint task, shouldn't you help me take care of these before leaving?" Lidon said.

Bartolo's expression darkened at the words. "The task I received was only to deal with Ellison. It didn’t include anyone else."

Lidon sneered, his voice laced with sarcasm. "That’s rather unkind. Although I’ve left this boy in your hands, I’ve placed a seal on him. If you try to break it incorrectly, he’ll be useless."

"I’m sure you don’t want to experiment with a useless subject, do you? Solve these remaining issues for me, and I’ll tell you how to remove the seal."

Bartolo’s face grew even darker. "Is this how the Fallen Sect of the Dark Church operates?" he asked coldly.

Lidon shrugged. "What we agreed to was handing over this child of disaster to you. It never included removing the seal."

For Lidon, even though the Fallen Sect had allied with the Church of Light, they had always been mortal enemies. Their cooperation was merely a temporary consensus to eliminate the zealous faction.

The only reason they were able to manipulate the Church of Light into moving was because of this child of disaster, using him as leverage to have someone like Bartolo, a grand archmage, participate in their operation.

However, Lidon was still cautious, always keeping an eye on things. Setting up a seal in advance was just a necessary precaution.

After thinking for a while, Bartolo finally said, "Others will stay behind to assist you. I will leave first due to my injuries. After everything is settled, just inform Ul about how to remove the seal."

Lidon nodded in satisfaction. "That works perfectly. But, Bartolo, be sure to take care of yourself. Don’t overstrain yourself and end up dead before the end."

"You needn’t worry about that," Bartolo replied coldly, before flying off with the help of two of his followers.

As Bartolo's figure disappeared into the distance, Lidon’s eyes turned icy.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Lidon turned his gaze toward the training grounds.

The battle was starting to lean in favor of the enemies, with the heads and staff members of Palos Magic School about to collapse under the pressure.

What caught Lidon’s attention now was the acting elder White Star and the mysterious armored individual.

Lidon had no idea that Palos Magic School had such a person, but he also hadn’t sensed any substantial elemental fluctuations from them.

However, from what he observed earlier, it seemed that the explosion which severely injured Bartolo had been caused by the armored person.

Lidon realized that this was an individual who could be troublesome, so he had used Hui’s seal as leverage to ensure the Church of Light’s continued cooperation, ensuring there were no unexpected twists.

At the Outdoor Training Grounds:

Karien gently placed Ellison’s body on the ground and slowly stood up.

At that moment, White Star, clutching her chest, descended to the ground. She gazed at Ellison’s lifeless body, covering her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes.

White Star had been Ellison’s student twenty years ago.

After attending university, she spent years training in the outside world, only returning to Palos Magic School to take up a position under the Church’s arrangement.

In her life, Ellison had always been like a mentor and elder, guiding her as she grew and pointing her in the right direction. So, his death was a heavy blow to White Star.

"White Star, I have a plan. I need your cooperation," Karien said.

White Star turned her gaze to him.

Though Karien’s face was hidden behind a mask, White Star had already deduced that he was the leader of Red Leaf Academy, Karien. She had seen his actions earlier when he had saved Ellison.

"What do you need from me?" White Star asked.

Karien handed her a communication device. "This is a communicator.

Just speak into it and press the third button, and I’ll be able to hear you. We’ll exchange intel as we move.

I’ll also share my strategy with you."

With that, Karien turned his gaze toward Lidon in the distance.

Karien was just an ordinary man, but today was a matter of life and death for Palos Magic School. Even Ellison had been killed.

Although Karien could have teleported away and avoided this catastrophe, he wouldn’t do that.

Even though he prided himself on logical thinking, he was still human—a person with emotions.

His heart was filled with rage and hatred. If he didn’t ensure that Lidon, the one who killed Ellison, stayed here today, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Even though Lidon was a powerful grand archmage, Karien was determined to stop him.

However, he wasn’t going to act recklessly. Logic still guided his actions.

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Using K8, he slowly took to the air. "We’ll avoid Lidon for now and focus on dealing with the other enemies," Karien instructed.

White Star looked at him. Although she couldn’t feel much elemental fluctuation from Karien, she had witnessed the Church of Light’s Bartolo being severely injured by an unknown explosion.

That explosion was most likely caused by Karien.

Though White Star didn’t know what magic he used, she knew that Karien had the power to influence the battle.

So, she followed Karien’s strategy, rising into the air to attack another enemy.

Meanwhile, Karien flew toward another Church of Light follower.

Even though they were going in different directions, Karien could still communicate through the device, sharing intel and outlining his plans.

At the training grounds, there were still about 20 enemies left.

On the side of Palos Magic School, only two deans and eight staff members were maintaining the barrier.

The remaining three deans, twelve staff members, and five leaders were desperately fighting the enemies.

All the other students were protected inside the barrier.

In the air, Lidon observed White Star and Karien splitting up. His brow furrowed as he quickly made his way toward Karien.

From Lidon’s perspective, the threat posed by White Star and the others was minimal now. The real danger was this unknown armored figure.

He had to deal with Karien first to avoid any more surprises.

As a seventh-tier grand archmage, Lidon’s speed was extraordinary. Within seconds, he was already behind Karien, extending his domain to bind the armored figure.

Lidon’s domain was called "Soul Nightmare." Once activated, it trapped the target, gradually draining their mental energy and rendering them immobile.

Just as Lidon expected, the armored figure stiffened in mid-air as the domain took hold.

Lidon reached out, grabbing the armored figure’s head, intending to drain its soul.

But to Lidon’s shock, the armored figure had no soul!

Why doesn’t it have a soul?

This is impossible!

Anyone who’s alive must have a soul!

As Lidon stood stunned, about to remove the armored figure's helmet, a violent explosion suddenly erupted behind him.

The shockwave threw both Lidon and the armored figure into the air, while the jet propulsion system on the armored figure’s abdomen activated automatically, sending it speeding away.

Once it was out of Lidon’s range, the previously motionless armored figure suddenly came to life again, and a cylindrical magical device with six iron tubes appeared in its hands.

A Magic Gatling Gun!

This weapon had been specially designed for the K8’s upgrade.

Ever since Karien created the flintlock, he had wanted to make a Gatling gun.

After all, the rate of fire of a Gatling gun far surpassed that of other firearms, and Karien’s teleportation ability could provide an unlimited supply of ammunition for it.

Karien held the Magic Gatling gun, retreating while continuously unleashing a barrage of bullets at Lidon.

The bullets rained down like a torrential storm, relentlessly hammering Lidon’s body.

Even if one bullet struck Lidon’s insides, Karien would win.

However, to his disappointment, Lidon was protected by an invisible shield that clung to his skin, blocking all of Karien’s bullets.

Earlier, Lidon had noticed the catastrophic consequences of Bartolo being hit by the sudden explosion, and the female disciple engulfed by the flames.

So, even though Lidon wasn’t sure what magic the armored figure used, he had taken precautions to protect himself, layering his defenses as much as possible, and keeping them close to his body.

That’s why the powerful bomb Karien had teleported behind him had caused minimal damage.

While Karien had anticipated this result, he still felt a twinge of disappointment.

But after this brief exchange, Karien had gathered enough information about Lidon’s defensive methods to plan his next move.

With the attack failing, Karien activated the K8’s jet propulsion and quickly pulled away.

He couldn’t afford to get too close to Lidon—if he was caught in Lidon’s field, as an ordinary human, Karien would have no way to resist.

The only reason Karien wasn’t affected earlier was that he had teleported away before Lidon’s field could take hold, leaving behind only an empty mechanical shell.

Because the K8’s structure was large and had so many parts, Karien had equipped it with an automatic jet propulsion system.

Even without Karien’s mental control, the K8 could keep flying in place.

Karien could also use his teleportation beads to adjust the switches on the jet systems, allowing him to change the K8’s flight direction.

Of course, since this control was rudimentary, the K8 could only fly in a straight line—no sharp turns or complex maneuvers were possible.

So, when Karien teleported away, the K8 continued to fly forward, maintaining its trajectory until Lidon’s field finally bound it.

Afterward, Karien used the K8 to track Lidon’s location, teleporting a bomb to his rear to test Lidon’s defenses.

The result? Lidon’s defense was incredibly strong.

Now, Karien decided to pause his attacks and focus on maneuvering, keeping his distance from Lidon.

After being thrown by the bomb’s explosion, Lidon quickly regained his balance.

The iron projectiles fired by the armored figure didn’t pierce his shield, but the force of the impact hindered his movement.

Once the storm of iron bullets dissipated, the armored figure had already created a considerable distance between them.

With a grim expression, Lidon increased his speed and charged at the armored figure.

But this time, no matter how fast he went, he couldn’t catch up.

Unlike the simplified K7, the K8 was designed with a different approach.

Although it appeared bulky, it was equipped with numerous jet propulsion systems.

Its flying speed was nearly ten times faster than the K7.

Even a seventh-tier Mage couldn’t catch up.

Lidon had only been able to corner Karien earlier because Karien had intentionally slowed down to test whether a surprise attack would work.

But now, with the K8 in full flight, Lidon found it impossible to close the gap.

After several unsuccessful attempts to shorten the distance, Lidon was stunned.

The armored figure’s flight speed far exceeded what he had imagined.

With a stern face, Lidon began to chant a spell.

Soon, a swarm of undead skeletal birds appeared.

These creatures were known for their speed in the air.

And with enough numbers, Lidon was confident he could catch up with the armored figure.

Hundreds, even thousands, of skeletal birds quickly caught up to the armored figure, surrounding it from all sides.

The birds gathered densely like a cloud of flies, trapping the armored figure and growing in number, until it was completely encircled.

Suddenly, a loud BOOM rang out.

At the center of the skeletal birds’ swarm, a violent explosion occurred, flames and lightning engulfing a vast area.

When the explosion subsided, the armored figure had vanished.

Lidon froze. How could it have disappeared so suddenly?

Even its presence was gone!

After a moment of confusion, Lidon’s head snapped around.

By this point, he had already put considerable distance between himself and Palos Magic School.

He hadn’t noticed during the chase, but now Lidon realized he had been led away!

At the training field of the main campus, the armored figure was using the magical device to fire a barrage of iron projectiles at his subordinates and the Church of Light.

This time, Karien wasn’t relying on a stealth attack—he was fighting head-on.

But instead of lingering with any enemy, he shot a volley of bullets and then used his speed to retreat, quickly switching targets.

Lidon’s face darkened as he accelerated to head back.

What confused him was how the armored figure had managed to return so quickly from such a long distance.

Could it use space magic?

Before he could make sense of it, he was suddenly covered by a dense barrage of bullets, followed by a burst of flames and lightning.

Though none of these attacks harmed him, they startled him.

Lidon whirled around to find the armored figure standing not far behind him, pointing that strange magical weapon at him.

How is this possible?!

Two armored figures?

Lidon glanced between the armored figure near him and another one far in the sky above the training field.

It was definitely two armored figures, which completely confused him.

Before he could process it, smoke erupted behind him, blocking his view.

No matter where he moved, the smoke seemed to follow, making it impossible for him to see what was happening around him.

Karien, during his barrage with the Magic Gatling Gun, had used sticky bullets that attached themselves to Lidon’s body upon impact.

Thanks to this, Karien was able to track Lidon’s movements in real-time. No matter where he moved, Karien could teleport smoke grenades to obstruct his vision.

Just as Lidon prepared to cast a common wind spell to blow away the smoke, a long, well-toned leg suddenly kicked him sharply in the head.