An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Shizuku's warning didn't catch up.

After the barrier was removed, Liliana was beaten and lying on the ground; Kaori was hugged from behind by Hiyama and stabbed in the chest with a sharp knife.

"Kaori——!!"

Shizuku's screams echoed all around.

Hiyama hugged Kaori from behind, his face buried in her neck, his eyes full of madness. And one of his hands was of course holding the sword that pierced Kaori's heart from behind.

Hiyama had not been injured from the beginning. In order to prevent the heroic glory from suddenly unleashing its potential or unexpected events, he pretended to be subdued and stood by.

He was surprised by the appearance of Kaori and the others, and at the same time, he judged that if this continued, Kouki and the others would be cured, so he performed this play.

"Hehehe, finally, finally got you. I'm better than Nagumo after all, right? That has to be the case, right? Shirasaki... no, Kaori? Right? You say so, right? Hey, Nakamura, hurry up, this is the contract I made with you!"

Eri shrugged after hearing Hiyama's words and took a step forward to cast "Soul Bind" on Kaori.

Then, a roar was heard.

“Ahhhhhh! You guys—!!”

It was Guanghui, his hair standing on end in rage, his body struggling to free himself from the restraints. He seemed to believe that Kaori had been killed, and his rage was so intense that he forgot himself.

Guanghui's strength was so amazing that the five magic-blocking shackles on his body began to crack more and more. Even so, his strength was still not enough to unlock the shackles and the knights' restraints.

Hiyama looked at Guanghui coldly, and heard a faint murmur in his ears. Looking closely, he saw that Kaori, who was seriously injured, was actually mumbling something.

Hiyama was curious and put his ear close to her mouth.

Then he heard...

"—The Holy Mother... smiles here...—"Holy...Scripture"

Even though she was fatally wounded, Kaori still managed to complete the chanting of the highest level magic.

Kaori gambles her life by performing magic.

Hiyama opened his eyes wide in shock.

Kaori must have been aware of the fact that she had been fatally wounded. However, in her final, brief moments, she didn't weep or lament, or call out the name of her beloved—she chose to fight.

Because Kaori thought so—

The person I fell in love with never gave up, no matter what the situation or what kind of person he was. So, if I wanted to walk side by side with him, I must not lose face and must fight to the very end.

Kaori, barely conscious, completed the chant with only her unwavering will. The magic, at the cost of Kaori's life, was truly activated.

The ripples of light spread out from Kaori.

In the blink of an eye, it rushed across the training ground, granting the wounded a powerful healing effect. The swords that had pierced their bodies were pushed out and dislodged by the healing light. For some unknown reason, the puppet soldiers' movements also became sluggish.

The healing light naturally affected Kaori herself, and thus healed her wounds as well. However, her wounds were different from those of the others; they were hit by a vital blow. Furthermore, just as her wounds were about to heal, Hiyama frantically stirred them, preventing them from fully healing.

Hiyama's actions more certainly brought death to Kaori.

“Aaaaaaaaaa!!”

Guanghui roared.

With his healed body exerting full strength, he destroyed all the shackles that were already cracked and fragile.

At the same time, pure white light erupted from Kouki's body, as if expressing his intense anger. A fierce wave of light enveloped him, centered around Kouki, increasing his power fivefold.

That was the final derivative skill of "Limit Break", "Dominant Collapse".

"I will never forgive you guys..."

Although the knights tried to suppress Guanghui, Guanghui snatched the knight's sword that had just stabbed him and swung it casually, easily cutting the puppet soldier in half with just one blow.

Guanghui didn't care about the severed puppet soldiers, and stretched out his hand to call for the holy sword. The holy sword that was taken away from him when he was bound flew into the air and fell into Guanghui's hands.

"Catch him."

Huili ordered the puppet soldiers to attack expressionlessly.

"Don't get in the way—"Sky Flash"!"

However, Guanghui cut all those puppet soldiers in half.

Guanghui had not overcome his aversion to killing, but now that he had lost his composure in his rage and knew that the other party was already dead, he swung his sword without hesitation.

He slashed desperately, his blade emitting light, and luckily freed several students from their restraints.

One of them rushed out as if he had been waiting for this opportunity.

Just as the soldiers were about to reach out to the liberated students - Ryutaro, Junshi, and Yuka - no one paid any attention to the man who ran out.

This was natural, even if his magic power was sealed, it wouldn't be a problem for him. Because Kosuke had the innate ability to become invisible, as long as people looked away for a moment, he would be easily forgotten.

"Tamei! Sonobe! Go on!"

Before being captured again, Kousuke throws a scimitar that happened to fall nearby - Atsushi's sacred weapon, and one of a set of twelve throwing daggers - Yuka's sacred weapon.

Although neither of them noticed Kosuke's cry, they only realized the existence of the weapon thanks to their own artifacts suddenly being inserted under their feet.

"Tamei, please! Don't cut my hand!"

"I wouldn't make that mistake!"

Yuka stretched out her hand, bound with the magic shackles, and Junshi cut it down with his curved sword without hesitation. True to his calling as a curved sword master, Junshi's sword cut through the shackles with perfect precision.

Once Yuka can use her magic, she can immediately activate the power of her artifact, allowing her to recall thrown daggers at will as long as she has a dagger in hand.

Even though the throwing dagger itself is not very powerful, the recall function is very powerful.

The result was just as Yuka expected. As the short sword flew back, it knocked away the knights who were suppressing Taeko and Nana in its path.

During that time, Junshi also successfully liberated Noboru and Akito.

"Rin! Open the barrier to protect them!"

Yuka, Junshi and Kosuke liberated other students one after another. While the vanguard department members such as Jūgo, who had regained their freedom of movement, were rescuing the students who stayed behind, Ryutaro shouted loudly.

Even after being released, the remaining group simply crouched in fear, their situation extremely precarious. However, this was also because the enemy had already bothered to create puppets, and the soldiers and knights' attacks clearly weren't intended to capture any more students.

Therefore, Ryutaro hopes that after the shackles are removed, Ling can open a barrier to protect them, but...

Hearing this, Ling...

“Ah, huh?”

His eyes were lifeless, his expression was dull, and he just stood there in a daze.

"bell!"

"Ah! S-Sorry."

The lively smile she used to have was no longer on her face. Just answering Ryutaro's call had already exhausted all her strength. She was obviously not in a fighting state.

Ryutaro cursed Eri in his heart for turning Ling into this, picked up Ling and threw her into the group of people who stayed behind.

Those with the Guardian vocation are still bound by their chains and therefore cannot fight.

Because they understood this, everyone naturally formed a circle with Jūgo, Junshi and Yuuka as the center to protect the remaining group and the rear guard. At this time, Ryutaro also joined them.

This is a battle to protect our companions.

Although he fought desperately, no matter how many people he defeated, the puppet soldiers still poured out endlessly. How many soldiers and knights did Huili kill?

"hateful!"

"Calm down, Sakagami!"

Jūgo yelled at Ryuutarou, who had lost his composure. The two of them were truly human shields. If it weren't for their strong bodies acting as a barrier to suppress the opponent's attacks, Yuka and the others would have been unable to resist alone.

Therefore, Ryutaro cannot rush out.

Even if he saw Kaori fall down with fatal injuries, no matter how sad and angry he was, he could not leave.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Kaori!"

Shizuku, on the verge of tears, tried to rush to Kaori's side, but the puppet soldiers' fierce attacks held her back. Panicked and distraught, Shizuku's sword swings failed to defeat the enemy, only to become more anxious and desperate, which in turn dulled her sword's edge, creating a vicious cycle.

At this moment, Guanghui forcibly broke through the encirclement of the puppet soldiers.

Guanghui's face was filled with anger as he glared at Eri and Hiyama. He was wrapped in light and rushed straight towards them.

"Eri! Hiyama!"

"Stop, that's enough, Kouki-kun."

Huili played her trump card—a card specifically targeting Guanghui's weakness, her worst card.

There was a figure standing between Huili and Guanghui.

As Eri predicted, the glorious sword was blocked.

Guanghui called out his name with a trembling voice.

"How could it be... even Captain Meld..."

That's right, the one blocking the light from the front is Meld Loggins, the leader of the Kingdom Knights.

"... Kouki... why are you pointing your sword at me...? I didn't teach you anything like that..."

"What? Captain Meld... I..."

"Kui! Don't listen to him! Captain Meld has already...!"

Shizuku loudly warned the wavering Kouki.

When Guanghui suddenly came to his senses, Meld's sword came straight at him.

Guanghui instantly caught the blow with his holy sword. The powerful impact cracked the ground beneath his feet. It seemed that the safety mechanism in the mind of the kingdom's strongest knight had also been disabled.

“…Captain Meld…I’m sorry!”

Despite showing a sorrowful expression, Kouki swung the holy sword with all his might, delivering a fierce slash at Meld.

Even dead, Meld's swordsmanship remained masterful, and he barely managed to fend off the attack from his "Overpowered" state. However, this was also because Meld's appearance had calmed Kouki's previously boiling mind slightly. A slight distaste for killing crossed his face, and he hesitated before swinging his sword.

Even so, Meld still couldn't defeat the current Guanghui, and his knight sword was finally knocked away.

Guanghui rushed forward in one breath and swung the holy sword at Meld's neck without thinking.

However, at the moment when the holy sword was about to touch Meld's neck——

"Save me... Glory."

「!?」

Meld's words made Guanghui stop his sword.

Although it seemed impossible, Guanghui couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Captain Meld was simply being manipulated and wasn't actually dead? Perhaps he could still be saved.

This is the weakness of Glory.

Simply put, it's indecision. Save or kill, it doesn't matter which you choose, but making that choice requires clear resolve and awareness.

Kouki possesses neither. He interprets situations in his own way based on the intelligence he receives. Therefore, while he is usually unwavering in his convictions, he hesitates in critical moments.

Meld kicked the knight's sword that fell beside him, grabbed the weapon in an instant, and slashed at Guanghui again.

However, Guanghui lost the aura that intimidated others and was instead suppressed by Meld.

“!? Ahem! W-What’s going on? My body—”

Just after barely blocking Meld's move, Guanghui's body suddenly lost strength and he fell to his knees.

It wasn't that the time limit for "Battle of Domination" had expired; it wasn't long. The strangeness didn't stop there. Guanghui spat out a large amount of blood, and the bright red dripped onto the ground, deepening his panic.

"Huh~ It finally worked, that's a pretty strong poison... As expected of Kouki-kun. If it weren't for the captain's preparations, I might have already lost."

Hearing Eri's calm voice, Guanghui struggled to hold on to his falling body and looked at Eri with a questioning look on his face.

Huili touched her lips with her fingers, smiled sweetly, and continued:

"Hehe, if the prince's kiss could wake the princess, and the princess could use it to make the prince sleep forever (die), and make him her own... that wouldn't be a bad scenario, right? But don't worry, it's not a lethal poison; it will only leave paralysis as a side effect! I'll kill Guanghui-san with my own hands!"

“It was back then… guuuu!”

Hearing her say this, Guanghui finally understood.

When they first kissed, Huili fed Guanghui poison.

She might have taken the antidote first. Guanghui hadn't expected her to feed him poison mouth-to-mouth, let alone that she would do so while expressing her love for him.

“Eri, you really… ahem!”