Once everyone charged up their attacks, they dashed toward each other.

Lisa, who was the fastest among her group, reached Mika first, making their weapons clash. They exchanged strikes and thrusts until Belian joined the fray.

Mika struck Lisa’s rapier hard enough to make it get stuck in the ground. He used her weapon to jump off it and to simultaneously dodge Belian’s attack.

While doing a back flip, Mika summoned in his other hand the Holy Spear and slapped Belian away who was sent flying shortly despite blocking the spear.

And before Lisa could pull out her rapier, Mika leaped forward and thrust his sword’s pommel into her stomach.

After she got on her knees, Harik and Rachel ambushed Mika while Lily’s fire creatures went after him, too. Harik engaged in a close-quarter-combat with Mika whereas Rachel and Lily’s creatures offered support.

Mika let the spear disperse and sheathed his silver sword before he raised his fists. At first, he dodged Harik’s heavy punches by swiftly moving his upper body. Then, he launched a punch from beneath, aiming at Harik’s chin but Harik blocked that fist.

He still perceived the heavy force behind that attack but he did not pull back yet. Rachel’s thick roots attacked Mika from every angle, trying to stab him.

He jumped to avoid them, however, Harik was also in the air, launching a side kick at Mika. Just in time, Mika blocked that kick with his arms but he was also sent flying.

But in the direction he was flying were fire creatures. Mika summoned Excalibur once more and made those creatures disappear.

"!"

Due to all those distractions, he reacted too late and let vines wrap themselves around his left leg. He was quickly pulled back to Harik and Rachel. And when he was close enough, Harik prepared a punch.

However, Mika cut those vines from his leg and planned his counterattack.

In his sight were only Harik and Rachel, making him neglect the presence lurking behind him.

There was Lily who went after Mika from behind.

Thus, Mika was sandwiched from behind and front.

It seemed like Mika was about to get hit by Harik and Lily’s flames.

"Sorry." he muttered.

"?!"

Following that, he disappeared from their field of vision.

"!"

Rachel reacted as the first one when Mika suddenly teleported to her side.

He readied his Holy Spear and swung it at her stomach, hitting her as if she was a ball.

"Rachel!" Harik shouted.

He retracted his water-engulfed fists and threw punches despite being far away from Mika.

From his fists, water balls were quickly shot after each punch. They were heading toward Mika at a high pace but Mika dodged them with even faster movements as he closed in on him.

He could not react in time when Mika grabbed his head and slammed his head to the ground with all his might. The ground was even cracked when his head was buried there.

Like Rachel, Harik was out for now.

"Enlarge."

On his order, Mika’s spear increased its length in the direction of Lisa.

"!"

The spear, too, moved very quickly. Lisa had no other choice but to try to catch the end of the spear in order not to get pierced by it.

"...!"

And she actually did it. She was clenching her teeth as she grabbed the end of the spear with its peak almost touching her belly. However, she could not stop the spear completely and was pushed away from the battlefield as the spear’s length did not stop increasing for a while.

"..."

After concluding that she was far enough, Mika stored the spear again.

Now, only Belian and Lily with her army of fire creatures were left.

Mika summoned Excalibur. He took up his fighting stance, waiting for them to attack.

And the first one to dash to him was Belian with roughly 20 creatures behind him.

"..."

Mika did not move yet. It appeared like he was waiting for something before he could move from his spot or his body altogether.

Only when Belian and those creatures were in a seven-meter radius, Mika moved.

He stabbed Excalibur into the ground.

Its blade began to shine brightly and a golden and yet transparent barrier emerged from it, growing until it covered everything in that seven-meter radius.

"?!"

Belian enlarged his eyes while he was about to strike Mika down. And even Lily was surprised.

In an instant, the creatures, that followed Belian, disappeared just like Belian’s relic that should have been gripped tightly by him.

Mercilessly, Mika rammed his fist into Belian’s stomach, grabbed his back and threw him somewhere far away.

The barrier dispersed and Mika pulled out Excalibur.

"Can you please leave?" Lily asked bitterly.

"I can’t."

"I don’t want to fight you..." she said.

"..."

Again, Lily gathered blue flames in her hands.

And with contradicting thoughts and words, the two attacked each other.

While Lily commanded her creatures to attack Mika, he negated their attempts one after another. Some of her creatures launched fireballs or fire breaths, whereas some tried to ram him with their bodies.

"..." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

A flickering blue arrow appeared in Lily’s hands as she focused on Mika.

Mika swung Excalibur around him swiftly, causing a short and light tornado that annihilated the creatures in the vicinity.

He quickly switched his attention to the incoming blue and thinned arrow.

Widening his stance, he retracted his sword, ready to cut it down, however, in the last second, the arrow split into a few other arrows. Those arrows may not have hit Mika directly but they exploded upon contact with the ground around and beneath Mika.

Dust was kicked up in the air but quickly dispersed again as Mika swung Excalibur. He was not greatly injured but he had some bruises on his body nonetheless.

Then, Mika kicked himself off the ground and jumped at Lily.

He cracked the ground after Lily dodged Mika’s swing.

"!"

She quickly launched a fire attack when Mika decided to throw off lightning with his other hand as well.

Following the collision of their magic, Mika teleported himself behind Lily. However this time, she was used to his fighting style and faced him instantly.

Mika was about to cut her from above but was stopped when she grabbed his hands, including Excalibur’s grip.

With her other free hand, she assembled blue flames and let out a blue fire blaze right in front of him.

Mika barely avoided it by teleporting himself above her.

"?"

Suddenly, Harik came out of nowhere and tackled Mika. He rolled on the ground with Mika in his arms and when he got up, he tensed up his entire body to throw Mika high up in the air.

There, very high vines were reaching out to him, wrapping themselves around his arms and legs. It was the anxious Rachel who captivated him temporarily.

The fire creatures opened their mouths, preparing their fire breaths.

Meanwhile, Belian and Lisa joined Lily’s side. Those three concentrated their magic on one single point.

Blue flames mixed with regular flames and lightning.

Even Mika knew that receiving that attack head-on would be dangerous.

"Enlarge."

Summoning the Holy Spear once more in the air, Mika ordered it to increase its entire shape, dispersing the creatures in the air first.

"!"

A spear with the size and width of a tower was falling on them but it was too late for them to avoid it as they fired off their combined magic attack.

But the spear did not stop from falling even when confronted with such intense magic.

The spear pierced through it and was about to make contact with the ground, meaning that it would squash the three white-class students.

"Huh...?"

It disappeared suddenly.

"!"

Belian was the first one to turn around when Mika appeared from behind.

Mika reached his hand out to Lily.

He surprised her when he grabbed her hand and raised it together with his. His arm was retracted with Excalibur’s peak pointing at Lily.

Both Lisa and Belian rushed and drew their weapons anew. Frantically, they tried to stop and separate Mika from Lily, however, they were not fast enough.

"..."

Mika glanced for a split second at Belian and then Lisa before he faced the stunned Lily.

He had a firm grip on Excalibur as he thrust it to Lily.

"!"

She reflexively closed her eyes.

"..."

She counted to three until she noticed that nothing happened to her body. Rather, it felt like she was freed from a shackle.

Lily opened her eyes cautiously.

The only thing that Mika attacked and destroyed was the black bracelet on her wrist.

The same bracelet which forced her to act against Mika.

"It’s over now, Lily." Mika declared determinedly as the bracelet’s pieces clattered on the ground.

The others from her class also relaxed their bodies, noticing that they had no reason to fight anymore.

"M-Mika... I..."

Lily tried to explain herself, albeit clumsily.

"Sorry, I don’t have time for that now." Mika interrupted her.

He turned his back on his old friends.

It was time for the next phase.