The enemies' strategy was clear. They planned to block visibility and then activate the trap.
Hearing Shirone's voice through the explosions, Amy quickly stopped.
Looking up, she noticed an unusual vibration in the valley beyond the smoke.
'Falling rocks.'
On either side of the canyon were mechanical devices resembling catapults.
Large boulders were loaded, and the connected ropes were taut, as if they might snap at any moment.
The Parrot Mercenaries' squad leader shouted.
Squad Leader: "Now! Unleash everything!"
Dozens of boulders were hurled into the valley below with the force of levers.
The sheer volume of rocks was enough to fill the canyon's cross-section, making it clear that this wasn't just a trap to kill a few people. It was a last-resort card designed to annihilate enemies in a final showdown.
'These lunatics…!'
Shirone had to escape.
With that thought, he activated teleportation, but at that moment, a flash of light erupted from the center of the gray smoke.
In an instant, the smoke dispersed, revealing Shirone, who had activated Radiant Burst.
The sound of the light barrier tearing through the air was like thunderclaps ringing out one after another.
Yet, the boulders, weighing several tons each, plunged into the light barrier.
The Parrot Mercenaries cheered.
Just as everyone imagined Shirone being crushed, the speed of Radiant Burst began to increase exponentially.
A tremendous roar pierced the eardrums of the Parrot Mercenaries.
The decibel level was so high that it made their hearts lurch.
Squad Leader: "Ugh!"
Grimacing, the squad leader hurriedly turned to look at Shirone again.
And he was left speechless by the magical scene unfolding before his eyes.
The massive boulders were caught in the middle of Radiant Burst's oscillating barrier, shaking back and forth.
The repulsive force pushing against the boulders' weight.
Cracks began to spread across the boulders, and soon they were being crushed as if fed into a grinder.
Amy shuddered.
It wasn't just a force pushing outward. The overlapping barriers were cutting through the boulders like teeth chewing through them.
'If those weren't rocks…'
If living beings had been caught in that barrier, the result would have been horrifying to imagine.
As the rock was crushed into gravel-sized pieces, Shirone finally spread his barrier wide.
With a poof, tens of thousands of fragments scattered in all directions.
The entire process took roughly two seconds.
To those who couldn't grasp the thousands of events that occurred in that time, it seemed as though the rock had simply exploded.
In the silence, the sound of gravel rolling across the ground was eerily clear.
"..."
The Parrot Mercenaries couldn't comprehend what they had just witnessed.
When the light exploded, the rock shattered into dust. That was all they could see with their own eyes.
3rd Squad Leader: "Damn it! What the hell is that kid?"
The squad leader's eyes burned with killing intent.
He had over a decade of battlefield experience, but this was the first time he had been completely overwhelmed in combat by a mage who wasn't even of age.
Subordinate: "Squad Leader, what do we do now?"
3rd Squad Leader: "Prepare the magic bullets! Fire them all!"
With the addition of the subordinates manning the catapults, roughly 40 members of the mercenary group had gathered on the castle walls.
As the subordinates swiftly detached the arrowheads and attached the magic bullets, Shirone's eyes widened.
At the same time, a sphere of photons burst into existence in front of him, vibrating intensely as if sucking in the surrounding light.
A subordinate who had already experienced Shirone's magic pointed at the photon cannon and shouted.
Subordinate: "Squad Leader! That thing is dangerous!"
Indeed, even to the squad leader, it didn't look ordinary.
Above all, now that he knew the light had destructive power, just seeing it flicker made his blood run cold.
3rd Squad Leader: "Hurry up! Our firepower is superior anyway!"
As if responding to his words, the photon cannon shot forward at a terrifying speed and slammed into the iron gate.
The loud bang startled the subordinates, causing them to take a step back.
The vibrations could even be felt on the castle walls.
3rd Squad Leader: "What the hell? Did it break through? Check it now!"
Several subordinates rushed down to inspect the iron gate.
Though there were marks on the thick iron plate, it hadn't been breached.
Subordinate: "The gate is intact!"
3rd Squad Leader: "Good! Now it's our turn to attack."
Meanwhile, Tess and Rian arrived on the battlefield.
After assessing the situation, Tess spoke.
Tess: "It's hard to break through an iron gate with magic. Rian and I will flank the castle and take control."
As Rian nodded and strapped his greatsword to his back, Amy stopped them.
Amy: "No, wait a second."
Tess: "We don't have time to waste. We need to strike before the enemy regroups. This is our chance."
Though Tess's reasoning was sound, Amy simply stared at Shirone's back, who was standing at the forefront.
Amy: "He'll break through."
Confused, Tess turned to look at Shirone and her eyes widened.
Shirone's body was glowing red.
Tess: "What is that? Isn't that dangerous?"
Humans instinctively feel uneasy at the sight of red, perhaps because it reminds them of blood.
Even Tess felt a chill, so the enemies facing Shirone must have been on edge, their wariness skyrocketing.
Subordinate: "Squad Leader, what is that?"
3rd Squad Leader: "..."
As a veteran, he had a rough idea.
But it didn't make sense.
If that red light was the magic he thought it was, Shirone shouldn't be this young.
Before he could answer, a beam of laser reached the iron gate in an instant—so fast it could only be described as a blink of an eye.
The subordinates, who knew the power of the photon cannon, were terrified, but contrary to their expectations, there was no shockwave or even a sound.
Subordinate: "Tch, it was nothing after all."
Unlike the relieved subordinates, the squad leader turned his head with an angry expression.
3rd Squad Leader: "What are you all doing? Fire now!"
If 40 archers fired magic bullets, they could turn the area around Shirone into a wasteland.
But before they could, the iron gate began to shake.
The subordinates looked down, but they couldn't see through the gate.
However, the vibrations they felt through their feet made it seem as though the gate itself was shaking the castle.
One subordinate risked his life to check the gate's condition.
Subordinate: "Th-that...."
The first thing he saw was the iron gate, glowing like molten lava.
Then, the iron began to bubble and bulge like air bubbles.
The subordinate was certain.
Subordinate: "Squad Leader! The gate is breaking!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the gate exploded.
Even as the heated fragments scattered, the squad leader couldn't believe it.
The gate, which hadn't budged even under siege weapons, was completely destroyed.
3rd Squad Leader: "Damn it! Fire! Pour everything you've got!"
The archers fired their arrows in a direct line.
With the gate breached, if they didn't stop Shirone here, the tide of the battle would rapidly shift in favor of the side with the mage.
The 40 magic bullets, fired with all their might, flew toward Shirone.
The moment the bullets, imbued with the power of nature, exploded, the sound of friction tearing through the air erupted.
Tess and Rian didn't notice, but Amy's gaze immediately turned to the sky.
The afterimage of the light traced a parabola before crashing dozens of meters away.
'Spatial teleportation.'
To a third party, it looked as though the light had bent, but to Shirone, it was space itself that had warped.
Thus, he completely ignored the trajectory of the magic bullets and moved to his desired location—the center of the gate, which had been blown away by the laser.
Amy: "Shirone's fine. Let's go in."
As they cut through the smoke and entered, they saw Shirone preparing his photon cannon under the arch of the gate.
Unaware of this, the subordinates on the castle walls burst into laughter.
Subordinate: "Hahaha! It's over! He's completely gone!"
3rd Squad Leader: "Good! Without him, the rest are easy prey. Everyone, prepare to charge!"
As the Parrot Mercenaries set down their bows and picked up their weapons, Tess tilted her head in confusion.
Even now, she could clearly see Shirone preparing his magic.
Tess: "What's going on? Why are they acting like that?"
Amy: "They didn't hear the sound of spatial teleportation. They must think Shirone's dead."
Normally, spatial teleportation is a long-distance spell by human standards, but Shirone had warped space to a relatively short distance.
From a third party's perspective, the light had shot up almost vertically before crashing down.
A mage would have heard the momentary roar and understood, but to the enemies, who weren't trained in magic, it simply looked like Shirone had disappeared.
Shirone, who had been about to unleash his photon cannon, seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly stepping back.
When the Parrot Mercenaries saw Shirone step out of the shadows, they were as shocked as if they'd seen a ghost.
Subordinate: "Squad Leader! Over there...!"
The squad leader's face turned red with rage.
The human who should have been torn to pieces by the bombardment was now defiantly tilting his chin up, looking at the castle walls.
Shirone: "This is your last chance. Release Jis's sister. If you do, we'll leave now."
3rd Squad Leader: "Hoho."
The squad leader felt mocked.
3rd Squad Leader: "Leave? After all this? Do you even know where you are? The Parrot Mercenaries never let anyone who attacks us walk away. This will be your grave."
Shirone clenched his lips tightly.
'As expected, they're not easy opponents.'
The enemies must have sensed the difference in strength.
Their aggressive nature, refusing to back down from a fight, was the true strength of the Parrot Mercenaries.
If they hadn't been caught up in political schemes, they might have grown into a much larger force by now.
Shirone: "I don't want a meaningless fight. You were the ones who made the mistake. Let's end it here."
3rd Squad Leader: "Meaningless, huh?"
The squad leader drew his sword.
3rd Squad Leader: "That's not what this is about. Winning against someone… not wanting to be the loser… that's what it's about."
It was desire, instinct.
3rd Squad Leader: "Everyone, charge."
As soon as the squad leader gave the order, all the subordinates raised their weapons and charged.
Subordinates: "Let's go! Kill them!"
Realizing he couldn't persuade the enemies, Shirone leaped back to the base of the castle walls.
3rd Squad Leader: "Idiot! There's nowhere to run!"
The 40 subordinates surrounded the gate from both sides.
But they couldn't advance any further.
Shirone had raised his fist toward the ground, his eyes sharp and glaring.
3rd Squad Leader: "Huh?"
A scene flashed through the squad leader's mind.
The magic that had shattered a massive rock in an instant. Could he really claim that the castle walls were stronger than that rock?
3rd Squad Leader: "H-hey, wait a second..."
Seeing the look in Shirone's eyes, the squad leader realized he was serious.
He really intended to bring down the castle.
3rd Squad Leader: "Hey! Don't do it! Do you know how much this castle is worth? Hey!"
As if it wasn't worth answering, Shirone lowered his gaze, and the squad leader shouted at his subordinates.
3rd Squad Leader: "Get back! Everyone, retreat!"
Before he could finish speaking, a photon cannon with a diameter of 20 meters began to pulsate around Shirone.
The photons, carrying mass, violently shook the castle walls, causing fragments to rain down from the arch.
Though the massive structure held out for a while, even the durability of materials has its limits.
Shirone unleashed the photon cannon even faster, and finally, the main supports of the castle began to collapse one by one.
3rd Squad Leader: "Damn it!"
The squad leader felt dizzy.
He was willing to lay down his life for the Parrot Mercenaries, but the thought of losing the organization's heavily invested stronghold was horrifying.
'What kind of monster is this kid?'
Shirone's magic being unique was something I liked, and the fact that he was a person who empathized with others' pain also appealed to me.
For her, the only reason to live was to shatter their hypocrisy.
Marsha: "We'll meet soon."
Marsha stretched her arms.
Her bracelet glowed intensely, and in an instant, it launched her to the edge of a cliff.