In fact, even two summons was going too far.

What kind of reckless things was he doing for a mage who looked so young?

Moreover, it was right after he had summoned a tremendous amount of lightning. Even if he squeezed mana out of his blood, it wouldn't have been that much.

But now that even a griffin appeared, Bagdugul's patience ran out.

"I'll kill you!"

As murderous intent-filled crimson aura flickered and condensed on the skewer-like sword, Yi-Han shouted to Niffirg.

"Fall back, Niffirg!"

The opponent's swordsmanship skills were not ordinary. It seemed to be on a similar level to Jangcliff's. If he got caught by such an opponent, even a griffin's neck could be cut off.

Sharakan and the skeleton warrior Gonadaltes, who didn't care about damage, rushed in.

"Gonadaltes. I'm counting on you!"

"What, who...!"

Crack!

Even in his surprise, Bagdugul accurately pierced through the skeleton warrior with his aura.

The swordsman's aura, created through endless painful training, was the crystallization of endurance and at the same time a spear that could pierce through anything.

To pierce through a reinforced skeleton made by overlapping more than ten skeleton warriors, even with its shield.

Yi-Han couldn't help but be surprised by the destructive power that exceeded expectations.

'What the...!'

But there was also something Bagdugul didn't expect.

Bagdugul's eyes widened as the skeleton warrior clung on without caring.

No matter how many layers of bone armor were added, it endured without being immediately unsummoned by the aura.

"What the...!"

Taking advantage of that gap, Sharakan bit into Bagdugul's ankle with a vicious sound.

Bagdugul cursed and tried to kick Sharakan away, but Sharakan didn't get greedy and immediately retreated.

"Huff, huff..."

The skeleton warrior was unsummoned belatedly. Bagdugul moved away from the skeleton warrior without giving even a moment's gap.

The true attack of a dark mage began after such summons were defeated.

Even the corpses of summons had to be watched out for.

However, despite being careful, an explosion occurred on Bagdugul's coat.

Bang!!

Bagdugul instinctively concentrated mana into his muscles to block the attack, but he couldn't completely block the impact.

"What the... damn...???"

Bagdugul couldn't understand.

He had definitely moved away from the corpse of the summon, so how could there be an explosion of this level?

At most, only bone fragments would have stuck to him...

'That's fortunate at least.'

Yi-Han let out a sigh of relief.

If the opponent had stayed close, he wouldn't have been able to use it for fear of a huge explosion, but when he shook off all the bone fragments, it became easier to use.

Because even considering that, there was a limit to how much it could explode!

Of course, even taking that into account, the power exceeded expectations, but...

The arrogant face of the opposing mage entered Bagdugul's eyes.

It was as if he was declaring, 'I still have many things hidden.'

'...This won't do.'

Bagdugul ignored Sharakan and the griffin.

The mage's summons were certainly threatening, but the mage was not easy enough to defeat while keeping them in check.

He had to escape from the opponent's palm.

Bagdugul took a deep breath.

Along with his murderous intent, the color of the crimson aura became even deeper and burned strongly.

He intended to directly attack the mage even if he had to lose an arm or a leg.

'Damn it.'

Yi-Han clicked his tongue inwardly.

The situation was gradually going beyond expectations.

If they were blocked to this extent, he thought the enemies would also retreat...

'Why aren't they retreating?'

Most of the prepared means had been blocked, and even frontal and flanking attacks had been stopped.

Wouldn't they normally retreat at this point?

'Do they hold such a deep grudge against the knights? Did the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order insult their parents or something?'

Yi-Han didn't realize that he had pushed the enemies too hard.

Having suffered this much, let alone getting angry, it was not easy to retreat.

With a mage like this, there was no telling what kind of traps he had prepared in case of a retreat.

The only path left for Bagdugul was to cut off the mage's head. That was the only certain path left.

"...Let's see you try."

"?"

"Why. What are you waiting for?"

Bagdugul spoke to Yi-Han.

It was to gauge the opponent and distract his mind.

What kind of traps did that mage leave behind?

'There aren't any now?'

Yi-Han was slightly flustered.

The summons were all used up, and now only a pure battle of strength remained.

The moment the opponent charged, he planned to immediately cast illusion magic and invisibility magic, and then bombard with magic.

He was worried if there would be enough time since the swordsman could even use aura, but there was no choice in this situation.

'Wait. No.'

When it seemed like the opponent was misunderstanding, Yi-Han decided to play along with it.

Anyway, he could buy time.

"I'm waiting for you to charge."

"I see..."

Bagdugul glared at Yi-Han with a low snort.

"There must be a magic circle on the floor."

Magic that activates an invisible magic circle the moment you step on the floor was often used defensively.

Yi-Han nodded.

"That's right."

"On the ceiling too."

"That's right."

"On the walls too."

"That's right."

"..."

Bagdugul suddenly became confused.

He was even more confused because it seemed like the opposing mage was calmly telling the truth.

What?

'No, no, again... I almost got played by the mage again.'

Bagdugul put aside his pride.

For now, he had to acknowledge that the opposing mage was definitely a step ahead of him.

It was humiliating to the point of his heart burning to be experientially inferior to such a young mage, but there was no choice.

Because he had been completely played in the mage's grasp until now.

'I'll kill him!'

At that moment, a dagger flew in from behind Bagdugul. Bagdugul sensed the presence and quickly dodged.

"What... was this! Ha!"

Bagdugul shouted as if he finally understood.

The White Tiger Tower students who were fighting on the knights' side had rushed to help Yi-Han.

"No..."

Yi-Han was flustered.

Why are you guys coming??

"I told you to fight together with the knights!"

"You're clumsy at acting!"

Bagdugul openly sneered.

Seeing how flustered he was, he became even more convinced.

These young knights were definitely the mage's hidden card.

"Let's see you try!"

Anglago aimed his short bow.

His skills were quite proficient, but in the eyes of a swordsman like Bagdugul who had been through all kinds of battles, there were still many shortcomings.

'What? I won't let my guard down. The trap...'

Bagdugul didn't pay much attention, but for a moment, he felt strong mana from the short bow.

Swish!

"...!"

The arrow made a vicious sound as it passed by, as if it were some kind of artifact. If he got hit even once, he would collapse with that power.

'As expected!'

"Hey! Because of the power, the control is..."

"Endure it! You have no choice but to adapt on your own!"

'Was that magic cast by that mage!?'

At this point, Bagdugul became curious.

Among the magic shown here, how many did that mage cast?

Clang!

At that moment, a potion bottle flew in. It was a potion thrown by Bartreck. Judging from the energy inside, it was definitely poison.

Bagdugul had no choice but to stop the attack again and deflect the potion bottle.

'It doesn't seem like such a strong poison. Did I block it for nothing? No. I shouldn't judge by appearance. It's a trap set by that mage!'

'His movement stopped.'

In the meantime, Yi-Han grasped his staff and completed the spell.

Honestly, the attacks of the White Tiger Tower friends were not that great, but for some reason, Bagdugul was overly wary and wasted time.

That gap gave Yi-Han another chance.

Bzzzzzzt!

"Ugh!"

When a much thicker lightning bolt than before flew in, burning the wide tent, Bagdugul instinctively dodged.

'This bastard, the distance!'

The opposing mage didn't even expect to hit him in one shot, so he launched continuous attacks. The distance gradually widened as he dodged those attacks.

It was a method rarely seen from ordinary mages.

Since there was mana consumption, they usually tried to hit in one shot, and the moment they dodged, their weakness was exposed, but...

"Are you guys okay?!"

"We're fine! Isn't it a knight's role to protect the mage?!"

"Are you confident you can block?"

"..."

The White Tiger Tower friends didn't answer. Yi-Han felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

'I have to block it somehow.'

Meanwhile, Jijel stood in front of Bagdugul, wielding her dual swords.

The enemy's sword with burning aura.

It was a technique with tremendous destructive power, but that didn't mean aura was almighty.

Jijel avoided contact with the opponent's sword and tried to thrust while keeping a distance as if to keep him in check.

"...The Moradi family!! Wait, you guys... Wait... Wait...?!"

Bagdugul widened his eyes when he saw that swordsmanship.

So many confusing things had happened today that it felt like fog had settled in his head, but seeing that swordsmanship, something came to mind.

'That's the emblem of the Alpha family, and that's the emblem of the Bark family... Wait... Wait...?'

They were all families unrelated to the Chestnut Tree Knight Order and had no reason to be here.

Moreover, the knights were unusually young.

A realization flashed in Bagdugul's mind.

"Could it be that you were students?!?!"

"..."

"..."

The White Tiger Tower students were even more flustered.

'He didn't know we were students? Why is he making such a fuss?'

"This crazy mage bastard tricked...!"

"Huh? No, he's also a student..."

Realizing that he had been fooled once again, Bagdugul became furious like a demon from hell.

Deceiving him with students disguised as knights to hinder him.

That enemy was not only cunning but also vicious.

"Magic or whatever..."

Bagdugul prepared to charge, trusting his body trained as a swordsman, whether summons rushed in or he was torn apart by magic.

"...Try and blow me away!"

Along with a murderous voice, the air vibrated.

Crash!!

And then the skull principal's death knights broke into the tent with glowing blue eyes.

The death knights heartily trampled the mercenaries outside, drained the energy of the mercenaries inside, and finally engaged in a wheel battle against Bagdugul.

At the sudden attack of the death knights, Bagdugul angrily swung his aura, but the death knights eerily laughed and immediately recovered whether they took damage or not.

-Stab more, living one! I said stab more!-

-Living one, I knew how to handle aura since you were wriggling in your father's scrotum. Did you think that skill would be enough? Hahaha!-

-The most evil and terrible magic is protecting us!-

"These cursed undead!"

Bagdugul was terrified.

A sense of helplessness he had never felt since he became able to handle aura came crashing down.

Even the undead dwelling in the darkest and most vicious lands of the empire couldn't recover and rolled on the ground when hit by aura...! But these dead knights were not!

Swish!

Every time he was grazed by the death knights' swords, his blood froze, his bones became numb, and the vitality of his body disappeared.

Bagdugul tried to draw up the mana in his body, but his body stiffened and his legs collapsed.

Thud!

"I'll... remember you...!"

-???-

-Who are you holding a grudge against now?-

The death knights, who were tightly sealing Bagdugul with all kinds of artifacts, were dumbfounded by Bagdugul's words.

Was he a fool who didn't even know whose blade he was cut by?

"Mage... Today... I admit... I was played by your hand... But... Never again...!"

-...-

-...-

The death knights, who grasped the situation, became a bit awkward.

They had come to secretly follow the students, and when a battle broke out, they came to help, but they had unintentionally become a strategically meticulous ambush.

-That's right. You were played.-

-Hey!-

-Why. Isn't this better?-

-Indeed, that's true. The master's disciple will also be satisfied since this will make him more notorious.-

"????"