"Die!"

Yoshino's mana exploded and broke the water dome like it was made of glass. Umi coughed out a mouthful of blood and had a pale face. Her shield was forcefully canceled and her mana rampaged inside her body. Right now, she had no way to fight until she recovered naturally. Date had only supported Umi and had suffered less than Umi but the fact that he also helped create the shield made his mana flow made him end up in the same state as Umi.

"Date, Umi, fall back! Kei, Arata, Your Highness, let's go!"

Even though Kazuki was the crown prince and used to leading people, it was still known that Yoko was the best in close combat among the youths of the kingdom.

We have to at least hold on until Kai defeats the demon...

Yoko wished so but knew it was impossible. In the first place, Kai only has a chance to defeat the demon, it wasn't set in stone that he would win. And on the occasion that he did, Yoko and the others wouldn't last long enough. The best-case scenario is that the cloaked figures and the royal guards are to make their way over and help them.

In particular, the cloaked figure who had talked to Kai was strong enough to defeat the demon if Yoko were to assist.

"Arata, Your Highness, hold him back for a few seconds. Kei, assist them."

"So unreasonable!"

Kazuki complained but charged forward anyway. Arata grit his teeth while gripping his spear tightly.

"[Flame Dragon]!"

Kei pointed his sword forward and a flame dragon spanning tens of meters shot out.

"[Squall]!"

A large ball of wind shot out from Kazuki's palm. The wind and flame dragon launched side by side.

"[Earth Spikes]!"

A dozen spikes of earth appeared when Arata stabbed the floor with his spear which then shot out towards Yoshino.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die!"

Yoshino had water on one hand and wind on the other. He then clasped his hands together.

Yoko's eyes widened.

"Arata, Your Highness, fall back!"

The two were prepared and leapt back the same time Yoko's words fell.

Arata's [Earth Spikes] and Kazuki's [Squall] were stopped. Only Kei's [Flame Dragon] stood a chance against the attack that had just appeared.

PSSSHHHH

"...!"

Everyone had furrowed brows and they became even more alert than before.

"Ice! He actually managed to use ice!"

Kazuki was in total disbelief and raised his great sword to attack once more. Wind was strong against earth because it could go through even the tiniest gap but ice was different, with enough mastery one can even control cold wind. Ice is one of the strongest counters against the three elements of wind, earth, and water. It's specially effective against water but is weak against fire.

With Yoshino's use of ice, there are now four known ice attributes in the capital, three from the Mariko Palace and Kai.

Even so, fire without sufficient heat wouldn't be able to melt thick ice. The [Flame Dragon] was doused as the ice turned into water and in the end, disappeared in steam.

"Kei, you'll be our main attack force. Arata, we will still need you to use earth to counter the water."

Yoko appeared next to them and with clenched teeth, she leapt upwards and used the wall as leverage to launch forward with bigger force.

"[Twin Dragon Assault]!"

But she was forced to stop when a wall of ice suddenly formed in front of her then more formed behind and at her sides. Yoko quickly used the wall in front of her to leap upwards but she stopped once her feet landed on the wall, the open cage suddenly closed.

So fast...!

Yoko was encased in ice. Kei stopped attacking Yoshino and moved to burn the ice but just as he was about to create flames, a huge stream of water slammed into him and sent him flying.

"Kei!"

The water was an attack that Arata had failed to block. He wasn't much of a mage to begin with, he had almost no mana left and he was exhausted. Yoshino had seemingly endless mana and stamina; Kazuki and Arata couldn't even hope to keep up with him.

"INSECT!"

Yoshino took advantage of Arata's distracted state and landed a hit on his cheek which sent Arata crashing towards the wall once more. This time, he didn't have Umi to heal him.

"You're a disgrace of a noble!"

Kazuki roared and used his great sword to break through the wall of ice then dispersed the wind and water that had come afterwards with his own power. Though it was a reckless move, it managed to get him in arm's reach of Yoshino.

Yoshino thrust out his rapier towards Kazuki's chest but by spinning once, he landed a hit on Yoshino's chest and sent him flying. Kazuki had used the blade and not the blunt middle, Yoshino coughed up blood once and the red in his dark eyes glowed even brighter.

There was a wound stretching from Yoshino's shoulder to his chest which was continuously bleeding.

"Bastards...!"

Right now, Yoshino wasn't sane enough to heal himself using water. With his chest bleeding, he ran towards Kazuki. The power he was producing was at a completely different level. It was enough to kill Kazuki at his current state many times over.

Yoshino leaped forward with the long sword in hand.

Kazuki was about to block with his great sword but he knew that it was futile. Resigning himself to his fate, he closed his eyes. Umi and Date who had finally recovered used water bullets to stop Yoshino but it was useless.

""Your Highness!""

"DIEEEEEE!"

"Oops, I can't let you do that."

A voice suddenly cut in and the attack that would slice Kazuki in two didn't come.

"Huh?"

Yoshino's field of vision changed, right now he was looking at the ceiling. He remember swinging down with his long sword but his attack didn't connect at all. The next thing he felt was the solid ground on his back. His rage vanished for an instant but it returned immediately; stronger than ever.

"YOU DARE INTERFERE WITH MY KILL?!"

Standing there was a man with red hair and white armor.

"I can't just let you kill the crown prince, can I? Sheesh. That Kai, I told him that I'll help today but to think he'd set out at midnight, I had only told the men to set up yet when I returned they were already gone. Anyway, Mariko Yoshino, you have been corrupted by the demon's miasma."

The man shook his head.

"I may be weaker than Kai and the captains but I'm still A-class, I can defeat a fake A-class like you with my eyes closed. Royal Guard vice-captain, Kouhei Akashi. By my honor, I swear that I'll knock that demonic miasma right out of you."

Kohei said so as he raised his sword. Umi looked on with glittering eyes and had only one thought.

"So cool...!"

Though Kazuki and Date saw very differently. In their eyes was an carefree, middle-aged man wearing clothes fit for a prince in fairy tales. For Umi, Kouhei who had just appeared was exactly like a prince in shining white armor.

"Ah, so one of your friends is trapped in ice."

Kouhei pointed his sword at the ice walls and flames immediately melted it. Yoko was surprised for a second but immediately readied her weapon to face Yoshino.

"No need. I'll handle this. You can go ahead and help Kai, I'm certain that he'll need it. The others need to stay behind though, they'll prove little use with their injuries."

Yoko looked at him for second and as if remembering who the person was, nodded. She ran for the door and headed for Kai.

"You pathetic insect! You dare stand before me?!"

"All I've been hearing from your mouth is 'insect' and 'die', are you that stupid? I heard that Mariko Yoshino was a genius though."

Before anyone realized it, Kouhei was already beside Yoshino who had just finished speaking. Yoshino quickly raised a wall of ice but before it could completely form, Kouhei broke it with a front kick burning in flames.

"So you can do chantless if you are possessed... or perhaps, you already knew in the first place? Looks like Kai isn't the only irregular in the world."

Yoshino created a ball of water and launched it towards Kouhei. But without hesitating, Kouhei slashed it and the ball of water burst. Then, he pointed his sword forward and a flame dragon manifested, it looked like Kei's technique but this was not just tens of meters long, it was so large that even with the distance between them, it still hadn't finished expanding.

Yoshino burst into flames and was sent flying. He quickly doused the flames on his body with water but just as he did so, Kouhei appeared on top of him.

"To actually be able to do chantless despite being sent flying in mid-air, you're terrifying."

Although nobody wanted to hear it from him, his words held truth.

Kouhei placed a foot on top of Yoshino and with slight movements, sent Yoshino down with a bang. It was like a piston that had just released.

The floor had a huge crater and inside it was Mariko Yoshino whose eyes were white and power rapidly decreasing.

"Demonic miasma only amplifies one's feelings and power, that means it was true that you thought of yourself above others. If you were Kai, you'd simply be confident in your abilities. But you're only a person who's borrowed power, you aren't confident, you're arrogant- or so I'd say but it seems you're already unconscious. You all, just take that as a lesson."

"Y-yeah..."

Kazuki nodded albeit dumbfounded. Umi was looking at Kouhei with feverish eyes while Date was glancing at Umi and Kouhei uncomfortably.