Kazuma and Yamazaki reacted almost at the same time. The moment the attacks came from various directions, both of them moved lightly—dodging with ease as if they had already predicted the strikes.
Their footsteps shifted swiftly across the rocky ground, their bodies twisting with precision to evade every slash and blow that came their way.
Kazuma immediately launched a counterattack, just as Yamazaki did, still showing sharp reflexes despite his age far exceeding that of a normal human.
The four attackers were clearly not ordinary people. All of them were ability users, and as widely known, those who possessed such power were almost entirely women.
However, for Kazuma and Yamazaki, that fact changed nothing.
They did not hesitate in the slightest to fight back.
On a battlefield like this, gender was no longer a consideration. The ones standing before them were not merely women, but ability users who had come with a clear objective—to capture or bring them down.
Even so, Yamazaki still demonstrated his superiority. He was a pure human, yet his long combat experience made every movement sharp and efficient. Meanwhile, Kazuma was a different case entirely. He was the first male ability user, a fact that was still unknown to the wider world.
Facing two opponents at once—especially elite forces—should not have been easy.
But for Kazuma, the situation was far from difficult.
His movements were fast and refined. He read his opponents' attacks calmly, twisting his body to evade incoming slashes, then retaliating with precise strikes. Within a few brief exchanges, the balance of both his opponents immediately collapsed.
One by one, he knocked them to the ground.
More surprisingly, Kazuma had not even used his ability yet. Everything was purely the result of combat technique and honed reflexes.
On Yamazaki's side, the situation was not much different.
Despite his old age, every movement still reflected the sharpness of a veteran. He avoided attacks with small, efficient steps, then countered with clean and precise techniques. No movement was wasted. In just a few exchanges, his opponent lost balance and was forced to retreat.
Decades of battlefield experience were clearly not something to be taken lightly.
From the air, Gabriel observed everything with a sharp gaze. Seeing her subordinates defeated so quickly, she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Without hesitation, she flapped her wings and dived down from the sky.
Her golden armor gleamed as her body shot downward like an arrow released from a bow. The air whistled violently in her wake, indicating that the attack was far from a mere bluff.
Her target was clear.
Kazuma.
Gabriel struck first, taking advantage of her aerial momentum. In her hand, she gripped a **mace. As she swung it toward Kazuma, the metal weapon emitted a faint glow—a sign that her ability was flowing through the attack.
But something unexpected happened.
Kazuma caught it with his bare hand.
The impact produced a heavy crash, strong enough to create small cracks in the ground beneath Kazuma's feet. Even so, his hand held the weapon firmly.
Gabriel was shocked.
For a moment, her eyes narrowed as she assessed the young man before her.
"Looks like you've trained your ability well…"
Kazuma let out a short breath.
"You're wrong. I haven't used my ability at all!"
Kazuma was not too surprised that they knew he possessed an ability. Information like that spread quickly in their world. But what truly shocked Gabriel was the fact that Kazuma had blocked her attack using nothing but his physical strength.
"Impossible!"
Gabriel yanked her weapon back forcefully and attacked again without hesitation.
Clash after clash echoed. Her attacks came relentlessly from various angles—fast, heavy, and lethal—while Kazuma parried, dodged, and countered with equal speed.
Within seconds, their fight escalated into an intense battle that shook the area around the shrine. The ground cracked in several places, and the gusts from each collision made the surrounding leaves tremble violently.
On the other side, Yamazaki had just taken down two ability users. He let out a long breath, as if he had merely finished a light warm-up.
"This isn't even enough for an appetizer."
His tone was flat, almost like a casual complaint.
Indeed, the force sent was not large. If it were too big, the operation would create unnecessary chaos and risk attracting attention. However, Gabriel still had another card in her team—those known as Numbers.
From the shadows of the trees, two male figures stepped forward.
Both of them were also ability users, but something about them felt different. Their eyes were empty, showing almost no sign of awareness. Their movements were stiff yet stable, like machines following commands.
The moment Yamazaki saw them, his expression turned slightly more serious.
In an instant, his instincts warned him.
These two men are extremely dangerous.
"Well... this could be bad."
Before Yamazaki could take another step, the two men had already moved. Without a word, without hesitation, they attacked simultaneously from two different directions—their speed far surpassing the previous ability users.
BAM!
A powerful impact shook the ground. Dust and debris burst into the air as the surface around Yamazaki was lifted from the force.
On the other side of the battlefield, Kazuma immediately turned toward the source of the sound. His eyes widened as he saw the ground rising and dust billowing high.
"MASTER!"
He shouted instinctively.
But that moment of distraction created an opening.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE LOOKING!"
Gabriel's voice rang sharply just before her weapon swung again.
"Tch!"
Kazuma gritted his teeth and twisted his body quickly, barely avoiding the incoming strike.
This time, he immediately countered.
Kazuma stepped forward and delivered a full-force blow. The strike hit Gabriel directly, sending her body flying backward. She crashed through several trees before finally stopping, the trunks snapping one after another with loud cracking sounds.
Kazuma exhaled deeply.
He knew he had to remain calm.
If his emotions became unstable, his ability would follow. Slowly, he suppressed part of his awareness using the technique he had long trained—Mind Control, a method to regulate his emotions and keep them stable.
His heartbeat began to slow.
At the same time, heat started spreading from within his body. His temperature gradually rose, a faint wave of heat radiating from his skin like the shimmer of air above burning asphalt.
"This is my first time fighting ability users…"
Kazuma said quietly, staring at Gabriel as she began to rise among the fallen trees.
"Sorry… this might hurt a lot."
Kazuma lowered his stance slightly, taking a position like a runner at the starting line. His muscles tensed as the heat inside him continued to rise. His skin began to emit a clear thermal aura, making the ground beneath his feet hiss softly.
"Helios Chariot!"
In an instant, Kazuma dashed forward.
His body shot ahead like a flash of light, and every step he took left a trail of destruction. The ground along his path cracked and blackened from the intense heat, as if a burning track had formed simply from his movement.
The speed was so sudden that Gabriel had no time to fully prepare.
BOOM!
Kazuma slammed into her directly. The impact sounded like a small explosion as his blazing body collided with Gabriel's golden armor.
Gabriel was launched high into the air, her body shooting through the gaps between the trees and reaching the sky above the shrine.
But for Kazuma, that was still not enough.
He bent his knees briefly, then jumped.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet shattered as he propelled himself upward. Fragments of rock and earth scattered in all directions while Kazuma soared up at incredible speed, chasing Gabriel who was still airborne.
Up there, Gabriel tried to stabilize herself. Her wings flapped powerfully, attempting to regain control of her body. But before she could fully recover—
Someone grabbed her leg.
Gabriel flinched.
As she turned her head, her eyes immediately met Kazuma, who was already right beneath her.
In one swift motion, Kazuma seized her ankle firmly. Gabriel's body jolted briefly in midair before Kazuma twisted his torso, gathering strength in his arm.
Then—
With immense force, he smashed her back down to the ground.
Gabriel's body shot downward at brutal speed, crashing into the earth like a meteor falling from the sky. A thunderous impact echoed across the shrine, the ground cracking at the point of collision as dust and debris blasted high into the air.
Gabriel lay at the center of a small crater formed by the impact. Her body felt heavy, her breath momentarily knocked out by the sheer force.
For the first time since the battle began, she was truly overwhelmed.
Before she could even deploy her full power seriously, Kazuma had already forced her to realize one crucial fact—
The young man was not an easy target.
'Urgh... Walker was right. We can't underestimate him.'
Gabriel tried to rise, but pain still spread throughout her body. Her golden armor was covered in dust and fine cracks from the impact.
But then something changed.
A warm sensation spread through her body. The pain that had gripped her muscles and bones began to fade. The injuries she had just sustained started healing rapidly.
Gabriel realized.
Someone had used a healing ability on her.
From behind the settling dust, one of her teammates—who had already recovered from the earlier fight—stood with a raised hand, their ability still active.
"Captain!"
The voice carried concern as her teammate saw Gabriel finally begin to move again within the fading cloud of dust.
Gabriel took a deep breath, then rose from the crater where her body had struck the ground. The cracks on her golden armor were still clearly visible, but her gaze had sharpened once more. The pain that had overwhelmed her moments ago was now fading thanks to her ally's healing ability.
Without wasting time, she made a decision.
"Beta, Plan B!"
Gabriel shouted firmly.
In the distance, the one called Beta reacted immediately. Without the slightest hesitation, they moved to execute the order, as if the plan had already been prepared long before this operation began.
The air around them tightened once more.
Kazuma, standing not far away, narrowed his eyes. He realized that his opponents had yet to reveal all their cards. Whatever this Plan B was, it was clearly meant to shift the course of the battle.
More importantly… what about Master?
The thought crossed his mind instantly.
For the moment, Kazuma ignored Gabriel and shifted his gaze, searching for Yamazaki among the trees and the dust still swirling in the air.
Meanwhile—
On the other side of the battlefield, Yamazaki was in a far more difficult situation.
He was now cornered.
His two opponents stood before him like monsters out of a nightmare.
The first was a mutation-type ability user. Sharp crystals continuously grew and extended from his body like thorns. Every movement caused the crystals to grind against each other, reflecting a cold light, turning him into both a moving fortress and a lethal weapon.
The second was no less unusual. He was a creation-type ability user, but not of ordinary objects—rather, ash. Dark ash particles swirled around his body like a living fog, then condensed into various sharp and heavy structures that could be launched at any moment.
Yamazaki observed both of them calmly, even though his position was clearly unfavorable.
His instincts immediately assessed the situation.
Two extremely troublesome abilities.
One attacked with a body that was nearly impossible to touch without injury, while the other controlled ash that could change form at will.
Even so, Yamazaki simply let out a quiet breath.
His eyes remained sharp, like a veteran who had stood on battlefields far too often to feel fear.