At the scene where magic power collided with magic power, stirring up gusts of wind, the students who had originally gathered around the student cafeteria and main street all retreated far away as if afraid of being caught in the crossfire...
Charlotte, Yaya, Sigmund, and Raishin also withdrew slightly. Natsuki, Ikaros, Astrea, Nagisa, and Natsuoto, meanwhile, perfectly played the roles of Automatons and stood silently beside Wu Yan.
Only Frey, trapped inside the iron cage with nowhere to retreat, could endure the suffocating pressure as she tightly gripped the steel bars. Cold sweat ran down her cheeks, while Rabi curled into a ball and hid behind the cage.
As time passed, the two who had continuously released magic power in confrontation finally began to show different reactions.
Wu Yan still looked utterly composed, watching Loki across from him with a faint smile and a meaningful glint in his eyes.
Loki's face, however, had begun to flush red, as though he had exerted himself too hard. Sweat streamed down his face, and the magic power rising from his body slowly began to weaken. Seeing this, Charlotte, Sigmund, Frey, Yaya, Raishin, and the others understood the outcome no matter how poor their judgment might have been.
Who the victor of this silent battle was...
However, this silent battle was destined to end without a conclusion.
Seeing Loki's face drenched in sweat and flushed so terribly that he seemed on the verge of coughing up blood, Frey, who was inside the iron cage, called out worriedly.
"Loki..."
In the deathly silent scene, Frey's voice did not sound particularly abrupt, yet it echoed with startling clarity.
Ikaros, standing beside Wu Yan, could not help reaching out and tugging on his sleeve.
"Master..."
There was no need to think about it. Ikaros wanted Wu Yan