"Damn it, run!"
Rider grabbed Fiore by the shoulder, used the crumbling wall as a foothold, and jumped without hesitation.
The eastern side of Milenia Fortress was a towering cliff. Jumping from the wall like this meant falling more than a hundred meters.
"Did you even consider how we're supposed to cushion a fall from this height?!"
In response to Fiore's fierce protest, Rider smiled with complete confidence.
"Of course I did! All right, come on... Hippogriff!"
The Hippogriff swooped through the air and let Fiore and Rider mount its back, its shrill cry echoing across the sky... but then...
"Huh? This guy isn't doing so well. Hey, hey, hang in there!"
Even as Rider patted its neck with loud thumps, the Hippogriff merely glared at him with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
Rider had forgotten that when he had attacked the Hanging Gardens earlier, he had been struck by the magecraft of "Red" Assassin... forcing the Hippogriff to retreat temporarily.
Though it seemed strained, the Hippogriff still flew up again with all its strength to protect its master. The black greatsword swept past their backs by the narrowest margin.
"Wahaha! This guy's really fast! Master, be careful not to let him lock onto you!"
The giant, intending to continue its pursuit, suddenly stopped and turned to swing its sword behind it... A shockwave boomed, the air shuddered, and scraps of mana scattered in every direction.
That enormous stone sword... the obsidian sword, was stopped just a hair's breadth from the girl's helmet. The one standing atop the wall was Ruler. The stone slab beneath her feet had already been sheared away by half from that strike.
"So it's the Primal Human... 'Black' Caster really left us with something troublesome."
What was more astonishing—her utterly unyielding strength, or the Holy Standard