Would Nalant die?
Of course not. A mage—Nalant himself was a genuine mage through and through.
As the earth-yellow sword radiance drew ever closer, just as it was about to strike him, Nalant finally released the magic shield he had just prepared.
Although this magic shield was limited by Nalant's own strength and was merely an intermediate spell, even an elementary mage could heavily wound or defend against a Gold Knight. An intermediate mage, then, already possessed a threat equal to that of an Earth Knight.
Rumble!
The moment Nalant finished casting the magic shield, the sword radiance arrived as expected.
In an instant, blinding light and deafening thunderous roars erupted across the field.
Only after several moments, when the light and rumbling had completely faded, did the crowd gradually recover their senses.
Once they did, their first thought was to look toward the field and see what had become of Nalant.
"Ah, how is that possible?"
"Ah, am I seeing things? This... he... why does he look like he's perfectly fine?"
"Baron Nalant is actually alive! How did he do it? That was an Earth Knight's full-force strike!"
As everyone looked toward the field, their eyes widened in the next moment. Some even cried out in alarm.
Because Nalant, whom they had imagined dead, was not lying on the ground. Instead, he was still standing calmly in the middle of the field, smiling serenely at everyone.
Though his clothes were more disheveled than before, one thing was certain: he had not suffered the slightest real injury.
Faced with Nalant in such a state, not only were the watching nobles astonished—even Duke Miller was somewhat taken aback.
He had thought Nalant would surely be in trouble, yet he had not expected him to be so capable.
"That's impossible! He took