CHAPTER 123: THE BLAST

The ancient magic circle was far more dangerous, far more beyond control, than he had imagined.

And now, with the military government in ruins, Roaille was left alone to bear the blame for daring to touch a forbidden magic circle.

Of course, he had never expected Libertus to protect him.

That man was the kind who would always be the first to flee when responsibility was called for.

But this time it was not only the High Priest standing before him.

The new king was there, too. And with him, a knight whose presence radiated courage and strength, and even the Supreme Commander of Rosaria’s military.

All of them had gathered, pressing forward, demanding his judgment.

This might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Roaille thought. If he could erase all of them here and now...

Then perhaps both he and Libertus might still survive.

More than that—perhaps they might even seize the next power to come.

With that thought, Roaille quietly drew from inside his robe the deployment script for the magic circle he had prepared.

...

What a powerful killing intent!

Shiao Yi felt it, sharp and crushing, like a hand seizing his heart.

Without thinking, he leapt in front of the High Priest and Jircniv, slamming his hand against the ground.

"Get back!" he shouted.

There was no time to lose!

With telekinesis, he ripped the stone slabs covering the ground free and raised them.

He connected and stacked the plates together, building a massive stone barrier.

And almost at the same moment—

The stone wall took the full force of a shock.

The cracks split across the slabs.

Shiao Yi strained and holding them up with his telekinesis, but the power field unleashed by the robed man shattered them into pieces.

The stone fragments exploded, and Shiao Yi was hurled backward.

Many others in the place were blown away as well.

He struck the ground hard, his body slamming against it.

The breath was ripped from his lungs, knocked out completely, leaving him gasping, choking for air.

"I will not forgive you!"

It was the voice of Dominic.

Shiao Yi lifted his head to look.

Dominic had withstood the shockwave and remained firmly planted in place.

His killing intent swelled into something immense, overwhelming.

At the same time, a vast torrent of magic surged around him.

Countless fragments of shattered stone floated into the air under the force of his power.

"Dominic! No! Stop it!"

Shiao Yi’s voice cried out, trying to halt him. But it was clear Dominic did not hear, or did not care.

If such enormous power was unleashed here—!

Dominic’ magic grew larger, swelling, condensing, gathering into something devastating.

Guooon!

Dominic raised his right hand, aiming it at the robed man, preparing to release his magic blast.

In that instant, Shiao Yi teleported, appearing directly in front of the robed man and Libertus.

"Shiao Yi!! Get out of the way!!"

Dominic screamed, his voice filled with rage.

It could not be stopped.

The massive force of his magic was unleashed.

Was it Dominic himself who managed to shift the angle of the blast at the last moment?

Or was it Shiao Yi’s telekinesis interfering with the trajectory just in time?

Woooohn!

Dogagagagagaaaan!

Shiao Yi threw his whole body forward, tackling the robed man to the ground.

Dominic’ magic blast passed just above Shiao Yi’s head and slammed into the castle that stood behind them.

The impact was devastating.

One entire wing of the castle vanished and disintegrated in an instant.

The surrounding stone structures collapsed in a chain reaction, crumbling into heaps of rubble.

Nearly a third of the enormous castle was now useless.

The scale of it left Shiao Yi stunned.

Dominic’ magic—was it something like a nuclear missile?

No one moved.

Everyone was frozen and dumbfounded while staring silently at the raw, brutal wound carved into the castle.

"H-ha... haha..."

The robed man had collapsed onto the ground, his legs giving way.

He let out a dry, broken laugh.

Libertus had already fainted.

Shiao Yi tilted his head and suddenly there was a sharp crack in his right ear.

Something small and glittering fell.

He bent down and picked it up.

It was the ear cuff he had worn on his right ear.

It had split in two and fallen apart.

The blast of Dominic’ overwhelming power had shattered it.

A stabbing ache pierced Shiao Yi’s chest.

"...Shiao...Yi."

When Shiao Yi turned toward the voice, he saw Dominic standing frozen.

His face had lost all expression, drained pale as death with his eyes wide open.

Yet the eyes that was fixed on Shiao Yi had no focus at all.

They were not seeing anything.

His right hand, the one that had unleashed the magic blast, was being held tightly by his left hand as if to restrain himself.

Even his breathing had stopped, his body locked in complete stiffness.

"You’ve really done it this time..."

Quintus let out a long, tired sigh.

At his signal, Louis and another soldier approached Dominic, grabbing hold of his arms to restrain him.

Then, the knights from Dalmasca arrived and snapped metal restraints onto Dominic’ wrists.

He did not resist.

Still dazed and lost in shock, he let himself be bound without a word.

"Dominic? Why? Why are they doing this to you?"

Shiao Yi cried out in shock and rushed forward, trying to go to Dominic’ side. But Aaron held him back, stopping him with firm hands.

"Whatever the reason, Captain Dominic has just committed an act of destruction," Aaron explained calmly. "If it could be dismissed as mere property damage, we might still talk our way out of it. But look at that scale. That wasn’t normal destruction—it was catastrophic. If Rosaria sees this as a military act of aggression, things will get very messy. Just when it seemed our countries might finally manage peaceful diplomacy, this happens. Truly, this is a heavy blow."

"No... that can’t be..."

Yet in that moment, there had been no other way.