In the form of a pure white knight, Osian was the embodiment of starlight.
Upon seeing him, the mages of the Salaman School unleashed a spell they had prepared.
It was a three-star fire magic Chainburst.
A spell they had used against the ghost before, but hadn't seen much effect.
However, that was only because the opponent was a bad match, and a three-star fire magic was actually extremely powerful.
The pure heat alone could melt a person to the bone, and the shock of the explosion could easily tear through steel.
Even the Salaman School is a school that specializes in fire-based elemental magic.
The fire magic they used was at least three times more powerful than the same magic used by a normal mage.
As long as the opponent was a mere living human.
The moment this magic was unleashed, victory or defeat was sealed.-Puff, puff, puff!
A red explosion engulfed Osian.
One after another, the explosions burst into spheres in the air, causing the wind to whip around with scorching heat.
It was a bold attack that could have had a profound effect on the interior of the opulent mansion.
Melted carpets and shattered chandeliers from the impact alone were enough to cause considerable damage but Riccario didn't care.
It would be pennies on the dollar for his client, who would get the entirety of Dyke's estate.
"It's so easy, it's almost refreshing."
This is the perfect time for the mutants on the sidelines to make their move but when the flames cleared, revealing a pure white cocoon, Riccario couldn't help but marvel.
His astonishment only increased as the cocoon opened up like a flower in full bloom, transforming into Osian's cloak.
"What is that?"
He'd just been hit with a full-blown three-star fire spell.
"No way, that pure white power can be used as a defense?"
The starlight showed not an inch of retreat, even against the ghost's chilling cold.
Osian, wrapped in that starlight, could truly be described as a living tank.
Considering the role of a knight in the distant past, it was not an inaccurate description.
"You're growing on me!"
Riccario's eyes lit up with greed as he looked at Osian.
He was intensely curious about Osian's power.
He wanted to analyze it, rip it apart, and make it his.
‘That white flame. If only we could find out what it is and incorporate it into our magic.’
The Salaman School will stand tall above the other mage schools.
It would strengthen their position within the academy and possibly open the way to the five-star realm.
Of course, his method of analysis would be less than gentlemanly.
He would have to dissect Osian alive.
"Why don't you just stick to our side?"
Riccario asked Osian.
"Delan Goldiron won't be around much longer anyway. He was never meant for this manor. I don't know how much he's offering you, but our clients can pay many times that, plus penalties."
He wishes he could kill Osian now but Osian had already read the desire in Riccario's eyes.
"You expect me, a fixer, to betray my client?"
"That's what fixers do. They'll even stab their clients in the back if it pays. Didn't you need the money too?"
"A normal fixer would."
But Osian was both a fixer and a knight.
A knight does not betray his master, even if the other person is a client, not a master. Unless he betrays Osian first, he will fulfill his commission.
"Isn't it funny that you attacked me with the intention of killing me in the first place, and now you want to join hands?"
The attack had already irreparably damaged their relationship.
Riccario clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"I can't help it, don't worry. We're not going to kill you, you're very attractive as a guinea pig for our experiments."
"You're finally showing your true colors."
"Well, maybe you’ll lose a limb or two."
Riccario clenched his fire whip in his hand.
It crackled, sending sparks flying into the air, and looked intimidating in its own right but not to Osian.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed weaker than the last time they fought.
Osian raised the starlight sword in his hand and pointed it at Riccario.
The red bullets flew at him, aiming for his vital spots.
Osian flapped his cloak lightly and deflected the incoming bullets.
The bullets scattered into the air with a puckering sound, reeking of blood.
The eyes in the helmet turned to the man who had fired the shot.
Homer, blood dripping from his hand, glared at Osian with a glint in his eye.
"Hey, asshole, I told you I'd take care of you, didn't I?"
The blood dripping from his hand hovered in the air, then transformed into a sharp spear.
‘So that's what it's like to be a mutant.’
Mutants have their own 'superpowers'.
Homer's superpower, as he demonstrated in the battle with the ghost, is the ability to manipulate blood.
He was able to use his own blood as a weapon.
‘Normally, it would be dangerous to bleed out over time, but he's a mutant, so I shouldn't be so complacent.’
Homer threw the blood spear at Osian.
The spear flew so fast that it seemed to cut a red line through the air.
This is no ordinary feat.
He wasn't just turning blood into a weapon, he was able to manipulate blood flow to enhance his physical abilities.
Osian tried to block the spear with his cloak, but stopped midway and changed its course.
‘Powerful.’
The blood spear grazed his shoulder armor and left a tiny, but noticeable, gash.
The blood Homer was using was no ordinary blood.
It was supernatural blood, and as such, it possessed magical powers of its own.
"You think you can avoid it!"
Homer flicked his bleeding hand.
A spear of blood whizzed past Osian, swerved in midair, and aimed for the back of his head.
As Osian dodged again, the spear of blood spun around him at high speed, aiming for his weak spots.
Red lines dominated the space.
Soon, the blood spear split into two daggers, targeting both sides of Osian at once.
Osian swung his starlight sword horizontally in a wide arc.
A burst of starlight burned the blood spears to ashes.
Homer's face contorted as if his pride had been wounded, but he didn't make a show of it.
His role was not to finish Osian, but to fill the gap.
"Now!"
The time Homer had bought allowed the Salaman school mages to work their magic again.
The flames on the ground rushed toward Osian.
Upon closer inspection, the flames took the shape of a crawling man on its upper body.
A monkfish of fire grabbed his ankle and clung to him like a tick.
Osian lifted his right foot and stomped on the ground, the impact scattering the flames in all directions and making them disappear.
"What the hell, I didn't hear he had that kind of ability!"
"Everyone, stop panicking and attack!"
Rachel, the leader of Supreme, activated her superpower.
Her eyes glowed with radiant light, and her hair turned to lightning.
With electricity in both hands, Rachel fired at Osian.
Osian swung his sword lightly, slicing through the current.
"Compared to Tesla Arms, your power is nothing."
The fire magic used by the Salaman School mages was weaker than Daver's.
Rachel's psychic powers were inferior to Tesla Arms'.
Rachel bit her lip at the thought.
‘So he wasn't an ordinary physical enhancement mutant?’
That pure white energy that enveloped Osian's entire body was the biggest problem. It was powerful enough to attack, but its own defense was also formidable.
She had felt it when he blocked the coldness of the ghost, but she was convinced when she saw that it also blocked the heat of the flames.
It's a kind of all-purpose energy, a crystallization of pure power.
"I didn't know you were an energy mutant. Why is a man of your stature working as a fixer? You could have come to us, the Supreme, and been treated like one!"
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not a mutant."
"Ha! You're going to come out like that?"
Osian was sincere, but Rachel didn't believe him.
Rather, she thought Osian was deceiving her, and fueled by her anger, she unleashed more electricity.
Her hair was flying in all directions like static electricity as the electricity emanating from that hair gathered and condensed on her right hand.
The ball of electricity was a deep purple color.
It may have been small, but its power was real, and even the members of Salaman school took a step back to keep their distance so as not to be caught in it.
"Die!"
Rachel picked up the sphere and threw it.
Osian gripped the Starlight Sword, and just in time for the orb to fly, he gently swung the sword.
[Bending]
A technique that doesn't absorb the force head-on but instead redirects it by utilizing the direction of the force against itself.
The sphere of purple electricity bent at an angle along Osian's sword, and then flew up to the ceiling, shattering the chandelier.
-Puff, puff, puff!
The pieces of the chandelier containing the electric current scattered like shrapnel, shattering the lights on the walls and ceiling but all eyes were still on Osian.
He was still intact and amazingly, he hadn't moved a single step from his spot the entire time.
"What kind of fixer is that?"
"It's a monster."
The wizards of the Salaman School, as well as the Supremacy, were fed up with Osian's behavior.
They had no choice but to take extraordinary measures.
"I didn't mean to use it here, but I can't help it."
Rachel's jaw clenched, and a mutant who had been watching the situation from the back stepped forward.
‘That one.’
The mutant who hadn't been involved in the fight at all earlier.
He looked like an ordinary man in his early thirties, but did he have any special abilities?
Just as Osian was thinking that, the mutant's superpower kicked in.
A translucent cube floated above the man's head.
Empty and hollow, it looked like a box.
‘That's dangerous.’
Osian's senses warned him that he shouldn't leave that cube alone.
Osian immediately took up a stance and lunged at the mutant using the ability.
Immediately, the mutant's ability was fully activated.
-Whoooooo!
The lid on top of the cube opened, unleashing a powerful suction force.
Osian froze in place, plunging his starlight sword into the ground.
'The armor is.......'
Osian felt his halo armor fade into a blur, sucked into the box.
It wasn't just the armor. The nebula silk and the sword were also sucked into the box.
"It took my power?"
Ossian stared at the mutant in disbelief.
Its ability was called 'Seal'.
It was a translucent cube he created that absorbed his opponent's power and sealed it away.
Osian immediately realized why the mutant had been brought here.
"You brought him here to target Fernando."
"Yes, that's right, he’s here to deal with the skeleton woman. From what we've been told, she's a very dangerous summon. I brought him here to prepare for that, but I never thought I'd use him here."
Rachel smirked at Osian.
"You won't be able to use your powers for a while."
Just then, the mutant who had sealed Osian's powers called out urgently.
"Lady Rachel. It won't last long."
"......That's it, I see. I'll do it as quickly as I can."
Coming from a mutant with the ability to seal away any amount of power, it was clear that the starlight power Osian was dealing with was not normal.
In fact, Osian hadn't even gotten his full starlight yet.
Just sealing the incomplete power was the limit.
"Without that arrogant power, you're finished."
"Yeah. It does seem that way."
Osian shrugged, as if he had no choice.
His demeanor was far too relaxed for someone who should have been filled with despair by now.
What is it?
Rachel sensed something off about his demeanor but Homer was different.
"This asshole still hasn't figured out the situation? You're out of your depth!"
Homer drew a blood sword from his palm and lunged at Osian.
He was going to cut off one of his arms first.
"No! Stop, Homer!"
Rachel shouted, but Homer had already reached Osian's perimeter.
Seeing Homer approaching, Osian's voice grew even colder as he spoke.
"Then I, too, will have to fight with other powers."
-Boom!
An arm was severed and fell to the ground but it wasn't Osian's.
Rather, it was Homer's arm that was cut off.
"Ah, ugh. Ugh!"
Homer was bewildered to realize that his arm had been chopped off.
What confused him even more was that there was no blood coming out of the cut because his severed forearm was frosty and frozen.
"That, that!"
Rachel and Riccario squinted.
Behind Osian's back, a ghostly figure with a scythe hovered over him, guarding him.