"I can't see shit," I voiced my thoughts with a strong sense of impatience at our current situation: pitch bck darkness everywhere I turned. It was so bad that I could barely make out the palm of my hand even when it was right in front of me. What is this? Probably sensing my confusion, Lucia began her expnation, saying,

  "The Colboro Den is renowned as one of the most magically dense environments in the world. The term 'mana field' was coined to describe pces like these, where the magic begins to manifest in diverse, unique ways."

  "So, this darkness is a manifestation of the magic that resides here?" I asked, trying to get everything straight.

  "That's one way to think about it, but it's more complicated than..."

  "You know what? I think I get the gist of it," I immediately lied. I didn't even know where she was exactly, so keeping the 'technical discussions' concise was a priority.

  "I can tell you're close, but I can't pinpoint your location," She gracefully changed the topic, though I could sense a slight annoyance in her voice. I'm sorry, Lucia! At that thought, I noticed a dim light, fshing some distance from where I stood that looked like an intricate magic circle in the process of being drawn. The symbols were red, and they glowed with an intensity that managed to shine through the thick darkness.

  "Look at those symbols!" I excimed like a country bumpkin witnessing magic for the first time. Knowing my OP Sage, she was probably preparing for an insanely powerful fire magic spell that would help to light up the area. We truly do need the light, I thought to myself, but she blew my expectations out of the water.

  "[Phoenix]!" The legendary bird of fmes promptly responded to her call, its rays of light swiftly illuminating our surroundings. As someone with no magical aptitude, I couldn't say for sure, but for a split second, I felt there was a battle between the darkness and the S-rank fire magic spell. How interesting, I thought to myself before the newly illuminated scenery suddenly jumped at me.

  "N-no way," Lucia almost colpsed on the spot at the sight of a mountain of corpses sitting at the center of the vast underground space. Silver weapons? Advanced Tomes?! Judging from their equipment, the coalition members didn't seem weak in any sense of the word so... Who was responsible for this? My question was quickly answered when I turned up my gaze to the one who sat at the top.

  He was a striking young man with long silvery-white hair and icy blue eyes. He wore a bck robe, and the Tome we came to find was comfortably sitting in his hands. Is he some kind of elite from the Empire? I wondered as I carefully began to observe him. He seemed so... delicate from afar, but I couldn't shake off the grave sense of danger I was beginning to feel, and Lucia, probably feeling the same thing, wasted no time in drawing a magical formation.

  "[Mini Star Creation]!" She excimed, and the Phoenix opened its beak, creating a spark that quickly grew into a ball of white-hot fmes that kept ballooning in size as it approached him. The light was blinding, and the heat was so intense I genuinely felt like I was melting. Up to that point, I was under the impression that he was an Apostle the Empire sent to thwart the coalition's pns. I thought it was a fitting expnation that took into account our strength compared to other csses, but his next action utterly shattered that impression.

  "[Lordship: Bck Hole]" He said with an uninterested look as he formed a singurity in the palm of his right hand that absorbed Lucia's S-rank spell like it was nothing. L-l-l-l-l-lordship?! I was shocked beyond speechless. I couldn't— or rather, didn't want to believe it. Whoever this was, he was someone who could go toe to toe against a Divine Beast, a frightening individual to say the least, and now, with his eyes locked on us, I could only hope to come out of this encounter alive.

  Kureous

  [colpse]