Aurelius and Tibierius waited in the commission vehicles, craning their necks out of the small windows in an effort to make out the raging battle outside.

  Through the thick distortions in the air due to the barriers, the pair could make out traces of fighting between two figures on campus grounds.

  The commission mages outside had set up large barriers about the academy to prevent the lich from fleeing. Formed by 50 mages with certifications of high mage and above, the area of effect was astounding.

  “Holy shit, this is some absurdly high level application of binding spells! They’ve set conditions set crossing the damn barrier!”

  “They also mentioned in their meeting that they’re casting spirit warding and physical barriers to block teleportation and mana circulation!”

  Tiberius chattered excitedly, no longer as concerned about his handcuffs. The level of magic on display for them was a rare sight. Furthermore, witnessing a sage’s battle was nearly impossible, even from afar, and it would seem that an archsage was involved today as well!

  Aurelius peered out in silence, focused on the battle taking place as bullets of ice made thin lines in the air.

  From their unfortunate involvement in the meeting prior, he had learned the core strategy behind this assault–depleting mana within the boundary of the magical barriers.

  The deployment of an angel increased the efficacy of the spirit warding barrier, thickening the boundaries between the material plane and the spirit realm to effectively prevent the replenishment of mana from the spirit realm.

  Preventing the natural circulation of ambient mana with a physical barrier had also allowed for an excellent method denying additional mana becoming available within the battle.

  Lastly, the high level binding barrier worked to prevent the battle from progressing out of the 3 barriers, in which the specified condition of ‘lichdom’ boosted the potency to an abnormal level.

  These were great methods advantageous for an unbalanced fight with the defending force outnumbered. As mana in the atmosphere lost its energy, the disadvantage in number would become much more distinct and exploitable.

  This seemed to be an excellent strategy in Aurelius’s opinion. While he was not the most interested in strategic considerations, he was still amazed that the commission had implemented the perfect plan for the situation, one that used the element of surprise and numerical advantage to their fullest within hours.

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  “I still can’t believe Varian is a fucking lich! No wonder he’s so grumpy and sadistic all the damn time!” Tiberius announced, his arms crossed and lips curved in disdain.

  Aurelius grunted in agreement, his eyes still glued to the displays of absurd magic outside.

  “...Has he already analysed the barriers?” Aurelius muttered under his breath in puzzlement.

  While it was difficult to make out in the thick fog that was being generated by the impressive sage, the lich seemed not to have made a singular attempt at forcing himself out of the barriers, and was avoiding any excessive uses of mana.

  Even as an amateur, he could tell that the lich had been passive with his response, sticking to evasion and minimal magic…

  These defensive actions seemed to have made Sage Yeltz act conservatively as well in an effort to act out a battle of attrition to prevent giving the lich any exploitable openings.

  Even so, the lich seemed to have spotted an opening as the sage manipulated her fog once more.

  A thin streak flew at insane speeds towards the fog, surprising Aurelius.

  That was when a flash of light as bright as the Sun exploded, demolishing the rooftop where the lich had leapt towards.

  It was the Arch Sage Livia.

  Aurelius and Tiberius watched in awe as a hurricane of destruction followed her every move.

  They made out horrifying figures in the smoke and debris as the three combatants exchanged blow after blow of crazy magic.

  “I-Is this even magic?” Tiberius stuttered as they watched on.

  Numerous figures of the lich wandered around and a horrifying summoning took place in the midst of a rain of fire.

  When it finally let up, they felt a horrible sensation crawling up their flesh.

  Even well outside the boundaries of the barrier, the two students felt an inexplicable heat down their spines.

  They felt their will to live burn slightly, as if charred about its edges.

  When the darkness cleared, a single man and his dragon stood in the aftermath.

  “Wh-How is the old man still fucking standing! Where did the dragon even come from!” Aurelius managed, cold sweat beading his forehead.

  They watched on in shock as chains of light reached into the air and shattered all barriers surrounding the lich.

  The resulting winds shook the magicar, and kicked up a storm of dust all across them.

  ???

  The two commission sages walked out of the wreckages of battle.

  “M-My Ladies, all three of our barriers seem to have been breached! H-Has the lich been taken care of?” A commission mage stammered out.

  “We made some miscalculations in our approach against the damned lich.” Sage Yeltz spat, her frustration clearly visible.

  “His anti-divination should already be active. It would be a fool’s errand to attempt to track him with conventional means… We must confirm his affiliations with the Fae Queen and ramp up our efforts against the Fae.”

  “Contact the Adventurer’s Guild and issue the highest bounty that the commission can offer for the capture of more fae. We need more information as to the extent of their infiltration into human kingdoms.” She ordered, her face scrunched up into a mask of anger.

  “And bring me that boy.”

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