Chapter 774: Faraday Cage

Atrum's face grew even more grim. However, considering the current situation and the strength Touko had demonstrated, he could only swallow his anger. He then vented his frustration by kicking the magus under his command, using a slight electric shock to wake them up.

Meanwhile, the magic-driven water and fire clashed fiercely.

Within the mist, which spread as the magic intensified, Reines' voice remained as calm as ever.

"Svin, continue attacking Atrum; Flat, support Svin by disrupting Atrum's lightning spell; Gray, be ready to assist me at any moment."

The three people she called out to immediately followed her orders. In the El-Melloi classroom, only she had such authority, aside from Waver.

"Surrender now!"

Svin's eyes gleamed with determination. His lower half, which had previously retained some human characteristics, was now fully covered in golden fur. His powerful magic circuits, furiously refine his magic-driven phantom form, causing the air around him to tremble.

"Get lost, you mutt!"

Being repeatedly humiliated by a group of kids would anger anyone, let alone the already irritable Atrum.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed as the fury of the magic and its master exploded, overwhelming even the fully transformed phantom wolf that Svin had become.

"Interference initiated (Playball)."

However, this terrifying display did not affect Flat. His chaos magecraft didn't target the external manifestation of magecraft but rather its deeper vectors. Once those vectors were altered, no matter how large the spell, it could be shifted or even reversed.

The interference was executed smoothly, with lightning cracking and sparks of varying brightness bursting forth. Before he could celebrate, there was a cold snort, and the fragmented arcs of electricity bizarrely converged toward Flat.

The previous interference had been so successful because Atrum had allowed it. His real target wasn't the physically strong and hard-to-take-down Svin, but the frail Flat.

"Die!"

"Die die die die die!"

Flat's face turned pale with fear. Although he hastily cast several layers of well-known and lesser-known protection spells on himself, they were no match for the sheer lightning volume.

This was Flat's weakness—he lacked decisive, head-on offensive power.

"Flat!"

Svin stomped the ground, rushing towards his companion at top speed, but the dense web of lightning was not only lethal but also a barrier to rescue.

Fortunately, at that moment, Reines' voice rang out again.

"Flat, don't move!"

Her fluid manipulation magecraft was even faster than her voice.

From the water below the arcs of lightning, more than ten dark red, finger-thin metal wires shot up. These wires, propelled by the water, quickly rose and interlocked above Flat's head, forming a simple metal mesh that enveloped him.

"You think that can—"

Atrum's mocking words were cut short, and his smug expression froze.

His deadly strike had been blocked by that seemingly flimsy, misshapen metal mesh.

"—How is this possible?"

In contrast to the stunned Atrum, Flat was bouncing with excitement.

"Huh? A Faraday cage principle? Miss Reines, you're so smart!"

This top student who scored full marks in all subjects had studied modern physics, likely thanks to Waver's tailored teaching.

A Faraday cage is an electrical device named after Michael Faraday, a British physicist and pioneer in electromagnetism. Without delving into detailed principles, it's essentially a cage made of metal or a good conductor, grounded, to block electrical shocks and related effects.

"Although…uh…it's a simplified version…I'm saved…"

Flat shivered as he spoke, occasional bursts of magic of different natures flashing on his body—this was the result of the residual lightning not blocked by the cage colliding with his protective spells.

Hearing Flat's feedback, Reines visibly sighed in relief, but the next moment, an even greater crisis arrived.

"Do you have time to worry about others, Miss Reines?"

As she heard these words, she realized something terrifying.

Centered around her, a radius of about ten meters had somehow been inscribed with runes.

When were these carved? They weren't there just now! How could it be so fast? No, they couldn't have been inscribed physically—their origin must be—

Flame-like eyes traced the flow of magic to the source of the runes. Right under Touko's feet, three runes combined to form an entirely new meaning.

Rune Script: Creation.

As the reviver of Rune Magic, Aozaki Touko had reached the level of using runes to create more runes.

"So this is…a Grand."

Recognizing the reality, Reines sighed in resignation, but it wasn't time to give up yet—she still had her trump card.

"Gray, I'm counting on you."

"Can we make it in time?"

Despite the heavy rain and the ongoing battle, Touko still had the leisure to light a cigarette.

The voice didn't come from her mouth, busy lighting the cigarette with a flame rune's residual heat, but from behind Gray.

It was a cat.

A completely black, flat cat.

Without breath, it seemed to lack even thickness—a two-dimensional cat.

The cat's eyes had no pupils.

The cat's face had no mouth.

The cat's claws sliced through a tree.

The cat moved with astonishing speed, so fast that even Svin was in awe.

Now, this cat extended its claws toward Gray.

"Add."

Gray, facing this formidable foe, whispered, needing more reinforcement.

Her shield stretched and transformed into a Reaper's Scythe. In this form, the weapon could not only reap souls but also devour the surrounding magic. Though it couldn't absorb magic as fast as in its Holy Spear form, the magical lands of Iselma and Galiasta's weather magecraft allowed Gray to gather a considerable amount of magic.

This magic, through a special process, flowed into her nerves and muscles via her magic circuits. If this process were even slightly mishandled, the blood vessels in her body could rupture, but she had long since grown accustomed to this form of reinforcement. Recently learned breathing and body control techniques have further improved the safety and efficiency of magic flow.

As the black cat leaped from the tree, Gray's body vanished from where she stood.

In the next moment, the runes inscribed on the ground exploded with a force so great that even the heavens above paled in comparison.