"Well, this is a disaster," the voice of a certain man was filled with impatience as his phone call ended.
"Blakelord!" Isabella walked up to him hurriedly.
It was Chris Blakelord who had gotten into the situation as he had come to pick up his son Shaw.
"Anything new?"
"Because of how sudden the appearance of the Vanishing Point was, it will take some time for the Jaegers Association to send agents to handle the situation."
"Tch!" Isabella held her temple in frustration.
"I understand your frustration, but the best we can do right now is to keep thing from escalating further."
"I know. I instructed other academy staff members to keep things organized while we try to resolve this."
"Say," Chris began. "Did the dean have something to do with all this?"
Isabella pondered at the question for a moment.
"…There's no doubt about it. Only he would be able to do such large-scale teleportation."
"I see," Chris let out a short sigh. 'That means he had anticipated it. Just what is going on here?'
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In the meantime, back inside the Abyss, Hugo still hovered above in the sky as his spell finally came to an end.
"…" Hugo then slowly started descending from the sky, his eyes focused and his mind sharp for any contingencies.
At the same time, within the massive cluster of dust cloud on the ground, a bothered expression was etched on Frank's face as he repeatedly tossed an ogre's head in the air.
Frank then tossed the head one last time, and instead of catching it with his hand, he charged up a kick. And at the very moment it reached leg level, Frank shot it as if he was kicking a soccer ball.
"Hm?" Hugo's attention caught sight of the shot, and he then evaded it by simply drifting to the side.
But without any forecast…
"Eyes up, dean!" a descending kick connected with Hugo, sending him crashing down to the ground violently.
"Ugh…" Hugo coughed repeatedly and luckily for him, he had sustained minimal damage.
"Ain't no way," Frank's expression did not hide the surprise on his face before another sight in the distance caught his attention. 'Uh-oh. Damn it all!'
'That one is… ' A thundering roar resounded from the distance, rumbling thuds of the High Ogre's hastened steps approaching Hugo at high speed as the old mage responded accordingly.
A giant tsunami of stone spikes as big as a mountain that appeared from the ground, all of them directed in a single direction.
The High Ogre, who had burns and bruises on its body and one missing left arm, reaffirmed the grip on his swords as he then released another roar.
While still descending from the air, Frank caught sight of a wave of remaining ogres that were responding to their commander's battle cry.
'Haa… What a pain. Does the boss really expect me to handle this alone?' an exasperated expression appeared on Frank's face as he readjusted his falling body mid-air and crash-landed onto the hoard. "FUCK IT ALL!"
At the same time Frank crashed, the High Ogre's swords made contact with Hugo's attack slicing through it like butter. But even then, Hugo was undeterred by this development as he simply increased the rate and magnitude of his spell, the High Ogre's roar spreading across the map as it started to struggle with the unending onslaught.
A single meteorite fell like a missile on the High Ogre who had become completely overwhelmed by Hugo's first attack.
"Huu…" Hugo released his breath as Frank's voice then came from behind him.
"Gotta wonder just how wide your reserves are, huh?"
He was covered in grime and purple blood and one of the ogres head sat beneath his foot as he huffed for air.
"You…" Hugo began, soft wind levitating him to a more appropriate distance from Frank. "You can devour my magic."
"Hoo… I'm impressed you figured that out," Frank shot the head under his foot away as he wiped away the drop of sweat hanging on his chin. "But still, that won't help you."
In response, Hugo simply tapped his cane on the ground, the sound echoing strongly.
"Hmm? What th—!?" Frank was then suddenly pinned to ground by a powerful, unknown pressure. 'What… is… this?!'
"I told you, young Wellberg…"
Light showered Hugo's body as his injuries then healed instantly.
"You should never underestimate your opponents."
On the ground, Frank groaned, feeling his body being crushed more and more by the increasing pressure.
"Though I may not be privy to the details of the full extent of your abilities, I am not foolish enough to challenge you without precautions."
'Damn… it…' Frank thought as he heard Hugo's monologue.
"It is quite clear to me that your ability involves devouring your opponent's spells and then proportionately increase your physical abilities in accordance. In the simplest terms, the more powerful the spell used against you, the more powerful you become. Am I wrong?"
Frank then forced a smirk even under his current predicament. 'I'm screwed, aren't I?'
"Do you believe that I have also not realized the other condition?" Hugo asked, a slight twitch escaping Frank's fingers. "You can only devour offensive spells."
Hugo recollected his memories of their battle in his mind, pointing out the patterns he had noticed.
"You did not devour my defensive or my support spells. Concluding that your ability can only be applied to offensive spells."
At that moment, a small snicker escaped the grinning mouth of Frank.
'Guess I got complacent. He's been holding back on me.'
Hugo then felt a pulse of magical pressure emanating from the boy.
'What is this?' Hugo's eyes widened as he instinctively flew away from Frank.
A mass of dark-red formed around Frank as it finally allowed him to rise from the ground, Hugo's spell dissipating in the process.
"Impressive, Master Magus!" a voice grabbed Hugo's attention as his head shot up to the red-eyed descending figure and the black-haired lady by his side.
'That man…' Hugo's eyes sharpened as a hint of anxiety washed over his guarded expression.
"It is nice to meet you, Hugo Hendrickson," the red-eyed man landed on the ground as he then offered a bow. "Though it is only a borrowed name, you may address me as Vadus Light. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."