"Water Restraint Magic: Sea Serpent Twine!"
Solid roared, and a massive amount of water gathered furiously in front of him.
Whoosh!
A giant sea serpent, composed entirely of seawater, roared into existence, exuding a fierce and damp aura.
"Mist Restraining Magic: Mist Spider Binding Thread!"
Nebra followed closely, not to be outdone. Her grimoire flipped open, and thick, opaque white mist surged out from its pages like a living entity.
Two completely different types of magic, yet at this moment, they displayed astonishing synergy.
The giant sea serpent plunged headfirst into the dense mist web.
The next second, the sea serpent, shrouded in thick mist, charged towards the motionless Ryoma with immense force.
The mist obscured vision, and the water serpent brought impact. This was a combined attack by the Silva siblings.
"Die, lower class trash!"
A grim satisfaction reappeared on Solid's face.
In his opinion, facing the combined magic of him and his sister, the only outcome for this ignorant commoner was to be torn to shreds.
However, facing this powerful strike, Ryoma didn't even twitch an eyebrow.
Om—
A terrifying magic power, indescribable in words, like a sleeping glacial beast, awoke at this moment.
This magic power was no longer the precise, targeted strike from before, but rather erupted like a tsunami, indiscriminately sweeping across the entire banquet hall.
Extreme cold instantly enveloped the entire scene.
"Wh...?!"
The sea serpent and mist spider web, which were rushing towards Ryoma, suddenly paused the moment they encountered this magic field.
Time seemed to have been put on hold.
Crack!
Crack!
The furiously surging giant sea serpent, starting from its head, was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture at a visible speed. Its ferocious serpent head and open maw were perfectly preserved as a crystalline work of art.
Next, the thick mist spider web wrapped around its body—the moment the mist touched the chill, it instantly sublimated into countless tiny ice crystal dust particles.
Bang!
The giant ice sculpture of the serpent, along with the ice crystal spider web on it, shattered in mid-air.
Countless shimmering ice dust particles, like diamond fragments, drifted down, reflecting a unique beauty under the banquet hall's lights.
Another one shot.
In just an instant, the Silva royal siblings' proud combined magic was utterly crushed and turned to nothing.
Solid and Nebra reeled as if struck by a heavy blow, their faces instantly turning pale. But the physical pain was far less than their inner shock.
How could this be?
How was it possible?
That was their combined magic!
It... it was broken without the opponent even looking at it?
This was no longer just a simple matter of power difference.
What terrified them even more was the magical pressure erupting from Ryoma.
What kind of feeling was that?
It was as if a tiny ant was gazing up at a ten-thousand-meter snow mountain that pierced the clouds.
Vast, cold, unfathomable.
Under this pressure, the magic in their bodies seemed to freeze, and they couldn't even conjure a thought of resistance.
Fear!
An unprecedented fear, like a cold tide, drowned their hearts.
Just as Ryoma's terrifying magical pressure enveloped the entire hall, making all the nobles shiver in silence.
Suddenly—
Another completely different terrifying magic power spread from the other end of the banquet hall.
If Ryoma's mana was a raging polar blizzard, then this new mana was a realm of absolute control, precise and condensed.
This mana, like an invisible net, instantly covered the area, actually counteracting and suppressing Ryoma's emitted magical pressure to a certain extent.
Ryoma's eyes narrowed slightly.
Oh?
A big one has arrived.
Ryoma understood. This was a technique that could only be mastered after training 'Mana Skin' to its extreme, allowing direct manipulation of the natural mana floating in the surrounding space to form an absolute domain of one's own.
Indeed, a magic domain was far superior in both quality and precision of control compared to the pressure generated by simply relying on one's vast total mana reserves.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Steady, powerful footsteps echoed.
A tall, stern figure moved through the terrified crowd, walking step by step towards the center of the hall.
The newcomer had long, silver-white hair styled into an exquisite braid that hung over his forehead, and his features were handsome yet as cold as a sculpture. It was Nozel Silva, captain of Silver Eagle, one of the Clover Kingdom's Magic Knight Squads.
As he drew closer, the domain-like magical pressure grew stronger and stronger.
Noelle, Klaus, Asta, and others standing behind Ryoma felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on them, making it difficult to breathe, and they involuntarily retreated repeatedly.
"Nozel-nii-sama..."
Noelle looked at that familiar yet distant cold face, her lips trembling slightly, her eyes filled with a complex mix of fear and reverence.
Nozel stopped, his gaze not immediately falling on Ryoma, who had caused all the commotion. Instead, it landed on his good-for-nothing younger brother, Solid.
"Solid."
He spoke, his voice flat but carrying a deep-seated coldness and arrogance.
"Do not easily use magic on a mere lower class person."
These words were understated, but the disdain and warning they contained were more humiliating and frightening to Solid than any severe reprimand.
The meaning of this sentence was, against such a lower class person, you still need to use magic?
How disgraceful.
"B... but... brother. He first..."
Solid looked nervous, mixed with uncontrollable panic. He wanted to explain, to argue.
However, Nozel's grim expression suddenly turned cold, and his gaze, like two sharp ice blades, swept coldly over Solid.
"Shut up."
With just two words, all of Solid's subsequent words were instantly choked in his throat. He stiffened and turned his head, no longer daring to make any sound.
In front of Nozel, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, not even daring to breathe heavily.
After reprimanding his brother, Nozel slowly turned his head and directed his arrogant and cold gaze towards Ryoma, who stood beside the ice coffin.
His gaze swept over Alecdora, frozen into an ice sculpture, then over the fine layer of frost on the ground, and finally, it settled on Ryoma's overly calm face.
"As for you..."
Nozel's voice remained flat, as if stating the simplest of facts.
"Who gave you the courage to defy royalty?"
He didn't question, he wasn't angry. There was only pure, self-evident judgment.
In his eyes, Ryoma's actions were not a provocation, not a conflict, but a disruption of order.
A mere insect, presuming to shake a human's foot—this didn't require anger, only... crushing.
"It seems it's necessary to make you, a lowly commoner, understand..."
Nozel slowly raised his hand. The grimoire at his waist, without any wind, began to glow with brilliant silver light.
"How one who dares to defy royalty should be dealt with."