Ren Isana hadn't expected a Pisces to barge in halfway. Watching that gaping maw and sensing the incoming attacks from Asuna and the others, a purple [Magic Circle] lit up beneath his feet, and his figure vanished instantly.
The Pisces lunged into empty air. At the same time, the attacks from Asuna and the rest landed, accurately striking the creature's massive body. The students still on the plane were startled by the sight.
However, once they saw the spatial [Magic Circle] glowing on Ren Isana, they realized he had simply escaped, so they weren't overly worried.
Ren Isana's figure appeared out of thin air beside Asuna, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. He had given her quite a scare; she had almost forgotten he could use [Spatial Magic] and feared he had been swallowed.
Ren Isana handed the little girl in the swimsuit over to Asuna and said, "Hold onto her and retreat. I'll handle the guy below."
Asuna had already attacked, so she would still receive [Excelia]. It didn't matter whether she participated in the rest of the fight or not.
Hearing Ren Isana's words, Asuna took the child and quickly retreated toward the transport plane.
Seeing this, Ais and the others also began to fall back. By now, the surface of the sea was surging violently. The dissipation of the whirlpool had turned the surrounding waters chaotic.
The seawater roared as it rushed back in, colliding with thunderous booms. Pisces was completely swallowed by the waves. Ren Isana frowned; if the enemy didn't surface, things would become troublesome.
Ren Isana pushed his [Perception Magic] to its limit, mapping everything within a ten-kilometer radius—including the conditions under the sea—into his mind. He processed the massive influx of information and quickly locked onto the Pisces lurking beneath the waves.
It was charging in a specific direction. Seeing its path, Ren Isana's brow furrowed—it was heading straight for the transport plane.
*Is it chasing that little girl?* With that thought, Ren Isana raised his staff. [Ice Magic] power condensed as an ice-blue [Magic Circle] rapidly formed in front of him.
A moment later, Pisces leapt from the sea. Its two heads opened their maws, blasting a torrent of seawater toward the transport plane.
At that exact moment, Ren Isana launched his attack. A strike of pure [Ice Magic] power blasted out, accurately hitting the Pisces. In an instant, ice began to spread across its body, freezing the entire fish solid. Its frozen mass began to plummet back toward the sea.
After hitting the Pisces, Ren Isana fired another blast of [Ice Magic], this time aimed directly at the ocean surface below. As the attack landed, the sea froze over in a blink, as if someone had poured water onto a scorching concrete slab. A massive area of ice formed right where the Pisces was about to fall!
Ren Isana didn't worry about the transport plane because Asuna, Ais, and Lefiya were right there. The three of them used their own magic to block the incoming attack from the Pisces.
With them there, he had no reason to worry. His attention remained fixed on the Pisces, which slammed heavily onto the ice. It let out a guttural roar, but Ren Isana didn't stop.
He continued to bombard it with [Ice Magic]. Since it had shown up, he wasn't going to let it escape. One after another, ice-element [Piercing Magic Cannon] blasts rained down from the sky. This sight left Yukino Yukinoshita completely baffled.
*You can even play it like that? Elemental [Piercing Magic Cannon]?* At this thought, Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes lit up. She realized she could probably do the same. Thinking this, she raised her own staff.
An identical ice-blue [Magic Circle] lit up, and she fired it a moment later. The other students were stunned. *She learned it that quickly?*
After firing her [Ice Magic], Yukino couldn't help but comment, "For [Piercing Magic], as long as you use other elements to trigger it, it becomes magic of that element. I can use it without any resistance at all."
She had discovered this trick and immediately shared the news. Hearing this, Sora's eyes sparkled.
*A lightning-attribute [Piercing Magic Bullet]? Wouldn't that be fast and long-ranged?* With that in mind, Sora didn't hesitate to try. She channeled her lightning-element [Magic Power] and unleashed a [Piercing Magic Bullet].
A golden orb of lightning energy shot out, crackling with electricity. In the blink of an eye, the magic bullet slammed into the Pisces below.
"Whoa, that's fast! Class Rep, why didn't you tell us [Piercing Magic] could be used with our own elemental magic?" Sora exclaimed. She complained directly to Ren Isana through her [Magic Mark].
Ren Isana, still in the middle of his assault, replied with a question of his own, "You didn't know?"
"Did I not demonstrate various elemental magic bullets before? I assumed you all knew!"
*Did I really need to say it?* [Piercing Magic] was naturally non-attribute; you just had to add an element to change it. Had this girl really not noticed?
"I didn't know! It's because you didn't say anything, Class Rep!!" Sora was dumbfounded. So it was their fault? She had always assumed [Piercing Magic] was just... like that.
Ren Isana didn't even bother to roast her back. He didn't stop casting. The sea below had long since been frozen solid, and the Pisces had been turned into a frozen fish under his continuous barrage of freezing magic bullets.
Checking his [Magic Power] recovery, Ren Isana muttered to himself, "That's about enough. Let's finish this!"
The reason he had been sticking to [Ice Magic] was that he was waiting for his [Magic Power] to recover while keeping the beast frozen. Although using those spells cost [Magic Power], Ren Isana's recovery rate was simply faster.
Looking at the completely frozen Pisces below, Ren Isana began to squeeze out his [Magic Power]. A [Magic Circle] spanning dozens of meters formed in front of him.
The people on the plane swallowed hard at the sight. Squid Girl, in particular, asked in a daze, "How does this guy have so much [Magic Power]? Just how strong is he?"
She had been terrified by the killer whale earlier—since killer whales were her greatest fear—but now she was being terrified by Ren Isana's magic. He had just unleashed a massive spell earlier.
Yet he could use another one already? Did Tier 5 experts really have that much [Magic Power]? Squid Girl couldn't understand the world anymore; Ren Isana's power was simply too absurd.
"Probably just a 'tiny' bit more than most. I've never seen the Class Rep worried about running out of energy," Sora said, watching Ren Isana's magic while recalling every battle since she'd met him.
He had never struggled with [Magic Power] or [True Qi]. Sometimes, while everyone else was chugging potions, Ren Isana would recover rapidly without drinking a single one. He was on a completely different level.
Squid Girl was astonished. *Never worried about magic?* This student of Natsuki's was truly something else!!
The frozen Pisces was basically meat on a cutting board. Ren Isana's [Magic Cannon] blast landed, evaporating it instantly. Meanwhile, he kept his [Perception Magic] active.
He paid close attention to see if anything was left behind after the Gastrea was vaporized. Although the surface was frozen, his attack would definitely shatter the ice.
If there were any little ones left, they would likely sink into the ocean—something Ren Isana absolutely wanted to avoid. He had to stay vigilant so he could dive in and scoop them up immediately.
In his perception, the magic blast gradually vaporized the Pisces into nothingness, leaving only a few materials behind. Besides those, there was a pair of twin girls.
Sensing this, Ren Isana dove headfirst into the sea as soon as the explosion cleared. Even though the waters were turbulent, he had just copied Squid Girl's talent through [Jianjigu], so entering the ocean felt like coming home.
The students saw Ren Isana dive in and realized the battle was over. They suspected there might be Cursed Children involved. Just as they were thinking this, a purple [Magic Circle] appeared.
After diving in, Ren Isana immediately grabbed the two children and collected the materials. With that done, he used [Spatial Magic] to return to the cabin.
A soaking wet Ren Isana appeared, and everyone rushed forward. Those who had been outside also filed back into the cabin. Once everyone was present, the hatch closed, and the transport plane officially began its return flight.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the two little ones in Ren Isana's arms. After he placed them on the floor, Mahiru Shiina stepped forward and began to treat them.
After all, the two little girls had bloated bellies; they had clearly swallowed a lot of seawater. Even in their unconscious state, natural reflexes had forced water into their stomachs. If Ren Isana had been even a moment later, they likely would have died.
"Hiss! So much [Excelia]!!" While Mahiru Shiina was treating the children, Sora suddenly cried out in surprise. She was ecstatic; the amount of [Excelia] gained this time was simply staggering.
The others began to feel it too. They felt their bodies heating up—a sign of a sudden, massive increase in strength. Everyone was buzzing with excitement.
"70%!" Asuna checked her status and spoke with a look of pure joy. She estimated her current [Excelia] and announced the number.
She was only 30% away from officially breaking through to Tier 5. This meant that the Savior's [Excelia] Ren Isana had mentioned earlier had been fully recognized; otherwise, she wouldn't have gained so much at once.
The group fell into a heated, joyful discussion. Every face was filled with delight. This was incredible—if they could just find a few more Tier 5 enemies, they would all be able to break through to Tier 5!