"They're in the back gardens! Let's hurry!"
"Don't rush. We should circle around and attack them from behind!"
Almost everyone in the castle was alarmed when the entire mountain started to shake.
"Another earthquake?! This one is stronger than the first one!"
The one responsible for this phenomenon was none other than Ethan, who was manipulating the underground source of water to rise up to the surface, making the fountains under his control erupt like volcanoes.
"…Is this what you were warning me about earlier, Edmond?" King Austen asked. "The one where you said there's a possibility that Ethan and Nicole might cause damage to the palace that wouldn't regenerate in time for the Ballroom Party?"
"Something like that," Edmond replied as the castle shook a third time.
While he had expected this, which was why he mentioned it earlier, he still didn't expect that things would end up this way.
'By Yggrdrasil, just what is that boy doing?!' Edmond wanted to slap Ethan silly for making too much of a commotion in the palace.
He already anticipated that the boy would use some kind of trick in order to overcome the disparity in numbers, but the Grand Archmage just didn't expect that he would resort to doing something like this!
'Should I cancel the event?' Edmond thought as the castle shook a fourth time. 'Damn it! I'll have a long talk with this brat later!'
The Grand Archmage glared at the young man, who was being shown in the Crystal Ball.
Ethan's eyes shone in a bluish light as the ground under his feet shook.
However, he was not the least bit bothered by the commotion he was causing. The fountains continued to pump the water out, which had risen dozens of meters in the air.
While this was happening, countless Water Bullets were descending upon everyone. But Ethan knew that this method wouldn't work for a long time.
He understood that once the other Wizards and Witches joined the battle, Nicole and him would have nowhere to go and be pincer-attacked on both sides.
Because of this, he wasn't just creating Water Bullets.
He was creating a massive Water Dragon, using one of the fountains that was farther away from everyone. Sёarch* The ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
And since it was a distance away from the main battlefield, no one noticed that a monster made up of water was slowly but surely growing at a rapid pace.
Currently, it was only ten meters long and two meters wide, but the more water it absorbed, the bigger it became.
A few minutes later, the other Nobles, who circled around behind Ethan, finally arrived at the scene.
"Let's go, Nicole!" Ethan said as he grabbed the young lady's hand.
A moment later, they skidded on the wet ground in front of them as if they were water skiing.
Instead of allowing themselves to be pincered, Ethan charged forward in order to position himself right in the middle of the five fountains that were spewing water like mini volcanoes.
This was his Domain.
It didn't matter how many enemies he fought.
As long as he had a lot of water to manipulate, the numerical advantage that the other side possessed didn't matter.
Of course, the adults, who had joined the Hunt, had guessed that Ethan was capable of manipulating water.
But they didn't mind it.
Some of them also specialized in Water Magic, so this battlefield was right up their alley.
There were also Wizards and Witches who specialized in Ice Magic, and they were working together to freeze the fountains in order to stop the water from gushing out of the ground like geysers.
At first, they managed to block two of the fountains, but when they were trying to freeze the third fountain, something unexpected happened.
A Giant Water Dragon that was hundreds of meters long charged in their direction and annihilated them, turning them all into particles of light.
It then used its body to destroy the ice that covered the fountains, allowing the water to continue to gush out, further increasing its size.
"Edmond…" King Austen called out in a solemn tone. "I think it's about time to stop this before people really get hurt."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Edmond replied before he disappeared inside the room.
He then reappeared a few seconds later in front of Ethan, catching the young man by surprise.
"Okay, game's over," Edmond said with a helpless look on his face. "The two of you have won this game of Knight and Seek. So, can you make that thing behave?"
The Grand Archmage used his thumb to point at the Water Dragon behind him, which was now over a hundred-fifty meters long.
Ethan nodded, but, just as he was about to disperse the Water Dragon, a flash of light appeared, and the giant monster was sliced in half.
The young man's gaze widened in shock when he saw a young lady, who seemed to be in her late teens, look in his direction with silver eyes that were as calm as the surface of a lake.
They gazed at each other for a few seconds before the young lady disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
The Water Dragon that she had cut earlier dispersed into countless water droplets, which harmlessly rained down on the palace grounds.
Edmond, who had also seen the young lady, wasn't surprised when she appeared.
In fact, the reason why he came to stop Ethan was to prevent the teenage boy from being targeted by the Castle's Guardian, who would awaken once she sensed any threats in her surroundings.
Ethan and the Guardian only gazed at each other for a few seconds, but in the span of those few seconds, the world seemed to have come to a complete stop.
At that moment, when everyone was frozen in time, the young lady opened her lips and spoke four words before disappearing completely.
"Well met, Tide Bringer."
Ethan could have sworn that he was just imagining things because Sebastian and his Other Half didn't see the young lady nor hear the words she had spoken before she disappeared.
However, he knew that what he saw was real, which made him wonder who the young lady was and why her gaze felt as sharp as the blade of the Giant Sword, which had been embedded in the Mountain of Wisteria for over a thousand years.