This gap made her deeply realize the disparity between herself and the top-tier sorcerers.
"Strange... monsters! So many lizards!"
"Dalton, we're surrounded! What do we do?!" The crowd erupted in chaos again, cries of alarm and gasps rising one after another.
The children's faces instantly turned pale, and they instinctively huddled together.
However, unlike the previous trial group, this time Dalton and Phillip were present in the crowd.
"Silence!" Dalton let out a low growl, his voice deep but steady, instantly drowning out most of the noise.
His sharp gaze swept over the surrounding swarm of "Dragon Lizards," his eyes serious but not flustered.
Phillip suppressed his inner shock, stepped forward, and shouted to the children whose faces were full of fear.
"Don't panic! Gather together and take up your weapons! Remember your usual training!"
Dalton and his companion spoke in time to soothe and give directions. Although the children remained frightened, they did not break down, drop their weapons, and flee like the previous group.
Instead, they quickly huddled together as ordered, tightly gripping their wooden swords or daggers, back-to-back, forming a small defensive circle.
The other adults reacted quickly, forming a stronger line of defense on the perimeter to protect the children in the center.
Dalton frowned, carefully examining the slowly approaching swarm of dragon lizards, his thoughts racing, trying to analyze the situation.
He slightly tilted his head and quietly asked Phillip, who was also standing guard nearby: "The situation isn't very optimistic. There are too many of them. Phillip, are you confident?"
Phillip took a deep breath, a flicker of excitement at facing a formidable opponent appearing on his face, but then he forcefully suppressed it, turning it into cold focus and determination.
He gripped his steel sword tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure, and replied in a deep voice: "I'm not confident in myself, but since it's come to this, I can give it my all!"
"The children are all in the back, even if... even if I could give them another second, I would still try, fight to the end!"
There were no grandiose words in his speech, only the simplest and most resolute determination, a resolve that also inspired Dalton and those around him.
"Alright!" Dalton nodded heavily and exchanged glances with the other leading knights; each saw the determination in the other's eyes.
Immediately after, the breathing rhythm of Dalton and Phillip began to change, becoming long and with a unique cadence.
At the same time, a faint orange glow, filled with intense heat,
faintly appeared on the surface of their skin, like the rising sun.
The steel swords they held, their cold metal blades, began to flow and glow with the same pale orange light.
This light was not static; it danced like burning flame, radiating heat that slightly distorted the surrounding air.
"Soldiers! Remember our creed!" Phillip raised his steel sword, burning with pale orange flame, his voice echoing across the arena.
All the soldiers showed determined expressions, their fighting spirit blazing, and they shouted out in unison, deafening roars: "Forged in the fires of war, tempered on the anvil!"
This roar was like a war drum sounding the charge, watched by the children behind him, whose eyes were full of surprise, admiration, and deep emotion.
Dalton, Phillip, and the others fiercely charged into the swarm of "Dragon Lizards" that outnumbered them, like moths to a flame, or a sword cutting through the darkness.
Dalton charged straight at the strongest Real Dragon Lizard. Under the cover of the illusion, this lizard looked no different from the other illusions.
Just as the dragon lizard swung its tail with deadly poisonous spines, lashing it like a steel whip,
Dalton dodged with incredible speed, barely avoiding the lethal strike.
At the same time, his free left hand suddenly shot forward, and in his palm,
a faint orange light quickly condensed and stretched, instantly forming a rope made entirely of blazing energy.
Veins bulged on Dalton's forehead as he poured all his strength into it, then suddenly threw the lightning rope, wrapping it around the dragon lizard's thick neck.
He dug his feet into the ground, leaned back, and pulled the rope with all his might, trying to resist the dragon lizard's terrifying brute force, attempting to restrain its movements.
He watched as Dalton was pulled forward by the dragon lizard's strength, his legs carving two deep trenches in the ground.
Phillip seized this fleeting moment. His eyes flashed with sharpness as he lunged forward, his steel sword blazing with flame, ferociously slashing at the neck of the temporarily restrained Dragon Lizard.
Rip! A strange sound came from the air, like a hot iron cutting through fat.
A flash of sword light erupted, and the fierce dragon lizard couldn't even let out a full roar of pain.
Its thick, scaled, sturdy neck was forcibly severed by the sword, leaving only a piece of flesh and bone still attached to the body.
The wound was smooth, instantly cauterized by the heat, not a drop of fresh blood flowed, and the air filled with the smell of roasted meat.
In just one exchange, the real dragon lizard was instantly killed by the seamless combined attack of Dalton and Phillip.
The dragon lizard's body collapsed to the ground, convulsing twice before losing all life force.
Hen, who was distracted maintaining the illusion, watching the scene unfold, couldn't help but show surprise on his face.
While he was gradually directing magic to maintain the presence and realistic movements of over a dozen illusory dragon lizards, also spending part of his mental focus,
he turned to Karl beside him and asked: "Karl... what is that power they are using?"
"Blazing like the sun, able to condense substance... did you grant them this?"
Karl watched Dalton and Phillip, whose teamwork was flawless and displayed incredible fighting spirit, a satisfied smile playing on his face.
He shook his head and explained: "Teacher, this is not a gift. Remember the meditation method we discussed when I first started learning magic?"
Hen was stunned upon hearing this, then a flicker of disbelieving brilliance flashed in his eyes.
An expression of shock, almost out of control, appeared on his face, and his breathing even quickened slightly due to the strong emotional upheaval.
"You... are you talking about that concept? You... you actually made it happen?!"
"Yes, teacher." Karl nodded firmly, not taking his eyes off the arena.
He saw Dalton and Phillip, after defeating one Real Dragon Lizard, then target the remaining two.
To prevent recklessness, the remaining "test equipment" was also compensated.
With a thought, his bio-field acted like a cage, isolating the two Real Dragon Lizards in a small area.