Narrator's POV
After Stan's voice echoed through the hall, both sides stared at each other for a moment that, under the ambient tension, seemed to last forever.
The first attack was launched by the head of the bard coven.
*Whistle* An unknown force violently struck Stan Pines.
'Bard magic is truly fascinating, I should really study it after this,' Stan thought.
He had been genuinely impressed by this magic when he watched The Owl House. The only weakness he found with it was its speed, tied to sound.
After being thrown by the whistle from Raine's mouth, the head of the bard coven, Stan regained his balance in mid-air.
He hadn't suffered a scratch and the shield around number 5 was fine. Stan pointed his ten fingers at the coven heads before showering them with several laser beams using the light glyph.
'As expected, they're unable to move at the speed of light, but some have reflexes sharpened by experience to react to my attack.'
Stan's attack was blocked by a translucent shield from a hunched old man. He was the head of the oracle coven, someone with little screen time in The Owl House story.
With each exchange, Stan analyzed the coven heads.
Their combat experience, how their magic influenced the world around them, their physical abilities, and their peculiarities.
Stan left nothing to chance.
*Bam* Darius's slimy fist, the abomination coven head, appeared on a pillar before hitting a fist made of plants created by Stan.
"Very bad move, hehe." After hearing these words, Darius slowly began turning to stone.
"His ability to become an abomination is similar to the Logia in One Piece, but he seems unable to ignore magical attacks, only physical ones."
Among the coven heads who could become a problem for him, Darius and Raine are at the top of the list.
One can influence the world through sound, and the other is literally immune to most ordinary physical attacks, if not all.
"Help me..." Darius didn't have time to finish his sentence before he was turned into a statue.
"What did you do to him?!!" Raine shouted while watching their old friend.
"Nothing too bad." As Stan spoke, the plant that had petrified Darius began to bloom small flowers, releasing pollen that was difficult to see with the naked eye.
Unfortunately, the coven heads hadn't noticed the invisible attack.
'It seems Terra, the plant coven head, hasn't noticed the danger behind these pollens.'
'It also seems I can modify plants' appearance, and even their nature, for various purposes.' Stan's eyes glowed with a golden light, reflecting his excitement at this discovery.
He knew this kind of ability must have limits, and it was his job to discover which ones.
'I'm sure the titan himself barely scratched the surface of his magic's potential, just like these witches before me.'
They were too focused on launching ranged attacks at Stan to try breaking his two overlapping barriers.
A barrier created with light, and another with a magnetic field strong enough to disrupt the frequencies making up bard magic.
'Excellent, it's possible to counter Raine's magic with a simple magnetic field that distorts air vibrations, and oracle magic can be countered by simple energy manipulation.'
Stan knew he could win simply by sitting behind his shield combining the light glyph and the magnetic field produced by basic electrical manipulation, but he didn't want such an easy victory.
Stan wanted the coven heads to abandon any idea of future combat.
*Bam* After an energy beam caused by Lilith's attack, now recovered, Stan created a teleportation glyph using ice and found himself face to face with the healing coven head.
"Another one down. Are you really sure you're the strongest in your respective arts?" After petrifying another representative of the Boiling Isles, Stan observed the other coven heads with a disapproving look.
"You... monster!!" Lilith shouted, unleashing her magic in his direction.
She was so carried away by rage, due to her wounded ego, that she forgot Stan was behind the recently petrified healing coven head.
'Emotions are really a problem during combat, unlike the shonen stories I read long ago.'
This conclusion was the result that Stan's logical mind reached while blocking Lilith's attack with several ice walls.
It would be a shame to stupidly lose a magical healer.
....
Lilith's POV
*Ha ha*, exhausted panting.
"Who... are you, anyway!!" I shouted at this "human"-looking creature.
My vision was blurry from my reckless magic consumption, or maybe it was something else?
I didn't think I'd be exhausted this early.
"I'll explain my nature after this fight, but first, get some rest, okay?" After these words, the appearance of the intruder and the creature beside him multiplied around us.
"Adrian!!" I turned to our illusion expert for a quick assessment.
"They're... they're all real," he said, observing his surroundings with furrowed brows.
"Nah, wrong answer." A "fake" intruder punched Adrian in the stomach, casually stepping back without showing any intention of finishing the job.
"This is an illusion, amateur, but I've pushed this art further," he declared, spreading his arms as if saying "congratulate me."
"How is this possible? Illusion magic is a coven without real offensive capability," Terra Snapdragon's words, the plant coven head, were correct.
It's also common sense in magic in the Boiling Isles, but this man claims otherwise.
"You're really funny, haha, you're like frogs at the bottom of a well." He observed us without hiding his mocking expression.
"You're too limited by your common sense without trying to see beyond it, and that's why I can beat you so easily. *Snaps fingers*."
*Haaa*, a scream rang out.
'This old man has been really troublesome to deal with, but he'll serve as a perfect demonstration subject.' Stan thought while activating the pollens from the flowers that had spread through the air.
The oracle coven head began writhing and contracting on the ground, several plant escaping from his body's orifices.
"What is this!!!" Terra tried to manipulate the plants, but she quickly stopped her action.
"Why are you stopping? He's suffering," Raine rushed to try to help, but Terra stopped them.
"His roots are too deeply connected to him. If I try to remove these things then... *cough*"
"A petal? Since when was I affected?" Terra looked at the intruder with horror.
"For a while now. I could have stopped this game long ago, but I wanted to study your prowess and, frankly, it's a disaster."
All the illusions began raising their arms toward us. One intruder had already been horrible to handle, but now there were several who seemed capable of using magic too.
"I'll repeat myself, surrender or you'll literally end up as plants to decorate this castle."
*Grrr*, I could only growl at him, without being able to really act.
Fighting him no longer makes sense now. He literally has our lives under control and can shoot his light rays in all directions thanks to his clones.
There's also the fact that Darius, along with the healing and oracle coven heads, are out of commission.
They are literally our best attackers, defenders, and healers.
"... As second after the emperor, I declare surrender." I could see the dissatisfaction around me, but no real complaints.
They must have all understood that we were no match against the emperor's killer.
"NO SURRENDER IS ACCEPTABLE!!"
That voice, it's his majesty!!!
"I knew you couldn't die from something so simple..." The intruder turned toward the source of the voice. Of course, I instinctively did the same.
"Philip..." The intruder no longer looked as calm and composed. He seemed to be seriously observing the object the emperor was holding.
"Collector, I release you, but in exchange, help your friend."