Wow, this was so shit on so many levels.
First, the fight scene was complete shit. He...what? Slow did what? He made six layers of a defensive barrier at his forehead? Then why couldn't he do that for his whole body? Does it take too much magic power? Is it too difficult somehow? Maybe it's those reasons. I don't know, and if anyone here says a reason was given in this chapter, they're wrong. Maybe the light novel explains, but it was just a crap fight scene.
Then Cephas apologizes for judging people based on their surfaces? Let's be clear. Yes, he did. Guess who else did so? SLOW! By literally every single account on the outside, Slow judged Cephas a sthis filthy blooded commoner who was also a traitor who was NEVER worth redeeming. Slow could've told Cephas about his mother at SO MANY different times. They hung out for A WHILE. Slow judged him as this irredeemable traitor that needed to be put down. That's even putting aside the fact that Slow knows the anime future. It's like herp derp, I think some things can be changed but not others, herp, oh, wait, I'll try to change Cephas' mind at the worst possible moment, derp.
This was all around shit.