Seraphina was paying close attention to the battle in front of her after finally managing to calm down, especially after she attacked Elowyn—and she had to admit, it felt really good to do that.
'Next time, I'll do the same to Narisse.'
It would have to be next time because, currently, she wasn't strong enough to face them. So she needed to train much more to return what those two had done to her.
"So that's Enrico's friend?"
Seraphina was startled to see the orc's face so close and quickly nodded; she didn't even notice when they got behind her. But now the most important thing was to focus on the fight that was about to resume, and she wondered who those three girls were.
"Why did the subordinate come back with unknown girls?"
Serenya, who seemed about to help, sat down with a sulky face while Seraphina noticed her jealousy from afar—though she also felt a pang in her own heart, which made her sulk too.
Meanwhile, Enrico signaled to Yumeha, who immediately rushed forward with Akaname and surrounded Narisse, who was spreading poison from her hands. Narisse felt a pull on her back and was thrown away from Elowyn by Aoi. Grark tried to catch her but was stopped by Enrico, who kicked him in the face.
"What do you say to this deal—if I beat you all today, you become my subordinate?"
"If you win, I'll accept."
Grark grabbed his leg and threw him toward a tree, but Enrico spun in the air and used the tree to launch himself back at Grark.
"Then I'll have to try harder."
Elowyn created a golden sword in one hand and a spear in the other. She rushed at Enrico but was stopped by Rina, who raised her hand, causing the created weapons to collapse and disappear.
Meanwhile, Deymon tried to corrupt a small portion of the air around Aoi, but he couldn't—blue flames burned the corruption. Yumeha appeared beside Deymon and struck his ribs with her staff. Back to Enrico, he dodged a burst of earth from the ground and then blocked a punch from Grark.
Enrico scattered fireballs in the air that surrounded Grark, who ran out burned and distanced himself—but something strange happened. Enrico moved behind a tree, confusing him.
'Why didn't he atta—'
Before he could finish the thought, he felt a flame behind him and turned, only to be met with a fire-charged kick from Enrico.
'How did he move so fast?'
Grark then realized he wasn't standing on the ground anymore and couldn't use his unique ability. Enrico appeared above him with a bow and a single arrow that contained an absurd amount of mana. Grark crossed his arms to block the attack that sent him crashing into the ground.
"Aah"
Grark saw Enrico using his flame-covered hands to launch himself downward, landing a direct hit to Grark's chest. But before losing consciousness, Grark managed to strike back with an impact spell that sent Enrico flying into a rock.
While dodging a sword attack from Rina, Elowyn looked satisfied—until she saw Enrico stand back up, healed by what appeared to be a glowing orb.
"Hitodama"
Yumeha had two fingers interlaced, channeling magic through Hitodama to heal Enrico.
Aoi was firing multiple blue flames at Deymon, who defended himself as best he could. He didn't know who those three girls were, but he was sure they were all at Class S level. Deymon prepared to cast his strongest spell but was hit by a fire kick from Enrico that sent him flying. As he struggled to get up, he was kicked in the stomach and then received a flurry of punches. The only thing he managed to say before passing out was "coward."
Enrico saw that Rina was about to cast a destructive spell and pointed toward Velka, who was now fighting Aoi.
"Take care of those two—I'll handle the princess."
Rina nodded and went for Narisse, signaling for Yumeha to help Aoi because she wanted to show Enrico how strong she was on her own. Enrico faced Elowyn, who returned the gaze. He had to admit that whenever she appeared in the original story, he had a strange feeling about her—but he couldn't fool himself. He knew exactly what that feeling was, especially since his life had been completely opposite from hers and yet still followed the same path, with some exceptions.
"You're pretty strong."
Elowyn created several spears above Enrico's head that rained down on him, but he managed to kick one, spin it in the air, catch it with his hand, and use it to deflect the others. He struck one that was headed for his head and tried to hit another, but it disappeared from his hand—and if he hadn't anticipated that, he would've been hit. Instead, he just ducked.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I should warn you—you should look behind you."
Enrico pointed behind Elowyn, but she didn't sense any human presence—only magical. A bow appeared above her head and shot at the mana, causing it to dissolve. And all of this happened without her taking her eyes off Enrico.
"Thanks for the warning."
Elowyn smiled, thinking it was a foolish move to warn her.
"No need to thank me. The second one's worse."
Suddenly, a body made of flames appeared where Enrico had been, and she felt a finger tap her shoulder. When she looked back, she saw Enrico smiling.
"What speed—"
A fire punch hit her face, sending her crashing into a tree. She managed to stop in the air with a floating sword she summoned, but before she could understand what was happening, she was kicked and thrown off balance, then felt her arm pulled and another punch landed on her face.
'Golden Magic – Great Sword'
A larger sword appeared above Enrico, and he let go of Elowyn's arm to dodge the attack. Wiping the blood from her face, Elowyn was frustrated—this was the first time in her life that she had felt such difficulty.
"Golden Magic – Multiple Great Swords"
Several swords appeared around Elowyn, and she prepared to launch them at him. Enrico readied himself, sweating a little because the next attack would be serious—but before it could go any further, the swords froze in midair and shattered.
"Sorry to interrupt the fight, but I'll have to stop it..."
Both of them looked surprised at Elaris, who had arrived with two other students.
"Or would you prefer I joined the fight as well?"
Apparently, they would have to stop. They looked at each other and nodded to finish the battle later—because even if they wanted to, they couldn't beat Elaris right now.