Further back, Sílvia, Elian, Caelan, and the others finally managed to sit down. They were too tired and injured to continue fighting at that moment.
"Finally, we can rest..."
Elian muttered, exhaling.
Enrico quickly glanced at them and slightly furrowed his brow with concern.
'They could help a little more...'
But when he remembered the injuries everyone had suffered, he abandoned the idea. If they continued fighting in that condition, they would probably only serve as targets.
'Besides, they deserve to rest...'
Meanwhile, Elowyn continued watching Enrico in silence. Narisse, Velka, and Deymon returned to their positions around him, preparing to attack again.
Grark still remained farther away.
Elowyn noticed the orc's hesitation but said nothing. Her gaze remained fixed on Enrico, trying to understand the strange emptiness her Essence Vision found whenever she looked at him.
The fight continued, and Enrico advanced toward Grark.
"Fire Fist!"
Concentrating magic in his fist, he landed a direct hook on the orc's chin. The impact made Grark's head jerk upward and left him disoriented for a few seconds. Enrico took advantage of the opening and moved behind him, kicking the back of his knee. Grark lost his balance and fell to his knees, placing one hand on the ground to keep himself from falling completely.
Enrico took a deep breath and began concentrating a greater amount of mana in his hand.
'I have to eliminate someone quickly.'
He maintained a calm expression, but inside, the situation was becoming increasingly difficult. Enrico could only face all those opponents at the same time thanks to the physical strengthening he had received that week and, mainly, because he knew each of their abilities. Even so, his mana was decreasing faster than he would have liked, and any mistake could leave him in a dangerous situation.
Narisse took advantage of the moment and opened her mouth.
"Poison Breath!"
A greenish mist was released toward Enrico. He immediately stopped concentrating mana and jumped to the side, barely escaping the poison's range. The mist struck the ground and began spreading throughout the area, forcing him to retreat even farther.
'This poison causes extreme pain and also increases magical fatigue. I can't let even a little touch me.'
Enrico kept his face calm as he watched the four opponents reposition themselves around him. From the outside, he seemed to be completely in control of the situation; inside, however, he was already beginning to feel the weight of the battle.
'If this continues, my mana will run out before theirs.'
Grark began getting back up, still dazed from the blow, while Diana prepared another spell and Deymon spread Corruption across the ground. Velka also recovered her balance after being thrown into Narisse.
Enrico gritted his teeth for a moment and returned to his combat stance.
'I need to take one of them down now.'
He noticed a shadow forming above his head. Without hesitation, he rolled to the side the instant a golden sword came crashing down and destroyed the ground where he had been.
"You're stronger than I thought."
Elowyn had one hand raised, controlling the golden sword. Enrico sighed upon noticing her presence. He would have preferred to eliminate at least one of her subordinates before she directly entered the fight, since facing all of them at once was already consuming his mana faster than he would have liked.
Elowyn's golden magic allowed her to shape her own magic into different forms, as long as she respected the limits imposed by her circle and the amount of mana available.
'Of course there's a limitation. She can only take three forms in the first circle.'
[Even so, she must be difficult to deal with because of the absurd amount of mana that girl possesses.]
'Yes.'
Elowyn had the third-largest amount of mana among the first-year students. Her rank still did not completely reflect her potential because she lacked the experience and skill to use all that power efficiently.
'Fighting her alone would already be difficult... but with all these guys together, it would be practically impossible.'
Enrico glanced at his allies. Kai, Valença, and Serenya already seemed prepared to return to the fight despite their injuries. Kai still had one broken arm, and even so, he held the sword with his other hand. Serenya also showed difficulty remaining standing, while Valença gripped her staff tightly.
As much as he needed help, Enrico preferred that they did not get involved again. If they continued fighting in that condition, they could end up suffering even more serious injuries.
'Well... that is, if I were alone.'
A subtle smile appeared on Enrico's face.
"Akaname."
A black mist appeared beside Diana and, before she could react, Akaname advanced. Its tongue extended like a whip and struck the girl, sending her flying away. Diana tried to regain her balance, but a second attack came immediately afterward. Yumeha's staff struck her body with force, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.
"Master, are you okay?"
"My Ketsumei, how are you?"
Two voices came almost simultaneously. Yumeha ran to one side of Enrico, while Rina approached from the other, both worried about him. A few meters behind them, Aoi remained wearing her kitsune mask, silently observing Elowyn's subordinates.
For a few seconds, everyone was surprised by the arrival of the three.
Enrico, however, took advantage of the distraction. While no one was paying attention, he discreetly extended his hand toward a nearby rock.
Behind it, a small amount of magic began to take shape.
His Elemental Clone appeared silently, hidden from the enemies' view.
Enrico turned his eyes toward Elowyn and her subordinates, while Yumeha and Rina remained at his side.
"Now things are more balanced."
Elowyn narrowed her eyes upon realizing the change in the situation. Until that moment, her subordinates had managed to maintain control of the battle, but now Enrico had joined the others, and the presence of three new fighters had completely altered the balance.
"Then let's find out how far you can go."
Her subordinates advanced again.
Seraphina watched the battle in front of her attentively. After finally managing to control her breathing and push the fear away a little, she was able to pay attention to everyone's movements. She still felt a certain pride for having managed to hit Elowyn, especially because, for the first time, she had managed to react against someone who terrified her so much.
'Next time, I'll do the same to Narisse.'
It would only be next time. At that moment, she still did not have enough strength to face them on equal terms and knew she would need to train much more if she wanted to repay everything those two had done to her.
"So you're Enrico's friend?"
Seraphina was startled when she noticed the orc's face close to hers. She had not even noticed when the girl had approached, but she quickly nodded before turning her eyes back to the battle. There were still three girls beside Enrico whom she did not know, and Seraphina wondered why they had appeared at that moment.
"Why did the subordinate come back with unknown girls?"
Serenya, who was also preparing to return to the fight, asked while sitting down for a moment, still feeling the pain from her injuries. Her tone seemed indifferent, but Seraphina easily noticed the discomfort in her expression. There was jealousy there.
Seraphina felt a small pang in her chest upon realizing that.
'Why did I feel bothered too?'
She preferred not to think about it too much.
While the others were still recovering, Enrico raised one hand and signaled to Yumeha. She immediately understood and advanced with Akaname at her side, heading directly toward Narisse. At the same time, Aoi moved along the side and extended her hand.
A sudden pull struck Narisse from behind.
"Ah!"
The girl lost her balance and was dragged away from Elowyn. Grark tried to intercept Aoi, but Enrico stepped into his path and landed a direct kick to his face, forcing the orc to retreat.
Enrico maintained his stance as he faced Grark.
"How about we make a deal? If I defeat you today, you become my subordinate."
Grark wiped the blood that had begun to trickle from the corner of his mouth and answered without hesitation:
"If you defeat Elowyn, I accept."
He immediately advanced, grabbed Enrico's leg, and threw him against a tree. Enrico spun in the air before hitting the trunk and used the tree itself as support to change his trajectory, propelling himself back toward the orc.
"Then I'll have to try harder."
Enrico advanced with his fist prepared, but before he could reach Grark, a golden shadow appeared beside him.
Elowyn had created a sword in one hand and a spear in the other and was advancing directly toward him.
Rina stepped into her path.
She raised her hand, and her magic struck both golden weapons. The princess's magical constructs began to lose their stability and dissolved before Elowyn could attack.
"I won't let you interfere."
Elowyn looked at Rina with irritation.
Meanwhile, Deymon tried to take advantage of the distraction. He extended his hands toward Aoi and began corrupting the space around her, but a blue flame appeared before the magic could reach her and burned away the corruption.
Yumeha immediately appeared beside Deymon.
"It won't work."
The staff struck his ribs with force and made him retreat.
On the other side, Enrico narrowly dodged an earth explosion that appeared beneath his feet. Grark took advantage of the opening and advanced with a punch, forcing Enrico to cross his arms to block the blow.
The impact made his feet slide a few centimeters across the ground.
'He's stronger than before.'
Enrico did not show his surprise. He simply spun his body and spread several small fireballs through the air. The flames surrounded Grark from all sides, forcing the orc to retreat to escape the explosions.
Enrico took advantage of the opening and ran behind a tree.
Grark frowned.
'Why didn't he attack me?'
He advanced to discover the answer, but a flame appeared behind him. When Grark turned around, it was already too late.
Enrico appeared with his foot engulfed in fire and landed a violent kick against his body.
"Ugh!"
Grark was thrown backward and tried to regain his balance, but immediately realized that something was wrong.
His feet were no longer touching the ground.
'My ability...'
Earth King's Resistance depended on contact with the ground. Without it, his physical strength returned to its normal level.
Enrico appeared above him. A fire bow appeared in his hands, but this time, only one arrow was created, and the amount of mana concentrated within it made Grark's eyes widen.
"That..."
The arrow was fired.
Grark crossed his arms to protect himself, but the impact struck him directly and violently threw him against the ground.
"Aah!"
Enrico did not stop. He engulfed his own hands in flames and used the magic to propel himself downward, following the orc before he could get up.
The flaming fist struck Grark's chest, making the orc lose his breath. Before passing out, however, he managed to react for a moment.
"Impact Magic!"
A wave of force exploded from his body and struck Enrico directly.
"Ugh!"
Enrico was thrown backward and slammed into a large rock. The impact made the stone tremble, and he remained leaning against it for a few seconds, breathing more heavily.
He quickly straightened himself, pretending that the blow had not been as strong as it really was.
'That hurt more than I expected.'
On the other side, Grark was already unconscious on the ground.
Valença watched in silence. She had seen Enrico fight before, but every time she encountered him, there seemed to be some difference.
'He's incredible...'
Elowyn dodged a sword strike from Rina when she noticed Enrico getting back up. For a moment, she seemed satisfied to see that he was still willing to continue, but her expression changed as soon as a small sphere of light appeared beside him.
"Hitodama."
Yumeha was a few meters behind, with her two fingers intertwined as she channeled her mana into the yōkai. The small sphere of spiritual fire floated toward Enrico and released a gentle light over his body, closing some of the wounds he had suffered.
"Master, are you okay?"
Enrico simply gave her a thumbs-up to reassure her. At the same time, Aoi fired several blue flames at Deymon. He could barely keep up with the sequence of attacks and defended himself as best he could, still not understanding who those three girls who had appeared in the middle of the battle were. Even so, he had already reached one conclusion: all of them seemed to be at the level of the best students in Class S.
'What hole did these girls crawl out of to be this strong?'
Deymon gritted his teeth and began concentrating his magic to use his most powerful spell.
"Now I'm going to—"
A blur appeared in front of him. Enrico landed a fire-wrapped kick directly against his chest.
"Ugh!"
Deymon was thrown backward and fell to the ground. Before he could get up, Enrico was already over him. A kick struck his stomach, followed by a sequence of rapid punches that prevented him from reacting. Deymon tried to protect his face, but he could not keep up with the blows.
"C-coward..."
That was the last thing he managed to say before losing consciousness.
Enrico quickly looked to the side and noticed that Rina was about to use a larger-scale spell. He pointed toward Velka and Narisse, who were fighting Aoi.
"Take care of those two. I'll take care of the princess."
Rina immediately nodded.
"Understood."
She advanced against Narisse, determined to show Enrico that she could handle an opponent of that level by herself. Before leaving, however, she quickly looked at Yumeha.
"Help Aoi."
Yumeha understood and ran to help. Rina wanted to show Enrico how much she had improved, but Yumeha also clearly understood the reason behind that attitude.
As the two moved away, Enrico turned his attention to Elowyn. The two stood face-to-face for a few seconds. Enrico had to admit that he had always felt something strange whenever Elowyn appeared in the original story.
'My life in my world...'
Now, however, he understood the reason better. Her life had followed a completely different path from his, but, in a way, they had both continued moving in the same direction for very different reasons. He could not let himself be deceived by that.
"You're quite strong."
Elowyn raised her hand. Several golden spears appeared above Enrico's head and fell at the same time. Enrico jumped to the side and managed to kick one of the spears before it struck his body. The weapon spun through the air, and he grabbed it by the shaft, using it to deflect another one coming directly toward him. A third passed dangerously close to his head. Enrico spun his body and struck another spear with his arm, deflecting it away. When he tried to grab the last one, however, it simply disappeared from his hand as another approached.
'As expected.'
Taking a step backward, he managed to dodge.
If he had not known that Elowyn's magic could disappear after being created, he probably would have been hit. Elowyn continued watching his every movement.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'd like to tell you that you should look behind you."
Enrico pointed behind her. Elowyn did not sense any human presence, only magic. A golden bow appeared above her head and fired an arrow toward the indicated point. The energy dissipated in the air as soon as it struck the hidden magic. Elowyn did not take her eyes off Enrico.
"Thanks for the warning."
Enrico smiled.
"No need to thank me. The second one is worse."
A body made of flames appeared exactly where Enrico was. Elowyn realized it too late and felt a finger touch her shoulder. She turned around and found Enrico behind her, smiling.
"But what spee—"
The fire-wrapped fist struck her face. Elowyn was thrown against a tree, but she managed to create a golden sword in the air and use it as support to stop her fall. She barely had time to regain her balance. Enrico was already behind her. A kick struck her body and made her lose her balance. Before she could react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer, landing another punch directly in her face.
Elowyn gritted her teeth.
"Golden Magic: Greatsword."
A huge golden sword appeared above Enrico. He immediately released Elowyn's arm and jumped away. The sword fell with force, destroying part of the ground. Elowyn raised a hand to her face and wiped away the blood running from her lip. She was frustrated. It was the first time in her life that she had encountered so much difficulty against someone of the same generation.
'The fight against Rank Fourteen was easier.'
"Golden Magic: Greatswords, Multiple."
Several golden swords appeared around Elowyn. Enrico immediately felt the danger.
'This is going to be bad.'
He pulled out the fire bow again and began concentrating mana, but noticed that his breathing was heavier than before.
'My mana is starting to run low.'
Even so, he maintained a calm expression. Elowyn pointed her hand, and the swords began advancing. Before any of them could be fired, however, they all froze in the air. Then they began to shatter.
The two looked to the side. A girl had just arrived accompanied by two other students.
Elaris walked a few steps forward, maintaining a calm expression.
"Sorry to interrupt the fight, but I'll have to stop it."
Enrico and Elowyn remained silent as Elaris looked at the two seriously.
"Or would you prefer that I join this fight as well?"
Elowyn narrowed her eyes. Enrico also immediately understood the situation. Neither of them was in a condition to fight Elaris at that moment. After a few seconds, Enrico and Elowyn exchanged one last look and, without needing to say anything, reached the same conclusion.
The fight would have to end there. For now.