[Lifespan Remaining: 20 days, 21 hours, 42 minutes.]
Even before the signal finished, Lilah had already disappeared from sight. The small woman was already halfway across the field with her greatsword trailing behind her.
She passed the first set of obstacles without slowing, then brought her enormous blade right down onto Ronan, who had met her in the middle.
CRAAAAAAAAASH—!
Their weapons collided sharply. The impact rolled across the training field, rattling loose dust from the walls. Even from a distance, Noct could instinctively feel the sheer force.
’One attack would snap my body in half...’
"Every time," Anthony sighed. "Come on. Let’s proceed with the plan."
Anthony sent his hawk upward, then moved toward the raised section beside their base to scout things out. Adelaide remained near the flag, giving the departing group a cheerful wave.
Noct began running with Duncan toward the leftmost path. He had barely taken three steps when his vision suddenly lurched upward.
’What the—?’
It was like he was seeing two scenes at once, one where he was running through the grass, and another where he was soaring through the air.
It was similar to what Lenia had done before. Anthony had connected him to the hawk’s sight, allowing him to observe the field from above. Marina’s startled glance toward the ceiling suggested he wasn’t the only one.
’The version I remember could only connect two people at a time...Maybe he really is that talented.’
Still, Noct chose to focus on the people in front of him, which were Duncan and Marina. Whatever he thought of their strategy, she was supposed to provide the attack that cleared their path. Letting someone reach her before she finished casting would make the entire plan rather pointless.
He glanced at the other routes, surprised that they hadn’t encountered anyone from the blue team just yet. Most of these upperclassmen were probably at least 4-Stars. Duncan had confirmed as much about himself, and none of the others seemed intimidated by him.
If Noct wanted to compete, he would probably have to reveal a few aces up his sleeves. Ones that he really didn’t want to reveal.
"Hold," Duncan suddenly whispered, raising a hand.
Noct stopped right behind the corner of a low wall while Marina halted beside him. Noct wasn’t sure why he gave the command, but a second later, a wooden blade pierced through the stone wall, its edge almost hitting Duncan if he hadn’t moved back.
’Through the wall?!’
Mei then vaulted across the wall, landing just beyond the reach of Duncan’s axe. Instantly, she pulled the sword out and began sprinting straight toward Marina’s direction.
But Duncan wasn’t letting that happen. With a loud roar, Mei suddenly stopped in place, her legs trembling. Duncan then put himself between Mei and the two mages, just in time for the effect to wear off.
’A taunt skill...this guy knows a lot about team combat.’
Noct began gathering mana, not intending to be dead weight in a battle against the upperclassmen. Meanwhile, Duncan stamped forward to meet Mei again, who retreated a bit this time.
Aura surged along his leg and the stone beneath his feet fractured. He crossed the gap in a single step, bringing his large greataxe down on her. Yet with a move of pure finesse, she used the back of her blade to simply redirect his attack into the ground, where it dug straight through earth.
Noct was frankly speechless. How can someone channel that much power into a practice weapon, enough to break through real stone and earth of all things?
But he couldn’t linger on the thought any longer as he felt a presence whisk through the air through the wind currents. And its direction...was headed right toward Marina as well.
"Shit...! Watch out!"
Noct dived straight into Marina, who had been chanting a spell. Right then, an arrow whisked past, still managing to slam into Noct’s shoulder. Even if the arrow was blunted, pain erupted as the sheer speed the arrow was traveling at was enough to cause a bruise.
They both landed on the ground, and if Noct had been just a second later, it would’ve struck Marina in the head, knocking her out cold.
"Noct!" Marina reached for him, but he shook his head.
"I’m fine. Get behind the wall."
Though he said that, his shoulder still throbbed whenever he moved, and his fingers still trembled from the shock. He pushed himself upright with his other hand, keeping his head below the broken edge of the stone to avoid another potential attack.
Ahead, Duncan’s axe struck Mei’s sword with another sharp crack.
’We need to get closer to him.’
With Duncan between them and the opposing team, Marina could at least attempt another spell. Staying here would only give the archer time to find a better angle.
"Come on."
Noct caught Marina’s sleeve and moved toward the opening. But he couldn’t even take two steps before light spilled across the ground. A pale line swept between them and Duncan, then rose into a broad, luminous wall.
"Noct?" Duncan’s voice came from the other side.
"We’re here!"
An impact rang out beyond the barrier, followed by the scrape of boots. Mei wasn’t giving him time to come back. Someone had cast this wall of light to separate them on purpose.
Noct turned toward the source of the light to see a boy standing at the entrance to a side passage, with one hand extended toward them. Light gathered around his fingers, spreading outward until it formed a barrier.
Beside him, Aurora stepped into the open with a small smirk on her face. With a twist of the boy’s hand, the wall of light curved into a U-shape, completely blocking them off now from Duncan.
’Damn it...Mei keeps Duncan occupied. The archer forces us into cover. Then these two cut off the way back.’
’Was their plan from the start to take out Marina instead of going for our flag from the start?! They read our strategy like a book...’
A glance through the hawk’s sight showed him the top of the light barrier and the narrow passage they had been pushed into. From above, the arrangement looked pretty obvious now.
’Anthony should know that we need help.’
Noct gathered mana into his body, turning it into an electric current that jolted his cells awake, energizing them to their absolute limit. "O lightning, fill my body with relentless energy and allow me to escape even the gods."
?Magia Volt — Blitz Tempo?
[Lifespan Remaining: 19 days, 21 hours, 34 minutes.]
"We’ll have to last until reinforcements arrive."