“Are we still doing this?”

Otori kept glancing at Waldemar, clearly wanting to heal him, though her glances seemed to subtly suggest to Henning that if they stopped here, he could be treated.

“Of course! If we end it here, the name of the Arklight Kingdom's Royal Guard would be tarnished!”

Henning seemed still very much ready for more.

I glanced over at my classmates, and they looked like they were ready to retreat.

“Damn, weren't you two supposed to be unemployed and useless...? I wasn’t expecting this!”

Manaka grumbled, but then started gathering magic, showing some signs of determination.

“Go, heroes! What are you good for if you’re not useful in a situation like this?! Honoka, take care of Waldemar's treatment!”

Henning shouted, and Oda and Hino each raised their weapons. As a magic swordsman, Hino began chanting, while Otori rushed to Waldemar to heal him.

But it seemed like the "leader" Henning's true nature was starting to show. Just a while ago, he was addressing them with “sir,” but now he’s casually using “you guys.” What kind of treatment did the heroes receive here?

“I just want to get to the Third Princess already…”

“They’re not going to let you go!”

I sighed and muttered, but before I could speak further, Henning immediately cut me off. There was no need to answer him.

Then, I felt something coming from behind. A faint presence—was it the black-clad figures again?

“Let’s end this quickly then.”

“Agreed.”

Though Rio didn’t seem to notice, I turned to face behind me to ensure my back was covered. Two figures in black were getting ready to throw daggers at us.

I quickly prepared and fired Earth Needles two at a time, with high-speed aiming. I expected them to dodge, but I had bought us time. Now, I needed to focus on increasing the number of projectiles.

“Rio, take care of the other side. I’ll do the wide spread.”

“Got it.”

Rio also began forming her own Earth Needles in the air, just like mine. It was a low-level spell, but the more magic you invested, the more powerful and numerous the needles became. We didn’t need to pierce through anything too strong, but we aimed for effectiveness.

I planned for about 1,000 shots, though I didn’t even try counting Rio's—they were simply too many.

Before the daggers could reach us, I unleashed the needles in all directions, ensuring there was no space for them to dodge. With a thunderous roar, hundreds of stone needles shot forward, knocking the two black-clad figures aside effortlessly.

“Rio?!”

I turned back to see that Rio was still holding her needles, but hadn’t yet launched them.

“I’ve got this. I’ll make them eat their words,” she said with determination.

Meanwhile, Hino had completed his incantation, and Oda and Henning were closing in with their weapons ready.

“Ice Javelin!”

The first attack came from Manaka, who launched five ice spears. It seemed he had activated the command word for the spell instantly, but he too must be using non-chanting magic now. Rio responded by shooting dozens of Earth Needles, neutralizing the ice spears. In retaliation, she launched around 500 more needles at Manaka.

As Manaka was pierced and flung back, I noticed Rio stepping forward and directing her stones at Oda, who was about to swing his axe.

“Duf!? ”

Oda’s axe snapped off at the top, sending the blade flying backward.

Hino, with a desperate expression, seemed to have infused his sword with fire magic, and swung it downward. Rio countered by summoning ice in her palm to block his attack, gradually reducing its strength. At the same time, she shot stone needles at Oda and Hino, sending them flying backward.

“Gyaaahhh!”

It looked like Hino had taken more damage than Oda—probably due to a bad hit location, though Oda had a better build.

Finally, Henning charged at me with his greatsword held low, prepared for a strike. Instantly, Rio pulled a short sword from her Spatial Box and readied it.

Wasn’t that the sword that Master had made as a joke, using Earth Magic? It was supposed to be brittle, but would it hold up now?

“This ends now!”

Henning gathered magic into his sword, which began to glow faintly.

Rio, meanwhile, poured her own magic into the short sword, imbuing it with fire magic and coating it with a vacuum blade, enhancing it as much as possible.

I had played around with weapon enhancements before, but those didn’t last long. But, if it was an Earth Element weapon I could make myself, maybe it would work fine.

As Henning swung his sword, Rio’s blade came down first. With a sharp crack, Henning’s greatsword was cut through and shattered.

Before he could even think of retaliating, I launched Earth Needles at him. Meanwhile, Otori, who had been healing Waldemar, was also caught by Rio’s magic.

If the front line falls, they should run immediately.

“Hmph!”

Rio, with a triumphant look, stared at the now silent battlefield.

Well, I guess Rio took all the glory there. Still, I’m amazed by how skilled she is.

Now, only the rest of the crowd surrounding us remained. I began launching another 1,000 Earth Needles to clear them out.