The names of Elian, Liam, and Caelan appear on the image of the eliminated competitors along with other students. Sílvia and Camila looked up, worried; below them were two students who also appeared on the screen. Both had just ranked up—Sílvia to Rank 38. Seeing the two students disappear, Camila turned to her partner.
"The boys were eliminated."
"The only problem with this broadcast image is that we don't know who is defeating who when the rank of the defeated person is lower than that of the winner."
"But if no one took their ranks, then it means that Princess Elowyn, the one you fought, could have been the one who defeated them as revenge, right?"
Camila was right—it could very well have been the princess. Since Enrico had given a simple warning, she wasn't too surprised, but it could still have been someone else, so she couldn't lower her guard around anyone, even those who seemed trustworthy.
"The entire E class was eliminated."
Seeing that Class E had lost their last chance before leaving the academy, Sílvia sighed. This was the final elimination of the class before the holidays began. Of course, they still had a few days to at least defeat someone from Class D.
"We have to meet up with the others, let's go."
"Right."
"Can I come with you?"
Sensing a presence behind them, they stepped back, seeing Velka. Before they could react, they were restrained by monstrous mist guards. She wasn't sure why she couldn't sense or hear anything, but she was certain Velka was stronger.
"Stay right there and decide whether you want to be eliminated by me or by Miss Elowyn."
That meant she must have already called her. From Camila's body, ashes began to emerge, and in the air, a large spear formed and spun, dissipating the mist claws holding them. Raising both arms, she created a vine that lifted them up.
"Looks like you prefer to be eliminated by me."
A giant mist claw rose behind Velka, heading toward the vine. Before it could get far, several vines pierced it, stopping its advance. Seeing her target getting away, Velka ran after them, pressing three fingers together on her left hand. The claws began to appear again, but now with the body of a mist beast—eight arms and three eyes. Climbing onto it, even though it was made of mist, the beast began to run after the two, eventually taking flight at high speed.
"She's catching up to us."
"I know… poisonous thorns."
Along the path of the vine Velka was following, several thorns emerged, nearly piercing her. Dodging them, she noticed the liquid and already knew what it was from so many training sessions with Narisse. Spinning in the air, the beast turned into a cloud that passed them, ending up in front of them. Due to the speed, they passed right through it.
"Koff! What is this?"
Sílvia felt her body go numb, and losing consciousness for a second, both fell from the vines. Camila woke up faster in midair and began gathering ashes in her hand. Pointing her finger, she fired them at Velka, who was approaching.
"Ash magic: fire ash."
The ashes began to ignite, and when the first collided with another, they caused an explosion above Velka. Landing on the ground with Sílvia landing beside her—having woken a second later—they saw Velka emerge from the smoke. There were some injuries on her body, but she was still fine.
Velka looked at them with an incredulous glint in her eyes, still trying to understand the improvement they had made. Even so, her confidence would not waver.
"You've improved, but thanks to the princess, so have I."
Pointing her hands to the side, two beasts like before, but doubled in number and much stronger in magical energy, appeared.
"Velka, need some help?"
Sílvia and Camila quickly turned toward the voice and saw Diana approaching Velka. It seemed she was using wind magic to increase the strength of the mist beasts. Camila put both hands to her head—now that they were stronger, Diana must be at the same level as Class A, making this difficult.
"Seriously? Doesn't wind disperse mist? Why does she have to have such good wind control?"
Seeing the two about to begin, Sílvia decided to buy some time. Placing her hands on the ground, two vines rose between them. Both stopped, thinking it might be a trap, so Sílvia began speaking.
"Hey, Diana, Enrico really wanted you to join us."
"What are you talking about? If it weren't for him beating us up so many times, Lan wouldn't be treating me and Jorge so badly."
"Oh, come on, you deserved it. And I'm sure that if you joined us now, not only would Enrico treat you well, but so would all our companions."
Diana furrowed her brows and shook her head, raising her hand to prepare an attack. Velka, realizing there was no trap and that they were just stalling, ordered her mist beasts to attack.
"Interesting."
A blazing beam of fire passed through the two mist beasts, instantly dispersing them. Seeing the size of the magic, Diana and Velka immediately turned to the side and saw Valença arriving calmly.
"Camila, Sílvia, do you need me to interrupt your battle?"
"Yes, we give up."
"They're all yours."
Seeing her relieved friends, she calmed down. Ever since she saw the boys being eliminated, she had been worried about the others.
"You won't escape this time."
Hearing Velka's words, Valença raised an eyebrow. Both began creating their magic. Mist surrounded Valença, preventing her from seeing or sensing anything.
"Cutting wind!"
Dodging to the side, she saw three wind slashes coming from a gap in the mist. A larger mist beast than the previous ones rose above the mist surrounding her, and with Velka's hand motion, a punch was thrown at her.
"Blazing ray!"
A beam passed through the beast's entire arm. Valença emerged from the mist, pointed her staff at it, and a large fireball made it disappear.
Pointing her hand at Diana, who was covering herself with wind magic and preparing something, Valença raised two fingers, and flames engulfed her, sending her burning into the air.
"She couldn't even withstand the flaming circle's strike? I might be overdoing it."
Velka had hidden her presence with her mist and approached Valença from behind. Gathering magic in her hands, she formed an attack in the shape of a blade—one that would truly wound if it hit.
I want to see her resist this.
It was her strongest attack, one that even the princess had praised, so there was no way to resist it. Getting closer while Valença tried to locate her, she was almost in range.
"Quil."
Suddenly, a flame appeared in front of her. Trying to stay silent, Velka froze for a second. Valença looked at the flame and nodded, and then it exploded, dealing enough damage to eliminate Velka from the interclass battle.
"Thank you, Incandis—seeing your magic, I'd definitely have been hurt."
Caressing Incandis while he was happy, she thought about how she needed to ruffle Enrico's hair soon because she missed the feeling, even though only a day had passed since the last time. Valença noticed Velka falling to the ground unconscious and starting to disappear.
"In a way, she lasted quite a while."
"Thank you, Valença, you're the best."
While Camila thanked her, Valença saw Sílvia resting. She had only found them because of the vines she'd created, and she'd also seen, upon arrival, that Sílvia had been buying time until someone came.
She made a great plan, but…
"They definitely saw the vines I made too, and they're coming here, so we should leave."
Sílvia said exactly what Valença had been about to think. She knew it was risky, but it was their only chance of winning that fight. In truth, Enrico was probably coming too, and if that were the case, this would be the meeting point for the two groups.
"I think we should prepare and set some traps."
"What a nice gift you're preparing for me?"
The three realized they were surrounded by Elowyn and all her subordinates, and up above, in a hole, was a beastman girl they knew well.
"Looks like you're ambushed. What will you do now to escape?"
Tilting her head, Valença saw Incandis happy around her. Ever since they had left the dungeon and returned to the academy, it seemed Incandis had wanted to find Enrico for some reason. But since she was recovering, she hadn't summoned him at all. A small smile appeared on Valença's face—if he was happy, it could only mean one thing. A voice came from above, from a hole right next to where the tiger girl stood.
"What are you talking about? They don't need to escape from you."
Enrico was sitting in the hole, chin resting on his hand, looking seriously at Elowyn and her subordinates—who were also surrounded by his companions.
"I saw that you eliminated three of ours, so I'll return the favor… double."