A few minutes earlier and one second after Kai took Volhit outside the castle. Enrico faced the five figures who remained in that room with him. Sairao stood with the two hooded figures at his side. They had immediately stopped their movements and returned to the room when they heard the sounds of battle and destruction, which was why they appeared. Sairao and Valdir, on the other hand, had simply suspected that Elithia would be attacked at some point and had pretended to leave.
"It seems you were abandoned."
"I disagree, he just trusts me."
"Trusts you? With four mages where at least two are Circle Six at their peak?"
"You're forgetting the elf. You're five actually."
Sairao noticed Sylwen behind Enrico for a moment. She was a fairly strong Circle Six from what he had seen, so he looked at Enrico again, maintaining the same expression.
"At least three Circle Six close to their peak."
[Does this guy never admit he's wrong?]
'He doesn't like being wrong.'
Sylwen realized she had been forgotten, but she didn't care much, since she wanted them to ignore her so she could go after Elithia. The only problem was that Enrico noticed, so she would have to force her way through. She hadn't done it before because she had seen the power of that punch that showed he was a Circle Seven.
"Water Magic—"
As soon as she spoke the words, Enrico appeared in front of her and struck her stomach with a punch that made her spit blood onto the floor. Lifted into the air, she was sure she had almost died from that blow. Enrico moved to follow up, but was interrupted by a black fire spell that tried to hit him. Dodging backward, he landed on the ground while Sylwen fell several meters away.
"Heal."
She immediately healed herself and stood up, seeing that the one who had launched that attack was Valdir. He looked at Enrico with an irritated expression for still disrespecting his god. Sairao stepped forward, carefully observing his body.
"So you managed to reach Circle Seven? How did you do that in such a short time?"
"Because I'm a prodigy called an aberration."
[As always, lying without even blinking.]
Well, he had to lie to maintain his role as a wall for his companions. Taking his usual stance, he analyzed the situation. Of course, he had a plan that was already happening at that moment—he only had to give the signal, but he had to wait for the right moment.
'The biggest problem is Valdir.'
Since his body was at the peak of Circle Seven, it was possible to confront and resist the power of the Circle Eight mage in front of him. Maybe they would be arrogant and let him fight one-on-one. That way they would be distracted with that fight. With his plan in mind he was about to speak, but Sairao interrupted with his own words.
"Attack."
'Yeah, that's not going to work.'
Hearing the command, the two hooded figures moved forward without hesitation. The smaller one seemed to give a command to the larger hooded figure. Separating, the two began using their magic. The big one summoned lava in his dark hand that seemed made of rock.
"Lava Whips."
The ground near him melted and several lava whips erupted from the floor, advancing toward Enrico, tearing the stone floor apart as heat began filling the room. Each whip moved like a living serpent, trying to surround him from all sides at the same time. Enrico moved to the side before the first impact, the ground where he had stood seconds earlier breaking apart when two whips collided. The third nearly reached his shoulder, but he twisted his body and let it pass by while the fourth wrapped around a column behind him, melting half the structure.
[Seems like more of the recruits. I never saw him in the original story.]
'...I think so.'
At the same time all that happened, the second hooded figure summoned what seemed to be skeletons from the ground. That one he knew well, since she had fought Valença in the original story. Of course she lost, because by that time Valença had already surpassed her level when she turned twenty.
[But right now she's eighteen.]
'Maybe, but the current Valença is stronger than the one in the original story.'
The skeletons moved with Circle Five speed, surrounding Enrico on all sides. Without retreating he made a simple kick that vanished from the sight of all the Circle Six mages in the room and struck the skeletons, shattering them into pieces.
"Necromancy Magic: Circle Six Corpses."
Once again skeletons appeared, but these showed more flesh than the previous ones. One carried a sword and the other a shield. Unlike the earlier ones, there were only two at this level. The sword skeleton seemed to use wind magic when it extended its arm with the blade.
"Multiple Wind Blades."
Those words were not spoken by it, but by the second hooded figure. Several small magic circles appeared in the air around the sword while compressed wind blades began forming. The blades fired in rapid succession, forcing Enrico to advance instead of retreat. Once again the big one tried to use his lava whips behind Enrico as he moved.
Enrico stomped the ground and appeared in front of the lava user, striking his arm with a kick before another whip could form. The impact made the magic falter for a moment, but the big man stepped back twice and released magma from the ground again. The floor of the hall was already cracked, veins of lava flowing between the stones. The sword skeleton appeared to the side and released a blast of compressed wind that crossed the hall like an invisible blade. Enrico ducked by reflex and the blast sliced one of the hall's walls, opening a massive cut in the stone.
'Looks like I'll only be able to go after the queen if I eliminate him.'
Sylwen had already stood up completely and advanced again, water gathering in her hands as several liquid spears formed.
"Water Spears."
The spears were fired toward him. Jumping back, he dodged in time while two embedded themselves in the ground and the third and fourth grazed his arm. The fifth he grabbed with his hand without showing pain, spun on the spot and threw it back at a greater speed, piercing Sylwen's shoulder.
"Aaahh."
She fell backward from the force and made the spear stuck in her shoulder disappear. Standing up again she prepared another attack, but when she saw Valdir about to move she stopped, as did the two hooded figures.
"Ridiculous... we can't keep wasting time with him. I'll eliminate him quickly."
Sairao sighed a little. It seemed his subordinate was getting stressed by that boy performing so well. He himself hadn't liked him from the first moment he showed disrespect.
'Well, I don't like him either. I just wanted to see the level he reached, and without a doubt he's a threat.'
"Alright, finish him Valdir."
With the command of his god given, Valdir launched himself toward Enrico, his irritated face lit by the black fire around his hand. He would use all his power to eliminate that boy quickly, and Enrico noticed it.
'Looks like he won't underestimate me.'
A small explosion of fire burst from Enrico's finger. He had done that before Sairao allowed Valdir to attack, so it gave time for someone to save him at that moment, because his plan was to distract them and launch a surprise attack. A blade pierced Valdir's cheek and came out the other side. He looked to the side in shock and saw calm furious eyes he recognized.
"Lyrielle?"
That's right. The dark elf he thought was sealed was now there, driving a white sword into his face. Sairao was also surprised to see that girl together with his two hooded figures.
And that made them lose one second, which was enough for Valença, Grakka, and Victoria—who had also been waiting in ambush—to launch attacks toward Sylwen, Sairao, and the second hooded figure. The attack was so powerful that it made the entire castle tremble and an explosion of light burst out from inside it.