302: No Fair!

Carta, I need support! Tura—

Got it.

We had trained specifically to communicate our intentions using the bare minimum of words.

Tura broke into a sprint once more.

Darius unleashed the exact same attack as before. No, he probably let it fly just for our sake. He was guiding us every step of the way, letting us learn as we went.

"Well? What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing at all," Tura replied. "At least... not by myself."

The moment the mana-infused soil began raining down on Tura, a Shield chant rang out from behind her. Carta’s defensive magic was wider and more powerful than anyone else’s. She even layered it twofold, successfully blocking every last speck of dirt.

"Hoh, not bad. But you won't win with just that, you know?"

"The real show starts now!"

Tura drew her blade at point-blank range. In terms of pure swordsmanship, even Fansent should have had his hands full with her. Yet, Darius saw right through her and shut her down in a single heartbeat. Tura’s face twisted at the sheer, overwhelming power behind his defense.

"Muu, such terrifying pressure... But I am not alone, Darius!"

I was intentionally hovering in mid-air with Flight Magic. Since we were underground, I couldn't gain much altitude, but from his perspective, it was a hard angle to defend. I couldn't fire off massive spells like Carta, but Tura and I had a little technique we’d cooked up together.

I leveled my index finger at Darius and condensed my mana at the tip. Using my thumb as a sight, I took steady aim.

It was a high-speed Mana Cannon—a completely new type of magical attack that bypassed conventional principles. It wasn't powerful enough to take an opponent down in one hit, but I’d packed it with enough density to "break" whatever it touched. I wasn't even thinking about defeating him. Because I was weak, I was the only one who could have come up with something like this...

"I see. That's some interesting magic."

Yet, Darius didn't even bother to dodge. My attack struck his right hand—his dominant arm—exactly as I’d intended.

However, the magic simply dispersed right before impact.

Tura followed up with another attack, and Carta fired off a Mana Cannon from the rear, yet everything simply scattered before it could touch him. It was as if an invisible wall surrounded him.

When I focused my eyes, I understood why immediately.

That's... so much mana...

He was pouring every ounce of his energy into Power Up, effectively wearing a suit of mana armor. I had never seen such a terrifying fluctuation of mana in my life. Beside me, Tura was left utterly speechless.

"Darius... isn't that just cheating?"

"I wonder. But hey, if you manage to land a lethal blow about a hundred times, you might actually get somewhere. Now, come on! Show me what you've got!"