317 The Solitary Strongest

Luna had already closed her eyes before I could even open my mouth to ask.

She manifested two Black Balls in the air and sent them whistling away with a sharp flick of her wrist. I reached out and rested my hand on her shoulder.

This was the debut of our brand-new magic coordination technique.

I felt a sudden, icy chill radiating from Cynthia’s direction, but I did my best to pretend I hadn’t noticed. Don't look back. If I don't acknowledge the jealousy, it’s not happening.

“I’m going to ‘share’ your vision, Luna.”

“...Yes.”

I’d dubbed the technique Image Share.

By synchronizing my own mana with Luna’s, I could see exactly what her spheres saw. The Black Balls wove through the choking dust clouds like high-tech drones. When I’d first started practicing this, the sensory overload usually triggered a nasty bout of mana-sickness and motion sickness, but I’d finally managed to overcome the urge to throw up.

The spheres moved steadily forward, cresting a jagged rock formation, and my gut instinct proved to be spot on. Tucked under a simple roof of wooden planks stood a Shrine that looked like a miniature roadside temple.

I couldn’t quite make out the Defense Formula from this distance, but as far as intel-gathering went, this was a gold mine.

And standing right in front of it was—of all people—!

Snap.

“...It was destroyed,” Luna murmured.

“Within expectations. How long until we can use it again?”

“About two minutes. It won’t be a problem.”

“Cynthia, Lilith, get ready. We hit the jackpot.”

At my signal, Cynthia and Lilith let their mana surge.

The person who had destroyed Luna’s Black Ball in a single, effortless strike without moving a single inch... was my master.

It was Milk Abitus.

I exhaled slowly, trying to force some courage into my lungs. From here on out, life and death would be decided in the blink of an eye. It was time to find out if my current strength was even worth a damn against her.

“Let’s go. This is an exam, but don’t hold back. We’re using coordination.”

The opponent was as formidable as they came. But I have to win. I will win.

Her method of mixing mana into the sandstorm to jam our senses was actually quite logical. It was low-cost and remarkably easy to disguise. Even a jerk like Allen could probably copy a trick like that instantly. Which meant, naturally, that I could do it too.

Before we charged, I let my own mana overflow. I took advantage of my Earth Attribute affinity and wove it together with Dark Magic to help us blend into the chaos. Then, I applied the same cloaking spell to everyone’s hoods.

“Weiss? What are you doing?” Cynthia asked, tilting her head.

“Using our assets. Since we all have similar builds, we’re going to turn that into a strength.”

If she were facing someone like Darius, she’d be braced for high-impact, destructive strikes. But if we made it impossible for her to tell who was who, she’d be forced to play defensively.

The first move—I understood every one of her teachings.

Teacher Milk hadn't moved a muscle; she was simply waiting. The burden of protecting the Shrine was acting as a shackle, binding her to that spot. It wasn't exactly what I'd call a fair-and-square duel, but I didn't care. As long as we won, it didn't matter.

“We’ll split into two groups and launch the attack. Got it?”

The girls nodded in unison, and we vanished into the dust.