319 Gathering

Cynthia’s Ice Lance, Lilith’s Magic Knife, and a Mana Cannon fired from Luna’s Black Ball—the triple threat was real.

They all came screaming in from three different directions at once. They’d timed their strikes to hit just a split second after mine, waiting for that perfect opening. Please, let this work, I prayed. Even the legendary Teacher Milk would be forced to chant a defensive spell against that, and chanting meant burning through her mana.

Look, trying for a One-Hit Kill against a monster like her was basically a suicide mission. The only way to win was to grind her down, chip away at her reserves until she had nothing left. That was the golden rule in the original Noblesse story, anyway.

"—Coco."

"You got it~!"

But just as I thought we had a chance, Coco suddenly materialized out of the swirling dust. She casually yanked a hand out of her pocket and, with a single gesture, deployed a three-sixty-degree defense around Teacher Milk.

Our magic pinged off her shield like pebbles. At that exact moment, a cold shiver raced down my spine.

"HRAAAAAAAAGH!"

A roar that sounded way too much like Duke’s echoed through the air. Spotting an Earth Blade rising to meet me, I instinctively cranked my Flight Magic and soared upward.

But of course, because my life is a joke, there was a voice waiting for me even higher up.

"—Hello there, Weiss-kun."

Two whips lashed out with pinpoint accuracy. Whack! My Inviolable Domain (Barrier) flared to life just in time to stop me from being shredded.

I scrambled back to the ground, only to find a literal "Who’s Who" of people I really didn't want to fight standing before me. Darius was there, hefting a massive greatsword; Chloe stood ready with her whips; Teacher Milk looked way too calm with her one-handed sword; and Coco was backing them all up, keeping their defenses airtight.

There were four shrines in this wasteland. Common sense said you’d station one person at each of them to guard the perimeter. Had they really just ditched three of them? No... that wasn't it.

They’re planning to wipe us out right here, right now, before we can even make a move.

『Fansent-kun, I've found the shrine as planned, but there is an extraordinary barrier set up.』

Of course. Right on cue, a message from Cecil crackled in my head. Shari was our resident barrier expert, but I hadn’t heard a single word from Allen and the others yet. They probably hadn’t even found their target.

Which meant... we were in deep, deep trouble.

"You understand the situation, don't you?" Milk said, her eyes locking onto mine with terrifying sincerity. "Weiss, you are the one we consider the most dangerous. We aren't underestimating you for a second. To win, we will do whatever it takes."

"Ha... I’m flattered you think so highly of me," I managed to choke out, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"You should be proud," she replied. "This is our 'consensus'."