327: A Clash with My Mentor (Allen’s Perspective)

"Duke! Shari!" I yelled, trying to pierce through the chaos.

"No problem! I'm still in one piece!" Duke shouted back.

"I'm okay too!" Shari added.

We had finally located the North Shrine and were just beginning our assault when a sudden explosion of dust kicked up, and a violent gust of wind sent us flying.

I couldn't see a thing through the haze, but I could still hear their voices.

Thanks to Cecil, I had a decent handle on the overall state of the battlefield.

Weiss was currently busy trading blows with Teacher Milk. Meanwhile, Carta, Tura, and Olynn were pushing south, carving their way through the remaining Lowerclassmen, Intermediate-year Students, and the horde of Cyclopes.

Compared to them, we definitely have the easiest job right now, I thought. Which is exactly why we can't afford to fail. We have to destroy this thing.

When the dust finally began to settle, a familiar figure was standing right in front of the shrine.

"Yo. Quite the coincidence, isn't it? To think I’d run into you guys here."

It was Darius, and he already had his greatsword leveled at us. He was in a full-blown combat stance.

He was built like a mountain—essentially an even larger, more intimidating version of Duke—and he was practically radiating power.

This was probably the work of Teacher Chloe’s Teleportation Magic.

Which means this is Darius’s shrine to guard, I realized. That would leave the South and West Shrines to Teacher Coco and Teacher Chloe.

I was so busy piecing it all together that I almost didn't notice the tip of a blade lunging straight for my face.

SHATTER!

The Shield effect rang out. Shari had reacted just in time to save my skin.

"—I'm not so soft that I'll let you win while you're daydreaming," Darius growled.

"Allen, focus on what's right in front of you! This isn't like you at all!"

She was right. If Shari hadn't stepped in, I would’ve been history.

Time to go all out. Duke already had the right idea; he lunged forward and slammed his right fist down toward Darius with everything he had.

However, Darius caught the blow effortlessly on the flat of his greatsword. The screech of metal on metal echoed through the air as both of them broke into wide, competitive smirks.

"An Artifact weapon, huh? Makes a nice sound."

"Yours is way bigger and cooler, Teacher!" Duke retorted.

On paper, we had the advantage in numbers. Furthermore, Darius was anchored to the shrine he had to protect.

Still, there were things we were desperately lacking.

Years of training, raw experience, and total Mana capacity.

But for now, I was going to put all that aside and focus on one thing: winning.

And I was going to enjoy the process while I was at it.

Eva, I’m borrowing this right away.

―――――――――――――――

Afterword.

Now then, what will happen to Allen and the others!

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