"Naohara-san, aren't you going to draw your sword?"
After a while, once she had calmed down, Lakyus turned to Naohara and spoke in a heavy tone.
"No need for that yet."
Naohara shook his head, his voice perfectly steady.
"Hey, hey, that's a little too confident, don't you think?"
Gagaran clicked his tongue. Facing the entire Blue Roses at once and still acting this composed. He really did deserve to be called the hero who saved a city.
"That's only natural. He's a powerhouse on my level, after all."
Evileye said lightly. It was hard to tell whether she was praising Naohara or herself.
"But I clearly remember that 'powerhouse' getting beaten up by us."
Gagaran's remark made Evileye's head throb as unpleasant memories resurfaced.
Back before she joined Blue Roses, she had been ganged up on by an old woman and this very group, leaving quite a psychological scar.
Now, looking at Naohara standing opposite her, the past overlapped with the present. It was almost exactly the same scene.
The difference was that this time Evileye had taken the old woman's place, and Blue Roses had grown stronger.
"Forget it. I'll go a little easy on him later."
Evileye made up her mind silently.
Watching Naohara's confident expression felt like looking at her former self.
As the two images overlapped, much of her lingering annoyance over the head-patting faded, replaced by a subtle sense of sympathy.
?
Naohara frowned slightly. He noticed the way Evileye was looking at him had changed. The sharp hostility from before had softened without him realizing when.
Just as he was puzzling over it, Lakyus and the others made their move.
"Gagaran, you and I will attack from the front. Tina, Tia, handle flanking interference. Evileye, wait for your opening."
After issuing her instructions, Lakyus charged first. Her starlight-shrouded magic sword was raised high as she slashed forward at incredible speed.
The blade was still some distance away from Naohara, but in the next instant, it changed midair. It rapidly expanded and lengthened, effortlessly extending to hover above his head.
It was a sudden, deceptive strike. Against someone unfamiliar with it, it could have been devastating.
But Naohara had already identified the weapon's properties through magic appraisal. He calmly raised two fingers and neatly caught the descending blade between them, holding it in place so it couldn't move.
"As expected of a weapon imbued with the root of darkness. What terrifying power."
Even as he firmly restrained the blade, he offered Lakyus a compliment, the mocking smile on his face completely undisguised.
Lakyus froze.
Her complexion, which had just steadied, flushed bright red again. Her body trembled visibly.
Naohara could clearly see the shame in her eyes intensifying, and at the same time, her power climbing higher and higher.
Her expression practically said, "He knows my secret. He can't be allowed to live."
Naohara smiled faintly, about to press the advantage and push Lakyus past her limit entirely, when a hammer came crashing down from above, forcing him to abandon the spell he had been about to chant.
With one hand still pinning the magic sword, he clenched the other into a fist and struck upward. Hammer and fist collided with a thunderous boom.
Gagaran erupted with even greater strength than before, while Lakyus poured magic into the magic sword without restraint, increasing its power as they desperately tried to suppress Naohara.
Behind him, seeing both his hands occupied, Tina and Tia emerged from the shadows, their weapons stabbing toward his back.
To avoid the earlier embarrassment of failing to pierce him, the two had gotten serious this time, drawing out their precious enchanted weapons.
"Annoying."
Sensing them behind him, Naohara stomped hard on the ground. A terrifying force rippled outward as a shockwave. At the same time, he exerted strength with both hands, blasting the hammer and the magic sword away.
He turned to counterattack, but Tina and Tia reacted instantly. Realizing the situation had shifted, they transformed into shadow clones and vanished from sight once again.
"Just as troublesome as I thought."
Naohara brushed off his hands lightly. In this fight, he had limited himself to the strength of a normal human at level 55. Even so, the coordination of Blue Roses still gave him some trouble.
Human physical limits were simply too low. He wouldn't fall into a disadvantage, but he also couldn't completely overwhelm the entire Blue Roses.
Not to mention, there was still a certain little Vampire lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
"But that's what makes it interesting."
If he only cared about winning, Naohara could end the fight in a single second. But that would be far too dull.
Life needed a bit of fun, like an evenly matched battle with a beautiful girl.
"As expected. He's strong, but against the four of us going all out, this is his limit."
Gagaran tightened her grip on her iron hammer, looking completely at ease.
"Don't get careless, Gagaran."
Lakyus replied, exchanging a glance with Tina and Tia as they adjusted their strategy on the fly.
Naohara, however, made the first move.
His figure vanished from where he stood. In the next instant, he appeared in front of Tia like a gust of wind and threw a punch.
Tia was a ninja, a fragile assassin-type class. Her physical endurance wasn't impressive. If that punch landed, even if she didn't pass out, she would lose her ability to fight.
But things were clearly not going to go that smoothly.
Tia seemed ready for him.
[Immovable Adamantine Shield]
A shield of seven-colored light materialized in front of her. Naohara's fist struck it with a crisp sound, and the shield shattered into countless fragments.
But that brief delay was enough. By the time the shield broke, Tia had already pulled back, reappearing at a safe distance.
At the same moment Naohara shattered the shield, Tina activated her ninjutsu.
[Immobility Binding Paralysis]
Invisible restraints locked tightly around Naohara, fixing him in place.
Although he broke free almost immediately, those few seconds were enough. The pitch-black magic sword and iron hammer were already right in front of him.
The attacks landed squarely, sending Naohara flying into the air.
At that moment, Evileye appeared. A silver-white magic circle unfolded, and countless crystal swords rained down toward Naohara, who was suspended midair with no way to evade.
Boom!
An explosion roared. As smoke spread through the air, Naohara's body fell from above and crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Damn it! Why didn't that idiot defend himself?!"
Seeing this, Evileye immediately rushed toward him, pulling out a magic potion.
She had assumed he would activate a Martial Art to defend himself, which was why she had gone all out. She never expected him to ignore convention and simply take her magic head-on with his body.
[Slash!]
Just as Evileye flew toward him, a voice rang out from within the dust.
A pure white Slash cleaved through the air, whipping up a fierce gust that blew the smoke away. With overwhelming force, it surged toward Lakyus and the other three.
Lakyus and the others, who had been about to check on the situation, instantly sensed the danger. They raised their weapons and tried to block the incoming Slash.
The moment the attacks collided, a terrifying force burst forth. They were driven back again and again, their weapons trembling violently in their hands.
Their feet scraped across the ground until their backs hit the wall. With nowhere left to retreat, they roared in unison and finally managed to block the strike.
But judging from their ragged breathing, they had effectively lost their ability to continue fighting.
On the other side, Evileye had yet to recover from the shock of her teammates' instant defeat when a familiar voice sounded beside her ear.
"Looks like I had to draw my sword after all. With my current strength, I really couldn't deal with you otherwise."
At some point, Naohara had appeared at her side, speaking with mild exasperation.
His body was covered in dust, and in his hand was a pure white sword. The runes along its blade emitted a faint glow.
A chill ran down Evileye's spine. A crystalline shield instantly formed around her, and she leapt backward, trying to widen the distance between them.
"Hey, hey, why are you running? I'm not even attacking you."
Naohara smiled and stepped forward, closing the gap in an instant. Under Evileye's horrified gaze, he gave a light swing of his blade.
The magic shield shattered immediately, splitting in two. The wind from the swing blew back her hood, revealing her golden hair.
Evileye shut her eyes, bracing herself for the strike.
But the pain she expected never came. Instead, she felt a strange sensation on the top of her head.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Naohara smiling at her, gently running his hand through her golden hair with a practiced motion, looking oddly satisfied.
"Ah! Ah!"
Evileye immediately slapped his hand away. Beneath the mask, her small face flushed bright red. Trembling, she pointed at Naohara.
"Y-you head-patting maniac!"
A dazzling magic circle flared up with her shout, transforming into countless Magic Arrows that shot wildly toward Naohara.
"Stop already! I won fair and square. What's wrong with taking a little reward?"
Faced with a sky full of Magic Arrows, Naohara darted and leapt around while patiently trying to reason with her.
"W-what kind of reward is that?!"
Evileye shouted back. Not only did she refuse to stop, she intensified her barrage.
Seeing that reasoning was useless, Naohara gave up. It was clear this golden-haired loli wasn't listening.
With a single leap, he landed in the spectator stands, gave Princess Renner and Climb a small smile, then scooped up the Doppelgängers, who was staring at him with undisguised admiration.
"Princess Renner, I'll leave the rest to you."
His voice lingered in the air as his figure vanished on the spot.
He jogged out of the palace, mounted the still-sleeping Hamsuke, and the three of them disappeared down the street in a flash.
Evileye flew up into the sky and looked at the empty space where Naohara had stood, stomping her foot in frustration before returning to the training grounds with a gloomy expression.
Today was Evileye's defeat.