An Utterly Ordinary Group Project (7)
No one tried to stop Eagle's charge.
In a normal situation, searching for ownerless 'treasure' would have been the lower-risk choice compared to storming an enemy base that had finished its defensive preparations. But in this assignment, defeating another team held far more value than simply stealing treasure. Even if they made maximum use of the natural environment, the level of fortifications they could build in just a day was obvious at a glance.
Two warriors stepped forward, followed by Eagle, Hau, and the lone student from the support team. The single warrior guarding the very rear served as insurance in case of emergencies. No matter how powerful they were, the danger of being ambushed from behind by another team was significant. The teachings drilled into them since childhood were still breathing properly even amid their arrogance and pride.
The target base came into view. Just as one of the warriors at the front was about to step forward, Hau Pendevig stopped them.
"Hold it right there. Yes, step back just like that."
The two obeyed the sudden order without any sign of agitation. After confirming their movement, Hau activated a mid-tier ice barrier spell, and a thick wall of ice rose up to protect them from the front.
"It's the ground, brother."
"Hmm?"
Though his reflexes were somewhat lacking, Eagle trusted his sister's words. In delicate mana control and detection, she surpassed even him. He stared at the ground, then fired a mid-tier wind orb toward it moments later.
The moment the mana-infused mass of air struck the ground, a massive flame bloomed and literally exploded. Thanks to the barrier Hau had prepared in advance, no one was injured, but the two warriors at the front turned pale from the shock transmitted through the earth. They had imagined what would have happened if they had stepped inside.
"'Attribute stones'? And not just one or two. Looks like there's someone with quite the wasteful streak."
Eagle muttered as if he couldn't believe it. He had naturally used consumable magic tools made by processing magic stones to replicate various spell effects before. For someone from a prestigious family like Eagle, they weren't particularly hard to obtain. But he had never considered burying them in the ground. He had heard that some commanders in ancient wars used them as a type of strategy, but later generations remained divided on whether it was right or wrong.
Even among attribute stones, they were graded based on the quality of the magic stone used and the spell sealed within. The ones buried here were the lowest grade—mere 'fragments.' From Eagle's perspective, someone who could casually spam mid-tier spells that surpassed lower-tier ones, they were essentially useless items.
"There seem to be quite a few more buried besides these. What should we do?"
To his sister's question, he answered as if it were obvious.
"Sweep them all away."
What followed was a repetition of the same scene as before. The wind orbs fired by Eagle Pendevig destroyed the ground and the traps hidden beneath it, while the ice barriers created by Hau Pendevig blocked the resulting shockwaves. It took less than three minutes for the narrow path—originally wide enough for only one or two people—to expand into a space that could comfortably accommodate four or five people walking in a line.
"Are the cheap tricks over?"
The answer to his question after crossing the field of traps was a sharp arrow.
One was a physical projectile made of steel tip, wooden shaft, and fletching. Two more were formed of pure mana. As they flew toward Eagle, two warriors stepped in front to block them. A raised shield deflected the mana arrows, while a swung sword sliced through the real one. Several more arrows were fired to hinder their approach, but they only managed to slow their steps by a tiny margin.
The accuracy of the arrows fired by the archer hidden in the bushes was admirable, but their power was far too low. Eagle was the type of leader who preferred stepping forward and taking action himself rather than leaving everything to his subordinates. Even so, he had no desire to deal with something this trivial personally.
If only this attack had come while we were still dealing with the ground traps, it might have had some chance of success... Hmm?
Suddenly, Eagle felt a sense of doubt. As he had just thought, if the attack had come while they were handling the traps, the success rate would have been slightly higher. Of course, Eagle didn't believe for a second that he would have been hit even then, but from the enemy's perspective, there was no reason not to use that method.
It can't be that some idiot got distracted and missed the timing, then rushed into an interception now, right?
He turned his attention to the surroundings—and that was how he noticed them slowly approaching.
Four in total.
Students who appeared from a completely different direction than both their target base and where the arrows had been coming from all threw the objects in their hands toward Eagle's group at once.
The moment he saw the 'flame fragments' slicing through the air, Eagle realized the entire flow until now had been a deception.
"Hau!"
At his urgent shout, Hau reflexively deployed an ice barrier. But because she had cast it in haste, it only blocked one of the four approaching directions.
Still, that was enough for Eagle.
Rather than the mid-tier wind orb he usually favored for its excellent balance of power, speed, and mana consumption, he created three mid-tier wind blades specialized for speed and intercepted the incoming flame stones.
The ferocious blades failed to bisect their targets precisely, but the 'flame fragments' that collided with the intense wind mana exploded instantly in midair.
Feeling the scorching heat against his skin, Eagle laughed.
It had been a decent attempt to induce carelessness on their part, but now that it had failed, it was meaningless. Once he had visual confirmation of the enemies, his wind spells would tear them apart faster than they could throw new 'flame fragments.'
Ting.
An arrow flying toward Eagle was cut down by the sword of the warrior guarding him. Dismissing it as a futile struggle to buy time, he paid the arrows no mind and prepared a spell to crush the enemies—
The next instant, right in front of the arrow shaft that had been sliced by the warrior, the 'attribute crystal' that had been hanging in place of the arrowhead released the mid-tier wind orb hidden inside it.
Unlike the 'flame fragments' that would, at worst, leave burns recoverable later with potions or healing spells, the 'flame crystal'—made by processing a mid-grade magic stone—had been chosen as a substitute for a 'wind crystal' because it could send the opponent straight to the afterlife on the spot. Even so, its power was more than sufficient.
The two warriors closest to the crystal, along with Eagle Pendevig's body, were sent flying like fluttering paper and rolled across the ground. Hau Pendevig and the other two, who had been relatively farther away, also lost their balance for a moment from the strong wind blowing from the front.
And that was more than enough of an opening for the Nameless War Demon, who had been waiting for her chance all along.
The warrior at the very rear was the first to be rendered combat incapable in a single blow. The support team student was thrown with a suplex and knocked unconscious. Ligret had been aiming for Hau next, but this time Hau Pendevig, who had recovered her stance while the other two were taken down, was faster.
"Don't underestimate me...!"
Her specialty—ice attribute spells. The moment high-tier freezing domain manifested, everything touching the ground froze solid. Not only Ligret, who had been closing in, but also Chrome's group who had approached to finish off the three who had fallen in the previous attack. Because the spell prioritized range over power, everything above the knees that wasn't stuck to the ground remained unharmed. But having their feet bound was fatal.
Because Eagle Pendevig, who they had thought was down, was rising with a furious expression.
"Well done, Hau! And you lot did wonderfully too!"
Eagle Pendevig's body had white frost clinging to various places, but no part of him was actually frozen. Hau Pendevig had judged that deploying a wide-area spell while avoiding all allies was impossible, so she had adjusted it so the spell wouldn't reach Eagle's position. It was a feat made possible by her exceptional mana control, and a miraculous move that reversed a situation that had nearly ended in an instant.
The wind hammer fired from Eagle's hand targeted Chrome, Rabaul, Loto, and Fiore, whose movements had been sealed.
Even as he took a direct hit from the mid-tier spell, the arrow Chrome fired struck Eagle. Thanks to the poison on the arrow, Eagle—who still had damage remaining—immediately lost consciousness. But by then, all four people around him had already collapsed.
Hau Pendevig tried to use another high-tier spell, but Ligret was faster. She hurled a short spear summoned with the Feldous's Summoning Gloves. Hau, pierced through the shoulder, was sent flying backward and immobilized. Ligret, who had forced a movement with her ankle still frozen, frowned in pain.
In the chaotic battlefield, Pino—who had been thrown far away alone—held the bundle of potions Chrome had given her beforehand and muttered.
"...The guy who smashed through all those traps, and the guy who built a plan assuming the traps would get smashed. Neither of them seems normal."
She thought that, anyway, among the notable figures in this academy, there didn't seem to be a single sane one.