Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 648

"That's enough. Five minutes have passed."

When Curtis's voice reached them, Alma and Belkaran snapped out of their focus and relaxed their stances.

"...Just one more step."

"Not bad at all~ Thanks to Alma-chan's planning, we definitely managed to land a solid hit on Lord Rid~ I'm satisfied~"

"My, Bel. You do understand, don't you?"

Alma had been pouting, but Belkaran's words seemed to have restored her mood.

These two might actually make a surprisingly good team.

"Alright, our turn next."

"Please go easy on us."

The one who spoke in a bored tone was a catgirl with long purple-black hair and green eyes—Lady.

Following her, the fox-eared Noir bowed politely.

"Huh, an unusual pairing."

As I took a deep breath and prepared my stance, Lady let out a sigh.

"Honestly. Being with Noir means endless nagging. I can't understand Lagarde's taste."

"How rude, Lady. When I'm with you, people might mistake me for being just as ill-mannered. Elm and Rolle must have their hands full."

"Ha? What was that?"

"Excuse me?"

The two glared at each other, neither backing down, and in sync, they both activated their beast transformations.

By the way, Elm and Rolle are the boys who support the hot-blooded Mia and Lady.

Though "support" might be an overstatement—it's more accurate to say they're constantly being dragged around.

"H-Hey now, both of you calm down. More importantly, we should start the training. Curtis will get mad otherwise."

"Yeah, you're right. I mean, indeed."

"Then, Lady. How about this?"

Noir narrowed her eyes and smirked defiantly.

"Let's see which of us can land the first hit on Lord Rid. A little competition."

"Oh? That sounds fun. So the loser has to apologize, right?"

Lady nodded and immediately dashed toward me.

"In that case, first strike wins!"

"Ah, wait a second!"

Noir raised her voice, but Lady was already within striking distance, unleashing a flurry of claw swipes and kicks.

Noir joined the assault immediately after—whether their relationship was good or bad was hard to tell.

I deflected their attacks with slight exasperation, but compared to the previous pairs, their coordination was undeniably sloppy.

"Competing is fine, but right now, you should focus more on teamwork."

As I said this, I slipped past Lady's attack and closed in on Noir.

Just as I was about to land a hit, Noir grinned.

"Getting along isn't the only form of teamwork. Sometimes, pretending to clash can also be part of the strategy, no?"

"Huh...?"

The next instant, a tremendous impact struck my back.

"Oww?!"

Stunned by the sudden pain, I tumbled forward.

When I hurriedly scrambled up to see what had happened, Lady was grinning, holding a small pebble.

"A little trick Curtis taught me—finger flicking."

"F-Finger flicking?"

Finger flicking was exactly what it sounded like—a technique where you flick small projectiles like pebbles or coins at a target.

But it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Mastering it for actual combat required serious training.

As if sensing my confusion, Lady smirked.

"I've been doing stuff like this since I was a kid. This is just an extension of that. You channel magic into the projectile before flicking it. Like this."

She placed the pebble between her thumb and forefinger and flicked it.

The next moment, the pebble embedded itself into the ground right in front of me.

"You can adjust the power and speed by controlling how much magic you put into it. Handy, right?"

"I see. Impressive technique. But projectile attacks are banned in this training session, aren't they?"

I pouted, but Noir smiled sweetly.

"Don't worry. We got permission from Curtis beforehand. Lady just picked up pebbles that were lying around the training field. Sometimes, opponents will cleverly use their surroundings—so that hit just now was due to Lord Rid's carelessness."

"Guh..."

She was right. "How you use what's available" is a crucial element in battle.

There was no guarantee Johan wouldn’t use a technique like finger flicking.

If she called it my carelessness, she wasn’t wrong.

"Five minutes are up."

At Curtis's voice, Lady and Noir smiled in unison.

"Welp, time's up. Hehe, Lord Rid. This round goes to us."

"We'll take our leave with this victory for now."

"...Yeah. But next time, I won’t lose."

I puffed out my cheeks as I spoke, and the two happily praised each other as they left.

Those two... they get along just fine, don’t they?

I’d been completely fooled.

As I slumped dejectedly, new footsteps approached.

"Your next opponent is me, Lord Rid."

"...Um, should I fight too?"

Replacing the previous two were Belgia, a wolfman with black hair, sharp eyes, and a fierce gaze, and Maris, a horsegirl with white hair, droopy eyes, and a calm demeanor.

"Another interesting pair."

I raised my head and took my stance. Belgia smirked and activated his beast transformation.

"Hey, Maris. Hurry up and transform already."

"Ah, right. Got it."

Prompted by Belgia, Maris hastily followed suit.

Belgia was aggressive and rough-spoken but deeply cared for his comrades.

Maris was laid-back and absent-minded but possessed some of the highest latent potential in the Second Knight Order.

I wondered what kind of moves these two would show me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s begin."

"About time."

As I smiled, Belgia kicked off the ground and closed the distance in an instant.

A blitz attack? I braced myself—but the moment I did, he grinned and slammed his fist into the earth.

A thick dust cloud obscured my vision.

"A smokescreen? But I won’t lose track of you that easily."

Covering my mouth and nose to avoid inhaling dust, I immediately used my electric field to locate Belgia.

"Above, huh?"

"Spot on."

I looked up just as he opened his clenched fist.

What’s he—?

Before I could finish the thought, searing pain shot through my eyes.

"Guh...?! Sand?!"

"If you can detect my position with magic, I’ll just use that against you."

He used his falling momentum to deliver a kick, but I barely managed to block it with my crossed arms, one eye still clenched shut.

The pain in my eyes threw off my movements.

Seizing the opening, he closed in and drove a fist into my stomach.

"Gah—!"

"Even humans flinch when something gets in their eyes, Lord Rid."

Body Enhancement: Blazing Inferno boosted the user’s defense.

It could mitigate some damage, but his punch still hurt.

Coughing from the impact, I struggled as Belgia pressed his assault.

I managed to evade direct hits, but with only one eye, I couldn’t fully guard against attacks from blind spots.

"Lord Rid’s stronger than me, but ya don’t know how to fight dirty."

"Is that so? Then I’ll just have to use my specialty too."

With that, I activated a spherical magic barrier around myself, forcibly blowing him back.

Fighting him like this was too difficult—I needed to reset.

Using water magic, I quickly rinsed my eyes.

As I refocused, I saw Belgia clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Maris, go all out. Break Lord Rid’s barrier."

"Okaaay. Here I go. Ready..."

Her relaxed voice contrasted sharply with the terrifying surge of magic I felt behind me.

I spun around just in time to see Maris crouched low, fingers touching the ground.

"Go."

A thunderous boom erupted, utterly mismatched with her carefree tone, as she closed the distance in an instant.

A gale tore through the ground where she passed.

Normally, I’d have sensed her gathering magic, but Belgia had kept me too distracted.

Had this been their plan all along?

Dodging was impossible now—a direct hit could be fatal.

I instantly maxed out my barrier’s output.

"Speed equals power. How about 'Instantaneous Strike' for the name?"

She delivered a kick mid-sprint, tilting her head with that same unhurried tone.

But when her foot met my barrier, a high-pitched shattering sound echoed through the air.

My barrier had been destroyed.

"...Nice name. But you can’t use that move unless your opponent is a criminal or something, okay?"

I grimaced, catching her foot with both arms.

The barrier had negated most of the force, but her kick had still reached me. The sheer destructive power was insane.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because it’d take their head clean off."

"Whaaat?"

Just then, Curtis’s voice rang out.

"Time’s up. Maris, Belgia, fall back."

"Okaaay. Lord Rid, I’ll be going now."

"Yeah, thanks. And seriously, be careful with that move."

"Got it~"

Still sounding utterly relaxed, Maris rejoined Belgia, and the two left the training field.