He looked different; it wasn't just the hair and body that had grown over those two years. His eyebrows and eyelashes were completely golden, just like his hair had always been, and even with those cold golden eyes, it was hypnotizing to look directly into them, as if being swallowed by an abyss.
'What kind of body is this?'
Durnstag took a step back, sweat running down her forehead. That boy had a body with a perfect balance between brute strength and speed. Even having seen knights with well-balanced muscles, the one this boy had in front of her was different.
'I can't stay here any longer. The best thing is to report that three sixth-circle have appeared for the main leader… I'll grab Lyria and leave—'
Before she could fully finish her thought, a hand grabbed her face, lifting her into the air. Enrico placed the other hand inside her hood near her stomach and began pulling out several items.
"Healing potion, mana recovery stone, mana seals… looks like you came well-prepared."
With his hand covering her mouth, she couldn't speak. Trying to remove it, she used her arms, channeling mana into them to increase her strength.
'Damn, it's impossible to get out of here physically, I need to—'
"Oh, a temporary power-up potion?"
Durnstag panicked as she saw her special potion being taken from her secret pocket. Desperate, she used thirty percent of all her mana to explode it in the zone, aiming specifically at Enrico's hand.
'Taurus Explosion.'
Enrico watched the explosion form without moving a muscle, his attention still on the potion. The Taurus Explosion roared loudly, burning the air and ripping through the ground of the destroyed academy behind them. Fragments of earth, smoke, and debris flew in all directions, but he remained standing in the middle of the smoke, eyes fixed on the potion.
Durnstag's eyes widened, unable to comprehend how he still hadn't released her face even after that explosion. She was certain that this boy had reached the sixth circle just minutes ago when leaving the barrier right after those girls, showing a sudden increase in power.
'It's this body.'
Without a doubt, he had been able to endure because of this, and Durnstag felt increasing despair, considering using all her mana, leaving only enough to escape.
'I'm interested in extracting information from you, but it seems you're one of Sandro's five most loyal.'
A shiver ran through her body, confirming his words, especially when he noticed that among the items pulled from her hood was a symbol he recognized from Sandro. She hadn't appeared much in the original story, only twice alongside the main cult leader, so recognizing it at first glance was difficult.
"And I have to say, that fanatic only chooses favorites with the same loyalty to the goddess Eris as he has."
He was right. Even if Durnstag was scared or tortured, she would never reveal anything, so there was no reason to let her live. With his finger, he forced the cap off the potion, cracking the glass despite using minimal strength.
'Sorry, it's been a while since I touched something like this.'
With a playful smile, he brought his face close to hers, doing something that shocked her: he forced the potion, which would increase her power if he drank it, into her mouth.
'What? Surprise? Sorry, but I'm not drinking something temporary—it'll harm my body…'
Releasing her, Enrico watched the woman fall to the ground, struggling violently. Purple veins appeared across her body, making her grow slightly; purple wings sprouted, and her appearance became more monstrous.
"This potion has a bit of poison, so even if it returns to normal, the damage is irreversible."
From afar, Lirya initially wore a surprised expression, thinking she had found an opening seeing how Enrico seemed unconcerned with anything but Durnstag's transformation.
'This is my chance to do something useful for my father.'
Quickly moving behind Enrico, her hood revealed her appearance: long white hair in twin tails and red eyes with slitted pupils, showing she was a human-vampire hybrid.
"Blood Magic: Bloody Spear."
Lirya gathered blood in her hand, shaping it into a spear that disappeared a second after being formed. The spear wasn't thrown; it teleported in a straight line, like a bloody flash.
'There's no way he can dodge this attack.'
The spear was just centimeters from Enrico's head—a certain elimination—but to her surprise, he simply tilted his head, letting it pass.
"Nice technique, but it'd be better if you teleported it inside the enemy's head, of course, if you were stronger…"
He spoke as if casually giving a tip to a student. To make things worse, he grabbed the spear with his hand and spun it back toward her at a speed similar to its original trajectory.
'Impossible.'
Her main ability was speed to follow such movements. Still, as she ducked, her hair was cut short.
"If your opponent is stronger, they'll sense the danger and move before the spear enters the head, so you'll need to raise your level a lot to have few able to do this."
"Who do you think—AAAAGHHH!"
To Lirya's horror, her eye was pierced by the spear in a quick motion, making her fall to the ground, agonizing. This was the first time she had been hit like that and the first time she felt such fear seeing Enrico lift his spear to kill her.
"It's a shame you can't use this tip, dead girl."
Before the spear could decapitate her, a fire bull slammed into Enrico, pushing him back. The fiery spear in his hand was broken by the charge, but he held the bull effortlessly with both hands.
"Die."
Monstrified, Durnstag tried to attack him from behind with five large fiery claws, no longer meter-long nails, attempting to remove Enrico's head. A sideways move made the claws pass by him.
"If I look closely, with this potion, it reached twenty-four percent…"
Enrico whispered to himself. His hands ignited in flames, covering his entire arm. A ruby-colored armor began forming from his arm to his shoulder. The red core on his hand now extended to his shoulders, connected by a yellow line.
"It would be fun if I didn't already have a huge advantage."
With force from his feet, the ground broke, and Enrico lifted the bull into the air, slamming it directly into Durnstag's face, almost inverting her head. With even more force, he slammed her back onto the ground while still holding the bull, creating a small crater.
"Looks like you're still standing—let's see…"
Durnstag flew out from under the bull, breathing heavily. Sensing something even more dangerous emerging where Enrico stood, she saw a bow of fire forming in his hand.
"How long will you last?"
With a confident smile, Enrico held his fiery bow in a fully physical form; the strings were white, while the entire bow was red with golden circular details from end to end.
"Weapon Ego: Ashfang."