[Moments Earlier]

"Belle, Billy… over here!"

As Ralyks was delivering destruction to his classmates, Adonis called for the two individuals who were closest to him.

His serious demeanor was enough to tell anyone that he meant business, so they rushed to his side.

"Let's team up." Adonis said, looking at the both of them.

Belle's brows were raised the moment he asked this.

"Aren't we all teamed up already?"

"No! I don't mean that. It's true that we're all a team, but in a group this large, we're practically utilizing individual abilities at once or in sequence to face him."

Adonis suggested they went a step further.

"If we have considerable teamwork and systematically attack him with a plan in mind, we'll go very far."

Adonis would have loved to have Alicia on board, but she was too far away for him to risk it.

If he made too many moves, the chances of him being noticed by Ralyks went up.

Once that happened, it was game over.

'Besides, both Belle and Billy are more primed towards combat than she is.'

Belle's Wind Magic was two Tiers higher than Alicia's, and Adonis also needed Billy's destructive capabilities as Warrior abilities.

'If Alicia could properly use her SS-Tier Skill, that would be nice. Unfortunately… she can't.'

It drained too much Mana to summon a useful Beast, and her Level was too low to have such Mana.

'Her Healing Magic is also draining, which is why she pours all her energy into Ice Magic.'

One of Adonis' hopes was that Alicia would be able to get a lot more powerful during the Raid and awaken to her true potential.

'After all, she should be the second strongest in our entire class…'

In the end, the three ended up partnering up and watching as Ralyks beat up their classmates—all in order to think of a perfect strategy to counter him.

It took some time, but they were finally ready.

"Remember, both of you…" Adonis heaved a sigh as he summoned his Divine Sword.

"… Give it all you've got!"

*******

'Hmm? What are they up to now?' Rey pondered as he looked at the trio.

He knew they had been together for some time now, so none of this development was surprising to him.

In fact, he would have been disappointed if Adonis hadn't made a move like this.

'But what of it?'

He could only wait and see what the results of their planning was. Meanwhile…

'I hope I didn't overdo it.' Rey looked behind him and noticed Alicia being unconscious.

She wasn't the only one, too.

Practically everyone, except the three that now challenged him, had fallen unconscious.

'White Ember should heal her, so she'll be fine. This is all for her own good anyway.'

Rey knew it was most likely due to [Dead Calm], but he really didn't feel bad for his actions.

He only had the best of intentions for his classmates, and since they all consented to all of this, he had the responsibility of gauging their abilities and showing them a standard of strength.

'Now it remains these three.'

Adonis now wielded his Divine Sword, and Billy had put on all the Buffs that he could.

As for Belle, she was preparing her [Absolute Wind Magic].

'Her Great Mage Class must be really helping her with that Mana Usage issue. Unlike Alicia, who is a Tamer and can't get enough Privileges from her Class when it comes to that.'

Rey began to stroke his masked chin as he thought about something in particular.

'I wonder… hmm, I think I'll try it out after this training exercise.'

Right as he was thinking, both Adonis and Billy rushed towards him.

Billy was holding a powerful sword—thanks to his [Greater Weapon Summon] Skill, and Adonis wielded the Divine Sword.

It was clear who was faster of the two, but Adonis lessened his pace so they could run side by side.

'I guess it's because of their plan. I wonder what it is. Attacking me from both flanks in order to distract me?'

Just as Rey suspected, Adonis rushed to Rey's right and Billy charged to his left.

They both had glowing bodies thanks to the enchantments they had placed on themselves to make them stronger and faster than normal.

Adonis raised his Divine Sword and made to strike, while Billy took his Martial Arts stance and coated his sword with intense flames.

'Belle will probably use Wind Magic to ensure my escape paths are limited, which means I'll either have to dodge Adonis' attack and suffer Billy's strike, or I use my defenses to block Billy and suffer from Adonis' attacks.'

Once again, the battle flowed just as he predicted.

Belle used her [Absolute Wind Magic] Skill to create a wind barricade that pushed Rey away from escaping behind him, and he also couldn't rush forward because of the same barrier.

From a strategic standpoint, they had him pretty trapped.

'What about upward? They probably left that as an option for me for a reason. Should I play along?' Rey wondered as the enemies closed in on him even more.'

He sighed and shook his head a little.

'No… I think I've had enough.'

To be honest, their strategy wasn't bad in the slightest. However, he was just too strong for such things to be an issue for him.

For example…

~WHUUSH!~

Rey instantly teleported to Belle and touched her back.

"A-ah…?!" Her widened eyes depicted surprise as he touched her back.

'You can't fool me. I already know this is a part of your plan.' Rey looked beneath him and could sense a lot of weapons lodged under the ground.

'Belle will use Wind Magic to raise them and try to skewer me. But that's only a distraction so that Adonis and Billy can reach me before I fully recover from the surprise.'

Rey suspected that Adonis would probably use his Light Magic to blind or disorient him, and then he and Billy would rush to strike him down.

'I'm happy they thought this far ahead. Since Adonis has fought an opponent who can teleport, he knows how tricky they can be.'

However, even though he was going according to their plan, things weren't going to turn out the way they wanted.

'For one… I'm faster than they expect.'

Rey moved slightly faster than usual, easily breaking past Belle's Wind Defense.

He hit her at the base of her neck and she instantly fell unconscious. As her body slowly fell to the ground, Rey looked at the shocked and desperate expressions on both Billy and Adonis' faces.

"BELLE!!!" They yelled out.

'Let me try something else…' Rey smiled as he looked at the two rushing towards him.

'[Intense Bloodlust].'

The moment Rey activated this Skill, an aura of danger and intense killing intent spread all over the area.

Intense fear took over, and he watched as the two reacted.

Billy stopped moving entirely, his body shaking as his weapon dropped from his grasp.

As for Adonis, he still advanced despite trembling slightly.

'Ohh!' Rey's eyes widened as a smile coursed through his face.

'Nice one, Adonis!'

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Thanks for reading!

I feel kinda bad for the rest of the Otherworlders. Personally can't wait for Alicia to unlock her full potential.