Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Anerias pulled his foot back from the edge of the city and stepped back. The underworlder closed his eyes again. He put his foot on the other side of the border. The underworlder opened his eyes.

He retrieved his foot. The underworlder closed his eyes.

He was about to do it again when Violina put a frosty hand on his shoulder.

"Stop doing that," she ordered.

"...Alright," he meekly agreed.

The five students stood with their arms crossed as they gazed into the city.

"The tremor probably came from him," Nessa pointed out the obvious.

"Yup." Zach nodded.

"Then, I guess the only question is why." Nessa tilted her head.

Like ducklings, the others copied her movements as they also thought about why the Underworld had positioned such an underworlder in the middle of their city.

"He

looks

like he's supposed to stop us from entering the Underworld." Surprisingly, Anerias' theory was very reasonable.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"But why? Is it because we took Baby?" Dukiel asked.

"We've already taken Baby, though. What's the point in stopping us from going down now? Do they have more babies?" Violina dreaded the idea. Even one baby had been troublesome right after its birth, and that one hadn't even been taught the Underworld attitude. It had been an ordinary baby with super strength.

If the Underworld had more of those but raised them as soldiers, they would be in trouble.

"I would say unlikely but not impossible," said Zach.

"So, they're doing something else and have learned from their mistakes," Nessa suggested.

"Most likely." Zach nodded.

"That means there's only one thing for us to do," Anerias said and put his foot inside the city again. This time, he didn't pull it back after the underworlder opened his eyes. Instead, he put his other foot inside as well.

The Blackfire Hound, Hellcat, and Darkwing also entered the city with Anerias in tow.

The others could tell Anerias wanted to prove himself and test the waters on his own, so they didn't interfere. But it could be dangerous, so Zach threw up barriers around Anerias and his familiars like suits of armor to protect their vitals but still let them attack.

But he could have made it easier for himself and just given them ordinary barriers since they came flying out of the city before they could so much as try to hit the underworlder.

Zach and the others were wide-eyed, but before they could ask what had happened, Anerias and his familiars got up and charged at the underworlder again. Before even a minute passed, he and his familiars came flying out of the city again.

But this time, Zach grabbed Anerias and stopped him from charging again.

"Calm down. Think about whose barriers you're breaking!"

Anerias stopped struggling to break free from Zach's grasp and froze awkwardly.

"Right." He cleared his throat and straightened out his clothes, trying to appear proper.

"I have concluded through preliminary testing that the underworlder is strong."

"...No shit." Zach rolled his eyes. He wasn't the only one.

"Ahem." Anerias cleared his throat again. "He was strong, fast, and straightforward." He gave his assessment of the underworlder as best he could, given how shallow his research had been.

"Standard formation?" Zach asked the others. They nodded.

He, Yanael, Alzara, and Soara entered the city, the others following behind him in a line, beginning with Violina and her familiars. Then, Nessa. Then, Dukiel, and lastly Anerias.

With how many they were and how unwieldy a couple of their familiars were, it was highly inefficient for them to fight together at the same exact time unless their opponent was as big as the principal's dragon.

So, instead of doing that, Zach and Violina had come up with the idea of fighting in rotation. One person and their familiars would fight at a time. They would tire, beat up, and drag out any tricks they could from the opponent. If they couldn't beat the opponent, the next person could. And if the next person also couldn't, the third person would.

Reasonably speaking, a foe that could handle both Zach and Violina without losing should be strong enough to defeat them straight out.

But while only one person was fighting at a time, the others were supporting.

Zach had his barriers. Soara could exercise her presence to try and kill the target. Violina and her familiars could freeze the ground and interfere with the target's movements without getting in the way.

Nessa, her Midnight Butterfly, and Dawnthief Bat could debuff, buff, and alter the surroundings to strengthen their allies, weaken the target, and provide a beneficial environment or interfere with the target's sight and senses.

Dukiel's Sentinel could lay down covering fire from a distance. His Transformation Cube could do the same. It could also transform into most of the other familiars and fight like them, which meant it didn't get in the way. The Symbiotic Slime could attach to any person or familiar and strengthen them.

Anerias's contract skill from the contract with Darkwing let him do what the principal's dragon and the underworlder did without being as strong as them. His Hellgazer skill physically pressured what he was looking at. But his other skills needed him to touch his target for them to do anything, and the Hound and Hellcat would only get in the way.

Darkwing, on the other hand, was fast enough that it could whiz through the air and sneak attack the target with its claws without getting in the way of the others' fights.

Everyone could contribute one way or another, even when they weren't fighting directly. So, even if they couldn't defeat a target noticeably stronger than them, they wouldn't lose.

While they weren't fighting, they would also rest enough to continue fighting when it was their turn again should it be necessary. But that meant they had to be prudent when stepping back and letting the next person take over, which wasn't the easiest to do when against an opponent strong enough for them to need several rotations.

For example, an opponent like the one they were going to attack right now.