Her attacks were still fanning out and proving to be a real pain in the ass, but I had to do what I could. I cast E Float Shield and willed it to move to where it could protect Filo. Then I used Change Shield to change it to Iron Shield, since that was a metallic shield that seemed like it would be conductive and thus absorb electrical-type attacks.

“Oh my!”

Nadia’s thunder bolt smashed into the shield, electrifying the shield but nothing else.

“Don’t forget about me!”

Raphtalia had backed off so that I could trap Nadia with Chain Shield, and now she lunged forward with her katana held high over her head.

“You’re lively as usual, aren’t you? But you’re still full of openings!”

“Huh? Ahh!”

Paying no attention to the restraints I had placed on her, Nadia grabbed her harpoon with her free arm and used it to trip Raphtalia. Raphtalia attempted to regain her balance, but Nadia used that momentum against her as well and gave Raphtalia a light shove. It knocked her onto her bottom right in front of my eyes. Damn it. This underwater stage was nothing but trouble for us.

“I guess that means you’re next, little Rock.”

Even worse, the Chain Shield time limit had been reached and the effect wore off. It was just me versus Nadia now.

“Give it your best shot!”

I may have been cursed, but my defense rating was still the same as usual. There was hardly any magical attack that would leave me with more than a scratch.

“Drifa Thunder Guard!”

Nadia called the crackling lightning down onto herself. It seemed to be counteroffensive magic that would protect the user. That would work well in a situation like this, but it would take a lot more than that to hurt me.

“Oh? Did you come prepared to deal with my attacks, then?”

“You could say that.”

It’s not like I’d devised a special countermeasure. I was just confident that I could withstand her attacks with my defense rating.

“By the way, little Rock, are you not going to raise a hand against me?”

Nadia seemed to be suspicious of the fact that I was fighting against her barehanded. Sorry, but I couldn’t use a weapon even if I wanted to.

I wasn’t sure if it was more support for Nadia, but I felt magic flowing around the arena. We had been artificially placed underwater, and now thunderclouds began to appear overhead. Seeing clouds, while underwater, was the kind of peculiar sight that you could only experience in another world.

Just how much support were they going to give Nadia?!

“Ughhh . . . I can feel the sparklieeesssss . . .”