Hope that had been born with the change in the magic circle quickly vanished.
“Kyaaaah!”
Aria fell first. A long wound opened on her back, and the spirits were forced to return.
After Aria fell, everything went downhill. No matter how strong Professor Nania was, she was under hypnosis, so she couldn’t fight with all her strength.
She couldn’t withstand the prepared attacks and fell as well. A hole opened in her abdomen. Aint struck her on the back of the neck to render her completely unconscious.
“Aaagh…!”
He placed the bleeding Nania next to Aria and poured potions on them, along with holy water. He also drank one himself.
“I’ll have to thank the senior once again. If it weren’t for that supreme-level potion, I would’ve never dared to take such an extreme measure.”
Thanks to that potion, he was certain that even with serious injuries, they wouldn’t die.
They wouldn’t fully recover with just that, but that would be their own burden.
“Now…”
Aint regulated his breathing. While gathering aura, he examined the magic circle.
He didn’t have enough magical knowledge to decipher a circle as complex as a demonic one. He had never been that smart.
But as the saying goes, everything returns to its origin.
Even if magic and swordsmanship were different, the essence of energy was the same.
The flow of aura when unleashing a slash, the flow of mana when manifesting a magic circle.
Different flows, but identical essence.
Aint lowered his sword slowly.
──!
Demonic magic and aura collided. A powerful resistance enveloped him.
But in the end, he managed to cut the flow.
One down.
“Nine left.”
The central flows of the circle were ten. Only by breaking all of them could he neutralize it.
— They made it devilishly resilient.
— Dantalion, damn bastard!
There was no time. Aint clenched his teeth. Breaking the ten flows would take too long.
Clack—
Finally, the door opened. Aint found himself in a ruined hallway.
Half the building had collapsed, and remnants of demonic magic and electric discharges still floated in the air.
“Senior Fernan?”
But there were no enemies there.
Carlo Deneb was unconscious, Gismond Ert and Verian Kalburdern were gasping in exhaustion, and among the ruins waited Fernan and Luina, with flushed faces.
“You’re late, Aint Armian. The Academy is already a mess and you just show up now.”
“That’s…”
“How it happened, I’ll ask you later. First, take care of that.”
Aint followed his gaze. There was the monster—the golem and Professor Grad fighting against a gigantic demon peacock.
A battle where an ordinary human would die just from getting caught in the shockwave.
“Yes!”
He had too many questions. How had Fernan arrived so quickly, what had happened.
Dantalion had said another demon had devoured him.
But the urgent matter was the demon before them.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
What kind of hero would show up so poorly?
Fernan whistled.
Piiiiii—
A giant bird dove down from the sky. Pure white feathers, two pairs of wings.
“Silver!”
Aint smiled upon seeing Silver again. The bird greeted him by brushing its beak against him.
“Get on. With a demon here, Aint Armian riding a Saintbird to face it is the best thing that could happen. It’ll help erase the fear that the Academy was attacked.”
Because the attack on the Academy wouldn’t just remain an “attack.”
A demon had descended in the heart of the Empire, and fear would skyrocket to unimaginable levels.
They needed a counterbalance.
Aint, riding the Saintbird, would be perfect for it.
“Yes! But there’s another demon. Professor Dominique…”
“Professor Dominique is a demon?”
“Yes! Dantalion! The 71st demon, Dantalion!”
“That might…”
Make sense.
Fernan paused.
The demons had been infiltrating the Academy constantly.
The summoning circle drawn with fireworks.
A deception of that scale could only have been done by Dominique from within.
‘…And I didn’t suspect a thing.’
Now he understood—since the beginning, the traps chasing Aint were scattered throughout the Academy.
That a professor was the culprit fit perfectly.
Although, being a demon himself was much harder to believe.
‘A demon that descended years ago and infiltrated as a professor…?’
A chill ran down his spine.
Professor Dominique had been in the Academy for over ten years.
What had he been plotting all that time? What had he accomplished?
‘The professors…!’
Despite the invasion, not a single professor had appeared, except Grad.
They weren’t cowards who would hide like that, not even in front of demons. Maybe some, but not all.
“We have to find the professors.”
“What?”
“Aint, you first. Get on Silver and help Wooden and Professor Grad defeat Andrealphus.”
Fernan had already set his priorities.
“I’ll take care of Dantalion.”
“Understood.”
“Luina, I want your help.”
“Of course.”
Fernan tossed potions to Verian and Gismond, exhausted after fighting Carlo Deneb.
“Senior, Verian, take care of the monsters overflowing through the Academy.”
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s go, there’s no time to lose.”
Aint mounted Silver and disappeared. Verian and Gismond scattered.
“Us too.”
“Yes. But do you know where they are?”
“No. But we’ll know soon.”
At that moment, a cold blast swept through the air.
It came from the direction of the Ravidus Hall.
“It’s there.”
“Professor Rosalia…?”
“Let’s go.”
Fernan took Luina’s hand and moved forward.
***
……!
It was cold.
Ha…!
In the darkness, Ludger was alone. He felt a freezing wind.
‘Where am I?’
Why am I here?
…!
Trembling, he looked around. Absolute darkness. He walked and walked, but there was nothing.
He couldn’t stand still, so he began wandering aimlessly…
“Your highness…!”
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
“You’ve awakened?”
“Almon…?”
“Yes, your highness.”
“Why am I…?”
Ludger looked around. It was the Academy, but filled with screams and wails. Monsters flooded the place, and battles were constant.
Ludger was behind Almon, who was running through all of it.
“Don’t you remember? We were drinking together while watching the fireworks, and suddenly…”
“…I remember.”
Thanks to his title as prince, there were always people around him. He usually enjoyed it, but sometimes he just wanted to drink in peace.
That’s why he was on the rooftop of a tavern, drinking quietly with Almon.
“A demon descended…!”
The fireworks in the sky suddenly turned into a demonic summoning circle.
The gigantic demon that emerged by tearing space itself was pure terror.
“Yes. That’s why you and I went together to stop it.”
But the monsters unleashed by the demon covered the entire Academy. When Grad, Luina, and Jace stepped in, they changed their priorities.
Rather, they didn’t have the confidence to get into that battle.
“I thought I had gotten pretty close to Luina, but yeah, no chance.”
Almon smiled bitterly.
Before, he had been first, and Luina second. How had such a gap formed?
Same with Aint. Winning the jousting tournament had made him euphoric, but that joy faded.
Whatever the reason, both focused on eliminating monsters and rescuing people. They gathered students and searched for professors.
Since Ludger, the prince, took the lead, students quickly joined in.
He formed pairs and sent them throughout the Academy to exterminate monsters.
That’s when demonic magic struck him.
He didn’t know if it was aimed at Grad, Luina, or Jace, but the mass of magic that missed its original target fell on Ludger.
He managed to resist it, but the ground collapsed and he fell. That was his last memory.
“You saved me?”
“No, your highness. This guy did.”
“This guy?”
Ludger then noticed the dwarf running beside Almon.
“Very ugly, no doubt.”
“…Huh?”
The dwarf, horrified.
“Your highness, how can you say that to his face?”
“Ah, sorry. I was dazed and just said what I was thinking.”
“Ah.”
The dwarf, Ahgrot, gripped the handle of his axe.
‘If he weren’t a prince…’
He would’ve split his forehead right there.
“Haha, it’s fine.”
With superhuman patience, he smiled. After all, he was his superior—and more importantly, a prince. And Fernan had warned him a thousand times not to cause trouble.
“Thanks for saving me. I’ll reward you.”
“If that’s the case, then…”
Ahgrot felt his anger fade. He had found Ludger by chance.
“A demon! A demon has descended!”
The demonic power had shrunk him down. He didn’t think survival was possible in such a confrontation.
And Fernan wasn’t there either.
So he did what he did best.
Dig tunnels.
“Let’s dig a tunnel and hide! The professors will stop him.”
There were many powerful people in the Academy. A second-year student like him didn’t need to risk his life. So he started digging.
‘Ludger Schwaben?’
The ground suddenly collapsed, and Ludger fell. Since Fernan had advised him to memorize the names and faces of royalty, he recognized him immediately.
And now he had accidentally saved him, and was with Almon.
“Valoshi too?”
It wasn’t just Ludger, Almon, and Ahgrot. Valoshi Vienderk was brandishing his sword beside them.
“I found him by chance.”
“I’m glad to see you’re safe, your highness.”
“Alright. Where are we going now?”
“To the infirmary. You yourself gave the order that, in case of emergency, everyone should gather there.”
“Right.”
Ludger checked his condition. Thanks to Almon’s potion, the minor wounds had healed, but he still felt weak.
He had internal damage.
“Let’s go quickly.”
At least get medical attention, and then—
─!
At that moment, a white frost exploded in the distance.
“Is that the direction of Ravidus Hall?”
“Professor Rosalia? Has she returned?”
“My sister…?”
“Now that you mention it, the other professors…”
Ludger’s gaze locked onto one point.
─!
──!
There, in the center, where the demon was fighting Professor Grad, Luina, and Jace.
“…Almon.”
“…Yes.”
“…”
Not just Ludger. Almon had stopped as well, and Ahgrot was dumbfounded, mouth agape and drooling.
“…Has something like that always existed?”
“How could it?”
“…Wow.”
It was—
A golem.
Over 10 meters tall.
Gigantic.
Majestic.
Beautiful.
Fantastic.
— Grrrroooaar!
It was roaring.
“…That.”
It was the first time he had seen it, but it felt strangely familiar.
“Isn’t that the necklace Fernan wore around his neck?”
“…Good heavens.”
“…I’m going to kill him.”
Ludger and Almon were stunned.
“…And Valoshi? Where is he?”
They were so captivated they didn’t notice until too late that one of them had vanished.
____
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