episode_0109

000

Under the black sky of the academy, the students’ shouts, the monsters’ roars, and the sounds of magic colliding endlessly spread out.

It was the same even in a place not far from the Tower of Aion, at the moment when a light running through the sky appeared and disappeared.

Arrows, like rain, poured down towards the ground endlessly.

“Damn it…! What are these monsters! Everyone, to your positions! Stop them from advancing any further!”

Led by Trace, the hunters were pouring all their firepower into the tentacled monsters crawling out of the black sphere.

While some of the artifacts stored in Vitos’s warehouse began to operate on their own, causing massive damage to the surroundings.

What they were chasing was the red gem of the Avatar of Chaos.

It flew through the sky with free will, like a living mayfly.

Leaving black traces behind each time it moved, it summoned octopus-like tentacles with bizarre shapes from those traces, attacking its pursuers.

An unidentified voice, like a hymn, echoed from beyond the black space that created these tentacles.

[NR! ST! NR! GSN!]

Those who had learned from the plants in the middle and the animals they encountered that the moment a living creature accidentally touched these tentacles, their bodies would be distorted and strangely transformed.

They created a barrage from a distance where they would never directly touch them, pouring their utmost attention to prevent the tentacles from approaching them.

But that alone would not lead to a resolution of the situation, so they had to somehow shoot down that red gem.

Trace, who had the best shooting skills among them, tried using ricochets off the wall or arrows that turned into buckshot in the air, but it was impossible to hit the red gem.

As if even the gem flying in the sky was a mirage created by illusions, it leisurely avoided the ranged attacks pouring down like rain and took out another tentacle.

The voices of children, as if mocking them, were heard.

“Damn it…!”

“Trace!”

Trace, biting his lower lip as he watched the gem avoid his marksmanship as if enjoying a game.

He replied with a slightly annoyed tone to the voice of a student from his department calling him.

“What’s wrong, Spanking!”

“I’m Schubert! No, more than that. Look around…!”

Following his words, Trace looked around.

Black traces were created, surrounding the students.

The tentacles writhed and crawled out endlessly from within, forming a ring like a donut.

“…Looks like we’ve become the prey…”

Trace frowned and counted the arrows he had.

The biggest weakness of marksmanship was that when dealing with multiple enemies, its combat power would drop infinitely once the bullets or arrows they had ran out.

The number of arrows remaining was not nearly enough.

“Haha… What do we do, Trace…?”

As Schubert asked Trace with a dry laugh, he had no choice but to make the most rational judgment as the top student.

“…Concentrate the remaining firepower in one place, create a breakthrough, and escape through there.”

“If that were possible, we wouldn’t be struggling… If we make a half-hearted attack like firing on the move in a state where we can’t engage in close combat, both speed and power will drop.”

Trace nodded, thinking that his judgment was accurate.

“You guys, hand over all the remaining arrows to me. I’ll make the breakthrough, and you guys escape in the meantime.”

“What…! So, you’re saying you’ll be the sacrifice!?”

Trace frowned at Schubert’s words.

“Sacrifice? It’s different. My father said. A man who doesn’t hesitate when the situation comes where he has to risk his life for others is a true hunter.”

“…Huh…?”

“I’m not becoming a sacrifi`ce`. I’m becoming a true hunter.”

Trace said that and strung one of the arrows he received to the bow.

He didn’t have the power of a seal like Sasha or the ability to create arrows of magic.

But he had the most important talent as a sniper inherited from his father.

The ability to instantly grasp `where to pierce to collapse the enemy`.

It could be a part of the body.

If you consider an army’s group as one `body`, killing the person who is the `vital point` was also the job of a sniper.

Of course, in this case, aiming for the red gem would be the most effective, but it was useless to aim for an `enemy that cannot be hit`.

Therefore, he shot the arrow he had pulled to the limit towards the very bottom of it.

Of course, piercing that part with one arrow was woefully insufficient.

So, if one arrow is not enough, then 10 arrows. If 10 arrows are not enough, then 100 arrows.

Using all the remaining arrows, bullets, everything, he pierced through the black space and erased a part of the tentacle army.

“Now’s the time! Go!”

As Trace shouted, seeing that a passage had been opened, Schubert made a resentful face and led all the other students away.

They had to leave their weapons behind, lighten their bodies as much as possible, and quickly break through that hole.

In the meantime, Trace spread a barrage falling from the sky to continue to maintain the gap.

The tentacles were blocked by the wall of arrows, unable to catch those who were fleeing.

In the meantime, the alien monsters approaching Trace’s back were less than 1 meter away.

The moment the last student passed through the gap and the arrows Trace had ran out was the same.

The bowstring, which had been strained to its limit, made a “ting-” sound and snapped, with a crack in the middle.

Because it had done its part, he couldn’t complain.

He felt as if his own end was overlapping with the end of the bow he had inherited from his father and had been with him for 10 years.

Trace was about to close his eyes.

[Butterfly Dagger – Titania!]

…Until just before he heard this absurd sound.

Trace was startled and opened his eyes wide and looked ahead.

There, he saw Sasha twirling a dagger as if doing a somersault in the sky.

At first glance, it seemed as if she had swung the dagger at nothing.

But what she was aiming for was not empty space.

It was the red gem that was hiding its appearance by reflecting the surrounding light in that empty space.

In other words, it was truly an `illusion` that Trace and the other students were seeing and attacking.

It had been deceiving them by hiding its own appearance and creating a fake one while flying quickly.

The tentacles, the hymn, and the sound of laughter stopped at the same time as the red gem fell to the ground and cracked.

The tentacles lost their substance and slowly disappeared from their spots.

The black space that had been endlessly summoning them was the same.

Reducing the output of the shining power of the seal, Sasha landed on the ground and sighed.

If Lyla’s instructions to head here had been even a little late, Trace would have been done for.

“Are you okay? Is anything wrong?”

Sasha asked him as a student from the same department.

“…No, I’m not okay.”

But Trace replied.

“Wh, what!?! Did you get hurt!? I’ll call Kuon…”

“No. It was my mistake to think of you as someone to protect. You were the strongest hunter among us.”

“Oh, no! I’m still very lacking…”

“And, the one who suits someone like you is definitely a man as strong as you… Hmph. This Trace. Tried to hunt a fierce beast, but saw the difference in skill…”

Trace said that, shouldered his broken bow, turned his back on Sasha, and walked away.

Sasha, waving her hand and walking away, muttered as she looked at him.

“Um… The place where the others went is the opposite direction…”

001

At that time, Lyla and Beatrice were pouring all their concentration into suppressing and sealing the Grimoire of the Dead, which was about to go berserk.

After sending Sasha away a little while ago, she was called by the students of the Magic Department who were asking for her help.

Around that grimoire, which was emitting tremendous necromantic energy and indiscriminately trying to revive the surrounding `dead things` (things made using plants and animals).

She was suppressing it from spreading magic as it pleased, deploying dozens of layers of barriers.

“Next is Azif’s Guardian Formation! I’ll take care of the 3rd to 5th formulas-”

“So, I’m 6th and 8th, right? Got it. That part is my specialty, so don’t worry.”

Lyla closed her mouth, watching Beatrice answer as if she knew Lyla’s magic well, even though this was probably the first time they were matching their moves like this.

She had never thought that aligning her thoughts with others, even without talking to them, would be such a pleasant thing.

In addition, Beatrice’s skill, who was keeping up with her own spellcasting speed, which she prided herself on being faster than others, without any difficulty, was making her think that she was one of the top talents in the Magic Department, truly on par with herself.

“…You’re amazing. With this level of skill, you could aim for the top spot in the Magic Department, not the Execution Department.”

“…Thank you, Lyla. But the top student in the Magic Department is you, right? It suits you the best after all.”

Lyla paused for a moment at those words before speaking.

“Then, how about being my assistant?”

“That’s an attractive offer, but I’ll decline. There are also things I want to research separately, and if I had to choose, I’d rather be friends with Lyla. Like before.”

“…Like before? I’m asking just in case, but are you also an acquaintance from my past that I’ve forgotten?”

Beatrice raised the corners of her lips at Lyla’s question and moved her hand to move on to the next barrier formula before Lyla could even speak.

“Wa, wait. You’re doing it as you please… Kuh…”

“Please handle Aevon’s 2nd and 0th. And, your senior will find the answer to that question for you.”

At those words, Lyla recalled the face of Cleon, who had entrusted everything to her and disappeared into the gap in dimensions.

After closing her mouth for a moment, Lyla ignited her magic-infused hair with a “Hwaruk!” and shined her eyes.

“I’m looking forward to that…! Let’s see how amazing that relationship was that makes you say that!”

“Of course! Don’t cry when that time comes…!”

The two of them stimulated each other and drew up their magic, and hundreds of layers of barriers surrounded the Grimoire of the Dead that was sandwiched between them.

At the two geniuses’ competition (?), which deviated from common sense, the other mages around them could not find the timing to intervene and could only watch the spectacle with dumbfounded expressions.

002

At the same time, Kuon and Iona were helping the students of the Theology Department fight the undead that had appeared from the mud of Humbaba that remained.

Even though they had spread a black magic domain that halved the power of divine magic, undead were still undead.

The power that Iona had as a holy sword and Kuon’s massive amount of divine magic combined, and every time she swung the sword, two or three undead disappeared.

“Haa… Haa…”

The problem was that it was Kuon who was wielding the holy sword Iona.

It was out of the question to entrust herself to the Theology Department she had met for the first time today, but for Kuon, who basically stood in the rear and assisted the party,

swinging the sword and dealing with enemies was quite a physically challenging task.

Even if she just swung it roughly, holy waves would be emitted and purify the undead in front of her, though.

[Not bad! Seeing you digest Cleon’s swordsmanship without any difficulty, it seems you have a talent, Kuon.]

“Wi, without difficulty my foot… It’s already too much…”

Kuon, panting and wiping the sweat flowing from her forehead. If she used Iona’s ability as a holy sword – [Experience Transfer] – to recreate Cleon’s swordsmanship through Kuon’s body, even Kuon, who had never swung a sword before, would have her body moving on its own.

[Behind you!]

At Iona’s shout, Kuon hurriedly turned her body and swung the sword horizontally.

As before, a strong wave of divine magic spread out and instantly evaporated several undead that were standing in a straight line.

The other Theology Department students also raised voices of admiration upon seeing that.

“Excuse me, you over there! I know it’s really rude, but are you really a priest? I don’t think a priest with those breasts is possible! Uhyo~! What!? Why are they so soft!?”

“Is it these breasts? Is it because of these breasts that the instructor doesn’t find us attractive!? Jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle every time we move. I’m upset, but it’s a defeat! Please tell me how they got so big!”

Except for about two people.

Twins who stuck right next to Kuon, who was swinging the sword, and were grilling her about her breasts from both sides.

“E, eee…”

A woman pushed Kuon back as she faltered at their momentum, simultaneously squeezing the twins’ chests and making them groan.

It was a seemingly innocent woman with long blue hair.

“Concentrate on the fight in front of you. And I told you not to be rude to the instructor’s precious colleague.”

“You are…”

Kuon looked at the woman who had extended a helping hand.

Then she smiled softly and replied.

“I am the unworthy Riomes, who owes Cleon a great debt. The top student in the Theology Department… Commonly known as the Academy’s Top Class Bitch.”

“Yo, you’re that…!?”

Kuon couldn’t hide her surprise at her behavior, which was so different from what she had expected. Then Riomes tilted her face towards Kuon as if she was amused and asked.

“Oh my, it seems you had some expectations for me… What did you think I would look like?”

“E, eee… Blond hair, thick makeup, slightly tanned skin… Wearing revealing clothes…”

“That was my sister’s appearance from 6 years ago. Before she entered the Theology Department and met Mrs. Lyud…”

“Huhu. That’s right, back then I was a `virgin bitch`.”

As Demis, who had approached and joined the conversation at some point, spoke, Riomes gazed into the distance as if she was longing for the past and replied.

[Wait, I think it’s more important to deal with all the undead than to have these conversations…!]

“Th, that’s right! I’m sorry, everyone! Let’s talk later!”

As Kuon was dragged away by Iona’s urging towards the undead horde, Riomes stretched herself.

The always refreshing smile on her face turned into a blank expression with a deep breath.

The life force and magic flowing through her body gathered in one place, and magic that achieved a balance of yin and yang bloomed at her fingertips.

When she stood ready, facing the lost souls who had become vengeful spirits, a disciplined beauty as if she was about to dance was felt from her body.

She quietly opened her mouth and staked her name on this fight.

“Successor to the Saeksu (穡壽*reaping life) Style Assassination Art. Riomes.”

“Same school. Successor. Demis.”

Magic flowed along the ground with the steps of the siblings walking forward, stepping on the Jingak.

“”We will embrace all those vengeful spirits and crush them.””

003

Just a few minutes ago, in the city where the battle between Humbaba and Cleon’s group had taken place.

Reil, who barely had any remnants of his human form left.

And the hero Aruru were fighting.

Reil, who had absorbed Humbaba and the soul of the Black Church, was moving by replacing his heart with mud and withstanding Aruru’s attacks by immediately replacing the severed parts with mud.

Even if he swung the sharp sword attached to his upper body, which had been transformed into a monster using mud, there was no way Reil, who had already lost all his pride as a swordsman, could inflict a significant blow on Aruru.

“Why…? I could win so easily inside the labyrinth… Why is it that I, who have become stronger than then, am…”

Reil howled as if denying the situation that he was being pushed back by her, clutching his face.

But Aruru took a deep breath, maintained her posture, and looked at the beast in front of her with cold eyes. The will felt in her eyes was only one.

Thoroughly annihilate the enemies of this world. Only that.

“I’ll admit it. You’re certainly more resilient than you were then… But I don’t feel the same composure or strategic aspect from you anymore. What allowed you to defeat me in the labyrinth was because you thoroughly analyzed me and prepared. If all of that is considered your skill. The current you is weaker than you were then.”

“Shut up…! What do you know! About me, and about you…! I’m the one who knows best!”

As if denying the words of her former friend, Reil swung his arm, and it could be seen that the mud was gradually losing its shape and flowing down.

“If you knew me well, you shouldn’t have done this. You shouldn’t have created the sad situation where I have to cut down my old friend with my own hands…”

“That’s wrong… If it weren’t for Cleon, the happiness given to you wouldn’t have ended…!”

Aruru listened to those words, and after looking at Reil, who was already collapsing on his own, she lowered her sword and asked.

“That happiness, are you perhaps talking about `Aruru who isn’t a hero`?”

“Yes…! A true world, different from the false world where everyone arbitrarily places expectations on you, elevates you to the ideal hero, and deprives you of your ordinary life… You would have been happy in that world too! Because those memories will remain!”

“Of course, I remember it. Certainly, there might have been such a world. There might have been an `Aruru` who felt a different kind of happiness than the current me. That’s what I thought.”

Aruru said up to that point, then raised her sword again and pointed it at Reil’s end.

“But I don’t dislike `the current me` as much as you think. No, rather, I regard it with pride. `Arbitrarily placing expectations`? Heroes are originally those who stand with people’s expectations on their backs, and exist as blades that cut down evil, and shields of protection. I have no complaints about that.”

“… …”

“I’m the one who knows myself best. And even if I limit it to others, you’re not the one who knows me best.”

“Shut up!! I caused this mess so you wouldn’t be taken away by those guys!!”

As Reil howled, dozens of sharp thorns made of mud flew towards Aruru.

But Aruru had already regenerated the fragments of blue glass containing radiance that were scattered around, and countered it with holy swords that were far more numerous than the thorns, and conversely, enveloped Reil.

“Why didn’t you tell me. Why did you try to do everything alone. We… could have done it together… Forever.”

Aruru briefly made a face that looked like she was about to cry for the first time after regaining her memories.

But soon, she returned to her usual face with even those tears erased, and raised her sword.

The numerous glass swords floating in the air gathered towards the main body that Aruru was holding.

Like a storm, they orbited the main body at high speed, becoming a vortex of destruction that grinds everything.

Destruction occurred as if it followed the trajectory in which Aruru moved her sword.

Gouging the ground, tearing the air, Aruru rushed towards Reil at a high speed with the sword in front of her.

“…Farewell. Reil. If there’s a hell for you, I’ll go there later too.”

“Aruru…!!!!”

Reil, who used the time to shout her name instead of screaming, was torn to pieces by the storm of glass swords, his entire body made of mud, and disappeared from that spot.

All of the glass sword clones that had touched that poison melted down and evaporated just like Reil.

Only the unbreakable sword stood in that spot.

004

Blood spurted out as he coughed while kneeling on one knee.

Was it his imagination, but was there a slight black tint mixed in with that blood?

Numerous Enkidus were lying around, collapsed and broken.

And the countless unknown victims within them. The cores.

He was somehow reducing their numbers by aiming only for the cores of the monsters that had fallen in the battles between the demonic beasts.

But covering all of these guys was a daunting task even for Cleon without Galatea.

In the end, there were demonic beasts that would become stronger no matter what.

Now, it was impossible to even estimate how powerful the few remaining demonic beasts were.

The dimensional magic erosion was slowly eating away at Cleon’s body and stamina.

It’s not that Lyla’s protection had disappeared.

The density of magic surrounding him had become even thicker.

Is this the limit?

If this continues, he will become another nutrient for them in this place.

Cleon put strength into his lips and fists, straightened his staggering knees, and looked straight at the guys in front of him.

The demonic beasts, which had already grown as large as mountains, were fighting each other to devour each other without even giving a glance at the exhausted Cleon.

Jormungandr was watching that scene from beyond the open gap, and at some point, he had taken out wine and was even enjoying that.

“… …”

He needs power.

Right now, if he doesn’t stop these guys, his world where everyone is will be shattered to pieces.

He had to stop that. He couldn’t not stop it.

Should he just accept the dimensional erosion?

His soul, mind, and body might change. But the magic of the dimensional gap was a power that was generated infinitely as long as he was in this space.

He could use that to kill all of these demonic beasts.

And finish himself off before he loses his ego.

He knew how to accept the erosion.

So, if he just directs his will there-

[-Re…on…]

“… …”

The next moment, Cleon’s movements stopped at the voice calling him.

That voice was the voice that Cleon wanted to hear the most right now.

“…Galatea…?”

[Cleon… Right now, to that place…]

Cleon knew at once what her words meant.

No matter how deep he falls into the abyss, even if he’s left alone.

She will definitely come to his side.

“Galatea…!”

Cleon reached out his hand towards the empty air.

Black and gold spirals crossing the sky adorned the sky above the academy.

And-

Opening up space in front of Cleon’s eyes, a beautiful black sword-

And a brilliant golden sword appeared in front of him at the same time.