episode_0100

BOOM!

“……!”

“?!”

An explosion occurred, and for that brief moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to the corner.

Black Mage 1, who happened to be wearing that sword, was blasted backward.

But surprisingly, no one paid any mind. Who cared about his well-being?

What was important was the fact that the demonic sword had exploded. And, the subsequent effects.

“……What…?”

The purple-haired woman, who had been about to throw a punch, frowned, and Jinseong also stopped his mana circuit from running wild.

It was an opening for each other, but… the situation was too unusual to exploit it.

Because there were those who had been freed from that very demonic sword.

In an instant, a storm raged.

A deep roar-!

“Cough!”

The first to emerge was Lee Hyunjin. His body completely frozen, he shook off a dark red aura and fell with a thud into the space.

“……S-sunbae?” Ryu Seeun’s eyes widened.

Why was Lee Hyunjin here now?

She had simply instinctively sought out this underground area, feeling her unique magic, ‘Black Sky,’ being used to its critical limit.

Naturally, she couldn’t help but be flustered.

Just moments ago, her stepfather had been on the verge of death, and then someone almost took an attack for her.

Then, a grand explosion suddenly occurred, and Lee Hyunjin dropped from the sky.

…Though, since it was an underground space anyway, there was no ‘dropping from the sky,’ but that wasn’t important at all.

Ryu Seeun, with trembling eyes, somehow followed the next development.

After Lee Hyunjin first emerged from the center of the storm, two more figures appeared simultaneously.

Barely extracting himself, crackling with lightning, was the 4th-year student council president, Cheon Woohyuk.

[Hmm.]

And next was an old man holding a half-broken blade and dusting himself off…

‘……Who?’

In truth, it wasn’t a situation where she could discern his identity, so Ryu Seeun blinked awkwardly.

The only thing she knew was that the old man was probably also their enemy.

The first to make a move was the old man.

He subtly lifted his head and glanced at the woman who was facing off against Jinseong.

The woman was the same. They exchanged glances as if they knew each other, or perhaps had even been involved in the assault from the very beginning, acting on the same side.

After scanning the fallen black mages around him, the old man clicked his tongue briefly.

[Most of the S-ranks we need to watch out for should be tied up in the arena. Have you still not seized the ‘Heart’? Christopher is truly incompetent.]

His subtle gaze, also directed at the woman, seemed to imply an intention to assign the responsibility to her as well.

Naturally, the woman couldn’t possibly miss that.

“Ha……?”

It was only natural that her expression twisted in displeasure.

Clenching her fist as if expressing her irritation directly, she lowered her voice.

“And you, old man, are quite a sight, unable to subdue two students and bursting out of the ‘space.’ Didn’t you guarantee that students of that level could be easily suppressed?”

[I had a slight miscalculation on my part.]

“As if I wouldn’t have any of those. Anyway, wasn’t it easier to deal with than an Archmage suddenly bursting out and interfering?”

The old man, who had paused, stopping his gaze from the woman to observe Lee Hyunjin and Cheon Woohyuk’s condition, showed a chilling aura for the first time.

Shifting his red eyes back to her once more, the old man raised his sword.

[You talk too much nonsense. Am I not the commander of this operation? Originally, by this time, you should have already retrieved the Heart.]

“Heh.”

The woman, not to be outdone, roughly rubbed her fists together. She was openly expressing her dissatisfaction, as if ready to clash if necessary.

“So? What do you want? You failed, and I failed, but isn’t that bastard Christopher’s share of the blame a bit bigger on my end? Considering that, it seems you’re the one who should be criticized… The situation just got more troublesome.”

As she added the last words, her gaze briefly fell upon Lee Hyunjin and Cheon Woohyuk.

She, of course, knew them well.

The two students who, at present, could be said to hold the highest status within the academy.

Perhaps the one who ultimately seized victory in the finals would have gained all the fame.

Given how the situation had turned out, they were merely one or two pawns among many. To be kidnapped, held hostage, and used as bargaining chips.

It was something that somewhat pricked her conscience, but since the organization had decided it, she didn’t object.

But what was this? The demonic sword user, whose skill was supposedly certain despite not being to her liking, had actually let them go.

With students who should have been used as hostages now free, there was no way pleasant words would be exchanged.

The woman imbued her fists with mana and snarled at the old man.

“Now that you’ve finally shown your face, if you’re going to order me around, at least bring the Heart first before talking, huh? Wasn’t that the original objective?”

[Are you pushing your assigned duty onto me with such ridiculous excuses?]

“Ha… That’s not what I mean. I’m saying this because you, old man, keep irritatingly repeating useless words.”

The demonic sword, already half-raised, was aimed precisely at the woman.

Even if it was broken, a demonic sword was still a demonic sword.

Knowing its power well, the woman couldn’t help but feel a certain tension, but at the same time, a primal curiosity and wonder arose within her.

‘He broke that.’

Her quick glance turned back to the two young men. How insane must the magical bombardment have been to break ‘that’?

It was so preposterous that she almost let out a scoff. Should she call this amazing?

“……Mm.”

At any rate, her grasp of the situation was complete.

The woman narrowed her brows in displeasure.

Her ill will towards the old man had, by now, undoubtedly reached its peak.

Even so, a mission was a mission. Unnecessary conflict between allies was forbidden at this moment.

‘It’s better this way. Since the number of people has doubled, if I can seize this opportunity to capture Black Heaven’s adopted daughter as well—’

It was at that moment, as the woman turned her dim gaze to confirm Ryu Seeun’s location.

A soft whoosh…

“……?”

The mana in the space began to converge in one spot. It was unnaturally fast, radical, and aggressive.

Not only the woman but even the old man, who had been about to say something more, paused and turned their gaze.

The location was relatively in a corner of the space.

The target was the black-haired young man standing there.

Deeper blue and silver lights began to reside in his eyes, and all the surging mana gathered into his grasp.

Perhaps it was a phenomenon that should rightfully be called a prelude to Grand Magic.

‘……Dangerous……’

The woman’s judgment was extremely quick. Whatever he was trying to do, it certainly wouldn’t be anything good for them.

She pressed her feet against the ground, channeling energy into her legs as if ready to leap at any moment, but.

Rattle!

“Gah…?!”

Before that, she was caught. Something like dark chains, swiftly approaching from behind, bound her legs and both arms.

“……Archmage!”

“…….”

Jinseong’s and the woman’s gazes locked, sharp and fierce. Meanwhile, Jinseong urgently observed Lee Hyunjin’s intentions.

‘Please.’

Though he couldn’t know precisely, he prayed that Lee Hyunjin would make a move that could break through this situation.

With teeth clenched tight, Jinseong gathered darkness and struck the woman’s side hard.

CRASH! Of course, the woman didn’t give in easily; she naturally raised her guard and deflected the physical damage, but…

“──Done.”

That was already enough.

He had bought time.

Lee Hyunjin’s eyes flashed with a serene light, and by the time the old man gathered his sword and tried to move again, everything was over.

Lee Hyunjin raised his hand high.

Extended it.

Spread it.

Then clenched it tightly.

A deep hum…!!

With such a violent vibration, the magic was cast.

RUMBLE!

A tree shot up. It wasn’t a typical ice tree, that is, a frozen tree summoned to assist Lee Hyunjin’s magical deployment.

Rather, it was the opposite.

There was nothing that could be called power. Auxiliary abilities? Power amplification? None of that was included; what was generated was simply a tree.

A ridiculously huge… tree.

“……Huh?” [Oh.]

Naturally, the narrow underground space beneath the main building couldn’t withstand that tree.

Setting aside strength or anything else, the physical limitations alone were the problem.

CRAAAACK, CRUNCH!

The tree didn’t stop growing on its own. Clearly augmented with nature-type magic, it was Lee Hyunjin’s secret technique, one that had now made him something akin to a master(?) of fusion magic.

A massive ice tree, created by forcibly pushing mana into it. It was useless.

Thus, its role was but one.

Collapse.

“……Heh.”

Lee Hyunjin wore a chilling smile on his lips.

His arms trembled, and cold sweat dripped down.

But the intensity in his eyes showed no sign of exhaustion as he continued to deploy the magic.

Eventually, as the boundary between the underground space and the main building’s first floor began to blur.

SNAP! Lee Hyunjin clenched his fist even harder.

“Let’s collapse it. All of it.”

[──!]

SWISH!

It was at that moment that the broken blade surged towards Lee Hyunjin.

The old man, his red eyes fiercely flickering, charged at him, but—

Regrettably, Lee Hyunjin, unlike other pure-blood mages, had one means to escape a crisis, just once.

‘Etherealization.’

Using Kim Jiwoo’s skill, Lee Hyunjin blurred his body, gaining a fleeting moment of time.

By then, the situation was already escalating beyond control.

The tree shattered the ceiling.

No, more than that, the building.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…!

Intending to topple the entire structure, it grew higher, higher, even higher.

Surging upwards.

Truly colossal enough to be noticeable from anywhere on the campus grounds.

*****

A blue tree soaring high into the sky.

“……I found it.”

Seol Hayeon’s eyes, as she strolled through the air, turned chillingly calm.

“…….”

Cheon Sehee and Cheon Soyul, who had been facing off against countless black-robed figures in the arena, also confirmed the tree and wore strange expressions.

Lastly, one person more than anyone else.

“……Uh…….”

There was one person who reacted awkwardly to the collapse of the academy’s main building.

The academy’s director, who had come to the arena to negotiate with the terrorists—

That man’s name was Hero Yang Chan-ho.

But now, he was homeless.