Ch.53Chapter 53. Side Effects (4)

Whoosh-

A flame shot out from Cain, who had now lost his human form and looked like just an ember.

‘Oh shit.’

The flame flew toward Cynthia who had suddenly appeared.

The problem was that the speed of the shooting flame was on a completely different level from before.

The ember launched a powerful and fast attack, as if it had been waiting for an opponent who couldn’t counter its attack.

Woong-

Professor Amillion was right beside me, but there was no time to hesitate.

I swung my sword while simultaneously tearing through space to move in front of Cynthia.

Boom-

“Kyaah!”

After barely cutting through the flame in front of Cynthia, an explosion erupted.

Woong-

I opened a subspace to absorb the explosion fragments while simultaneously embracing Cynthia and stepping backward.

“Uh… huh?”

“Wait here.”

Woong-

“Where is this…!”

Before Cynthia could finish speaking, I crossed through space again.

In less than a second.

I moved in front of Cynthia, cut through the flame, and took her to my dormitory.

‘Damn it.’

It was something I would never have done normally, but the situation was too critical to do otherwise.

I couldn’t leave Cynthia here, not knowing what might happen.

What confidence did she have to jump in like that?

“What just happened…? Where’s Cynthia?”

Professor Amillion seemed unable to grasp exactly what had happened since it occurred in such a brief moment.

But that wasn’t important right now.

“So, what do we do about that?!”

Professor Amillion quickly turned her attention back to the ember at my shout.

The ember that had been Cain seemed to be growing stronger rather than weaker as time passed.

I should have cut it down when I first decided to.

I waited as long as possible to see if there might be another solution, but the situation was only getting worse.

“To return someone who’s gone berserk to normal, we need to either make them use up all their mana or forcibly subdue them with stronger mana…”

“Is that possible?”

“…I’ll try somehow.”

“What should I do?”

“While I cover that guy… Cain with my mana, you need to keep him from moving.”

“Okay.”

Academy professors weren’t professors for nothing.

Despite the urgent situation, Amillion quickly suggested a solution and began preparing her magic.

As Amillion started gathering mana, I moved immediately.

Cain Hover’s mana was fluctuating so violently that I could barely sense other people’s mana, but I could vaguely feel other students approaching.

‘This feeling is definitely Elaine.’

The most noticeable mana presence was indeed Elaine’s.

I needed to handle this as quickly as possible to prevent another situation like what just happened with Cynthia.

Woong-

Since I’d already shown my power, there was no reason to hide it anymore.

Even with Professor Amillion watching, I moved fearlessly toward the ember.

Boom-

I swung my sword directly at the center of the ember.

As the sword and fire collided, that explosive sound rang out again.

The fire that touched the sword exploded, trying to push my sword back with its repulsive force, but I stood firm without yielding.

Kwaaang-

Then an even greater force exploded from inside the flames and began pushing me back.

Flinch-

It was enough force to push me back slightly, even though I was using all my strength.

‘This doesn’t make sense.’

It was too much to suppress this level of power with physical strength alone.

I had no choice but to start infusing mana into my sword.

As mana was injected into the Black Shadow Sword’s pitch-black blade, the sword trembled and began responding to the mana.

The already black blade grew even darker as it began to be surrounded by black mana.

Hwak-

Soon black mana spread from the Black Shadow Sword, expanding outward and beginning to suppress the flames.

Now it was a battle of strength.

The red energy of the flame and the black energy of the Black Shadow Sword collided, standing in fierce opposition.

Crackle-

Perhaps due to the collision of enormous energies.

An ominous sound came from where the red and black energies met.

And through that sound came a voice.

“Save… me…”

Flinch-

I was so startled I almost got pushed back.

Breaking through the collision noise was Cain Hover’s voice.

Muttering in a very small, dying voice that could never have been heard without focused listening.

One emotion was clearly felt in Cain’s voice.

Desperation.

Crackle-

As I injected more mana into the Black Shadow Sword, the black mana rippled and engulfed the ember more widely.

Conversely, the repulsive force of the ember trying to push me back wasn’t growing stronger.

“Are you done yet?!”

After hearing Cain’s voice, I found myself urging Amillion.

There was no problem holding out like this, but I felt I needed to do something about Cain as soon as possible.

He wasn’t someone I particularly liked, but he wasn’t someone I disliked enough to let die either.

“Almost!”

Just as I shouted back in frustration, Professor Amillion’s answer came.

As if “almost” wasn’t a lie, a massive amount of mana began approaching from behind.

Mana tightly woven in the form of a net.

Cain must have sensed the approaching mana from behind just as I did, because his movements changed.

Until just now he had been desperately trying to push me back, but now he was withdrawing his strength and trying to escape.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Whoosh-

I spread the black mana wider, pressuring Cain.

He definitely wouldn’t be able to escape.

Meanwhile, Professor Amillion’s mana flew quickly and wrapped around Cain and me like a net.

“That’s enough!”

Woong-

As soon as I heard Professor Amillion’s words, I moved backward from that position.

Swoosh-

I had to swing at empty air because I’d been applying so much force.

While cutting the ground forcefully, I looked up toward Cain.

Professor Amillion’s mana had successfully captured Cain.

The blue mana bound the ember, then completely enveloped it.

‘Did it work?’

“Was it successful?”

Professor Amillion was concentrating with her eyes closed, not answering.

I thought we just needed to cover Cain with mana, but apparently there was more work to be done afterward.

I took my eyes off the concentrating Professor Amillion and looked at Cain wrapped in mana.

Crackle-

The sound of massive energies colliding, like when I had clashed with him earlier, was heard intermittently.

I kept my guard up, alternately watching Cain and Professor Amillion.

After a short while.

Hissss-

This time a distinctly different sound was heard.

It wasn’t the sound of energies colliding.

It sounded more like air escaping.

The flame enveloping Cain was definitely getting smaller with a hissing sound.

As the ember wrapped in blue mana gradually shrank, the flames burning the surroundings also began to die down simultaneously.

It looked as if the flames were connected to each other.

‘Is it over now?’

Hissss-

Professor Amillion now had her eyes open and was watching the gradually diminishing ember.

And shortly after.

Thud-

Surprisingly intact despite having been engulfed in massive flames, Cain collapsed to the ground.

The fire that had been covering Cain, as well as the fire burning the forest, had all disappeared.

Tap tap-

As the fire vanished and Cain fell to the ground, Professor Amillion immediately ran toward him.

“Cain!”

Professor Amillion urgently lifted Cain’s upper body and checked his condition.

She tried shaking his body and even slapping his cheeks, but Cain couldn’t regain consciousness.

‘At least he’s not dead.’

My senses, sharpened from the intense battle, told me.

Cain Hover hadn’t lost his life.

However, there was another problem.

‘His internal mana is completely chaotic.’

When I focused, I could clearly see it.

The berserk mana had ravaged his body so thoroughly that there was no part inside that remained intact.

Since I could see it, Professor Amillion probably had also checked Cain’s condition.

That’s why she was trying so desperately to wake him up with such a serious expression.

‘If he doesn’t wake up now…’

Right after severe internal damage caused by berserk mana. This was the golden time.

If he didn’t regain consciousness now and control his internal body with his own mana, Cain might never be able to use mana again.

“Wake up!”

Despite Professor Amillion’s desperate cry, Cain showed no signs of waking.

Honestly, expecting this level of mental fortitude from a regular student, especially a first-year at the Academy, was asking too much.

“Cain!!”

Professor Amillion tried to stimulate Cain almost to the point of hitting him, but Cain couldn’t open his eyes.

“Ryuyeong… sir? What’s happening?”

“Ah.”

Meanwhile, Elaine arrived.

Looking around with an obviously confused expression.

“Professor? Is that Cain Hover?”

Professor Amillion remained focused solely on Cain despite another student arriving at the scene.

‘Sigh.’

“Professor.”

Flinch-

Professor Amillion, who had been continuously shaking Cain’s body, finally stopped moving when I called her.

Cain’s body in Professor Amillion’s arms had no strength at all.

“Shouldn’t we move him to the infirmary first?”

“Ah…”

Professor Amillion must have realized it by now.

That the golden time had already passed.