Ch.85Academy Attack Incident – 7

I didn’t understand why he was acting so strangely out of nowhere, but I couldn’t let the opportunity that had presented itself go to waste. The refined mana instantly transformed into violence. A magical tsunami swept over the Legion Commander and his nearby guard forces simultaneously.

The Death Knight moved first, shielding the Elder Lich. Maker, who had neither troops to protect him nor managed to dodge in time, was swept away by the raging current.

When the flashing blue light had passed, the Death Knights, which had numbered in the dozens, were reduced to just a few. The Elder Lich remained unharmed, but Maker was nowhere to be seen.

“……”

The Elder Lich turned his hollow eye sockets toward me and wiggled his finger. Once again, as many Death Knights as had died were summoned. Seeing this, I realized how truly important heroes were.

Even undead like Death Knights could be summoned by the dozens with just a gesture. Without the holy sword, we wouldn’t have even been able to wage a war of attrition.

“What a rude human… interrupting our conversation…”

“Conversation be damned. Why wouldn’t I strike when you’re openly showing a weakness?”

“But it’s a practical thought… a very appropriate mindset for pursuing knowledge… It’s regrettable that you won’t accept the path of truth… You would have made an excellent subordinate…”

While keeping my guard up against the Elder Lich who was spouting nonsense again, I scanned the area where Maker had been. I’d seen him get swept away by the magic, but I wondered how far he’d flown.

“What is the meaning of thiiiiis! Such rudeness!”

Speak of the devil—Maker came flying back, fuming with anger. For someone who had been hit while defenseless, he didn’t have a single scratch on him.

Then again, if he could be fatally wounded or killed by such magic, he wouldn’t be called a Legion Commander in the first place.

“I will not let this slide!”

Armor began to form around his body piece by piece. I prepared my next spell. If necessary, I was ready to shield the Academy with a barrier and use wide-area annihilation magic. Both of them were the type to overwhelm with sheer numbers.

The Elder Lich was obvious, but Maker, being a mutant slime, could split himself into thousands of pieces and attack. He hated being called a slime, but that was the truth.

I couldn’t waste time defeating them one by one. Who knows how long that would take.

“Let’s see what you’ve got…”

Suddenly, something caught the corner of my eye. I looked up at the sky. The barrier surrounding the Academy flickered and gradually began to dissipate. It seemed Ingrid had kept her promise.

The black energy that had been surging as if ready to engulf the Academy without the barrier remained unchanged even after the barrier disappeared. Because it was just a simple ward, as it had been in the original story.

“Oh my, this is terrible! Absolutely terrible! Who on earth deactivated the barrier!”

“This is unexpected… How did they discover the truth…”

The Elder Lich made a sound close to a groan, seemingly unable to believe what was happening. Maker also jumped up and down, making a fuss.

“Mira Crate! Why aren’t you surprised? The barrier is completely gone, so the demonic energy will soon engulf the Academy!”

Maker pointed at me, trying to intimidate me. It seemed he was attempting to deceive me even now, but it was too late. After making such a commotion about how terrible the situation was, did he really think I would fall for it?

I wouldn’t have been fooled even if he hadn’t made such a fuss.

“Cut the nonsense. I know that’s not demonic energy. It’s a ward to prevent people outside from seeing the mess the Academy has become.”

Maker’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.

“How can this be! Just how much do you know?!”

“Enough to stop whatever nonsense you’re trying to pull?”

I was about to respond with a preemptive attack when a good idea suddenly occurred to me, and I stopped. It was a thought made possible by the timely deactivation of the barrier.

“Well, it’s because Astaroth was the one who leaked the information to me.”

“Whaaaat?! Is that true?!”

Upon hearing my words, Maker stretched his neck and tore at his hair. His already large eyes grew even bigger and rounder. The Elder Lich gripped the armrest of his chair so hard that he completely shattered it.

Despite being a lie that made no sense, both seemed to have fallen for it completely. It was probably because the things I’d been doing were so far outside common sense.

Originally, I had planned to just sow discord between them, but if they were going to fall for it so easily, that changed things. I began to improvise a story as if I had actually made a deal with Astaroth.

“Of course. Your entire plan was coordinated with Astaroth from the beginning. Why else do you think the Academy has been defending against the attack so well? It was planned from the start, coordinating the invasion within the Academy’s forces so they could repel it on their own, even if communication with the outside was cut off.”

That was a lie. It wasn’t that Astaroth had planned within the Academy’s capabilities; rather, it was a hastily put-together plan that the Academy could handle. The causality was reversed.

“And what about refusing the Demon Lord’s order to return? Isn’t it because you were planning to join our side after this was over? There’s no need to listen to someone who’s no longer your superior, right?”

This was also a lie. The reason Astaroth pushed forward with the plan despite ignoring the Demon Lord’s words remained unknown. The fact that I could know this was, of course, because the traitor was the Demon Lord.

“Who told me that the demonic energy surrounding the Academy was actually just a ward? Who told me that you had tampered with the core of the barrier? Who told me that the barrier would explode when operating at maximum output? If you think about it just a little, isn’t it obvious how I know this information and who told me?”

Of course, it was Priscilla, the regressor, who had told me. But from their perspective, they could only think that a traitor within the demon race had leaked the information.

And Astaroth was the perfect candidate to be mistaken as the traitor. Not only was he actively leading this entire plan, but it would also serve as payback for what we had suffered.

“……”

As they came to understand that if Astaroth were the traitor, all the current situations would dramatically fit together, the two seemed to grow increasingly suspicious. It would be too perfect to ignore.

Of course it was. I had crafted the lies to fit perfectly with causality. To drive the point home, I deliberately smiled knowingly as I spoke.

“Elder Lich, don’t you feel uneasy about your Life Vessel? The real one in room 37 on the 23rd floor of the underground dungeon you’re using as your base. The one in the last floor is fake, and the real one is there, right?”

“Astaroth, you wench…! How far have you gone in selling out the pride of demonkind…!”

When I mentioned the true location of the Life Vessel that Priscilla had told me about, creating an atmosphere as if there was something more to it, the Elder Lich’s actions became noticeably urgent. He seemed to have confirmed Astaroth as the traitor.

It made sense. The location of the Life Vessel had never been revealed to humans before. So the fact that I knew the exact location? It meant someone had betrayed them. And that someone would naturally be Astaroth.

At least, that’s what the Elder Lich would think.

“If you don’t go back quickly, something terrible might happen. Who knows what Astaroth might do there?”

That was the decisive blow. Thinking he could no longer stay here, the undead legion began to disappear as if being sucked into a jewel. Seeing this, Maker jumped up in protest.

“What are you doing?! You came all this way only to turn back?! With Mira Crate right before our eyes?!”

“Silence, slime… My Life Vessel is several times more precious than the likes of you… Now that it’s known there’s a traitor within, I have no intention of staying here any longer…”

Despite Maker’s protests, the Elder Lich resolutely opened a dimensional gate and disappeared. Leaving behind the undead dragon could be considered his final courtesy.

When he returns, he’ll realize the Life Vessel is intact, but he’ll need to interrogate Astaroth and prepare for any possible sabotage, so he won’t be able to show his face here for a while anyway.

“Now it’s just you left?”

I turned my head. He gritted his teeth.

“I thought it was strange how obsessively Astaroth was fixated on you! Who would have guessed that her desire to kill you had a different meaning! Just how virile are you to have seduced that loose woman! She barely gets satisfied after draining five or six Minotaurs to the end!”

‘Is that so?’

Honestly, I was a bit surprised. Does that mean Nika will become like that too when she awakens as a Queen?

“Fine! There may be a traitor, but I am still a Legion Commander! I’ll deal with that traitorous Astaroth after I finish you off!”

Maker began to inflate his body. Watching him grow like a balloon, I calmly said:

“There’s still one more thing.”

The refined mana that had been spread like mist around me shot up into the sky. Consuming countless magic circles as power sources, the mana soared high and began to transform as it coalesced.

A massive magic circle was drawn in the void. Without stopping, the magic circle struck the black ward directly.

—BOOM!

Thunder roared. Flames began to erupt, consuming the black ward. The flames scattered in all directions like a whirlwind. Hot air rushed against my skin.

As a large hole opened in the ward, the black energy melted away and dispersed from that center. Realizing my intention, Maker let out a piercing scream.

“Are you trying to summon the Sword Saint?!”

“How did you know?”

It was an action whose intent couldn’t be misunderstood, so I was just being sarcastic. His face turned red with anger.

However, I had no intention of just waiting for the Sword Saint to arrive. I released refined mana again. Hundreds of magic circles surrounded Maker and me, forming a barrier that sealed off the area.

“Don’t worry.”

I infused Eternity with mana. Blue mist began to envelop the inside of the barrier.

“I’ll make sure you never meet the Sword Saint.”