The Birth of a Hero

1.

Thud, thud.

Beasts crawled out of the darkness.

The dog-like beasts had flesh melting away as if they had been burned.

Darkness rose like smoke, replacing the melted skin.

Black fur appeared, as if ablaze.

The beasts dripped Demonic energy from between their teeth, glaring at Elia.

Dozens of Magical Beasts blocked the hallway.

Soon, screams echoed from all directions.

It seemed Magical Beasts had appeared not only here but elsewhere as well.

Perhaps the entire academy was under attack.

“How terrible.”

Elia enhanced her body with Magical power and enveloped herself in Divinity.

It would be nice to have a sword, but she could handle these Magical Beasts with her bare hands.

“I’ll help.”

Hoth said, raising his hand axe.

There were dozens of them, but she didn’t really need help.

But he would be disappointed if she refused, right?

Elia gave him a look, telling him to follow.

It was at that moment, as they were about to charge towards the Magical Beasts.

“Haaah… Why are you blocking the way?”

Lua, who had been slowly following behind, yawned and flicked her fingers.

As she moved her fingers as if conducting, Magic circles flickered on the foreheads of the Magical Beasts.

The lines and curves dissolved, leaving only circles.

“…Disappear.”

She drew a line in the air with her finger.

The circle was cut in half.

Dozens of Magical Beasts crumbled into dust and vanished.

The darkness, having lost its host, scattered in all directions.

The two who had been about to charge at the Magical Beasts were left standing awkwardly.

“I want to go back and rest soon…”

Lua started walking forward again.

“…What was that just now?”

Hoth asked, blinking his eyes.

“Reverse calculation of magic.”

It was a typical method of neutralizing magic.

Simply put, it involves drawing the Magic circle in reverse to erase it.

It was by no means an easy method.

That might be possible if it was a basic spell that any Wizard learned.

But to instantly perform a reverse calculation on a spell that was directly researched and developed was nearly impossible.

Recalling the Magic circle that had briefly appeared on the Magical Beast’s forehead, it was not something listed in a typical magic book.

It was someone’s research result.

Lua had analyzed it the moment she saw it and performed the reverse calculation.

It was an undeniably terrifying talent.

Thanks to Lua, they learned one thing.

Those beasts were not Magical Beasts, but Summoned beasts summoned by magic.

If they were Magical Beasts, they wouldn’t disappear just by performing a reverse calculation of magic.

And the fact that they were Summoned beasts made Elia immediately think of one person.

Ether professor, Ethel.

“Was this supposed to be a congratulatory event…?”

Her intuition was right.

The cause of her unease was indeed something else.

2.

The academy was in chaos.

Summoned beasts were summoned simultaneously throughout the entire academy.

Their ferocious aggression alone was threatening, but the fact that they were covered in Demonic energy made them even more dangerous.

As talented individuals from all nations gathered, they were holding their own against the Summoned beasts, but they were slowly being pushed back by the constantly surging numbers.

An announcement echoed throughout the school.

It instructed everyone to evacuate to the shelters in each building.

Students and professors followed the instructions and took refuge in the shelters.

“What’s going on all of a sudden…?”

Sweat droplets like dew trickled down her jawline.

Yuriel wiped the sweat with the back of her hand and looked around.

Dozens of Summoned beasts lay frozen, having been brutally sliced apart.

Since she couldn’t cut through the Demonic energy, she had frozen them whole.

Yuriel had left the freshman welcome party to go to the forest for swordsmanship training.

“Should I go to the shelter?”

She heard the announcement to evacuate during her training.

An attack had occurred throughout the entire academy.

It wasn’t the time to be leisurely practicing swordsmanship.

Yuriel decided to head to the shelter for now.

She left the forest and headed to the nearest building, the Central Hall.

“Huh? That person is…?”

While everyone was entering the Central Hall to evacuate, a girl was climbing out of the window and leaving the Central Hall.

Blonde hair that flowed down to her hips.

Beneath her long eyelashes were ruby-like, shining crimson eyes.

Saintess, Elia.

The person who should be evacuating first was going somewhere else instead of evacuating.

…Should I follow her?

The hesitation was brief.

Yuriel turned away from the Central Hall and chased after the Saintess.

So fast…!

The Saintess moved as if pushing through space.

She seemed to be moving slowly, but she covered a great distance with each step.

Her body seemed clumsy, but it was not clumsy at all.

Not only that.

-Thwack! Thwack!

The Saintess punched the faces of the Summoned beasts that charged at her.

Each time she threw a punch, the sound of the Summoned beast’s facial bones being crushed echoed.

Demonic energy splattered everywhere like blood, but it didn’t stain the Saintess’s clothes.

Watching that, Yuriel was convinced.

That woman!

The Saintess was definitely the unidentified girl.

Curiosity.

Awe.

Yuriel felt various emotions.

Among them, curiosity was the greatest.

“Please, run away quickly.”

The Saintess helped the students she encountered on the street.

She drove away the Summoned beasts.

She healed injuries enough for them to move.

Is that even possible?

Clerics are supporters.

Supporters are non-combat personnel who are in charge of healing and various defensive buffs.

But right now, the Saintess was taking on both combat and support.

…Perhaps that’s the best supporter?

Because she eliminates the risk of allies getting injured before they even get injured.

“Excuse me, can I borrow this for a moment?”

The Saintess borrowed a sword from a student.

“Why a sword…?”

The student asked, bewildered.

The Saintess holding a sword.

It was an odd combination.

A crude melee weapon didn’t suit the image of a typical Saintess.

The Saintess wore a faint smile on her lips.

“To protect you all.”

The Saintess started running again.

The place she arrived at was the Magic department building.

The entire interior and exterior of the building were occupied by Summoned beasts.

If it were just Summoned beasts, the professors could have suppressed them, but it wasn’t easy to suppress them because they were surrounded by Demonic energy, not ordinary Summoned beasts.

No matter how many times they were killed, the Demonic energy revived the Summoned beasts like Undead.

But it was not an obstacle for the Saintess.

She removed the Demonic energy with Divinity, and then slashed the Summoned beasts, which had been stripped of their Demonic energy, with Sword Aura.

That series of movements was like a dancer performing a dance.

A beautiful sword dance.

The blade, which glowed faintly with golden light, flowed smoothly.

It looked slow, but its power was terrifying.

Each time the Saintess’s sword danced, dozens of Summoned beasts were bisected.

Yuriel tried to help the Saintess, but there was no opportunity to help.

Rather, she thought that if she interfered with that swordsmanship, it would only be a hindrance.

The Saintess entered the building.

She sliced through the Summoned beasts blocking the hallway and went upstairs.

Only the death of the enemy remained in the Saintess’s wake.

3.

-Thwack!!

She stabbed the sword into the Summoned beast’s throat.

The sensation of splitting the tongue in half was transmitted to her hand through the sword.

-Swoosh!

She lifted the sword upwards, split the head in half, and pulled out the sword.

Flesh splattered.

Since she had surrounded her body with Divinity, the flesh didn’t touch her.

“Hoo…”

She closed her eyes and exhaled a hot breath.

She felt slightly dizzy.

Using Magical power and Divinity at the same time put a considerable strain on her body.

It was useful, but she still had to pay the price for using her power due to a lack of training.

She pressed down on the area below her eyes.

Her vision was a little blurry.

In her prime, she could fight for 12 hours without any problems.

She shook her head to shake off the fatigue.

I raised my head and looked ahead.

Room 505.

The place I had arrived at was Ether professor’s laboratory in the Magic department main building.

She kicked the door open and entered.

The room was filled with complete darkness.

An unpleasant energy clung tightly to her skin.

Even though she was surrounded by Divinity, it seemed to seep beneath it and scan every corner of her body.

“Krrr…!”

Something was crouching in the darkness.

She raised her right hand and illuminated the darkness with the light of Divinity.

She couldn’t completely dispel it, but she could see the surroundings dimly.

Something flew towards her.

I twisted my body to the side to dodge.

-Thump, thump

A lump of flesh rolled across the floor and collided with the wall.

Red blood splattered.

I checked the lump of flesh.

A student.

It was the upper body of a woman.

Both arms had been torn off, and intestines flowed out like ropes from where the lower body had been separated.

How cruel.

There were also traces of a crude attempt to tear open the stomach.

The culprit was undoubtedly that thing.

I closed the eyes of the dead female student.

“…Shall we take a look at your face?”

She infused the sword with Sword Aura.

“Krrr… Kuwaaaaaack!”

Something in the darkness roared and charged.

The black figure grew closer and closer, and when it entered a certain range, I could see its face.

A giant wolf with its mouth wide open.

Inside it was a human head.

It was the head of the Assistant professor of the Magic department who had been caught as the culprit yesterday.

It looked like the head was caught in the wolf’s neck after being eaten, but that wasn’t the case; the man had transformed into this grotesque form of a Demon.

Our eyes met.

The Assistant professor, who had transformed into a Demon, smiled so wide that the corners of his mouth reached his ears.

Pieces of flesh and academy uniform were stuck between his sharp teeth.