Book 1 Chapter 101
【101】100.
"Grwooooo!"
"That ogre is throwing rocks! Take that one down first!"
A student from the Department of Knighthood urgently shouted at a student from the Department of Magic, watching an ogre roar and pick up the ruins of the castle with both hands to throw them.
Just then, the magic student was about to quickly cast a spell.
Whoosh-!
Celia, who had climbed onto the castle wall, took a stabbing stance.
Phoenix Breath - Flame Wing.
Flames, spread wide like a bird's wings, flew towards the ogre at tremendous speed.
Crunch!
"Guh?"
The ogre tilted its head as the flame wing brushed past it.
Then, the ogre's head fell from its neck.
The severed part was cauterized by the immense heat, so no blood flowed.
Stumble-! Thud!
The ogre's massive body fell, crushing the surrounding monsters.
But Celia's attack was not over.
The Flame Wing, which had soared into the sky like a gliding bird, plunged towards the ground.
Bang! Whoosh-!
The flames of aura exploded, sweeping away the surrounding monsters.
Celia took a deep breath and sheathed her sword, watching the monsters scream as they burned.
The magic student, seeing this, made a disgusted expression.
"No. How can an Aura Skill's firepower be stronger than magic!"
Meanwhile. On the opposite castle wall, Duran was active.
"Here they come again from the sky!"
Cannibal crows, flying monsters, flew in.
Seeing this, Duran used an aura step to climb onto the inner fortress's watchtower.
And he raised his sword to the sky.
Flash! Zzzzzzzzzzzt-!
The golden current spewing from Duran's sword instantly roasted the flock of cannibal crows that were aiming for the ground from the sky.
Seeing this, Kal, who was in the same group as Duran, clicked his tongue.
'He might be unlucky, but you have to admit his skill!'
Thinking so, Kal supported the surrounding students.
Kal's ability, as a support specialist, was shining brightly in the current situation.
He quickly supplied potions and identified priority targets for attack, informing the students.
And he was the first to rush to any student who needed help.
Literally, he created a situation where Duran and the entire group could focus solely on combat.
'Hmph. Quite useful for a commoner.'
Duran snorted and descended from the watchtower.
The Lumen students were expertly fending off the monster's major offensive.
Meanwhile, in front of the castle gate, Emio's group was active.
It had already been an hour since the battle began.
The Lumen students were repelling the monster's major offensive to an overwhelming degree.
"See! I told you it was nothing!"
Emio, with a triumphant expression, created four gigantic magic circles in the air.
Emio was a versatile mage who could freely manipulate the magic of the four great elements.
Emio's magic swept away the monsters approaching the castle gate.
Thump-!
Emio, with a foot on the castle wall, rested his staff on his shoulder, looking bored.
"Fighting with the castle walls against mere monsters is so boring I could die!"
"Emio! Shall we go out and deal with some monsters?"
One knight student, emboldened, adjusted his bastard sword and asked.
"Shall we?"
Due to the overly one-sided battle, some first-year students were even feeling bored.
At that moment, Chloe, who was in the same group, spoke.
"Our objective is to defend the castle walls, nothing more."
"Chloe, I'm the leader of this group. Are you giving me orders now?"
"How is this an order? I'm telling you to follow the strategy."
"I make the strategy! You just follow my orders!"
Chloe made a cold expression.
Emio flinched and stepped back for a moment, pushed by Chloe's icy demeanor.
But he bristled at the fact that he had been pushed back.
"What exactly are we so scared of that we have to hide? If we fought outside the walls, we would have already dealt with all the monsters!"
"The demon beasts haven't even shown their faces yet. Don't you understand what that means?"
"Hmph. Being scared of a few wild demon beasts is just nonsense…"
Ziiiiing-!
While Chloe and Emio were arguing in front of the castle gate,
a gigantic summoning circle began to be drawn in the sky.
The first-year students flinched and looked up at the sky.
"Wh-what is that?"
"That size is a summoning circle? What on earth is being summoned?"
"Maybe the school has finally come to save us?"
At one student's remark, everyone nodded.
"Right, it's already been an hour."
"I wanted to achieve more merit, though."
Some students expressed regret, jumping to conclusions.
Whoosh-!
A monstrous, dark blue, gigantic arm broke through the summoning circle.
Slam-!
The huge hand grabbed the monsters on the ground.
Gulp!
The squeezed monsters turned into bloody pulp.
The gigantic, unknown hand returned to the summoning circle.
A moment later, a huge head popped out through the summoning circle.
The inverted triangle-shaped head had horns.
Its massive mouth, which occupied half of its head, was ravenously chewing the monsters it had just snatched.
Crunch- Crunch-
The monster's face turned towards the monsters filling the castle ruins.
Grin-!
The monstrous face drew a grotesque smile.
Soon, the gigantic demon beast emerged from beyond the summoning circle.
A giant-shaped demon beast with smooth, dark blue skin.
The Lumen students had learned about this demon beast.
The highest-ranking demon beast of Tartarus.
"Gigantes?"
***
After the anomalous event occurred.
Lumen announced to the spectators that they would inform them of the situation and rescue the students as quickly as possible.
Up until then, the mood among outsiders,
especially parents, was serious.
Some cried out, demanding their children be saved immediately, while others shouted that they would go rescue them themselves.
The situation worsened due to the severe, uncontrolled atmosphere.
But…
"Ohhh!"
"They're doing well!"
An hour later, everyone was cheering loudly.
Elena, watching this, twisted a lock of her hair and made an unenthusiastic expression.
'They were in such an uproar just a moment ago. The crisis situation hasn't changed, so why are they so excited and happy?'
The anomalous event was still ongoing, and Lumen had not yet rescued the first-year students.
However, as the first-years successfully defended against the monster offensive, the atmosphere quickly reversed.
'What's so great about it in the first place? For a Lumen student, that much is natural, isn't it?'
Elena rested her chin on her hand indifferently.
'Ah, boring.'
Boredom floated in Elena's eyes.
"Senior! Huff! Huff! You were here!"
"What is it, Lil,"
"Senior. The professors are looking for you."
"Okay, I understand. Tell them I'll go when they need me."
Elena was a dungeon raider.
She was a reserve force to be deployed as additional support.
"Huh? Aren't you going to the waiting room?"
"If I go to the waiting room, I'll end up fighting with Senior Harken, is that okay with you?"
"Hmm! Uh, it would be better if Senior Elena stayed here!"
Lil said urgently, looking at Elena's mischievous smile.
"Anyway, the first-years are handling it well."
"For Lumen students, that much is basic."
"That's true."
While the spectators were impressed by the first-years' performance, from the perspective of the two Lumen second and third-year students, it wasn't particularly impressive.
"Anyway, I was worried at first, but thankfully it's fine."
"Oh? Do you also think this incident will end like this?"
"Huh?"
"The enemy audaciously caused such an incident during Lumen's official event. And the first-years in Naigran are still isolated. This is definitely not a scale that will end like this."
Elena, with crossed legs and chin in hand, smiled sweetly.
"In the worst case… all the first-years there might die, you know?"
At that, Lil felt a chill run down her spine.
Just then, a gigantic summoning circle was captured on the magic video.
Uwooooooaaaaaaaaaah-!
Seeing the gigantic demon beast that appeared, everyone's faces turned pale.
"G-Gigantes!"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Only Elena, who had predicted this situation, said calmly.
"See, it's just really starting now."
***
Thud-! Boom-!
Uwooooooaaaaaaaaaah-!
At the roar of the gigantic giant, likely 8m tall, who had set foot on the ground, the monsters began to flee in terror.
Gigantes, one of the highest-ranking demon beasts, was a terrifying monster that instilled fear in all living creatures.
Gigantes chased the fleeing monsters and began cramming them into its mouth indiscriminately.
The entire first-year class was filled with terror at the appearance of the terrifying demon beast, a creature that threatened humans and unilaterally preyed on monsters.
Watching the demon beast greedily devour monsters, some first-years covered their mouths and gagged.
The entire first-year class held their breath, praying that this desperate demon beast wouldn't discover them.
Pause-!
Gigantes, who had been indiscriminately devouring monsters, stopped moving and began to sniff.
Whoosh-!
Blood and saliva dripped- dripped- from Gigantes's mouth as it turned its head towards the inner fortress.
The first-years, seeing this, thought simultaneously.
'It's coming!'
Uwooooooaaaaaaaaaah!
Gigantes, tossing aside the monster it held, let out a monstrous cry and charged.
Thump- Thump- Thump- Thump-
As Gigantes's charge shook the earth, the entire first-year class stood frozen.
Crackkkkkkkkkkk-! Thwack-!
A massive ice spear shot up.
Blood poured from Gigantes's body, which was impaled by the ice spear due to its charging momentum.
Uwoo! Uwooook!
Yet the terrible demon beast paid no mind.
Instead, it began to punch its body to shatter the ice impaling it.
Meanwhile… Chloe, who had climbed onto the castle wall, gasped for breath and staggered.
It was the price of overexerting herself with a massive spell.
Chloe gritted her teeth, steadied herself, and shouted.
"What are you all doing! Get ready to fight!"
"What?"
"You're all too scared by the fact that it's a Gigantes! But look closely! That Gigantes isn't an adult!"
Chloe was right.
A fully grown Gigantes is nearly 15m tall.
Compared to that, it was definitely small.
"If we combine our strengths, we can defeat it! We are students of Lumen Academy! Have you forgotten our school motto?!"
At her cry, the students snapped out of it.
Exceed Your Limits.
It was a value emphasized to all Lumen students.
But the students who had been sitting collapsed couldn't bring themselves to stand and shouted.
"H-how can we defeat something like that! It's better to run away!"
"Right! Now is not the time to fight; we should scatter and wait for the rescue team!"
Chloe's group members, who had been so confident just a moment ago, had completely lost their will to fight.
"Do you think you'll survive if you run?"
The students flinched at Chloe's cold words.
If they ran, they would surely be caught without being able to do anything.
But even so, no student could readily summon the courage.
It couldn't be helped.
Humans were infinitely weak creatures in the face of despair.
Chloe also knew that fact.
"I'm scared too."
She stood tall, but her voice trembled faintly, and the hand gripping her staff shook violently.
"But someone taught me. That a hero is someone who bravely confronts and fights in moments of crisis."
Her back view saved them.
'If I'm broken by fear here… I won't be able to dream of being a hero again.'
"So I will fight, no matter how desperate the situation."
Chloe, with a resolute expression, turned her body.
Crack!
"Grwooooo!"
The wound of Gigantes, which had destroyed the ice spear piercing its body, began to heal at an incredible speed.
Once healed, Gigantes nervously picked up a piece of the shattered ice and hurled it towards Chloe.
The ice chunk, imbued with Gigantes's strength, transformed into a mass attack with terrifying destructive power.
"Aaah!"
"Get out of the way!"
The surrounding students screamed and scattered.
'If I dodge, it'll be too late!'
Chloe, summoning magic, quickly chanted a spell.
Boom-!
The ice fragment, blocked by the shield magic Chloe created, shattered into pieces.
Chloe, having defended the attack, was about to cast the next spell.
At that moment, she saw crimson flames flickering in the distance.
Whoosh-! Crrrackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
The flames soon became an enormous sword strike that mercilessly slashed Gigantes's back.
Graaaaaaah!
Gigantes screamed and fell to the ground.
The smell of burning protein filled the air from the flames scorching Gigantes's flesh.
Bang-! Thud! Thud!
The castle ruins were instantly devastated by Gigantes writhing in pain.
Everyone's gaze turned to the high outer castle wall.
Unlike the fiery sword strike that seemed capable of melting steel, his eyes were utterly cold.
A boy with flowing white hair and red eyes.
Whoosh-!
Flames could be seen flickering on the arm holding the sword.
The moment she saw him, Chloe felt the last shred of fear remaining in her heart disappear as if ice melting.
Her trembling hand steadied.
Chloe, smiling unconsciously, called his name.
"Leo."