Chapter 268
Hero Kello, who had lived his entire life on the battlefield, boldly fought against Archbishop Sabnak.
Instead of saving his teammates and other soldiers, he met his end, split in two.
“……!”
Alicia witnessed the scene.
Around them, a massive serpent-shaped red aura swirled.
That aura lingered not around Kello, its master, but around the long-time teammates and the soldiers gathered under a noble cause.
The form of the red serpent began to collapse.
Like dandelion seeds drifting in the wind. The serpent, no longer fed by mana, also vanished.
‘Kihihihi—!’
Archbishop Sabnak laughed mockingly.
His crooked mouth twisted in a bemused grin, his grotesque eyes locked onto Bram.
‘Next is you.’
Sabnak paid no mind to Kello’s teammates or the other soldiers flung aside.
His gaze and words were solely focused on the strong.
Only those who were worthy opponents.
Kakak—! Kaga-gak—!
Bram’s spear charged forward.
Revered as the god of arms in Burtemberg, Bram’s spear was sharp and swift, infused with the Judgment Weapon of top-level Bishop Han.
‘Kihihi! Kihi! Kihihihi!’
In an instant, dozens of exchanges took place.
Every time Bram’s spear clashed, sparks flew and embers sparked.
The full body of Sabnak, having activated Liberation, was a weapon in itself.
Sometimes a spear, sometimes a sword, sometimes a mace, it transformed parts of its body and attacked.
With movements and methods impossible for a human, it pressed relentlessly against Bram.
‘I can’t jump in recklessly!’
Most of the soldiers watching the duel thought.
Unless they were swordsmen of Bram’s caliber, like Kello.
With their skills, they could offer no help.
It was clear they would only become a burden.
Swasasasak—!
As time passed, the speed of Bram’s spear increased.
As if wanting to say that until now had merely been a warm-up, he lunged with rapid thrusts.
More seasoned.
More aggressively.
Shwoooom!
Bram, holding the spear with both hands, spun his body around.
Instead of a direct stab, he used the sides of the spearhead to strike.
The spearhead traced a circle and landed where Sabnak had failed to defend.
But.
‘Kih—.’
The spear embedded in Sabnak’s side.
He instead smiled, attempting to draw the spear in.
As the spear tried to sink in like a swamp, Bram, unfazed, twisted the spear shaft to channel even more mana.
Then, the red aura’s intensity surged along with its resistance.
Skruch—!
Bram cleaved through the creature’s body.
“Whoa!”
Some soldiers watching couldn’t help but cheer.
Did he hit the core? That thought crossed their minds, but they felt no response of mana.
However, having been cut by the red aura, even the archbishop, famed for his rapid regeneration, would surely struggle.
Even if she’s the fast Archbishop, she’s going to have a tough time.
If we can destroy the core in the meantime, we can kill the Archbishop!
That was the thought.
“Kihihihi.”
The expressions of the soldiers watching the fight between the priest-level and the bishop turned pale in that instant.
Sabnak, split into upper and lower halves.
His two bodies moved like slime and surged up.
The semi-solid blobs quickly completed their forms.
There were now two Sabnaks.
“C-can’t believe it… t-that person had this kind of power?!”
“This wasn’t in the reports until now!”
The terrified soldiers shouted.
One was already overwhelming, but now there were two?
No… could there be even more?
Was there really any chance of victory?
“Kihihihihi—!”
The chilling sound of his laughter.
The two Sabnaks charged at Bram simultaneously, and even in this unbelievable situation, Bram maintained his composure and swung his spear.
“Bram-san—!!”
Alicia, who had just taken down another Altife, shouted.
As Bram faced the crisis, her body instinctively pushed forward, her foot stretching out.
But Rinecarven blocked her.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Bram-san is in danger! We need to support him…”
“Support? …You?”
Rinecarven calmly presented the reality.
He had no intention of ignoring Alicia.
On the contrary, he acknowledged her abilities and strength to some degree.
However, he didn’t think her achievements were enough to join that fight. As harsh as it was, this was reality.
“I heard you fought Archbishop Beris during the festival. You seem to be under a misconception.”
“…Huh?”
“You can’t stand against the Archbishop. The reason you survived after swinging your sword at Beris during the festival was pure luck. It was because that guy couldn’t unleash his powers.”
Alicia recalled her encounters with the Archbishops.
The first was with Archbishop Zagan. As a young girl, she met her death without being able to unleash her powers.
The second was with Archbishop Beris. She too couldn’t utilize most of her strength to enter the Academia’s gap.
“…B-but… even so, Bram…”
“Bram… right, the author’s name was Bram.”
Rinecarven gazed at Bram, who was fiercely battling Sabnak.
It seemed he remembered something long forgotten. Rinecarven’s stoic eyes momentarily looked back into the past.
He muttered to himself.
“Vargan. That guy brings in some fascinating talents.”
“Huh?”
“You and Bram… Others likely couldn’t recognize your strengths.”
Rinecarven slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
Alicia, who had worked at the Schugenhartz family, saw the eldest son smile for the first time.
Blood can’t be deceived; Vargan’s unique confidence was evident.
He lightly pushed Alicia’s head as if dealing with his younger sister Riel and turned away.
“Alicia. Recall the mission assigned to ‘you.’”
The mission assigned to the students of Academia and Rikeion.
It was to take down the bishops and priest-level foes.
Even for the bishops, it was advised to always have at least four team members when facing them.
Rinecarven was now alongside the next family head, who had just sent another bishop and priest-level back to the soil.
They were a group of prodigies representing promising families, having been on the elite path since childhood.
“You’re still too early to face them.”
Aoww—!
—Krrrung!
As Rinecarven and his squad rushed to support Bram, many familiars followed behind them.
Countless familiars followed behind.
As if forcefully imprinting Schugenharz’s reputation. Each familiar was of intermediate level or higher.
Well-trained and seemingly fearless.
“Hehehe! The prey… has increased!”
As it approached Sabnak in one leap.
The guy actively welcomed it.
Sabnak recognized Rheincarven as a strong opponent.
The duel between Bram and Sabnak was one that even soldiers who had spent a long time on the battlefield could hardly join in.
In the meantime, Rheincarven’s squad blended in naturally, actively threatening the Archbishop.
Alicia watched this and felt helpless, at the same time.
She thought it was unfair.
Scrape—!
It was still far off.
There was a lot more to go.
Swordsmanship and magic had to be honed even further.
—Kreeeek!
—Kegegekk!
She mulled over the emotions she was feeling and struck Altife.
She needed to grow stronger.
Her sister… and Lord Bram too…
Not being able to join them was due to her lack of power.
Scrape—!
Alicia once again forced her interest elsewhere and focused on the enemies before her.
Novice priests.
Special entities.
Bishops.
As she beheaded them and pierced their hearts, cutting off their limbs,
She vowed to someday face stronger monsters and accomplish more.
She sharpened herself to become Vargan’s sword.
……
And at this moment.
In the center of the forest, somewhat distant from these events.
An emergency was declared on the airship where Vargan and Erica were riding.
“Have you still not located them?”
“Uh, still checking!”
“Damn it! Tom! That absent-minded guy! Not only did he move the familiars at will, but where in the world did he take the students at this crucial moment!”
The leader, a certain hero, vented his anger.
The soldiers contacting different places to gather information were on edge.
However, the flow of battle continued, completely unrelated.
Kugugugu—!
Thus began a massive change.
The ground trembled and rose violently.
Like a mountain suddenly popping its head up when Archbishop Bifrons exerted his powers to fight Vargan.
“Finally revealed itself.”
Tauro, the archer ranked 5th in the hero ranking, murmured while looking down from the airship.
It was too lacking to be called a living creature.
Yet too strange to simply be referred to as an object.
“What a massive size.”
That ‘thing’ continued to stretch its body to engulf the airships.
The forest trees were swept away along with the ground, and the soldiers who had prepared beforehand fired all sorts of spells and arrows into the gaping maw of the creature.
“The core is what we need to aim for! That’s just a ‘nest’ that happens to be huge—!”
The nature around it rose, reaching high enough to touch the airship hovering above.
The nest of Gamigin, which had been hiding in the heart of the forest, began to sing of destruction while seeking its feast.
*
“It’s strange. Why is there no one around?”
The 300th ranked hero.
Tom, the warp magic user, spoke up as he looked around in confusion.
He checked again, but the warp coordinates were correct.
Having attended the Academia in the past, he recognized the surroundings easily.
‘This must definitely be where the Academia used to be…’
Tom called out to his companions with a familiar that acted as a communicator, but there was hardly any response. When he tried to return to the airship, the familiar he was sharing vision with was also disconnected.
Tom showed a troubled expression and asked Erica, who was with him.
“Are you connected to your familiar?”
“……”
Erica shook her head.
She too was unable to connect with Kkamag and was in a situation where she couldn’t use warp.
In a dire war situation, things have become rather troublesome for them.
“What the hell is going on? The airship’s out of contact, the familiars are down, and there’s not a single person waiting here.”
According to the plan, Tom was supposed to warp these two students here and meet with the waiting heroes.
Erica was supposed to fix the coordinates for the Academia’s movement, and Vargan was supposed to supply mana to warp the Academia again.
But somehow, that’s not what happened.
When they moved, there was only one familiar, sharing vision, sitting there all alone—no one else in sight.
“Damn it… what should I do?”
Tom scratched his head, glancing at Vargan’s expression.
Despite being a student, he held an important role in the war, a genius whose total mana had surpassed the norm.
On the other hand, his warp magic was only at a high rank, so he was stuck playing the role of a transport for students.
The clear gap between them was palpable.
And with Vargan looking fierce enough to curse up a storm, Tom felt even more uncomfortable.
“Um… I think we might need to go look for them?”
Tom said cautiously.
Though he was the eldest and had the most practical experience, things kept going wrong, leaving him feeling embarrassed.
Then, Vargan turned to Tom with a calm expression and spoke up.
“What the hell are you babbling about, you piece of trash?! Hey, you idiot! Are you not gonna pull yourself together?!”
“…What? What did you just say?”
Having heard words he never should have, Tom covered his ears.
The expression and words from Vargan were too out of sync. His face looked carefree, yet his words were as harsh as those of a seasoned hero.
As if trying to clarify things for Tom, Vargan slapped Tom’s cheek and shouted.
“Get a grip, you damn idiot! What the hell are you doing right now?!”
“Hey, hey…! No matter how foolish I might be, this is just too much, don’t you think?! Ouch… why is your hand so heavy?!”
Vargan hit him so hard that Tom collapsed to the ground.
Rubbing his sore cheek, Tom looked back at Vargan.
But something about Vargan’s appearance seemed off.
No… Erica, who was next to him, looked strange too… like they were distorted, resembling a mirage. He couldn’t understand why they looked like that…
‘…Huh?’
Tom blinked and stared at the people in front of him.
The Vargan and Erica that had been here were gone, replaced by familiar seniors and faces he recognized.
Among them, the senior who had taken Vargan’s place grabbed Tom by the collar.
“Hey! Why the hell did you come here alone? What happened to Vargan and that student Erica?”
“Um… what…?”
“Where are the students you were supposed to warp? Why did you come to a place like this alone?!”
“Wait, what does that mean…?”
“Are you even aware of the situation? Want me to enlighten you?!”
The senior holding Tom by the collar now grabbed his head with both hands, forcing him to look around.
A strange place.
This wasn’t where the Academia originally was.
Around him, Tom’s familiar cat was wandering.
Right… Tom had originally positioned that cat to confirm the surroundings before warping.
But why was he suddenly in a place like this?
“What’s wrong with you, Tom?! Are you part of the Goddess Church or something? Is that why you pulled this crap?!”
The senior yelled at the top of his lungs, as if trying to puncture Tom’s eardrums.
“Where the hell did you warp those two—!!”
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