“Haah!!”
With a battle cry, Leje’s sword flashed in the air.
[Shaaaak!!]
But, as if mocking her attack, the Chimera swiftly created distance and swung its tail brimming with sharp spikes.
-Kkaang!
With a metallic clang, Leje’s sword collided with the Chimera’s tail, sending sparks flying…
“Chit…!!”
[Siiiiiiiiiik-!!]
Clicking her tongue, Leje pushed back against the Chimera’s tail with force.
In the next moment, the Chimera slowly opened its mouth, unleashing a blue bolt of lightning with a crackling sound.
Seeing this, Leje threw her body sideways just in time to avoid the wave of electric shock that burst from the Chimera’s mouth.
-Pajijijik!!
Dozens of lightning bolts swept through the area, turning everything around them into ashes.
“…”
Even for her, getting caught in that kind of attack would surely be fatal.
With such overwhelming power, Leje swallowed hard, contemplating her situation.
Meanwhile…
“Princess. Don’t ever stray from my side.”
“Ah, understood…!!”
Rudell created countless blue barriers in midair as he said this, positioning himself in front of Jade.
A multitude of barrier spheres.
With this many layers, he was confident they’d resist for a while.
“Tch… If you hadn’t resisted, you could have died cleanly.”
Watching the scene unfold, the man before them clicked his tongue.
“You. Do you know who this person is?”
“Of course. Isn’t she the princess of the kingdom?”
“Yet you’re doing this… would that not be considered treason?”
“Haha! Treason, you say? Now that’s an amusing notion.”
The man, who responded to Leje’s statement, let out a low chuckle.
“The founder of the Prucel Kingdom was originally a general of the Empire, right? Then wouldn’t the current Prucel royal family be the true traitors?”
“Don’t insult the founder! The founder stood against the tyranny of the Empire…!!”
“Hah! So you cherish him as an ancestor? How touching.”
The man scoffed at Jade’s outburst, snapping his fingers simultaneously.
At that moment, a faint tremor started to be felt beneath Jade and Rudell’s feet.
“Princess! It’s dangerous!”
In that instant, Rudell urgently pushed Jade away.
“Kyaak!?”
With a scream, Jade fell to the ground as, at the same time, the ground beneath Rudell’s feet exploded, and a massive spike shot up.
“Kuuh…!?”
The gigantic spike grazed Rudell’s forehead, and with a stinging pain, he stepped back, feeling something warm trickling down from his forehead.
“Rudell!!”
“Weinstein Count!?”
“I’m fine!”
Seeing the trickle of blood from his forehead, both Leje and Jade shouted, while Rudell spoke up, placing a hand on his forehead.
‘It’s not a serious wound.’
Staring at the blood on his fingertips, Rudell thought, surveying his surroundings.
Then, spotting something moving in the nearby forest, he quickly chanted a spell toward it.
“Glacial Spike!”
With a sizzling sound, the ground froze as shards of ice shot up from the forest.
However, whatever it was quickly evaded, leaving shadows in the woods, causing only the ice-impaled trees to topple with a crackling sound.
Simultaneously, another Chimera revealed itself from the forest.
It was slightly smaller than the Chimera Leje had been fighting, but it had a much sleeker form, characterized by a serpent-like mouth and a long, sharp tongue.
Clearly more suited for backline control than direct combat.
“Tch…”
“I’ve heard about you for a while—you’re a magical genius; there are high hopes for you as a student…”
“Is that so? I never expected the department head to rate me so highly.”
“…!?”
At Rudell’s mocking words, the man before him, Sindri Meyer, seemed startled.
The head of the Magic Department at Philsberg Academy, known among people as the Tower of Truth in the northern tower.
“Did you already know…?”
“Of course not. I just thought you were the only one with exceptional skill capable of researching Chimeras within the Academy.”
Naturally, Rudell had known from his original knowledge that he was a traitor long ago.
But there was no reason for him to state that fact outright.
“Kahaha! I like you! If you joined me, I could have made you the greatest magician in the world! What do you say? How about joining me now?”
“Sorry, but I must decline. I’m loyal to the kingdom.”
“Is that so? That’s quite unfortunate.”
Sindri made a low groaning sound as if to say it didn’t matter.
Simultaneously, Rudell began to feel tremors once again beneath him and quickly rolled to the side.
Once more, spikes erupted from the ground, and brushing off the dirt that rained down on him, Rudell quickly rose and cast another spell.
“Wind Cutter!”
His magic transformed into a blade of wind, but the spikes disappeared into the ground almost instantly, cutting down a few innocent trees in the process.
“Damn it…”
Rudell muttered under his breath, increasingly frustrated.
Before him were two visible Chimeras.
He could probably take them down, but with Jade present, the risks were too high.
What they were truly targeting wasn’t the lives of Rudell and Leje, but Jade’s life.
In other words, if Jade were to die, it would automatically mean their defeat.
Knowing this, both Leje and Rudell couldn’t act recklessly.
‘When the hell is Paris coming?’
With that thought, Rudell glanced toward the main building of the Academy.
At this point, Paris should have been moving.
She was crucial for turning the tables in their favor in this precarious situation.
“Are you waiting for a knight to arrive? If so, it’s best to give up. Chimeras are already rampaging in other parts of the Academy.”
Seemingly sensing Rudell’s unease, Sindri spoke.
“… What!?”
At the same time, a panicked voice escaped from Leje’s lips.
“Did you really think I was too incompetent to let obstacles remain? If that’s truly what you thought, it’s quite regrettable.”
Lurking nearby, Sindri let out a low chuckle.
But…
‘You can’t laugh, don’t laugh…!!’
Rudell couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at that scene.
They were so certain of their victory without any knowledge of the situations unfolding on their side…
If only Leje and Jade hadn’t been present, Rudell would have laughed uncontrollably at him.
“I don’t want to waste any more time, so let’s finish this up.”
Saying so, Sindri snapped his fingers once again.
[Kyaaaaah-!!] [Shiiiiiiik!!]
At that moment, the two Chimeras took up attack positions, and just as Leje and Rudell braced themselves with tense faces, it happened.
-Swaaaaaaaash!!
As something sliced through the wind, it zipped past Rudell and struck the face of the serpent-like Chimera coming at him.
It was a rough-edged sword.
[Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!?]
With a painful sound, the serpent-like Chimera staggered, and from the forest emerged a figure that rushed towards it, grabbing the hilt of the sword lodged in the Chimera’s face.
“Haah!!”
Along with a battle cry, the sword traced a grand arc, and the Chimera, half of its face gone, couldn’t even let out a scream before it fell dead.
“This is why I said I should accompany you…”
Amidst the rain of blood gushing from the Chimera, the princess’s knight, Paris, said this.
“Paris!”
“Sorry for being late, Princess.”
“You…!! How did you get here?! Did you really take down all those Chimeras…?!”
Seeing this, Sindri could hardly believe his eyes.
After all, he was the one who had scattered special Chimeras all along the route from where Paris would have been stationed to here.
To come through all those Chimeras, one would need to be a Sword Master at the very least.
“The Chimeras? They’ve all been dealt with.”
“W-What did you just say…!?”
Yet, Paris responded to Sindri’s words with a baffled expression on her face.
And Sindri shouted in panic.
‘Looks like Silphier did her job well.’
If that were not the case, Paris wouldn’t have been able to reach here so quickly.
Rudell, realizing that his choice had not been wrong, wore a faint smile on his lips.
And in the next moment…
“Then… as the head of the Magic Department at Philsberg Academy, Sindri Meyer, I hereby execute you for treason.”
Shaking the blood off her sword, Paris pointed it at Sindri and said those words.
