213th Episode
“……Let’s see here.”
Helion showed Jeraman’s neck to all the spectators.
Calmly surveying everyone with a steady gaze, he flicked his finger and unleashed Holy Magic.
Swoosh—!
Particles of light rushed forth, binding specific individuals and sealing their mouths.
Helion scrutinized the people as if inspecting items during a shopping trip.
‘This student has a strong reaction… and that student too…’
Upon seeing Jeraman’s neck, the center of mana was shaken excessively for those individuals.
Helion first captured those who displayed intense emotions.
There was no way to differentiate whether they had received a blessing or not, so this was the primary filtering process.
“If there are any innocent people among those bound, I apologize. I hope you can cooperate for the sake of Rikeion and humanity.”
Despite saying he was sorry, he unleashed spells one after another without hesitation.
The sight of him effortlessly handling hundreds of people single-handedly explained the stark difference in levels very clearly.
As roughly ten were captured in an instant, the audience began to scream, finally breaking their breathless silence.
Especially those who had connections to Jeraman reacted with horror, even if they weren’t followers of the Goddess Church.
“G-get away! Get away…!”
In response to the extreme situation, some attempted to flee.
They shoved aside other students or, in severe cases, even used magic.
The reactions seemed excessive just for a panic state.
“What, what is this! Where were you hiding… aaah!”
Helion wasn’t acting alone.
His team members, pre-positioned strategically, swiftly restrained and neutralized those attempting to escape.
The scene was rapidly being suppressed.
The students realized that this was not just a training exercise and that the Jeraman’s neck over there was not a fake.
Helion, trying to prevent the students from falling into panic, explained in a somewhat friendly voice.
“There’s no need to be scared. This is just part of a censorship. You all understand that it’s important to expel the followers of the Goddess Church, right? It’s just the process.”
So, those with no connection to the Goddess Church should remain calm.
Helion said this with a friendly smile.
—Yaaah!
Though it didn’t prove very effective in calming them down.
Even though they’re training for the battle against Altife, they were still just fledglings.
The news that Jeraman, the Vice Student Council President, had been killed by Helion shocked some students quite a bit.
“Hmm…”
Helion reluctantly called upon the power of the Spirit King.
A spirit temporarily entrusted to him by Ferangis, the second-ranked hero, for moments like this.
As if the green leaves were suddenly meeting autumn, the color of his eyes changed.
It seemed like another persona had awakened.
“I see much better than I expected.”
Amazed at experiencing possession for the first time, Helion continued with his binding.
Helion marveled softly at the phenomenon, continuing with his restraints.
It was as if he were directly observing the mana circuits after stripping the shell of the body away. Everything about the phenomenon was clearly etched in his eyes.
Thanks to this, he could proceed with his tasks smoothly and precisely, reducing errors.
Then, a sudden realization hit him.
“Where could Vargan be…?”
He realized he couldn’t spot Vargan, who he assumed would be watching the semifinals.
“Perhaps he’s once again caught the scent of an incident and is acting alone.”
With an inexplicable smile on his face, Helion smoothly continued with his mission.
*
In the forest, slightly away from Rikeion’s main building.
Thick trees densely covered the sky, making it difficult for light to pierce through the darkness.
“Huff, huff…! P-Professor! How about we slow down a bit… Ah!”
“Get up quickly! Now isn’t the time to be falling over! With all the believers dying out, are you going to be so carefree? We can’t afford to die too!”
“Huff! O-Okay!”
“Damn it, isn’t this all that bastard Formist’s fault…! Those jerks… Don’t they think about us in Rikeion at all!”
The professor, who did not summon his specialty Familiar to quietly escape, gritted his teeth and hurried his steps.
“What? Overthrowing Academia? What nonsense! Those guys have made our Formless Faction unable to act and turned us into fugitives. They only bring us trouble, not help!”
Although he served a Cardinal from the Formist, he belonged to a different faction, the Formless Faction.
Frankly speaking, he wouldn’t feel anything even if the Formists hiding in Academia were wiped out.
After all, they were audacious enough to imitate the sacred Goddess and leave behind traces of their profane acts.
But the problem was that the power of the Formists had become very active, making their presence felt.
As a result, the repercussions naturally reached Rikeion, causing unimaginable damage to the Formless Faction.
Rikeion’s Chancellor Heigel had installed surveillance magic throughout Rikeion, doing everything to gather information.
He expressed his intent to uncover the forces of the Goddess Church within.
So, they had been moving more quietly than before, but one foolish guy got caught, leading to the current situation.
“Professor… Do you think Purian is really dead?”
“What’s there to say! Didn’t you see he applied for expulsion without giving us any notice? That speaks volumes.”
The professor, showing his frustration, went through the current situation step by step, adding certainty.
The visibility of the Formists hiding in Academia.
The silent expulsion of Purian, a student believer from the Formless Faction.
The video magic installed all over Rikeion.
“On top of that, they even brought in heroes from the top ten… They’re definitely planning to root us all out! We have to stay sharp!”
The professor earnestly warned the student following him.
Though the warning was directed at the student, it was also a reminder to himself.
The only true devotees of the Goddess are us, the Formless Faction.
Unlike the cheap lives of the Formists, each believer is precious.
Among them, the professor’s own faith is even more significant and valuable, making him an indispensable figure for the entire Goddess Church.
“Do you think I’m going to die like this…! I must survive!”
With such thoughts, he was making meticulous preparations to escape when the heroes began their search operations more quickly than expected.
That’s why he was running as if fire was on his heels.
Although the professor and student were breathless and on the verge of collapse, they stretched their legs forward one more time and barely reached the outermost area of Rikeion.
“W-Well, once we get here… we should be safe for now.”
“Well, for now, it’s okay.”
“Yes, yes… I’m glad to hear that.”
The two reached the edge of the forest.
Breathing heavily, they took a moment to collect themselves.
Unlike the floating city of Academia, Rikeion was firmly rooted to the ground.
Apart from the round, dome-shaped barrier, the area looked quite normal, a typical natural landscape.
Thus, what lay beyond the barrier was not the sky but an ordinary terrain.
As long as they could pass through the barrier, escaping wasn’t impossible.
…The problem, however, was the “if you can pass through the barrier” part.
The professor checked the barrier.
As expected, both entering from outside to inside and leaving from inside to outside were impossible.
“Can we really escape?”
A fearful student doubted.
At those words, the professor reacted sharply, focusing intently, and snapped back to be quiet while wandering around near the barrier, searching for something.
“It has to be around here… Ah, here it is!”
The professor sprinted over, beaming as if he had found a life-giving water in the desert.
-Meow!
Where he ran to was a large-feathered cat.
Overall white, but with a black gradient on its back and around its eyes—a Ragdoll cat.
When the professor lifted the cat, it went limp like a stuffed toy, surrendering its body.
This cat, a familiar hidden by the professor, was a communication link enabling contact with the outside, and at this point, their only escape route.
“…So this is the communication familiar?”
“That’s right. I could secretly communicate through this little guy. It’s an extremely rare class high familiar.”
“I’ve never seen one in person, but it’s truly beautiful.”
“Sure, it’s got a look that captivates people, but it’s its ability that makes it valuable.”
The professor had a reason to boast.
This familiar could “pass through objects.”
To be precise, it could break down its body to the molecular level and reassemble it.
For instance, even if there was a thick wall, it looked as if it passed through effortlessly as if nothing was blocking its way.
Amazingly, this applied to the impregnable barrier of Rikeion as well.
The professor, responsible for communication between the inside and outside, could send and receive messages by placing a glass jar note in the cat’s mouth.
“But… how do you plan to get out using this little guy?”
“I’ll have to use my ‘blessing.’ I’ve never tried it before, so I’m not sure if it’ll work, but right now, it’s my only option…”
“Are you talking about that size-adjusting ability? Wait, you plan to shrink and get inside the familiar’s mouth—!”
“Of course, I know it’s dangerous. But what can I do! If I stay put, I’ll eventually die, so I might as well treat it as a gamble.”
The professor had the ability to arbitrarily adjust the size of his body.
The inanimate glass jar and note always returned to their original form, so perhaps living beings might too.
“Damn it, if I’d known this was going to happen, I should have done some experiments beforehand!”
There was no time for that now.
He had no choice but to fervently pray to the goddess.
Swallowing dry saliva, the professor turned back to the student who had followed him this far.
“I’m going to go now. You stay and fulfill your responsibilities as a believer.”
“What? Weren’t we going together?”
“What kind of foolish talk is that! My blessing can’t be used on others. You know that, so why are you talking nonsense now…! Wait, come to think of it, why did you really follow me?”
“Huh? What kind of sudden question is that…?”
“You must have known about my blessing, and coming this far, there’s nothing you can do for the Formless Faction….”
The more he thought about it, the stranger it became.
Since when had he been with this student?
“Since when have I been with this student?”
“Why did you answer all my questions and naturally bring me this far?”
The professor looked at the student with eyes that screamed confusion.
Black hair and tall stature.
A black eye patch that raised doubts about whether it really covered anything at all.
“Was a believer like you… in the Formless Faction?”
I couldn’t even tell who this was.
The eye patch-wearing student smirked at such a foolish question.
His mouth opened wide.
“What are you talking about, Professor? I’m the devout believer of the Goddess Church, Schugenharz Troa Vargan, aren’t I?”
“Bar…gan?”
“Yes, it’s Vargan. Have you already forgotten?”
Schugenharz Troa Vargan…?
Who is that?
Was there such a figure in the Formless Faction?
No, it’s a name I haven’t even seen in Rikeion.
Looking closely, the uniform he wore wasn’t even from Rikeion.
Academia.
The uniform of Academia.
…Oh, I remember now.
Vargan.
The top student of Academia!
Why is he here now?
Snap-!
Vargan snapped his fingers.
All the curses on the professor were lifted, and he could finally understand what was happening.
With a worried look, he asked the professor, “Professor, you look quite unwell; are you okay?”
He pointed his finger at the professor’s body.
Looking down, his swollen body was turning red.
His clothes were torn apart from the change in his physique, and things like bubbles were wriggling, rising up to his neck.
The ‘Divine Bug’ inside him was evidence of the forced mutation for leaking information about the Goddess Church.
“Ughhhh!”
The professor screamed.
Even his voice had changed, sounding quite strange.
Becoming a mindless Altife meant the loss of one’s identity.
The loss of identity meant death.
The professor was slowly dying as he passed through the forest.
“You… you deceived me and leaked information…!”
“Professor, you’re blaming the wrong person.”
Vargan shook his head in disappointment.
The mocking smile on his lips didn’t seem to go anywhere anytime soon.
“Professor, you should blame yourself, not the curse magic I cast. Just because you’re a tamer who handles familiars doesn’t mean you only train them; you must also train and learn about your own body. Who would want to follow a weak master?”
…So you end up looking like a joke now, don’t you?
As Vargan looked down on him, the professor couldn’t hold back any longer and lunged at him.
Perhaps the progression into Altification made him more aggressive towards humans.
But…
Crack-!
In an instant, his lower body froze.
The professor tried to mindlessly break the ice block with brute force but it was futile.
The ice quickly spread and soon reached his rib cage.
“Have you transformed to the point of not being able to use even the simplest magic? I guess there’s no more information to gain.”
Muttering to himself, Vargan approached and pointed a finger.
The point of contact was near his heart.
At the tip of his finger gathered a high-density magic cannon filled with decay.
Instead of widening the range, he maximized density to amplify power.
As the ash-colored light merged into a point, Vargan pulled out a magical tool from his other hand.
It was a magical tool capable of recording sound.
“I’ll make good use of the teachings you have given me, Professor.”
Zzaaaan-!
As soon as he finished speaking, a small, intense flash flickered and momentarily illuminated the forest.
A hole about 1 cm in size appeared in the professor’s rib cage.
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