Episode 79
The extreme fear that was never fully conveyed in the novel.
How ridiculous it is to express her with mere combinations of letters.
The only things moving quickly within Liam’s body were his eyes and heart. As the first chills ran down his spine, his frozen mind could not make a judgment.
His hands and feet felt cold, yet sweat dripped from him. Holding onto the sword was all he could manage.
With ragged breaths, Liam gazed at the Archbishop in the form of a young girl, Zagan.
While it wasn’t possible to see Altife’s status, he could sense something beyond numerical expression.
It was closer to a primal intuition—far from considering her an opponent; just her light movements made him feel as if his limbs would be severed.
“Liam??!!”
Nikela’s cry rang out.
Nikela and Ophelia, having turned into mannequins, looked up at the being called Zagan.
That being was smiling. She looked pleased.
Like a child joyfully playing with a new toy, the girl grinned and brought her hand to Liam’s heart, feeling its pounding.
『You seem quite scared.』
Zagan reveled in the strong beating of Liam’s heart, enjoying it as if a human heart were a toy’s spring.
Without the spring, the toy doesn’t work. Every time it moves, it makes a unique sound, indicating it’s in operation.
Each time that spring sound echoed strong and fast, a strange pleasure surged through her, bringing her joy.
In the space except for Zagan, no one was permitted to move.
Liam, stuck directly next to her, and Ophelia, quite a distance away, both desperately wanted to execute some kind of force against the opponent, yet it was impossible.
“I’ll save you…!”
Except for Nikela, who was the most desperate in this moment.
Whoosh!
A spirit made of red flames emerged around Nikela. The intense mana was so overwhelming that even contractors struggled to handle it.
This spirit was a high-ranking entity, beyond Nikela’s current level.
Just summoning it was highly mana-consuming and exceptionally tricky to handle; she had only made a contract with it and never had used it in battle.
The spirit flew straight toward Zagan and Liam the moment it was summoned. The high heat radiating from it felt scalding, threatening to burn both of them with just a slight approach.
Even by merely appearing, the spirit emanated considerable presence.
Gazing at it, Zagan smiled once more.
“…!!”
『Long time no see, Ifrit.』
The Duke of Flames’ spirit, Ifrit, was effortlessly stopped by the young girl’s bare hands, as if a child’s hand had been caught by an adult.
Huh? As Zagan blew lightly, like extinguishing a cake’s candle, Ifrit’s flames spread out like a flame-thrower, and a significant amount of fire was lost from its core body.
Ifrit amplified its flames even more.
He raised it.
To Liam, nearby, this felt closer to lava than mere flames.
Flame! The fire, intensified to a brightness near light, thrashed violently.
Zagan didn’t let go of Ifrit, holding it as casually as if he were gripping a slightly hot potato.
The output of Ifrit’s flame was merely a defensive tactic to delay its return summoning, unable to inflict any damage on Zagan.
“Have you been cooped up in the spirit realm for too long?”
Or maybe that human woman just can’t contain you properly? Zagan chuckled as he looked down at Nikela, whose eyes were wide with fear.
Through Zagan’s horizontally slashed pupils, he savored the emotion emanating from Nikela.
Even though Nikela’s face had turned a ghostly pale, she didn’t stop supplying mana to Ifrit. In fact, she desperately gathered more mana from within herself to provide to Ifrit.
Knowing she was still lacking in handling the duke’s spirit properly made her even more anxious.
Receiving her mana, Ifrit erupted with an explosive display of fiery power.
Zagan watched this spectacle with wide eyes like a kid enjoying fireworks.
Ifrit’s fist pulled back.
It concentrated a dense flame like heating an engine.
Kuwakaka?!
There it shot out like a rocket.
The sound was so bizarre it was hard to believe it came from flames, it was utterly destructive.
Caught in the gust, Liam fell back, and the colossal firestorm engulfed Zagan.
Ophelia, regaining her senses late, quickly expanded her senses to confirm Zagan’s status. As she assessed, it seemed he had not yet been defeated.
She rapidly drew her bow, aiming.
Whether it would help in this situation was uncertain, but she needed to land effective strikes when the monster’s actions were limited.
Shweeeak?!
The bow filled with her maximum aura left her hands and darted fiercely.
It hit Zagan’s outstretched wrist amidst the firestorm, penetrating right through.
Seeing the opportunity, Ophelia immediately prepared her next arrow.
“You, are quite bothersome.”
Surely, Zagan, who should have been at the altar.
In the flames, where he should have been suffering.
Before Ophelia, that terrifying gaze flickered.
?Deng!
With a casual swipe, like swatting a fly, Zagan.
“Ophelia???!!”
The noblewoman of the Laban Kingdom, Ophelia’s head popped off.
Her severed neck was open and visibly gushing blood.
Liam, with unfocused eyes, witnessed the current scene.
Ifrit, who had fought to protect him, was now gone, recalled to its realm.
Nikela screamed, calling out for Ophelia in despair.
Zagan bore a face of considerable displeasure. Though he had been playing with a lesser being, that smile had twisted into fury.
Then, what about Ophelia?
Ophelia was… Ophelia was…
?Degurru. Ophelia’s head tumbled along the ground. Liam faced the dead girl.
She wore the expression of a hunter who had found a faint advantage. The moment Zagan approached to take her head hadn’t even been portrayed.
She was dead…
Dead?
Dead?
Was she the one who was killed in the end-of-semester exam?
No, no way. Absolutely not. She couldn’t possibly die here.
Could it be a hallucination?
No, no.
Zagan lacked that power.
Then, could it really be… Ophelia was truly…
Dead…?
Because of ‘me’?
“Wait a moment. I’ll deal with that human who dared to tarnish my clothes first.”
Having given a vague order to Liam, Zagan approached the wailing Nikela. Liam, still frozen, could not move as if he was submissively paralyzed.
Nikela, terrified, forgot to run and plopped down, her pupils dilated to an unholy size, as she drank in Zagan’s presence.
Liam plopped down, his eyes wide with shock as he took in Zagan.
He was gathering mana.
He was summoning spirits.
But the magic created with his trembling hands vanished weakly before even touching Zagan’s body. The spirits refused Nikela’s summons.
The most powerful entity among the spirits with whom she had contracted, Ifrit, had been sent back in disgrace. Nikela’s mental state was unstable, and this was transmitted to the spirits as well.
No one responded to Nikela’s call.
No one.
Not even Liam.
‘I’m dead… I’m dead…’
His brain couldn’t keep up with the situation.
As if he were being interfered with by something else, Liam’s mind was overwhelmed with pressure, and it sought to escape into the depths of reality.
A world different from reality.
Death in the world of the novel.
Liam finally felt the weight of what he had turned away from until now.
He had been possessed by the story.
The original plot had deviated, and Ophelia had become a corpse. He would never see her voice or laughter again… banished from the story.
What would happen if he died?
Would his soul cease to exist in both reality and the novel?
I’m scared…
So scared.
?…Get up… you scumbag!
With trembling legs, Liam’s mind fled into its own world.
In his blurred vision and fading hearing, he saw and heard the form and voice of someone who shouldn’t be there.
Just before Liam’s sight was swallowed by darkness completely.
A man called out to him with fierce rage. Liam used that signal as a beacon to look back in the dark path.
The sound grew stronger.
Liam’s mind returned.
At last, a gradually clarifying voice rang clearly in his ears.
“Wake up and fight, you bastard???!”
“…!”
Startled by Lucaiel’s fury, Liam barely woke from the pressure he had never felt before.
In a place filled with fumes, Liam’s thoughts, which had been frozen, finally began to reboot.
He saw Lucaiel and Haliana protecting Nikela.
Without pondering why the two were there, the brutal reality unfolded before him.
The strong legs, fitting the characteristics of a wolf, that had quickly aimed for the enemy were shattered, and the insides were hollow like a mannequin.
Haliana shouted Lucaiel’s name and cast her maximum elemental magic, but it was easily blocked and captured by Zagan.
Zagan’s hand gripped Haliana’s left wrist.
Crack!
The sound of plastic breaking echoed as Haliana’s arm was torn away.
Haliana didn’t scream from the pain but from the horrific phenomenon she couldn’t believe.
Zagan, who had torn off both Lucaiel’s legs and Haliana’s left arm, wore a long smile as if he was delighted.
She was savoring their ‘bodies’ slowly. The fact that they had turned into mannequins meant Zagan had tasted those parts.
“Move??!”
Lucaiel yelled again at Liam.
“It’s useless. That human is what you call… a special entity? Weird name. Anyway, he’s caught by my affiliated disciple.”
Special entity.
This referred to a type of priest-level Altife with special abilities but no intelligence among those that lacked sapience.
Their combat power and abilities were inferior to bishop-level and like other priest-levels, they only moved based on instincts without commands.
Lucaiel glared up at the ceiling where Liam was.
A large, bat-like red monster bobbed its head. That monster was controlling Liam’s movements.
“Urrg…!!”
Recognizing that Liam wasn’t merely subdued by psychological factors, Lucaiel approached Zagan using his arms instead of his missing legs.
After something went wrong with the nest, they hadn’t come to save Liam to die like dogs.
After the incident occurred, they didn’t come to save Liam just to meet an untimely death.
Sure, they acted more on emotion than judgment, but they came to rescue him! They weren’t expecting to fall into such a ridiculous death so helplessly…!
『You’re quite persistent, aren’t you? Interesting. If you really want it, I can eat up your remaining parts too.』
Zagan moved behind Haliana and knelt before Lucaiel.
Facing an opponent he couldn’t possibly defeat, Lucaiel didn’t know how to quell the fierce flames in his eyes.
Instead, they blazed even brighter as he glared, ready to kill his opponent.
Zagan liked that sentiment.
She reached out her hand, slowly approaching Zagan’s head. The head is an important part containing the brain.
Lucaiel sharpened his claws, readying himself.
Before that hand could reach him, he would sever it at the wrist. If that didn’t work, he’d bite and tear it apart!
Just as those two emotions—interest and rage—were about to collide, a sound escaped Lucaiel’s mouth.
“Damn it, Liam. You’re so late!”
【Keeeek???!】
Boom! The massive bat-like figure was split in two and fell to the ground.
Zagan’s expression changed again as she spoke. Though her words were accusatory, she looked pleased.
『That was my only remaining Special Entity! How do you plan to compensate for that?』
The sight of Liam in her gleeful eyes sent electric shocks through her body.
Crackle.
The source of that lightning was intense rage.
?Ding!
Condition: Overcoming ‘the death of a comrade’ and ‘extreme fear.’
The condition has been met, allowing the use of the 「Special Skill」.
*
Ka-bang!
Paula used complex elemental magic to deal massive damage to a single Bishop-level opponent.
Their wounds would soon heal, but as the damage accumulated, the recovery speed would be delayed.
『Kihihick!』
An Altife burst through the explosion, extending its razor-sharp arms towards Paula.
Paula quickly raised her staff surrounded by aura to block it, and at the same time, triggered another explosion, propelling herself away.
Around her, the other first-year professors were also engaging the Altife, and among them was Lucien, a man with dark circles under his eyes, who found himself closer to Paula.
“This is troublesome… I thought there were only five mediocre Bishop-level opponents, but that one wearing a hat is quite difficult.”
Just because they are of the same level doesn’t mean all entities possess equal skill or power.
The potential that all Altifes possess varies greatly. Among them, some may lack higher-tier status but hold power exceeding their group.
The Priest-level Altife with the top hat was one of them.
“I’m concerned about Professor Louisa’s situation as well.”
Lucien’s naturally relaxed and low voice was laced with tension. Paula narrowed her eyes, focusing even more on the top hat-wearing Altife and the other Bishop-level ones in front of her.
“You shouldn’t worry about Louisa.”
This doesn’t mean she was neglecting her connection with Louisa.
“After all, she was ranked 12th among heroes during her active days.”
Louisa was a top-tier powerhouse among the professors at Academia. Worrying about her was…
?Ku-gugugung!
A pointless endeavor.
The immense mana emanation and gravitational waves reached even the professors far away from Louisa. Crimson blood gushed forth from the direction where Louisa had flown.
That blood fell like rain to the ground.
Louisa’s entire body was drenched in the red downpour.
Her eyes sparkled with intensity.
The murderous intent that made one forget the distance was transmitted raw to all the Altifes and professors.
“If you don’t want to die, get the hell out of my way. We need to invade the nest quickly.”
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