Rooftop Ambush
After loosing an arrow like a flash of light, Sung Suho immediately called Cho Seohyun.
"Are you two all right?"
At Suho's question, Seohyun answered in a flustered voice.
"What was that?! Did you just shoot that?!"
"We can talk about that later… Is Instructor Seong Sua okay?"
While I'd been busy saving other cadets, Sua and Seohyun had fallen into real danger. Armonia's warning had sent me scrambling to check on them, and Sua had been right on the edge of disaster. Before I even realized what I was doing, I'd drawn the bowstring and let fly.
The problem was that I hadn't used an ordinary magic circle—I'd used the enhanced version.
Both of them had looked up toward the rooftop with dazed expressions. From where I stood, Sua looked too shaken to answer, so I'd called Seohyun instead. She confirmed that Sua was unharmed.
"She's fine."
"Thank god. I'll keep providing cover."
"…Okay."
I ended the call and drew the bowstring again.
Suho, are you all right?
Yeah… a little dizzy, but I can manage.
Stage One and Stage Two. The weaker magic circle was Stage One; the enhanced version was Stage Two. Both were useful—extremely useful. The problem was the gulf between them. Stage One I could fire off multiple times. Stage Two, even at full mana, left me feeling like I was about to pass out from anemia after a single shot.
Still, it's a hell of a lot better than before.
The first time I'd used Stage Two without knowing what I was doing, I'd spent a full hour lying there like a corpse. Compared to that, this was massive growth. The catch was that one shot was all I got.
Hah… well. Being able to fire once and still stay conscious is something, I guess…
I let out a long breath from deep in my chest and focused on supporting Seohyun.
Even so, you should start being careful. If a monster appears on the rooftop, you may not be able to respond.
Yeah… fair point. I can pull back now.
Other instructors had already joined Seohyun and Sua. At this point, they weren't just out of danger—they were safe. I leaned against the railing, catching my breath, fighting to clear my head.
"Hoo… no good. I need a minute."
I wasn't about to faint, but the wave of dizziness told me I couldn't use any more mana. While I was resting, the rooftop door opened.
I stared at it with unfocused eyes—and it wasn't just one or two people coming through. Every single one of them wore a cloak. I couldn't make out a single face.
…What the hell? Am I blacking out right now?
Suho… they appear to be hostiles. You need to stay sharp.
…I'm screwed.
I scowled and looked over the cloaked figures. One of them suddenly bellowed.
"You son of a bitch! This bastard—!"
"Would you shut up already. You idiot…"
Seven in total. Only two of them were talking; the rest just stood there watching me in silence. With their faces hidden, I couldn't read their expressions.
Armonia—traits…
Instantly, the dispositions of everyone around me bloomed into view. Most of them were close-combat fighters who outclassed me by a wide margin—skill levels that sat somewhere between instructor and assistant instructor. The one chattering behind the guy who looked like their leader, though, was different. And it wasn't just his stats that stood out.
[Magic] · [Selfishness] · [Game Addiction]
[Impulsiveness] · [Cunning] · [Favoritism] · …
…Weird name.
Suho, I'll display his magic column.
Huh? You don't really need to—
Armonia didn't wait for me to finish. She pulled up the details of his magic skill. Go Chungshin had exactly one.
⟨ Fly Spirit Possession ⟩
I squinted at the unfamiliar term.
Armonia, what the hell does that mean?
According to the description, it is the ability to possess the body of a fly.
Ugh! Fuck…
The word fly alone flooded me with revulsion. Pair it with possession and I nearly threw up. In short: the guy was filth.
The cloaked figures just glared at me without attacking, listening to the exchange between their leader and the fly-possessor while they watched.
"Capture him alive. I don't care about anything else—that bastard, at least…"
"You're really making this a pain…"
"You bring that guy in alive and I'll do every single thing you say for half a year. No complaints."
"Huh? Seriously? Now that's a deal that adds up."
Fuck, I had no idea why that scorched-rice or Jackie-Chan fly-possessing bastard was so thrilled about "cost-benefit analysis," but one thing was certain—the cloaked figures were raising their weapons.
…This is bad.
Fortunately—
What? Are you abandoning me?
Armonia… so she'd been holding a grudge this whole time. Damn it. I never thought she'd ditch me in a situation like this.
I should've at least copped a feel of her chest while I had the chance…
…Please keep remarks like that to yourself.
I said it so you'd hear it! I should've grabbed her ass too!
If I was going to die, I was going to sexually harass her for all I was worth!
While I was busy harassing Armonia, the one who looked like the leader gave a quiet order.
"Grab him."
"Yes!"
I was staring up at the sky, waiting to die, when Armonia spoke again.
Fortunately, we were able to buy enough time for her to arrive.
Huh?
The moment a cloaked figure charged, more than a dozen sword strokes flared across the dark rooftop, cutting through the air in a storm of light.
Slash, slash-slash! Slash!!
"Gyaaah!"
"Khh…"
"Ghk…"
Three of the ones rushing me dropped with fatal wounds in an instant. The cuts were concentrated on their necks and upper bodies. Even at a glance, it didn't look like a hospital would save them.
I quietly turned my eyes to the figure who had appeared in front of me.
Pink hair streaming in the wind. Beautiful eyes scanning the surroundings, blade held at a diagonal. And… a refined, elegant presence that somehow belonged in a maid's uniform.
"Rena?"
She answered calmly, her gaze never leaving the masked men around us.
"Yes, Master. Forgive me for appearing so suddenly."
Rena hadn't done anything wrong, but she apologized to me anyway. Unlike the two of us—who still had room to breathe—the masked men had lost every scrap of their earlier composure and started shouting.
"Damn it! Who the hell is this bitch?! Take her out!"
"…Yes!"
They looked rattled by the ambush, but the moment the order came they charged Rena with everything they had. This time there was no element of surprise—just raw, full-force assault.
But…
These guys really drew the short straw.
If even one of them had been able to use magic, they might have managed to hurt her. Instead, every skill they had was built around martial arts. And Rena…
Slash-slash-slash! Clang! Clang! Slash!
"Gyaaaah!"
…was a fighter from the Illunia Continent, with physical ability far beyond ordinary. In pure combat, she could take Cho Seohyun without breaking a sweat. And that wasn't even the most impressive part.
Wow… not one of them can even get a blade near me.
Fortunately. Judging by the situation, this should be over shortly.
Armonia was right. The gap in level was obvious. Even in that restrictive maid uniform, Rena overwhelmed multiple opponents with pure swordsmanship. Best of all, she was perfectly intercepting every attack aimed at me.
Of the original seven who'd come at me, four were already down with serious wounds. Then there was the useless fly-possessor.
"Damn it! What the hell is this?!"
He bolted through the rooftop door, dropping their numbers to six—including the corpses. The two who were still standing didn't last much longer.
Had you not been present, Suho, I estimate she would have finished roughly thirty seconds faster.
…Thanks so much for the projected numbers.
Still sulking about the harassment, huh…
I kept one eye on Armonia's mood and watched Rena finish the job.
Slash!
"Gyaaah!"
With the one who looked like the leader, every last person on the rooftop was down. The leader was still breathing, at least. Clutching a belly pouring blood, he looked up at Rena and forced out a question.
"Who… the hell are you…"
"I have nothing to say to anyone who harms my Master."
Rena raised her blade and drove it into the leader's throat.
Thrust!
"Khh…"
It was over in an instant. I moved to pull her into a grateful hug—then stopped. Her expression had changed. Rena was scanning the area as if she'd sensed something wrong.
"What is it, Rena? Something wrong?"
"It's just…"
Rrrrrumble…
Suddenly the ground—no, the entire rooftop—began to shake. Rena's eyes went wide. She closed the distance to me, blade ready, and spoke in a tight voice.
"Master, something is coming. Be caref—"
"What the hell is that?!"
It was enough to make anyone freeze. The cement of the building cracked apart, breaking free in chunks the size of boulders. Hundreds of cement masses rose around us, their surfaces stripped clean by the wind as if sculpted midair, reshaping themselves into sharp conical points. Hundreds of cones locked their tips on us.
Rena shouted.
"Master! Get your head down!"
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Every floating cone of cement screamed toward us at terrifying speed.
Clang-clang-clang! Crack! Clang!
Rena moved faster than anything I'd seen from her before, cutting down every piece of cement that came at us. In less than three seconds she had deflected hundreds of projectiles.
"Hah… hah…"
But she hadn't nullified every attack with the blade alone. Not a single strike had reached me—yet her maid uniform was in tatters, and blood was streaming from wounds all over her body.
"Rena, your wounds—!"
"Master, I'm fi—"
Suho! Miss Rena! You're in danger! You need to leave that place immediately!
The moment Armonia finished speaking, something else began.
"Rena! Your sword!"
"This can't be—!"
The blade in Rena's hand began to rust at an impossible speed. Weathering that defied all reason reduced the sword to useless flakes of oxidized metal in seconds. Neither of us could make sense of the phenomenon—and while we stood there stunned, the cement Rena had shattered rose into the air again and began to reassemble. Pieces that had been smashed to fragments flowed together like liquid and reformed into cones.
Armonia! Warp!
Impossible! That location is currently under observation! You need to get inside a building where no one can see you—now!
Damn it!
I'll prepare the warp! Miss Rena! Get Suho inside the building immediately!
"Understood! Master!"
The instant she heard Armonia's order, Rena seized my arm and pulled. She meant to go straight through the rooftop door into the building. With her ability, two or three jumps would cover the distance easily. The cones floating in the air, however, had no intention of letting us go. Dozens of cement spikes came screaming toward us at full speed.
Damn it!
No matter how I looked at it, the cement was going to hit us first. And then—
Everything around me suddenly slowed to an impossible crawl.
…What?
I didn't understand it at first, but recognition hit a second later.
Bullet Time.
Even in that absurdly slowed world, my mind kept turning at normal speed. Rena was still moving with breathtaking speed relative to everything else—but the problem was the cement barrage that would reach us before she did. With the door right in front of us, she started wrapping her body around mine. Even without Bullet Time she would have assessed the situation in a heartbeat and tried to shield me with herself. But as extraordinary as her dynamic vision was, it couldn't match Bullet Time.
In that stretched-out instant, I saw the desperate look in her eyes as she reached for me—and silently asked her forgiveness.
…If we make it out of this, I'll apologize properly, Rena.
I reversed her momentum, turned, and pulled her into my arms instead—then slammed us both through the door.
That was the last thing I remembered.