The Crimson Summoning Array
A massive geometric pattern filled the entire floor. Red lines pulsed like a heartbeat, undulating ominously.
In the thick, stale air of the underground cavern, the waves of mana emanating from the magic circle felt profoundly sinister.
It writhed and breathed like a living creature—an eerie sight.
Aria couldn't close her mouth at the spectacle.
She seemed to have forgotten the tears she'd been shedding just moments ago.
We approached the red magic circle as if entranced.
"This is... what the hell..."
Aria's voice trembled.
Up close, the scale of the magic circle was beyond imagination. A gigantic circular formation dozens of meters across, filling every inch of this vast underground chamber without a gap.
Along its perimeter, red crystals glowed faintly at regular intervals, embedded in the stone.
She gripped her staff and cautiously neared the circle's boundary. The light from the staff's tip illuminated the intricate runes.
As the light touched it, the geometric lines etched into the surface sharpened into view.
Aria began analyzing its structure.
"It's a summoning magic circle... yes. And a very high-grade one at that."
"So it's complete now?"
"No. Only the main body is drawn so far."
Aria pointed her staff at the outer edge of the circle.
"See those depressions? They look like slots for catalysts. That's what activates it. And those catalysts are probably..."
"A-grade magic stones, right."
Aria nodded gravely at my words.
It was unfinished, waiting for the magic stones to be supplied.
Thank god.
I let out a silent sigh of relief.
The worst hadn't happened yet.
Gripping my throbbing shoulder, I gauged the circle's size.
Smashing it outright is obviously off the table.
Game knowledge flashed through my mind.
A magic circle like this was essentially a massive mana bomb. Trying to dismantle it physically would cause the condensed mana inside to lose containment and go berserk.
That could obliterate not just this underground sewer but the academy buildings right above us.
I'd be the one causing the academy terror Aria had suspected back at the dorm.
"Aria."
"Y-yes?"
"Can you dismantle this?"
Her eyes widened at my blunt question.
"Without it exploding mid-process. Quietly."
She looked back down at the circle, lips moving silently as she calculated the mana flows and runes.
"In theory... yes."
After a moment, she spoke cautiously.
"Since the A-grade magic stone power source isn't in yet. I can reverse the mana flow, sever the rune connections one by one, and make it dissipate naturally."
"How long?"
"If I inject my mana directly to interfere... fastest twenty minutes, thirty at most."
Her voice mixed equal parts confidence and anxiety.
For a regular first-year academy student, this was a colossally dangerous rune to touch.
One miscalculation or slip in mana injection, and she'd be caught in the mana backlash—dead.
"You sure you can do it?"
I met her eyes seriously. She bit her lip.
"If we go back now and get someone else... it'd be too late, right?"
Her voice quivered faintly, laced with the desire to pass it off to someone better.
"Yeah."
I stated the cold reality.
"They could check back here anytime. See our tracks or the wolf corpses, and they'll know intruders were here."
"Ah..."
"Then they'll lock it down tighter or force-activate it unstable if they have to."
If their goal was demon summoning, they'd stop at nothing.
Fail to snuff this spark now, and the academy burns.
Aria's eyes shook at my words.
She realized there was no escape—someone had to handle this danger here and now.
And that someone was her, not me without a mana core.
She drew a deep breath.
"...I'll do it. No, I can do it."
Small but resolute voice.
"You really okay with that?"
I didn't push her.
Forcing her wouldn't guarantee success anyway.
Reversing and dismantling a magic circle required extreme focus to manipulate mana delicately.
Tremble from fear mid-process, and it's suicide.
We'd at least found the demon summoning circle's location—mission accomplished for now.
Worst case, retreat and hand info to Adrian or Esilla. Higher difficulty, but safer.
But Aria shook her head.
"I'll do it. I have to."
Her gaze flicked to my right shoulder again.
The makeshift bandage from her torn uniform skirt.
Staring at it, she clenched her small fists.
"If I run now... Your Ladyship getting hurt to protect me means nothing. So I'll do it."
Her words stirred an odd pride in me.
Worth building that affinity.
I smirked and patted her shoulder lightly with my clean left hand.
"Alright. I'm counting on you. I'll guard your back—focus without worry."
"Yes!"
Aria took a deep breath and stepped to the circle's edge.
The crystal at her staff's tip began glowing brilliant blue.
Mana Injection
The moment her staff touched the circle, pure blue mana flowed out, seeping into the ominous red lines like antidote into veins.
The blue mana spread rapidly along the circle's paths.
I stood behind her, scanning the surrounding darkness warily.
Twenty minutes.
Long if long, short if short.
I lightly gripped my throbbing right shoulder with my left hand.
Just hold out a bit longer.
The circle's outer lines were slowly being eroded by the blue light, fading away.
Progress seemed smooth.
If it continued without issue, the circle would collapse completely.
Clap, clap, clap.
Then.
A slow, leisurely, deeply unpleasant applause echoed from the darkness, shattering the silence.
I instinctively dropped into a crouch, finger aimed at the sound's source.
"Aria. Don't stop, no matter what."
She flinched at my warning but refocused on the mana injection.
Losing the flow now could cause backlash.
"Who's there."
I glared into the shadows.
Step, step.
From the shadows opposite our entry tunnel, a figure slowly emerged.
A man in a deep gray robe, hood pulled low.
At the hem, a black moon emblem embroidered in silver thread.
Black Moon cult.
As suspected. Black Moon again.
He slowly pushed back his hood.
Sharp features behind glasses. He looked like an exhausted researcher, but madness gleamed in his eyes.
"Impressive. Truly impressive."
He clapped as he spoke.
"Turning my carefully crafted watchdogs into meat chunks in one go. Is the academy's student level really this high?"
His gaze swept the wolf corpses on the floor.
Not anger or regret, but the curiosity of a scholar at a fascinating anomaly.
Then his eyes turned to me.
"Ah. And who might this be." He adjusted his glasses. "Remarkable. If it isn't Lady Elise de Bellaph."
He bowed exaggeratedly in greeting.
He knew who I was.
Seems I'd gained some notoriety with them.
"You know me? Then fuck off. I'm busy."
I kept my finger trained on him.
"That won't do. No, it really won't. That student behind you is ruining my precious work."
His gaze shifted to Aria.
Raw killing intent poured out.
Enough games.
"Aria. Don't look back, no matter what."
"Y-yes...!"
Her trembling voice came from behind.
I positioned myself perfectly to block the straight line between him and her.
"Think you can stop me?"
He lightly swung his staff through the air.
From its tip, pitch-black mana formed into sharp wedges and shot forth.
Not aimed at me.
It flew past me—straight at Aria, back exposed and defenseless.
This bastard.
I didn't dodge.
Couldn't dodge.
One step aside, and that wedge pierces her heart.
I gathered power into my outstretched left fingers.
"Bang."
Bullet
BOOM!
My shot collided with his mana mid-air, whipping up a fierce gust.