Chapter 63
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Ignite
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Before Isel and Radia had met.
Just as the Earth Dragon had made its appearance.
While heated discussions raged on inside the Magic Department building, Elin gripped her old wooden staff tightly.
Even though the professors had gathered the students, they were little more than decorations here.
They had no say in the matter and were treated almost like spectators, so the weary ones began closing their eyes one by one.
Pointless talk with no real substance.
And it dragged on, stuck on a single topic without progressing.
If it was going to be like this, she’d rather fight on the rooftop, but first-years weren’t even allowed to volunteer.
Even Elin, the top student of her entire grade, was seen by them as nothing more than a chick that needed protecting.
Elin let out a quiet sigh.
‘Exhausting.’
“We need to go out and slay those monsters right now.”
“The safety of the students inside comes first…….”
“Rules, follow the rules. There are protocols for times like this…….”
“You think this is the same as some simple assembly?”
“Everyone, calm down. Please. The students are getting agitated.”
Chaotic.
A fog of words blanketed everything, blurring the view.
The meaning of the conversation faded, and the debate continued without serving any purpose.
Scattered words lay everywhere like sand on a beach. It was impossible to tell where or how to end this argument.
But there was one thing Elin was certain of.
‘No one here sees this situation as dangerous.’
Ironically, the Magic Department students—who were more sensitive to safety than anyone—weren’t thinking they were in any peril at all.
They couldn’t even imagine being in danger, shoving the thought of their own deaths to the corner of their minds.
A faint bluish barrier visible through the window.
The monsters couldn’t pierce it and wandered about, only to be skewered by magic from the upperclassmen on the rooftop.
Most seemed to have absolute confidence in their magic and the building’s defenses, but to Elin……
“The defense will shatter anyway if the Earth Dragon comes.”
She murmured lowly, but her words spread quickly among the underclassmen who sat silently like mutes.
Students who silently agreed swallowed their responses in silence.
It wouldn’t reach the professors anyway, who were passionately arguing at the podium.
Rewinding a bit to the moment the Earth Dragon appeared, the Magic Department building reacted swiftly.
Probably thanks to all of them being skilled mages.
They rang the alarm to gather all students on one floor and bolstered security.
On the rooftop, professors and upperclassmen took turns slaying the incoming monsters, while theoretical mages defended the entrance with spells and devised various traps.
The barrier set by the barrier studies professor could hold for a full day even if monsters swarmed.
This discussion was likely happening under the assumption that immediate danger had passed.
Their safety was guaranteed, after all.
Now for the next part.
‘Why does it have to be this pointless debate of all things?’
Elin looked at the professors with deeply troubled eyes.
Who knew what was happening outside even now.
When they should be rushing out to save students without a moment to spare, talking about protocols just seemed like flailing to avoid responsibility.
‘Professor Aiden would…….’
That professor would have moved faster than anyone.
She hadn’t confirmed it, but probably.
Elin lowered her eyelids, then raised her long lashes again.
Feeling stuck here was pointless, so she needed to turn this situation around somehow.
But before she could step up, it happened unexpectedly.
“Everyone, be quiet. I’ll say it again. Be quiet.”
An old man with frost-white hair covering his head tapped the floor with his staff.
The sound against the artificial marble wasn’t loud, but they all fell silent as if in a moment of collective mourning.
All eyes turned to one spot.
An elderly man, small and hunched.
But judging by appearances would be a mistake—his background was extraordinary.
A veteran mage who had repelled the monsters’ northern advance in the past.
Nearing ninety, with a back bent like a hunchback and wrinkles sagging like melting mud over his eyes, his skill was not to be underestimated.
He had been the lord of the Snowfield Magic Tower.
Even if it was an honorary position now, his seniority outranked the current lord.
The old man carefully opened his mouth.
“The situation outside is unprecedented danger. It reminds me of when I marched in the Northern Campaign.”
“…What do you intend to do?”
“Professor Paulo. What do you think I intend to do?”
The old man smiled refreshingly, hiding his intentions.
Realizing it was the wisdom of age, Paulo swallowed hard.
“We don’t have time for riddles…….”
“Professor, did teaching Pure Magic Theory make you forget the cardinal rule of magic?”
Paulo fell silent at the gentle rebuke.
As his tightly shut eyes slowly opened, he gave a sigh-mingled reply.
“The cardinal rule of magic is to make humanity greater and more prosperous.”
“That’s right. It’s the first line of the first clause in the Magic Theory primer that all fledglings recite upon enrollment. No professor here would forget it.”
No, if you did, you should quit teaching.
The old man swept his gaze over the professors and let out a hearty laugh.
His words were all mild, but the criticism laced within didn’t fade.
“Then why are all you fine folks, who know it so well, trembling like frightened baby animals, too busy saving your own necks?”
“Visiting Professor…! Such words.”
“I said be quiet.”
The heavy pressure in his words, dropped without honorifics, was palpable.
“Professor Prezel, where is Professor Prezel? Where did that witch-blood go? All you so-called professors here, not content with yipping like small animals, and one’s nowhere to be seen.”
Harsh words for a kindly face.
“A professor not acting like one. Does that make sense?”
In the ensuing silence, someone raised their hand.
“Got something to say? I’d prefer something practical.”
“Practical… it may not be. But then, Visiting Professor, what do you intend to do?”
Not the answer he’d hoped for, the old man clicked his tongue and gave his response with a what-kind-of-question-is-that tone.
“Prepare a grand magic. The cardinal rule of magic is to benefit humanity. You think you can just huddle up trying to save yourselves in this crisis? Go out, slay the monsters, save the students.”
“But grand magic is…….”
“You asked for my answer. This is it. Do it.”
This is an order.
The old man chuckled again and dragged his body forward.
“I just don’t want to see that damned worm in front of my eyes. You all get that, right?”
With the pressure lifted and honorifics returned, the professors exchanged stunned looks.
“One hour, exactly one hour from now, we’ll activate the grand magic, Heavenly Punishment. Set up the ritual and fetch mana stones from the labs. Once we roast that worm crisp with lightning, we’ll drop the barrier and advance.”
“There’s a powerful mage on the enemy side too. Someone capable of this large-scale assault. They’ll interfere…….”
“I know. I’m aware. Definitely… in my memory, there’s one guy who’d pull this off. Against him, I can buy us some time somehow.”
Gasps rippled not just among professors but students too.
One professor asked on behalf of all.
“Visiting Professor, who the hell is this guy?”
“Well… not sure if the name’s the same as 50 years ago. But back then, we called him…….”
The Beast Tamer.
“Beast Tamer?”
As the professor voiced confusion, the old man chuckled.
“Large-scale monster assault—it felt like the monsters were trained, so that’s what we called it. When we learned the northern advance 50 years ago was that bastard’s doing, I was furious.”
“You know him?”
“Heretic mage.”
Seeing pupils dilate one by one, the old man gleamed through his buried eyes.
“He’s their elder. Today, I’ll bury his bones here. Don’t worry. Besides…….”
The old man glanced out the window.
“Seems the Empire’s revered Master is giving it her all.”
As if on cue, a massive shriek shook the building.
─Kieeeekeeeeeeeeeek
A roar not of a human, but something inhuman.
Heads turned in unison.
Elin thought, no way… and bolted toward the rooftop.
‘It can’t be?’
It better not be.
No matter what, that would be too reckless.
“A first-year, why are you here…….”
“Excuse me.”
Pushing past an upperclassman trying to block her, she reached the rooftop.
There were basic defense spells, but with flying beasts circling overhead.
They could swoop down anytime.
A male student panting in the corner had already been snatched once, his shoulder soaked in blood.
Yet none could tear their eyes from the scene.
Far off, in a distant spot barely visible as lines and dots, roars echoed continuously.
Earth piles erupted like bomb hits, then exploded outward.
Trees ripped up by the roots flew through the air, along with unrecognizable debris.
In place of fire pillars, successive bombings sent dirt flying high.
The Earth Dragon, kicked once already, was furiously enraged.
One person slamming it heavily into the ground.
The Earth Dragon thrashed desperately from its maw spewing acid fortresses, churning the earth, trying to escape the grip.
But the one suppressing it seemed short-handed, slashing monsters emerging from tunnels one after another and binding the escaping dragon.
On top of that, countless spells and bombings.
And atop that, a mage hovered in the air, preparing grand magic.
‘Alone……?’
When even Tower professors and assistants struggled to complete one together, casting grand magic solo mid-battle?
If it were sloppy or weak, maybe, but those countless geometric shapes and patterns embroidered in the sky.
Auxiliary magic circles branching from the central one, and their strokes.
And piercing through those strokes, a single character.
Ignite.
“…Baptism of Fire?”
The professor narrowed his eyes.
An atrocious spell banned by international law.
A product of the Cold War era, it blinked as if ready to pour down any second.
The professor barked urgently.
“Close your eyes! Look down!”
But Elin shook her head, refusing to believe, unwilling to lower it.
‘No way? It can’t be.’
That, that person there can’t be Professor.
Definitely someone else……
‘I haven’t even said I’m sorry yet!?’
It couldn’t be.
Elin shook her head as if to erase the worst possibility.
The professor spotted her and tried to force her down, but she resisted, watching the magic activate.
As Elin uttered Aiden’s name, the massive magic circle belched forth flames with a roar.
Soon, the world turned blinding white.