Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Storm of Flames
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A storm of flames condensed, a colossal breath that seemed poised to swallow the world whole.
It spread in a riot of colors before sharpening into a vivid white.
The rough, inconsistent heat warped the space around it.
From that distortion, a pure white orb took shape like a budding flower.
The seed of flame birthed by magic. What had felt like a warm breeze swept the ground, evaporating every trace of moisture from the earth.
The moment one laid eyes on that seed, their eyes grew dry and stinging.
It wasn't just eyes—plants suffered the same fate.
Trees twisted into withered kindling, while grasses shriveled, their leaves turning brown and brittle.
Soon, an immense wave of heat surged forth.
The flickering light, bright as the sun, plunged the surroundings into shadow, as if the ground had turned to earth-toned darkness.
The bud bloomed.
Petals unfurled one by one.
The flower bud parted its lips, slowly releasing itself into the world.
Without warning, the pent-up heat exploded outward.
Along with that pristine white flower.
Fully open.
Without a sound.
Elin couldn't see everything, thanks to the professor urgently pressing her head down, but even catching the tail end brought a burning pain to her eyes.
The sonic boom followed only after the flower had bloomed, by which time her clogged ears could barely register the noise.
The professor's hand finally lifted, and Elin blankly took in the scene.
"Ha..."
It was impossible to gauge how many mountains, plots of land, parks, and gardens had been set ablaze.
The entire area had become a sea of fire.
Things that should never vaporize melted under the overwhelming heat, forming pools of boiling lava.
Bubbles burst, and crimson liquid flowed along the contours of the ground.
A beautiful vermilion ridgeline that blended with the sunset.
From that single line, the molten flow spread outward.
Elin took a few stumbling steps, unable to believe it, then collapsed to her knees.
Her legs had lost all strength.
As she slumped forward over her fallen body, the necklace tucked into her top slipped free, dangling by its chain and spinning lazily in the air.
The sight drew an involuntary chuckle from her lips.
Elin, who had resisted so fiercely just moments ago, now hung limp like a broken doll, leaving even the professor speechless.
"Are you alright?"
When Elin didn't respond, the professor leaned in to check on her—then fell silent.
Her pupils were vacant.
The professor muttered a curse under his breath and drew his wand.
The shock was mutual.
But the area down there turning into a lava field didn't mean this spot had fared the same.
Though reeling, plenty of floating magical beasts still hovered in the air, and the flying varieties glared hungrily, waiting to snatch them up.
"Damn it, snap out of it. They're coming!"
The professor fired off counter-spells, and the upperclassmen followed suit, unleashing their magic in unison.
That single strike had felled many beasts, but even more swarmed toward the Magic Department building.
Their siege was far from over.
The students averted their eyes, wrapped in anxiety but pretending otherwise.
They knew exactly who was down there.
Master Aiden. The lowest-ranked among the empire's masters, yet the pillar of strength for the new generation.
And in this hopelessly outnumbered situation, a powerhouse forced into a disadvantageous battlefield because of them.
Even if the entire academy mobilized, Aiden the professor's life would outweigh them all.
Such beings couldn't be created on demand—they were indispensable to the nation...
Born once in hundreds of millions.
Even if they'd fled outright, the empire wouldn't have uttered a word.
And now that person was caught in the inferno below.
Life or death: unknown.
The students seethed with righteous anger, yet chewed on their utter powerlessness.
The most they could manage was protecting themselves.
As the rooftop battle intensified, Elin observed herself from the pit of self-mockery.
She refused to accept the situation as reality.
Even without lifting a finger, her chest tightened, leaving her gasping.
Then, from the lava heap, a cascade of pristine white feathers erupted.
Elin jerked her head up.
A earth dragon, roaring in triumph, took a massive hit and tumbled into the lava sea.
The ground-shaking crash matched Elin's vacant laughter.
"Of course."
Elin watched the breathless battle from the rooftop.
Too distant for the naked eye to discern details, but from some point, Aiden was overwhelmingly dominating.
The sunset faded, ushering in the deepening night.
Dense black overpowered the rosy hues and vibrant twilight, revealing itself.
A moment where a crimson procession coexisted with the veil of dusk.
Amid the harmony of dimming orange and black, a flock of white soared gracefully.
Like traversing the Milky Way, like a bridge of feathers stretched long, blending with the night sky and stitching it with stars.
When they scattered like blooming petals, she felt a romantic twinge.
Elin shot a wry glance at Aiden's fight, thinking how ridiculous it was.
He was dominating unilaterally.
As if he'd suddenly transformed, ground beasts tumbled in chunks of flesh in an instant, the earth dragon wailed, and the beast tamers grew frantic.
But more than that, a worry gnawed at her: wasn't Professor Aiden pushing himself too hard?
'He's squeezing every last drop.'
Perhaps he felt dragging the fight out would be burdensome.
So he overexerted, moving to end it quickly.
That grand magic might have left aftereffects.
Even Elin, ignorant of its core principles, had felt her mind reel from the condensed mana.
She couldn't relax just because he seemed fine.
Professor Aiden... had taken a direct hit from that grand magic.
"You there, first-year—get down to the building below. I can't protect you anymore."
The professor forced the words out, strained.
Only then did Elin look up.
The professor was battered all over from shielding her as her legs gave out.
Realizing these were wounds from protecting her, Elin gasped.
"A student of Professor Aiden? Doesn't look like just a mentor-student thing."
She wanted to protest the misunderstanding in this situation... but he'd seen too much.
Elin dodged his gaze without denying it.
"...Though maybe that's just me thinking that."
"Professor Aiden's got a lot to answer for."
With that, the professor downed another flying beast.
The upperclassmen and professors alike showed heavy fatigue.
Elin swallowed her turmoil and stood.
Both were exhausted from the emotional whiplash, but she couldn't whine.
'Especially since he protected me...'
"I'll join in too."
"A first-year doing what..."
First-year. Elin was a first-year. But not an ordinary one.
She drew a deep breath, melting the tears within bit by bit.
It barely heated rather than dissolved them, but that scant power held enough potency to dismiss Elin's life—or any mage's—lightly.
'Mila, Nella, Cela, Hela.'
Mila of mid-tier earth spirits, Nella of water, Cela of fire, Hela of wind.
Plus fourteen lower-tier and dozens of the lowest-tier spirits at the ready.
A full sixty in total.
As Elin inhaled, she read the dragon's history.
Her mind swiftly absorbed knowledge of Radon.
Her tears heated, and Elise's energy spread through her body.
Elise, spirit of the great lake.
And the true lord of this land.
True to her high rank, she was an upper-tier spirit who claimed this territory.
An ordinary upper-tier elsewhere, but here, Elise dominated all others of her kind.
The influence Elin could wield, infused with that energy, was obvious.
The spirits savored Elise's power coursing through her.
─You're absorbing Lady Elise's power well. Impressive indeed.
─It's been a while, Elin.
─A fight?
─I was worried you'd forgotten me, contractor.
If Mila mentioned Elise first in name order, Nella spoke with maternal warmth.
Cela, true to her fiery nature, was belligerent, while Hela was ambiguously familiar.
'That's just their personalities. Whatever.'
Wind spirits were unpredictable by nature.
Free-spirited and impossible to pin down long, so their whims were par for the course.
That's why Elin had been shocked that Arion had contracted two wind spirits.
While the professor gaped at the suddenly materialized spirits, Elin calmly regulated her breathing.
"Take down the flying ones, please."
Hela smiled brightly and seized the flying beasts.
Cela followed with blasts of flame, Nella shredding wings with water pressure.
Elin eyed Mila, who did nothing.
The eldest mid-tier spirit.
Mila, contracted near the world tree before Elin was cast out from the elf village for being half-elf.
A top-tier mid spirit in power...
The petite boy-like Mila cleared his throat awkwardly.
─Even so, asking me to attack from the air is a bit much.
"Ah."
Mila was an earth spirit.
The beasts were airborne, and they were on the building rooftop.
─Or could I rip up some of this place instead?
Mila pointed at the Magic Department building; Elin frantically shook her head.
Tearing up the building for attacks was too much.
'Magic circles are installed here.'
One wrong touch could dismantle them.
Mila smacked his lips in disappointment.
"That's..."
The professor stared at Elin, then nodded as realization dawned.
"You're that first-year top of the whole class everyone's been talking about among the professors."
Elin nodded in lieu of reply.
As the now-easier rooftop battle wound down, an explosion boomed from below.
KABOOM!
Screams mingled with terminal gasps rose amid thick smoke.
Elin's face hardened at the blast from what should have been the safest spot below.
The professor frowned in confusion, flung open the rooftop door, and bolted down the stairs.
"Cough."
Pushing through the smoke, they found charred corpses reeking of burned flesh.
The stench of roasting skin filled the air.
Clutching the wall, Elin scanned in disbelief—and spotted a demon wreathed in flames.
Where hair should be, long tendrils of fire blazed.
A voluptuous figure clad only in red and black.
A student sprawled on the floor muttered with deep resentment.
"Professor Prezel... why..."
Those were the student's dying words.
Elin's brows twitched faintly.
That demon... Professor Prezel?
Her trembling lips whispered a single word.
"Why on earth?"