Chapter 68
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Corpse Golem
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Radia took Elin's silence as affirmation and nodded on her own.
"I'm not entirely sure, but if you use what you received well, it should work out. Right?"
"Uh...."
The tears by the clear lakeside, the last legacy of the dragon that forged providence.
If used properly, it could truly turn the tide.
She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but this was a power capable of twisting one of the world's laws.
If she could fully assimilate it into her inner energy, surpassing even a grand magus would be effortless.
'The professor seems to know how to use it.'
Elizé had called Aiden the last knowledge remaining in the world.
He knew how to wield runes that modern humanity couldn't, guessed Elizé's origins unrecorded in history books, and clearly understood the pacts.
Unlike the early semester when she thought he was simply researching runes, now it felt like the professor was hiding something far more crucial.
Now, she even suspected he had come to the academy in secret to protect 'something' hidden there from others.
Perhaps his fall from genius status and seclusion were mere ploys to tarnish his reputation and divert attention.
Elin's thoughts solidified in that direction.
'A dragon relic with such inner energy couldn't possibly be ordinary.'
As Radia said, if she could utilize it, she might melt that earth dragon in a single strike.
Elin let out a quiet sigh.
"Haa...."
The pity was that with her current skill, it was still impossible.
Elin shook her head.
"It's impossible with my skill. No, even if my skill were enough, my body couldn't withstand it."
A dragon that established providence in the world.
Even its final remnants held power to embed truths—if unleashed in a short time...
'My body would go boom and burst.'
Her flesh couldn't endure that much mana.
Radia nodded as if understanding Elin's words.
"You're a late bloomer, huh. Whatever. Since the professor told us to gather the students, he must have a way for you to draw out that power."
"...I'm not sure. But...."
Elin glanced down at the demon howling below.
Flames reminiscent of purgatory layered over the building, melting the area.
It wouldn't be long before it noticed them here.
"Right, more than worrying about that, we need to deal with that demon first."
As Radia spoke, she looked at Elin.
Elin was the only one who had opposed killing the demon.
She didn't expect agreement or understanding, but interference could ruin everything.
Meeting Radia's gaze, Elin shook her head.
Her eyes welled with pitiful tears, then she squeezed them shut and finally spoke.
"If there's no choice... I'd rather be the one to end it. I have things to hear while I'm still alive, too."
"That's fine, but if the situation doesn't allow, we have no choice."
"Got it."
There were still things she needed to hear from Professor Aiden.
The dragon that made providence.
The lake spirit that attended the dragon's deathbed.
The pacts between ancients and people in the era of runes.
Knowledge.
And...
'The Wheel of Fate.'
—Turn the Wheel of Fate. You who are the last knowledge remaining in the world.
It was what Elizé had told Professor Aiden after mentioning the roots of the ancient world tree rotting.
And the ancient world tree she referred to... as far as Elin knew, there was only one.
The World Tree.
'What does it mean that its roots are rotting!'
She had to ask the professor all of it.
He'd surely dodge, saying it was dangerous or beyond her, but whether soon or late, she had to hear it.
For that...
Elin looked at the demon wailing below.
"I don't know the reasons behind it, but at least I'll close your eyes for you."
Because that's the only way I can repay your grace.
With a sorrowful expression, Elin brushed off her knees and stood.
"Wait a second."
Radia grabbed the rising Elin.
"Before that, I have something to say. We might not get the chance once we fully engage the demon."
She hesitated, then Isel and Radia nodded side by side. Elin voiced her confusion.
"What is it?"
Radia glanced down at the demon with deep concern before looking away.
No, perhaps she was pulling something from even deeper below, from the ground itself, in her mind.
Radia opened her mouth.
* * *
Before meeting Elin, while heading to the Magic Department building, Radia and Isel had witnessed Aiden's fierce battle from afar.
Countless explosions roared, mana swirling wildly.
Before they could even complain about the otherworldly combat, Radia eyed it skeptically.
"If we go, we'll just get in the way, won't we?"
It was combat on a whole different level.
Even if Professor Aiden hadn't called them thoughtlessly, they couldn't imagine contributing.
'We'd just be baggage.'
"Without a mage's help, we couldn't even intervene there."
As she mulled that over, Isel suddenly exclaimed.
"The Magic Tower!"
"Why the Magic Tower?"
"Professor Aiden said the nearby Magic Tower would help with the Magic Department building. That means...."
No matter how intense the battlefield, skilled Magic Tower mages could make a difference.
Isel nodded as realization dawned.
"Professor Aiden doesn't expect us to fight directly. As you saw, Senior Radia, there's nothing we could do there."
"Then why?"
If they couldn't do anything, why call them...
"To gather our forces."
The unprecedented assault had scattered the academy.
Even if the enemy moved massive forces suddenly, this was Ri Sete Academy, run directly by the imperial family—not some other school.
If the professors and students here combined their strength, they wouldn't be pushed this far.
'No, perhaps.'
Even now, while being pushed back, if they could regroup, they might respond effectively.
At least they could assist Professor Aiden, who was single-handedly holding back so many.
'Then it might resolve naturally...!'
Professor Aiden was matching their numbers alone.
That meant tilting the balance just a little would let him sweep them easily.
Like a scale tipping when a tiny weight is added to counter a massive one.
Isel nodded vigorously as the puzzle pieces clicked.
Professor Aiden didn't expect grand heroics.
Just reducing the hand he used to block fleeing monsters would let him overwhelm them.
Isel blurted it out hurriedly.
"We need to gather everyone on campus! The Magic Tower folks, the Magic Department building professors, the Knight Department professors we passed. Everyone. Gather them all and..."
Quick on the uptake, Radia nodded.
"Bring them to Professor Aiden, and he'll handle the rest."
"Yes, exactly."
That made sense.
"Then the Magic Tower's situation..."
Radia trailed off there.
Elin prompted her.
"The Magic Tower's situation?"
"It was the worst. Some weird monster was holding the front, and even when the mages poured everything into it, it wouldn't die or budge. So we went to the Magic Department building for aid, and..."
Elin pieced it together.
"It was engulfed in flames, right?"
"Yeah."
Radia let out a deep sigh.
"The Magic Tower, Magic Department, Knight Department—all in shambles. I doubt we can follow Professor Aiden's plan as intended."
Everywhere was suffering.
Instead of receiving help, they had to give it. Radia pressed her forehead.
"And Professor Aiden's not in good shape either. No time."
Struck directly by grand magic.
Radia inferred the lava sea blanketing the area was its trace and sighed heavily.
She had been stunned by the random lava while passing by.
If the aftermath covered a whole district, the professor hit directly was deeply worrisome.
"Problems piling up like mountains."
As she lamented, Elin widened her eyes as if struck by an idea, rubbing her dry face.
Maybe, just maybe, it could work.
"Could you describe that weird monster?"
Elin's eyes gleamed.
When she'd rummaged through books for research before, Professor Aiden's 'just in case' explanation might help.
* * *
The Magic Tower lord moved swiftly amid the sudden crisis.
"Move faster. The longer we dawdle, the more casualties mount."
Recent magic contamination damage had left the tower far from full strength.
The fallen chief mages, high, mid-rankers hadn't been replaced.
Magic demanded deep, long specialization—personnel loss hurt more than financial.
Faced with assault in this state, the lord immediately sounded the alert and sealed the tower.
A small mercy: Aiden's suggestion to bolster guards had recalled external personnel.
But it wasn't much comfort.
"The tower's monsters are reacting."
"Emergency. Prioritize tower safety—kill any monster reacting to contamination immediately. No exceptions."
The tower housed expensive breeding monsters on certain floors.
Killing them was a huge loss, obviously.
The lord ground his teeth.
'But no choice.'
Losing a brute force contest meant doom.
Squirming over immediate losses would get them swept from both sides.
That would be total annihilation.
"Push forward. Don't yield."
The lord's urgency had reason.
As monsters lunged at the tower's artificial environments, a grinning creature waited behind.
'No, less creature...'
More chimera-like.
Crack.
Frost sliced sharply, severing charging monsters' legs.
The ground froze, toppling them; low temperatures let rime settle on bodies.
Slamming his staff down birthed ice spikes piercing monsters.
"Kruk."
"Grwek."
"Kyarak."
Monsters with gaping wounds clutched them, twitched, and collapsed.
A field of monster corpses piled another atop.
Blizzard buried it, leaving pristine white snowscape as if nothing happened.
Heavy armored large monsters trusting thick hides couldn't pierce the tower's chain spell Snowstorm, froze solid; those hiding behind hit ice walls, enduring no longer, iced over.
Frozen corpses stiffened like statues, icicles dangling from dead bodies.
"Huu...."
Frosty breath sank low.
In that slaughter zone, monsters heedlessly shoved through.
The chimera golem watching from behind just grinned.
What’s so funny? But look closely...
'It's bigger than before.'
The more monsters the tower killed, the more the chimera golem dragged corpses to graft onto itself.
When it felt grotesquely off, it kept grinning.
As if urging more kills, more fodder to fill its belly.
"...Corpse Golem."
A mage voiced it.
One forbidden taboo not to name.
The corpse-picker golem.
It slowly grew before the Magic Tower.