The Fallen Sword Princess
Crash! A fist slammed into the barrier. The ground shook with every repeated impact. Yet no matter how many times it struck, the barrier refused to break.
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing made of?" Siren muttered, frowning at her fist that was practically steaming from all the impacts. She'd rushed over the moment she sensed demonic energy, only to find first- and second-year students trapped inside. To make things worse, a barrier formed of demonic energy was blocking all entry.
The aura was far from ordinary. A mere demon couldn't wield power like this. It wasn't something borrowed power could produce. At the very least, a devil was involved.
That was why she had to shatter the barrier as fast as possible. She had no idea what was happening inside, but everyone knew that in situations like this, speed was life.
"Sage!"
At Siren's shout, the old man floating in the air responded. Intricate magic circles—too complex for anyone to even read—unfolded from his grasp. His eyes swept across the barrier.
Reverse calculation.
No matter how transcendent a devil might be, and even if it brought demonic energy that didn't belong to this world, it still had to obey the laws of reality. And among those laws, there was nothing he couldn't decipher.
In other words, given enough time, he could dismantle it eventually.
"Wait a moment. I don't know exactly what kind of barrier this is, but it appears a high-ranking devil is involved."
"Who cares about that right now?! There are students inside! How long?!"
"At least a minute. I'll try to resolve it within that time."
Siren bit her lip at the Sage's words. Nearly twenty minutes had already passed. If the devil was so powerful that even the Sage spoke like this, she couldn't begin to imagine the nightmare unfolding inside.
Even awakeners who surpassed the 5th Tier often struggled against devils. Yet the people trapped inside were at most 1st or 2nd Tier. At best 3rd Tier. Even with professors present who had been lecturing, the situation didn't feel reassuring at all.
'The moment I get inside, I'll eliminate the source.'
For a devil to intervene in the mortal world, a medium was required. Approaching recklessly would inflict severe damage on the devil itself.
That was simply how laws worked. Even a devil that ignored such things couldn't completely escape the chains of causality.
Srrrrk.
As Siren continued throwing punches, she noticed the barrier beginning to fray and scatter. At first she thought the Sage had succeeded, but that wasn't it.
When she looked up at him, even the Sage appeared shocked. Meaning it wasn't his doing.
Which meant something had happened inside.
"Wh-what's going on?!"
Leaving the bewildered outsiders behind, Siren charged forward. Remnants of demonic energy lingered here and there, but they couldn't hinder her steps. She had already reached the 7th Tier. If someone standing before the wall of the 8th Tier could be stopped by mere scraps like these, she would never have earned the title of Tuseong.
Tuseong moved like a bolt of lightning. Toward the place where the densest concentration of mana gathered. That was likely where the students had gathered.
"T-Tuseong?"
When she arrived, the students were indeed clustered together. First-years and second-years alike had taken up positions, working together to drive out the demonic remnants. Professors who had been lecturing were either issuing commands or joining the fight themselves.
Seeing the large number of people, Siren approached a professor who recognized her.
"How many dropouts or injured are there?"
"Ab-about a dozen dropouts. The injured don't exceed fifty."
"A dozen..."
In a situation like this, most dropouts had to be presumed dead. Siren couldn't decide whether to feel relieved that only a dozen had died despite an incident of this scale, or to consider it a failure.
For now, she simply moved quickly.
"Any other reports?"
"Hmm, nothing in particular.... Ah, there is one thing!"
"What is it?"
"The top freshman, the runner-up, and Cheon Yu-ha are missing. Second-year Elesia is nowhere to be found either. The runner-up didn't attend in the first place, but the top student, Cheon Yu-ha, and Elesia were definitely present at the start before suddenly..."
Before the professor could finish, Siren launched herself forward. The top freshman was that insane bastard. Cheon Yu-ha was the Sword Saint's granddaughter. Elesia was undoubtedly the second-year who wielded Holy Power.
All three were talents who could not be allowed to perish here. Small stars who would one day shine brilliantly as awakeners.
'Please, let it not be too late...!'
Seeing so many students gathered, it was clear the barrier and the entity that had manifested it were on completely different levels. The demonic remnants scattered about could be cleaned up if the students combined their strength.
Therefore, Siren concluded that those three were holding out somewhere. No—she wanted to believe that.
Her body moved even faster. Mana that had reached the 7th Tier flooded into her physique. In this situation, searching for the three of them was less important than dealing with the demon that had descended somewhere in this place. Once the demon was eliminated, the barrier would vanish completely. That was the way to save them.
"This must be it."
After quickly carving a path, Siren finally reached the area with the thickest demonic energy. For whatever reason, the way had been partially cleared. It looked like traces of someone having come through here.
"This is..."
Siren's eyes turned to the door. A familiar mana clung to it. It belonged to the first-year top student who didn't like revealing his tier—Lee Sungjin.
Holy Power and another person's mana were mixed in beside it. Siren guessed the two signatures belonged to the missing Elesia and Cheon Yu-ha.
'They didn't just drop out—they went to hunt the demon?'
Siren bit her lip. It was true that all three possessed exceptional talent. Lee Sungjin in particular had reached the 3rd Tier during his first semester, a truly special case.
But that was it. No matter how special, students were still students. They were merely cadets who had yet to become full awakeners.
Yet they had gone to hunt a demon?
Just the three of them?
It was madness.
"Please, as long as they're still breathing..."
If they were alive, she would save them somehow. With her own reputation and the fact that one of them was the Sword Saint's granddaughter, she had more than enough justification.
Creeeak.
She opened the door while praying fervently.
And when she saw what lay beyond it, Siren's jaw dropped.
"You're late."
Completely scattered demonic energy filled the air, along with a fallen demon. It had already been subjugated and was slowly fading away. Behind it stood four people.
Cheon Yu-ha had collapsed and was breathing raggedly. Elesia leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. Tana lay sprawled on the floor, a transparent bottle rolling beside her.
And finally, Lee Sungjin stood there with his sword planted in the ground like a cane, grinning.
Blood streamed down his body. The situation looked severe even with Elesia present, who could wield Holy Power. Siren's eyes widened as she rushed toward him.
"What the hell is..."
"I have a lot to tell you, but first... cleanup..."
With those words, Lee Sungjin collapsed. Siren quickly caught him.
His body was already in ruins. It was a miracle he'd held on this long. On top of that, he had grown. His body, which had been at the 3rd Tier, had clearly advanced into the 4th Tier.
But what astonished her even more was the fact that this group had subjugated a demon. The realization was so absurd that Siren let out a hollow laugh.
"...He's seriously a crazy bastard."
She said it while looking down at Lee Sungjin. No matter how you looked at it, the fact that he was insane wasn't going to change.
And she wondered what kind of shockwaves this incident would send through society once it became known.
"Ugh!"
It was a familiar ceiling. I slowly sat up.
"The hospital?"
I'd been in and out of the academy's infirmary a few times, so I recognized it. It looked like they'd brought me here after the demon subjugation.
I glanced around. With only my bed in the room, it was a single. This was going to cost a fortune.
Still, the facilities were decent enough to justify the price. With that thought, I tried to move my legs slowly.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
I couldn't. The instant I tried, electricity shot through me and unimaginable pain flooded every nerve. It wasn't limited to my legs—my entire body felt like it was being electrocuted.
"Looks like you're awake."
The door rattled open and someone entered. I'd expected Elesia or Cheon Yu-ha, but it was Siren.
She walked in with a completely rigid expression and sat down on the visitor's chair.
"Don't move. The doctor said you need to stay like that for at least a week."
"A whole week?"
"Yeah. After seeing how badly you trashed your body, the doctor was shocked you didn't end up paralyzed. You should've seen his face."
Siren spoke indifferently while peeling an apple. Was apple-peeling some kind of unwritten rule when visiting patients? Everyone seemed to do it.
Whether I thought so or not, Siren neatly sliced the apple, placed it on a plate, and told me I'd been unconscious for three days.
"Because of this incident, the midterms have been merged with the finals. The weight of other evaluations will increase to compensate."
She also mentioned that Elesia and Cheon Yu-ha had woken up a day before me.
Listening to her, I thought inwardly.
Three days. Longer than I expected. Then again, given the state of my body, lying here like this was probably necessary...
Forcing my way into the 4th Tier really had been the main cause. That pill had been pretty weird too. Still, since I'd confirmed it didn't cause any permanent damage, I guess it was fine.
There had been all sorts of dangerous measures, but I'd gotten through them. So wasn't that a success?
"You look like you're thinking 'what a relief,' huh?"
What the hell, was she psychic? I flinched at Siren's disapproving glare.
"Try pulling a stunt like that one more time. I'll feed you a fist instead of a knuckle to the head."
"So you're letting it slide this time?"
"No."
The moment the word left her mouth, Siren pressed down hard on my leg. Electricity coursed through my entire body. Overwhelming pain crashed over me.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"Seriously, you crazy bastard. Who the hell thinks of walking into a place like that?"
"When a boss appears, the priority is to at least try clearing it...!"
"That's for dungeons, and you're not even an awakener. Is that place a dungeon? Are you an awakener?"
Siren kept pouring strength into my leg. The more she pressed, the worse the pain became. No matter how hard I bit my lip, I couldn't escape it. After rattling off various complaints, she suddenly lowered her voice and muttered seriously.
"Don't ever do something like that again. Your body is the most important thing. You have to be alive to pull crazy shit like this."
Her words carried a strange note of sorrow, but I couldn't respond.
It hurt too damn much.
"Huff... huff..."
Siren quickly lifted her hand from my leg. I'd screamed so loudly that the doctor and nurses came running. After they left, Siren put on a serious expression again.
Then she asked.
"So, what the hell happened in there?"