Master of the Demonic Sword (4)
"Pas, can you not string a single coherent sentence together? What in the world is this disgraceful display!"
Professor Simon bellowed at the sight of Pas clutching his head, trembling like a leaf.
"Talking like that, how is anyone supposed to make heads or tails of what you're saying!"
"Professor, you have to believe me…! Please…!"
"Bah! The nerve of this boy, I swear—hmm?"
Simon, who had been tearing into Pas with fury, abruptly twisted his head around and scowled.
At the entrance to the encampment, all hell was breaking loose.
The clang and grind of steel against steel was swelling louder by the moment.
And when Simon made out who had appeared, his eyes went wide as saucers.
***
"Honestly, it's doing it again."
One of the proctors monitoring the exam site grimaced and tapped at his crystal orb.
The remark caught the attention of Professor Blithe, who was passing nearby.
"What? What's the matter?"
"The crystal orb keeps disconnecting and reconnecting ever since yesterday."
"Was there a fault in the embedded magic formula? Check that first."
"It's perfectly fine. Every engraved formula is running without a hitch."
The proctor shook his head.
The crystal orbs used for the exam were top-grade artifacts, bolstered by high-intensity stabilization rites and consecrated with holy power. Short of something truly extraordinary, the connections simply did not drop.
"Hmm… then what on earth is the problem…?"
Blithe's own face clouded with puzzlement.
Only one scenario could explain a phenomenon like this.
A burst of highly concentrated mana shockwaves, powerful enough to overwhelm the stabilization rites and the consecration itself.
"Oh, come now. As if that could be it."
But she just snorted and shook her head.
Such shockwaves were not something anyone could produce simply by wanting to. Even channeling one through a superior-grade magic implement saturated with decades of condensed mana would offer no guarantee of success.
And to imagine that students had generated such a thing was utterly beyond belief.
"There must be a glitch somewhere. Take another look."
"It really is fine, though…huh?"
The grumbling proctor paused, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Now that you mention it… it seemed to happen every time that one walked past…"
"That one?"
"Oh, come on, you know. One of the new swordsmanship students—that platinum blonde…"
Just as the proctor was opening his mouth—
"How dare you set foot in here uninvited!!"
At Professor Simon's roar from outside the barracks, Blithe's brow twitched. Making mountains out of molehills and flying into hysterics over nothing was Simon's signature move.
"…Let's pick this up in a bit."
Blithe sighed and stepped outside the barracks.
"Simon, what is it this time that has you so worked…"
And then, taking in the scene outside, Blithe could not finish her sentence.
A company of soldiers in full battle regalia had encircled the encampment, radiating a chilling bloodlust. Their pristine white armor and cloaks seized the eye of everyone who looked upon them.
These unwelcome visitors were the holy knights of the Church of Aten.
"Wh-what…?"
"Why on earth are the holy knights here…?"
The arrival of one of the strongest military orders on the continent sent a wave of chaos rippling through the camp. As the students scanned the faces of their uninvited guests, astonishment quickly bloomed across their expressions.
"That's Tenas of the Holy Cross."
"And Baldor of Faith's Light is with him."
Every single one gathered here was a holy knight renowned for illustrious deeds and unshakable faith. And at the sight of a figure with one arm replaced by steel, gasps erupted from all around.
"It's Iron Arm Enrak! The sole survivor of the fall of Talonde…!"
Enrak, who had lost his left arm while trying to stop the traitor Nigel and barely escaped with his life, had thrown himself upon the mercy of the Aten Church and continued waging war against the forces of evil ever since. His patron was none other than Cardinal Seden, an eminent high clergyman and a leading candidate to become the Church's next Pope.
A few students, recalling Enrak's curious connection to Garnet in the forest, began murmuring amongst themselves.
"Have these people truly lost their minds…"
Meanwhile, Blithe, who had bolted from the barracks, soon found her face darkening with a rage to rival Simon's own.
"Has the Church decided to burn its relationship with Elysion to the ground?"
As her words fell like sharpened blades, white frost spread outward from beneath her feet in every direction. The former court mage of legend had, without so much as an incantation, claimed dominion over the entire space in an instant.
"Setting foot on Elysion's soil—without permission, in the middle of an examination, no less…!"
"Forgive us, Blithe of the Ice Jade."
Then a deep, steadfast voice rang out, heavy with gravitas. From among the ranks of knights standing aside in formation, an elderly holy knight stepped forward.
Despite his wrinkled skin and snow-white hair, his eyes still burned with undimmed brilliance. Someone who recognized him cried out in shock.
"A Supreme Master…! It's Lord Sibilik!"
Supreme Master—the exalted title bestowed only upon the seven strongest of all holy knights. That Sibilik, the most celebrated among them for his glorious exploits and valor, had appeared in person sent the surroundings into an even greater uproar.
"The situation was urgent, and we were compelled to commit this discourtesy."
Sibilik stepped forward and bowed his head to Blithe in apology.
"I ask that you find it in your grace to understand."
"Then explain in detail exactly what situation you are referring to."
"I shall come to the point. The tragedy of the East is about to be reenacted here, in this very Alheim Forest."
"What on earth…"
And at the words that followed, Professor Blithe's face hardened into disbelief.
"Our Church has been persistently tracking the whereabouts of the Apeiron-grade demonic swords. Zgahi slipped through our fingers, but by the grace of the gods we succeeded in sealing Roasi."
"…The heroism of the holy knights who sealed Roasi of Allure is well known to Elysion as well."
"And recently, we located the trail of the last remaining one."
At Sibilik's gesture, a holy knight behind him stepped forward and handed him a heavy satchel. When Sibilik tipped it over, the withered head of a shabby old woman dropped to the ground with a thud.
"A corrupted being who bore Raging Tessark until days ago. She was also one of the remnant followers of War who survived Talonde ten years ago."
Sibilik gazed down at the old woman's contorted face as he continued.
"Through interrogation, our Church secured testimony that she infiltrated the Caliburn Fief and passed Tessark to one of Elysion's students."
"Wh-what did you say?"
"Their aim is to birth a new Apostle of War to succeed Trasi."
Urgency had begun bleeding into Sibilik's voice before anyone noticed.
"Even now, the ascension ritual must be underway within the forest. We must force our way in at once, or—"
"Garnet! It was Garnet!"
And then someone barged headlong into their conversation with a loud shout.
"That girl stabbed me with a strange sword! Her eyes were completely deranged…and this whirlwind was raging all around her…!"
Pas wailed his grievances at Sibilik as though begging the world to acknowledge his innocence.
"It has to be because her father was a traitor and she holds a grudge against the Empire! I'm telling you, she means to kill every student here!"
"What…?"
At his words, Blithe's face went deathly pale.
-KWAAANG!!
"Kyaaah!"
"What was that?!"
A colossal impact erupted from the heart of the forest, shaking the very earth. Students hunched down, squeezing their eyes shut against a gale violent enough to sweep the entire camp away.
And when they finally managed to steady themselves, shock spread across their faces once more.
The sky above them had been stained crimson from horizon to horizon, drowned in blood.
"Th-this is…"
Even Professor Blithe stammered, momentarily forgetting how to speak. The situation was spiraling far beyond anything she could keep pace with.
Then the proctors came sprinting from the barracks, crying out in alarm.
"Th-the crystal orbs have all gone dark!"
"Massive mana shockwaves erupting from central Alheim! And not just one—multiple! A rift has opened, no question about it!"
"What did you say…?"
At that, Sibilik pressed Blithe all the more urgently.
"We must contain this disaster immediately, before everything becomes irreversible! If the Apostle awakens, it will truly be the end…!"
"C-contain it…? What exactly are you proposing?"
And to Simon's faltering question, Sibilik answered with a voice of iron resolve.
"We cut off the head of the one who bears the demonic sword."
***
"What in the world is going on…?"
Kallen sprinted desperately toward the depths of the forest.
Fleeing could wait—first, he needed to grasp the situation.
Beneath the blood-red sky, the forest thrummed with the stench of gore and the iron tang of steel. At the shouts and explosions echoing from the distance, Kallen's face creased into a frown, and he muttered under his breath.
"…This isn't some event Elysion put together."
After all, if it were, he—the officer in charge of the surprise evaluation—would have known about it.
"Damn it, out of nowhere, this…huh?"
As he scanned his surroundings, Kallen quickly spotted someone collapsed on the ground.
He recognized the man without difficulty. It was one of the Caliburn Guards who, like Kallen himself, had infiltrated the exam disguised as a corrupted being.
"Hey there, stay with me!"
Kallen shook him urgently, slapping his cheeks again and again. The limp man's eyes abruptly refocused, and he began to stammer.
"Wh-who are…"
"What in the world happened here?"
"Khh… a c-corrupted being…"
"What? A corrupted being?"
"And a… very powerful one…! Khh!"
An ordinary corrupted being wouldn't so much as dream of crossing blades with the Caliburn Guard. The gravely wounded man was heaving up blood with every word.
From his condition alone, Kallen could easily gauge how dire things had become.
"Someone… used the mana from the spring to tear open a rift…! Khh, khh…!"
The man's recovered focus was already blurring again.
"There are still students trapped inside…! Somehow, they must be rescued… khh!"
Even as blood streamed from his mouth, the man clutched desperately at Kallen and pressed on.
"A sword—I saw a female student wandering with a sword wreathed in a wicked crimson aura… she must be the cause of all this. You have to find that girl somehow… khh, khh…!"
"A female student…?"
"Platinum blonde… sapphire eyes…"
And then, before he could even finish, the man's head dropped with a thud.
"…At least he's not dead."
Kallen hastily checked the man's pulse and let out a sigh of relief.
From the unconscious man's words, only one person came to mind.
The brash young swordsmanship student—Garnet Forts.
"Damn it all…"
Kallen gritted his teeth, a cold dread settling over him.