The Heir's Sacrifice
The sun had set, and a dark night sky unfurled over those who moved with urgent purpose. Students who had finished their day slipped into bed, while only the professors burdened with remaining work toiled in pain. Pascal Myers, dressed in drab clothes, was heading somewhere. In his hand, he gripped a dagger that radiated an ominous aura. It was the greatest weapon and treasure crafted by the ancestors of the Myers Family. Having served as the family heirloom for a long time, the dagger had written numerous histories of death. The accumulated malice and curses were so profound that even Karl Myers, the current head of the family and a being close to Transcendence, could not fathom their depths.
Pascal tightened his grip on the dagger. The leaking malice grew thicker, blurring the surroundings. It was one of the dagger's abilities that allowed him to evade the eyes of the Transcendent academy headmaster... Everything that had let Pascal secretly set up the core until now was thanks to this dagger's power.
Yet even as he recalled its remarkable performance, his expression was far from pleased. The heirloom that had shared a long history with the Myers Family... was fated to reach the end of its lifespan today. Following the orders of the current head, Karl Myers, it would adorn its finale as a sacrifice for the core.
"Haa..."
Pascal gazed at the dagger with a bitter look. When he first received it from his father, he had felt nothing but joy. Though it was something he would naturally inherit upon ascending to the position of family head, the fact that it had been given to him so early meant his father trusted him that much—or so he had thought.
During the public awarding ceremony, Pascal had made a vow. He would achieve excellent grades at the academy and graduate with pride. He would do his utmost not to tarnish the name of the Myers Family. And he would definitely repay that trust.
He had faithfully carried out his father's commands. Even if they were absurd orders, he had taken risks and struggled to accomplish them somehow.
'This time is no different.'
Pascal stopped walking. Before him stood a red pedestal. This was the core he had secretly installed, deceiving the headmaster's eyes... To activate it, a large amount of fresh blood was required, but the Myers Family lacked the resources to prepare it. So Karl Myers had devised a mechanism: a 'cleaning' magic circle that would gather the fresh blood flowing through the academy into one place.
Pascal tore the luxurious-looking scroll he had kept hidden in his bosom. At the same time, several small magic circles appeared on the red pedestal, emitting an ominous energy. The pedestal flickered its red aura like a snake's tongue, as if waiting for a sacrifice.
Pascal slashed his palm with the Myers Family heirloom in his hand. Flesh tore, blood flowed, and the dagger greedily drank it as if it were delicious. Soon, a powerful malice burst from the dagger, dyeing the surroundings a dark crimson.
Pascal threw the blood-soaked dagger straight onto the pedestal.
- Crunch!
With a sound like a predator fiercely chewing the bones of its prey, the pedestal began to shake violently. It was a phenomenon akin to a warning that the core was malfunctioning, but this very error was what he had wanted... Before long, just as his father Karl Myers intended, the core would spew out monsters.
'I need to get out of here before that happens.'
Pascal immediately turned and walked away. The day of the decisive battle had finally arrived. Tonight, the fate of the Myers Family and Pascal would be decided.
"...Has it begun?"
In the middle of a forest that had grown pitch black with night... Elisha, who had been quietly sitting and meditating, opened her eyes. At that moment, an unsettling wind brushed past her hair.
As Elisha rose from her seat and muttered something softly, a single spear flew through the air and clung to her hand.
"Huu..."
Elisha took a short, deep breath. Then she began running in the direction the wind had come from. Tall trees bent and swayed as the surrounding scenery blurred past. Even at that incredible speed, she didn't blink once, sprinting straight ahead.
The dense trees of the thick forest gradually thinned out, and the stars in the night sky became clearly visible.
- Boom!
At that instant, a massive axe slammed into the ground right in front of Elisha with a tremendous roar. It was a sudden attack, but she twisted her body lightly as if she had expected it and dodged.
"Orcs again, huh."
Elisha put some distance between them and glared at the massive monster before her.
- Thud!
Whether annoyed that its axe had missed, the creature stomped its foot for a moment before lifting the embedded axe again, preparing to throw it just like before...
But Elisha had no intention of waiting this time. She charged first. Without giving it even a moment's respite, she pierced straight through the orc's throat.
- Stab!
The orc, now with a hole in its body, clutched its bleeding neck and staggered backward. Since it was a monster with rapid regenerative abilities, leaving it alone might have let it survive—but Elisha was not a soft-hearted woman.
She charged again, this time driving her spear through its head. The orc died on the spot. After confirming its breath had stopped, Elisha retrieved her weapon and scanned the surroundings. No other monsters were visible, but her sharp senses picked up even the faintest traces.
'A few are hiding... Damn, has it already activated?'
A murky malice was mixing into the air. At this level, it wouldn't have a major effect on human bodies, but it would greatly increase the aggression of monsters.
Elisha tightened her grip on the spear. This was an event she had experienced several times before. Soon, the mad head of the Myers Family would attack the academy. He intended to offer the blood of countless people as sacrifices to reach Transcendence. She had to stop the same tragedy from the first round from happening again, no matter what.
"Huu..."
Elisha let out a long breath. The monsters would undoubtedly keep appearing to interfere, but she wasn't anxious. She had resolved it several times already... Moreover, Elisha had grown even faster than in previous rounds. So surely, she would be able to protect the academy this time too.
To reduce her worries as much as possible, she had also set up a solid safety measure.
'...I locked the door, so it should be fine for a while.'
Before coming here, she had firmly sealed his room. If seen wrongly, it might be mistaken for confinement, but if he got hurt by going outside out of curiosity... it was an unavoidable choice.
And anyway, he would be sound asleep right now. If she finished everything before dawn and unlocked it as usual, no one would know.
Thinking that, Elisha dashed through the forest to deal with the next monster.
- Crunch!
"Mmm...?"
At the sudden noise, Sabina, the academy headmaster who had been quietly inspecting the barrier, turned her head. With a drowsy expression, she looked around... The surroundings seemed no different from usual, but her Transcendent vision captured many things in an instant.
'The malice has thickened.'
Only then did things she had missed while focusing on repairing the barrier come into view. The night sky tinged with a redder hue than usual. Magic circles visible here and there across the academy. The cries of monsters echoing from somewhere... None of them were good signs.
"Ha... What are those damn professors doing?"
She already had plenty of things weighing on her mind. It would have been nice if the professors handled incidents like this on their own, but they were truly useless. Even as she grumbled inwardly, Sabina prepared to move herself.
At that moment, sensing a chilling presence, she wrapped a protective barrier around her body.
- Clang!Clang!
Almost simultaneously, something struck the barrier and bounced off. Sabina glared at the flying object.
'A dagger? No, this is...!'
Before she could react, the daggers began to change, emitting a strong light. The process of drawing a magic circle was skipped entirely at an incredible speed. In an instant, the daggers transformed into thin chains that bound Sabina's arms and legs.
"With something like this..."
- Crack!
However, her physical abilities, having reached the realm of Transcendence, easily shattered the chains. In less than a few seconds, Sabina regained the freedom of her limbs, but for some reason, her expression had hardened.
"This is..."
"As expected of a Transcendent. It seems a mere family curse from our lineage can't completely neutralize you."
Sabina turned her head toward the direction of the voice. There stood a man clad in jet-black darkness and red clothing. He seemed to want to hide his identity, covering his face with dark energy, but Sabina saw through it immediately.
"Myers? Have you finally gone mad?"
"What kind of thing to say... This has nothing to do with the family. It's merely my personal curiosity, Lady Sabina."
Karl Myers said this with a sly smile. Sabina felt rage boiling up inside her.
"You're turning the academy into an enemy just out of curiosity?"
"That can't be. I was simply curious about your power, Lady Sabina. I have no intention of attacking the academy at all."
"Ha, what nonsense are you..."
Before she could finish, throwing weapons suddenly flew at her. She closed her mouth and focused on defense.
- Clang clang clang!!!
Countless lumps of metal struck the barrier, creating unpleasant sounds.
"Still... it looks like the curse didn't fail completely, does it?"
"How dare you...!"
Sabina bit her lip. Her current condition was the worst. Having gone without sleep for a long time while repairing the barrier and handling multiple tasks simultaneously, the fatigue that had piled up was gnawing away at her stamina in real time.
In the end, she couldn't perfectly respond to the surprise attack, and part of the curse Karl Myers had placed on the chains seeped into her body. Fortunately, she had succeeded in resisting a significant portion, so her body wasn't completely incapacitated. However, the crucial balance between body and mind for a Transcendent had become unstable.
'The Myers Family was hiding something like this?'
A curse that shook the body's balance... It was a fatal curse for Transcendents, whose boundaries between body and mind were beginning to blur.
Sabina endured, regenerating her cracking barrier with trembling hands.
"You look quite exhausted, Lady Sabina."
"...Shut up! If my body were in perfect condition, I would've subdued the likes of you long ago!"
Sabina shouted at Karl Myers's provocation. It was an arrogant statement, but as a Transcendent, her words were not wrong at all. If he hadn't cast the curse in advance, he wouldn't have had even the slightest chance of victory. But with misfortunes piling up, Sabina's situation was far from good.
'I can't just keep blocking like this. I'll be the one in danger first.'
After calmly assessing the situation, she quickly moved her mana. The barrier grew slightly fainter, and translucent blades and threads made of mana appeared everywhere, deflecting the throwing weapons.
The moment she, who had been stubbornly focused only on defense, began to attack, Karl Myers's expression hardened. Thinking she could seize the upper hand like this, Sabina tried to close the distance—!
- Crack!
The same chains as before bound her arms and legs. The curse had activated again.
"Why... Could it be...?"
As the chains she had definitely destroyed reappeared, the flustered Sabina hesitated. At that moment...
Karl Myers began muttering something. Realizing what he was trying to do, Sabina urgently sent a translucent blade to pierce his shoulder, but—
"Restrain."
It was already one step too late.