Lena Youngstern (7)
The sensation of being submerged in a cold yet comforting water tank. Lena Youngstern kept her eyes closed, feeling the endlessly rippling waves. Her consciousness scattered and regrouped like bubbles, but her senses remained sharper than ever before.
'...Mana explosion.'
It was supposed to be the horrific catastrophe the academy professors had warned about, spitting as they lectured. Yet for Lena, standing at its center, the situation felt strangely peaceful. The mana that had poured out without end now blanketed the entire academy, drinking in information from every direction like an extension of her own nervous system. Thanks to that, she could perceive everything happening across the campus without opening her eyes. The terror of some, the confusion of others, even the raw determination of countless people gripping their weapons and fighting against her rampaging power.
'Everyone's... fighting so hard.'
She felt powerful holy energy flashing as it sliced through the water currents, and sharp sword strikes hammering the water dragon's scales. They would reach her soon—the source of all this.
...How had it come to this?
Trapped inside the water droplets, Lena quietly asked herself. She already knew the answer.
'I wasn't honest.'
With that hopeless, pathetic childhood friend of hers, Ian Ashy. Because she had never properly conveyed even one of her true feelings. Blinded by jealousy, she had only spat out hurtful words before running away. Dean Lucy, Saintess Arina, Princess Eiphrid... the pitch-black emotions that had festered while watching all those women circling around Ian had finally erupted into this colossal disaster.
—Jealousy is not love.
Baroness Ashy's words finally made sense.
Ssssh. Her senses expanded once more along the waves. Was this what they called an expanded rampage? She vaguely remembered that if mana swelled beyond what a human could endure, the mage would either die or become a broken shell. Yet strangely, Lena felt at peace. Because amid the countless colliding waves of power, she had sensed one uniquely shining pulse.
It wasn't as grandiose as the massive, dazzling holy energy or the sword strikes that carved through space. But it was murky, alien, and yet mysteriously warm—familiar.
'...Hurry and come.'
The water's surface beneath Lena trembled faintly.
"Graaaawr—!"
Despite the nickname White Tiger, the longer Ian watched, the more it looked like a giant house cat. What kind of tiger made a cute little kyaaang sound? Of course, it was still a monstrous beast the size of a building, with claws that sent raindrops flying like blades with every swipe. And it was ridiculously agile.
Swish-swish-swish—! Blink once and it was clinging to a wall, the next instant it was perched on a statue. True to its original setting as a raid boss that required hundreds of academy students to take down, its mobility was insane—too fast to track with the naked eye.
But right now its steps had grown noticeably sluggish.
The reason was simple.
"Kyaaaaah! Stay away! I said stay awaaaay!"
Their sacrificial bait, Her Highness Princess Eiphrid, was screaming with tears and snot flying everywhere while wildly flinging earth magic in every direction. The spells that normally flew with elegant precision had been devoured by pure survival instinct and panic, reduced to nothing more than sloppy dirt-flinging.
Splat! Crunch!
Thanks to her, wherever Freya stepped the ground turned into sticky mud or piled up like walls, constantly ruining the beast's nimble footwork.
Heh heh.
A third-rate villain had to cackle at least once here. Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
While sneaking around to Freya's rear with a quiet chuckle, Ian heard—
"Haaat—!"
Kano Ameri dove into the beast's flank, unleashing sword energy nonstop. The sheer dignity of a Sword Master-level power-hider going all-out, orange hair whipping wildly. Or perhaps it was Freya's dignity for taking those sparkling strikes and remaining completely unfazed. Either way, thanks to Kano, the creature hadn't noticed Ian circling wide through the park to approach from behind.
Squish— Though calling it a "rear path" was generous, since the original garden was now a complete mud pit.
That realization brought on another sudden wave of reality.
Sigh...
His shoes were ruined, and his rain-soaked pants felt like they weighed a ton. Was this really his life now? All he'd wanted was to draw erotic manga in peace and rake in money while living comfortably. So why was an erotic manga artist currently infiltrating a disaster-grade mana explosion site, trying to snipe a boss monster from behind like some action hero?
Still, if he thought about it rationally, this was all a necessary step in building a solid foundation for his erotic manga empire. Saving Lena went without saying. Along the way he could accumulate more mana, and he had to stop the original story from completely falling apart.
After achieving perfect mental victory, Ian shook the rainwater from his hair and lowered his stance. The target was the back of that giant water cat. He needed to leap up there in one clean jump without being noticed.
The moment the creature paused to catch its breath after blocking Kano's latest barrage—
'Now!'
He kicked off the mud and prepared to sprint with everything he had.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!
From the western side, far beyond the central plaza, an overwhelming burst of light exploded with enough intensity to blind anyone who looked directly at it. It was like the sun had risen in the middle of the night. A massive vortex of holy power and mana painted the sky like spectacular fireworks.
Looked like Team Crown Prince had finally pulled out their ultimate technique against the water dragon.
Ah, shit.
At that overwhelming display and roar, Freya's massive head instinctively snapped toward the disturbance. Then its blue pupils slowly turned... and locked directly onto Ian, who was still half-crouched in a running stance.
"......"
A strange silence stretched between Ian and Freya.
"Hey there?"
"Grrrrrrr!"
Did this thing never learn manners from its mother? When a person says hello, a cat is supposed to say hello back. Tsk. This is why etiquette education matters from a young age.
"Kyaaang!"
Apparently deciding Ian was an annoying bug, Freya tensed its hind legs, preparing to pounce.
I can't back out now!
Instead of running away, Ian charged even faster toward the beast. After all, he had excellent meat shields—er, comrades!
"You idiot! That's dangerous!"
Kano's eyes widened as she launched herself into the air. The thick aura bursting from her sword slammed into Freya's massive front paw with a resounding bang, knocking it aside.
"Kyaaaaak!"
For a split second, Freya's movements froze completely from Kano's strike.
"Princess!!"
Ian screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Pour every last drop of your earth-attribute mana into me! Right now!!"
Princess Eiphrid, who had been rolling in the mud, jerked her head up at his voice. Her eyes held no reason—only pure survival instinct.
"Eeeeek—!"
With the princess's completely undignified chant, the overwhelming earth mana squeezed out by the world's greatest talent began pouring toward him, tearing through the air.
Thud.
Ian offered a brief silent prayer for the princess as she immediately fainted into the mud.
The instant her earth mana was unleashed, Ian released every bit of his own power without hesitation.
Pop—! Pop—!
Though it only amounted to two tiny dark beads.
"I can actually shoot these now!"
The two weakly flying beads collided with the princess's earth mana directly above Freya's head. At the same moment—
"Graaawr?!"
The solid ground beneath Freya transformed into a pitch-black mud swamp spanning dozens of meters. Not normal mud, but a horrific, viscous swamp that gripped tighter the harder one struggled to escape.
Freya, who had lifted its front paw, lost balance and staggered. All four legs sank deep into the mire.
"Grr? Grawr?"
It tilted its head in confusion, whining as it tried to pull free.
"Oh."
It actually worked?
I'd only been half-convinced after reading it in a grimoire from the Twilight School tucked away in the corner of the annex library, but...
"Jackpot."
Ian stepped onto the swamp's edge and leaped, landing squarely on Freya's back covered in soft white fur.
"Are you insane?! Ian Ashy! Get down right now, it's dangerous!"
Kano was right. The moment he touched Freya's back, an overwhelming flow of mana surged against his skin. It felt like standing completely exposed on top of a mana reactor.
"There, there. Good water kitty."
Ian carefully pulled a small vial from his pocket. It was the exact 'Mana Explosion Inducer' he'd obtained from the herbalist. If Professor Susi's explanation in the original work was accurate, the scent would act like irresistible catnip to water-attribute divine beasts.
He popped the cork and gently waved it near the creature's nose.
"Good girl. Sniff sniff. Smells nice, doesn't it?"
Freya's head tilted slightly. It flared its nostrils toward the vial in his hand.
Sniff. Sniff.
Alright, it was working? So Freya really was part of the cat family after all?
...Prrrrrr!
But contrary to his expectations, Freya blew a massive, displeased snort and completely ignored the vial. Blue sparks immediately began exploding wildly along its spine.
"Run, Ian! It's about to explode its mana!"
Kano's scream cut through the rain.
Freya's mouth gaped open as mana condensed with terrifying force, seemingly ready to swallow every raindrop in the vicinity.
"Hmm."
This was bad.