Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Academy Recapture (4)
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BOOM!
It was the sound of Enoch, wreathed in soaring flames visible to everyone, kicking off the ground.
The well-paved academy road shattered, exposing the dirt beneath... but at this point, that didn't matter.
This place had long since become a battlefield.
"Hahaha!"
Enoch, his entire body covered in intricate patterns, burst into mad laughter, a stark contrast to his relatively calm demeanor just moments ago.
As if he were anticipating the imminent clash.
Enoch shot forward like a meteor and seized the head of a Minotaur whose horn had been replaced by a massive greatsword.
He hadn't even struck it properly, yet the steel horn melted away.
CRUNCH!
His fist came down, smashing the skull, and the beast collapsed.
He had approached too quickly and swung too fast for the monster—or even his allies—to react properly.
As Enoch, drenched in black blood, grinned ferociously at his next target...
"Well now. I can't fall behind either."
Adriana drew her sword with a somewhat leisurely tone. But her eyes, chillingly cold unlike her voice, flashed briefly.
Slash.
Her elongated aura blade, drawn out long, sliced through the darkness, bisecting a monster that had been hiding beyond it.
With agile movements, Adriana kicked off the ground and headed to the front lines where Enoch was.
Flames blazing like the sun descending to earth crushed and incinerated the enemies.
At the same time, silver flashes arbitrarily drew lines across the world, slicing through whatever they touched.
Grotesque monsters, straight out of a child's wild scribbles, fell dead in an instant before the two of them.
"They sent so many, so they must know where we are! Wait there! We'll meet soon enough!"
A monster resembling a crow mixed with a clock flew in from the sky, only to be grabbed by the leg in Enoch's hand.
Snap.
In an instant, legs like clock hands were ripped off, and the flapping wings trying to escape were effortlessly snapped.
-KIIIIIEEK!
That scream-like wail was the crow-shaped monster's final trace in the world.
Crunch.
Enoch rolled it across the ground and burst its head. Without time to check the rapidly melting corpse, he used the momentum from kicking the ground to hurl himself forward.
Adriana followed a similar pattern.
"Little Zahav seems to be having fun. Well, shall I put some effort in too?"
With a faint smile, Adriana raised her sword. In the next moment, a giant with stone-like skin that had been charging while wary of her collapsed at an angle.
It was as if space itself had been slashed.
-Grooo?
The creature stared at its ankle—severed yet still attached to the ground—as if unable to comprehend what had happened.
But that didn't last long either.
Slash.
A silver bolt struck the thick, sturdy neck of the stone giant, sending its head tumbling limply.
The stone giant died with a dazed expression, without even a scream. As its statue-like corpse began to melt, Adriana was already swinging her sword again.
Slash.
A monotonous cutting sound. But this time, with a single swing, Adriana severed the throat of a massive chameleon with eight legs that had tried to bypass her and head to the rear.
She nodded in satisfaction.
"As expected, this size is perfect for beheading."
Then she slid forward once more with gliding footwork toward the remaining monsters.
Ellis, who had been watching the two lead the charge, let out a short sigh.
"I'd heard the rumors, but... to think they'd grown even stronger in the meantime."
Adriana created a silver storm of swords around her body.
The swordsmanship unleashed with a single blade had already reached the realm of natural disasters. True to her title as the empire's sole Swordmaster, she was mincing the monsters into pieces.
...And Enoch was slaughtering far more monsters even faster than Adriana.
There was no natural elegance emanating from one who had reached that realm.
As always, Enoch tore through blocking enemies, smashed them, and sometimes burned them alive.
Drenched in black blood, he smiled as if genuinely enjoying it—a true savage, brutal warrior.
Yet nothing could resist this primal violence.
Those who knew fear fled from Enoch only to be torn apart, while those who didn't spilled their guts and fell.
If Adriana was a natural disaster in human form, Enoch was truly the monster among monsters.
Where he passed, only melted remains and shattered flesh remained.
It was enough to pity the black mages who had schemed so hard, come so close to success, only to unluckily encounter Enoch.
"This is Zahav... the Terminator of Disasters..."
The old noble muttered in a daze as he followed behind.
Even this elderly man, whose combat experience was relatively impressive despite weakening with age, reacted this way.
Most nobles, lacking battle experience, were simply mesmerized by the scene, staring blankly.
They were nobles who usually led from the front, but in this moment, they blindly followed the flames Enoch had ignited.
The only ones maintaining their composure were Enoch, Ellis who had fought alongside him for a long time, and the southern mercenaries who knew Zahav well even if not Enoch personally.
It was a strength far more overwhelming than what they remembered or had heard, but still within the realm of comprehension.
That was probably why.
They noticed the monsters trying to target the rear, steering clear of Enoch and Adriana.
"...Rear! Enemy attack! They're aiming for the nobles!"
Carlo swung his sword in alarm.
Clang!
His sword, infused with aura stronger than most knights', drew a semicircle and deflected a conical something charging at him.
"Hornet?"
Carlo muttered unconsciously at the bizarrely massive yet oddly familiar shape.
A noble who had nearly died zoning out expressed bewildered gratitude.
"Th-thank you."
"Duke Zahav ordered us to protect you all while fighting. It was only natural."
"I know well that doing the natural thing naturally isn't easy... I inwardly looked down on you as mere mercenaries, but I was the fool. The Duke wouldn't place trust without reason."
"..."
Carlo knew they received excessive aid simply for being southerners. His thoughts naturally grew complicated.
But though overshadowed by Enoch's bright flames and Adriana's sharp flashes, this was still a battlefield. No time to lose himself.
Ellis, her eyes now tinged blue, raised her voice.
"Carlo! Next attack incoming!"
"Which side?"
"Left. A fair number, but the count here and I can handle it. Rush in and take their heads."
"Understood."
Carlo, who knew how accurately Ellis read the battlefield, prepared to charge with his men without argument. And then.
Tatata!
Something split in the air, and shapes like miniaturized hornets from before rained down like shotgun pellets.
The green liquid glistening at their tips suggested even one hit would be dangerous.
"There! Follow before the next wave!"
Carlo hurled himself forward without hesitation.
At the same time, Ellis cast various buffs on herself and swung her wand-sword.
Ching ching ching!
The wand-sword traced flashy arcs. Each clash with a hornet sparked fireworks.
Thanks to the elves' inherently light movements, she deflected most, but some inevitably slipped through.
But these nobles weren't pushovers just because they were weak to ambushes from inexperience.
"You dare think it'll work twice!"
The man who would have died without Carlo. True to Ellis's words, this count's innate bloodline ability was storm.
A refined technique honed to boast his lineage now shone in real combat.
Whoooosh!
Fierce winds swirled, forming an invisible barrier.
Whole, they might have resisted, but these shattered fragments scattered in the gale.
Aiming for someone like Carlo had backfired spectacularly.
"As expected of you..."
"...Count, please mind your words. I'm just a mere commoner, the Duke of Zahav's... ahem. Concubine."
Ellis stuttered slightly mid-sentence, perhaps a shred of conscience, but it only convinced the court noble further.
Once a family that produced empire generals for generations.
For nearly 300 years, leaders of the central elven nobility and core of the military... now erased from history.
Nazidel.
For Ellis, who should never show her face if she survived, to be in the capital.
Even claiming to be no one's but Zahav's concubine, ruling the underworld.
Emperor Wilfred had dismissed the intelligence report as minor...
In other words, without access to imperial intelligence, the court noble could only swallow hard.
'Succession struggle, Second Prince's rebellion, black mages and evil gods... Something massive is brewing!'
And he had no confidence in weathering the coming storm. Normally, he'd just protect his title by staying out of it.
But his gaze slyly turned to the brightest, foremost flames.
'After rescuing my son, distancing from central politics might be fine... My connections aren't solely there.'
For some reason, Enoch's supporters were emerging even among central high nobles.
After clearing the monsters filling the main road, they dispersed everyone except Ellis and Byron across the academy to rescue students, finally reaching the central spire.
The expected scene awaited.
"Lady Adriana. Is that the Second Prince?"
"...Yes. I once taught him the basics of the sword; I couldn't mistake him."
A young man in lavish robes, standing with his back to them.
And black-robed warlocks arrayed in a circle around him.
The initial knights hadn't been wrong.
The Second Prince had truly allied with black mages to unleash terror on the capital.
But there was one unexpected element.
Thump-!
A massive sphere, pulsing like a heartbeat, encased in a veil of great darkness.
The moment he laid eyes on it, he knew: the barrier enveloping the academy emanated from that thing.
...And the summoning was already complete.
"Ellis. Archbishop Byron. Any guesses on that?"
"Haven't said it in a while. We're fucked, Enoch."
"...Ha, I have one."
Unlike Ellis's calm curse, Byron stammered, his face pale.
He clutched his rosary tightly against his chest as he spoke.
"Night's Bastard. The child god discarded by Lady Nyx in ancient times. Child of Nightmares... But this is impossible!"
"Impossible how?"
At my question, Byron shuddered and shouted.
"Because it's a god aborted before birth!"
"What."
"How can you summon a god that never existed...!"
Byron frothed at the mouth, as if witnessing the impossible.
But for me, a slightly... very slightly different thought occurred.
'Hey, you too?'
'Could you be a Night's Bastard (or not) type too??'