Chain of Incidents (3)
Crack!
His head burst open, blood and brains splattering out. I'd put up a mana barrier beforehand, so at least my shoes stayed clean.
Poof—
With the magic caster dead, the summoned beast crumbled into dust and vanished. The female student the skeleton had been holding collapsed to the ground.
"Kyaa!"
She let out a cute scream. She didn't look like someone who'd just been bawling her eyes out with tears and snot streaming down her face. Still, she seemed too rattled by the lingering fear to get her bearings, so I extended a hand.
"You okay?"
"Uh, wha...?"
"You okay, I said."
"Y-yeah... I think so...."
She grabbed my hand as she spoke, and my voice seemed to steady her a bit. Once she'd taken stock of the situation, she hesitated before speaking up.
"Um, did you... come to rescue us...?"
"Yeah."
"Th-thank you for saving me...."
"No big deal."
I didn't know her name or department—just that she was a second-year like me, some random extra—but her gratitude didn't feel bad.
"Is this the only cell around here with people?"
"I don't know... I've been locked up the whole time. Sorry...."
"No need to apologize."
The iron door only had a small barred window, so it made sense she wouldn't know the surroundings. Given her state, she'd probably been paralyzed with terror nonstop.
I stepped up to the cell door to free the student inside.
"Ah, I'll go get the key. That black mage must have it...."
"Don't need it."
I gave a curt reply and swung my sword twice. Even without infusing mana, the thick iron door split into three pieces.
"Don't need it, huh...."
I ignored her surprise at the neatly severed door and scanned the cell interior. Curse magic lingered in the air, and about fourteen students sat there, having given up on life and awaiting death. A few had their minds shattered.
I strode right in.
"Don't go in there! The curse...!"
"It's fine."
Another short reply, and I unleashed the Arden swordsmanship.
Arden Swordsmanship, Second Form Variant - Magic Cleave
One downward slash, and every spell floating in the room vanished. I knew a few techniques for dispelling magic, but the Arden style was among the best—top ten, easy.
"My body feels light.... Huh?"
"Th-the curse is gone! It's not just me, right? Everyone, check!"
"The curse really...! But who is that guy...?"
As their conditions improved, the students snapped out of it and finally noticed me.
I told them straight.
"I'm here to rescue you."
That single line brought tears to their eyes. Realizing they were alive, they started sobbing outright.
"H-hic...!"
"We're alive! Alive!"
They clung to each other, crying. I didn't want to interrupt the moment, but there was no need to waste time here. They could do it outside just fine.
"Cut it out and get ready to move. The black mages will notice the disturbance soon."
I pulled the statue from my pocket and set it on the floor.
"W-we can really get out?"
"Finally out of this hell...!"
"Wait! That statue...!"
A few who remembered how they'd gotten here jumped in shock at the sight of it.
"No worries—just infuse some mana."
"But...."
"Then stay here."
I ignored the hesitant third-year and offered it to another student.
"Just... put mana in it?"
"Yeah."
The first-year glanced around nervously before pouring mana into the statue. Its teleportation magic activated, and he vanished—teleported to the surface.
The original statue only worked one way, but Ruina senpai had rearranged the spell to allow two-way travel. I could've done it myself, but time was tight, so I left it to her. Faster that way.
Seeing him disappear, the others rushed forward. Even the hesitant third-year joined the line.
"Where does this take us?"
"To Tianis. It'll be empty, so find a professor. Things are probably chaos up there by now."
"Got it...."
He infused mana and was gone.
"What about... them?"
The first girl I'd saved pointed at three students who'd been turned into idiots.
"Got a way."
I approached them, wrapped mana around my hand, and grabbed their heads. They looked mind-broken at a glance, but they weren't. Demons with twisted tastes saw human screams as delicacies, so the black mages never actually ruined their sacrifices. Right now, they were just mentally sealed with black magic. Remove the spell, and they'd snap back.
I drew out the mana I'd stored in my mind. Black mana followed, absorbed into my hand. Their eyes refocused.
"Wh-where...?"
"Ugh, my head...!"
"I was definitely...!"
"Talk later. Out."
I forcibly moved their mana. The statue reacted, teleporting all three.
Most of the group was out now.
"You too—go."
"Y-yeah, I should...."
She fidgeted, hand hovering over the statue, then turned to me.
"Do you... remember me?"
"Nah. No clue."
"Oh...."
I wouldn't forget a briefly appearing extra, but anyone else? Nope.
"I-I was a witness at your trial...."
"So?"
"N-no, not like that! I mean...."
She waved her hands frantically and continued.
"You're not going with us...?"
"Might be more people left."
"R-right... Then work hard. You got this, Kyle...."
With that, she activated the magic and left the cell. Watching her go, I thought.
Some connection there, huh.
Not a bad one, judging by her reaction.
Anyway...
I touched my ear to activate the communication device.
"Testing, you hear me?"
-Loud and clear, Kyle.
-Copy that.
-Hyungnim, it's pitch black here!
Connection was good. I relayed the intel I'd just gathered.
"You guys probably have a cell too. No dedicated guards, but they come grab students now and then. Watch the situation, kill the black mage or rescue 'em. You can handle it."
Only I knew the setup, but there were no powerhouses here who could kill the protagonist or heroines—just numbers.
"There might be students with broken minds in the cells. You can fix 'em with your skills."
Rana had summons, Veil had Arden swordsmanship. Evan had magic—doable.
"I'll head deeper. Don't push it."
-Roger. Moving out.
-See you soon, hyungnim.
They cut off. Then Rana chimed in.
-Kyle. No getting hurt, okay?
"You too. Wouldn't want your nose acting up."
This black mage-infested hellhole was torture for her. I could picture her face right now.
-Got it. I'll try. See you later.
"Yeah."
Her comms ended. I pocketed the statue, buried the bodies, and gripped my sword again.
"Time to clean up the trash."
Not all black mages were evil, but in Akacheonma, they sure as hell were—threats to the world.
"Over there."
Malevolent energy pulsed from the passage end. I exhaled the black magic I'd just absorbed and advanced.
"Why hasn't the next sacrifice arrived?!"
The black mage conducting the ritual on the altar bellowed.
"It'll be here soon."
"It's been over ten minutes! Time is critical for this ritual!"
Some demons were picky. Skip the sequence or wrong sacrifice, and they ignored you outright. This one was like that—sacrifices aged 15-19, fed blood and flesh every set interval. About twenty minutes. We were cutting it close; one slip, and all effort wasted.
Plus, Tianis professors had likely noticed the academy's changes by now. Finish the summon and bail, fast.
"Go check, hurry!"
One black mage rushed toward the cells at his shout. Less than a minute later.
"De-Dezian-nim!"
The mage returned in a panic. Taking it as the sacrifice arriving, he yelled.
"Hurry! This ritual must succeed!"
"N-no, it's not... Gahk!"
A blade erupted through his throat—black as the mage's mana. Dezian realized someone had infiltrated the altar.
"Who goes there?!"
Shunk!
The intruder silently withdrew the sword. Blood gushed from the hole.
"Kill him!"
Dezian commanded instantly. The act confirmed hostility. Subordinates' spells bombarded the foe.
BOOM!!!
Dozens of spells converged, exploding in flames and smoke. Even a Master would leave no bones, Dezian figured. He ordered.
"Clear it up and fetch the sacrifice!"
"Yes!"
Time was critical. The black mages hustled. First, clean the messy passage....
Slice—
Flesh tearing echoed through the cavernous altar room. The gruesome sounds didn't stop there.
"S-someone's there!"
"Argh!"
Subordinates dropped one after another with groans. Crunching bones, swords whipping blood and flesh through the air. Soon, the altar was drenched in black mages' blood.
All in two minutes. Nearly every black mage dead.
But Dezian stayed calm, watching. Then he spotted a silhouette in the dark and unleashed black magic.
Curse Field.
Darkness boiled from the ground, seething with malice and ill will, cursing all life nearby. It absorbed corpses and blood, amplifying the effect.
"Show yourself!"
At his roar, the enemy appeared. Fierce features, blond hair, golden eyes. Dezian knew him.
"Thought it'd be a Tianis professor, not Arden's wastrel. Unexpected. Heard rumors you'd changed lately, though...."
No reply from the wastrel. Dezian sneered.
"Can't talk, huh? Over twenty curses wrapping your body."
Dozens of curses embedded—even a breeze would hurt. No strength to speak.
"No need to answer. Disrupt the ritual, pay the price."
Dezian led the fully subdued wastrel to the altar. Mana flowed at his will; he muttered.
"Arden blood should please it. That family's tormented demons since ancient times."
Wastrel or not, Arden was Arden. A slight delay, but it'd work. As he moved to place him on the rune-and-magic-circle-covered stone....
"Too bad. Looks like no demon summon for you."
A voice that shouldn't be heard rang out. Dezian whipped around. The wastrel, once bound in darkness, stood on the ground, having inhaled the curses through breath, wielding them like his own.
"Im-impossible...."
Terror gripped Dezian; he stepped back. Stealing another's magic wasn't impossible—understand it, match the mana wavelength, control it. But only same-system magic. Normal mages couldn't handle black magic, not even 7th Circle archmages.
Which meant....
"You've learned black magic...!"
He couldn't finish. The absorbed power morphed into sword aura, the blade swelling to greatsword size, already upon him.
Crunch!!
Immense mass crushed Dezian. He died instantly.
"Idiot."
"Idiot."
Mage or not, lost in thought right up to the end.
"Well, even black mages have curiosity."
Mages and black mages started from similar roots—just forked opposite ways.
"Hmm...."
I surveyed the cleared altar. Thanks to the last black mage, only one body. Nothing to clean.
"Only thing worth taking is that...."
On the sacrifice stone sat a bloodstone soaked in students' blood. But tainted with their blood, it turned me off.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue, shattered the bloodstone, and prayed for the dead students. Prime material, but no need to use the sacrificed.
"All done."
No reason to linger. I pulled out the statue to return to the academy.
But then.
-Is it you? The one who disrupted my summoning.
A deep, resonant voice filled the altar interior.