Academy Terror (3)

The evacuating students and the professors directing them crossed the bridge without incident and reached the annex.

I, however, did not go inside.

"Sejin! Aren't you coming in?"

Lee Yeonsul waved urgently for me to hurry into the annex. I shook my head.

"I was merely accompanying everyone to protect you until the evacuation was complete."

Lee Yeonsul slowly lowered her hand.

"Ah… okay. Don't get hurt!"

"Haha, I'll keep that firmly in mind."

With that, I had saved one person who was supposed to die in the original story.

I had saved a life, yet I felt no particular emotion about it.

I turned around once more and walked toward the place where the wall had been smashed open.

The academy viewed from the middle of the bridge—its wall blown clean through—was quite the spectacle. Monsters swarmed over the large, beautiful buildings like ants, a sight I would not soon forget.

On the outskirts of the athletic field, large groups of people had clustered together and were fighting equally clustered throngs of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monsters.

"Alright! Freeze them now!"

"Slowly! Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get impatient!"

The students who had been fighting scattered by year finally realized it was hopeless and banded tightly together into a single force. First-, second-, and third-years all united against the monsters looked exactly like two ant armies locked in war.

Aside from the grade heads and the vice principal, every professor was fighting alongside the students, holding the line without being pushed back by the monsters.

And from among the people poured an intense yet strangely non-blinding white light—the radiance emitted by the holy magic users, Kim Gabyul among them. The concentrated holy power of the gathered holy mages strengthened and healed their allies. The holy power felt so potent that even weak monsters might crumble to dust at a mere touch of that light.

The atmosphere is pretty good. As expected of Korea's top academy.

Even after a sudden monster ambush, they had not scattered in panic; instead they were fighting the creatures on equal terms. Truly valiant.

Time for me to join as well.

I leapt toward the wall the monster had destroyed.

The moment a person suddenly dropped from the bridge, the monster beneath opened its jaws wide as if thinking, What free meal is this?

"Are you trying to eat me? How insolent."

I brought my Aura-wrapped sword down in a single stroke and split the monster cleanly in half.

"Hoo—to die split in two. Quite a splendid end for a monster. Consider it an honor."

[Black mana everywhere. Good… very good.]

Thanks to the students who had already charged out, the place was piled high enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with monster corpses to form hills. Creatures burned to death, frozen solid, bodies burst open—scenes so graphic the cause of death was obvious at a glance.

"Hmm… whether to hunt the monsters outside or inside…"

The spot I had landed in lay between the annex and the main building—beside the athletic field. Most of the monsters were surely still out on the field; it seemed they had not yet fully breached the main building's security.

But "most" outside meant a minority had already gotten inside. And given how many monsters had invaded, even that minority would not be small. There were almost certainly more than expected.

If anyone had failed to evacuate, going inside would be the correct choice, yet…

The principal will handle it.

Wasn't that exactly why he was holed up in the principal's office?

There was a far more urgent matter right now.

The demon contractor.

I had to find the demon contractor. Only by capturing the root cause of this entire disaster could the endless flood of monsters be stopped.

"Lord Marbas, can you tell which demon the contractor summoning those monsters has contracted with?"

[Monsters are exceedingly common creatures in the Demon Realm. Turn your head and they litter the ground. Monsters alone tell us nothing.

Yet the overall form of those beasts and the mana felt at the moment of summoning… they do rather resemble Gamigin's.]

Ah, so it was a contract with Gamigin.

According to Marbas, Gamigin was one of Solomon's Seventy-Two Demons and held the rank of Marquis. She usually appeared as a small donkey or horse. Her specialties were necromancy and spirit arts—she could summon the ghosts of the dead that the summoner desired, particularly souls who had died in sin or perished at sea. She sometimes took human form, and it was said that sleeping with a talisman sealed with Gamigin's mana under one's pillow allowed one to meet the dead in dreams.

There's a strong theory that Gamigin is a fallen angel. If so, can I take it that the demon contractor behind this terror was later tracked down by holy magic users and killed?

Then I ought to meet them quickly—before they die.

"But isn't Gamigin's specialty necromancy and spirit arts? How can she summon this many monsters?"

Marbas snorted at my question.

[Child, O foolish contractor of mine—just because a child's specialty is swordplay, does that mean they cannot use black magic?]

"Ah… I see."

Thinking about it, it was obvious. Summoning monsters was a basic ability any black mage possessed; those specifically called "demon contractors" could hardly be incapable of it.

"Still, calling me foolish over that seems a bit much, doesn't it?"

[I call the foolish foolish—what else should I say? Do you wish me to coddle you simply because you are my contractor? Even those winged ones dwelling in the Heavenly Realm do not unconditionally coddle their contractors, so how much less would a demon? One must first realize one's own ignorance and lack of knowledge so as not to remain completely illiterate; even the smallest flaw must be corrected while it still can. This body speaks thus for the sake of its contractor—take it to heart.]

This was genuinely unfair. Was it right to be scolded this thoroughly over one poorly phrased question?

Forget it. Since words would not get through, I simply had to yield.

Marbas seemed to be in a somewhat foul mood today.

Ignoring her, I summoned Miho.

"Kang."

The moment she appeared, Miho scrambled up onto my shoulder.

"Miho, can you see the monsters being summoned over there?"

Perched on my shoulder, Miho swished her tail and nodded.

"Every time a monster is summoned, do you sense a faint black mana different from the monster's own?"

"Kang kang."

Miho shook her head.

Was her level still not high enough for that? With black mana saturating every direction, detecting a faint signature hidden among it would not be easy.

Still, it was a little disappointing. If Miho could have sensed the demon contractor's mana, finding them would have been simple.

Let me think.

Why had the contractor bound to Gamigin involved themselves in this affair? Once revealed as the ringleader of an academy terror attack, they would face pursuit not only from holy magic users but from the government and the academy as well.

Simply for amusement?

That could be part of it, of course. But what transcendent being would allow their contractor to carry out such a high-risk plan for mere interest? Unless Gamigin was the sort who used and discarded contractors like tissues, the assumption made no sense.

So there must have been a goal they wanted to achieve even at this cost. And that goal might well lie within the academy—for example, the Philosopher's Stone sealed beneath the dormitory.

I hesitated at the voice coming through the phone. Kim Gabyul did not know the Philosopher's Stone was beneath the dormitory. Was it all right to tell her the truth?

"I sense something at the dormitory. I'm going to check it out."

My choice was simply to be vague.

Grrraaah!

"Whoops."

Perhaps the giant monster had heard my voice while I was speaking with Kim Gabyul; it slammed its claws down toward me. I dodged the attack and sprinted for the dormitory. That was the only lead that came to mind, so I was heading there.

I ended the call and switched my phone to silent.

I made my way toward the dormitory as carefully as possible, avoiding both monsters and people. There were so many monsters that hiding my presence was easy. With this much black mana saturating the air, my own mana signature did not stand out in the slightest.

For the students to have completed the evacuation without being attacked by these creatures—how sturdy and well-secured the academy buildings must have been. And the monster that had broken through that security…

Fortunately, while the monsters were numerous beyond reason, few of them were particularly substantial. That was why the students and professors could continue holding out. Any truly threatening monster was cut down the moment it appeared by the vice principal, which was also how the front line was being maintained. Without the vice principal, the academy would have descended into utter chaos at once, and the casualties would have been far higher.

I ran on, concealing my presence as best I could. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not yet learned any proper stealth techniques, so I simply avoided drawing eyes. The situation was already pandemonium; no one would spare me a second glance anyway.

I reached the dormitory.

The moment I stepped inside, I felt mana swirling violently in the space beneath my feet. I turned around and walked back out. The moment I left the building, the mana underfoot vanished without a trace. When I re-entered, it returned.

A barrier had clearly been placed on the dormitory—one designed so that no one outside could know what was happening within.

The fact that such a barrier has become this unstable means…

It seemed I had come to the right place after all.