Dark Moon
"The hobgoblin has mutated! Scatter and use ice-attribute magic!!"
I shouted at the squad members scrambling to their feet in panic.
Fortunately, they weren't completely clueless. The moment they heard my order, they immediately began channeling mana and preparing their spells.
The fastest was, as expected, No. 31. She seemed to have already been preparing a spell before I even finished speaking, and was the first to cast the 2-Class magic Ice Arrow.
The ice arrow flew true, aimed squarely at the hobgoblin's head, and struck home.
Crack!
The rainwater streaming down the hobgoblin's head met the freezing cold and froze solid in an instant. It was magic that had killed a gargoyle in one hit, but the hobgoblin merely shook its head and shook off the ice. Even with the Magic Resistance trait granted by the Dark Moon's influence, the spell wasn't completely ineffective. Its face was bloodied from the wound.
"Kyaaaaaaaaah!"
The hobgoblin let out a roar of rage. The target of that fury was, of course, No. 31. Her expression remained calm. She neither flinched nor retreated. Perhaps that didn't sit well with it. The hobgoblin grabbed a piece of timber lying nearby and hurled it at No. 31.
"Barrier."
A protective barrier appeared, wrapping around No. 31's body. The barrier blocked the timber; it merely shuddered violently.
"Ice!!"
The squad members surrounding the hobgoblin all cast the 1-Class magic Ice in unison. Strictly speaking, Ice was a spell that used cold energy to create ice. Its efficiency dropped in arid desert regions with no moisture, but in a situation like this—with rain pouring down—its effectiveness doubled.
Crack. Crunch.
The hobgoblin's entire body froze over. Its movements stopped. But the hobgoblin wasn't dead. Inside the ice, its eyeballs were still rolling around.
Damn Magic Resistance. I can't let this chance slip. I have to kill it.
I calculated the most effective magic for the current situation.
2-Class magic, Air Strike.
Among 2-Class spells, it ranked among the top in pure physical power. Even though it was still magic and would be affected by Magic Resistance, I had no other options.
The rain weakens fire magic's power—it'd just melt the ice on the hobgoblin's body. Earth-attribute magic has the same problem.
Having made my decision, there was no reason to hesitate. In combat, even a second of hesitation was dangerous.
I drew up twelve mana roads and wove the formula.
"Air Strike."
"Air Strike."
No. 31's chant overlapped with mine.
The air warped. Air Strike was originally wind—invisible to the naked eye—but the relentless downpour from the sky revealed its form.
The distorted space slammed straight into the frozen hobgoblin.
BOOM!
The ice shattered, and the hobgoblin's red blood spilled onto the wet ground.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
The hobgoblin roared and moved its legs.
"Maintain distance and use Ice magic! Same as before! Two or three more rounds and we can kill it!"
I kicked a small pebble rolling on the ground and struck the hobgoblin's head. There was no real offensive intent. To the hobgoblin, it would barely register as a tickle. But when you're already furious and get hit in the head with a pebble? Your mood plummets and the irritation only grows.
The hobgoblin's attention turned toward me. Its face twisted into a vicious snarl, and it charged straight at me. Not at No. 31, who was closest, but at me, who was farthest away. Just as I'd intended.
"Ice Arrow."
The activated magic flew and struck the hobgoblin's left leg, freezing it solid. The hobgoblin's body tilted.
Bought some time. Now the squad freezes its body with Ice, and No. 31 and I hit it with Air Strike.
The hobgoblin's middling intelligence worked in our favor. In game terms, aggro management was easy.
"…?!"
Suddenly I felt a chill. Every cell in my body recoiled, and my hair stood on end with an unpleasant sensation.
The mana in the atmosphere has changed. The mana that was already wild from the Dark Moon's influence has grown even more violent.
Even knowing the hobgoblin was limping toward me on its frozen leg, I couldn't help but turn my gaze.
It was No. 31.
Her red eyes blazed as she drew a spell at the center of the violent mana.
That's not 2-Class. 3-Class…? No. This is similar to when Instructor Vinous uses magic…
No. 31's rain gear fluttered. Her purple hair billowed upward. There was no wind right now. The wind around her was the movement of mana itself.
"No. 31! Stop!!"
I shouted with everything I had, even from the gut.
It was useless. No. 31's red eyes were locked on the hobgoblin. She didn't even glance my way.
What? Why is No. 31 going berserk?
No. 31's magic manifested. A smile formed on her lips. Feeling a chill of dread, I hurriedly put distance between myself and the hobgoblin.
The wind blew.
It gathered toward the hobgoblin, carving claw-like marks into the ground as it went.
The hobgoblin swung its fists and feet at the formless wind. Needless to say, that alone couldn't stop it.
The wind grew denser with time and began to rotate around the hobgoblin.
4-Class magic. Tornado.
This isn't an ordinary Tornado. Even though it's small, each individual gust has been given physical properties. In other words, it's a Tornado that applies Wind Cutter to every single stream of air.
The hobgoblin's body was sliced by the wind. The tornado began to take on a red hue. The hobgoblin's blood.
The tornado lasted about thirty seconds before dissipating.
The hobgoblin had been reduced to blood, chunks of flesh, and bone fragments.
"Ahaha, ahahahaha."
I heard No. 31's laughter. Feeling cold sweat break out on my back, I looked at her. Laughing as she gazed at the black moon, she was clearly different from usual.
"…"
Neither I nor the squad members let our guard down. Sensing an intense wrongness from No. 31, we prepared to fight at any moment.
Static. Crackle.
A sound came from the radio. I quickly picked it up.
"No. 211. Can you hear me?"
"…Instructor Vinous. I hear you."
"I'm watching the situation. I'm on my way now—fall back with your squad members! Hurry!"
There was urgency in Instructor Vinous's voice, which was normally always so composed. That meant even he hadn't expected this situation.
"Get away from No. 31! Now!"
The squad members moved fast. They immediately put distance between themselves and No. 31.
"Ahahahaha."
No. 31 kept laughing.
Mana gathered and churned around her. The mud on the ground heaved, and the rain falling from the sky avoided only her.
Even as I tensed enough to break out in cold sweat, part of my mind calmly speculated on No. 31's true nature.
A few possibilities came to mind. After cross-referencing them, the most likely guess was one.
The Witch Factor. She seemed to be in a good mood when the Dark Moon rose, and even though she's not a dark mage, her magical ability increased.
If No. 31 possessed the Witch Factor, everything made sense.
Judging by the instructors' reactions, she was probably born with the Witch Factor innately.
I don't know her exact origins, but it's 100% certain she has a special bloodline.
Mana gathered before her.
I focused and analyzed the formula.
3-Class magic, Air Boom.
4-Class magic, Levitation.
No. 31's body rose into the sky. The effect of the 4-Class magic Levitation.
The problem was the 3-Class magic Air Boom. After calculating the formula and mana, it was 3-Class in name only—its power rivaled that of a 5-Class spell.
Is she planning to wipe out this entire area with Air Boom?
If it were just me, I could somehow hold out. Stack Barriers and use the artifact Lexy gave me. But the other squad members were different. They couldn't cast magic as fast as I could.
I glanced at the sky.
Thunderbolt was impossible, but using the dark clouds, something like the 4-Class Lightning Strike seemed feasible.
No. I won't use Lightning Strike.
Instructor Vinous was coming from behind. I couldn't showcase my full power and talent here. I steeled my resolve. Even if the squad members died, I would hide my true ability for the sake of the future.
I was about to weave the Barrier formula when Instructor Vinous appeared. The moment he showed himself, he unleashed a battle cry and cast magic.
"Fall back!!"
An invisible wall of mana stretched out from him and enveloped the area around No. 31. Air Boom erupted, but it was blocked by the mana wall. All the squad members were unharmed.
I recognized it as a type of barrier magic.
He cast it in a hurry so the formula is sloppy, yet he still barely managed to block No. 31's Air Boom. So that's the level of a 5-Class mage.
Instructor Vinous leaped toward No. 31. Magic glittered beneath his feet.
Platform magic… an application of Barrier?
In terms of formula, it was simpler than 1-Class magic. But the casting speed was extraordinarily fast. Given that floating platforms in midair meant even a slight misstep would send you tumbling to a fatal injury, the timing also had to be perfect.
I could probably copy the magic itself easily enough, but applying it the way Instructor Vinous did seemed impossible.
I fell back with the squad members and watched the battle between No. 31 and Instructor Vinous.
Instructor Vinous is trying to subdue No. 31. And No. 31 isn't being overwhelmed either.
Instructor Vinous used magic efficiently. He cast the appropriate spell at the right timing. For instance, when No. 31 used the 2-Class Ice Arrow, he blocked it with the 1-Class Fire.
He's not just blocking to cancel it out—he's neutralizing Ice Arrow's cold with Fire.
You could say he was exploiting elemental affinities to the extreme.
Just watching this is helpful.
The battle continued. Instructor Vinous's knife-hand strike grazed No. 31's neck. Startled, No. 31 shot up into the sky. Against the backdrop of dark clouds, the smile vanished from her face. No. 31's mana surged skyward.
Rumble.
The dark clouds flashed.
Lightning Spike…!
A bolt of lightning crashed down toward Instructor Vinous.
"Dome Ground."
I heard Instructor Vinous's quiet voice. Immediately after, earth shot up around him and formed a dome. The temporary earthen structure easily blocked Lightning Spike.
Having served its purpose, the dome didn't crumble—it shot upward and flew toward No. 31.
Hit in the forehead by the mass of earth, No. 31's Levitation wavered. Her body dropped, then stopped midway. Barely maintaining the spell, No. 31 glared at Instructor Vinous as if she wanted to kill him and raised her mana.
Mana incomparable to anything so far radiated from No. 31.
"Stop! Stop and come to your senses, No. 31!"
Instructor Vinous shouted.
There was no way No. 31, in her berserk state, would listen. Instructor Vinous activated Dome Ground once more.
Boom.
BOOM-BOOM. Boom.
Explosions rang out.
The 3-Class magic Air Boom erupted indiscriminately.
In less than ten seconds, more than ten Air Booms went off, reducing the ground to rubble. Instructor Vinous's Dome Ground was also shattered. He tried to wrap himself in a Barrier for protection, but even that wasn't easy. His body was flung about by the aftershocks of the Air Booms. Still, his Barrier never broke and continued to hold.
"No…!"
Instructor Vinous cried out.
Because No. 31, who had cast the magic, couldn't protect her own body and was being tossed about in midair by the Air Boom aftershocks. On top of that, she seemed to have lost consciousness mid-flight—her Levitation canceled and she plummeted downward. And below her, of all places, was a waterfall.
"No. 211!!! Save No. 31!!"
Instructor Vinous shouted at me, the one closest to No. 31.
I gritted my teeth and ran toward her.
If I did nothing here, Instructor Vinous would pin the blame on me and kill me. That much was obvious without looking.
If I want to live, I have to save No. 31!