Chapter 37: A Sudden Academy Confrontation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: A Sudden Academy Confrontation
As a low rumble echoed across the horizon, the sky seemed to peel back like a drawn curtain.
Distorted cracks spiderwebbed outward from a single point in the air. The intense heat and light bleeding through the fissures warped the atmosphere, blurring the sky into a hazy shimmer.
More and more senior sisters from the academy took to the skies on their brooms, flying toward the rupture.
It was a terrifying sight, as if the heavens themselves were collapsing. Tongues of flame licked greedily into the world, prying the rift even wider. The edges of the rift resembled a shattered mirror; fragments constantly broke off and fell, dissolving into nothingness before they could even hit the ground.
Everyone seemed prepared, ready to face combat at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, the tremors racking the earth grew even more violent.
I shut the glass door of the shop and huddled in a corner, terrified the building might collapse and bury me. I gripped the chest badge at my collar—my only means of attack, even if I’d never used it.
Senior Sister Tang Yihan had told me its spells were powerful. I’d taken her word for it; if things turned south, this would be my final trump card.
I peered through the glass every few seconds to check the situation outside. With the academy in this state, where were the teachers? Why weren't they coming out to handle this?
Instead, the senior sisters seemed to be acting with a practiced synergy, forming a defensive phalanx in the sky.
I was the only one in the shop. This total lack of security was a horrible feeling. Why hadn't Senior Sister Tang Yihan returned yet?
Just as I was grumbling to myself, another thunderous boom shook the sky.
This time, it felt as if the heavens themselves were caving in.
I cautiously crept toward the door. If things took a turn for the worse, I was going to abandon the shop and run.
Manager, senior sisters... this is really more than I can handle. I want to protect the shop, I want to keep this part-time job... but it’s only my second day! I haven't even been paid yet...
A thousand thoughts raced through my head, but when I looked up, a massive, scar-like gash stretched across the firmament, as if someone had taken a blade to the sky.
The terrifying flow of energy was almost visible to the naked eye, twisting the edges of the rift into a scene I would never forget. The dissipation and transformation of that energy created a massive heatwave on the horizon, while the blinding light felt as if a second sun had been forged in the heavens.
I could feel the temperature inside the shop rising rapidly.
Between the fear and the fact that this was my first time experiencing something like this, sweat began to soak through my uniform—though whether from terror or the heat, I couldn't tell.
Truly, when the gods fight, it’s the mortals who suffer. The school year hasn't even started yet; how could the academy be in this state?
I’d never heard of any external threats to this world—no Alien Beast invasions, no Abyssal Demon occupations... Society was supposed to be peaceful.
Why was there such a terrifying aftershock from a battle?
My brain felt like it was about to overload, leaving me with nothing but a primal fear of the unknown. The only thing that came to mind was the "Curtain Wall" Sister Bai had mentioned before. This horrific situation... the academy's Curtain Wall must have been shattered, right?
Could a Curtain Wall even be broken? In novels, aren't those things usually the ultimate, unbreakable barrier? How could this be happening?
I gripped my phone tightly, paralyzed with indecision.
Should I call someone?
Tang Yihan had told me I could call her if I ran into trouble, but was it really okay to bother her with something this big?
Ultimately, I dialed the number. Even if I felt like she couldn't solve this personally, as a graduated witch of the academy, she had to know what was going on.
"Hello... Senior Sister Tang? Can you hear me?"
"I hear you, Xiao Han. How is it on your end?" Her voice came through quickly, accompanied by the whistling of a fierce wind.
"I'm fine, Senior Sister. What's happening? Will we be caught in the crossfire?" I asked hurriedly.
"The birdmen from the Holy Angel Academy have teamed up with those guys from the Wizard Academy to lay siege to our Witch Academy. They’ve certainly got some nerve."
"Huh?"
I froze. An academy war? How could it happen so suddenly? Shouldn't the academy have mobilized all the students for a counter-offensive? There had been no warning at all—just a sudden ambush.
I had so many questions I wanted to ask.
"It's fine, Xiao Han. You should be safe if you stay in the shop. Protect yourself; your safety is the top priority."
"O-okay."
As soon as I agreed, Tang Yihan hung up. She sounded like she was in a massive hurry and didn't have time for explanations. I looked up at the senior sisters on their brooms. Was one of them her?
A few seconds after the call ended, my phone rang again. This time, it was Sister Bai.
It seemed she was worried about me. She had probably been trying to call while I was on the line with Tang Yihan, and the call finally went through the moment I hung up. I answered without hesitation.
"Sister Bai."
"Xiao Han, are you okay?" Sister Bai’s voice sounded uncharacteristically panicked.
"I'm fine, I'm okay."
"Good. Protect yourself. The battle is happening too close to where you live. Your safety comes first."
"I know, I don't want to die yet. Wait, Sister Bai, do you know what's going on?"
"Yes. Judging by the energy signatures and the combat style, it should be students from the Holy Angel Academy."
"Students?"
I stared at the chaos on the horizon. Students could do this?
"If another academy is attacking us, why aren't the teachers doing anything?" I asked urgently.
"Of course they aren't, and they can't. The opponents are students; how can the teachers interfere? Even if a teacher wanted to step in, they’d likely be stopped by our own students. This is a battle between student bodies. If the teachers interfered, it would be a tacit admission that the students of the Witch Academy are weaklings. Do you understand?"
"I... think I understand..."
I looked outside with a complicated expression. Amidst the fear, there was a flicker of yearning. That kind of power was truly mesmerizing.
Is this what it means to be strong?
"Xiao Han, are you in your dorm? I'm coming to find you. Just stay put." Sister Bai’s voice came through the phone again.
"Huh? Coming to find me? Wait, I'm not at the dorm."
"Not at the dorm? Then where are you? You didn't go near the battlefield, did you?" Her tone turned sharp with anxiety.
"No, I'm not that suicidal. I'm still at my part-time job. It's in the Xinmengli Block, at a bakery..."
"The Red Velvet Bakery?"
"Eh? Red Velvet Bakery?" I was taken aback. The shop didn't have a prominent sign with a name, but their specialty was indeed red velvet cake.
"I think so? It's not far from my dorm..."
"Fine. Stay there and don't move. I'm coming to get you."