Chapter 29
“They moved…….”
With a mesmerizing voice, someone had opened their eyes.
Unlike the dark chamber, the woman’s vision swept across the brightly lit room before locking onto a distant point. Her fist clenched tight.
Someone had been watching the magic circle that mixed mana with demonic energy, but the observers had only caught faint traces—until Ide a and Isolde’s spell had ensnared them. Now the form was crystal clear.
Of course the being would shake off the curse in moments, so the clear view lasted only a blink.
Determined, the woman rose slowly from the jade throne she had been sitting upon.
“Let me feel for myself just how grand the being prepared by the goddess Iriel truly is.”
She had waited such a long time.
After swallowing her words, she gently stroked the massive dragon’s head hidden behind her throne.
The dragon rumbled softly under her cool yet tender touch. The woman finally stepped onto the dragon’s head and rolled her feet lightly.
“Let us head for the Sky Island. Deiphilance.”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──!!”
The dragon rose to its full height at the name.
One massive shadow fell across the room. A single wingbeat sent a fierce gale howling through the space.
By the time the sound faded, the woman and the dragon had already vanished.
Toward the distant Sky Island.
* * *
The magic circle flared to life. The blinding light that had filled her vision vanished, leaving her to draw a deep breath and steady her racing heart.
Normally she would have felt the crisp, thin air unique to the floating island high above, but the scent that filled her nostrils was anything but normal.
She opened her eyes and gazed at the source of that strange odor.
What she saw was corpses. Corpses. Corpses. Nothing but corpses.
Only days earlier these residents of the Sky Island had been alive. Now they lay piled like a mountain of frozen corpses.
Beneath the mountain flowed a river of blood, dyeing the blue grassland a deep crimson. Sticky blood clung to her shoes.
“They killed an awful lot.”
“It’s disgusting……”
The Sky Island had been called a paradise, yet the scene before her was no less horrific than any hell.
Myel, standing beside her, covered her nose and voiced the same thought.
If the goal had been to wipe out every resident, she could understand the numbers, but to pile them so high required far more labor and time than necessary. They had been a little too conscientious.
Before My el could answer, she noticed that Myel was the only one left nearby and tensed. She scanned the surroundings.
“Myel, where are the other children? Did only we two get transferred?”
Hadn’t everyone from the academy come together? If so, surely students, teachers, or at least Mir a had arrived.
She frowned, suspecting some unexpected twist. My el’s reply quickly eased her worry.
“No, Mother. I confirmed every person from the academy is on the Sky Island. But the magic circle disperses each person to a different location, so they’re scattered across the island.”
“Then what about you, My el?”
“I altered the magic circle’s structure so I could transfer with Mother.”
“Ah, that explains it.”
She had assumed the method was something new, but it had always been this way.
Given Ide a and Isolde’s personalities, they had likely separated everyone on purpose to sow fear.
In the game she had never known this detail, since the story only began once the player characters joined a different group.
Yet now it felt better this way.
“The Sky Island is enormous, but a few hundred students and professors combined would still be no problem. With this situation, they’d all prioritize reuniting first.”
The island was half the size of the Fhara Kingdom, but even so it was still massive.
Even if the professors were scattered, reuniting would take time. And since they were the only ones left alone, they would focus on reuniting too.
While the others rushed to join, the path to kidnap the demon executives was wide open for them.
She felt a flicker of unease about how easily the plan unfolded, but good things were good things. She turned to My el.
“Myel, the visual distortion and magic-resistance barriers?”
“I activated them the moment we arrived. The demon executives are still trying to spy, but they can’t break through.”
“Good. Everything is perfect.”
The visual distortion and magic-resistance barriers she had ordered Myel to set up activated instantly upon transfer.
The Sky Island was already occupied by demon executives, so she assumed eyes and ears were everywhere.
They had to escape those eyes and ears first.
Since they were now perfectly hidden, she called My el again.
“Connect a telepathic link to Pina. I’ll do the talking.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Myel twirled her staff.
The next moment the connection settled firmly. She spoke.
“Pina, can you hear me?”
[This voice…… Traveler?]
Pina’s surprised tone showed her shock at the sudden contact.
Yet the priestess, well-versed in magic, quickly realized it was a telepathic link and calmed herself.
[Why the telepathic link?]
“It’s nothing serious. I just have a request.”
[A request……?]
“While exploring the Sky Island, find the other students and professors and protect them. Keep them from reaching the central tower.”
The central tower. The massive tower at the island’s heart where the demon executives had gathered—the towering structure visible ahead.
They had to capture every demon executive there. She needed someone to grab any students who tried to head to that tower.
And only Pina, a priestess under her, was in a position to accept such a burden without hesitation.
Pina immediately understood this was one of the plans she had mentioned before.
[Yes, I understand. But protecting them……]
“Ah, I didn’t mention that part.”
She realized she hadn’t explained the full details. The temple had only said they would capture the demon executives and take them to the temple’s underground.
Pina’s confusion showed, but she accepted the new instruction.
“I see. The corpses in front of me are……?”
[I don’t know the exact number…… but at least thirty.]
“Turn them all undead and I’ll cleanse them with holy power.”
[……Huh?]
“Myel, end the link.”
“Yes.”
[Wait, what……!]
Pina’s dazed reply showed she hadn’t fully processed the order. She ended the link without further explanation and drew her sword.
“Ide a, the sorceress. That girl can handle every kind of curse, including necromancy. Turning every corpse on the island into an undead army is trivial for her.”
The core of sorcery lay in creating details that magic could not.
Magic might produce “extremely hot fire.” Sorcery produced “fire that burns anyone who touches it and tracks those nearby to attach to them.”
Ssshrinng──
The sound of her blade leaving the sheath drew the corpses to twitch and rise.
Blue-skinned corpses, pale even in death, charged straight at her and Myel. She stepped in front of Myel.
“Prepare clones, Myel. We’ll break straight through to the central tower from now on.”
“Understood, Mother!”
These were nothing but sandbags for warm-up before fighting demon executives. The distance to the central tower was over three thousand bodies.
Ideally she would slice them all in under a minute.
* * *
Inside the central tower, Pensia, Ide a, Isolde, and Morgan sat around a table, each lost in their own thoughts.
The only sound was the four of them breathing. Suddenly Ide a looked up from her staff and shouted.
“Kyahahaha!! They finally came toward us! Eung! I love these kind of reckless charges!!!”
“Be quiet, Ide a.”
“Quiet down already.”
“It’s fine to watch quietly, isn’t it?”
Ide a was so excited about the battle approaching that she couldn’t stay silent. The other executives found her noise unbearable.
After a volley from the three of them, Ide a was shot down without a single counterattack. Only then did the room fall silent. The three executives turned their gazes to the same sight.
Four women.
One with rose-red hair swinging wildly as she hacked through the undead horde.
One smashing undead into the ground with her fists.
One shooting arrows that felled dozens in an instant.
One who swept her staff once and erased an entire wave.
Aria, Yujia, Kama, and Myel.
The professors the executives had scouted using the magic parasites. The biggest obstacles in this operation.
Watching their movements, Pensia straightened and spoke in a low voice.
“Accurate judgment. Different thinking from the other professors.”
“They blocked our vision the moment they transferred and even performed pursuit. Impressive.”
These four were nothing like the other professors. From the first moment they faced the unknown, they chose to eliminate the greatest threat instead of rushing to protect the students and join the others.
Whether it was trust in their own abilities or something else, the executives were certain of one thing: these women would never lose.
The sounds of their battle reached the executives’ ears—small, but unmistakable.
“They’re already close.”
“The cook isn’t in sight, but those four are definitely coming. So, no need to say anything.”
Isolde muttered coldly while staring out the window.
Pensia looked at the others.
How would they fight?
The answer was already settled in their minds. They had no doubts about their own strength.
Ide a, Isolde, Morgan, Pensia, and Ar (who was absent). The demon executives carried absolute confidence in themselves.
Yujia, Kama, Myel. Let’s divide up. Attack the central tower from each direction.
“Understood, Sister!”
“Leave it to me.”
“Understood……”
Four people dividing in their own videos. The first to speak was Morgan.
“I’ll kill that swordswoman, Aria.”
She grinned, eyes shining with excitement as she caressed the five swords at her waist.
The other executives each pointed to their target.
“I’ll take that mage, Myel. I want to fight another mage.”
Isolde pointed at Myel.
“I’ll take that archer! After I curse her, I want to watch her pretty face crumple slowly!”
Ide a pointed at Kama.
“I’ll take that fighter, Yujia. As someone who uses fists, I want to enjoy a good fight!”
Pensia pointed at Yujia.
The executives had never wavered in their confidence. The rule was simple.
Each person would kill one. They would not touch anyone else’s.
So they chose their own.
With their chosen targets, they armed themselves and left the central tower.
After all, undead were expendable. The Sky Island would drop within an hour. What mattered was only this one thing.
To taste the food they had chosen before the hour ran out.
The door closed. The four doors of the central tower opened.
