Chapter 30
**CHAPTER TITLE: The Silent Duel at the Western Gate**
< p >As Aria and Mu began their breakthrough toward the Central Tower, students and professors elsewhere were doing exactly what Aria had anticipated. They formed a tight defensive cluster and were holding back the tide of undead that surged toward them.
< p >Most students offered little help, while the professors handled the massive waves of undead with ease. But among them, students were shining brightly too.
< p >“Ugh, damn it! There are so many of these things!”
< p >“Stop chatting and cast some more magic! Archery has limits, you know!”
< p >“Both of you, stop arguing and just focus on killing the enemies!”
< p >“Cooking undead… I can already taste the gore.”
< p >And among them were these four.
< p >In order: Arin, Riana, Shaty, and Kana.
< p >Since they had all transferred to the same class, they had ended up in close proximity. Their reunion was swift, and now they were joined by other professors and students, each showing off their hard-earned skills.
< p >As classmates in the same A-class, these four had grown very close to their teacher Aria over the past month.
< p >With that closeness, their teamwork felt almost instinctive. The four moved in perfect sync, slaughtering the undead before them.
< p >Arin cut down and pushed back the undead at the front line. Riana and Shaty followed with massive barrages. Any that survived were finished cleanly by Kana.
< p >Even just the ones they had slain numbered around a hundred already. Yet the endless wave of undead still poured in, and Shaty’s expression twisted with growing despair.
< p >“There’s no end to them! I killed a hundred and they keep spitting out three hundred?! That’s not possible!”
< p >“If this keeps up, we’ll fall back here in no time. No matter how much the professors help, this is far too many.”
< p >Perhaps driven by a sense of camaraderie, the undead that were being slaughtered all converged on this spot. Soon the surrounding undead poured in from every direction, threatening to collapse the formation at any moment.
< p >Other directions were being held by professors and a few students, but no matter how long they held, the limit was only about ten minutes, maybe even eight.
< p >Still, even in this desperate situation, they could not give up. Not while their teacher was watching. For a moment they paused, then gripped their weapons once more and resumed.
< p >“I’ll take the front!”
< p >The first to move was, of course, Arin, standing at the very front.
< p >Arin swung her sword in a graceful arc toward the undead charging at her.
< p >“Crescent Moon.” “Half-Moon.”
< p >The Sword Qi she had personally learned in her Sword Mastery class from Professor Aria. The very same Sword Qi she had witnessed in the tent the day she first met Aria.
< p >Swish—!
< p >Arin’s blade twisted in a strange angle and sliced straight through the five undead that had rushed forward. A shockwave rippled outward, shaking the line of undead that had been charging from the rear.
< p >She had seized the perfect moment. Shaty and Riana’s massive attacks swept the undead away in a storm of destruction.
< p >“Large technique incoming!”
< p >“I’ll catch it with your name on it!”
< p >The first to strike was Shaty’s staff.
< p >“Meteor!”
< p >Not the single stone she had failed to summon during that day’s Magic class. Hundreds of stones rained down at once in true Meteor form.
< p >The size was reduced to fit the space and the danger behind them, but the power was several times greater than on that first day.
< p >Kuguguguung—!!!
< p >With a thunderous roar, Shaty’s Meteor crushed the undead into rubble and ash.
< p >Before the explosion could even fade, Riana loosed the string of her drawn bow.
< p >“Wind Pillar!”
< p >A violent gust erupted from the ground like a geyser, sweeping away the undead and leaving a towering column of wind.
< p >True to the name, Riana’s Wind Pillar tore the undead into countless fragments.
< p >Because the attack had a wider range, most of the undead seemed to have been cleared. Yet some still remained, stubbornly crawling forward.
< p >These undead, with their tough life force, dragged themselves along even after their limbs were severed.
< p >Standing directly in front of them, Kana drew her kitchen knife without hesitation.
< p >“Cooking something with flesh that has already rotted… I’d probably throw up. But…”
< p >There was no other choice.
< p >Kana muttered to herself and raised the knife. At the same moment, an invisible blade hovered above the heads of the approaching undead.
< p >“Board Laying.” “Minced!”
< p >The technique she had learned from Yeonha during lunch breaks and practiced in Sword Mastery class. By now there was no delay in preparation.
< p >A vast cutting board spread out beneath her feet. The moment it appeared, Kana’s knife swung down and the undead that had been crawling on it were shredded, their entrails spilling across the ground.
< p >The neatly sliced remains looked almost like a finished dish. But knowing the ingredients, the four could not help grimacing.
< p >“Still, that should be enough to clean up most of them…”
< p >Arin glanced back for a moment of relief, but the sight that greeted her made the entire group’s faces fall.
< p >“…I can’t even look anymore.”
< p >“There really is no end to them.”
< p >“I knew it was bad, but seeing it with my own eyes… it’s worse than I thought.”
< p >“Even if every resident of Sky Island had become undead, that’s still too many, isn’t it?”
< p >They had handled roughly 150 out of the 300 that had rushed forward earlier. Now the number in view easily exceeded 500.
< p >Where were all these undead coming from?
< p >It was an absurd situation to complain about, but they had no time. With 500 more joining, they could not afford to waste a single second.
< p >The four prayed that the other allies—or ideally, Professor Aria and the others—would arrive soon. Then they raised their weapons once more.
< p >Jingling—
< p >“Purification. Divine Purge.”
< p >A clear bell-like sound rang out. A wave of holy light spread forward and swallowed the undead first.
< p >No, not only the undead. It swallowed Arin’s group, the students and professors fighting behind them, and even the undead they were blocking.
< p >The light flowed gracefully, consuming everything in its path. It filled the undead with lethal divine power and bestowed warm healing light upon the living.
< p >“It looks like they arrived just in time. If anyone from the Central Tower had been here, it would have been a problem.”
< p >“Who?”
< p >“Ah, you are—”
< p >As if by magic, all the undead and the wounds on their bodies vanished. The four turned their eyes toward the source of the holy power.
< p >There stood a girl with platinum-blonde hair. Arin blinked in confusion while Shaty let out a delighted gasp.
< p >For Shaty, it was the familiar face she had always seen in class. She tried to introduce the girl to Arin, but the girl spoke first.
< p >“I am Pina from Class 1-C… Well, I came here to help as the next Pope candidate. Please just call me Pina.”
< p >In the past she would have been an ordinary academy student, but the command of a traveler had made her someone of the temple.
< p >Pina began calming the situation with a crisp bell sound and struck her massive staff down.
< p >***
< p >From the edge of Sky Island to the Central Tower, it took about 55 seconds to slaughter roughly three thousand undead.
< p >Even as a clone made of magic, she had fought well enough to rival the original. The time had been shorter than expected.
< p >So I looked up at one of the walls of the Central Tower that I had reached far too quickly and muttered while shielding my eyes.
< p >“So… this is the West Gate.”
< p >The Central Tower had four gates in total: East, West, South, and North.
< p >And right now I was standing at the West Gate in Aria’s form.
< p >Mu, in Meiel’s form, had headed toward the East Gate. The clones of Yujia and Kama had gone to the South and North Gates respectively.
< p >Because the Central Tower was enormous—occupying a fifth of Sky Island’s area—the other gates were out of sight. The only thing visible was the West Gate standing wide open before me.
< p >“The undead didn’t reach here either, so they want a 1v1 fight.”
< p >The undead that had arrived at the Central Tower had been numerous, but here at the West Gate not a single one remained in sight.
< p >Since they were not attacking us, they must have been sent to other students and professors. That meant the Demon Generals also wanted to fight us directly.
< p >I had already expected this, so I waited calmly, sword resting on my shoulder.
< p >A full minute passed. Then a woman walked out from the shadowed interior of the West Gate.
< p >Tap—tap—tap—
< p >Heels clicked as she approached under the sunlight. When she stepped fully into the light, her form was clear. I studied her closely.
< p >Her long white hair trailed down to her hips. Her eyes shone with a deep emerald green, as if the poison had been released. A tight bodysuit clung to her body, and at her waist hung five swords.
< p >Each sword exuded a vicious aura of dark magic.
< p >The moment I saw them, I knew without needing to be told.
< p >“You are one of the Demon Generals… Morgan the Magic Sword?”
< p >“Oh? You already know my name? I guess it’s okay if I show how much I know about you.”
< p >I had not expected her to know my name. A genuine shock flickered across her face before a bewitching smile replaced it.
< p >Her words were dangerous, but I did not consider them a problem. After all…
< p >“It doesn’t matter. If I capture you right now, I’ll learn everything you know anyway.”
< p >Suppressing and taking her prisoner would solve everything. Morgan tilted her head back and laughed.
< p >“Kyahahaha! What confidence! I like it.”
< p >“Is that so?”
< p >Her laughter was almost painful to the ears, but I soon stopped it. With the resolve to fight, I took my combat stance.
< p >In response, Morgan wiped her smile and drew one of her five swords.
< p >“…”
< p >“…”
< p >A brief silence settled between us.
< p >Neither of us wanted to waste time with talk anymore.
< p >Clang—!!!
< p >The next sound was the metallic clash of blades. It told us coldly that the battle between me and Morgan had begun.