Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Monster Assault
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"Neris, inform the enforcers of the situation and have them stand by for contingencies."
"Lady Sia.
Wouldn't it be better to gather the candidates and evacuate them to safety right now?"
Neris's suggestion was reasonable.
Everyone was scattered throughout the school,
so if casualties occurred, responding in time would be difficult.
But for some reason, I couldn't just stand by.
"That might play right into the enemy's hands."
Sia and Neris turned to look at me.
"What do you mean?"
"There could be explosives hidden among the candidates. Or monsters disguised as candidates."
"Do you have any evidence?"
"It's not hard for a skilled mage to disguise their appearance, even if infiltrating with multiple monsters posing as humans is tricky.
Right now, Melbritt is detecting more mana signatures than the management system should be picking up.
Until we hear from Herka, gathering people is too risky."
"......"
Sia nodded.
"Neris, do as the candidate Decal says.
He's a special investigator. He knows this situation better than anyone."
"Understood.
I'll prepare for combat. Lady Sia, please authorize my armament."
"Authorized."
After Neris left the student council room, Sia and I were alone.
"A special investigator, huh...
You sure know how to talk your way into points. Neris must see you in a new light now."
"So, what should I do now? Head straight to Herka?"
"Yes. No one in Melbritt will get in your way.
Meet Herka, get her advice, and proceed with whatever seems most appropriate.
I'll handle the rest..."
"By yourself?"
Sia flashed a bright smile.
"Leave the complicated stuff to me. I'm your maid, after all."
That was when it happened.
"Kyaaah!"
"It's a monster!"
"Where did it come from?!"
Sia and I locked eyes.
"It's started.
I don't know who's behind it, but even I got caught off guard."
"They exploited a gap in the system. If I weren't Noah, I wouldn't have noticed the anomalies either."
"You sure have a lot of amazing women around you."
"You're one of them.
Just curious—what's your plan from here?"
"I just pinpointed Ekaterina's location.
I'll use dimensional magic to capture the culprit and rescue the hostages."
......You pinpointed it?
Without moving a step from the student council room?
"That simple? You sure it's not a scam?"
Sia pouted cutely.
"A scam? Do I look like a con artist to you?"
"No...
It just feels like you skipped a few steps."
"Even if you call it a scam, I'm doing it.
For your sake too—I can't let Melbritt get attacked.
If this place falls, humanity gets pushed to the world's edges in one go. Rapes and murders breaking out everywhere..."
"In short, we're screwed?"
"Yes.
Until you secure the Demon King and the hero, Melbritt can't fall.
Since the enemy has set this in motion, it'll take time for me to clean up alone."
Fair enough.
I hadn't even grasped the full extent of the damage myself.
Sia was diving deep into the heart of the problem.
Even a goddess who could go anywhere with dimensional magic would need time.
I wanted to lighten her load a bit.
"Leave this to me."
Sia smiled prettily.
"I'll count on you. But don't push yourself too hard. Melbritt will be protected."
Her tone carried some deeper meaning.
Like she had something to rely on besides her own power.
Shouts echoed from outside. No time for chit-chat.
"Sia. See you later!"
"Yeah!"
Enforcers. Where were the enforcers?
I'd seen most facilities in Melbritt.
So, picking a place I hadn't been to yet was likely the answer.
I dashed down the corridor.
Talk about perfect timing.
Monsters had appeared all over the school.
Was this Ekaterina's aim?
Not sure yet. The damage didn't seem that severe.
Melbritt was full of hero candidates.
Even non-combatants knew exactly what to do in a crisis, so responses were swift.
The monsters varied in shape but shared a common trait: they looked like black sludge melted into forms.
Not pitch black—more like a faint purple aura clung to them,
strikingly similar to the color Ekaterina's magic produced.
Her magic was influencing the entire Melbritt.
Black doll-like monsters lunged at the candidates.
"Urk!"
One stuck to me too, so I shook it off with brute force. Chilling.
Their reflexes were insane. Nothing like the training soul soldiers.
Fighting them one by one would pin me down!
I summoned a wind spirit and started sprinting faster.
Leaping over waiting monsters, slipping through gaps, charging ahead.
Outside the main building, black creatures swarmed everywhere.
"Decal!"
"Oppa!"
Stia and Karen were in sight.
They were wielding swords against liquid monsters.
"End of Flames."
I blasted the monsters they were fighting with End of Flames.
Compressed heat from a wind barrier scorched a line through the monsters' bodies.
The aftershock alone dissolved the liquid monsters.
Stia and Karen sheathed their swords and ran over.
"Karen. Stia. You okay?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"As you can see, perfectly fine."
"Oppa, what's going on? Monsters just popped up out of nowhere..."
"No time to explain, but don't worry. The student council president is handling it.
I'm heading to Herka on her orders now."
"Herka... Herka Philote?"
Stia asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Herka Philote. Heard she's detained by the enforcers.
Know where?"
"If it's the enforcers, that way!"
I checked the direction Karen pointed.
"Going ahead.
Don't overdo it—protect yourselves."
"That's what I wanted to say, Decal.
The enforcers' side is swarming with monsters. No one can get through."
"We'll see!"
I bolted across the garden.
Just like Stia said, monsters everywhere. Nothing but monsters in sight.
Melbritt looked like a black swamp.
I burned through them with End of Flames as I ran.
Still, they kept spawning from somewhere. Dropping from above.
No end in sight.
Where are they pouring from?
Like scattering soul soldiers.
If they're being sent continuously, I couldn't fight them individually.
I fell back and focused my mana.
"Fireball."
To wipe them out more thoroughly.
I unleashed the fireball to devour mana freely and waited.
As the monsters clustered...
I pointed and launched it!
KABOOM!
A massive explosion cleared the area.
They'd swarm back soon... but I charged in.
Using Space Leap to close the distance instantly, the enforcers' building was right there.
That's where I met a differently shaped monster.
"What the—this one?"
I stopped and faced it.
It was a grotesque lifeform covered in black tentacles.
All tentacles stabbed into the ground, injecting glowing red liquid into the earth.
Creepy-looking thing.
Should I attack first?
As I reached out, the black monsters surged more fiercely, as if guarding it.
"Damn...!"
I detonated another fireball to clear them,
but before the smoke cleared, monsters packed around me.
At this rate, I'm done for...!
That was when it happened.
Wind sliced past me like a sharpened blade—whish.
An arrow streaked like lightning, unleashing a massive shockwave that swept the monsters.
Looking toward the arrow's origin, there was Esty.
"Esty!"
"Darling, you hurt?"
Seeing Esty's face put me greatly at ease.
As monsters swarmed, Esty nocked five arrows at once.
Four zigzagged, devastating the monsters.
The last one precisely burst the head of the tentacled monster on the ground.
Incredible skill...
I could only admire.
"Decal, it's not over yet."
Esty said, drawing a translucent arrow.
"Bad feeling.
These are decoys. They're prepping some ritual magic."
"Ritual magic?"
"Yeah. Takes a lot to set up, but once triggered, hard to stop.
We need someone who knows ritual magic inside out."
That meant Herka, of course.
Esty's judgment matched Sia's.
"I'll head to the enforcers. Clear a path!"
"Got it."
Esty shot arrows that cleaved through the black wave of monsters.
I ran.
Once close enough, Space Leap took me straight through the door inside.
"Eek!"
The moment I entered, I collided with someone, sending them tumbling on their butt.
"What an unexpected attack...!"
The girl on the floor rubbed her reddened forehead and glared up at me.
"Who are you! Where'd you come from?"
"Busy right now, so later..."
"Who isn't busy?
You bump into someone, you apologize! My forehead hurts!"
What a brat.
Looking closer, her face rang a bell.
Twin tails of chestnut hair, gray eyes...
Up close, a cute girl. Chest still flat, but feminine hips and slender legs were appealing.
"What're you staring at? Aha, you figured out who I am?"
"......Who are you?
I'm busy—can we do this later?"
"You'll regret not knowing after I tell you!"
"If you wanna talk, spit it out. I'm in a hurry."
"Ugrr!"
The girl stomped her feet in frustration.
"It's me! Me!
Herka Philote. Melbritt's genius girl! You don't know me?"
"Oh."
What a coincidence.
The one I was looking for, right here.
"Herka, I've been searching for you."
"Why? Autograph?"
Herka giggled.
......Tempted to hypnotize her.
Calm down. Can't get dragged into her pace.
Looks like a kid, but Melbritt's top genius mage.
Not just any girl.
"Come with me."
"That might be a~ bit tricky.
Pretend you didn't see me escape, and I'll autograph later! Bye!"
I grabbed the collar of Herka as she tried to bolt.
"Waaah!"
Herka flailed her limbs.
"Don't grab! Don't lift! Put me down!"
"Sorry, but
hear me out first. Outside's crawling with monsters—total chaos."
"Monsters?"
Herka's demeanor shifted abruptly.
"What's going on?"
I set Herka down and briefly explained.
"A Demon King's army executive infiltrated Melbritt.
Seems they hid monsters here."
"That level can't handle the candidates' combat power. Neris alone could clean them up."
......Same brat from before?
Ice-cold and composed now.
"Let's go together for now."
"Guessing you're here on student council orders?
Fine. Stick with me. Time to act rationally."
"Opening the door.
Monsters might rush in. Careful."
"Who do you think I am? Melbritt's once-in-a-lifetime genius girl—that's me."
"Yeah, yeah."
I flung the door wide.
As expected, swarming monsters charged in.
"Eek! You scared me!"
"Told you to be careful."
"Can't help getting startled!
It's not like mental prep makes it go away! It's a physiological reaction!"
Ugh, noisy one.
"End of Flames!"
I cast the spell to blast the monsters and clear a path.
"Neat spell.
You're a freshman, right?"
"Yeah. Just enrolled."
"Then you might not know me."
"......Yeah."
Heard your name nonstop since I got here.
Herka strode out confidently and stretched.
"Under a clear sky, things that shouldn't be are crawling around.
My turn for magic. You won't forget Herka Philote again."
"......"
I tensed.
The goddess called her real deal.
Would I witness it...?
"Close your eyes. It'll all be over when you open them."
Herka raised her hand.
I did as told and shut my eyes.
And...
Nothing happened.
......
Weird—I opened my eyes, and Herka was gone.
"Ah!"
This punk! She ditched me!
I used Search to track her trail and grabbed her collar again.
"Kyaaang! Let gooo."
"Want me to lift you by the hair like bunny ears?"
"That'd ruin my hair! Nooo!"
"......"
Whew...
Hard to handle...
I get why Sia sent me.
"Fine. Letting you go."
"Really?"
I set Herka down.
"My uniform's all stretched."
Herka straightened her clothes and grumbled the moment her feet touched the floor.
"Herka, look at this."
"Hm?"
Snap.
I snapped my fingers.