120. Orthros
120. Orthros
The fierce two-headed hound Orthos spewed flames that surged forward with ferocious intensity.
The flames, spreading at tremendous speed, first swallowed the barricade erected in front of the three without losing momentum.
Flames powerful enough to engulf all three of them closed in on them.
"Stone Wall!"
Just as the flames' heat drew close enough to burn them, a thick rock barrier rose from the ground.
Rio had prepared the spell the moment she saw Orthos with flames in its mouth.
It happened so instantaneously that if she had been even a little late, they would all have been roasted whole.
But the danger was not over yet.
-It can't be blocked with that.
Companion whispered into Amy's ear.
The Stone Wall Rio created was not a simple rectangular wall, but a rock barrier shaped as a rounded hemisphere.
Unlike a mere flat wall, it was shaped to deflect the ferocious flames up, down, left, and right, and even now, flames were clearly scattering off the edges.
The solid rocks seemed to block Orthos's flames very well, but the flames' intensity didn't die down at all and gradually heated the rocks.
"Ugh... Clay Wall..!!"
Rio-sunbae frowned and then cast another spell.
As clay rose from the ground and climbed the thick rock wall, it instantly enveloped the solid rock barrier.
The idea was to cool the rock surface with moisture-laden clay and make the wall even more solid.
The effect was excellent.
Thanks to the clay, the reinforced wall seemed to easily block Orthos's flames.
'It blocked it!'
-No, there's still 'one more head' left.
Before Companion had finished speaking, the intensity of the flames, which had seemed barely contained, suddenly doubled.
Until then, the two-headed Orthos had been spewing flames from only one mouth, but now it used both.
"Uwaaaah?!!"
The already heated air became twice as hot, making it feel like simply breathing would scorch their airways.
The clay protecting the rock wall cracked, and the rocks that had been shielded beneath it began to heat up instantly.
"Liber, let's dodge together!"
"Got it!"
Convinced that they could no longer hold it off, Amy picked up Rio and fled quickly with Liber while the barrier held.
The direct exposure to the heat leaking through the wall felt like their bodies were burning, but it was far better than taking a direct hit from those flames.
The two, having strengthened their bodies with aura, escaped in an instant; immediately after, the superheated rocks finally turned to charcoal and shattered, consumed by the flames.
Stone Wall and Clay Wall were both defensive magics that were highly effective against fire-attribute elemental magic, able to block even spells several grades lower, but they were insufficient to block Orthos's flames.
"What is that magical beast..?"
Amy's team, having fled up a tree, watched as the ground was entirely consumed by Orthos's flames.
Everyone was drenched in sweat from the suffocating heat that filled the surroundings.
And at the end of their gaze, Orthos, the very perpetrator of this fiery hell, was strolling across the inferno it had created.
It didn't seem to have spotted them yet.
Looking closely, it had unfocused eyes and was growling in all directions, making it doubtful whether it even possessed rationality.
"That's not an opponent we can deal with... Why is there a magical beast like that in the Hunting Festival..?"
Rio was considerably shocked by the fact that her double-layered defensive magic had been pierced.
Rio, who specialized in earth-elemental magic, had defensive spells that were far more resistant to fire than mediocre water-elemental defenses.
Those spells with such strong resistance were crushed purely by sheer force, not for any other reason.
An output that transcended elemental affinity... It meant the opponent was far above her.
It was an opponent she couldn't lift a finger against.
"...Can we escape?"
Liber recalled Orthos's speed from the brief moment he had seen it, as well as the flames it spewed.
Even if they turned and fled from Orthos now, he doubted they could escape safely.
Orthos was much faster than them, and even from a distance, they wouldn't be free from the flames it spewed from both heads.
For now, it hadn't noticed them, but it was uncertain how long they could last.
"This is... an accident. Let's all remove our rings and return before it gets more dangerous."
"...If we quit here, winning is impossible."
The Hunting Festival usually started in the morning and continued until sunset.
They had hunted quite a few, but if they gave up so early, they would quickly be overtaken by the other students who would hunt for several more hours.
"Amy, that's not what's important right now. Now that something like that has appeared, this Hunting Festival isn't normal either. If you insist, you could die."
"It could just be that we were unlucky and encountered it first. If we hold out a little, the professors might come, subdue it, and continue the festival."
Though she spoke confidently, Amy was also extremely anxious.
She knew about the magical beast called Orthos, but this was the first time seeing it in person.
That tremendous speed that closed long distances in an instant, those powerful flames that even defensive magic couldn't properly block—it was clearly a mighty magical beast that her current self could barely handle.
She didn't like fighting.
She valued her life, and hated getting hurt or being in pain.
She wasn't the type to feel exhilarated fighting powerful opponents like Liber either.
She gripped the mithril alloy steel sword in her hand tightly.
This was the expectation Atlas had given her.
He had handed it to her with encouragement that she could definitely outdo everyone and win the Hunting Festival.
Having received his expectation, she wanted to repay it.
"Even so, that's too optimistic. If it weren't for you, sunbae, we would have been seriously injured."
"If it had been a team without a mage, they would have died.
With something like that roaming around, you think the Hunting Festival will continue?"
"If they were in their right minds, they wouldn't have told us to prepare this Hunting Festival in just two weeks.
What do you want to do, sunbae?"
"I... I...."
Rio agonized.
She had painfully realized just how severe the gap between her and Orthos was.
If they were discovered here, she had no confidence she could escape.
But Rio was desperate enough to risk her life.
If she couldn't win here, if she couldn't receive the prize money, it was as good as death for Rio.
She wouldn't be able to graduate from the academy, wouldn't be able to pay tuition, and would end up on the streets.
If she couldn't pay tuition, she'd be expelled from the dormitory and kicked out of the academy grounds; and since only academy students could use the regular ferry, she'd have to walk.
Even after leaving the academy, it was a problem.
Her home was very far from the academy.
If she were no longer a student... she might not even be able to return home.
"I don't want to end it here either... At least I'm going to hide here as much as possible..."
When Rio said she didn't want to give up here either, Liber clutched his throbbing head.
He understood their mindset, but wasn't it all meaningless if they died?
But neither could he just take off his ring and leave by himself.
"This is literally suicide... If you're so confident, you must have a way to overcome this crisis right now, right?"
"Honestly, other than just staying hidden without being noticed, I don't really have anything?"
Without changing his expression, Liber grabbed Amy's hand as she shamelessly spoke.
"Give me your finger, you go back right now."
"Ahhh, it's a joke, a joke. The atmosphere was so serious, I just tried a little joke."
Amy quickly pulled her hand away and said.
"I don't have absolutely no plan. First, let's call other people here and try a joint attack... let's try it."
"If other students come, what else can happen other than everyone dying together?"
It was a magical beast that even a team of top-ranking powerhouses from the academy felt helpless against.
He thought that calling other students would only increase the number of human-shaped charcoals.
But Amy had meant something else.
"I'm not trying to call students. Since trouble has occurred,
we need to call the 'professors' who are watching the festival."
Since it's unlikely that thing was prepared for the Hunting Festival, the students don't need to hunt it.
If they called the professors, the professors would take care of it diligently.
Since it wasn't an immediate life-or-death situation, if they held out until the professors arrived, the aggro would be drawn to that side.
"Then we need to call the professors...."
[Krrrrrr...!!]
Just as Amy was about to explain the plan, she suddenly felt a hot gaze from below.
"I think it saw us?"
"I doubt it, no way."
"It seems like it did..?"
Wondering if it had really looked this way, they all lowered their gazes.
[Krrrrrr...!!]
Then they locked eyes with Orthos, which had raised its head upward.
"It definitely saw us!!"
From Orthos's mouth, crimson flames burst forth again.
------------------------------
The academy professors, including Headmaster Gordon, were all near the Black Forest, monitoring the situation of the Hunting Festival.
Right after it started, no abnormalities could be found.
Traces of the 'Record Rings' being used could be seen here and there, and the surveillance crystal orbs placed in abundance were functioning well.
"There won't be any particular anomalies..."
The scores coming in through the 'Record Rings' were all being updated on the blackboard.
The most notable were the Swordsmanship Research Club and Lemnos's team.
The Swordsmanship Research Club, having won two years ago, was once again demonstrating seasoned skill.
Lemnos's team, the only team formed by the Five Pillars, was also formidable.
Lemnos, who succeeded in placing an elf and a beastman on the same team, hunted magical beasts at tremendous speed.
If no anomalies occurred, it was predicted that one of these two teams would win.
Just then, anomalies began to occur.
".. Headmaster, the crystal orbs in Zone 3-A and Zone 4-X have gone dead."
"Go and replace them with new ones."
A few crystal orbs had broken.
Since it was a fairly common occurrence, he gave the order to replace them without much concern.
Sometimes students fought and damaged them, and sometimes magical beasts did.
There was no need to panic; it would be resolved simply by taking a new one and installing it.
"Zones 3-B and 1-E have also gone dead."
"Go and..."
"Zones 5-C through 5-F have consecutively gone dead."
"....."
It was a sudden turn of events.
The crystal orbs began to go dead simultaneously, and the speed was so fast, happening in multiple places at once.
The professors panicked as they saw the crystal orbs breaking down one after another.
"Oh dear... something's gone wrong again...."
The Headmaster let out a deep sigh and rose from his seat.
Among the professors, one person was holding their breath while watching the Headmaster.