75. Demon Terror
75. Demon Terror
Morgan was a truly powerful mage, but in the end, he was still just a mage.
A mage simply did not possess the means to kill a demon.
He could create silver or similar substances through alchemical magic, but that alone wouldn't have much effect on a demon of upper rank or higher.
Since killing one outright was impossible, the only option was to thoroughly destroy the body to immobilize it. A demon-touched who also had countermeasures against magic, however, was more than just a nuisance.
-Ah..aaaaaah!!! It hurts... It hurts!!!!!
Nothing had pierced her body; everything had been deflected. But pain was still pain, it seemed.
He swiftly pressed his offensive.
"Bloom Hurricane!"
A vortex blew away the black mists protecting the demon-touched.
"Gravity Press!!"
An invisible force crushed the demon-touched down.
"Stone Pillar! Stone Spike..!!"
Dozens of stone pillars dropped from the sky, forcing the demon-touched to her knees, and spikes of pure silver erupted from the ground, impaling her body.
He tried suppressing her by crushing her under all manner of mass and piercing her with pure silver spikes, but this was only a stalling tactic.
He knew such elemental attacks were useless against a demon-touched. But even if the attacks were meaningless, he had to pour them on relentlessly to buy time.
-It hurts.. It hurts, it hurts!!!! It hurts!!!!!!
Fortunately, the demon-touched screamed, so she appeared to feel pain.
The demon-touched Margaret, now reacting even more violently, stayed on her knees and stared up at Morgan as he hovered in the sky. She spoke as if casting a curse.
-Why.. are you only doing this to me..! You... I won't forgive.. you...!!!!
Looking closely, one of the protruding pure silver spikes was embedded in the smooth abdomen of the Margaret entity lodged in the demon-touched's torso, causing blood to gush out.
A massive amount of demonic energy gathered in the hands of the violet giant, demon-touched Margaret, and began to be forged into the shape of a sword.
It looked somewhat like a club engulfed in blazing pitch-black flames; scaled to the 5-meter-tall demon-touched Margaret, it appeared to be at least 4 meters long.
"Urgh..?!"
Immediately after, Morgan sensed danger.
He saw the Stone Pillars shattering and felt the Gravity Press being pushed back.
-You!! Die tooooooo!!!!!
The demon-touched Margaret smashed through all the stone pillars pinning her down and swung the pitch-black Aura Blade.
From the trajectory of the swung sword, a sword aura of pitch-black demonic energy erupted, splitting the special arena in two.
Morgan had used Blink to evade the moment he sensed danger, so he took no damage, but he would have been in serious trouble if he had realized it a moment later.
Margaret's attack, which split that massive special arena in two, was powerful enough to bury the few demon-touched still inside the arena along with it.
"That makes my heart drop..!"
Margaret suddenly changed direction.
It was obvious where she was headed.
Toward the main building where all the students had evacuated.
Defensive magic had been activated on the main building, and the professors had been using that as a base to exterminate demon-touched.
The attacks so far would have been fine, but that pitch-black Aura Blade was dangerous.
"Not there..!!"
He did not know how much longer he could hold out, but as the Headmaster of the Academy, he had to stop that no matter what.
The demon-touched Margaret raised the black-burning Aura Blade high into the sky.
Her intent was to launch the black sword aura that had just split the special arena in two.
He had seen that destructive power clearly just a moment ago.
If she brought that down, the main building's defensive magic would be dispelled no matter how far away it was.
"No..!! Your opponent is me!!!"
Countless spells materialized around Morgan and were launched at Margaret.
Margaret released a dense wave of demonic energy from her face, defending against the spells and avoiding significant damage.
-Uaaaaaaah!!!
She brought the black Aura Blade down towards the main building, and along its trajectory, a sword aura of pitch-black darkness erupted out.
Just like when it had cleaved the arena in two, the sword aura advanced, smashing through everything in its diagonal path.
Its ferocity was overwhelming.
A vision flashed through his mind like a magic lantern: the scene of the students who had evacuated inside being killed along with the main building's defensive magic.
At that moment, a streak of light was drawn across the sky.
-Seogeok!
A trajectory of light, dazzling to the point of being blinding, shattered the trajectory of darkness and landed on the ground.
It was a knight clad in pitch-black armor.
The armor was under an incredibly powerful cognition-hindering magic spell.
Even viewing it from right in front, it was difficult to accurately discern the wearer's height and gender.
Morgan could not discern the face, build, or gender, but he recognized who it was instantly.
"You are...!!"
In his hand was gripped a miraculous light that proved his identity.
The only miracle in this world capable of cutting down darkness.
"Shadows of the Empire!!"
—————————
Leading the Swordsmanship Research Club members outside to evacuate and observing the situation, it truly looked like hell on earth.
The Church had also rushed over to exterminate demons, but with those numbers, they would be hard-pressed just to hold them back.
After confirming the students had gathered on the first floor of the main building, I slipped away under the pretext of looking for friends, ducked into the dormitory, and retrieved my gear.
The pitch-black blade, made of the rare metal Adamantium, absorbed light, giving it a peculiar appearance, as if its graphics had glitched on their own.
I felt grateful that the Director had tossed this sword to me when she came.
This sword, Squite, issued to me after I became a Master, had no special abilities other than being durable due to being made of Adamantium.
The blade itself possessed no unique properties, but the hilt had one special function: when the owner's mana was infused into it, it would equip armor enchanted with cognition-hindering magic.
There were far too many eyes watching this time, so I had no choice but to hide my face.
If I used the Aura Blade now, it would be as good as advertising I was a Master... I would no longer be a Shadow.
"Ugh.. this armor is so burdensome.."
When the magic of the hilt activated, pitch-black armor was equipped over my whole body. Because it wasn't simply armor made of metal, black smoke seemed to rise languidly from the armor's surface, like demonic energy wafting up.
This black smoke was the visualized cognition-hindering magic.
Since my equipment was equipped, it was time to seriously 'clean up' the situation.
The first place I had to go was the defensive line formed around the main building.
The Headmaster was handling the strongest opponent... but he was strong, so he would hold out the longest.
Now that I had my priorities sorted, it would be cleaned up quickly.
Actually, if this had been a regular act of terror rather than demons, it would have been suppressed and finished long ago.
Because demon-touched took no damage from ordinary attacks and kept reviving, they were annoying simply due to constantly regenerating after being suppressed; it wasn't that they were overwhelmingly strong.
I took one step from the dormitory, and the scenery changed as the main building came into view.
'Folding space to walk,' which looked like teleportation, was an act beyond the logic of the world that I could perform naturally as a Master, just like Director Linda's 'levitating objects.'
Upon moving, I saw the professors fighting the demon-touched with the defensive magic set up before them.
I spotted Senior Andy, who had hated it so much when I told him to buy a sword, dealing with the demon-touched wielding a blade imbued with holy power.
'I told him to buy a more expensive one, but he insisted on just making a token effort... he's making things complicated.'
Apart from the priests dispatched from the Church, he was inflicting the most damage, but because the holy power dwelling in his sword was too faint to finish them off, the demon-touched kept endlessly regenerating.
At that rate, the professors would run out of steam first and collapse.
The pitch-black blade of Squite, the sword forged from Adamantium, began to glow white-hot as it took in my Aura.
Instead of blazing over the blade like flames, the Aura emitted a fierce sound starting from the cross guard and erupted, shining like a beam of flash.
"Where did this come from... Wh-who are you???"
Feeling the torrent of churning Aura, Senior Andy turned toward me and asked.
At that dumbfounded tone, a surge of anger welled up inside me.
A man who was formerly part of the Imperial Knights couldn't recognize a Shadow?
It's not like he was some new recruit; it was ridiculous.
Andy aimed his Aura Blade at me, but there was no need for me to give him an answer.
I gripped Squite, which emitted a terrifying sound, in both hands and surveyed the number of demon-touched.
They were scattered here and there, but a rough count of the demon-touched gathered at the main building's front entrance was well over 80.
It looked like Emy was handling the rest.
The demon-touched, screaming as they lost their reason, looked to be in immense pain.
If possible, I wanted to save them all, victims of the demons as they were, but I did not know such a method.
It hadn't appeared in the latest chapters of the novel either.
"Anyone who doesn't want to die, step back behind the defensive magic."
At my threatening words, the professors flinched in surprise and stepped back.
Well, seeing me walk out from the direction of the main building, they must have assumed I was an ally.
The moment I confirmed, I dashed forward and swung Squite with all my might.
-Buuung!!!
A white streak, dazzling enough to sting the eyes, slashed across the empty air, and the demon-touched were cleaved in two all at once.
Until now, whenever demon-touched fell, they had scattered demonic energy everywhere with a terrible intensity, but this time, no demonic energy was scattered.
The fallen demon-touched regenerated no longer.
The cross-sections of the severed demon-touched began to crumble as if scorched by fire, turning into piles of ash that started to scatter in the wind.
It was because a Master's Aura Blade completely annihilated the demonic energy that was their very foundation.
"Wh... where on earth did you... come from, sir??"
Looking at the demon-touched that had turned to ash in a single strike, Senior Andy had fallen backward onto the ground and was stammering nonsense.
I wanted to smack him upside the head, but that would eliminate my reason for wearing the armor, so I held back tightly.
"Haah... never mind. I'm going to save the Headmaster, so keep the remnants pinned down."
"Ye... Yes, sir!!!"
The atmosphere around the arena also seemed unusual.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This time, too, I arrived in front of the arena with a single step.
The special arena, which had been fine until I left, was now split in two, suggesting the Headmaster was having a very hard time.
As soon as I approached the arena, I felt an explosive increase in pitch-black demonic energy from within, and rushing inside, I caught sight of the demon-touched Margaret gripping a pitch-black Aura Blade and swinging a slash.
I absolutely had to block it.
"You've become a demon-touched, yet you still pretend to be a swordsman?"
As if resonating with my strong resolve, the Aura Blade blazed even more fiercely.
"No..!! Your opponent is me!!!"
The Headmaster hurled countless spells at Margaret, who was trying to bring down the black Aura Blade, but upon contact with Margaret's demonic energy, their power weakened, failing to inflict significant damage.
The spells meant to bind her hands and feet decayed as if corroding the moment they touched the dense demonic energy.
The moment Margaret brought down her Aura Blade, my body was launched like a bullet.
The sun hadn't even set yet, making it impossible for the lights of magic to show even their presence, but the light of the Aura Blade did not lose its power even under the sun and left a pure white streak.
The moment the white streak I left and the black streak left by Matilda collided, the black streak vanished without a trace.
-You...!!!
Realizing her attack had been erased, the demon-touched Margaret charged at me, wielding the black Aura Blade.
She wasn't much different from when I had seen her a moment ago.
The Margaret entity, which appeared to be the main body protruding from the flesh, was in extreme agony, shedding tears of blood.
That appearance was definitely not something she had chosen willingly.
"At the very least, I'll send you off in one blow."
Having been launched into the air and erased Margaret's attack, I did not fall back down with that momentum but floated in the empty air with a Buung.
No, 'floating' is a slightly odd way to put it.
I was standing upon the empty sky, stepping on nothing, and looking down at Margaret.
The anomalous phenomena I came to use naturally after becoming a Master could be broadly seen as two things, but fundamentally, it was one.
I could touch empty space.
If I stepped and stood on it, it looked like pacing upon the void. If I folded that space once before running, it became Shukuchi, the act of folding the earth to run upon.
Explaining how this was possible was impossible, but explaining why I could do it was possible.
The fundamental problem regarding the height difference was understanding the concept of 'distance,' and my bloody efforts to overcome it had borne fruit in this way.
The foot that had been stepping on the void dropped, and my figure blurred once more.
A pure white streak remained in the path of my body, shot forward at a speed so fast it was difficult for the eye to follow, making me look like a tracer round.
-You.. You die toooooo!!!!
Seeing me launched at her with terrifying momentum, Margaret swung the black Aura Blade.
It was an attack with enough power to shatter the fortress-like magic defending the Academy's main building, but seeing it, I did not consider slowing my momentum in the slightest.
A pure white flash bisected the demon-touched.
Along with the black Aura Blade she had been holding, the demon-touched Margaret was split neatly in two from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
-Ah... aah.....
The cleaved Margaret let out a meaningless death rattle before she, too, began to crumble to ash from the severed parts.
I watched the demon-touched scatter in the wind, wary in case she might revive, but nothing happened.
Considering she had turned the Academy into a complete mess, it was an incredibly empty final end.
"You are... Shadows of the Empire..!!"
Headmaster Morgan, who had been floating in the sky using levitation magic, landed in front of me and grabbed my hand.
"Thank you.. This old man lacked the strength to deal with the demon-touched alone. Truly, thank you... Ah, no.. There are still many demon-touched left over there... We must save the students..!"
"I cleaned them all up on my way here."
"Oh... as expected.. This is why Linda cherishes you all so much... How did you come to be here? The communication jamming hasn't been restored yet.."
"... I had some business nearby. I discovered it by chance."
"That is truly fortunate amidst this misfortune..! I shall report to His Majesty the Emperor in detail just how great a deed you have done! Thank you, thank you..!"
Morgan was so grateful it was bewildering, and he was kind.
He shook my grabbed hand wildly, his face full of color, making it hard to even picture him as the usual finicky old man.
It seemed he had truly been in dire straits.
"Hoo... Now it will be resolved if we can just find the Sword Saint..!"
"... Find the Sword Saint, you say..?"
"Yes... He vanished somewhere right before the incident broke out, something!"
Since Morgan had been outside with him like that, I had naturally assumed he had subdued the Sword Saint beforehand.
It wasn't that? The Sword Saint was simply hiding somewhere???
'I have to find him fast...!!!'
At that moment, a tremendous explosion was heard from the direction of the main building.
"What?!!!"
A colossal amount of Aura surged into the sky with incredible force.
I felt a pulsation of Aura that was on a completely different level from the demonic energy that had erupted in the arena moments before.
—————————
The moment I saw the Aura soaring high into the sky, I dashed out, but the situation was already over by then.
Even though I had run in a single dash using Shukuchi, I was too late.
The maze-like garden behind the main building was structured to be extremely difficult to find people in if they were having a secret meeting, but this time there was no need to try and pinpoint a person's location.
That was because a large hole had been bored straight through the neatly trimmed garden trees in a straight line.
The Aura that had been seen soaring high into the sky earlier must have been brought straight down like a hammer blow.
I rushed inside along the large hole, and various smells wafted over me.
The burnt smell of trees charred by Aura, the grassy scent of crushed plants.... and finally, the smell of human blood.
At the heart of the explosion, a shape that looked like a person lay collapsed.
"..."
Had they taken that attack head-on? The injuries of the person collapsed as if dead were extremely severe.
Their entire body was covered in light burns, and blood was gushing in spurts from a sword wound stretching from the left shoulder blade down to the abdomen.
Shards of a sword split in two rolled at their feet, but despite this, both hands did not let go of the sword they gripped as tightly as an ancient tree root.
At first glance, the body was barely moving, as if dead, but upon checking the pulse, I thankfully realized that he... no, she was barely clinging to life.
I couldn't believe it, and while trying hard to appear calm, I gripped her hand, which was still firmly holding the sword.
"Lucia... what on earth...."
The identity of the person collapsed like a half-corpse was Lucia Russell.
She had been heavily burned, heavily charred, and covered in blood, but there was no way I wouldn't recognize her.
The helmet of the armor enveloping her entire body came off, and the cognition-hindering magic was dispelled.
Only then did Lucia look at me and open her mouth.
"......A..tlas."
Even opening her mouth seemed immensely difficult for Lucia.
Her trembling words were weak and precarious, as if she could die at any moment.
"Don't talk. You'll lose your strength."
"I'm sorry..."
"What are you sorry for.."
There was no need to deeply deduce what kind of attack she had suffered.
Ninety-nine percent, it was the Sword Saint.
The Aura that had soared high into the sky was not something a mere demon-touched could produce.
I placed a finger on Lucia's solar plexus and crown respectively, then boiled up the Aura in my dantian and injected it into Lucia's body.
As the Aura was slowly injected, flowing like water, I could see Lucia's face gradually becoming more at ease.
If I were to put a large amount in at once, like I did when I reconstructed Phrygia's core, she might awaken instantly... but with injuries as severe as these, she wouldn't be able to endure it.
"...Don't push yourself. I'll take you to the hospital right away."
"No... you have to listen..."
I was about to carry Lucia away just like that when she suddenly grabbed my arm.
It must have been difficult for her to even open her mouth, no matter how much vitality I breathed into her body. But as if she had something she absolutely had to convey, Lucia didn't stop talking, despite the pain.
"Liber... they took him."