Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: The Red Moon's Eclipse
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If memory served, the forest boundary was just ahead.
Once they crossed it, the monsters of the Demon Realm wouldn't venture outside—that was the final safeguard they clung to, as they'd been taught.
"Hah... hah... Aaaah!!"
It was then.
Something sprang out beside the girl running at the rear, tackling her to the ground.
-Kieee...
It was a female-shaped undead that had emerged from the depths of the forest.
"Kyaaaaah!! No!! No!!!"
As the grotesque undead lunged and tried to sink its teeth into her neck, the girl fell into full panic, flailing her arms and legs in desperate resistance.
Crunch!! Crunch!!
But the undead's overwhelming physical strength overpowered her. It bit straight into her neck, and with every chomp, light erupted from her artifact as the protective barrier shattered.
The barrier had a clear breaking point, yet the monster kept tearing into her relentlessly.
"Ulla!! Damn it!!"
Because of that, the cadets running ahead halted their steps and charged back, swinging their weapons at the undead pinning Ulla down.
Claaaang!!!
But swords unable to properly draw even aura couldn't pierce the undead's hide.
They could temper their bodies with aura to draw out superhuman strength—that much was possible. But it ended there.
The monster with its iron-hard skin ignored them entirely and continued gnawing at Ulla.
"Kyaaaaah!! Save me!! Save me, please!!"
Overcome by utter terror, Ulla thrashed wildly without realizing the strain on her muscles.
She was so frightened that her skirt grew soaked at the hem, but no one spared it a thought.
"Dayson! Please save me!!"
"You damn bastard! Goddamn it! Why are you so tough!!"
Even as the boy called Dayson hacked away madly with his greatsword, nothing changed.
Crunch!!
And at last, when the final artifact's protection broke, Ulla's eyes flew wide open.
Without those sturdy defensive artifacts, she was little more than a salmon laid before a starving bear.
"Hng... hngh... sa... save..."
-Krgrrrrrgh...
The undead let out grotesque, stuttering growls as it gaped its maw.
As if lying in wait, fully ten undead now encircled them.
Unable to handle even one, ten of them painted a landscape straight out of hell.
The instant the mouth gushing black blood lunged for Ulla's neck...
Ssssh...
A chilling wind blew, and from the shadow-cloaked forest, a red line streaked straight toward them.
Slash!!
In the blink of an eye, red lines shot out around them, spreading like brushstrokes on rice paper.
The sight that unfolded next drew gasps of horror.
Splatter!!
-Kieeeeeek!!
The undead exposed to the red lines had their bodies scatter in all directions, sliced clean like soft tofu.
No one could have imagined the bodies of those undead—untouched by beatings, slashes, or thrusts—would part so easily.
Ulla, frozen in terror, felt the massive undead fragments pinning her shift away. She turned her head.
In the darkness, the first thing she saw was a pair of sky-blue, chilling eyes.
"Are you alright?"
At the calm voice that followed, tears burst from her eyes.
Outwardly, he looked only a few years older than them.
That's why most cadets thought that—this instructor Leon had simply used some magical artifact.
But realizing their mistake took no time at all.
They couldn't ignore what vividly emanated from the red sword in his hand.
Aura Blade.
The hallmark of a Sword Master.
To the academy cadets—no, to every sword user in the world—it was the pinnacle, the dream realm called the endpoint.
Yet the Aura Blade of such a lofty master overflowed from the sword of Leon, who appeared only slightly older.
A magic artifact? No, it wasn't.
This boy wasn't some human reliant on trinkets, as the cadets had imagined.
He was strong on a level their common sense couldn't comprehend.
At this point, they even doubted if he was truly a teenager—or even human.
Moreover, trust and gratitude toward the one who had appeared to save them from crisis welled up uncontrollably.
"I-Instructor?"
"Any stragglers?"
"N-No. This is everyone..."
"Good."
At those words, hordes of undead began swarming from the forest once more.
"Huaaaah!"
"Again... those monster bastards!"
Leon glanced at the terrified group, then handed Ulla to Dayson.
"I'll clear a path. Escape."
"B-But most of us are exhausted..."
Leon extended his index and middle fingers into the air.
Then he twisted his wrist, flicking them upward toward the sky.
Grgrgrgrk! Prrrrrck!!
Something astonishing happened at once.
Black, shadow-like horses began emerging from the shadows on the ground.
"Everyone mount up and withdraw. Full speed."
At Leon's command, the phantom horses scooped up the seated cadets by their napes, tossed them airborne, and settled them on their backs.
"They move fast, so hug the neck tight and don't let go."
"I-Instructor, you're not coming?!"
"I have to clean up here and rescue the other cadets."
"It's dangerous!"
"Protecting cadets in emergencies is my role."
Tears gathered in some cadets' eyes at his response—a phenomenon born of the dire situation.
"Sob... hn... Instructor..."
No trace of anxiety or fear showed on Leon's face. Only calm, as if he'd known this would happen.
Only then did the cadets recall Leon chattering with Professor Rommel about risks before the test began.
Back then, many had thought the Demon Realm was safe enough—he was just fussing, bluffing but ultimately a coward.
"And everyone."
Leon turned his head slightly.
"There is no such thing as a safe Demon Realm in this world. Remember that well this time."
Like there's no volcano that never erupts.
"Th-That..."
"Sorry for speaking harshly..."
Having skirted death once, the cadets now seemed to grasp the Demon Realm's perils.
At the same instant, red lines flashed outward, hacking apart the undead lunging from all sides.
"Move."
At Leon's following order, the phantom horses bolted en masse.
They clung desperately to the necks, lest they fall from the beasts hurtling through the forest at tremendous speed.
"One team secured. Please relay the situation."
A transmission came through.
-Leon, located Isna. Word is she took a hit and fell back solo.
"Injured? How bad."
-Not severe. Looks like from saving a cadet. Couldn't confirm.
"At least that's some good news. The others?"
Professor Rommel's voice came next.
-Those phantom undead yours? Regardless, most are evacuated. Joining up shortly...
"Most" meant some remained.
"Who's left?"
-Team 1, including Her Highness Princess Eirena...
As planned, Team 1 should've taken another route and escaped under undead guidance by now.
Failing to receive that guidance meant they'd strayed outside the designated zone.
Only one conclusion.
They'd completely ignored me and plunged into the danger zone.
"Told 'em to fall back, but they really don't listen."
The red sky was one thing, but the surrounding mana flows felt off. If it worsened, this whole place might turn into a true hellscape...
Time was short and the situation dire—no choice but extreme measures.
-Don't push it, wait. I'll join first, then...
"Luna, block anyone from entering the forest starting now."
-Leon!? What do you mean!?
"Gonna blow it. No one comes in."
Brief silence, then Luna's reply.
-Ah, that. Got it.
-What nonsense! What can you do alone...
Crunch!!
I smashed the noisy artifact and chucked it aside.
Endless racket would just get in the way.
Team 1 with Princess Eirena was the group I'd met right before the red moon appeared.
Shadow transfer to a phantom lingering nearby, then another to reposition.
That was when it hit.
Booom!!!
The red moon overhead began splitting open like an eye.
[Warning... Warning.]
"Librarian, what now."
[The Red Moon's corrosion has begun. 20 times faster than projected.]
As the Librarian said, the surrounding mana flows began deteriorating rapidly.
The red moon's fallout was twisting everything across the entire region.
That bizarre shift in mana flow I'd sensed moments ago—must've been the harbinger.
"If corrosion sets in?"
[By your standards, high probability of an unending hellscape unfolding.]
No further rescue signals came through.
Fortunately, most cadets had evacuated. Now it was time to track down the troublemakers.
"Teaching Demon Realm dangers is right, but this is backfiring."
Suddenly, I started doubting sending Melissa to this academy.
Of course, the academy might feel hard done by.
Without the red moon, none of this would've happened.
Still, accidents strike without warning by nature. The Demon Realm just amplified those risks to extremes.
Shortly after the shadow transfer, I sensed multiple presences.
It was the forest I'd explicitly forbidden entry to.
"Damn! Get out of the way, you filthy bastards!!"
"Damn! Why won't you die! Please... please! Die!! Die!"
They hacked madly at downed undead, but the corpses kept rising to attack.
Slash!!!
I appeared next, cleaving them all apart. Their movements froze.
"Told you not to enter. Points don't save lives."
"That's..."
"Demon Realm look like your playground? My words not ring true?"
They flinched at my tone.
"Not that..."
"Whatever. First, get out..."
It was then.
"Leon... Leon..."
The sudden voice froze me solid.
What had I just heard?
I stared blankly into the dark beyond the forest. A soft woman's voice echoed again from there.
"Leon... our son... Leon..."
"A voice! It's a voice! That's why we came in here!!"