Entrance Ceremony (2)
Entrance Ceremony (2)
KWAANG—!!
The pillar supporting the open-air theater shattered and the ceiling began collapsing toward one side.
"Huh...?"
By the time Rote let out that dazed exclamation, everything was already too late.
The first to react was Vermel. He tossed aside the oath scroll, seized Rote by the wrist, and pulled her down from the podium.
"Follow me!"
"What? What's going on?!"
"No time to explain. We have to move now!"
Rote couldn't process what had just happened in that moment.
Inside her head, filled with utter confusion, she barely managed to single out one sentence. A teacher whose name she didn't know shouted.
"Magic beasts! Magic beasts have appeared—!!"
**
"Wartime footing. Report the situation."
Dozens of teachers standing guard produced their staves from subspace in unison. Kleis and Meri were among them.
"The northern perimeter had no issues. We hadn't picked up any signs of Iron Drakes flooding the mountain either."
"Then where did they come from?"
"They appear to have been created underground."
"Teleportation magic?"
"No. If they had used that, the Air Magic specialists would have detected it. It seems they used a remote construction technique."
"Damn it... The tin-can bastards used their brains for once."
Aside from Kleis and Meri, no top-grade mages remained at the open-air theater. Most had left to set up a defensive line at the mountain entrance.
The beasts had exploited that gap. The plan had been set in motion months ago: they released mid-grade beasts into the back mountain to concentrate the guard force at the entrance, then drew a construction formation in an unexpected spot and struck the entrance ceremony itself.
"They got us from behind, good and proper."
The distance between the mountain entrance and the open-air theater was roughly twenty minutes on foot. Even if other mages moved to reinforce them, they would be late.
Even so, the teachers who had been on standby at the ceremony had suspected something like this might happen, so they quickly regained their composure and got to work assessing the situation.
Most of the academy faculty were veteran soldiers who had endured the front lines. Skipping even each other's titles, they relayed reports from one person to the next.
"At approximately 09:58 local time, around three hundred mid-grade and ten high-grade beasts emerged, using the back mountain as a medium. We expect them to keep spawning unless we destroy the source."
"Earth Magic users who can handle golems, protect the students at once. Water and Fire Magic specialists, form a mobile unit and take out the high-grade ones first. Any objections?"
"None."
"None."
"What about the Air Magic users?"
"Use Word Magic to tell a portion of the force at the mountain entrance to move here. Only a portion. Relay that even with the campus in this state, they are not to neglect the mountain watch!"
Magic beasts were far more cunning than humanity had ever imagined. Especially among Calamity-class and Extinction-class specimens, many possessed intelligence, which made it impossible to know what scheme they would pull next.
In such an uncertain situation, relocating the entire mountain force to the academy might make everything unfold exactly as they intended.
"Professor!"
"Oh...! Aren't you the new student from the elven nation who placed first? Your name was...."
"Vermel. Vermel Horde."
"Right, Vermel. We're severely shorthanded right now. It's shameless of me to ask a new student on your very first day, but could you lend us a hand?"
"No problem. I'll gather the students who can fight mid-grade beasts on the field and handle them."
"Good! You're a reliable one. If this goes well, I'll see to it you get a commendation later."
Contrary to some of the teachers' expectations, the male student named Vermel had kept his composure even in this situation.
Everyone should have responded the way Vermel did, but unfortunately, a great many had already fallen into a panic.
The average new student had entered Tillet without ever encountering even a low-grade magic beast. Most academy students were flowers raised in a greenhouse, sheltered by good parents.
If those seeds were just about to sprout and instead came face-to-face with those monsters, they might develop PTSD and never be able to stand again.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was not an illness that healed easily. If even a few new students sustained major trauma from this incident, the fighting strength that could later be sent to the Northern front would be severely diminished.
For the sake of national interest... no, for the well-being of the entire continent, that outcome had to be avoided.
Rote, who had been following Vermel's lead for a while, spoke up once she had roughly grasped the situation.
"I can take down mid-grade beasts. Let me help my friends nearby."
"No, I have a separate favor to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you once we reach the central plaza. First we need to find the Special Class kids and divide the roles. You're first."
"But how? We don't even know each other's faces...!"
"Even in this situation, some students inevitably stand out. Those are our classmates."
Just as Vermel said, when they looked around, a girl who had single-handedly taken down two Iron Drakes came into view.
She was driving a spear forged of ice into the nape of a magic beast's neck.
— Kwoe-eok!
Kwajik!
"Die already, seriously."
A female student with a fierce look.
She had navy-blue hair and one eye wrapped in bandages; her exposed eye was blue. The sharpness of her gaze didn't make her easy to approach.
Vermel called out her name.
"Irka!"
"Huh?"
"Sorry on a first meeting, but we need your help!"
"How do you know my name?"
"I heard the rumors in the capital. That the Second Prince made advances on Viscount Eliyev's daughter and got turned down?"
"Ha, fuck. Now even some guy from another country knows about it? Life's absolute shit, seriously."
Viscount Eliyev's daughter, Irka, swept her sharp gaze in a full circle around her. The panicked students were fleeing south toward the central plaza. The northern part of the academy was utter chaos.
"Looks like that moron Clion already bolted.... I was just thinking about ventilating his gut if I saw him."
Irka scowled, twirling her Ice Spear with practiced hands.
"Fine, I'll help. What do I do?"
"First, we need to open an evacuation route for the students. Check if anyone's been isolated."
"I can handle that quick enough."
Having delegated the task to Irka, Vermel took Rote and sprinted to the shelter where Professor Herlein was stationed. A swarm of large, high-grade golems surrounded Herlein, so spotting her wasn't difficult.
Vermel shouted.
"Professor, I'll help!"
Herlein snapped the neck of a drake that was trying to ambush a group of students from a blind spot and answered.
"Oh my, aren't you the top student? It's safe here, so join us."
"No, I need to head back. But you do have a short little runt here, don't you?"
"Er.... I do seem to recall one student who looks especially slow to grow."
Tatatat!
"Who are you calling a short little runt—!!!"
Before Vermel could even finish asking, a kid burst out holding an anti-tank weapon.
"Everybody cover your ears and duck!!"
Out of nowhere, a variant drake clad in full plate armor from head to tail had appeared behind Vermel and Rote. The small girl let out a short battle cry and activated her magic wand, and a flash erupted before their eyes.
With a boom, the drake's head flew off in an instant.
"Th- that runt did that...?"
The students who had been under the protection of the golems Herlein had created trembled, their legs shaking, each blurting out a word.
"I've seen that before. That's a beastkin weapon!"
"But that runt doesn't even have ears or a tail...."
Just as with Irka, Vermel already knew this girl's name.
"You must be Frey."
"What, pointy-ears! You know me! Don't tell me my fame has already spread all over the capital?!"
Frey strode triumphantly up to the drake, now reduced to a torso. As she walked, the anti-tank weapon she'd tossed aside reverted to mana particles and dispersed into the air.
Placing her hand on the fallen drake's body, Frey let out a cute 'Hup!' The magic beast was dismantled in the blink of an eye.
The beast's body, now reduced to mere scrap metal, reassembled and transformed into yet another anti-tank weapon.
"Using transmutation on the spot...!"
"You... what kind of kid are you?"
"Are all the Special Class kids this good......?"
"Remember this body well, everyone! The blood of the dwarves hasn't run dry yet!"
Watching Frey's performance, Professor Herlein wore a pleased smile. Vermel then addressed Herlein.
"I only stopped by to check. Professor, you can't move because you have to hold this position, right? We'll handle things somehow, so please focus on protecting everyone."
"The top student has good situational awareness. You'll make a fine field commander once you graduate, I'd say?"
"That's more praise than I deserve."
"Be careful not to get hurt, either way. Injuries happen the moment you lower your guard."
Herlein was a teacher who cherished her students dearly, but before that, she was one of the continent's greatest combat mages. She had instantly recognized Vermel's ability in a crisis; asking for his help was not a soft decision.
Now it was time to tell the red-haired, crimson-eyed girl her task as well.
"Your name was Rote, right?"
"Yeah. I'll help with anything I can do."
"Do you happen to know where the new girl from the Gold-Eye Tribe who enrolled this time is staying?"
"You mean the runner-up? Ah, I don't really know that much...."
"If it's Miss Aether, she's staying at my mansion. It's likely she's already come outside and is heading this way right now. Go through the east gate onto 5th Street and you'll find her quickly."
"Ah, thank you. You heard her? Please make sure you bring her back."
"Uh, yeah!"
Rote kicked off the ground and headed for the eastern gate.
The number of magic beasts swelled as time passed, growing to the point that no matter how many they cut down, there was no end in sight. The forces remaining inside the academy couldn't stop all the monsters trying to slip out into the eastern residential district.
Watching Rote run eastward, Vermel murmured in a low voice.
"...At this rate, the development is going to go off course."