Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Unexpected (7)
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Karin sipped her black tea, savoring a rare moment of peace. Lately, even just eating something sweet would naturally bring coffee to mind, but that could wait until she figured out how to shake off all her seniors.
Sitting on a bench, she gazed blankly at the sky, waiting for her two friends and Senior Ermina. Sophia and Natalie must not have been able to leave right after class, as they were taking longer than usual to gather.
Well, they'd probably show up in one or two minutes anyway.
Lazily draining her tea while staring at the sky, she noticed what looked like a faint crack etched across it.
What the heck is that? She narrowed her eyes to get a better look, but it was so far away that she couldn't make out the shape clearly.
"What're you doing?"
"Oh, Natalie. You see that in the sky?"
"The sky? What's... oh, something's there."
"What's there? Yeah, there is."
In the end, the three of them stared dumbly at the sky, drawing others to look up as well and try to figure out what the anomaly was.
They all discussed what it could be, whether it was dangerous, and so on, but in the end, no one could come up with a clear answer.
About five minutes passed like that.
The crack spreading across the sky suddenly widened into a golden river, crashing down and turning the Royal Academy students below it into bloody pulp.
And Karin, who specialized in spatial magic, realized it. This thing itself was an anchor for spatial magic, but at the same time, it disrupted large-scale magic arrays, and by physically dividing the area, it made intervention impossible unless the faculty arrived first.
The moment she realized that, Karin grabbed the hands of the other two and ran, searching for Ermina.
👹 DEMONIC WHISPER 👹
"How tragic. So tragic. To think there are this many prisoners awaiting execution."
Even though its owner was nowhere to be seen, the words pierced her ears like arrows, chilling her to the bone. All these people here were criminals awaiting execution?
For now, she dashed around desperately looking for Ermina, but there was still no sign of her.
No helping it, then.
"Senior Ermina!"
She felt a grid like a demon mirror descending from the sky, staring down at her. At the same moment, from one of the grid squares emerged a demon man with half his face melted away and inverted eyes.
"You too are merely awaiting death."
"Sophia, Karin, run."
Natalie, seeing the grotesque right arm caked with clinging flesh reaching for them, immediately drew her sword and pushed Karin and Sophia behind her.
Sophia panicked and backed away stammering, while Karin quietly prepared a teleportation spell.
It's fine. If I make it as small as possible for just one person, it should barely activate.
Hiding the magic circle forming in her palm in her right hand, she glared at the man and slowly retreated.
And at the same moment, a spear of light flew in and pierced the man's right arm.
The right arm slowly melted and crumbled from the point of impact. But before it could hit the ground, a new arm had already regenerated.
"...You. What's your name?"
"Danil. Around me, I'm called the Executioner Danil. Judging by this light magic, you must be the Saintess of Light."
"Yes. What do you want?"
"I've come to kill you. Karsis is dead, so humans must lose lives of equal weight. That's balance."
"That's why you did this?"
Ermina gritted her teeth, the images of students crushed to death under the fallen structures flashing in her mind.
Guilt later. Self-recrimination later. Solve the problem first.
"I'll take the front."
"Miss Natalie, this isn't an ordinary opponent."
"No one else can do it."
"I'll support you too."
"I-I..."
"...Wait here."
Karin knew too. The first time Rias slapped her, shock, anger, and fear had mixed together, leaving her legs trembling and unable to move properly.
Sophia was cheerful, but she had no experience like this.
Honestly, Karin was scared herself, but thanks to all she'd been through lately, her courage had improved, making it bearable.
"If you're going to stand against me."
He swung his melted right arm at the shimmering mirror-like structure, which shattered into pieces that adhered to his right side, healing the melted wound.
"Then I too must respond not as an executioner, but as a warrior."
His movements, previously sluggish, turned nimble as he drew an unidentified metal club from his bosom.
Corroded with blood and oil from constant beatings, its form dented and cracked in places.
Facing the weapon whose kill count was unknowable, Natalie had to steady her momentarily held breath.
The aura of death was overwhelming.
The swung club grazed past; Natalie blocked with her sword, but a strange sound rang from the blade as blood dripped from both her hands.
And part of the fallen structure from the sky absorbed Natalie's blood, birthing a maul nearly human-sized.
"Tougher than you look, kid. Of course, bleeding isn't good. These are the souls of my kin. If there's blood and flesh, they revive as monsters."
"Hah... hah. Kin? Demon souls?"
"Yes. Over three days, I killed 1,483 useless comrades and absorbed their souls into this magic tool."
He killed his own kind.
The four huddled protectively together were stunned by the even more psychopathic tale than expected.
Considering demons outnumbered humans, that was no small number.
And they understood how it breached the academy's barriers. It must have disguised the soul clumps as humans to pass through the wards.
"Even without that, the kids feeding on crushed humans' blood are probably hunting the other prisoners right now."
"We'll take you down and destroy those too."
"Impossible."
The club swung again; the blocking sword shattered, and Natalie's left arm twisted backward.
Ermina, who had been focused on weakening Danil until now, immediately switched to healing Natalie.
But only for a moment. Danil snatched the fallen Natalie with his left hand and pried open the newborn maul's jaws to stuff her in.
"Activate!"
Spatial magic jammed. To activate it as precisely as possible, Karin used her right hand's magic circle with incantation to teleport Natalie to her side, then began constructing another in her left.
Next, she unleashed a mishmash of minor elemental spells she knew—just barely usable—to draw attention.
Please look at me. Buy time for senior to heal Natalie.
"Commendable. But weak."
This time, not the club but a fist. Danil's right hand slammed into her stomach; Karin's consciousness blanked out for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, his grip was around her throat, choking her.
"Better to eliminate spatial magic users early."
It hurts. So agonizing.
Her battered stomach was numb and disoriented, and her strangled throat screamed that she'd die like this.
Run. If I run, I can live.
The magic circle in her left hand. A little tweak, and she'd have a shot at the cafe manager.
Now, then.
At that instant—was it because her senses were fading?—Sophia appeared hazily, sobbing hysterically and hurling stones.
Sophia was a mage, but her grades were mediocre, and mages' spells faltered when their mentality cracked.
If I go down here, Ermina senior has to fight while healing Natalie.
Natalie was hurt so badly she might die.
Sophia, unable to do anything, would just cry and die.
Leaving the burdens of Natalie and Sophia to her, Ermina senior would have to block that monster alone.
Ah. I get it. I'd been trembling and spilling secrets out of fear of getting hit, of the pain, of something awful happening.
I hate pain, hate fighting. Hate losing out for someone else's secrets.
But for people you truly think matter, you'd rather take the pain yourself.
I understand now why no one pried into the cafe manager's past. Why they kept silent despite knowing. Why they got mad when I made him uncomfortable.
If someone dug into Sophia or Natalie's secrets, I'd snap too. I'd rage at their bullshit words.
So. If that's the case.
"L-Look. You said execution, right?"
"Yes."
"Then you can at least hear last words, right?"
"Do as you like."
"Sophia. Go find the cafe manager."
Setting the tiny magic circle in her left hand—her last chance—for a round trip. If she returned within 30 minutes, the spell would bring her back here. Karin teleported Sophia to Astraea.
The moment Sophia vanished, Ermina, sensing a plan, paused Natalie's healing and unleashed a full-power light mace, freeing Karin.
Still woozy from the gut punch and raw throat, she somehow stood and rasped out.
"Senior. You and I hold out until Natalie wakes up."
Not leaving you to bear the burden of protecting Natalie and Sophia alone.