Chapter 101

“Graaaaah!”

“That ogre’s about to throw a rock! Take that thing down first!”

A student from the Knights Department urgently shouted at a student from the Magic Department as they watched the ogre let out a roar and hurl the castle’s debris with both hands.

Just as the Magic Department student hurried to cast a spell—

Fwoosh—!

Celia, standing atop the rampart, took a thrusting stance.

Phoenix Breath – Flame Wing.

Flames spread like wings, soaring toward the ogre at incredible speed.

Crash!

“Guh?”

The ogre cocked its head in confusion as the flaming wings grazed past it.

Then the ogre’s head fell from its neck.

The area seared by the intense heat was so cauterized that not a drop of blood spilled.

Sway—! Thud!

The ogre’s massive body collapsed, crushing nearby monsters beneath it.

But Celia’s attack wasn’t over.

Just like a bird gliding, the Flame Wing, which had soared into the sky, dove back toward the ground.

Boom! Fwoooooosh—!

The blaze of [Aura] exploded, sweeping up the surrounding monsters.

As she watched the monsters shriek in the flames, Celia took a deep breath and lowered her sword.

A Magic Department student, witnessing this, looked utterly stunned.

“No way. How is an [Aura] skill stronger than actual magic?!”

Meanwhile, Duran was holding his own on the opposite rampart.

“They’re coming from the sky again!”

A flock of man-eating crows, flying monsters, swooped in.

Duran used [Aura Step] to leap up onto the inner watchtower.

He raised his sword skyward.

Flash! Cracklecracklecrackle—!

A golden current burst from Duran’s sword, instantly roasting the flock of man-eating crows that had been aiming for the ground.

Carr, who was in the same group as Duran, clicked his tongue at the sight.

‘Even if he’s unlucky, you have to admit his skills!’

Thinking that, Carr supported the students nearby.

As someone aiming for a support role, Carr’s abilities shone in this situation.

He quickly distributed potions, identified priority targets, and directed students accordingly.

And he always rushed to help any student in need first.

He truly created an environment where Duran and the whole group could focus entirely on the battle.

‘Tch. For a commoner, he’s actually useful.’

Duran sneered as he descended from the watchtower.

The Lumene students were holding off the monster onslaught brilliantly.

Meanwhile, in front of the main gate, Emio’s group was showing their strength.

It had already been an hour since the battle began.

The Lumene students were fending off the monster assault with overwhelming skill.

“See? I told you it was nothing!”

Emio, with a triumphant expression, conjured four massive magic circles in the air.

Emio was an all-rounder mage, freely wielding the four elemental magics.

His spells swept away the monsters approaching the gate.

Tap—!

Emio placed his foot on the rampart and slung his staff over his shoulder with a bored expression.

“It’s boring fighting monsters like this from behind a wall!”

“Emio! Should we head out there and clear some more?”

A fired-up Knights Department student gripped his bastard sword and asked.

“Maybe we should?”

The battle was so one-sided that even some first-years were starting to feel bored.

At that moment, Chloe—who was in the same group—spoke up.

“Our job is to protect the wall, first and foremost.”

“Chloe, I’m the group leader. Are you giving me orders now?”

“How is that an order? I’m saying follow the plan.”

“I make the plans! Just follow my orders!”

Chloe’s expression turned icy.

Faced with her glacial glare, Emio flinched and took a step back for a moment.

But realizing he’d lost his composure, he bristled.

“What’s so scary that we have to just hide? If we fought outside the wall, those monsters would be gone already!”

“We haven’t even seen a single [Demonic Beast] yet. Don’t you get what that means?”

“Hmph. Are you saying you’re scared of a few wild [Demonic Beasts]…”

Bzzzzzzzt—!

While Chloe and Emio argued at the main gate, a gigantic summoning circle began to form in the sky.

The first-years gasped as they looked up.

“Wh-What’s that?”

“That’s a summoning circle? What the heck is about to come through?”

“Maybe the academy finally sent someone to rescue us?”

Everyone nodded at a student’s words.

“Yeah, it’s already been an hour.”

“I wanted to earn more merit, though.”

Some students sighed with disappointment, jumping to conclusions.

Fwoosh—!

A massive, dark blue arm broke through the summoning circle.

Boom—!

The enormous hand snatched up the monsters on the ground.

Squelch!

The monsters were squeezed into a bloody pulp.

The mysterious giant hand withdrew back into the summoning circle.

Moments later, a colossal head burst through the circle.

A reverse-triangle-shaped head, adorned with horns.

A massive mouth, taking up half the head, munched noisily on the monster it had just grabbed.

Crunch— Crunch—

The monster’s face turned toward the monsters crowding the ruined castle grounds.

Grin—!

A grotesque smile spread across the creature’s menacing face.

Soon, the gigantic [Demonic Beast] emerged fully from the summoning circle.

A giant, dark blue-skinned beast in human form.

The Lumene students had learned about this type of [Demonic Beast].

The highest-ranking [Demonic Beast] of Tartarus.

“Gigantes?”

—

After the incident broke out.

Lumene announced to the audience that they would inform them of the situation and rescue the students as quickly as possible.

At first, outsiders—especially parents—were in a panic.

Some were screaming for someone to save their children, others tried to rush out themselves.

As things spiraled out of control, the atmosphere grew even worse.

But then—

“Woooo!”

“They’re doing great!”

Now, an hour later, everyone was cheering.

Elena twisted her hair, her expression unimpressed as she watched.

‘Just a moment ago, it was chaos. The crisis hasn’t changed, so what are they so excited about?’

The emergency was ongoing, and Lumene still hadn’t rescued the first-years.

But as the first-years successfully held off the monsters’ assault, the mood flipped instantly.

‘What’s so impressive about that? For a Lumene student, that’s only natural.’

Elena propped her chin up, looking bored.

‘Ah, this is dull.’

Boredom flickered in Elena’s eyes.

“Senior! Huff, huff! There you are!”

“What is it, Lily?”

“Senior, the professors are looking for you.”

“Okay, tell them I’ll come if they need me.”

Elena was a [Dungeon Raider], on standby as a backup.

“Huh? You’re not going to the waiting room?”

“If I go there, I’ll just end up fighting with Harc. Is that really what you want?”

“Um! N-No, I think you’re better off here, Senior Elena!”

Seeing Elena’s mischievous smile, Lil hurriedly replied.

“Anyway, the first-years are handling things well.”

“As Lumene students, that’s the bare minimum.”

“That’s true.”

The audience might be amazed by the first-years, but for Elena and her fellow second- and third-years from Lumene, it wasn’t that remarkable.

“In any case, I was worried at first, but I’m relieved now.”

“Oh? You think this incident is just going to end here?”

“Huh?”

“The enemy had the audacity to pull something like this during an official Lumene event. And the first-years trapped in Neigrang are still isolated. There’s no way it’ll end like this.”

Crossing her legs and resting her chin in her hand, Elena smiled sweetly.

“In the worst case… every single first-year over there could die.”

Lily felt chills run down her spine at those words.

Just then, a massive summoning circle appeared on the magical display.

Wooooooaaaaaaah—!

Faces paled as everyone saw the gigantic beast emerge.

“G-Gigantes!”

Everyone was left speechless.

Only Elena, who had foreseen this, spoke calmly.

“See? Now it really begins.”

—

Boom—! Boom! Boom!

Wooooooaaaaaaah—!

The ground shook as the enormous giant, at least 8 meters tall, roared, sending the monsters fleeing in terror.

As one of the highest-ranking [Demonic Beasts], Gigantes was a monster that drove all living things into a frenzy of fear.

Gigantes chased down the fleeing monsters, stuffing them into its mouth at random.

Faced with this terrifying [Demonic Beast] that preyed on monsters indiscriminately, the entire first-year class was paralyzed with fear.

Watching the beast ravenously devour monsters, some first-years covered their mouths, fighting the urge to vomit.

The entire class held its breath, praying that the hopeless [Demonic Beast] wouldn’t notice them.

Freeze—!

Gigantes, having been eating monsters at random, suddenly stopped and began sniffing the air.

Whip—!

Gigantes turned its blood- and drool-soaked mouth toward the inner wall.

At that moment, all the first-years thought the same thing.

‘It’s coming!’

Wooooooaaaaaaah!

Gigantes hurled the monster in its hand aside and charged with a roar.

Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom—

As Gigantes thundered forward, the entire class froze in terror.

Crackcrackcrackcrackcrackcrackcrack—! Thud—!

A gigantic ice spear shot up from the ground.

Propelled by its own momentum, Gigantes was impaled, blood gushing from the wound.

Wooo! Wooooaaah!

Yet, the terrifying [Demonic Beast] wasn’t fazed.

Instead, it began smashing the ice with its fists to break free.

Meanwhile… Chloe, atop the wall, staggered and panted for breath.

She’d pushed herself, casting a massive spell.

Clenching her teeth, Chloe steadied herself and shouted,

“What are you all doing? Get ready to fight!”

“What?”

“You’re all too scared just because it’s Gigantes! But look—this isn’t even a mature Gigantes!”

She was right.

A fully grown Gigantes reached nearly 15 meters.

This one was definitely smaller.

“If we work together, we can defeat it! Aren’t we Lumene Academy students? Did you forget our school motto?!”

Her shout snapped the students back to their senses.

Surpass your limits.

This value was instilled in every Lumene student.

But some students, still on the ground, couldn’t bring themselves to get up and shouted,

“How are we supposed to beat that thing?! We should just run for it!”

“Yeah! We should scatter and wait for rescue—now’s not the time to fight!”

The members of Chloe’s group, so confident just moments ago, had lost their will to fight.

“Do you really think running will save you?”

At Chloe’s cold words, the students flinched.

If they ran, they’d be helpless.

But even so, no one could summon up the courage.

It couldn’t be helped.

Humans are infinitely weak in the face of despair.

Chloe knew that all too well.

“I’m scared, too.”

She stood tall, but her voice trembled and her hand shook as she gripped her staff.

“But someone once told me that a hero is someone who stands up bravely in a moment of crisis.”

That figure had given her strength.

‘If I let fear break me here… I’ll never be able to dream of being a hero again.’

“That’s why, no matter how hopeless it seems, I’ll keep fighting.”

With a resolute expression, Chloe turned around.

Crunch!

“Graaaaah!”

The wound in Gigantes, impaled by the ice spear, began to heal at a terrifying rate.

Now recovered, Gigantes seized the shattered chunk of ice and hurled it at Chloe.

With Gigantes’s strength behind it, the ice chunk became a devastating mass attack.

“Aaaah!”

“Dodge!”

The students scattered in a panic.

‘If you dodge, it’s too late!’

Summoning her magic, Chloe hurriedly cast a spell.

Boom—!

The chunk of ice shattered against Chloe’s [Shield] spell.

She readied her next incantation.

At that moment, she spotted crimson flames flickering in her peripheral vision.

Fwoosh—! KRAKAKAKAKAKANG!

The flames soon became an enormous sword slash, mercilessly cutting across Gigantes’s back.

GRAAAAAAH!

Gigantes roared and crashed to the ground.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the flames charred its body.

Thud—! Boom! Boom!

As Gigantes thrashed in agony, the ruins were reduced to ashes.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the top of the outer wall.

Unlike the molten flames of his sword, his gaze was icy cold.

A boy with white hair and red eyes.

Fwoosh—!

Flames flickered around the arm gripping his sword.

In that moment, Chloe felt the last of her fear melt away like ice.

Her trembling hand steadied.

Without realizing it, Chloe smiled and called out his name.

“Leo.”