“What the…”
Whooosh!
There was no time to finish my sentence as a sudden wave of flames came flying at me.
When Cain threw a punch, the flames erupted in a shapeless but mighty blast.
A coarse yet powerful flame with no distinct form.
KABOOM!
The fire that missed me hit the ground and exploded.
This was no ordinary flame.
Cain’s fiery breath carried explosive force. Whatever it touched, it detonated immediately upon impact.
“Hey!!”
Just moments ago, Cain was at least vocalizing something, but after getting completely engulfed in flames, he went silent. Now, when I yelled, he just aimed more fire my way.
KABOOM! KABOOOOM!
Explosions erupted around me, and heat waves hit me from all directions.
‘This can’t possibly be some technique…’
No matter how I looked at it, Cain wasn’t using some hidden ace magic to defeat me. If anything, it was too extreme. Right now, Cain looked like he’d lost all sense of control, and his mana was spiraling out of control.
In all my years as the Black Shadow Guild Leader, I’ve never seen a wizard transform this way. It was unprecedented.
“Hey, what’s going on with you!”
Whoosh!
Instead of answering, Cain blasted me with another wave of fire. His irrational demeanor was obvious to anyone who looked.
By now, I could feel deep in my bones that things were serious. I thought it would be just another case of Cain losing his cool like the other day, but…
KABOOM! KABOOOOM!
Cain became more volatile by the second. Initially, he’d only target me with his fire blasts, but now he was spewing flames in every direction.
Explosions, heat, and flames spread everywhere. And to make matters worse, we were in the middle of a forest, so the damage was escalating rapidly. Bushes and trees around us were already ablaze thanks to Cain’s fiery rampage.
‘What do I do?’
My face soured involuntarily. If this were any random monster, I would have slashed it to pieces without a second thought. But this wasn’t some beast; it was Cain.
And now, seeing him wrapped in flames, I hesitated to swing my sword.
“Dang it.”
Even as I thought, the flames continued to spread unstoppably. No matter how I calculated things, slashing at him seemed to be the only option. Intuition screamed for me to extinguish the flames surrounding Cain. Maybe if I could suppress his runaway mana, things could stabilize.
However, with the magic I had on hand, I doubted I could douse those flames. That left me with one option: cutting through it with my sword. Using the Black Shadow Sword, I had to try despite my reluctance.
KA-BOOM!
Meanwhile, Cain continued unleashing flames in every direction. To contain the fire from spreading further, I swung my sword to slice through the airborne flames.
In my hand, without realizing it, was the blackened blade of the Black Shadow Sword, gleaming darkly.
“Even with a slash, it still explodes.”
At first glance, it seemed like the flames should disperse with a simple swipe in mid-air, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every slash ignited an explosion.
The residual heat from each explosion licked against my clothes, singeing them. It was uncomfortably clear.
“Should I just slash him already?”
I weighed the decision carefully.
Any minute now, Professor Amillion and the other students would arrive. Hopefully, if Professor Amillion could intervene without any casualties, everything would wrap up nicely. But that was just wishful thinking. The students around wouldn’t stand a chance against Cain’s flames. And even if they tried to block the fire, the explosion guaranteeing a hit would cause untold damage.
Thus, to prevent a larger disaster, cutting down this blazing monstrosity might be the best solution.
“Sorry about this.”
I made my decision and aimed my sword at Cain. For whatever reason, there seemed to be nothing else to do but slash.
“Everyone, head out of the forest immediately!”
“Pro…fessor!”
‘d*mn it, what’s happened here?’
Professor Amillion sprinted toward the source of the massive mana fluctuations, sensing impending doom.
Deep within the Training Forest.
The mana emanating from one of our students was far too immense and chaotic to be normal.
Even without the mana disturbance, Amillion could tell something was amiss. Thicker, gray smoke was choking the air from within the forest.
“What the…?”
“Professor! Let me go ahead!”
“What? It’s dangerous!”
“Hurry!”
“SHINCYA!!”
‘Ugh, seriously.’
Though Amillion tried to call Cynthia back, she didn’t show any sign of slowing down. In fact, she was already far ahead in the blink of an eye.
After the inter-grade competition, the class atmosphere had turned sour, so Amillion had planned a small event to lighten the mood. Drawing on years of teaching experience, such activities often effectively bonded the students despite their reluctance at the start. Once the activity began, students would become fully engaged, fostering unforeseen interactions among them.
Thus, this one seemed promising, or so Amillion thought.
“Shincyaa! d*mn, why’s she so fast today?”
Though a professor, Amillion hadn’t exactly focused on physical conditioning as a wizard. To make matters worse, Cynthia’s speed exceeded her normal capabilities.
In the chaos, Amillion had little time to worry about the other students. As she chased after Cynthia, the mana fluctuations grew increasingly violent.
‘No student’s been caught up in this, right?’
The increasingly powerful surge coming from deep within the forest weighed heavily on her mind. Amillion’s voice ignored, Cynthia barreled forward. Her other students? Invisible.
SWOOOSH!
In that split-second, Amillion deemed the situation urgent. Every professor had authority to unleash their full powers in a crisis. With that thought, Amillion’s feet pushed off the ground, her body floating into the air. The Fly spell hummed around her, stabilizing her as she ascended.
“SHINCYA!!”
“Pro…fessor?”
“Get back NOW! It’s dangerous!”
“But… I can help!”
Normally one of the more obedient students, Cynthia’s behavior today baffled Amillion. With no other choice, Amillion resigned herself to rise even higher, shifting focus from Cynthia’s safety to locating the other students.
WHOOSH!
A surge of mana expanded around Amillion, detecting the other students in the area—Elaine and Anes cautiously inching closer to the fiery source, Emily and Marie stationary about a kilometer away, and at the epicenter of the mana surge, Ryu and Cain.
‘Cain Hover…?’
The distinguished professor, Amillion, could identify this energy immediately. The chaotic mana belonged to none other than Cain Hover.
“Goodness…”
Peering through the heavy smoke, a clear view emerged.
Smoke choked the air. Flames ravaged the forest, and at its heart stood two figures—or was it two?
Amillion paused, uncertain if the fiery mass could be called a person. There was Ryu, steadfast, a sword raised in a defensive stance. The point of Ryu’s blade aimed toward something less human.
A massive fiery humanoid, flickering like a colossal flame.
Upon seeing it, Amillion felt a chill of foreboding. Within this fiery monstrosity’s aura, she identified it clearly—Cain Hover’s mana.
“RYU!”
Amillion called out urgently. Ryu glanced up, his gaze momentarily shifting from the towering blaze. In that split second, fire jets erupted in all directions.
“…Careful!”
Before she even vocalized her warning, Ryu had already acted. With incredible precision, Ryu launched himself against the flying embers, slicing through each and every flame. None escaped his sword.
Amillion realized immediately—Ryu had been tirelessly containing the flames from spreading further.
WOOOOM!
Amillion darted toward Ryu as quickly as possible.
“What about the others?”
“Didn’t have time. What’s THAT?”
“You know…”
“Can’t… be…”
Approaching Ryu swiftly, Amillion’s worst fears were confirmed when Ryu’s words painted the situation with grim clarity. The giant fiery mass was indeed Cain Hover.
“How?”
“Seems like his mana is spiraling out of control… Not sure why.”
“Impossible.”
“Doesn’t seem like we have time to debate that. Great timing you arrived though. I was about to…”
Amillion took a closer look at the blazing mass, hoping against hope. But with each further inspection, all the professor could feel was a surge of Cain Hover’s mana, growing stronger and more concentrated.
“How are we supposed to stop this?”
“To quell a mana explosion like that…”
Amillion was pondering possible countermeasures when…
“Professor!”
“Uh?”
“Wha—”
WHOOOOOSH!
An unexpected voice called out. Simultaneously, both Ryu and Amillion turned their gaze—and nearly instantly, flames shot out from the fiery Cain.
Straight toward Cynthia.
