Chapter 101

【101】100.

“GGGGRAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“That Ogre is throwing rocks! Take that one down first!”

Upon seeing the Ogre that was grabbing a chunk of the castle ruins with both hands and throwing it, a student from the Department of Knights urgently shouted towards the students from the Department of Magic.

Just as the student from the Department of Magic was about to hurriedly chant a spell,

Whoosh-!

Celia, who had ascended onto the Castle Wall, took a stance as if to stab.

Phoenix Breath – Flame Wing.

Bird-like wings of flame spread wide and flew towards the Ogre at an incredible speed.

Crack!

“HUUH?”

As the flaming wings brushed past it, the Ogre tilted its head in confusion.

Then, its head fell off from its neck.

Severed by the immense heat, the incised part was charred, causing no bl**d to flow.

Wobble-! Thud!

The massive body of the Ogre fell, burying the surrounding monsters.

However, Celia’s attack wasn’t over yet.

Like a bird gliding, the Flame Wing that had flown upwards suddenly descended towards the ground.

Boom! Whooshhhhhhhhh-!

The Aura Flames exploded, sweeping away the nearby monsters.

While watching the monsters shriek as they were consumed by fire, Celia took a deep breath and sheathed her sword.

Seeing this, the student from the Department of Magic wore an expression of awe.

“What? How can the firepower of an Aura Skill be stronger than magic?”

Meanwhile, on the opposite Castle Wall, Duran was showing his prowess.

“Heads up! Another one from the sky!”

A man-eating crow, a flying monster, was diving in.

Upon seeing this, Duran stepped with his Aura Step and ascended onto the watchtower of the fortress.

Then he raised his sword towards the sky.

Flash! Zzzzzzzzttttt-!

The yellow current emanating from Duran’s sword turned the flock of man-eating crows that were targeting the ground into instant roasted meat in an instant.

Seeing this, Kal, who was in the same team as Duran, whistled.

“You may lack luck, but you have to admit his skill is top-notch!”

Thinking this, Kal supported the surrounding students.

Kal, who aimed to be a supporter, was shining magnificently in this situation.

He quickly supplied potions and identified the priorities for attacks, informing the students of it.

And he would be the first one running to any student who needed help.

In short, Kal had created a situation where Duran and the entire team could focus solely on the battle.

“Hmph. For a commoner, you’re kind of useful.”

With a smirk, Duran came down the watchtower.

The Lumeran students were excellently fending off the overwhelming attack of the monsters.

On the other hand, a team led by Emio was active near the castle gate.

It had already been an hour since the battle began.

The Lumeran students were doing their best, almost overwhelmingly so, in holding off the massive attack of the monsters.

“See? I told you it wasn’t a big deal!”

Emio, wearing a smug expression, created four huge magic circles in the air.

Emio was an all-rounder wizard who freely wielded the four great elemental magics.

Emio’s magic swept away the monsters approaching towards the castle gate.

Tch-!

Emio, stepping onto the castle wall, leaned his staff on his shoulder and wore a bored expression.

“Just fighting with these mere monsters while clinging on to the castle wall is making me d*e of boredom!”

“Emio! Should we go out there and clean up those monsters?”

A spirited student from the Department of Knights, gripping his b*stard Sword, asked.

“Let’s try that.”

The one-sided battle to such an extent made some of the first years feel bored.

It was then that Chloe spoke up.

“Our goal is solely to guard the castle wall.”

“Chloe, I’m the team leader here. Are you issuing me commands now?”

“Where in the world does this seem like an order? I’m telling you to follow the battle strategy.”

“The strategy is my call! You follow my orders!”

Chloe wore a cold expression.

The sudden surge of Emio’s cold sweat was evident as he took a step back upon facing Chloe’s iciness.

But feeling that he’s been overwhelmed by her might, it triggered his anger.

“Why in the world would you need to be scared and keep hiding here? If we fought outside the castle walls, we could’ve taken down these monsters much earlier!”

“We still haven’t seen any sign of a proper monstrosity. Do you even understand what this implies?”

“Hmph. Are you saying it makes sense to be afraid of a few wild monsters…?”

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz-!

The ominous sound reverberated as a huge summoning circle began to appear in the sky while Chloe and Emio were arguing in front of the castle gate.

The first-year students, noticing this, gasped and looked up at the sky.

“What, what is that?”

“Is that size even a summoning circle? What on earth is being summoned?”

“Could it be that the school has finally come to save us?”

When a student spoke, everyone nodded.

“True, it’s been an hour already.”

“Some of us were hoping to earn more merit…”

Some students showed their disappointment with presumptions.

Whoosh-!

An enormous, sinister-looking black-blue massive arm emerged from the summoning circle.

BOOM-!

The gigantic hand grabbed the monsters on the ground.

Ker-thud!

The monsters were crushed into meat patties.

The unknown but enormous hand returned to the summoning circle.

After a while, a massive head broke through the summoning circle.

The head was triangular, having horns.

The massive mouth, which made up half of the head, was greedily chewing on the monster it had just caught.

Munch Munch…

The horrifying face turned towards the monsters flooding the castle grounds.

Grin…!

The ferocious face drew a chilling smile.

Finally, the massive beast crossed the summoning circle, revealing its full form.

A giant-sized beast with sleek dark-blue skin.

This monster was familiar to the Lumeran students.

The top-tier monster of Tartarus.

“Gigantes?”

BOOM-! KUNGG-!

Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh-!

When the massive giant, roughly 8 meters tall, planted its foot on the ground, the monsters started fleeing out of terror, letting out howls of fear.

One of the top-tier monsters, the Gigantes, was a horrifying entity that paralyzed every living creature with fear.

The Gigantes started munching on all fleeing monsters within reach.

The appearance of this horrifying giant, a monster that indiscriminately devoured other monsters that threatened humans, filled all the first-year students with dread.

Seeing how greedily the beast devoured the monsters, some of the first years covered their mouths and retched.

As the entire first year cohort was praying silently that this nightmarish beast wouldn’t notice them,

Halt-!

After gorging on monsters, the Gigantes stopped moving and started sniffing.

With a sweeping motion, it turned toward the inner castle. bl**d and saliva dripped from its mouth.

Seeing this, everyone thought the same thing at once:

‘It’s coming!’

Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh-!

Throwing the monster in its hand away, the Gigantes let out an eerie roar and charged.

BOSS- THOOM- THOOM- THOOM-!

As the ground trembled with the Gigantes’ charge, every single one of the first-years stiffened.

Siiiiiiiing-! CRRRAAASHHH!

A massive ice spike erupted.

The Gigantes, pierced by its own momentum, bled profusely.

UUH! UUUHHHH!

However, the terrifying beast didn’t care.

In fact, it began punching the ice piercing through its body in an attempt to destroy it.

Amongst this chaos… Chloe, who had climbed the Castle Wall, staggered after forcing out a massive spell.

She panted heavily before steadying herself and shouted.

“What are you all doing?! Prepare for battle, hurry!”

“What?”

“You’re all paralyzed with fear now that you’ve seen the Gigantes! Listen properly! That Gigantes isn’t fully grown yet!”

She was right. A fully grown Gigantes stands close to 15 meters tall.

By comparison, this one was clearly much smaller.

“We can repel it if we work together! We’re students of the Rumearn Academy, aren’t we?! Have you forgotten our school motto?”

At her cry, the students snapped back to their senses.

“Exceed your limits.”

A value emphasized to every student of Rumearn.

But those who had collapsed in their spots and couldn’t rise weren’t convinced.

“How do you suppose we fight THAT? Running away is better!”

“Yeah! Now’s the time to spread out and wait for the rescue team—it’s not the time to fight!”

Just a while ago, Chloe’s team members had been brimming with confidence, yet now their fighting spirit was entirely crushed.

“Will running save you?”

At Chloe’s cold words, the students flinched.

Running would surely mean getting caught and killed without resistance.

Still, even with this knowledge, not a single student could readily muster courage.

It couldn’t be helped.

Humans are infinitely weak creatures when faced with despair.

Chloe knew this fact well.

“I’m scared too.”

Though she stood confidently, her voice trembled, and the hands gripping her staff shook.

“But someone once taught me. A hero is someone who courageously fights back against danger.”

From that moment, something shifted.

‘If I give in to fear here… I’ll never be able to dream of becoming a hero again.’

“Therefore, no matter how desperate the situation is, I will fight.”

With a resolute expression, Chloe turned around.

CRACK!

“GROOOAAAAAAAAA!”

The ice spike piercing the Gigantes’ body was destroyed, and its wounds began healing at an incredible rate.

Once healed, the Gigantes angrily grabbed the broken ice piece and hurled it towards Chloe.

With the Gigantes’ strength added, the ice chunk transformed into a massive, devastating physical attack.

“AAAHHHH!”

“Get out of the way!”

The surrounding students panicked and scattered.

‘Too late if I dodge!’

Chloe summoned her mana and quickly cast a spell.

BOOM!

The ice shattered against the magical shield Chloe had erected.

Having defended against the attack, Chloe began casting her next spell.

It was then that she noticed crimson flames flickering from the edge of her vision.

WHOOSH-! KABAAAAAANG!

The flames transformed instantly into an enormous blade that mercilessly cleaved through the Gigantes’ back.

GROOOOAAAAAHHHH!

The Gigantes shrieked and fell to the ground, its flesh sizzling from the fiery attack, the smell of burning protein filling the air.

BOOM! THUD! THUD!

The fortress grounds were reduced to a wasteland in moments due to the Gigantes thrashing about in pain.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards the high outer castle wall.

Contrasting the flame so hot it could melt steel, the owner’s eyes were as cold as ice.

A boy with white hair flowing in the wind and glowing red eyes.

WHOOSH!

The flames around his sword-wielding arm flickered as everyone watching felt a strange sense of reassurance.

Chloe’s trembling hand steadied itself as the last hint of lingering fear melted away.

A smile involuntarily graced Chloe’s lips as she called out his name.

“Leo.”