Chapter 138

“Ah, a demon!”

“Run away!”

“Gyiik!”

In the midst of chaos at the Academy, professors were tirelessly casting spells to defeat the demons while trying to save as many students as possible, but it was a losing battle.

Despite appearing suddenly, the sheer number of demons was absurd.

“This, this won’t do! There are too many!”

“Ugh… this is bad…”

At that moment.

Light began to emanate from the bracelets worn by the students, and one by one, the students who had been fleeing from the demons started to vanish.

“This, this magic… it’s the Dean’s magic!”

“That spell earlier was definitely a teleportation spell…!”

How did teleportation magic occur here?

There was only one answer.

The mechanism embedded in the bracelets, created as a precaution for the students’ safety, had activated.

They had no way of knowing what kind of magic was applied to the bracelets, yet the identity of the magic circle was indeed teleportation magic.

“It’s definitely the Dean!”

If all the students could be sent to a safe place through that magic circle, they would no longer have to worry about controlling their strength.

The reason they had struggled to face the demons until now was that using powerful magic could risk the students getting caught in it, causing calamity.

Now, it was time for the professors of the Academy, including those from the swordsmanship department who had previously refrained from engaging due to concerns for the students, to take action against the demons.

– Kih, kih?

– Grrraaaah!!

As the students they had been assaulting began to disappear one by one, the demons were at a loss, their earlier confident expressions replaced with panic.

Yet, after a moment, the demons realized that only those who could easily kill them remained in this place, and they screamed in terror as they tried to flee, but it was far too late.

They had begun to use high-powered magic they had refrained from using until now, one by one.

They had avoided using high-powered spells due to the presence of students, but now that obstacle had vanished, leaving no need for restraint.

Whoosh!

“Die, you monsters!”

“[Fire Explosion]!!”

– Kyaek! Kyaaaaaaek!!!

– Grrrraaaah!

– Grug… grrruk…

Magic with an intensity unmatched compared to when students were half-taken hostage began to erupt from their staffs.

In the end, before they could even resist, they were reduced to ashes by overwhelming firepower.

“Wow…”

“That’s incredible magic…”

Stella and Uriel, who were watching the scene unfold, muttered in disbelief.

It was clear that the professors who worked at the Academy were on a whole other level.

‘I knew they were exceptional when I attended classes…’

Unless they were priests with divine power or inquisitors who could aggressively utilize purification spells, even low-level demons that were not so easy to defeat became entities that could be dispatched with one spell to these professors.

That was only natural.

They were unleashing advanced magic with no incantation.

While it was true that using non-incantation spells would inherently weaken their power, the fact that they could cast advanced magic this way proved to be a remarkable feat.

Casting advanced magic without incantation was in a realm beyond what she could manage.

Though it wasn’t entirely impossible if she could memorize the spell beforehand, that was as far as it could go.

She could cast up to intermediate magic without incantation, but starting from advanced magic, it could only be used without incantation if it was memorized, indicating a significant gap in skill and level.

“It’s striking, but… I can really feel this is the Empire’s finest Academy, Argen Academy…”

If there was anything that felt realistic, it was the point that it wasn’t easy for students of her level to face low-level demons.

The majority were even too busy fleeing to contemplate fighting back.

However, when looking at the second- or third-year students who could use the magic to take on low-level demons banding together for a hunt, it didn’t seem quite as realistic.

Due to the nature of magic, spells below a certain level wouldn’t affect demons, so first-year students were too busy fleeing rather than thinking about mounting a counterattack.

It wasn’t surprising that when she had tried to use the advanced magic [Rising Sphere] without incantation against a high-level demon, the damage had been minimal aside from a slight shock.

A minimal shock… could certainly be considered enough damage, but the power of the Rising Sphere as she knew it wasn’t merely that.

That level of power only matched what could be seen in intermediate spells.

‘One day, I will…’

I will surely grow like that.

Stella pledged to herself in secret.

“S-Stella! We need to find out where Dean Argen is first!”

“Ah…”

As she recalled that memory while watching their magic, she nearly forgot their original purpose. With Uriel’s shout, Stella finally remembered why they had come here and started moving toward a professor who had just finished eradicating the nearby demons.

“Hmm? A student? It appears you haven’t put on your bracelets.”

Surprised by their presence momentarily, a rather stout professor approached.

“Professor Alfreed…”

“Yes. Are you both injured? You can relax now. It seems you both haven’t worn your bracelets, so let’s move together.”

Mentioning they hadn’t put on their bracelets, he suggested they could not leave them to fend for themselves.

But more pressing matters weighed on them now.

“Professor Alfreed, do you know where the Dean is?”

“The Dean? He should be going around saving students who haven’t worn their bracelets right about now…”

Oh no… of all times…

No, on the contrary, it was to be expected.

No matter how capable Argen was, he couldn’t know what had happened to Evan and Aria; it would have been a priority to save students who hadn’t activated their bracelets first.

While that was the rational thing to do…

‘This is not good…’

In a situation where they couldn’t ascertain what was happening with the two of them, they must act quickly to rescue them, but they didn’t even know where the Dean was!

What should they do? She was pacing anxiously when another professor, having finished dealing with the demons, approached them.

“I will call the Dean. Can you provide a rough idea of what’s going on?”

“Professor Robert. Have the demons been dealt with?”

“Of course. It seems all the students in the area have been teleported, so let us help the Dean fetch the remaining students. But before that…”

The professor named Robert turned his gaze towards them.

“You seem to be looking for the Dean, then…”

“But… aren’t you still students? There’s no need to look for the Dean…”

“Look closely, Professor Alfreed.”

“What do you mean by that…”

Suddenly, Professor Robert’s expression turned to one of shock as he surveyed Stella and Uriel.

“C-Crown Princess…?!”

“If Uriel is looking for the Dean, there must be a good reason.”

As the two recognized the gravity of the situation, conversing amongst themselves, Uriel, still tilting her head in confusion over what was happening, looked on…

“Uriel… tell them that you have something important to discuss with the Dean. You can do it.”

Having quickly assessed the situation, Stella told Uriel to convey this, and Uriel assured them to leave it to her as she approached the two men.

“I have something urgent to tell Dean Argen… would that be possible?”

“…Please wait a moment.”

Nodding at her words, Professor Robert closed his eyes and used magic.

Normally, contacting someone over such a distance would be impossible, but he had a magical tool that allowed communication in preparation for the upcoming exams.

Of course, that was among the measures Argen had prepared against Maleficent’s assault.

Moments later, Professor Robert opened his eyes with a smirk and turned back to them.

“He received the message. He’s on his way here.”

Hearing this, Stella let out a sigh of relief and muttered that it was a relief.

Every moment counted as they needed to rescue Evan and Aria quickly.