252nd Episode
“Currently near Alpha 21…”
Nelson, with the help of mages, was trying hard to maintain communication and assess the situation.
Ray, though increasingly irritated, decided to stay put rather than rush in blindly.
This place was right at the heart of the Empire’s Imperial Capital.
The Empire’s main forces were stationed here in large numbers, and the Royal Mobile Strike Team was always on standby for any emergency.
It would be unusual for Ray to have to intervene in a major incident.
Even if Ray did decide to get involved, proper assessment of the situation would be necessary before taking action.
Meanwhile, the other students remained tense and stayed in their positions.
Johanna briefly approached Ray but retreated without saying anything, having sensed his sharp and intense aura.
After what felt like a long yet brief moment, Nelson reported the situation to Ray.
“Near Alpha 21…”
“What?”
“It’s the designation for the Golden Tower where Team A is located. A small-scale attack has occurred there, which seems to have disrupted the barrier deployment.”
“…”
“The confirmed attack location is one area around Alpha 21. The Royal Mobile Strike Team has been dispatched, and nearby troops are also moving in for support. With so many forces deployed, higher-ups expect the disturbance to be resolved soon.”
Among the deployed forces were numerous high-level experts.
No matter how extraordinary the attackers might be, they were bound to be swiftly eliminated.
Nelson glanced briefly at the direction Ray was looking and finished his report.
“This could be a feint to draw us out. Orders have come down from above: except for the designated units, everyone must hold their positions.”
“…What about the students?”
“Ordinarily, we’d evacuate them, but there isn’t a safe place to take them until this situation is resolved. Moreover, since the Imperial Capital itself is under attack, all available forces should remain armed and ready.”
“Then go round up the kids and get them focused.”
“Understood.”
Nelson immediately ran toward the students and shouted loudly.
“How long do you plan to stand there like statues!!!”
With his loud voice, Nelson roused the students.
Though students, they were trained at the Expert Level and could be deployed in emergencies.
Once reminded by Nelson, they prepared for battle, gripping their sword hilts tightly.
While chaos surrounded him, Ray quietly observed the energy swirling near Alpha 21.
If the situation didn’t resolve quickly, he was prepared to act alone.
Unlike the other students, Ray had brought an artefact even for the exam. He adjusted the bracelet on his wrist and steadied his breathing.
At that moment, another change occurred.
In a few of the dozens of Golden Towers, mana began to rapidly concentrate.
As the powerful flow of mana intensified, everyone braced themselves.
Suddenly, pillars of light shot upward from five Golden Towers and converged in the sky above the Imperial Capital.
Apthel briefly advised Ray.
[Judging from this, it appears to be a Warp Gate.]
Apthel’s assumption proved correct.
From the point where the light converged, a Warp Gate opened.
Many, including Ray, momentarily held their breath.
Everyone in the Empire hoped that the beings emerging from the Warp Gate would be allies who could quickly end this crisis.
However, as the Warp Gate opened, black rain began to fall.
Together with it, evil entities filled with malevolent energy crossed over, their eyes glowing red.
Evil poured forth. Ray drew his second sword.
*
Earlier.
The students of Team A arrived at the Golden Tower under the guidance of their instructors.
Designated Alpha 21, this important strategic asset of the Empire saw the students lightly clenching their fists upon arrival.
“We must arrive here faster than Team B!”
The student acting as commander shouted, and the others responded enthusiastically.
With the mood set, the students completed their baggage inspection and began the test.
As the students entered the barrier, the mages around the Golden Tower busied themselves adjusting the protective barriers.
These weren’t just ordinary students; they were Izhise students entering the barrier.
Even a minor flaw in the barrier could affect the students’ abilities and cause problems, so the mages had to maintain it diligently until the test concluded.
However, shortly after the test began, a lone woman approached the Golden Tower.
“…!”
The moment her presence was detected, the instructors and knights surrounding the tower sprang into action, encircling and pointing their swords at her.
“Identify yourself.”
“…”
The woman remained silent.
Mages searched for the temporary mark required for traveling to Izhise, but found none.
When one mage shook his head, the pointed swords became even more menacing.
The instructors and knights, though outwardly calm, were deeply perplexed.
How could someone of unknown identity infiltrate this far?
Entering the Imperial Capital undetected might somehow be possible, but Izhise was a military facility.
Even with inside help, she should have been caught by the security system.
“If you don’t answer, we’ll attack. Identify yourself.”
“…”
Still, the woman said nothing. Instead, flames erupted from her clenched hands.
Without hesitation, the swords aimed at her swung fiercely.
Simultaneously, the flames spread softly around her.
The instructors and knights attempted to cut through the flames and slay the woman, regardless of the potential burns.
Suppressing her was their priority.
But when the flames touched their armor and swords…
Nothing burned. Everything froze instead.
Chill!
“?!!”
All materials touched by the flames were eroded by cold.
Freezing flames. The strange power eroded the metals, reducing their volume until they shattered.
Twisted by a force they had never encountered, the instructors and knights momentarily retreated.
Using that brief retreat, the woman moved closer to the Golden Tower, placing her hand on it.
“…I can sense it.”
She felt the presence of the Dragonheart within.
Out of the dozens of Golden Towers built across the Imperial Capital, only five contained Dragonhearts.
These five towers played an especially critical role, and Alpha 21 was one of them.
“Our race’s legacy…”
Her touch carried a sense of nostalgia.
The moment her hand grazed the surface of the tower, a senior mage overseeing the tower’s control system for the barrier was startled.
The woman had begun infiltrating the Golden Tower’s system.
Although the senior mage couldn’t comprehend how such a thing was possible, one fact was clear.
“Stop her!!”
The instructors, knights, and mages simultaneously prepared to attack the woman.
However, one instructor suddenly struck the senior mage controlling the Golden Tower from behind.
“?!”
Crack!!
The defensive artefact the senior mage had prepared to protect himself was instantly pierced.
An attack from such close range, especially from someone believed to be an ally—a graduate—was almost impossible for even a highly skilled senior mage to counter.
By the time others turned their heads, the senior mage’s heart had already been shattered.
Traitor.
Realizing the situation, those present redirected their weapons without questioning further.
The traitorous instructor’s name was Kieran.
The reason for betrayal could be extracted later, perhaps after severing limbs.
The forces split into two groups, attacking Kieran and the woman separately.
But this was a mistake.
To increase the chances of early suppression, they should have ignored all secondary factors and attacked the woman with everything they had.
As the approaching blades and spells neared,
The woman leaned against the tower whose control had been disrupted by the mage’s death.
“Mother.”
The woman recalled the day she first received her name long ago.
One of the progenitor dragons had named her Preches.
Once, she cherished her name. Now, she no longer did.
“Mother, I can feel your regrets here.”
Preches pressed her cheek against the tower as if seeking warmth, exhaling softly.
“I can feel the existence, will, and deaths of my kin here.”
Beneath the approaching blades, Preches shed tears.
“You who submitted to a mistaken fate without resistance… how hateful and how missed you are.”
Zzzzzip!!
Mana surged back from the tower into Preches.
Preches unleashed the mana within her body without restraint.
The attacks about to strike her were obliterated by the massive flow of mana.
Crackkkk!!
“?!”
Those who had approached Preches were thrown back quite a distance due to the backlash of power.
Amidst the storm of mana, freezing flames and burning flames coalesced like wings on Preches’ back.
A dozen or so knights and mages paused momentarily.
Preches now possessed overwhelming firepower that dwarfed the humans before her.
“Do you think the only beings capable of wielding this power are you?”
The system of the Imperial Capital was designed by dragons.
Though modified over long periods, remnants of the dragons’ heritage and will still infused the capital with power.
Trust flowed through this capital.
Trust that dragons would never harm the empire meant to protect humanity.
And six hundred years ago, the dragons met their end.
The empire likely believed that no entity capable of interfering with the systems composing the capital remained.
Preches despised such trust placed in dragons.
That this trust wasn’t entirely misplaced troubled Preches even more.
Hwaak!!
Preches flapped her wings.
Trails of freezing flames swept along the paths carved by her wings.
Everything touched by the flames was eroded by cold.
Despite witnessing this bizarre spectacle, the humans of the empire once again gripped their swords.
“Do not retreat.”
After all, they faced merely a single traitor at the graduate level and an intruder harnessing the Golden Tower’s power.
They were at the center of the Imperial Capital, and reinforcements would soon flood in.
There was no need to retreat, nor was it possible.
Preches read their thoughts and smiled faintly.
“You don’t even know what this tower can do.”
The five towers equipped with Dragonhearts play a central role in controlling the mana of the spirit veins flowing beneath the Imperial Capital.
However, there was one hidden function beyond that.
This top secret information had leaked to the Rubia Kingdom through the exiled First Crown Prince, and eventually, Preches also obtained it.
“Help me…”
Preches placed her hand on the Golden Tower again.
“Please.”
The residual consciousness within the Dragonheart, now only faintly remaining, responded to the plea of the last dragon in existence.
The system authority reversed, causing part of the mana flow throughout the Imperial Capital to reverse and follow Preches’ lead.
Simultaneously, the five towers equipped with Dragonhearts activated.
Warping is impossible within the Imperial Capital. There are no warp gates. This was true.
However, a system existed that could create a warp gate above the Imperial Capital in case of emergencies.
Only an extremely small number of people related to the royal family knew about this.
The information was leaked by the exiled First Crown Prince.
Based on the leaked system information, Preches had prepared for this moment in advance and succeeded.
A warp gate forms above the Imperial Capital.
Beyond it, beings filled with impure energy, which should have been blocked by the defense system of the Imperial Capital, poured out.
Kwaang!!!
A knight wielding a violet sword was the first to pass through the warp gate and landed before Preches.
Behind him, a wave of darkness surged.
Guardian (4)
