The forest where the exchange of magic between students and Shantaks took place was barely recognizable as a forest anymore.
Magic spells flew in all directions, freezing and melting the surroundings, burning and exploding.
Each time Luke’s fire magic erupted, the once-lush trees would either wither or burst into flames.
In the midst of what resembled a battleground, the students’ cries could be heard.
“Luke! Tone down your fire magic! All my water spells keep evaporating!”
“Uooooo!!!”
“Hey, he’s already overheated. He’s lost it!”
“HAHAHA! Die, all of you!”
Amidst the chaos, I tightly gripped Lily and surveyed the situation.
At first, the students had the overwhelming advantage.
While the Shantaks could only use low-level magic, the students mostly utilized mid-level spells, and a few skilled ones wielded high-level magic. In particular, Luke and Ilina displayed powers far beyond the capabilities of a regular student.
Overheated Luke had become a human volcano, while Ilina intercepted any Shantaks that managed to escape Luke’s magical wrath.
But…
“KREEEEEEK!”
“KREEEEEEK!”
“KREEEEEEK!”
Surprisingly, more Shantaks continued to approach.
As one fell, another took its place, then another, charging like madmen without regard for their own safety.
Facing this endless wave attack, the students’ magical counterattacks began to falter.
“Damn it…! My mana’s depleted!”
“Me too!”
Students were collapsing one by one due to mana exhaustion, while those trained in support magic ran around frantically.
However, support magic was a talent-based field, and naturally, there weren’t many who could use it.
Soon, even the students wielding support magic began to complain of depleted mana.
As the students continued to fall, the magical bombardments that had once filled the sky began to disappear, one by one.
And then, seizing the moment of hesitation…
“KREEEEEEK!”
“They’re diving!”
“Hold them back!”
Some Shantaks folded their wings and dove like arrows towards the students.
Students with remaining mana shot interception spells, but the Shantaks pressed on, even with their wings torn apart.
Just as one Shantak was about to attack a student who couldn’t evade in time…
DING!
“KREEEEK?”
A protective barrier appeared between the student and the Shantak.
Before the surprised Shantak could react, Ilina’s ice spear struck with precision.
Recognizing the owner of the barrier, the student, fighting back tears, thanked me.
“Thank you, Arthur!”
I could only watch the situation with unease, biting my lips.
‘Damn it, there’s too many of them!’
For now, we were holding on, but soon it would only be Luke and Ilina left standing.
Certainly, the two possessed strength akin to strategic weapons, but even they had their limits.
‘And there’s still five more minutes…’
Already, more students were collapsing.
– Lily, can you launch a beam?
– …Impossible. I’ve almost exhausted my strength breaking free from that fog. At best, I might be able to use the barrier a couple more times…
It was a tough situation to rely on Lily’s strength.
I frantically racked my brains.
‘Think, think… Is there a way to turn this around?’
What caught my eye were Luke and Ilina, and Lily.
‘…Fire magic, ice magic…and the barrier?’
An idea occurred to me.
‘That’s it! That might just wipe them all out at once!’
Now that I had a plan, it was time for execution.
“Ilina!”
Ilina answered without turning her head in response to my call.
“What is it? I’m… busy right now.”
“KREEEEEEEK!”
CREEEEEEAK
“…Very busy!”
“There’s a way. A way to turn this situation around.”
At that, Ilina finally turned to look at me.
“What is it?”
“First, we need Luke’s help.”
“Luke is…”
“UOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!”
“…completely out of control? Impossible under normal circumstances, but…”
“You’re there, aren’t you! You can cool down that overheat!”
Ilina’s ice magic was to quell the volcanic rage.
Ilina—of the Frost family—was the best equipped to do this.
The Frost family’s representative magic would surely be enough to bring the overheated Luke back to his senses.
Ilina, guessing my intention, furrowed her delicate brows.
“But if I use that magic, my mana reserves won’t last much longer…”
“Don’t worry. If this works, we can finish them all at once.”
After a brief moment of deliberation, Ilina nodded.
“Alright. I’ll trust you this time.”
Ilina halted her magic and ran towards Luke.
“Luke!”
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!”
“…Uh…”
Startled by Luke’s heat, Ilina took a deep breath and channeled her mana, causing frost to form around her.
“Everyone, back away from the two!”
Seeing Ilina’s state, the students understood and quickly retreated. There was no helping that. This magic was far too well-known.
Modern magic had evolved, and continued to evolve.
Old magic relied heavily on form. There were far more categories, and most importantly, the magics were given names.
Fireball and Thunderwave were examples.
But modern magic?
With continued evolution, it had broken free from fixed forms, allowing mages to transform spells as they saw fit. Fireball could become Firewave in an instant.
With the breaking away from forms, finer classifications lost their meaning and along with that, the names of the spells disappeared, replaced by broader terms, like ‘fire attack magic.’
Even so, a few spells retained their unique names.
These were the legendary spells passed down within families, imbued with the unique will of their users.
The Frost family had two.
One of which was…
『Absolute Zero』
The temperature around Ilina plummeted, forming frost and ice.
Under the effect, Luke’s flames began to weaken as Ilina walked through the dimmed fire.
The fire attempted to reach Ilina, but the frost emanating from her body kept it at bay.
Soon, Ilina reached right in front of Luke…
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!”
“Snap out of it, you oaf!”
CRACK!
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHHHHH?!”
Ilina delivered a powerful slap to Luke’s neck.
‘…Does Ilina have a different personality like this usually?’
Every time she’s around Luke, her behavior changes drastically.
The ringing sound of the slap subsided as Luke’s flames weakened.
“…Eh? What’s going on… Ilina? Why are you here…?”
“Luke! Ilina! Both of you, over here!”
Bewildered Luke shuffled over at my call.
The Shantaks, sensing the disappearance of the two big obstacles in their path, began to descend in haste but…
DING DING DING
Their path was blocked by a protective barrier.
– What exactly do you plan to do?
– Lily, please use the barrier to trap all the Shantaks in the sky!
– I’ll completely drain my energy doing that. I won’t be able to use the barrier afterward.
– Don’t worry. This will end things.
– …I hope your plan works.
Lily’s barrier expanded greatly, encapsulating the Shantaks in a perfect sphere.
“Arthur, what’s going on here?”
“Luke, Ilina, you two are crucial now.”
“What do you need me to do?”
Firstly, I spoke to Ilina.
“Ilina, when I signal, use Niflheim inside that barrier.”
Niflheim. The Frost family’s second legendary spell, building on the first, Absolute Zero, to create the strongest ice magic.
“My mana is nearly depleted too, so its power will be under half. I’ll be drained after using it.”
“We’ll end this with this. Don’t worry.”
How many times have I said that now…?
“But…”
“Ilina, why not try Arthur’s suggestion?”
“Luke?”
“Arthur always scores full marks on his theory exams. He’s smart. The camp was Arthur’s idea too. We can trust his judgment.”
After alternating between looking at me and Luke for a while, Ilina sighed and agreed.
“…Alright. I’ll give it a try.”
“Thank you.”
– Lily.
– You want me to make a hole, right? Got it.
A small hole opened in Lily’s barrier, and Ilina extended her hand towards it, closing her eyes.
After a moment of preparation, Ilina opened her eyes and cried out.
『Niflheim!』
While Absolute Zero freezes all it touches to create an icy zone, Niflheim weaponizes that cold air.
The cutting winds of Absolute Zero surged through the hole in the barrier, rapidly lowering the temperature inside and slowing the Shantaks’ movements. Frost and ice began to form within the barrier.
As expected, their weakened appearance was evident. During the last practical test, Ilina’s Niflheim had frozen all enemies in the front line, showcasing its enormous power.
But now, even this strength would suffice.
Next was Luke.
“Luke, same goes for you. When I signal, use Muspelheim into that hole.”
Muspelheim was also a legendary spell passed down by the Blaze family, the strongest fire magic that only an overheated Blaze could use.
Ilina deduced my plan from my words and exclaimed.
“…You’re suggesting a steam explosion?”
I smirked.
A steam explosion occurs when liquid trapped in a closed space transforms into gas, expanding. The expansion would create high pressure, causing…
“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll do it!”
With renewed heat, Luke charged towards the overheat.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!”
As the heat caused steam to rise in the air around him…
“Let’s go!”
– Lily, extend the hole toward Luke.
As the hole stretched towards Luke…
『Muspelheim!!!』
BOOM!
Flames and molten lava erupted from Luke as the focal point.
If it weren’t for the frost laid down by Ilina, an intense heat capable of burning one’s skin would have manifested.
The heat coursed through the hole into the barrier’s interior, where the overwhelming heat caused the ice created by Niflheim to not only melt but evaporate instantly.
– Lily, close the hole now!!
In the sealed barrier, the mixture of heat and cold triggered the following reaction.
BANG!!!
The blinding flash followed by a tremendous explosion caused the students to cover their ears.
Lily’s barrier couldn’t withstand that energy and shattered, but everything inside, along with the ice, had vaporized.
Stunned by the instantaneous disappearance of hundreds of their kin, the newly arriving Shantaks became confused and flew around chaotically in the sky.
Still dazed by that incredible sight, the students quickly regained their senses and intercepted the remaining Shantaks.
“Ugh…”
Luke, having expelled all his heat, slumped to the ground, and Ilina wobbled, showing signs of exhaustion.
“Eliminating them all at once was good, but isn’t this just buying time? More birds keep coming. Both Luke and I have depleted our mana. If they regroup, we won’t be able to handle them…”
True to Ilina’s observation, Shantaks continued to gather.
If this were solely our war, it would be our clear defeat… Nevertheless.
“Do you remember what I said?”
Understanding first, Ilina looked up at the sky.
“Can it be?”
In the sky, countless Shantaks flew around. But from far away, a group of figures approached swiftly.
I smiled.
“It’s reinforcements.”
Comparing them to the Shantaks, their skin was of a slightly brighter gray hue. Though their physique resembled humans, their thin limbs were akin to sugarcane stalks. Flapping bat-like wings revealed a horned face devoid of distinct features.
– They’re Nightgaunts.
The Shantaks’ natural enemies had arrived.
In the blink of an eye, the approaching Nightgaunts tore the Shantaks apart, literally.
The Shantak scales that adorned the sky appeared more beautiful to me now than the first snowfall.
“Game over.”
We had won.
