“Professor Lunia!”
Sion, who arrived at the sanctuary with Estroja, immediately called out Lunia’s name, but there was no response.
At the sanctuary, where the warm sunlight shone down, the large and sacred tree was covered in black tentacles and a viscous substance.
“Ugh… Ugh!”
“Hmm? Did I hear a scream? What impressive heroism~?”
Professor Lunia, covered in black goop, was in front of a woman who had a seductive smile. The woman had black hair and eyes, with the black goo functioning like clothing.
Sion had a memory of hearing her voice.
– Who are you?
– Well, is there really any need to answer?
– Reveal your identity!
– Everything is for the Demon King.
The conversation held between the Death Knight and the mysterious voice took place in an E-Class Skeleton Dungeon. The voice that was flowing from the core of the dungeon and the voice of the woman in front of him were undoubtedly from the same person.
“Professor Lunia…!”
“Don’t worry too much. I won’t hurt you. Just… I might absorb a bit of your mana?”
Her eyes curved like a crescent moon. Lunia didn’t appear to be in pain, but her mouth, hands, and feet were all bound.
“Si-Sion…!”
“You still have the strength to talk~? Maybe our tentacles need to exert some force?”
“…!!!”
Lunia’s pupils widened as the tentacles constricted her even more. The image of her limbs spread wide and the black tentacles slithering up her body was—
To be honest, a bit… no, extremely indecent.
Sion shook off his distractions and firmly gripped his wand.
“Are you trying to fight me with that cute wand?”
“…Let Lunia go.”
“You don’t even know who I am. Run away right now if you don’t want to die.”
“Who are you?”
“Kyah ha ha! If you want, I will tell you.”
Thunk!
She placed her hand on her chest. With an ecstatic expression gazing into the air, she looked like a fanatic.
She shouted in a voice filled with ecstasy.
“I am one of the seven apostles serving the Demon King!”
“……!!”
“Call me ‘Greed’ from Apostolos. Have you perhaps heard of me?”
Apostolos.
An organization that sought the resurrection of the dead Demon King during the Demon War 120 years ago.
They consisted of seven members bearing a name stemming from the seven deadly sins.
Sion never imagined he would encounter a member of Apostolos.
“…O eternal power and authority of fire, reveal your form and burn the enemy! Fire!”
Whoosh!
Estroja cast the spell before Sion.
The 1st Circle fire elemental spell, ‘Fire.’
Though simple and straightforward, the size and number of the fireballs were threatening.
“Haah!”
Boom—!!
As Estroja shouted, the fireballs flew toward the enemy. The firepower was enough to worry about whether the sanctuary might catch fire.
However.
“So, this is an academy student? Impressive?”
“…!”
Swoosh!
Tentacles moved as if responding to Greed’s gesture. The sticky black goo-covered tentacles rushed in, colliding with the fireballs.
Whoosh…
“My fireballs…?!”
The fireballs vanished the moment they touched the tentacles. Or to be precise, it seemed that the fireballs were ‘absorbed’ by the tentacles.
Thanks to Sion’s mana, the ‘Identification Eye’ revealed this fact.
‘…I’m being drained of mana?’
Touching that viscous substance drains mana, whether it is from magic or a person.
People won’t die, but if a magic’s mana disappears, it scatters as is.
In other words, the person in front of him, known as ‘Greed,’ was a spellcaster with a counter that Sion could never defeat.
“Hmm~ your mana doesn’t taste very good. It’s a shame what kind of life you’ve lived.”
“What did you say…?!”
“On the other hand, you seem to look quite delicious?”
Greed smiled deviously.
When Sion met her gaze, he shuddered slightly.
…The way she scanned him from top to bottom was extremely unpleasant.
‘Magic won’t work. It could backfire instead.’
He didn’t know the mechanism of the goo and tentacles.
Perhaps they could absorb mana to conduct a bigger attack.
So, recklessly pouring magic wouldn’t be wise.
Then….
“Summon Undead. Revive.”
Ka-boom—!!
Thick, black mana burst from his palm.
It dripped down, forming a massive circle.
Undead began to rise from the summoning circle.
[Ah, you called for me.]
[W-what? Did you just resurrect me?]
– Clatter.
“Oh my?”
The undead appeared in droves.
B-Class creature, Death Knight.
And the Skeleton Necromancer, the boss of the dungeon…
Along with numerous E-Class Skeletons.
A force that could rival the name of a one-man army shone in the eyes of Greed.
“Yikes….”
“Stay behind me.”
Estroja, trembling at the appearance of the undead, hid behind Sion.
If it had been before, she would have quietly remained behind him.
“I can fight too, you know?”
“…No need. After all, magic won’t work.”
“Well then, I’ll at least cast a protective spell on you.”
Fwoosh!
A protective spell surrounded Sion and Estroja.
…However, unlike before when she couldn’t use any spells, she actually cast a protective spell for him.
Sion smiled at her growth.
“…You little brat, did you just ruin my plan?”
The Death Knight and the Undead Necromancer.
Greed was aware of their identities.
She had seen the former through the core of the dungeon and the latter was the puppet she had ‘created’ and planted in the dungeon.
“Answer me!!”
“What if I don’t?”
“…Ha.”
The little brat from the academy whom she had planned to slowly turn into skeletons for adventurers…
Veins bulged on Greed’s forehead.
She could never, ever let the impudent brat in front of her live.
“Then I’ll kill you!!”
Swoosh!
Angry, Greed shot forth the tentacles.
*
‘How dare a brat!’
One of the members of Apostolos, ‘Greed.’
She was furious at Sion in front of her.
The one who ruined her perfect plan for the Demon King was a mere academy student with no experience.
She wouldn’t dare to tell the other Apostolos members about her embarrassment.
‘How fortunate. I’ll get my revenge!’
A grin never left her face.
Today’s class by Professor Lunia from the academy was a practical exercise.
The nearest academy building would take at least 30 minutes to walk.
Compared to that, her tentacles and viscous substance could absorb mana.
Even if wizards died and awoke again, they would never be able to defeat her.
She would chew that little brat to bits before the other professors arrived…
And then take the students of the Magic Department and the professor to ‘Laziness’ and turn them into undead.
That was Greed’s perfect plan.
It should have been like that.
“…These rotten skeletons!”
Clatter!
The skeletons interfered with the movement of her tentacles.
Even if she tried to absorb mana, it was meaningless since they were undead resurrected by Revival.
Even when the mana absorption ended, the bones would remain unchanged.
Already three of her tentacles were covered in bones and couldn’t move.
“Death Knight!”
[I’m aware.]
Slash!
Tentacles were cleanly severed by the neat sword.
As they wriggled on the ground, the viscous substance soaked the floor like a swamp.
The severed tentacles turned into goo and spread across the ground.
‘That annoying little brat is remarkably clever.’
Undead have physical forms, so their absorption of mana was meaningless.
Did she figure out that normal magic wouldn’t work against them?
No, that couldn’t be.
It was merely good fortune that spirit magic was her specialty.
‘The only option left is to attack the main body.’
An effective method of attacking the Necromancer, known as a one-man army.
That was to attack the spellcaster.
Most spellcasters… especially Necromancers tend to lack sufficient self-defense measures.
Whoosh!
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she moved herself.
[Ah, hey!]
“You stay out of this!”
[…Damn.]
Swoosh!
All remaining tentacles were directed at the Death Knight.
Tentacles that blocked the Death Knight’s retreat acted as if they had consciousness.
In the meantime, Greed charged towards Sion.
Her fingers transformed into tentacles, then swung toward Sion.
“Kyah ha ha!! Try to stop this!!”
“…!”
“S-Sion…!”
Swoosh!
The tentacle-like fingers charged toward Sion.
The first tentacle was blocked by the protective barrier Estroja had set up, but it was promptly destroyed once it absorbed her mana.
Only the two terrified academy students remained.
However…
Slash!
Her finger was cleanly severed.
“…A sword?!”
In pain, Greed recoiled, retrieving her finger.
At the end was Sion, wielding a sword.
‘A student from the Magic Department carries a sword? Ha, preposterous.’
Though it was for self-defense, that image was laughable.
According to the words of her ‘subordinate’ who had conveyed information to her, this class was for the students of the Magic Department only.
There was no Combat Department in this academy.
Thus, she could easily predict that Sion’s skills would be pathetic.
She wanted to cut down that brat immediately, but….
‘…Why can’t I find an opening?’
With Estroja behind him, Sion faced her.
The posture of his grip on the sword, his footwork, the position of his feet, and the angle between his gaze and the sword.
Looking at all of that collectively… it was close to ‘perfect.’
There wasn’t even a hint of an opening to be found.
A cold sweat trickled down Greed’s forehead as she realized that fact.
Spirit magic and swordsmanship… are first-rate?
‘No way! He’s just a student from the Magic Department!’
Despite being a first-year student in the academy, controlling a B-Class creature, the Death Knight was already abnormal.
Not to mention that a newly adult magician could also excel in swordsmanship?
That far exceeded mere talent.
It was a level of genius that would appear once in a hundred years… no, once in a thousand years.
Greed’s gaze wavered upon realizing that fact.
And Sion didn’t miss the slightest tremor.
“Are you scared?”
“…Huh???”
“Since you want to eat my mana, come try it.”
Sion provoked while gripping his sword.
With that short statement, veins bulged in her eyes.
‘How dare… how dare a member of Apostolos provoke me? That chunk of flesh?!’
Drip.
The string of her sanity snapped.
Whether or not an opening was visible, it no longer mattered if he was a genius or not… she would kill the insolent brat in front of her and claim his mana and blood.
Enraged, she pounced again.
“Kyah ha ha! I will make sure to kill you painfully!”
Swoosh!
Tentacles rained down toward Sion.
Above, below, front, back, left, and right all came at him.
Estroja had belatedly begun casting a protective spell, but it was already too late.
‘It’s over, brat!’
Her eyes curved like a crescent moon.
The moment her tentacles touched the icy-faced brats, she would absorb their mana and end the game.
It was a perfect victory for her.
She was convinced of it.
Until Sion’s momentum changed.
Chill!
‘What… what is this feeling?’
Despite the tentacles approaching, his gaze was firmly locked on her.
The cracking of joints and the sound of screams.
Sion’s body… all of his joints were being compressed.
Like a squirrel just before it jumps.
“…Yulseo Sword Technique, Third Form.”
Whoosh—!!
Just before the tentacles touched Sion, his figure moved faster than light.
Before she could even blink, he reached her.
“Flying Squirrel.”
Slash!
His sword cleanly severed Greed’s neck.
‘What… am I losing… to this brat? With such a silly technique?!’
The shock of being defeated by an academy student washed over her.
And the absurdity of losing her head to a technique called Flying Squirrel was her final emotion.
