The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 285

The sun rose, and as night fell, the Devil Worshippers appeared.

The territory was thrown into chaos at the sudden attack of the Devil Worshippers.

It was even clearly visible to Amy, who was wrapping up her preparations from a distance.

As much as I wanted to rush out and fight alongside her, I refrained from acting impulsively.

Amy has only one body.

It was impossible to step forward like Atlas and move to the desired location.

Wastefulness would only endanger everyone.

“… Think calmly.”

They had little interest in the adults.

The ones who kidnapped the children were likely going to gather here.

“What’s important is one thing.”

Amy simply waited there, holding her breath.

———————

The once quiet territory was now a complete mess.

Flames surged in all directions, and the sound of clashing weapons filled the air.

A suspicious group in black robes was pulling carriages along the chaotic forest path toward some destination.

Inside the carriages were filled with young children.

It seemed every unadulted child in the territory had been captured, as there were more than ten carriages filled with kids.

“If it’s such a sacrifice, we will surely succeed.”

“Yes, indeed. How long have we prepared for this day… the era of oppression has come to an end.”

“When everything is over, we’ll toast.”

“To think we have to extract the hearts of all these sacrifices… if we want to finish the work before dawn, we must start quickly.”

Two individuals wearing horned masks, who were leading the way, spoke up.

Among the Devil Worshippers, they were high-ranking evangelists, and the unconscious children being dragged behind them looked nothing like people.

They merely appeared to be sacrifices offered to demons, like pigs or sheep.

There’s a hierarchy even in sacrifices.

Offering ordinary livestock is the lowest level of sacrifice, while beings with a higher level of intelligence hold greater value as offerings.

And among them, children hold a higher value than the elderly.

In other words, each child inside the carriage was a top-tier sacrifice, and they were storing plenty of such offerings.

It seemed they were really trying to fully manifest the Great Demon in the world.

“Is the altar ready?”

“I checked this morning. It was made well.”

“Good. Once you confirm, it must be certain.”

To fully utilize such sacrifices, a properly made altar is essential.

They had already infiltrated the area and built the altar over several months.

Now they just needed to go there and finish up.

A loud rush of water was heard.

The procession of black robes arrived at a valley where a sizeable waterfall flowed, and there was a small cave.

“The cave is too small for the carriages to enter.”

“It can’t be helped. We have to stop here and carry them in one by one.”

The cave was too rough and narrow for the carriages to pass.

The number of people participating in the transport was just slightly more than the number of carriages.

Even if one person carries four at a time, it seemed it would delay them significantly.

“Arranging and getting inside will take time, so let’s go in first and prepare the ritual.”

The evangelists took their four companions with them and entered the cave to prepare for the ritual.

“… Now, everyone, pull out one each.”

After the evangelists went inside, the remaining ordinary believers began to arrange the carriages and started unloading the children.

Right after that, an orange flame ignited at the entrance of the cave, flashing like fireflies.

-Boom!!!

And it erupted magnificently.

With a thunderous roar, fragments of rock flew everywhere as thick smoke rose up.

It was the smell of black powder.

The explosives set up at the cave entrance detonated all at once, causing the already small entrance for only two people to pass through to collapse.

“Ugh?!”

“B-bomb!!”

The believers were thrown into chaos.

Why were there bombs set up in such a place? Were the ones inside safe? Was there an ambush? As they were flailing about, a scream broke out among the believers.

“An ambush!!!”

One person in black robes fell, unable to even let out a dying scream, his throat severed.

Someone was hiding in the darkness.

The believers stopped their work and began to guard against the attackers.

“Demon Lords!!”

With someone’s shout, black magic began to bloom among several robes of believers, swelling their bodies.

The outstanding Demon soldiers who had previously distinguished themselves while subduing Parker’s soldiers revealed themselves.

“The eyes of the Demon Lords see through everything! Hiding is useless!”

The Demon beings, with their senses heightened compared to humans, discovered the hidden ambushers in the darkness and all headed toward the same spot.

“Ugh?!”

Just then, one of the demons lost an arm.

The ambusher was no longer hiding in the darkness.

Her sword glowed with a burning blue flame, illuminating the darkness.

“Aura Blade?! An Expert!!”

—————————-

In the pitch-black darkness where even moonlight couldn’t be seen, the only light was Amy’s Aura Blade blazing brightly.

“Graaah!!!”

As she swung the Aura Blade at the approaching demon, it wasn’t an empty boast to say she could face the entire force of the Demon Church alone.

Amy’s body was weakened, but strangely, her skill remained intact.

Could it be because her soul had already transcended and overcome walls multiple times?

The aura emanating from her small short sword was so intense that it didn’t seem like it could be produced by a child.

“Don’t even think about returning alive.”

“You little… be careful with that sword! What trick are you pulling…!!”

Demons, having corporeal bodies, could sustain injuries from the Aura Blade, but since they had made contracts with demons, they could heal quickly.

To obstruct that, additional measures were needed to inflict damage on the demon as well.

Normally, everything Amy used was capable of inflicting damage on demons, but now she had to create something on the spot.

Amy’s sword was an ordinary short sword, but she had simply silver-plated it and inscribed the word of God on it.

Though it wasn’t as good as the original full mithril sword she used, it was sufficient against demons.

The proof was that the demons wounded by this sword couldn’t recover at all.

The wounded sections appeared to be festered, as if scalded.

‘I can do this.’

The enemy’s level isn’t that great.

They’re just wild boars, relying on the unique physical enhancements and toughness of demons.

At best, they’re at the mid-level of Experts?

If this were the old Amy, facing this number of demons would have been a matter of life and death, but with the level she had gained in the meantime, she could easily hold her ground, even with the physical penalty.

“Gah…!”

The Aura Blade pierced the heart of the last standing demon.

While calming her racing heart, Amy turned around.

About twenty Devil Worshippers lay all defeated.

Some of the surviving demons were seen immobilized, having lost their limbs.

“It’s ended more easily than I thought.”

She had only used about half of what she prepared, yet she had eliminated all the scattered Devil Worshippers.

But the situation wasn’t over yet.

There were more Devil Worshippers inside the cave, including two evangelists.

She had to finish everything before they broke through the entrance.

“Everyone… quickly get up..!!”

In front of the fainted children, Amy took out the powder medicine she had prepared.

They were all in a state of unconsciousness from the scent commonly used when the Demon Church kidnapped them.

What Amy took out was an antidote made by mixing five different materials, and it was a medication that absorbed through the skin when sprayed on, eliminating the need to administer it orally.

“Uh… huh?”

“It’s morning…?”

The children, affected by the antidote, began to wake one by one.

Now, there was really just one step left.

“Amy? Where are we…?”

“There’s no time to explain in detail. We’re in a valley, so you know where to go, right? Hurry back home.”

“Back home? What about you?”

“I’ll go once I see you all return safely.”

James, the oldest among them, had just awakened with a dazed look in his eyes.

“A valley? What? Why am I here??”

“Where’s Mom?”

But the children, startled by their situation, didn’t move as instructed.

They were thrown into an unfamiliar place, cast into a dark forest, and among them were even corpses, leaving everyone shocked and some sitting down, crying.

“There’s no time…!”

While worrying about when the evangelists would pop out,

-Bang!!

The entrance of the cave, blocked by mud and rocks, was cleared all at once.

“I thought not a single one would come, but… there was a rat.”

The evangelist’s face melded with the mask, proudly displaying two elegantly curved horns above his forehead.