Chapter II: The Tiny Hero
Loud footsteps echoed through the nearly-deserted throne room.
Only Alva, ten apostles, five of whom were restraining Hajime, and thirty of Freid’s monsters had remained behind to finish off Hajime and the other students.
The majestic hall felt eerily silent, a stark contrast to the cheering heard outside.
Hajime’s screams of despair had left everyone, except Alva, speechless.
“I can’t believe you’re still breathing. Just how tenacious are you?” he spat as he strode over to Hajime. Burning hatred dominated his disdainful sneer. He despised Hajime for ruining the perfect welcome he’d prepared for his lord and master, Ehit.
Hajime’s gaze was cast downward, so he didn’t react at all to Alva’s vitriol. Alva couldn’t feel anything from him. No bloodlust, no hatred. And considering how much blood he’d lost, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d just died.
“Hmph, you’re pathetic,” Alva stated as he stomped on Hajime’s head and dug his heels in.
Aiko and the others could only watch on in helpless despair. The students who’d remained holed up in the castle had already given up. They were either sobbing silently or watching on with vacant eyes. However, there was one student who still had some fight left in her.
Nagumo... Yuka thought, balling her hands into fists. Her teeth were clenched and there were tears in her eyes. It looked as though she felt Hajime’s pain herself. She’d only just been healed from the brink of death, but she burned with righteous anger.
In Yuka’s eyes, Hajime was an invincible superhero. The Hajime she knew could take on any enemy with a fearless smile... and save her no matter how dire the circumstances looked. In fact, he’d saved her life twice already, first from the Traum Soldiers in the Great Orcus Labyrinth, and then again in Ur.
I still haven’t done anything to return the favor. I know I’m weak... and useless... but even so... Like the other students, Yuka’s gaze was cast downward and her expression was hidden by her bangs as she mulled over such thoughts.
The remaining apostles and monsters kept the rest of the students at bay, ensuring they made no move to assist those who were fighting. But it wasn’t like they were keeping a particularly close eye on them. They actually had their backs turned to the students, and were only making sure they didn’t do anything to get in Alva’s way.
Kaori was with the other students as well, but she remained motionless after Ehit’s edict. Plus, one of Ehit’s wolf golems was keeping her pinned, so the apostles weren’t wary of her. One of them had confiscated her twin claymores, as those hadn’t been destroyed by Ehit like everyone else’s weapons, but that was all. Her attention was otherwise focused solely on Hajime.
Among the remaining apostles, two stood next to Alva to protect him, one stood watch over Shizuku, Ryutarou, and Suzu, and one kept an eye on Tio. The monsters, on the other hand, kept their distance, and mostly just blocked any potential escape routes the students might try to use.
In short, no one was paying any attention to Yuka or the others. The apostles didn’t consider them a threat. And honestly, they weren’t wrong. Even on the verge of death, Hajime was far more dangerous a foe than Yuka, Aiko, Liliana, and the other kids combined.
Yuka closed her eyes, her mind racing. Ignoring the sweat running down her eyelids, she desperately tried to find a way to turn the tables. After a few seconds, she came up with a plan. Once she made sure Alva’s attention was still fixated on Hajime, she quietly began to move toward Aiko.
“Ah!” Aiko yelped the moment Yuka grabbed her hand. The solid presence of Yuka’s hand helped pull Aiko out of her daze.
“Keep your voice down, Ai-chan-sensei,” Yuka whispered.
“S-Sonobe-san?”
Given the current circumstances, Aiko was the only one who could save them.
“Sensei, do you have enough mana to cast that one spell you told me about before?”
“Which one?”
Yuka quickly summarized her plan to Aiko. The moment Aiko realized what Yuka wanted to do, her eyes widened in surprise. She stared at Yuka in disbelief. However, when she saw the unwavering determination in Yuka’s eyes, she swallowed her protests.
A second later, she cast away her own doubts and gathered her resolve. As she nodded confidently, Nana and Taeko sidled up to Yuka.
“Y-Yukacchi? I brought Endou over, but...”
“What’re you trying to do, Yuka?”
Kousuke cowered behind them. It looked like they’d noticed the hand signals she’d been giving them while talking to Aiko.
There was no telling when the apostle would turn back and spot them conspiring, so Yuka quickly backed away from Aiko once she was done explaining the plan. Meanwhile, Aiko surreptitiously scooted over toward Liliana.
“Wh-What’s going on, Sonobe?” Kousuke asked timidly.
“Listen up, Endou. There’s something I need you to do.”
She pulled Nana and Taeko close so that they’d hear her plan as well, then started whispering into Kousuke’s ear.
Like Aiko, Kousuke was shocked at first when he heard Yuka’s plan. But his ensuing reaction was nothing like Aiko’s. Looking defeated, he whispered, “Don’t be stupid. There’s no way we can pull that off.”
“We have to try. And you’re the only one who can do this.”
“Y-You’re expecting way too much from me! Remember what happened at the royal palace!? I couldn’t do anything! I was useless! How can I outwit those apostles when I couldn’t even sneak past some demons!?”
“Not so loud!” Nana whispered furiously.
A second later, one of the apostles turned around. Luckily, Yuka and the others had already turned their gazes downward. And in an attempt to sell the deception, Yuka muttered, “Are we really going to die here?”
The apostle spared Yuka a brief glance, then turned back to face Hajime. And as soon as she did, Yuka grabbed Kousuke’s arm.
“I can’t do it... I’m not strong enough...” Kousuke whispered weakly.
“I don’t want to let everything Nagumo’s done for us go to waste.”
“Ah... What do you...?”
Yuka’s words struck a chord with Kousuke. He looked up into Yuka’s eyes, and saw the fear in them. In fact, upon closer inspection, he realized her face was deathly pale and her hands were trembling. And yet, he also saw indomitable resolve that was pushing her to keep going despite her fear.
“I don’t want to let the lives he saved end here. What about you, Endou? Do you really want to give up without a fight?”
“......”
Out of the corner of his eye, Kousuke spotted Aiko and Liliana speaking to Jugo, Kentarou, and Atsushi. Everyone seemed terrified, but they hadn’t given up. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, thinking back to the time when the knights had entrusted him to call for reinforcements. After escaping by the skin of his teeth, he’d run into Hajime and been saved by him. He then thought back to the night of Meld’s death.
Kousuke had looked up to Meld. The knight captain had been the older brother he’d never had. Honestly, he still hadn’t gotten over Meld’s death. Ever since that night, Kousuke had been drifting aimlessly through life. Thanks to that, when the apostles had raided the royal palace, he’d barely been able to put up a fight. They took him out in a single blow, even. And so, he knew that if he gave up before even trying this time, it would be like a slap in the face to Meld, who’d given his life to protect Kousuke.
Coming to a decision, he opened his eyes and whispered, “I’ll do it.”
The resignation in his eyes had disappeared. For the first time since Meld’s death, Kousuke hid his presence completely.
Unaware of Yuka’s plan, Alva looked triumphantly down at Hajime and crowed, “Heh, I can’t believe how docile you are now. Did your mind give out before your body?”
At that exact moment, someone dashed out from the throng of students. One of the apostles reacted immediately, grabbing them by the neck.
“Ngh! Wait, there’s something I want to ask you!” Liliana shouted, her face twisting in pain.
Surprised, Alva looked up at the sky to check something.
“Hmm, well, it looks like it’ll take a while for all the demons to get transported. Very well, Princess. Seeing as you won’t live much longer, I’ll indulge you.”
Alva waved his hand, and the apostle let go of Liliana. Tio and Shizuku turned to her in surprise.
Liliana cleared her throat and asked in a dignified, regal voice befitting of a princess, “What did Ehit mean when he said this would be the final game? And what was that about looking forward to seeing what other worlds were like? Is he planning on killing all humans?”
“No,” Alva replied flatly.
Liliana was taken aback by that response, but only for a moment.
“It’s not just all humans. My lord intends to destroy this world itself.”
“Ah...”
“In three days’ time, he shall summon an invincible army from the Sanctuary. With it, he will slaughter everyone. Humans, beastmen, and all other living creatures. He shall destroy this world in much the same way he turned the western continent into a wasteland in order to gain the mana needed to create the Sanctuary.”
“What!? You mean the Grand Gruen Desert was... Ehit’s doing?”
None of the history books Liliana had read mentioned that.
Enjoying Liliana’s reaction, Alva sneered and replied, “You should be honored, Princess. Your Heiligh Kingdom has been chosen as the hallowed ground zero. Keep your eyes on the Divine Mountain. As soon as the gate at its summit opens, your citizens shall be the first to die at the hands of the god they put their faith in!”
“You’re insane... Every last one of you gods is insane.”
“I am simply following my lord’s will. By stealing the mana from this world, we will finally have enough to transport the Sanctuary to a new one! And then, my lord shall become the one true god of the next world he visits!” Alva cackled, his laughter reverberating throughout the room. After that, he spread his arms wide and looked up at the sky in pure ecstasy.
Shizuku’s face stiffened as she realized what that meant. Her friends and family back home would end up suffering the same fate as Tortus. They would become Ehit’s playthings until he tired of them and killed them all. She couldn’t allow that. But unfortunately, there was nothing she could do. Trembling in rage, Shizuku cursed her powerlessness.
However, there was one thing she’d forgotten. In Shizuku’s mind, Aiko had just been someone she had to protect, so she’d forgotten that her teacher was also capable of using ancient magic. Alva was also ostensibly aware of that fact, but she was so weak that he hadn’t been paying any attention to her this whole time.
“I won’t let that happen!” Aiko shouted, drawing Alva’s attention to her.. Blood dripped from her arms, and Aiko had used that blood to draw a complex magic circle on the back of her hands.
“Bring light to the souls who have lost their spark— Soul’s Repose!”
Aiko pressed her hands against the floor, her pale pink mana spreading throughout the room. Soul’s Repose was a spirit magic spell that removed all negative status effects on its targets.
The pink light suffusing the room signaled the start of the students’ counterattack.
“Nice one, Ai-chan-sensei! Suzu, Ryutarou, protect Myu-chan and Remia-san!” Shizuku shouted.
“But we lost our artifacts!”
“We’ve still gotta try!”
The mental damage caused by seeing their own death, as well as their physical exhaustion, had left Suzu and Ryutarou in a daze, but Aiko’s spell galvanized them into action. A short distance in front of them, Tio had recovered as well.
“He called this power Divine Edict, did he not? I’m impressed you managed to overcome such a powerful suggestion through willpower alone, Shea.”
Smiling ruefully, she rose to her feet. Still partially transformed, she grabbed the wolf golem that had been restraining her with her tail and flung it at Alva.
He casually shot it down with a magic blast, then turned to where Shea previously was. But he only saw a pool of blood under the rubble.
Shea herself was nowhere to be found. But the surprises didn’t stop there.
“Ah! How did you—?” the apostle guarding the students exclaimed, turning around in surprise.
“Eeek!” Kousuke yelped. He had both of Kaori’s claymores in his hands.
The apostle looked down at her waist and saw that the claymores were missing. Unbelievable as it seemed, Kousuke had managed to hide his presence well enough that even an apostle had failed to notice him.
Despite the fact that he was trembling in fear, he showed the same guts he had when he’d fled the Great Orcus Labyrinth, avoiding all the monsters standing in his way.
“Caaatch, Yaegashi!” he roared as he tossed one of the claymores to Shizuku.
“Oh, this is shaping up to be rather entertaining. Take care of them for me,” Alva ordered the apostle.
“As you wish,” she replied, flying forward. She planned to atone for her mistake by slicing Kousuke in half. Her claymore glimmered with a deadly silver light as she swung it down. Kousuke backpedaled as fast as he could, but he wasn’t able to get out of range.
“Hmph!”
“Ah! Shea Haulia!? How many times will you get in our way!?”
Right before the apostle’s sword cut through Kousuke, Shea grabbed the remaining claymore from him and blocked the blow. She then pushed the sword back and slipped under the apostle’s guard, not giving her enough time to follow up with her second claymore. While the apostle was still off-balance, Shea planted her foot into the ground and elbowed her hard in the stomach. The apostle doubled over as she was sent flying by the force of the blow.
“Your name’s Ayako Tsuji, right? Thanks for healing me! Also, I don’t know your name, but thanks for grabbing this sword off her!”
“Y-You’re welcome,” Ayako, the healer of Nagayama’s party, stammered.
“Um, we’ve met before, you know...?” Kousuke muttered.
He was the one who’d snuck past the apostles and brought Shea back to Ayako so she could heal her.
But of course, his lack of presence was a double-edged sword, as Shea had clearly forgotten their previous meeting.
Regardless, she had more pressing matters than searching her memories for Kousuke’s name.
“Sensei-san, use your spirit magic on Kaori-san!” she shouted.
“O-Okay!”
Shea strengthened her body to the max and charged forward. She plowed through the golem holding Kaori captive without slowing down at all, then continued toward Alva.
Meanwhile, Liliana put up a barrier to try and distract the apostles for a few seconds, while Jugo ran over and brought Kaori back for Aiko and Ayako to work on healing her.
“I’ll keep Alva busy! You guys rescue Hajime-san!”
“Roger!”
“You can count on us!”
One of the apostles guarding Alva moved forward to intercept Shea, but he held out a hand to stop her. He was annoyed by how lightly Shea seemed to be taking him.
“Uryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Shea screamed as she swung her sword down, taking advantage of the apostles’ lack of action. A massive shockwave rippled across the throne room.
“No rabbitman should be this strong,” Alva mused with a composed expression. Shea’s sword had stopped inches in front of his face thanks to his light barrier.
“And I’m gonna keep getting stronger, too!” Shea proclaimed as she sliced at the barrier over and over and over. It was impossible to count how many attacks she’d unleashed in the span of a second. She was swinging so fast that the claymore became little more than a silver blur.
“No matter how many times you try, the result won’t cha— Oh?”
“Go to hell!”
Alva didn’t even have time to be surprised. By the time he noticed his barrier was cracking, it was too late. A second later, the sound of shattering glass filled the room as his light barrier crumbled. Seizing the opportunity, Shea leaped forward and aimed a roundhouse kick at his head.
Alva may have been weaker than Ehit, but he was still a god. With uncanny speed, he brought his arm up to block. But he couldn’t absorb the full force of the blow, so Shea’s kick sent him flying straight through the throne and into the wall behind it.
The two apostles who were assigned to guard him prepared to rush Shea, but he stopped them again.
“Don’t bother. I’m going to personally make her suffer for having the gall to kick a god,” Alva stated angrily as he jumped to his feet, blowing aside the rubble that had fallen on him.
In response, Shea rested her claymore on her shoulder and said, “Bring it on.”
There was so much pale blue mana swirling around her that it looked as though she’d just cast Limit Break.
As she charged toward Alva, Tio and Shizuku stared down the two apostles who were keeping them in check. They needed to get past them if they wanted to rescue Hajime.
As the apostles launched their disintegration cannons, the two of them simultaneously cast the same spell.
“Limiter Removal!”
Tio’s clear black mana and Shizuku’s navy blue mana ballooned in size as they powered themselves up with evolution magic.
Shizuku stayed low to the ground as she dashed forward, ducking under the apostle’s disintegration beam.
On the other hand, Tio didn’t even bother to dodge and crossed her arms in front of her to block the attack. Her sleeves were destroyed, but the light of incineration failed to harm her flesh, which was protected by her black scales. Her scales were so thick that her arms looked twice their normal size.
Tio had combined evolution and metamorphosis magic with her natural draconic disposition to harden herself far past her natural limit. Her defensive power far exceeded that of anyone else’s. Not even the apostles’ disintegration powers could pierce her multi-layered scales.
“Shizuku, you need to break through! I’ll be your shield!”
“Got it.”
Shizuku was already using her unique footwork to slip past the apostle’s guard. The apostle desperately tried to follow her movements, but before she knew it, her world had been flipped upside down. Shizuku had managed to grab the apostle’s arm and throw her over her shoulder.
As she sailed through the air, the apostle saw Shizuku’s claymore heading straight for her neck. It was one of the Yaegashi Style’s secret techniques, Mirrored Lightning. Against normal enemies, it guaranteed a kill. Shizuku knew it wouldn’t work as well against an apostle, but she was hoping she’d at least be able to deal some decent damage with it. The force of the blow sent the apostle flying, but instead of landing on the ground, she flapped her wings to regain her balance in the air.
A second later, a pebble flew straight at her eyes. It was another one of the Yaegashi Style’s techniques, Fang Flight. Shizuku had never possessed much physical strength, but evolution magic had helped boost her parameters significantly. The pebble struck the apostle right in the eye. Shizuku had expected the combination attack to do something at least, but...
“I guess it’s not going to be that easy,” she muttered.
“Correct,” the apostle replied coldly. Her eyes and neck remained unscathed. There wasn’t the slightest indication that Shizuku had inflicted any damage on her.
The apostle flapped her wings once, sending a barrage of silver feathers at Shizuku.
Shizuku ran forward, using her No Tempo to weave her way through the feathers. Occasionally, she used her claymore to block the ones she was unable to dodge.
“Get down!” Tio shouted, unleashing a breath attack at the apostle.
“Ngh!”
Shizuku dived forward and slid across the ground, narrowly avoiding the black breath.
The apostle lazily circled upward, dodging the attack as well. But she was unable to escape Tio’s follow-up breath attack and was forced to cross her swords in front of her to block.
Enhanced as it was by evolution magic, Tio’s breath was powerful enough to slam the apostle against the wall.
Alas, by helping Shizuku, Tio had left her own apostle free to attack her.
“Tio!”
“Don’t worry about me! Focus on rescuing Master. We need to buy enough time for Kaori to recover! That’s the only way we can survive this crisis!”
Scales grew to cover her entire body, making Tio look like a human-shaped dragon. She was using metamorphosis magic on herself while under the effects of Limiter Removal. The partial transformation appeared to cause her pain, but Tio was able to use her Pain Conversion to bolster her defenses, allowing her to further resist the apostle’s disintegration cannon.
While Tio kept both apostles busy, Shizuku used Supersonic Step to dash past the apostle firing on Tio. It quickly turned its attention to Shizuku and launched a volley of feathers at her, but she grit her teeth against the pain and continued her headlong rush toward Hajime.
However, a second later, another apostle appeared in front of her. Its stomach was caved in, making it obvious it was the one Shea had blown away a while back. By the time Shizuku’s brain registered what was happening, the apostle’s sword was already on its way down.
Shit!
“Heaven Crusher!” Suzu’s desperate voice called out, and multiple orange, disc-shaped barriers popped up in front of Shizuku, deflecting the blow.
Sweating profusely, Shizuku watched the sword pass by inches from her neck. But there was no time to waste, so she pushed the close shave out of her mind as she resumed her charge.
Though she had no artifacts and was dozens of meters behind her, Suzu had managed to accurately send out barriers to protect Shizuku while also keeping Myu and Remia safe with a Hallowed Ground.
Shizuku had no doubt that Suzu’s hands were drenched with blood, since she was using it to draw the magic circles necessary to keep casting. The only way Shizuku could repay Suzu’s sacrifice was by fulfilling her mission.
As she slid under the apostle’s legs, she launched an upward thrust. And just as she’d anticipated, the apostle used her second sword to block the strike.
“Hah!”
“Ah!”
Having predicted the apostle’s move, Shizuku planted one hand on the ground and launched a back kick at the apostle’s crotch. She looked like an eagle stretching its talons out toward its prey, except upside-down. Unsurprisingly, the name of the technique she was using was called Reverse Eagle Talon. But Shizuku’s foot passed straight through the apostle, making it clear she’d only hit an afterimage. The apostle knocked Shizuku’s sword back and circled around behind her for a horizontal swing.
But right before the claymore cleaved her in two, Shizuku made her move.
“Hiyah!”
Using the centrifugal force of her kick, Shizuku did a side flip and leaped over the sword. Still spinning, she used her other leg to launch another kick at the apostle’s head.
This was the follow-up technique to Reverse Eagle Talon, Double Rake. Her second kick connected, sending the apostle tumbling through the air.
The apostle gasped in surprise as she hit the ground.
I can do this! Shizuku thought to herself as she watched Tio suppress the other two apostles out of the corner of her eye. She’d made it past one apostle, and there were no others in her path.
“What!?”
A second later, though, chills ran down her spine and Shizuku reflexively threw herself to the side. A blast of silver light shot past where she’d been, leaving deep gouges in the ground. She’d evaded the first attack, but Shizuku’s instincts told her she wasn’t in the clear just yet.
As she rolled forward, a claymore thrust at the air inches behind her. She then crawled to the side on all fours, narrowly avoiding a barrage of silver feathers. And as a result, she was forced back to where she’d been minutes before.
The two apostles who had been guarding Alva blocked the path in front of her, and the apostle she’d kicked away waited behind her.
The situation appeared hopeless. But unless she overcame it, she wouldn’t be able to rescue Hajime.
He’s the first boy I ever fell in love with. And he’s saved my life so many times before. I’ll gladly go through hell, if that’s what it takes to repay my debt to him. So what if I don’t have my weapons? So what if I’m up against apostles? That’s no reason to give up! This time, it’s my turn to save you, Nagumo-kun! Shizuku psyched herself up and glared at the apostles.
If nothing else, she needed to buy enough time for Kaori to recover. Even if she couldn’t rescue Hajime, once Kaori was back in commission, they could turn things around. That was how much trust Shizuku had in her best friend.
“Huh?”
The apostle suddenly turned to where Aiko was healing Kaori, as if Shizuku’s thoughts had somehow transmitted to her. Then, while moving fast enough to leave afterimages in her wake, she shot toward Aiko and the students.
“St-Stop right there! If you want to get to her, you’ll have to go through—”
“The two of us are more than enough to handle you.”
The two remaining apostles fired their disintegration cannons at Shizuku. One of them blocked Shizuku’s path, while the other aimed directly for her.
“Don’t allow yourself to get distracted, you fool!” Tio shouted, running toward Shizuku. She used her bruised and battered body as a shield to protect Shizuku from the blast aimed at her. Blood spurted from the new cuts the disintegration cannon caused, but Tio nevertheless successfully extricated Shizuku from the path of the blast.
A second later, thousands of silver feathers rained down on the two of them.
“Ngh! Hallowed Ground!”
Groaning in pain, Suzu immediately created another top-class barrier to protect them. It took a lot out of her to create a second Hallowed Ground dozens of meters away. And she had no artifacts to aid her.
Tio quickly deployed a barrier of her own to reinforce it, but the feathers easily broke down their defenses, so a few punched through and hit Tio directly. She quickly used restoration magic on her damaged scales to keep her vitals intact, but using three types of ancient magic at once taxed her greatly.
Shizuku watched with an anguished expression as Tio grit her teeth against the pain.
Am I so weak that I can’t even slow the apostles down!?
Aside from Hajime and the others, Shizuku was the only one who could use evolution magic. She’d believed that she could at least buy some time, even if Ryutarou and Suzu couldn’t. But it turned out that she was just as powerless as them.
“Don’t give up, Shizuku! You’ve only truly lost the moment your heart gives in!”
“Ngh! I know, I know!”
Holding back her tears, Shizuku waited fervently for a chance she wasn’t even sure would appear. No matter what, she wouldn’t give up. After all, she knew that was the source of Hajime’s strength. Both she and Tio had been attracted to him because of his indomitable spirit.
A second later, Tio and Shizuku’s prayers were answered as a new pillar of light shot up from the spot Aiko and the other students rested.
“Get away from my friends!” Kaori shouted, unleashing a disintegration blast at the two apostles.
“Kaori!”
“Shizuku-chan!”
Kaori’s strength exceeded that of regular apostles, and thanks to Aiko, she was back in perfect shape.
A few minutes before Kaori revived, Yuka and her party desperately fought to protect Aiko. Fifteen or so of the thirty monsters in the throne room had charged forward to keep her from healing Kaori. Though that was only half their number, they were still a significant threat. Freid had taken all of his gray dragons back with him, but the chimeras he’d left behind still proved to be plenty strong.
“Ayako, transfer your mana to Lily! She needs every drop she can get! If her barrier breaks, we’re done for! Mao, you use all your support spells on Lily, too!”
“O-Okay!”
“B-But I’ve barely got any mana left!”
With tears in their eyes, Ayako and Mao Yoshino poured what little strength they had left into supporting Liliana. Mao’s job was Rejuvenist, which specialized in support spells.
“Dammit, these guys heal from petrification in seconds!”
“My illusions don’t work on them, either! And any debuffs I cast get removed right away!”
“Saitou, Nakano! You two are mages too, aren’t you!? You’ve gotta help!”
Kentarou, whose Job was Geomancer, kept casting petrification magic on the monsters, but it had little effect. Akito, who was an Illusionist, tried manipulating the monsters into attacking each other, but that failed as well. Meanwhile, Nana, who was a Hydrosophist, fired ice spears one after another to push the monsters back.
The frontline fighters among the students were powerless without their artifacts, and the rearguard mages were forced to draw magic circles with their blood, meaning their spells weren’t as effective as usual.
Still, jobs like Pyromancer and Aerothurge were extremely valuable. However, Yoshiki Saitou, the class’ Pyromancer, and Shinji Nakano, the class’ Aerothurge, simply cowered in terror with the other students who’d holed up in the castle the whole time instead of participating. The deaths of their friends, Daisuke Hiyama and Reichi Kondou, had stripped them of the will to fight.
“Jugo, don’t push yourself too hard!”
“It’s not like I’ve got a choice right now!”
Kousuke and Jugo, the only two frontliners capable of holding their own against the monsters without artifacts, were covered in injuries. Jugo especially, since most of his techniques were based on judo, which required getting up close and personal. Worse, Ayako couldn’t heal them, since she had to focus solely on Liliana.
“Dammit, if only we had our weapons!”
“I know how you feel, but don’t do anything rash. Nagayama’s only still alive because of how tough he is, and Endou can use his stealth skills to stay out of danger. The rest of us would get ripped to shreds if we went out there. Our job is to protect Ai-chan with our lives if any monsters get through!”
“I know, but still!”
Atsushi and Noboru grit their teeth in frustration. Meanwhile, Yuka threw the stones Kentarou made with his earth magic at the monsters to support Jugo and Kousuke. Honestly, she wished Ryutarou and Suzu could come assist, but she knew the two of them had their hands full already.
Suzu was busy protecting Myu and Remia, while also using her barriers to keep Shizuku safe, and Ryutarou was facing off against the five monsters trying to rip Suzu apart.
The last ten monsters still guarded the exits, but there was no telling when they might join the fight.
What’s wrong, Nagumo!? Why won’t you fight back!? Don’t tell me you’re already... You better not have gone and died without us! I won’t forgive you if you leave us behind!
Right as Yuka started thinking that—
“Shit! This isn’t good, Sonobe! She’s coming for us!” Kentarou screamed hysterically.
Yuka didn’t need to ask who he was talking about. The fear in his voice made it obvious he meant the apostle. He’d learned first-hand how terrifying they could be when one had beaten him senseless back at the palace.
“Nomura, Nana! Focus your attacks on the—” Yuka tried to bark out orders, but before she could finish, a silver flash shot toward the students.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Liliana screamed as the attack pushed against her barrier. She managed to hold out for only a second before it shattered it.
“Sensei!”
The silver flash continued toward Aiko and Kaori, its power undiminished. Taeko tackled the pair, barely pushing them out of the attack’s path. A shiver ran down her spine as she watched the blast obliterate the ground where Aiko and Kaori had been mere seconds before.
The students had lost the protection of Liliana’s barrier, so both the apostle and the monsters flooded in toward them.
I have to at least save Sensei... or we’re done for!
Pushing down the fear that threatened to engulf her, Yuka tried to force her way between Aiko and the apostle. Not even seeing Yuka as a threat, the apostle lazily swung her sword, as if cutting down a weed.
“Not so fast!”
A flash of silver light shot toward the apostle, sending her flying. A second later, countless silver feathers rained down on the monsters, riddling them full of holes.
Kaori had finally been revived.
“Sensei, Yuka-chan, guys, thanks for saving me!”
She had no intention of giving the monsters enough time to heal. While they struggled to recover from the initial barrage, she rained down yet more feathers on them, annihilating them completely.
“Shirasaki-san! I’m going to keep casting Soul’s Repose on you, just in case. It might make it harder for you to fight, but...”
“If it’ll keep them from paralyzing me again, it’s worth it!”
Kaori swept her gaze across the battlefield and picked out the important details. It looked like Hajime had been defeated, Yue was nowhere to be seen, and everyone was heavily injured. The anger she felt when she saw her friends hurt was so great that even Aiko’s Soul’s Repose couldn’t dampen it.
The moment she spotted the apostles bearing down on Shizuku and Tio, she fired her disintegration cannon at them.
Drawing strength from the cheers of Aiko, Yuka, and the other students, Kaori kept on firing until she forced the four apostles attacking Tio and Shizuku to back off.
“Are you two okay!?”
“Don’t give them a moment to rest! If we’re forced on the defensive, we’ll be overwhelmed!” Tio replied. Though she was covered in blood and barely standing, Tio told Kaori to prioritize attacking over healing.
Upon seeing the resolve in her gaze, Kaori nodded immediately and resumed her assault. She launched another disintegration blast at one of the apostles, who countered with a disintegration blast of her own. While the two beams competed for superiority, another apostle closed in on Kaori. However, Kaori refused to be done in so easily.
“I’ll never lose to mere puppets like you!”
As she tried to convince herself she was different from them, Kaori’s silver mana slowly began to take on a light purple tinge. The evolution magic she’d obtained had granted her strength that surpassed other apostles.
Her purplish-white mana pulsed and her disintegration blast overwhelmed that of the apostle’s.
“To think you would surpass us, despite using the body of one of our sisters...” one of the apostles muttered in bewilderment as Kaori’s attack engulfed her.
“Your carelessness will be your undoing!” Tio exclaimed, striking at another one of the apostles that was trying to circle behind Kaori.
“Even if I can’t beat you guys, I can at least distract you!” Shizuku shouted.
“To think a mere human would reach such heights...”
After catching her quarry completely off-guard, Tio managed to drive her scale-covered arm right through the apostle’s chest. She’d wrapped a compressed version of her breath around her arm, granting it far more penetrative power than normal. As she pierced the apostle’s heart, she crushed the mana crystal that powered it. The reason Tio had been able to hit the apostle so easily was because Shizuku had struck from the apostle’s blind spot, distracting it for a moment.
When Tio pulled her arm back, the apostle slumped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. It was well and truly dead.
In the span of a few seconds, Kaori, Shizuku, and Tio had managed to slay two apostles. Considering how unbelievably strong each one was, that was a huge victory.
However, that victory was short-lived.
“Sheesh, what a waste of time. My strength may be a mere fraction of my lord’s, but I am still a god, you know?”
Kaori, Shizuku, and Tio looked toward the source of the voice. They’d been so focused on their own fight that they hadn’t realized Alva and Shea’s had ended.
“Shea!” the three of them shouted simultaneously. Then, they watched as Alva lifted up a powerless Shea by the neck.
Though she still seemed conscious, she lacked the strength to struggle against his grip. Blood pooled at her feet, and it was clear she was on the verge of death.
The three of them were momentarily distracted by Shea’s plight... which proved fatal.
“I order you in the name of Alvaheit— Stop.”
Alva’s Divine Edict ate away at Kaori’s soul. Thanks to Aiko’s Soul’s Repose, Kaori didn’t lose consciousness immediately, but Yuka, Suzu, and the other students all stopped in their tracks. However, his wasn’t as strong as Ehit’s, so even Tio and Shizuku would be able to break free of their own accord, given time.
Unfortunately, the apostles refused to give them even a moment to resist. They created magic circles with their feathers and rained lightning down on the trio. Tio’s scales and Kaori’s apostle body were both highly conductive, so the lightning was exceptionally effective against them.
Alva also tossed Shea into the lightning storm, making doubly sure that she wouldn’t make a comeback.
“I also order you— Accept your punishment.”
The four of them had instinctively started emitting mana to protect themselves, but they stopped upon hearing Alva’s command, screaming as the lightning struck their unprotected flesh. By the time the storm passed, the four of them were twitching weakly, their bodies covered in burns.
That was the reason Shea had lost to Alva. She could fight his Divine Edict. In fact, it only took her a second to break through it. But that second was precious time lost, and slowly but surely, Alva had been able to pile more and more damage onto her.
“Now then. I’ve had my fun, so I suppose it’s about time we wrap things up,” Alva declared. From the looks of it, most of the demons had finished filing through Ehit’s portal.
As Alva looked up at the shining gate leading to the Sanctuary, he dispersed his mana across the room. Dark gold motes of light suffused the air, and a large, complex magic circle began to form on the floor.
“The least I can do to atone for my failures is present your mana to my lord.”
Before he’d left, Ehit had claimed he would steal all the mana in Tortus. Hajime and his comrades possessed an unbelievable quantity of mana, so stealing all of it would probably be enough to make up for Alva’s blunder.
Indeed, the reason Alva hadn’t killed everyone instantly had been because he’d wanted to give their mana to Ehit. Of course, he’d also wanted to vent his anger against Hajime and the others, as well as kill time while the demons evacuated, but that had been the main reason.
“All of you have extremely high-quality mana. I’m sure my lord will be pleased with this offering. Though... there are a few of you here who are utterly worthless.”
As the magic circle neared completion, Alva’s motes of mana started wrapping themselves around everyone. Mana shouldn’t have had any physical sensation, but for some reason, Alva’s mana felt repulsive to the students.
Smiling, he rested his gaze on Myu and Remia. And with a snap of his fingers, a portal appeared underneath them, teleporting them into the air in front of Alva. They fell unceremoniously to the ground, grunting in pain. It happened so fast that Suzu didn’t even have time to react.
Alva snapped his fingers again, and Myu floated up toward him. He must have released his Divine Edict against her, since she was able to shout again.
“M-Mommy!”
“Stop! Release my daughter at— Agh!”
As Myu struggled in vain, Remia tried to reach for her daughter. But the Divine Edict was still working on her, so she couldn’t even stand. That being said, she still managed to croak a few words out, as well as move her hand a few inches. It was honestly impressive that a normal person like her had even accomplished that. However, even the strength of a mother’s love was worthless in the face of Alva’s cruelty.
“You’ll be dead soon, anyway. The least you can do is be useful during your final moments.”
He left Myu hanging in midair and walked over to Hajime, who hadn’t so much as twitched the entire time.
“Behold, Irregular! This is your punishment for defying god!”
Hajime had gotten in the way of Ehit’s games, and then he’d gotten in the way of his descent onto the mortal plane. And so, Alva planned to make him pay for his sins by killing his beloved daughter in front of his eyes.
“Daddy! Daddyyy!” Myu screamed for help, but Hajime remained unmoving. No one else did anything, either.
Shea and Shizuku were too badly injured from the lightning storm to move. Tio and Kaori weren’t in much better shape, either, and they were still struggling to overcome Alva’s Divine Edict. Naturally, everyone else was utterly helpless.
Before long, the magic circle was complete... and everyone felt Alva’s mana draining away their life force. Alva brushed his hand against the back of Myu’s neck, his fingers carrying the promise of death.
“Now, raise your head, Irregular! I know you’re still alive!”
Alva had purposely exempted Hajime from his Divine Edict.
He cackled maniacally, his voice echoing throughout the room. It was then that he noticed his voice was the only sound in the room. Bewildered, he closed his mouth and listened.
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