Chapter 228: Arpentia (6)
While a fierce clash was unfolding within the Academy, an equally violent battle was raging around the Auction House.
It was no exaggeration to call the sight absolute pandemonium.
“……!!!”
“……!!!”
Gurgle, gurgle.
With a skin-crawling sound, the ground shattered, and from between the cracks something like a seething mire crawled out without rest.
Though they bore a crude resemblance to human figures, beneath that clumsy exterior they contained tremendous power.
By my estimate, an ordinary person would be killed in a single blow.
The creatures endlessly boring up through the earth were a problem in themselves—but there was an even greater one.
Mixed in among those mire-like things here and there were… the dead with iron needles embedded in their chests.
Each of them had once been figures whose names were widely known in life, and even in death they had not lost their fame or strength.
‘What in the world is happening?’
Cecilia quietly pondered.
Was this what the era of the Great War—said to have been no different from hell—had been like?
Even as that thought crossed her mind, her hands did not stop moving, and she continued chanting.
“……□□□□□”
She muttered something continuously in a low voice.
Cold sweat had already formed on her brow, yet her eyes had not lost their strength. Calm and razor-sharp, they swept across the battlefield.
“□□□”
Without pause, she summoned spirits and issued them commands.
She had already called forth dozens of spirits of all kinds.
The spirits that manifested hurled themselves at the creatures with ferocious momentum.
Flames and ice, lightning and wind cleaved through the air, slaughtering the monsters.
And yet, as though mocking her efforts, the creatures continued to pour up from the earth, increasing their numbers instead.
Amidst it all, urgent whispers from various spirits rang simultaneously in her ears.
— My Lady! Identical beings are appearing throughout the capital!
— The north is in danger! The southern plaza as well!
— Moreover, this very place where we stand… is where the greatest number of enemies, and the strongest among them, are pouring out!
“……As expected.”
Cecilia clicked her tongue softly.
Unintentionally, they had become a breakwater holding back a raging tide.
And at this rate, they would be swept away by that violent current without even a trace remaining.
“…….”
She clenched her teeth.
More than anyone, she understood the role she had to fulfill here.
She had no choice but to.
After all, she had studied and discussed such matters countless times with Lian Gwendil.
‘Right now….’
In a situation like this, facing enemies flooding in on such a massive scale, there was no one more efficient or more powerful than herself.
And regrettably, the enemy knew that as well.
“……!!!”
“……!!!”
The mire-creatures, despite their appearance, surged toward her as if they possessed will.
Instead of war cries, they emitted bubbling and gurgling sounds as they charged—like a tidal wave crashing in.
Yet Cecilia stood firm, not retreating a single step.
It was not arrogance, nor overconfidence in her strength.
For the mire-things rushing at her—
Especially the corpses that had lost their reason and charged with strange iron needles embedded in their chests—
Someone else was dealing with them in her stead.
“Begone.”
That someone was Yuran.
Two sharp horns had already sprouted from her forehead, and from her waist down a long tail covered in hardened scales swept the surroundings with a threatening force.
……
She had drawn too heavily upon the blood of a Dragon.
Horns and tail—and even both of her hands—were being overtaken by draconic traces, yet her eyes still retained the cold light of reason.
Eyes where black and red were intermingled.
Clouded, yet not chaotic.
Even as she surveyed the battlefield, Yuran guarded Cecilia’s side without leaving a single opening.
“Hmph!”
She seized the neck of a revenant charging toward her and snapped it without the slightest difficulty.
Immediately after, her tail pierced through the heart of another that had been rushing at her from behind, halting its movement.
Unlike the mire-creatures, the dead did not easily fall to ordinary attacks and would continue charging even after losing limbs.
And yet, strangely, whenever touched by Yuran’s hand, they collapsed without resistance.
‘……It’s certain.’
Even amidst the chaos, she steadily judged the situation and analyzed her opponents.
‘Sky Guide.’
The power of the sky.
When she used it, it struck the creatures—especially those with iron needles embedded in them—with notable effectiveness.
‘The man without a head I faced before—he was the same.’
Other people’s attacks—even the flames of the Spirit King—had been taken as nothing by him.
Yet, strangely, he had faltered under her blows.
And they had not even been strikes delivered with her full strength.
‘Lian Gwendil.’
I had to inform him.
As far as I knew, here and now, I was the only one who could wield the power of the Sky Guide.
And there was Lian Gwendil—and beyond him, Windy May Maddown.
Windy May Maddown.
As someone far more experienced than I was, she must have already realized this fact without difficulty.
But Lian Gwendil, who had only just taken his first steps as a Sky Guide…
‘It’s dangerous.’
Given the current situation, most likely—no, certainly—Lian was facing the most dangerous enemy of all.
This information would undoubtedly be of great help to him.
But contrary to my heart, I could not join Lian immediately.
The situation here was just as critical.
“Keugh!”
Kagagakang!
With a heavy metallic crash, Allen Amiel spat blood and staggered backward.
Without the slightest hesitation, Kyren Amiel kicked his younger brother in the abdomen and swung his sword again.
Already, both brothers were so drenched in blood that it was impossible to tell whether it was their own or the other’s.
“Keugh…… Brother!”
Even though Allen Amiel cried out in anguish, Kyren Amiel showed no reaction.
He merely directed hollow eyes toward Allen.
All the while, the iron needle embedded in his chest glowed with an especially chilling light.
‘I have to aim for that.’
That was what Allen thought.
At this rate, he was at a disadvantage.
No—this had been a disadvantageous fight from the very beginning.
His opponent was no different from immortal, never hesitating to throw away his own body.
Even if his tendons were severed or his wrist cut off, the next moment he would regain awareness, already healed—or reattach the severed wrist—and resume the fight.
Though he was being forced into a prolonged war of attrition, the only one accumulating wounds was Allen.
Unlike Kyren, Allen was alive.
Unlike Allen, Kyren protected only the area of his chest where the iron needle was embedded.
As if he had already experienced it once and knew that it was his sole weakness.
“Damn it……!”
Allen cursed and tightened his grip on his sword once more.
An anger beyond measure—
And complicated feelings toward his brother boiled within his chest.
Meanwhile, Yeriel and Professor Shagas were locked in a grueling battle against Airos.
“This damned—!”
Yeriel spat out a curse as he unleashed another spell.
Airos was already a dead body, yet his power was even stronger and more grotesque than in life.
Above all, the most chilling sight was his chest.
Where his heart should have been was completely empty—so empty that the scenery beyond could be seen through the hole.
And within that hollow space, a single thin iron needle floated eerily in midair, as though fixed to something invisible.
Professor Shagas, his expression hardened, struggled to deflect Airos’s attacks and shouted to Yeriel.
“That iron needle is the core! We must destroy it!”
“As if I didn’t know that!”
Even as they shouted at each other, they continued exchanging relentless attacks and counters.
But Airos charged fiercely, as though he felt no pain—or as though he did not even fear death.
“At least it’s fortunate he can’t use magic—!”
Yeriel, who had been shouting, suddenly ducked his head.
Airos’s mouth had opened, and from it a pillar of intense light shot forth.
Though he had clearly avoided it, the scorching heat that swept over his face forced Yeriel to release a choked breath.
“……That damned mouth of his is the problem.”
Watching the mana begin to wrap around Airos’s body, he muttered.
It was a presence both familiar and alien.
As he sensed the aura of an Ancient Dragon that had lived through countless ages, a chill ran down his spine.
An undying body capable of wielding the same power it had in life.
It felt as though hope itself had been severed in one brutal stroke.
“It’s been years since I retired from the field…….”
“And do you think I’m still active? I retired long ago myself.”
Standing before Yeriel as if shielding him, Professor Shagas muttered in equal disbelief.
“Let’s try it.”
With those words, Professor Shagas immediately charged toward Airos.
Yeriel answered not with words, but by launching spells to cover him.
“……Ah.”
Amidst all this chaos, Professor Deiare stood alone, wearing a vacant expression.
Bloody tears still streamed from her eyes.
And her lips continued to murmur incomprehensible words without pause.
“No…… Master…….”
“That can’t be…….”
“My path, my…….”
“Was this truly what it was meant to be…….”
Her halberd barely managed to block the attacks of the dead or barely neutralize them.
Considering the power she originally possessed, it was a pitiful sight.
“……Tsk.”
She looked as though her soul was already elsewhere.
Yuran glanced at Professor Deiare and frowned.
Even though every single person’s strength was desperately needed right now, she did not appear to be in any state to fight.
‘……It can’t be helped.’
Once more, Yuran drew upon the power of the Dragon—the Dragon’s Blood flowing through her veins.
Kwarururung!
In an instant, blue lightning burst from her body, reducing the surrounding dead to ashes.
“Ghh……!”
She could feel the Dragon’s Blood seeping beyond her body—into her mind, into her very soul.
And yet, Yuran did not stop.
‘I have to let him know…….’
Once again, she thought of the power of the Sky Guide.
And she thought of Lian Gwendil.
Perhaps the key to ending all this chaos lay with him.
With that thought, she hurled herself even more fiercely toward the enemies.
“Kraaaaa!!!”
With Yuran’s roar, an overwhelming aura spread in all directions.
Just as everyone had sensed it before in the Underground Sewer, she could only hope that this time as well, Lian Gwendil would notice.