Chapter 154
In the central square where the Sacred Tree Festival was being held, the first-year students’ class professor Louisa, along with Liam and Emily, were protecting the people.
This place, where the most students and professors were gathered, had many lives to protect but a relatively strong defense system was established.
Boom!
The atmosphere trembled.
The Ancient Dragon stirred violently.
As soon as Louisa recognized the movement of the Ancient Dragon, she prioritized her next steps and decided to move. Liam and Emily followed her lead.
The three dashed away from the central square towards the epicenter of the Ancient Dragon’s mana flow.
Calmly, Louisa ensured everyone knew their purpose.
“I regret that it has come to this, but the current situation is a clear crisis for Academia. Therefore, you must perform your duties not as mere aspiring heroes but as proper heroes.”
Protecting the people and ensuring stability.
And what needed to be done immediately for that was:
“We have to stop that crazy giant bone.”
If the Ancient Dragon reached the Grand Clock Tower and smashed the Mana Stone control device, Academia would plummet since it couldn’t receive proper mana supply.
This was information known only to a very few within Academia, but Louisa, who had ranked in the single digits of the Hero Ranking during her active years, was aware of it.
While various Magic Constructs were set to protect the control device, they were targeting one of the Twelve Divine Beasts from the past, a high-ranking one at that.
The danger had to be prevented.
The fall of Academia would be the worst possible future.
“Liam, Emily. I don’t have high expectations for you. Don’t push yourselves too hard. Nothing will change just because you try too hard.”
Louisa wasn’t saying this to dampen their spirits.
“Just don’t give up like X-god.”
In her own way, she fortified their resolve.
Louisa’s strong voice rang clear, reflecting her determination.
“Our purpose is to protect.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Yes!”
Liam and Emily responded in unison.
In truth, Louisa already knew of their firm resolve. The moment they said they would follow her instead of staying in the safer central square, they had already shown their courage.
She hoped her students would not waver.
In battle, one’s life is unpredictable.
They could vanish like grains of sand swept away by the wind without achieving anything.
However, that was why their resolve must not shake.
Since they didn’t know when or how they might die, it was best if they had no regrets.
Though these harsh words came from Louisa’s consideration, who had lost many comrades and students to the Goddess Church’s forces.
Meanwhile,
Zhuan—
A unique mana spread through the air.
This mana carried a command.
Familiar to Louisa, it belonged to someone she had spent quite a long time with at Academia.
However, this was crystal clear.
“Is that why they haven’t used the Golems yet…!”
Louisa couldn’t contain her anger and clenched her sharp teeth.
The grinding sound and tense muscles clearly displayed just how furious Louisa was at that moment.
She openly revealed it.
Whether there were students behind her or not, Louisa spat out curses.
“That X bastard Lucien…!”
Countless golems spread across the Academia.
The professor overseeing them, Lucien.
The orders he currently gave the golems were not for protection.
Destruction and chaos within the Academia.
From this moment on, Lucien boldly declared his betrayal against the Academia without hiding his identity.
The pollutants that had sunk to the floors of the Academia began to rise ominously.
Kukung.
No matter how the situation unfolded, time kept its own pace.
The advance of the Ancient Dragon had already reached the vicinity of the towering Grand Clock Tower between the buildings.
Louisa sensed the seriousness of the situation and unilaterally conveyed to the two. Perhaps out of sheer rage, her tone felt different this time than when she was trying to instill resolve.
“We’re picking up the pace. Only those who can keep up, follow me.”
The Academia was in chaos, thanks to some bishops and skeleton soldiers.
Louisa didn’t go full speed as she needed to protect Liam and Emily.
But there was no longer time to hesitate.
Responding to her words, Liam and Emily nodded and simultaneously summoned their mana.
Liam’s blue current flowed through his entire body.
The explosively heightened physical abilities supported his muscles.
Liam scanned his surroundings.
He ignited his muscles and pondered.
What a drastic shift in developments.
Did Vargan know about the current situation too?
Was it flowing as he desired?
…It’s not that he doubted Vargan’s abilities, but it was undeniable that things were deteriorating noticeably.
If it was indeed going the way Vargan wanted, what was the purpose…?
Sizzle—
Liam tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword he held.
Vargan was someone from the same world as him.
Despite their apparent differences.
He must have received similar education and shared similar ethics and thought processes.
…Right, there’s no need to worry too much.
After all, he had been ideally changing the course of events until now.
This time too, it would surely be based on that kind of thinking.
“……”
To hide the unknown anxiety,
he engraved Louisa’s resolve in his heart and kicked off the ground, running.
*
The Ancient Dragon, responding to Francesca’s hatred, continued its assault on the Grand Clock Tower while viciously attacking Clemens.
Clemens actively utilized her wyverns to dodge quickly and sought for openings.
She managed to deal significant damage to the heart binding Francesca. The form of Francesca, veiled in a transparent barrier of mana, became visible.
Around her, the torn mana barrier fell down, leaving remnants scattered about.
However, no matter how powerful the second year’s strongest and master of the red aura Clemens was, there were limits.
Clemens’ body was slowly accumulating shock.
She was aware of this fact but did not run away.
‘This isn’t a good situation. Reinforcements are coming, but it will take time for them to arrive.’
In the distance, Louisa’s group and other students were hurrying forward to block the Ancient Dragon.
However, around the Ancient Dragon, numerous skeleton soldiers swarmed.
Even golems, having forgotten their original mission, joined in, increasing their numbers.
Clemens, Francesca, and the Ancient Dragon were locked in combat amidst that turmoil.
While barely avoiding the incoming pile of bones flying towards her on her wyvern,
Clemens gazed into the eyes of Francesca with fiery, red eyes.
The usually calm pupils of the golden-haired woman now shimmered with hostility. As if there was no reason to hide any longer.
She spewed out mana tainted with animosity.
Calmly observing this, Clemens spoke.
“Francesca, your anger is misguided.”
“Shut up…! Be quiet……!”
The golden-haired woman ignored the words of the red-haired one.
The Ancient Dragon, disregarding the control of the spell, perceived Clemens as a nuisance and unleashed a fog of death in the direction Francesca indicated.
Riding her wyvern, Clemens quickly covered her respiratory aid with mana and escaped through the fog, soaring upwards.
With a quick escape, she took off into the air.
One wyvern, caught off guard, plummeted and was reverse summoned.
Now, Clemens was left with only four wyverns. Another one down.
Clemens, seemingly unfazed by the loss, glanced away from the dying wyvern for a moment.
Once again, she turned toward Francesca.
“My father, Sylvester, was wrongfully angered.”
Her father merely punished evildoers, as was befitting a hero.
No one should blame or slander him.
Not even if they were the children of the condemned.
Extreme acts of lawlessness must not be tolerated.
“The anger towards Academia and other related parties is also misplaced.”
They brought wrongs upon themselves; what right do they have to be so furious?
Clemens and Francesca fundamentally disagreed on their outlook.
To Clemens, surrounded by a framework of absolute justice and belief.
The intense fury burning inside Francesca now was.
“I can’t understand.”
It was like a stubborn child throwing a tantrum.
“Instead, you should be grateful to have been freed from the criminal Niklas. To stray down that path influenced by such ideas…”
“……!”
Boom⎯⎯!
Francesca’s fury.
The ancient dragon’s foot swung toward Francesca faster than her body could react.
With an incongruent swiftness to its massive size, the blow landed fiercely.
Clemens, struck by its enormous mass, was unable to evade and was launched away.
She crashed through the outer wall of several buildings, finally stopping upon hitting the fourth wall.
“Cough…!”
The wyvern that acted as a cushion became a lifeless corpse without even being reverse summoned.
Though protected by a thin aura, the massive impact caused Clemens to spit blood.
The long lance, which seemed like it would never leave her hand, thudded to the ground.
The ancient dragon didn’t relent.
The heavy sounds echoing from the ground reached Clemens’ ears.
It barreled forth, crushing the buildings that stood in its way.
Its heavy steps, aimed at Clemens’ demise, paused for just a moment.
Faced with a clear crisis, Clemens summoned her indomitable mental strength, cloaked in red aura. Flames resembling those of fire erupted fiercely from her body as she prepared her newfound output.
Meanwhile, Francesca wailed like a banshee, drawing forth her mana.
She countered Clemens’ words with a voice filled with agitation.
“Is it so wrong? To hate those my dad killed? To want to believe that what my parents did was truly right…?! Is that such a horrible thing—?!”
Even if it really was wrong.
The time she had poured in and the pain she had endured made it far too difficult for Francesca to easily acknowledge and accept it.
Deep down, she knew it wasn’t right.
Yet, Francesca spat out words of denial.
“Is it so illogical for me to hate ‘you’…?!”
The ancient dragon obliterated every building in its path to reach her.
A gigantic magic cannon was charged and prepared for launch from the dragon’s mouth.
If hit, it would undoubtedly mean instant death.
It might even make her disappear without a trace.
Clemens faced the dire predicament, yet she scanned the situation for the best option.
The unyielding woman, daughter of the top-ranked hero, began seeking an escape route, suddenly revealing a sly grin.
And then.
Boom⎯!
The situation shifted dramatically.
Louisa flew in with explosive force, rocking the massive form of the ancient dragon.
She aimed precisely for the dragon’s heart, causing Francesca to fall to the ground, released from her restraints.
With a current of blue energy, Liam sped forth, supporting the heavily wounded Clemens as they moved to safety.
With the magic cannon trapped in her mouth, lost without direction.
The enormous mass was shot straight at the building where Clemens had been pinned down.
Amidst the chaos, a beam of deep color surged straight down.
A thick ray of light slammed straight down.
With a fierce tremor, it stirred up a storm of thick dust.
*
“……”
Francesca, who had fallen to the ground, kept her eyes closed.
This was because the mana circuits that had merged with the Ancient Dragon needed to reboot, now moving independently once more.
However, the situation didn’t offer her even a moment’s respite.
『⎯⎯⎯!』
Francesca, who once served as the heart, was now detached from it.
As the Dragon, lacking any vocal organs, howled, the atmosphere trembled.
Francesca’s eyelids shot open.
Her delicate body heaved, inflating and deflating as she gasped for breath.
How much time had passed…?
From the remaining dust that thickly veiled the air, it seemed like no more than a few dozen seconds had gone by.
Francesca expanded her senses, scanning her surroundings.
Though she had been wrung out of a significant amount of mana by the Ancient Dragon, her base mana pool was large enough that she still had some reserves left.
Her golden eyes, resembling the moon, darted around.
It was hard to believe the Ancient Dragon would simply let her go. It certainly sounded like she was being hindered by something…
Then, Francesca spotted ‘two men’.
“…So you’ve woken up. It would have been troublesome if you’d kept sleeping like that, I’m relieved.”
A familiar voice.
Just hearing it made the scent of coffee waft through the air, her uncle’s voice.
He was blocking her way.
But that wasn’t all. The top-tier golems among his creations were surrounding her as if to protect her from outsiders.
Uncle Professor Lucien had treated her with honorifics since she entered the Academia, even outside of it, and now he spoke to her as if she were still the same person from the past.
“Uncle…?”
Perhaps that’s why Francesca didn’t call him professor, opting for ‘uncle’ instead.
He didn’t seem well.
His dark circles, usually prominent, appeared to have dropped to their maximum extent.
His face was as pale as a corpse.
In the past, he had gone several days without proper rest or food.
The state of Lucien now looked worse than the first time she casually peeked at her reflection in the mirror in his room.
The movements of his facial muscles were also bizarre.
He maintained a stoic expression, but tiny muscles that seemed almost alive twitched, trying to burst through his skin.
His eyeballs were not just bloodshot; they looked like they were about to pop.
His right arm trembled as if it was numb.
No matter how she looked at it, it was dangerous.
He resembled someone who was about to die from severe poisoning.
“Truly an unforgivable situation…!”
The voice that rang out was not Lucien’s.
It belonged to a much younger man, someone with a distinctive voice who had assisted Francesca in her research.
Schugenharz Troa Vargan continued.
“Is it true that the Victoria family has fallen so low? How dare they betray the church and plunge the sacred place of learning into chaos, all while wrapped in the skirt of that blasphemous goddess! And two of them…!”
He deliberately spoke loudly enough for everyone around to hear.
He clarified the distinction between clear villains and heroes.
By solidifying that boundary, he preached their righteousness.
“Their sins are already known to the world. This clearly marks them as villains! ‘We’ must judge these wicked sinners to bring peace to the world.”
Surrounding her were groups of students and professors.
At the forefront stood Vargan.
Francesca caught sight of his black eyes from a distance.
He boisterously proclaimed himself as the representative of justice. However, as she judged.
“We intend to forgive these sinners by sacrificing their necks, gratefully acknowledging the grace of the merciful Yggdrasil, who forgives heavy sins and calling for their execution.”
Those were eyes unbefitting someone who proclaimed ‘justice’.
“Do you understand, sinner Francesca?”
He conveyed that only death could fulfill his calling.
