Chapter 591
“Block it! Stop them somehow!”
“Even Joseph has fallen!”
“Take him away! He’s wearing his uniform, so he won’t be dead yet!”
The western wall was in absolute chaos.
Of all things, a Guardian had leapt straight into the fortress wall, scattering the students’ focus. In that instant, other Mimickers slipped through the gap and clambered up onto the wall.
“Persistent pests.”
Fitzgerald brought the two arms he had raised like a banner together at the center. Beside him, the six-armed Seiren imitated the motion and unfolded a magic circle.
Six different spells were unleashed, burning, slashing, and freezing the Mimickers.
The Seiren Chimera was indeed doing the work of six magicians.
‘Damn, Darkness.’
But it was reaching its limit.
Just as Fitzgerald was weighing the balance between maintaining the strategy and preserving his own life—
Kweeeek—!
With a grotesque cry, something like a massive worm monster burst out of the ground.
Fitzgerald pushed up his glasses.
‘Toto’s Deathworm! Which means—’
From inside the Deathworm’s maw, a black puppet stretched out and clambered onto the fortress wall. At the same time, space tore open and a massive subspace rift appeared.
<Blade Storm>
Shhhrrraaaaash!
Four whirlwinds shot out, sweeping along the wall and shredding every monster in their path.
“You alright, Fitzgerald?”
“Ah, yes. That was just in time.”
His legs seemed to give way, and Fitzgerald collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Simon chuckled mischievously.
“Didn’t think your sector would get breached.”
“We started the defense one man short, so the burden was heavier. Another one got taken out and fainted, too.”
“Who didn’t show up?”
“Serne Eindark.”
“Ah….”
Simon broke into a nervous sweat.
“I-I swear I sent her.”
“She probably got distracted again and wandered off. Still, thanks to that, we survived.”
“Yeah.”
Nodding, Simon turned back with a troubled look. Fitzgerald asked,
“What is it?”
“When I rode the Deathworm up here, I felt some suspicious tremors underground.”
Fitzgerald pushed up his glasses again.
“If it bothers you, why not check it out?”
“Yeah. The wall looks more or less secured, so—”
Koo-goo-goo-goo-goo-goo!
But then—
A massive rumble and shockwave shook the ground beneath them. Simon scowled.
‘Too late?!’
“The southern wall!”
Kwak-kwak-kwak-kwak!
The ground collapsed, and with it, a section of the fortress wall above crumbled down. Students turned at the sound, jaws dropping.
“The wall…!”
“It collapsed!”
There’s no way such a sturdy wall could have fallen apart so easily.
While Simon was desperately racking his brain, Fitzgerald traced patterns in the air with his fingers, as though calculating something.
“That direction, without a doubt.”
“You figured something out?”
“It’s the point where the fortress’ underground waterway passes through.”
Simon’s head whipped around.
“There’s a waterway underground?”
“Of course. A fortress this big naturally has one. I know it’s guarded by a small unit of Gahal soldiers. But—”
“But what?”
“The Mimickers couldn’t have made the tactical decision to infiltrate through the waterway on their own.”
Fitzgerald’s expression hardened cold.
“Still less could they have planted a mana bomb inside it and detonated it.”
Simon hastily pulled out his communication crystal.
“Toto! I’ll head straight to the site! Get me there with the Deathworm!”
—S-Sorry, Simon!
Toto’s panicked voice rang out.
—My thought-link with the Deathworm’s been cut!
‘What?!’
Simon froze for a moment, then kicked off the wall, sprinting.
‘Hah… what in the world is happening?’
From the students’ point of view, who had been holding the wall steadily, it was like a thunderbolt striking from a clear sky.
The bricks under their feet collapsed, and thick gray dust clouds filled the air.
‘…Ugh!’
Just before falling, a female student barely managed to grab onto a jutting brick at the wall’s edge. She grimaced and looked down.
Beyond the dust cloud, Mimickers were swarming upward, eyes gleaming.
‘I-I have to climb up quickly…! Huh?’
Pop!
The brick she was holding slipped out of its joint. Her pupils filled with despair, and with the brick, her body plunged downward.
Crash!
She squeezed her eyes shut—then opened them again.
Before her was a crimson skeleton. The skeleton wrapped her in Bone Armor as if embracing her, then soared upward.
Chachachak!
Thud!
Other red skeletons, flying the same way, were rescuing falling students one after another.
“?!”
The rescued students looked up.
From a massive aerial battleship made of bones, countless crimson skeletons were dropping down.
“It’s Professor Aron’s support!”
“We’re saved!”
Clack!
Chak!
Skeletons spread out like fire ants near the collapsed wall, raising their bows.
—Kerrrrrk!
—Kieeeeek!
Mimickers surged toward the breach.
The skeletons fired their arrows. With vicious whistling, red streaks poured down, mowing through the advancing horde in a single volley.
Chachachak!
Chachak!
Then the skeletons from Aron’s undead warship fell apart into multiple parts, filling the gap in the collapsed wall.
“What’s Professor doing?”
“He’s making a fence! He’s joining bones to build a barrier!”
In the blink of an eye, a temporary wall of bones was raised. Archers retreated behind it, unleashing another barrage that crushed the monster tide once more.
It was a flawless and thorough response—almost as if Professor Aron had known in advance that the wall would fall.
—It’s only a temporary measure, it won’t last long.
From the students’ communication crystals came Aron’s voice. Monsters that had broken through the arrow fire were already latching onto the bone fence.
—We need a high-firepower necromancer to defend the collapsed wall.
—Alone, I am enough.
Flap!
A massive shadow loomed over the battlefield.
A pitch-black Dragon glared ahead with blazing eyes.
<Dragon Breath>
Fwoooosh!
Hector, having taken dragon form, opened his jaws and unleashed a torrent of flame. The Mimickers clinging to the fence were incinerated in an instant.
* * *
Underground Waterway Entrance
“Ðⴘⴇ!”
“ⳖØⴋⴠⴇ?”
The Gahal guards exchanged startled words.
Even here, they had heard repeated massive explosions, but they had no idea what was happening outside. All they could guess was that some section of the waterway had collapsed.
“Hello, Gahal friends.”
At that moment.
A man’s voice echoed from the darkness of the waterway. The guards flinched and raised their spears.
Slash!
Light flashed in a straight line, and then—standing behind them was a man, two massive cleavers crossed in his hands.
“Too slow.”
The guards’ heads soared into the air. Their bodies, robbed of all strength, slumped down like puppets with cut strings.
“Ah, far too slow! Damn it, can’t you move faster?”
The Butcher rested his cleaver on his shoulder, shouting irritably.
“I know it takes time to adapt to a monster’s body! But at this rate the war will be over before we even get there!”
From the waterway came his comrade—the one-eyed gentleman, running, with a squad of assassins in Mimicker forms following behind.
“Have you never considered the possibility that it is you who’s too fast?”
The one-eyed gentleman adjusted the brim of his tall hat and continued.
“Remember this well. We came here to take advantage of the chaos and quietly secure Simon Follentia, not to commit a massacre. Do not kill too many students. If you do, things will become… inconvenient.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that about three hundred times already!”
The Butcher dug at his ear with a finger.
“Well then, let’s get moving!”
“Wait—!”
Splash, splash!
The Butcher splattered through the shallow water, apron flapping, and dashed out. The first sight that greeted him upon emerging from the waterway was—
“…Eh?”
A band of Gahal warriors, frantically carrying arrows and weapons. He had emerged into some kind of storage chamber.
Startled by the man suddenly rising from the waterway, they raised their weapons.
“Ðⴘⴇ!”
“ⴃⴟⴶⴀⴋ!”
“What the hell are they saying.”
The Butcher’s grin split wide.
Slash!
The heads of two spear-bearing Gahal flew in an instant.
“No one ever said I couldn’t slice up Gahal.”
Dropping his stance impossibly low, the Butcher spun his body.
Shwaaaang!
Shwaaaang!
The cleavers gleamed as they danced, severing heads, splitting torsos, and spraying gore.
“Kh-haaa!”
Grabbing his cleaver again as it spun in the air, he swung it downward with crushing force. The charging Gahal warrior was split neatly in half, his body falling apart to either side.
“Ðⴆŀº!”
Even the warriors outside the storehouse rushed in, alerted by the uproar.
They immediately seized their bows, drew mana onto the strings, and fired arrows at the Butcher.
“Heh.”
Crossing his cleavers, the Butcher lowered his body. The arrows slid harmlessly down the slanted steel, deflected. With a roar, he snapped his arms outward.
The redirected arrows arced mid-air—slamming straight into two warriors who had feigned death, piercing their bodies.
“Thought I wouldn’t notice you faking death?!”
The Butcher cackled wildly and charged.
“ⴘⴋÐⴘ!”
A brawny warrior leapt in, hurling a mana-laden spear. The Butcher smirked and flicked his cleaver.
Chararararak!
The tip of his blade twitched with lightning precision, dicing the incoming spear into chunks like neatly sliced carrots.
Spinning his body, he caught the shredded spear pieces against the flat of his other cleaver and hurled them.
Thunk! Crack! Splat!
The fragments ricocheted across the chamber, slamming into walls, skewering heads and skulls. Warriors vomited blood and collapsed.
“Whistle.”
The Butcher spun his cleaver idly and slung it back over his shoulder out of habit.
His eyes turned toward the shattered window.
Through the gap, a colossal being was belching flames, incinerating monsters.
“Whoa, a dragon? Damn, the Keyzen bastards don’t mess around with their scale!”
“Already wreaking such havoc?”
The one-eyed gentleman appeared, cane in hand.
“I’ll say it again—”
“Secure the blue-haired one and kill the platinum blonde! I know already!”
The Butcher sprang forward.
“Until we find them, I can play around a bit, right?”
Watching him vanish into the distance in moments, the one-eyed gentleman let out a deep sigh.
“Bringing him along was a mistake after all.”
Muttering, he drew his cane through the air.
A series of extremely intricate magic circles unfolded. Lowering the cane, he intoned a chant.
Woooooom!
Space ripped open in midair, disgorging an endless tide of Mimickers from outside the fortress.
“In this situation, I have no choice but to escalate. You all, go as well.”
The assassins in Mimicker forms blended into the monster horde and charged out.
Suddenly, monsters poured forth from within the fortress itself, startling both students and Gahal warriors outside.
“With this… catastrophe is unavoidable.”
The one-eyed gentleman raised his cane once more.
His body sank into a pool of Darkness, disappearing into the ground, leaving only scattered debris in his wake.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters