Chapter 825
“I was waiting.”
At that one phrase from Shatel, Elisa’s face stiffened with tension.
‘Waiting? Why? Don’t tell me he wants to pick a fight?’
From Elisa’s perspective, that was exactly the kind of image Shatel had.
In fact, the very situation of being inside Shatel’s domain was unsettling. If he suddenly launched a preemptive strike, she wouldn’t even have time to react. Simon, standing next to her, seemed either too confident in his skills or too careless.
‘Father always said, politics means preparing for the very worst.’
She subtly hid her right hand behind her back, and quietly formed a magic circle to remotely control the Ghost Ship.
Just as the cannons of the Ghost Ship, which had been lying on its side on the ground, quietly moved to aim at Shatel.
Boom!
Shatel reacted. With one thick finger raised, the soil from the ground shot up and clogged all the cannon muzzles.
‘I– I’ve been caught!’
Startled, she quickly assumed a battle stance, but Shatel seemed completely uninterested in her.
He was staring into Simon’s eyes.
“You said you’d capture the Volcanic Lord, and rescue your comrades.”
“Yeah.”
“I will cooperate, Simon, Follentia.”
“Thanks.”
“???”
Watching the two converse as if it were the most natural thing, Elisa’s jaw dropped.
“Wait! Wait a second!”
She dashed forward with a swish.
“Shatel! Weren’t you on the same side as Aseraz and Meridiana?”
“If it was a proposal to attack Simon Follentia together, I heard it.”
Shatel replied with an indifferent expression.
“Such a proposal, has no meaning. If someone stands above me, I must, overcome it with my own strength for it to have meaning.”
His pupils dropped downward.
“Someday, I will defeat Simon Follentia. But that time, is not now.”
Simon smiled.
“That’s a relief.”
Back in his first year.
When Shatel fought an opponent in a duel evaluation, he utterly crushed them so they couldn’t get back up again. Because of this, rumors spread calling him a ‘tyrant’, but it was less cruelty and more a kind of self-defense mechanism.
Being different from others was a sin.
His father, just an ordinary, small human, tried to protect young Shatel who was treated like a monster, and was murdered by soldiers.
It was because he was different from others, and even weaker, that his father died.
He must never be looked down upon. His head was filled with the thought that he had to make sure no one would ever ignore him again.
But as he moved up to the second year, Shatel changed.
“Rosena Murray.”
The name slipped from Shatel’s lips.
“Donovan Tomlinson.”
“Elsem Fenzie.”
“Gavin Amamontea.”
One by one, names of students from Darkness Dynamics flowed out of Shatel’s huge mouth.
“I tried to find, friends here. But before I could find them, they were swept away by lava, and eliminated. I must save them. That is more important, than my duel with Simon Follentia.”
Simon nodded.
“I agree. For now, let’s fight for the same purpose.”
Simon held out his hand, and Shatel clasped it with his massive hand for a handshake.
In truth, it was less a handshake and more Shatel grabbing Simon’s hand with his rock-like thumb and middle finger, shaking it up and down.
“I conserved power, here.”
Shatel pointed behind him.
Besides the statues, large magic circles could be seen drawn all around.
‘So he holed up here to both scout and gather strength without interference.’
Simon nodded, and turned to Elisa.
“Then let’s set off, Elisa. Operate the Ghost Ship again.”
“Ah, got it! But where are we going?”
Simon grinned.
“Of course, to where help is needed.”
* * *
Almost at the same time.
The Volcanic Lord ‘raid party’s’ plan had gone wrong from the very beginning.
According to Simon’s proposal, the raid party was supposed to gather more members before setting off for the volcano.
But there was no way the ‘Volcanic Lord’ would sit still and watch their forces gather. She noticed the students assembling near the mountain, diverted the lava flow to block their retreat, then marched an army of monsters upward from the foot of the mountain.
With their retreat blocked by lava, the students had no choice but to begin the assault on the Volcanic Castle. All of them climbed the mountain to escape the advancing lava monsters.
But this was not a battle the students began, it was a battle the Volcanic Lord had intended from the start. There was no way it would go well.
Magma surged endlessly up the mountain, and lava monsters born within opened their jaws to attack the students.
“Keep climbing! If we stop here, we’ll be wiped out!”
“No, but there’s lava flowing ahead, where are we supposed to go?!”
Confusion among the students refused to die down, while Hector, transformed into a dragon, flew through the sky breathing his breath attack.
[Dammit, hurry!]
Everywhere his breath landed, lava monsters turned to ash.
There was no doubt Hector was strong. But the fact that he, who was meant to fight the Volcanic Lord, was already forced to fight in dragon form showed just how dire the situation was.
“Hector! Watch above you!”
At someone’s shout, Hector looked up. From the sky, a blazing red boulder was falling toward him.
[Damn it!]
He twisted aside, but one of his wings caught fire. Hector grimaced in pain as he crashed down the slope.
“Ah, this is bad.”
Dick gasped out.
“Could Simon have been right, that the Volcanic Lord is really Professor Jin? Why does it feel like we’re dancing on her palm?”
“Hey, Dick! You got any more freeze potions?”
Beside him, Malcolm unleashed doppelgangers as he spoke.
“At this rate, we’ll be pushed—”
Dick turned toward Malcolm, his pupils widening in shock.
A deafening roar, like his eardrums bursting, swept past, and Dick’s hair whipped violently in the wind.
‘Huh?’
Malcolm vanished before his eyes.
As Dick jerkily turned his head, he saw a huge fountain of lava erupting in the distance.
[Malcolm Randolph has been eliminated.]
“No way. Wha— what got him?”
Dick looked up.
On top of the volcanic crater, a figure faintly appeared then disappeared. Around it, traces of a red circle as if something had been launched could be seen.
No mistake, that had been the Volcanic Lord’s attack.
“......From that far away, she hit someone down here?”
Just as Dick was stunned, a lava monster slipped through a gap and swung its arm at the back of his head.
“If you’ve got time to space out, squeeze out some kind of plan!”
Boom!
Cindy Vivace appeared like the wind, kicking the monster away.
“You’re the only strategist left alive in this line!”
In every direction.
It was packed with lava monsters. Their retreat had long since been cut off, and lava flowed from above.
“Coming up with a plan won’t solve this.”
Dick said bitterly.
“All we can do now is hold out until reinforcements come.”
“Reinforcements?”
Cindy, firing off necromancy spells one after another, shouted irritably.
“With lava blocking us front and back, where are reinforcements supposed to come from!”
“Elisa is in the Top 10. If Simon really convinced Elisa of the Ghost Ship, then maybe somehow...... huh?”
Dick’s eyes widened.
“The Ghost Ship!”
“What?”
Fwoooosh!
From the sky, a burning Ghost Ship was falling. Somewhere along the way it must have been hit by volcanic debris, because the deck and sails were ablaze.
“Hahahaha! What an entrance!”
Dick turned to the students, waving both arms.
“It’s crashing! Everyone fall back!”
Kwakwaaaaang!
The burning Ghost Ship slammed into the ground in front of Dick.
A thick cloud of dust billowed up. As everyone blinked, trying to see what had happened, a figure emerged from the wreckage.
“Well done.”
Step. Step.
A massive shape appeared from the dust. Wherever its boots touched, the ground was stained like ink wash.
“From here on, leave it to me.”
“Sh– Shatel Maer?”
The students’ gazes shifted behind him. Upon the shattered mast of the Ghost Ship, Simon stood with a grin.
“Simon Follentia has returned!”
“And he brought back Shatel!”
“Wooooooaaaahhh!”
Thunderous cheers erupted.
‘Damn late.’
Hector grumbled as he spat.
Pinned under debris nearby, Elisa also muttered, ‘Am I invisible or what.’
<Domain Domination>
Shatel unleashed black magic.
The ink-wash shade that had seeped into the ground spread outward rapidly. The terrain around him flattened, and then hardened like a solid carriage road.
And then.
Ruuuuumble!
Even the magma that had been surging down toward the charging students began flowing aside, away from their direction.
“He can even change the flow of magma with his Darkness Domain?”
“That’s insane!”
Until now, avoiding the descending lava had been exhausting, but at last, proper footing and a stable battlefield had been created.
Ssshh–
Then, as Shatel made a pulling motion with his palm, the ground itself began to rise upward.
Just by standing still, the earth carried them up the slope. It was like riding atop a flowing river.
“I will control, the battlefield.”
Shatel declared.
“Do, your work.”
The overwhelming performance of the overall rank 2 raised the morale of the students a step higher.
“Shatel!”
Dick came running to him, panting.
“Sorry to ask, but could you bring the ones lagging behind in the rear to join us? They’re an important force too……”
At present, the raid party’s formation had been split cleanly in half by the Volcanic Lord’s deception.
The forward group had made it this far, but the rear group was surrounded and collapsing.
Cindy, standing beside them, was sweating.
“Isn’t that a bit too much to ask? They’re too far away.”
“It is possible.”
Shatel stretched his arm back.
<Domain Expansion>
His domain seeped downward. With a motion of pulling forward with his left hand, the ground below rose like a tidal wave.
“Uwah!”
“Kyaa!”
The earthen wave scooped up more than a dozen students at once, and safely set them down beside the front-line group.
“No hand, will be wasted to a meaningless death.”
Shatel’s eyes gleamed.
“Do something. Work.”
At last, the formation was stabilized. The Keyzen students, regaining their footing, began to break through the surging lava monsters, and Shatel’s domain spread further, shielding them from the lava.
Returning from dragon form, Hector spat phlegm with a wet hawk, and strode toward Simon and Shatel.
“For all your swagger, you’re late, Simon Follentia. We lost no small number of troops.”
Dick and Cindy glared at Hector, expressions screaming ‘this crazy bastard’, but Simon calmly scratched his chin.
“I was coming straight here, but there was too much lava falling from the sky, so I got delayed.”
“Well, now that you’re here safe and sound, that issue’s done with!”
Dick quickly wedged himself between the two.
“Stick to the plan, you two save your strength. You’re in charge of defeating the Volcanic Lord.”
“We’ll see.”
Simon turned his head.
“Looks like we’ll have to handle that too.”
Kuuuuuuuuung–!
A massive roar shook the front lines, and several students screamed as they staggered back.
The output devices tied to their arms responded.
[Boss monster, Lava Golem has appeared.]
Like a barricade across the ascent, the upper body of a monster formed of molten lava suddenly thrust up from the mountainside.
When it swung its arm, a wave of lava rose, and two students’ life gauges instantly hit zero, erasing them without a trace.
Glop, glop!
Around the monster’s torso, a lava lake spread outward, suppressing Shatel’s domain.
“There is, an obstruction.”
At Shatel’s words, the students grinned and stepped forward.
“Okay!”
“Leave it to us!”
It was the first request from the one who had turned the battle. To meet his expectation, the students rushed to the front line.
Crack, crack.
Whip– whip–
But Simon and Hector suddenly began loosening their bodies as well. Dick broke into a cold sweat.
“Hey! You heard me, right? You two are supposed to deal with the Volcanic Lord!”
Simon lowered himself with a playful grin.
“Then as long as we don’t overdo it, it’s fine, isn’t it?”
The veins bulged in Hector’s legs.
“That one is mine.”
Thud!
Both of them sprinted forward, neither giving the other an inch.
Their arms pumped violently up and down, their well-trained legs pounding against the ground.
Pabababapak!
Their afterimages trailed as they dashed up the slope. The students ahead were overtaken in a flash.
“Wh– what the hell?”
“What just flew past?”
Clank! Clank!
As they ran, Simon and Hector transformed. Floating Bone Armor parts locked onto Simon’s body, while scales spread across Hector’s, twisting him into a reptilian form.
“You know you can’t turn into a full dragon, right?”
“And you, don’t even think of using that ridiculous color-play trick!”
Overtaking every comrade ahead of them, the two reached the Lava Golem in an instant. The monster hurled blobs of molten rock like artillery shells.
Pababababap!
The two never slowed, dodging or smashing every chunk aside.
Simon reached first, skidding to a halt, spinning, and then springing upward with bent knees.
Claaanng!
His fist smashed into the Lava Golem’s jaw as he soared past.
“Hup!”
<Hector’s Original – Rift Break>
From the opposite side, Hector charged in, smashing the monster’s temple. Its massive body reeled.
This time Simon, stepping off its body, drew back his fist.
<Simon’s Original – Shockwave>
Boooom!
Thwack!
Craack!
Crunch!
The two boys’ bodies crossed violently, slicing the air.
Wearing their summons, striking the boss monster of the group exam with only their fists, every watching student gaped in shock.
Claaanng!
“Urgh!”
But Hector, battered by the monster’s thrash, tumbled to the ground. The Lava Golem raised its opposite arm to smash him down.
‘Open Gate.’
Shhhhhaaaa!
From the side, the Overlord’s blade slashed through the arm. The Lava Golem shrieked.
“Finish it.”
Still seated on the ground, Hector summoned Darkness.
<Dragon Nail>
A dragon’s tail shot up from beneath, like a tower, piercing straight through the monster’s chest.
Lava spewed from its mouth like blood.
‘So he was hiding a move like that.’
Simon landed with a grin.
He recalled the Overlord into subspace, then re-aimed at the immobilized monster.
‘One more Open Gate!’
Shhhrrrak!
Shrrrak!
The Overlord blades crossed in an X, cleaving through its neck. The massive Lava Golem’s head flew high, and cheers drowned the battlefield.
[The Lava Golem has been destroyed.]
Simon turned to Hector with a smile. Hector raised his middle finger straight at him, then turned his back.
“Now go! If you can’t carry me to the Volcanic Lord, I’ll smash you lot first!”
Roughly translated into Hector-speak, it was encouragement to give it their all.
With morale sky-high, the students surged past Simon and Hector, charging forward.
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