Calvin stood on top of a bus, his eyes witnessing an orange smoke rise from behind afar. His eyes narrowed, the smoke rising from the middle of the mountain.
He gritted his teeth.
"Those damn kids," he cursed to himself. "What could Ray be possibly doing?" He jumped down from the bus, causing a loud rumble on the ground. He looked at a few assistant professors.
"Watch the kids!"
He ordered them, his eyes hardening as he rushed from the grassy fields and into the frightening forest.
~~~
A few moment earlier, in the castle.
Ray huffed in exhaustion. He couldn't use mana to break free from the cuffs, and any possible strength he could muster was being disrupted by the constant pain.
Ray... Ray... focus... focus... focus! He thought, sweat cladding his body and a stinging sensation spreading all across his body.
"The Lord is ready to feast."
He could hear it faintly. However, all Ray was focused on at the moment was concentrating on breaking free from the chains that shackled him.
Ray... Ray... Ray... His mind was pouring with his constant name, trying to keep himself awake and at the same time build up the needed strength to break the cuffs.
Strength.
All he needed was one big push!
"GAHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed as he pushed himself forward, the strength of an Intermediate-grade reminding him of what he was worth. The wall behind him crumbled as the chains that wrapped around his arms and legs were torn.
"What?!"
As they pulled back, Ray took one of their blades - clad in his own blood and sweat - and imbued mana into it.
"What is this?!"
Ray did not bother answering, a fiery ascension taking over. He reeled the blade back, a basic fire evolving into something majestic.
Die. Ray thought, thrusted the blade into one of their skulls, piercing the helmets and seizing his life. The fire burst through and combusted into the ceiling of the dungeon, an explosion following.
Rage.
It was all he felt.
Ray dropped the blade, grabbing the other guard's head.
Fwoom!
BOOOM!!
Ascending upwards, their bodies left the depths of the dungeons and Ray gripped on crushed the helmet in two, revealing the face of a frightened man.
"This strength--!"
Unknown.
He did not know man could wield such unnatural abilities.
In his eyes--
Only the unnatural could do such a thing.
Once they barreled downwards, Ray felt his body slow down; his consciousness was fading. But, even then - even as his blood and flesh met his sweat - he pushed forward.
"There are... people I must save."
Splat!
Crashing into a forest much further along than where he was transported, the head of the poor guard was crushed as they collided into a tree. Blood and brain matter covered Ray's face as his vision blurred.
"Students... glasses... need to save..."
However, his body called for him to stop.
And he was forcefully put down by the laws of limitations.
~~~
Outside of the house, the three-person cohort could see dozens of guards rush towards the manor.
"We need to go," Ivan said. "The plan was to draw them to the same place, right? This is our chance!" Grace and Anne nodded their heads, rushing down the stairs and ignoring the blood and organs that lathered the floor disgustingly.
Appearing outside, they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.
"Shit!" Grace cursed. He immediately formed three daggers of light and ushered them forward.
"Wait!"
Grace stopped.
A feminine voice spoke from the fog, and then the vague outline of a girl their age began to emerge.
"Alice?" Anne questioned. "How did you?" The obsidian hair fluttered behind her and her ebony gaze transferred between the three of them before landing on Grace.
"I was wondering what you guys were doing and curiosity got the best of me. I alerted the teachers with a smoke signal and they should be coming this way."
"Would it be optimal to wait then?" Grace's face contorted in indecisiveness.
They didn't know how long Calvin - or anyone for that matter - would take to get here. And even then, they could not fully predict where he would land.
Ivan clicked his tongue.
He grabbed both Anne and Grace and even gestured for Alice to come with them.
"We can't be indecisive. The arrival of the teacher, the uncertainty of when, and the probability of death... it doesn't matter--we act!"
Grace widened his eyes, the image of the future and the present overlapping. He was witnessing the contours of the admirable leader known as "Ivan Sawyer." Even in the face of death, he chose to risk it all for the possibility that someone may need help.
Naive.
Idiotic.
Yet stupidly selfless.
Yes... it is either we die or we don't. That was all it came down to.
~~~
Albert and Rufus heard the explosion from back to the manor. And they couldn't help but groan in annoyance. They had traveled closer to the village, but all that it left them with was the booming curiosity and concern of what was happening back in the manor.
So they decided to pull back and slowly make their way back to the manor. Staying in the shadows of the tree that were surrounding the pathway upwards, they stood still as they saw dozens of guards run along the pathway shouting.
"The heretics!"
"Save the Lord!"
Passing by, their yells became fainter by the second. After a minute or so of waiting the began to walk again.
Then they began to hear more people approach. This time, however, they were much younger and akin to their own.
"This path seems much further than it seems. It's like Edward Paradox."
Rufus' gaze tightened, hearing more closely.
"Hey... is that..." Rufus muttered before he and Albert jumped out of the shadows of the tree and appeared before the rest of the group.
"Rufus! Albert!" Anne exclaimed. "You two were okay!"
Albert smirked.
"Of course! Do you not see who I am! Ruler of the Frozen Continent!" Grace merely shook his head at Albert's stupid words.
"We have no time to lose," Alice jutted in. "There's an opportunity to strike iron while hot." Rufus and Albert widened their eyes at the appearance of Alice.
However, before they could say anything, they ran right by, with Ivan gesturing for them to follow in close pursuit.
"Fuck--constantly in action!" Rufus complained as the two opposites lagged behind for a moment before managing to catch up with the group. Arriving at the top of the pathway, they saw the bridge that Rufus, Albert, and Ray had fell on or close by.
And beyond it, they saw the iron-clad guards enter the manor all at once.
Once they entered, the cohort crossed the bridge and stood right in front of the manor in cold sweat.
"What do we do now?" Albert questioned.
"We burn this whole place to the ground," Grace told with zero hesitation. He looked at Alice with a tightened expression.
"Is your strongest fire spell able to bring this manor to the ground?"
Alice shook her head, biting her tongue.
"No. The spell can spread and devour the whole manor, but it won't be quick enough and the guards and their supposed 'Lord' you speak of may be able to escape." Grace clicked his tongue.
"I guess we have no other choice," deciding to take over, Grace looked at Albert and Anne. "We take formation. You two stand in the back and be alert of all coming dangers."
He then turned his gaze to Ivan and Rufus.
"You two do the same."
They nodded their head, observing his urgency that skyrocketed with each word he uttered. Grace finally turned his head to Alice.
"If I write down a magic amplification circle around you and you instead use an incantation to amplify the spell on top of the amplification circle--will you be able to do it?"
Alice gazed down, unsure. But she shook her head and responded.
"It'll have to depend on the tier of the circle."
Grace couldn't help but crack a massive smirk.
"Don't worry about that--just focus on the incantation once I form it." Summoning multiple daggers of light, he felt his reserves burn quickly as if it was a car accelerating to its top speed.
He closed his eyes, focusing in on the image in his head.
I didn't think I'd ever use this so early on. Grace thought as he recalled a moment in the novel.
Chapter 809.
Ivan managed to invent a highly complex mana circle in order to set up a trap for an enemy that was much stronger than himself.
It was so complex that it was hailed as one of the greatest mana circles that had ever been conjured in the history of the world.
With the only limit to the circle being the fact that you just may fry your mana veins for a few days. This caused possible difficulties in casting and controlling mana.
Thankfully there was official art for it or else I would have never been able to picture it in my head. Grace thought.
1-layer.
2-layers.
3-layers.
4-layers.
5-layers.
6-layers.
7-layers.
8-layers.
9-layers.
And lastly--
The 10th layer!
There were many magic amplification spells with 10-layers. But what differentiated the one that Ivan created was the runic symbols. The runic symbols that Ivan used was a combination between the runic symbols that he found that traced back to the Endless Astral Overseer and the runic symbols created by the the founding emperor--
Vilemore Jade!
Once finished, Grace jumped back.
"Alice!" He yelled. "Now!"
Even if the spell she used was that of a Normal-Grade--it was more than enough to devour this whole manor whole!
Alice nodded her head.
She held her hands close together, closing her eyes as her words begun to slip from her mouth in a fluid motion.
The words did not necessarily matter.
What mattered importantly was the intent.
"The manor that stands in ambiguity
"Glimmering under the present moonlight
"Shower my hands with a choice
"In order to burn
"Like a shining nova!"
The intent behind the words and the actual spell was a ball of fire that was usually the size of her head, but this was different.
The ball of fire burst into a sea of flames, the once deep orange flames becoming closer to a white ghost than anything. It swam forward, usurping everything in its path, devouring it indiscriminately.
Once it touched the manor wood--
It engulfed everything within its sight.
Like a hungry predator finally feasting on its prey.
It was brilliant.
It was devastating.
The eyes of the cohort widened as they looked between Grace and the fire.
"Holy shit! What the fuck is that!" Albert yelled, unable to comprehend how Grace knew such a complex magic amplification circle.
"AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Within the manor, the men clad in iron were burnt alive, the iron melting into their skin. Their flesh was burnt into a terrifying crisp, and their hearts burst with great pain.
"Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord!"
But even then, they worshipped their Lord amidst the chaos that was present. Their minds consumed by delusion and madness.
"Please! Save... us!!!" Soon the the fire made the whole building crumble, killing the men in their melted armor.
And the fire would have continued burning for longer, but the skies begun to cry.
Drop!
Drop!
Drop!
Rain began to pelt them from above, counteracting the beautiful flame that Alice had been able to create because of Grace's magic amplification.
"Did we just... complete a 4-star dungeon as first-years?!" Rufus asked.
However, Grace and Ivan--they realized something.
And they froze.
"The skies--they were clear just moments before," Ivan spoke, his eyes gazing into the clouds.
"Which meant there should have been no possibility of rain. Unless..."
Anne pulled the pieces together, her eyes glancing at the fallen manor.
"A spell was used!"
Within the debris and ash, a singular man began to rise.
"Ahhhh... thank you... my loyal servants," A tall man with black hair that could rival the void spoke. His body had a regal suit that was burnt to shreds.
And in his mouth--
Was the head of one of the melted guards.
He bit on the head before swallowing the flesh. The burnt markings on his body began to regenerate and heal at a ferocious pace.
"And... in the name of Avodus Crylo... I shall demonstrate true witchcraft!"
His body began to shake.
Twsshhhh!
The hairs on his skin began to lengthen and his hands began to transform into something irregular.
The clothes that once fit his body perfectly had been blown right off. Soon, in the dead of night, his head contorted into something abnormal and what stood was a tall and terrible monster.
"A werewolf!"