Chapter 152
The monsters of Prima Materia were launching a simultaneous assault on the Keyzen campus.
Their appearance was nothing short of creation. The air trembled, and white lumps dropped from the sky.
That was it.
Without any real cause or effect, such creatures simply appeared, necromancers a hundred years ago called it a miracle, while priests called it excretion.
"Run, now!"
The entire campus had descended into chaos from the monster attack.
Massive creatures—categorized as super-giants under Keyzen's monster classification—were demolishing buildings. Students screamed as they fled the collapsing structures.
"Hey, no time for sightseeing! Move it!"
"There's an underground shelter under the Study Hall! Head that way for now!"
Thanks to Maelyn's broadcast, the worst-case scenario was averted. Without any warning, if a building collapsed during class, over sixty students could've been wiped out in an instant.
Students who had blindly fled outside were only now witnessing them for the first time.
White-bodied, with black eyes, nose, and mouth—the rest of their forms varied wildly. They looked like a horde of monsters scribbled by an unstable child on a blank canvas.
—Kggggggggkk!
"Something's coming!"
White, mid-sized, quadrupedal—and with exposed spine and ribs. One of the creatures was scaling a wall, aiming for the students.
Just as they frantically raised their arms to form magic circles—
Boom!
The sound of a cannon rang out as an explosion blew apart the monster's face. Its head crashed through the wall of a lecture room, followed by successive blasts that riddled its body with holes.
Cannon fire?
The students looked up. Four glowing green sailing ships hovered in the sky.
"Ah!"
"It's Elisa! Elisa's ghost ships!"
Just as they said, Special Admission No. 7, Elisa, her uniform coat draped over her shoulders, had entered the battlefield.
She gestured, and the ghost ships shifted their hulls before launching a full barrage. The white monsters pouring into the campus were instantly reduced to dust.
Clack!
Her gaze turned. A super-giant white monster, larger than the school buildings, was approaching the ghost ships.
Just as she was about to order the bow to turn—
'Huh? Who's that?'
She spotted someone in her line of sight.
A blond male student climbing the monster's torso. He clung to its face and activated a liquid bomb he had cradled in his arms.
Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
With a deafening roar, a gray explosion erupted. Elisa gripped her coat tightly and crouched against the shockwave.
Moments later, the smoke cleared—both the monster's head and the male student had completely vanished. The remaining torso tumbled backward.
"Ugh, what the hell is this mess? I was napping."
Elisa turned. The very boy who had detonated himself with the bomb was now calmly walking back.
"You're Special Admission No. 10, Malcolm, right? Even a tail-tucked dog's useful sometimes."
"...You trying to die? Try beating Special Admission No. 1 before you talk crap like that."
Thud!
Malcolm drove his staff into the ground. Doppelgangers rose from the magic circle that rippled beneath him, and Malcolm casually tossed them some bombs.
The doppelgangers charged into the monster horde and set off a chain of explosions. Elisa's ghost ships joined the bombardment, wiping out the smaller creatures in an instant.
—Ahem.
Elisa picked up a magic amplifier.
—I, Elisa, will now organize a monster suppression corps. At Keyzen, we don't run from threats, we confront them. If you're ready to fight, gather at the open space in front of the Engineering Hall.
Malcolm scoffed. Even now, she was itching to command.
Elisa lowered the amplifier and added,
"Of course you're coming too, blocker boy."
"Screw off, power freak."
Situations like this were unfolding all across Keyzen. Though they were momentarily thrown off by the sudden assault, Keyzen's students quickly mounted a calm counterattack.
"Curses that induce disease or bleeding don't work!"
"Share intel quickly! Curse the giants to weaken them, and sweep the small fry with firepower!"
"Move aside, I'm setting up barriers!"
A male student swung both arms. The windows of a nearby building shattered, and desks and chairs from a classroom flew out and piled into a large mound.
Students climbed up and took the high ground, beating back monsters trying to ascend, or using area-of-effect spells to wipe them all out. Curse students focused on weakening the most dangerous super-giant monsters to keep them from destroying the buildings.
"Any more magical combat students? Send more forward!"
"Summon all skeletons! Wall up! Build a wall!"
Having faced fierce competition many times before, Keyzen students responded swiftly and effectively. Even while evacuating, they instinctively shifted into counterattack mode and stabilized the situation.
"Watch your six! A super-giant's breaching!"
The real problem was the big ones. A super-giant monster, dozens of meters long, stepped over the makeshift barricade with ease and entered the open field.
It tanked the students' black magic and curses head-on, smashing barriers with a single stomp.
"Whoa."
"This one's serious trouble...!"
Then, five flashes of light came flying at the monster from the sky.
Their weapons and black magic gleamed, and the super-giant monster was torn into pieces in an instant. Students let out gasps of awe.
"It's the instructors!"
Having effortlessly dealt with the creature, Magical Combat teaching assistant Bred landed on the ground and looked at his communication crystal with a long sigh. No matter how many times he tried, it was useless.
In frustration, he hurled the crystal to the ground and scratched his head furiously.
"This is seriously a mess."
A fellow assistant muttered,
"Objectively speaking, we're totally screwed, right?"
Due to Lang's funeral, all of Keyzen's professors were away. That included even the senior teaching assistants—the ones with experience—who had all gone to the Necropolis.
Only the junior assistants, left in charge of student self-study, remained.
"Ah, shut it. This might be for the best, honestly."
Bred flung off his coat and summoned Darkness. The Dark Robe, symbol of a Magical Combat instructor, wrapped around his body.
"If even one student dies, you can kiss your TA badge goodbye. If you wanna stay in Keyzen, you better start prepping your Watchman résumé."
For three years, he'd been dragged around by Simon, and now this disaster on top of it. Bred was feeling utterly defeated. He was ready to give up being a teaching assistant and just work as a freelance necromancer.
"Oh?"
But then, the junior TAs looked at Bred with expressions of admiration.
"I thought your brain was just muscles, but you can actually say cool stuff, senior!"
"He's right though."
"Other seniors went to the Necropolis, so let's focus on protecting the students!"
Fired up to the max, the TAs rushed out.
"...?"
Bred frowned in confusion, wondering what was up with them, but quickly followed behind.
And so, a large-scale counterattack was forming around the TAs and named students. However, while stamina and Darkness would eventually be depleted, the monsters created from Prima Materia continued to pour out endlessly.
"Four super-giants incoming!"
"Evade!"
Eventually, the western front, where Elisa had responded first, collapsed. She hurriedly evacuated the students onto her ghost ships and retreated, but the super-giant white monsters were charging forward, trying to seize the ships.
'Ugh, I'm exhausted.'
She'd made the mistake of pushing the pace too hard early on and burned through a massive amount of Darkness. Keeping four ghost ships afloat in the sky and producing shells at the same time consumed an enormous amount.
"They're catching up!"
"Go faster!"
Students who didn't know better were banging on the ship's railing, shouting at Elisa to speed up.
Just as she was seriously considering tossing them off, she spotted a boy in a Keyzen school uniform launching himself toward the monsters.
Thwack!
With a single punch from the boy, a massive hole appeared in one monster's cheek. He stepped on the collapsing monster's head and leapt again.
Thwack! Thwack! Crack! Rip!
The rest of the monsters fell like dominoes with just one punch each from the boy.
Elisa's eyes, peeking over the ghost ship's railing, widened like lanterns. The other students were equally stunned.
"How is he that strong? Is he a TA?"
"But he's wearing a school uniform."
As five monsters crashed in different directions, raising clouds of dust, Prince landed lightly on the ground.
[Tch, getting tired of babysitting these kids.]
Grumbling to himself, Prince scratched his head while watching the departing ghost ships.
[What the hell is Simon doing?]
* * *
Command Control Room.
The battle was leaning heavily to one side. Simon leapt off a wall and brought down the Greatsword of Destruction toward Plema with all his strength.
Swoosh!
Just as the blade was about to strike her forehead, white flames enveloped the Saint's entire body, forming a shield. The greatsword bounced off uselessly, and she smiled, raising her fingers.
A pure-white flame bloomed before Simon's abdomen.
KRAAAAAASH!
The white flame exploded, launching Simon dozens of meters into the air before slamming him into a wall. The moment he touched the flame, Feer let out a scream of agony in his mind.
Simon slid down the wall, falling to his knees.
"Urgh!"
Clutching his abdomen, which had been scorched by the white flame, he trembled violently. His eyes wavered in pain, and drool dribbled from his mouth.
Plema smiled in satisfaction.
[Hurts, doesn't it?]
She spoke.
[This flame is the power of the Goddess, meant to purify impure beings. For undead and necromancers like you, even the slightest touch is fatal. A living hell unfolds.]
She stretched out her arms.
[It's proof that your kind is fundamentally impure. White Flame heals the wounds of those who serve the Goddess, but viciously burns those who follow evil. Even after witnessing this power, can you still deny the Goddess?]
"...."
Simon, silent, stabbed his greatsword into the ground and struggled to his feet. Plema raised her fingers again, ready to release another White Flame.
Clang!
Her gaze shot behind her. Kajan had rushed in and thrown a punch from behind her. Of course, it too was blocked by the white flame protecting her.
"Ugh!"
Kajan's face twisted in agony. Just touching the white flame with his fist was enough to make him feel like he was going to lose consciousness.
[Trying hard, aren't you? Still can't visualize it, can you?]
She smirked, turning her palm toward Kajan.
[The image of defeating me.]
FWOOSH!
This time, the white flame exploded directly in front of Kajan's body.
"AAAAAAGHHHH!"
Sent flying dozens of meters, Kajan rolled on the floor, writhing in pain as the white flame clung to him, before slamming into a wall and coughing up blood.
Plema smiled, savoring the moment.
[I admit your efforts in stopping the Desolater. However,]
Her gaze turned to the screen in the command room. Keyzen's students were fighting desperately against the monsters created from Prima Materia, but the front lines were slowly being pushed back.
[All you've done is delay the inevitable. No one can stop this 'Great Purification'.]
Thud!
Simon gripped his greatsword, still planted in the ground, and gasped for breath as he summoned more Darkness.
Feer's Bone Armor, having taken too much damage, had forcibly deactivated and lay in pieces on the floor. Only the bone of his right arm, which still gripped the greatsword, remained intact.
[Your willpower is admirable, but the difference here isn't something stubbornness can overcome. Farewell.]
She pointed her finger at Simon.
BZZZT!
She scowled, interrupted. Strange feathers had pierced the center of the white flame shielding her.
But instead of burning away, the feathers were pushing back the White Flame Barrier, half of them already breaking through.
[Who's there!?]
FWOOOOOM!
She raised the flame's intensity to maximum, incinerating the feathers.
"Hmm~"
A soft footstep echoed. A girl with shimmering silver hair, hands behind her back, stepped inside.
"Hello, Simon. You look like you're struggling."
"How did you get in here...!"
Fwoosh!
From her back, a dazzling wing on the right side unfurled.
"I'm here to get my third stamp on the coupon."