Elyra stood silently as Seraphina worked on the intricate magic circuits that lined the walls of her room, carefully attempting to bypass the enchantment that prevented the flow of excess mana.
The room itself was similar to Bastion's, occupying an entire floor of the castle's eastern wing tower. From here, Seraphina had an unobstructed view of the academy grounds in every direction. Through her windows, she monitored the ongoing battle, the thickening haze of corruptive mana in the air, and Aurelia's party gathered near the dungeon entrances.
"It's fortunate that a detachment of the royal army was deployed to secure the dungeons," Seraphina murmured. "And even better that the demon worshipers didn't hide any summoning rituals within the academy. This way, no students will be caught in the fighting."
She continued her delicate adjustments until, at last, the enchantment restricting the room's mana flow cracked and fell away.
"That's more like it!" she grinned, pumping her fist in triumph.
Wasting no time, she rushed to the northern side of the room and dispelled the structural enchantments reinforcing the windows. With a smooth push, she opened them wide. Just beyond, a magical shield shimmered faintly in the air, another protective measure placed outside the window. With a flick of her hand, she disabled that too, clearing the way for what she had prepared.
Elyra watched with quiet curiosity as Seraphina worked. Whatever she had prepared for the Demon Lord required an immense amount of mana and was clearly designed for long-range use, given how far her setup was from the dungeons where Bastion and Aurelia were waiting.
Elyra could only hope it would be enough. She seriously doubted a group of Apprentice Rank students would be able to stop the Demon Lord, a being rumored to rival a Rank 4 or perhaps even higher.
Even her master, formidable as he was, would not stand a chance against a true Rank 4, let alone a Rank 5 god.
Then the sharp sound of shattering glass rang out from the north. A heartbeat later, a wave of demonic energy swept through the air, so thick and vile that Elyra instinctively froze. Fear gripped her heart. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to flee and never look back.
"It's here," Seraphina said with glee, removing her secret weapon from her magic bag.
Elyra's eyes widened. Whatever that device was, it radiated mana so dense that the demonic energy felt like a mere whisper in comparison. It might just have a real chance against the Demon Lord.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield northwest of the academy, the massacre that had continued for over an hour now suddenly came to a halt. Everything shifted the moment that dreadful wave of power washed over them.
The weak Apprentice Rank demons they had been fighting suddenly surged with power, each one ascending a full rank. Their bodies swelled in size, cloaked in a dark red, malevolent energy that radiated raw malice.
The fodder that had once barely posed a threat now stood at Rank 1, while the few Rank 1 demons transformed into fearsome Rank 2s.
Commander Stride immediately understood the danger. Their current formation would be torn apart.
"Shield wall! Fall back to the academy!" he bellowed, his voice ringing with authority.
The command snapped the soldiers out of their stunned fear. With grim determination, they hacked a path through the demonic tide, regrouping quickly into a defensive shield wall as they began their slow retreat.
The demons, newly empowered, saw their chance for vengeance and lunged at the retreating soldiers. They circled around, clawing at anyone who faltered, and some even leapt directly into the midst of the formation.
Yet the shield wall held firm. The soldiers fended off the attackers with disciplined strikes, driving back those who got too close, while hurling spears at the ones who tried to break into their ranks from above.
Still, there were casualties. At times, several demons struck the same section of the shield wall, overwhelming it just enough to break the formation momentarily. Those brief gaps were all the nearby demons needed to drag out a handful of soldiers.
The retreat continued, and with it, the slow, steady loss of good men.
The danger did not lie in the demons' newfound strength alone but in their overwhelming numbers. No matter how many the soldiers cut down, more always came to replace them. That was the true threat, a relentless tide of enemies who, though disorganized, could afford endless sacrifices.
Eventually, something would give. And eventually, the soldier's dwindling numbers would prove fatal.
Suddenly, a group of Rank 2 demons charged the shield wall with reckless abandon.
Commander Stride and his captains stepped forward to intercept, but before they could engage, a barrage of magic projectiles struck the charging group from above. Explosions tore through their ranks, decimating their numbers and halting their momentum. The sudden strike gave the soldiers precious seconds to hasten their retreat.
From the flanks, the Rank 2 instructors surged forward, cutting down Rank 1 demons with brutal efficiency as they carved a path toward the front lines. Their arrival gave the weary soldiers a much-needed moment to breathe.
The soldiers retreated until their backs were against the academy walls. They had reached their destination, but the battle was far from over. As the instructors pulled back, the demonic tide surged forward to continue the assault.
Fortunately, they weren't alone. The professors immediately unleashed a barrage of magic, obliterating the Rank 1 rabble in a relentless storm of elemental power. A few demons managed to push through the magical onslaught, but they were swiftly cut down the moment they reached the shield wall.
Hammerfist saw his chance to test fire, ahem, contribute to the battle and leaped from his high vantage point, charging straight to the front of the shield wall.
He strapped on his goggles and activated the autocannon at his hip. It spun to life, radiating dangerous amounts of mana. With a single mental command, the weapon unleashed its fury, creating a continuous shockwave that pushed the shield wall back from the overwhelming force.
A stream of projectiles burst forth, obliterating everything even remotely near the line of fire. It was a storm of bullets that shredded flesh, shattered bone, and drowned the battlefield in relentless thunder.
"Hahaha!" Hammerfist bellowed with glee as he swept the weapon from side to side with reckless abandon.
The demon horde, Rank 1 and seemingly endless, was torn apart by the relentless barrage of bullets. Only a scattered few were left crawling across the ground, wounded and broken for miles around. Even the treeline had been pushed back as stray shots tore through the trees with ease.
The soldiers, instructors, professors, and even the headmaster stood frozen in shock at the sheer brutality of the weapon. Somehow, they now feared Hammerfist more than the demonic energy radiating from the Demon Lord.
No one else joined the fight, giving the soldiers and professors time to drink their potions and recover.
A few minutes later, the relentless firing came to a halt as the weapon sputtered and fell silent.
"Damn it!" Hammerfist cursed. "The mana's gone and the ammo is running low too. The kid's design would've lasted longer… or maybe I should've just slapped on more magic crystals. If only I could get that damn feeder working right."
He muttered to himself the entire way back, ignoring the stares as he returned to his position, already tinkering with the reinforced magic bag.
From the treeline, more demons emerged like a tide of red darkness. Most were Rank 1, with the occasional Rank 2 scattered among them. In less than a minute, they would be upon them, and the battle would resume. This fight was far from over.
Commander Stride shook off the shock and barked out orders.
"Form ranks! Break time is over!" he commanded, then made his way to the headmaster to confer about their next move.
"We need reinforcements, or at least another one of those weapons. This is well beyond what a few dozen Rank 2s can manage," Stride said bluntly.
"I agree," the headmaster replied, "but the Goddess has spoken. We must let fate take its course. Do you have any idea how difficult it was just to secure your help with the dungeons? As for the weapon, only Hammerfist owns one, and I believe that is the only prototype."
Stride scowled. "That sounds like nonsense. You expect us to stand here and get butchered? I'm counting twice as many Rank 2s in that incoming horde as we have, and they're numbers are increasing."
"We have no choice but to place our faith in the Goddess."
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Stride turned away and returned to the front line. He stepped forward to relieve his men, standing firm at the center of the shield wall, ready to stop any Rank 2s before they could do real damage.
Suddenly, the unmistakable aura of the Goddess washed over them, filling every soldier with renewed strength and resolve. Their wounds mended as divine energy surged through them, bolstering their defenses and allowing them to shrug off the demons' attacks with ease.
They had not been abandoned.
Not only were they empowered, but their enemies were struck with a crippling debuff that left them even weaker than before their earlier transformation. Within the Goddess's sphere of influence, the demons suffered continuous damage and became far more vulnerable to every strike.
Commander Stride had no idea what had triggered this divine surge, but he had no intention of wasting it.
"Charge! Full assault! Chase them down and leave none alive!" he roared.
The soldiers answered with a thunderous warcry and surged forward, unleashing everything they had on the retreating demons. They were determined to bring down as many as possible before the Goddess's blessing faded.
Nearly two hundred soldiers, joined by the instructors, formed a unified line and cut a bloody path through the horde. They pushed forward as far as they could, determined to carve their vengeance into the enemy before the divine power finally wavered in the distance.
Meanwhile, Bastion stood in awe as the Goddess descended to possess Aurelia, transforming her into her divine avatar. She soared into the sky to confront the hundred-meter-tall winged Demon Lord who had only just been freed from its seal.
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