Chapter 63: Clarice's Anger (End)
The cold, deadly presence of the Wraith King was now fully manifest, cloaking Lucian's body in an aura of chilling green energy. The air around him was so cold it caused condensation to form and instantly freeze, creating tiny, shimmering icicles on the destroyed debris. Clarice, encased in her 6th-tier Shield, launched a flurry of magical attacks, desperate to regain control.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Lucian, moving with the preternatural speed and efficiency of the Wraith King, began to deflect every single one of Clarice's attacks—Stone Cannons, Flame Bolts, and even shards of pure force magic—with casual ease. The ghostly green saber was a blur, intercepting projectiles with such precision that each magical explosion was redirected away from him.
SLASH!
In a sudden, blinding burst of speed, Lucian (now the Wraith King) closed the distance and slammed the saber directly against Clarice's magical barrier. The shield shuddered under the immense, focused pressure, but it held.
Lucian pulled back instantly and assessed the defense. He just realized the shield she cast upon herself wasn't a single layer; it was a multi-layered construction, a true testament to her expertise.
'It seems she's smarter than I thought,' the Wraith King mused, his cold mind analyzing the structural integrity of the barrier. 'Six layers of a 6th-tier shield, designed to fail sequentially to absorb sustained force. Very clever, Professor. Then how about this?'
The Wraith King decided to use a devastating, specialized sword art from his past—a technique meant for opponents far beyond the level of a mere human mage.
"Stygian Wraith Heavenly Art: Slice of Death!"
With a guttural shout, the Wraith King plunged the saber forward. The green aura around the blade didn't just strike the shield; it seeped into the layers, freezing the magical bonds and then shattering them from within.
The sound was a rapid, splitting succession of cracks as the powerful spell sliced through the defense. Four distinct layers of the shield failed in an instant, leaving only two layers left.
Clarice, feeling the shocking loss of her defense, knew she was in grave danger. She instinctively summoned another 7th-tier circle of magic, preparing to cast another 7th-tier spell—this time, a more devastating form of the Lightning Bolt, aiming for the core of the attack.
"LIGHTNING BOLT!!!!!" she shrieked, her voice desperate.
But the Wraith King was faster. As the magical circle flared to life, Lucian teleported—a true dimensional shift, not just blinding speed—and instantly appeared at her back.
He didn't use the saber this time. He used his foot.
BAM!
Another devastating, physical kick, this time aimed at the center of her back, delivering a non-lethal, paralyzing shock.
"AAAAGGGHHH!" Clarice screamed. Even with the two remaining layers of the shield she cast upon herself, she could still feel the crushing impact of that kick, a deep, bruising pain that rattled her bones.
"You damn brat! Just how many times do you plan to kick me?!" she gasped, her voice wavering.
The Wraith King replied, his voice flat and chilling. "As many as it can take. I will kick you many times until you go into a deep sleep, Professor. You've used too much of my lord's energy."
Clarice, driven by pure instinct and panic, retaliated by summoning another thousand Flame Bolts in a desperate attempt to buy time and create distance. The cloud of fire rushed towards Lucian.
BOOM!
The Wraith King didn't bother dodging sideways. He teleported again, this time high above Clarice. As he shimmered back into existence, he brought his reinforced foot down in a vicious arc.
BAM!
Another axe kick, delivered with immense gravitational force, slammed into the top of Clarice's head. The force was enough to shatter the penultimate, second-to-last layer of her shield instantly.
'Only one layer remains, and it seems it's the most durable one,' the Wraith King noted internally, feeling the stubborn resistance of the final barrier. 'I need to use the finisher now. This body is running on fumes.'
Clarice, now completely panicked and fighting on pure adrenaline, realized her mistake. She knew the boy was preparing another powerful sword art. Before she could cast another offensive spell, she switched tactics to pure defense, using her wand not to cast, but to try and parry Lucian's saber in a desperate, physical struggle.
'Just how strong is this brat?!' she thought, the question echoing the fear in her heart. 'He always uses his brutal kicks and his saber to attack me and deflect my high-tier spells! How could I, a damn Deputy Head Professor of Arcane Arts, be struggling so far against this damn student?!'
The Wraith King suddenly disappeared in front of her. Clarice's heart leaped into her throat as she desperately spun around, scanning the smoking debris. She finally found him on the ground a few meters away, standing in a low, powerful stance, raising the green-hued saber high above his head in preparation for a technique of immense power.
'SHIT!'
Clarice realized that Lucian would summon another sword art—one that would undoubtedly shatter her last defense. She instinctively tried to cast her highest-tier spell yet, but before she could complete the incantation, a terrible realization hit her.
Her mana was completely depleted.
"!!!"
Clarice realized she was utterly screwed. All of her desperate, rapid-fire spell-casting and her massive healing expenditure had been the perfect bait. Lucian had simply traded his stamina for her energy reserves, and now, he had achieved total magical superiority.
The Wraith King finally spoke, his voice booming across the ruined courtyard, heavy with finality.
"Stygian Wraith Heavenly Art: Signature Move."
The final layer of the shield, which had held against the massive axe kick, flared uselessly. Clarice looked into Lucian's glowing green eyes, and in that moment, she finally realized she had been defeated—not by skill, but by brilliant strategic manipulation. She had fallen entirely for the bait he had set.
Then the Wraith King continued, channeling the last of the powerful, freezing mana into the blade, which screamed with cold energy.
"God of Death's Divine Judgement!!!"
The strike was neither fiery nor slow. It was a single, impossibly fast, clean slash of green energy that hit the final shield layer, which shattered like glass, and then passed through Clarice's body. There was no blood, no explosion, only the sound of a powerful magical core being completely sealed and momentarily shut down.
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!
The aftermath was catastrophic. The energy released was not fire, but pure, focused magical force. It split the air itself, tearing a brief, visible fissure into the atmosphere above the academy, like a crack in the sky.
---
Professor Randy, having finally overcome his battlefield trauma and the paralyzing fear of the Demon God's aura, was sprinting toward the scene.
He was nearly there when the final, world-shaking sound hit.
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!
Randy threw himself behind a remaining chunk of marble pillar as rocks and debris rained down from the sky. He shielded his head and then looked up at the impossible sight: the sky above the academy was briefly split in half by a lingering trail of green energy, a testament to the devastating force of Lucian's attack.
"How the hell?!!!" Randy exclaimed, completely forgetting his fear in the face of this impossible display of power. He knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that no 7th-tier spell could ever leave a scar like that in the air.
After the smoke began to settle, Randy continuously ran through the destroyed area. He saw the unbelievable scene: Lucian was standing, but barely. His upper shirt was completely tattered, revealing a body covered in bruises and scars from the intense magical and physical stress. He was bleeding from cuts and exhaustion, but none of the injuries were fatal.
Then, Lucian's eyes flickered, the green light receding, and the consciousness of the Demon God, exhausted by the effort, returned the control of the human body. Lucian stumbled, his mana completely drained, and his physical stamina hitting absolute zero.
Randy instinctively ran to Lucian and caught his falling body just before the young lord hit the ground.
"Lucian! Are you alright?!" Randy asked, his voice thick with concern and deep, complex fear.
Randy carefully pulled Lucian into a sitting position and covered him with his coat. He looked at the entire area, which was now nothing but a vast expanse of destroyed debris, smoking ashes, and the sheer devastation of the incredible battle.
Then he saw the figure of Professor Clarice lying on the ground. She was covered in bruises, her clothes scorched, but she was intact. However, Randy, a veteran of several wars, immediately recognized the nature of her injury: she had the most fatal injuries ever—not external wounds, but the sealed, inert emptiness where her magical core should have been. She was a mage temporarily stripped of her magic, utterly defeated.
Lucian, leaning heavily on Randy, spoke in a low, exhausted whisper, his voice barely audible.
"You—you should help Professor Clarice, Professor," Lucian panted heavily, his focus fading. Then, with a final, shuddering exhale, he finally closed his eyes and rest, having reached the point of total exhaustion from the overly used mana and his body.
Randy, now facing a mountain of administrative and legal trouble, nodded grimly. He first ensured Lucian was secure, then rushed to help the Deputy Head Professor.
Just as Randy was checking Clarice's pulse and breathing, he looked up. The sky was filled with the worried figures of Head Professor Malthus, Headmaster Wilhelm Altaliere, and the two cause-of-all-trouble students: Marice and Christopher.
"SISTER!"
Marice, seeing the devastation and her broken sister, screamed and hurried to approach her. She hastily cast her nature healing magic on her older sister, desperate to mend the terrible, systemic injuries.
Headmaster Wilhelm Altaliere, a stern but weary man, descended and looked around at the apocalypse that was his academy. "What the hell happened here, Randy?!" he demanded, his voice laced with disbelief and fury.
Randy, knowing the political implications of telling the truth, played it safe. "You better ask both Professor Clarice and young lord Lucian, Headmaster. The only thing I saw was a magic battle that escalated beyond all control."
The Headmaster looked at Clarice, then at Lucian, then back at the destroyed music room. He let out a profound, defeated sigh.
"Haah, we will waste our budget again for the reconstruction of the music room," he muttered, the financial pain momentarily overriding the magical terror.
The Head Professor, who had been analyzing the scale of the destruction, immediately gave the list of items and damage estimates to the Headmaster. Wilhelm looked at the absurd amount of money needed to reconstruct the music room and the area outside of it, and he buried his face in his hands.
"We need the Duke of West and the Royal families' help. I can't cover this," the Headmaster groaned, scratching his head in absolute frustration.
While the Headmaster contemplated bankruptcy, Marice was diligently healing her sister, and the Head Professor was kneeling down, healing Lucian, his hands glowing with restorative light.
The Head Professor looked at the broken, but quickly mending, body of Lucian Blackstar, then back at the massive destruction that was not caused by fire, but by pure, physical force.
'Just how powerful is the Von Blackstar family?! To have a son that can not only survive a 7th-tier spell but completely cripple a 7th-tier mage and leave a visible scar in the sky... This is far beyond the power of any known noble bloodline,' the Head Professor thought, suddenly understanding the terrifying future the young lord represented.
The battle was over. The love was confirmed. And the academy was ruined.