426 – The Resolve of One to Reclaim -2-

The world is often an exercise in futility.

“…What in God’s name is that?”

Like the boulder plummeting from the heavens before their very eyes.

A meteor.

The dream of every mage.

The ultimate spell that anyone who’s embraced magic has, at least once, desired to cast.

-Fwooosh…

It was falling directly towards Ruin.

“A…meteor?”

How could a student…?

He couldn’t fathom how an academy student could conjure a meteor the size of an uprooted mountain, but.

“This can’t be happening.”

The mass of rock that filled his vision seemed utterly uninterested in acknowledging the desire to negate its very existence.

“Oh my… how magnificent.”

Ruin heard a gratingly cheerful laugh intrude upon his ears as he watched the meteor, eyes trembling.

“I wasn’t expecting a pre-emptive strike. Seems you have a capable leader?”

“…”

“To be sure, a pre-emptive attack from the defending team in a siege is a sound tactic.”

“What is she even saying…!”

“Ah… brings back memories. I remember how terrifying a meteor falling from the sky was back in my youth… Even now, twenty years later, the memory makes my heart race.”

“Don’t just stand there! Do something!!!”

Ruin shouted at Alicia with a trembling voice, but Alicia, lost in her meteor-induced reverie, heard nothing.

“Ah… how vast and beautiful a meteor seemed to my inexperienced eyes… Your students are surely capable of creating meteors just as impressive.”

“Hey!!!”

“Of course, I am a fallen black mage now. Ah, but in my younger days, I was a priest dedicated to the gods, so I wouldn’t even know how to spell ‘meteor’.”

“Hey!!!! Do something, will you!!!”

The sight of Ruin, veins bulging in his neck as he screamed, finally snapped Alicia out of her thoughts. She exclaimed, “Oh, that’s right!” and turned to him.

“Why would I?”

She spoke without any intention of helping.

“What… did you say?”

As Ruin, stunned by Alicia’s words, was about to unleash a torrent of invective, Alicia shook her head and silenced him.

“This exercise is designed to foster the students’ independence, Student Ruin.”

“…”

“I will obey ‘specific commands’ from the siege team’s ‘leader,’ within the bounds of my abilities, but I cannot act on my own volition.”

“But…! We’ll die if we get hit by that, you know!?”

“If you think you’re going to die, I’ll save you. Don’t worry, just give me your orders.”

“Damn it…! You know too! That wasn’t made by a student! It’s definitely Hans…”

“Hm?”

Alicia shrugged and shook her head.

“Regrettably, it seems the meteor was created by another student, just like you, Student Ruin?”

“What…?”

“I made a promise with Sir Hans, so we agreed not to use offensive magic against each other.”

“…Could be a lie, though!”

“The completion is a mess. The cohesion is off, and the sustain doesn’t seem very good.”

“…”

“Of course, Sir Hans’ various buffs and theoretical knowledge probably helped create something like that. But that meteor falling before our eyes? A student definitely made it. Ruin, you.”

“Bullshit…”

Ruin’s shout was met with indifference as the meteor descending from the sky steadily approached.

A choice had to be made.

To run away or surrender.

If he surrendered like this, he’d be chewed out in the dorms for sure.

Not only would Hans chew him out, but if Ricard saw this pathetic state, he’d undoubtedly say, ‘Your mettle is all wrong. We need to push you harder.’

He wanted to avoid being lectured about mettle by that guy. Especially by that overly perfect guy…! Absolutely…!

So!

“Everyone…! Scatter!”

Ruin clenched his fist and shouted loudly towards the students. He put all his heart on being the leader taking responsibility for everything.

“Judging by where it’s falling, they don’t seem to know our exact location!”

“…Oho.”

“Scatter in the opposite direction the meteor is falling, then regroup.”

The students nodded at Ruin’s words and started running. No matter what, no one wanted to get hit directly by a meteor.

-Shooom…

Elysia watched Ruin’s retreating back as he ran, clicking her tongue with a regretful voice too quiet to be heard.

“Made a mistake, despite knowing about the enemy.”

The moment Ruin, while running, saw Elysia standing in the very center of where the meteor would fall.

-Kugung.

Elysia’s figure vanished with the falling meteor.

“Duck!!!”

Ruin shouted loudly at the students to duck. He then crouched down, covering his face with his arms and tightly closing his eyes. He figured that insane instructor would be fine even if she got hit by a meteor.

-Thump…!

Ruin bit his lip hard, expecting a massive jolt to come.

“Hold on tight, everyone, so you don’t get blown away…!”

– *Ping!*

What was that?

Ten seconds trickled by as Ruin kept his head bowed. He began to entertain a single, perplexing question.

Why.

‘Nothing is happening?’

He hadn’t felt any impact, not even a shudder.

At the very least, he expected a ground-splitting tremor. But there wasn’t so much as a dust cloud rising. Slowly, Ruin began to lift his head.

Slowly.

Very, very slowly.

“Huh?”

The sight that greeted him drew a clipped curse from his lips.

“Son of a b*tch.”

Where the meteor should have crashed, there existed instead a pool of magic, the color of a clear, blue eye. Yes. A basic detection spell.

A Ward.

“What… is this?”

As Ruin stood, stunned, Elisha’s calm voice began to explain the situation, reaching his ears as she shattered the Ward buried in the earth.

-*Crack.*-

“Ruin, that’s a point deduction.”

“…What?”

“Evading a powerful spell is a wise choice. You can avoid annihilation, regroup, and deal with the mage when their magic is depleted.”

“Wait… then.”

“However, one must assess the veracity of the magic. Not everything that hits hard is dangerous.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Indeed.”

Elisha nodded, answering Ruin’s unspoken question.

“It was an illusion.”

Ruin blinked, furrowing his brow. Don’t give me that nonsense.

“How could that be an illusion?”

“Hmm?”

“The mana cost for an illusion spell that grand… no one would create something like that without thinking…”

“Larger than a Meteor, perhaps?”

“…”

As if divining Ruin’s very thought, Elysia replied with measured calm.

“A Meteor’s essence is fire, earth, and wind.”

“…”

“Did neither Ruin, nor any of the other students, perceive anything amiss about that Meteor just now?”

“…It wasn’t hot.”

“Precisely. Were one well-versed in the characteristics of a Meteor, one could discern the opponent’s magic. Whether it was a feint, cloaking strategic intent, or an all-out barrage aimed at annihilation.”

“…”

“I do not mean to imply Ruin’s judgment was poor. However, to be caught unawares by magic one should know intimately is a foolish blunder indeed.”

“Huh…? So, that Meteor just now was a fake, designed to pinpoint our location?”

“Yes. A strategy easily seen through by seasoned mages, but a ‘bluff,’ of sorts, they believed would work on students of lesser experience.”

“…”

“And.”

Elysia gazed skyward, a faint smile gracing her lips.

“Now is when it truly begins, I suspect.”

“Begins what…”

“Haven’t they ascertained our position?”

“…”

“By embedding detection magic within the illusion, targeting coordinates become rather… clear.”

-Clap.

Elysia clapped her hands together, her smile widening.

“They arrive presently.”

Gazing at the scores of bombardment spells plummeting from the heavens, Ruin’s pupils dilated.

“A game of hide-and-seek, it seems.”

*

Simultaneous to this:

“Aah… This is just too much fun!”

Shuen, currently unleashing a torrent of bombardment spells upon Ruin’s location, was practically skipping with glee, a radiant smile plastered on her face.

“This is it. The thrill! The ecstasy!”

– BANG! BANG! BANG!

It was Shu-en’s strength, this bombardment magic.

Malik nodded, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as Shaltia used illusion magic to divert attention, conserving mana as she repeated the pattern of dropping artillery fire.

“Very good.”

Malik, a veteran of war.

Gathering the students on the ramparts, Malik began to sketch out a simple map on the ground, outlining the plan.

“We’ll take a thirty-minute respite now, then continue the barrage. Shaltia.”

“Yes.”

“How much mana do you have left?”

“Enough to create Meteor illusions… about thirty percent remains now.”

“Sufficient.”

“…?”

“And Shu-en?”

“I’ll keep firing until I collapse, yes!”

“Excessive. Rotate shifts.”

Undaunted by Malik’s words, Shu-en continued to unleash her artillery, seemingly still overflowing with energy.

Malik, wearing that pleased smile, watched Shu-en and Shaltia, nodding to himself before beginning to speak softly,

Delivering the cold reality that the defensive team was at a disadvantage.

“The gap between us and our opponents is larger than you realize.”

“…”

“Even accounting for the talent they’ve unearthed through this lesson, they’ll have grown considerably stronger.”

“…”

“The same is true for us, of course, but even looking at the other swordsmanship students, we’re at a distinct disadvantage.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t you agree? Bailin.”

“Yes…?!”

Bailin, who had been guarding the ramparts with little presence, widened his eyes in surprise at Malik’s call and nodded quickly.

Riccardo and Malik were the first to not forget he existed.

Of course.

*-Please, keep an eye on a student named Bailin when I’m gone.*

– Who is that?

…

Though Malik knew it was Hanna, likely at Ricardo’s behest.

Malik understood.

That if he faced Hanna now, he would lose.

In a short span, the gap had widened.

Hanna had ample time to grow, receiving separate swordsmanship lessons from Ricardo, while he himself had spent too long without a blade in hand.

Therefore.

“We’ll wear them down.”

Malik would employ the strategy he knew best, slowly whittling away at the enemy forces.

The operation’s codename:

[Operation Green Tide Sweep.]

Of course, it was a name concocted by Schuen.

*

Two days later.

Malik stood on the ramparts, biting his lip and exhaling a sigh.

“They’ve lasted longer than I expected.”

He could feel the killing intent of the siege team drawing ever closer.