Chapter 312 - Fire and Blood in the Dungeon
Beatrix:
I was responsible for staying with the students on this floor. I was at the main camp, surrounded by numerous tents. Most of the students had set up their camps close to mine. My campsite had several structures, from tents to stone and wooden cabins. It was practically a small village, offering everything they might need. I even offered the students rooms to sleep in if they didn't want to set up their own tents. After all, they would be camping for days, and a real bed down here wasn't a bad deal.
Most of them chose to camp instead, too excited by the idea of adventure to settle for comfort.
"I've been that age too," I murmured as I dried my hair. I had a somewhat complicated relationship with my family, but in the past, I had also studied at this very academy.
I belonged to a count's family, specifically the secondary branch. I was supposed to replace my father and train the other elven soldiers in the part of the army he managed. But since the last war, I felt my teaching talents would be better used somewhere I could train as many people as possible. At the Apsalon Academy, I could constantly teach students from all kingdoms. I doubt my old man appreciated his daughter running away from her responsibilities… It had been years since I last returned home. In fact, it had been ten years since I set foot in the elven kingdom… I felt like I had failed my duty.
At least here, I had the chance to teach a member of the Rhiannon royal family—something my old man could never achieve, I thought, chuckling.
I sat on my bed, ready to sleep, but something made me jump to my feet. I leapt up, grabbed my sword, and faced the walls of my room.
"What was that?" I asked, holding my sword tightly.
Something had passed through the air. An overwhelming, suffocating presence that set my entire body on high alert, but then it vanished.
I heard screams outside and rushed to the window. As soon as I opened it, the sight before me left me stunned. Everything was on fire. Parts of the forest were ablaze. Students were screaming and running, while others were being attacked by monstrous dog-like creatures. I was in shock.
"How?" I murmured. "How did I not hear this happening!?" I yelled and then jumped out of the window.
As soon as I hit the ground, I noticed several men in black robes surrounding my small building. They were pointing their hands toward me, and I realized what they were doing.
"Wind barrier…" I muttered.
Those bastards had acoustically isolated me. No strange sounds were getting through.
This is absurd! I had been hearing the trees, the wind, even the animals! How did this happen? They must have filtered the sound—something that would require an absurd level of mana control over the wind element.
"She's out of the house!" one of them shouted, and the others started running away.
I hesitated. Should I chase them down or help the students?
"Damn it!" I cursed, letting them go.
I ran to a student being dragged by one of the monstrous dogs.
I spun my sword and sent a blade of wind toward the creature.
Around me, chaos reigned. Students screamed, casting spells as they ran.
"What is happening!?" I asked, helping the student to his feet.
"Professor!" he cried in desperation. "They wouldn't let us get close! They wouldn't let us ask for your help!"
I looked at the trees around us and realized the entire forest was crawling with these monstrosities. I had no idea where to start giving orders—the students were completely out of sync, and some were in real danger.
There were a few teachers in the distance with other students, but they were mostly theory instructors—not particularly skilled in combat. I realized I needed to take control of the situation.
"Battle formation!" I shouted. "Line up in groups of five! Protect the healer mages! Help the wounded and form a defensive line at a fixed point. Cover each other's blind spots! Regroup!" I ran through the chaos, issuing orders and helping them organize.
Some students were already in groups of five, fighting to hold the line.
I rushed toward an enemy—a tall creature, at least three meters high, with green skin. Its muscular body was covered in scars, and tusks protruded from its boar-like mouth. I drew my sword and attacked. It blocked with surprising precision and displayed immense strength.
"AAARGH!" it roared at me.
"What in the world are you?" I asked. This thing was definitely not human.
I sidestepped, enveloping my sword with wind mana. I struck, sending a blade of wind that knocked it back. I dashed forward, driving my sword into its neck and stomping its head into the ground with wind-enhanced force. The monster lay dead.
"Professor!" Princess Rose called out as she approached with other students. Her arm was injured, but she still held her sword firmly. "I'm organizing as many people as I can. I don't know what's going on—everything turned into chaos."
I looked at the students.
"All of you, focus on staying together and helping the other students," I instructed, then started walking toward the forest. I needed to find those mages who had isolated me in a sound barrier.
"Maintain your positions!" Rose commanded. "Let's go!"
I could trust them. They already had advanced training in war and combat.
I began sprinting toward the forest, cutting down creatures along the way. With my sword, I unleashed blades of wind, assisting students as I ran.
I pushed forward, reaching the front lines where I saw more monsters emerging from the forest through the trees. I pulled my scythe from my storage bracelet, spinning it rapidly above my head.
"Grrr!" one of the monsters growled.
"Wind Art: Cyclone of Cutting Blades," I murmured, completing the spin toward a section of the forest. A massive gust of wind shot forward like a blade. Suddenly, the sound of flesh being torn filled the air. Creatures were sliced apart and exploded, trees were obliterated, and even the ground bore deep scars from the spell.
BAM! The crash of trees falling and debris flying in the wind echoed, leaving nothing but silence. Before me, all the enemies had been annihilated.
"It's been a while since I let you have some fun," I said to my scythe. "I just wish it weren't in a situation like this…"
I focused. Now that I had cleared the threats near the students, I needed to find the hidden enemy mages. I stood still, concentrating all my hearing, using my wind power as a transmitter. I allowed sound waves to travel through the air while emitting my own vibrations—an invisible web of wind.
I needed to detect the vibrations that reverberated, isolating voices, footsteps, and screams. I had to pinpoint the enemy mages.
"Kill more students! We need to make everything a mess! Lady Sindra is already here," a voice echoed through my sensory web.
Suddenly, I felt it—a heavy sensation in the air, coming from the forest and heading toward the camp. Instinctively, I knew I couldn't let any students get close to that presence. It would annihilate them.
Edmund Valemont:
"We're almost there, you idiot," I muttered to Viktor. He was leaning on me as I helped him walk. Blood seeped from a nasty wound he'd gotten from one of those creatures.
"You always looked down on combat mages, but look at you now. You got a terrible injury because you don't have natural mana armor," I continued as he struggled to stay conscious.
"Shut up..." he murmured, breathing heavily. "At least I'm not as useless as that guy," he added, nodding toward Frederick Wolves, who had a severe wound on his abdomen. The boy was too pale, slung over the back of one of the twins.
"You weren't the ones who were supposed to save me... it was supposed to be the other way around," he mumbled, barely conscious.
"Stay quiet, idiot!" snapped the twin carrying him. "We're almost at a safe place."
Viktor and I were the only ones who still had a healing potion. But the idiot had let his storage bracelet break, losing everything when he fell among those monsters. I had no choice but to use my potion on Frederick's wound, or he would have died right there. Given the severity of his injury, he could barely swallow the potion before passing out.
Ahead of the group, one of the twins swung her axe, fending off the creatures chasing us. These monsters were grotesque hybrids of dogs and wolves. The most dangerous, however, were the orcs, but Viktor had conjured a large wave, pushing them back and buying us time to escape.
"There!" I shouted, pointing to a clearer path.
Viktor raised his hand, launching fireballs that exploded against the monsters, clearing a way forward.
"More of those humanoids," one of the twins muttered.
I extended my hand, conjuring spikes from the ground that impaled the creatures. They howled, breaking the stakes with their axes and, in some cases, with their bare fists. Some died, pierced by the stone lances, but others kept advancing.
"Keep burning them!" I commanded, and they resumed raining fire on the creatures.
We were racing toward the main camp, trying to reach the other students and the elevator that would take us back to the surface.
"This is the show!" A voice, amplified by wind magic, echoed through the forest. "Dear students, you are the future soldiers of these kingdoms. Now you're getting a taste of what it's like to be on a battlefield!"
"That guy is annoying," one of the twins grumbled.
All around us, students were running, fighting off the creatures.
"What the hell is that?" Viktor pointed at a huge, bloated monster that, right before our eyes, swallowed a student whole.
Without hesitation, he cast a spell. A cloud of scalding vapor enveloped the beast, and it began to scream as it was cooked alive.
I stomped my foot on the ground, activating my magic. "Earth Art: Stone Warrior's Hands!"
Two giant hands burst from the earth, grabbing the creature and pinning it down while the steam did its work.
"We need to help that student!" I shouted to the twins.
"She's already dead!" they replied without hesitation. "Do you think anyone survives being cut in half?"
I gritted my teeth, but they were right. There was nothing more we could do.
We kept running as explosions echoed around us. Creatures charged at the students, who fought back as best they could.
"Shit..." I murmured as I saw more orcs emerging from the forest. They were armed with bows, launching flaming arrows into the sky. The arrows rained down on the students, spreading chaos as fire engulfed the camp.
In the middle of the camp, elven healers and human mages struggled to save the wounded. I saw a squad of elves touching the ground, conjuring roots that grew at an incredible speed, forming barriers and pushing into the forest, aiming for the enemy archers.
Wooden pillars rose everywhere, branches extending from them like spears, thrusting toward the attackers.
The elves, in perfect synchrony, leapt between the branches with agility, maintaining their balance. Some climbed to the very top, using the wooden columns as strategic lookout points. From up there, they began to shoot arrows toward the forest. Explosions of fire, wind, and water erupted, and suddenly, the hidden enemies among the trees were thrown into the air. With flawless coordination, the elves dismantled the attempted surprise attack.
"Search for Princess Syvis and Saint Tiffania!" they shouted while scanning the area with their eyes.
Upon reaching the spot where the students were gathered, I quickly informed one of the elf leaders on the ground:
"They are with a group of students in a tunnel further north, near the forest."
The elves exchanged glances and began to descend from the columns.
The twins, who had helped me bring Viktor and Frederick, were preparing to leave.
"Where are you going?" I asked, following them with my gaze.
"We did you a favor by helping you get here. Now we're going to help Lord Nathan, Lady Chloe, and Kinue," they responded as they ran off.
The elves started to divide into squads. Some organized themselves to continue defending the area, while the rest prepared to advance against the enemies.
"Wait!" Princess Rose's voice rose above the chaos as she appeared among us. "We need as many people as possible here. You're assisting in defense while we're focusing on the attack!"
One of the elves stopped and stared at her before responding.
"Our priority will always be the royal family. We established this safe point for the princess, and we are trying to find her. Some of us will stay here, but others will continue the search," he said before running off with his group.
"Fuck!" Princess Rose spat.
Some people were surprised to hear royalty curse, but she didn't seem to care.
"Keep following the strategy!" she ordered, her voice firm. "You all, keep attacking!" she shouted to the human soldiers.
I continued carrying Viktor, who, despite being injured, seemed eager to argue.
"Leave me here, idiot. I'm a shooter mage. You're the combat mage, so you're the one who needs to be on the front lines risking your neck," he said, laughing. "But be careful, moron."
"Thank you for your lovely words, my dear lady," I replied, helping him sit on the ground before stepping away.
"Hey!" he called out to me, his tone more serious. "Aren't you friends with that wolf girl? Go help her, wherever she is."
For a moment, I remembered. Thyra was nearby in the forest, but amidst the panic, the rush, and the battles, I couldn't focus on anything but reaching a safe place.
"She has her beast form... she should be fine," I muttered to myself, but doubt lingered.
I walked over to Princess Rose, who was organizing the students while different groups spread across the battlefield. In every corner of the small village, soldiers and students fought to contain the threats emerging from the forest.
"Princess Rose," I called out, approaching her.
The knights guarding her raised their swords toward me, but she lifted her hand, stopping them.
"It's alright," she said, and the guards stepped back.
"What is happening? How did these things get in here? None of these creatures belong to the dungeon, and even if they did, they shouldn't be on the safest floor," I asked, still trying to understand the situation.
The princess looked around as if searching for an answer. Before she could speak, a massive stone fell from the sky.
The crash echoed throughout the camp as the rock collided with one of the wooden cabins. We were thrown to the ground by the force of the impact. The wind magic barriers that protected the area couldn't withstand the violence of the fall and dissipated into the air.
"Damn..." I muttered, struggling to get back on my feet.
The moment I stood up, more orcs emerged from the forest. They carried logs and chunks of stone, hurling them in our direction. Others wielded bows, axes, and metal shields, blocking the spells aimed at stopping them.
I saw students being captured while others tried to flee. In every direction, more of those creatures emerged from the shadows of the trees, advancing toward us.
We were completely surrounded.
William Halldam:
The chaos had begun. Everything was unfolding according to the Great Lord's plan. I was so close to solidifying my place on the right side. They had already come. Those who needed to arrive had managed it. I saw him up close. Once again, I caught a glimpse of the Great Lord's realm.
The power of the person who came here was something never seen before.
I walked through the forests amidst the chaos. The blood running through my veins made the orcs respect me. They recognized me as one of the Great Lord's servants. No harm came to me. I merely watched from afar, observing the events, the chaos unfolding.
I needed to wait for the right moment to fulfill what had been entrusted to me.
I had to kill that person.
"If I kill this person, the Great Lord will be pleased."