He hadn't walked far before he ran head-on into a small group of Blood Moon Cultists. They were currently besieging a group of students hiding in a roadside utility room. Half the door had already been blown off, and the students inside were using their staves against the floor to barely maintain a flickering, precarious shield. The lead cultist had just raised his staff to deliver the final blow when a blade of fire flew in from the side, precisely slicing through his wrist. The staff fell to the ground along with the hand holding it; the cultist screamed, but before he could even collapse, a second fire blade followed, piercing through his chest.
Adrian withdrew his staff and scanned the remaining cultists in front of him.
“Clear them out.”
The soldiers behind him surged forward instantly. Before the remaining cultists could recover from the shock of their leader being killed in an instant, they were cut down. The group of students hiding in the utility room stared blankly outside. One of them, with tear stains still wet on their face, boldly poked their head out. Their eyes widened the moment they saw the royal crest on Adrian’s person.
“It’s His Highness the Second Prince!”
“The Second Prince has come to save us!”
The students scrambled out of the utility room, their legs still trembling, but their faces were alight with the excitement of having narrowly escaped death. Adrian nodded to them and instructed calmly, “If you still have the strength, follow us. If not, head to the northwest corner; there is an exit there, and people will be waiting to receive you.”
He continued forward as soon as he finished speaking. The students looked at each other; two who could still walk gritted their teeth and followed, while the others supported each other as they retreated toward the northwest.
Similar scenes were playing out all across the academy.
Toward the main entrance plaza, Tyris and his men arrived and immediately threw the cultists surrounding the Heroic Memorial into total disarray. The blood-soaked city guard captain propped himself up with his longsword, kneeling on one knee. When he looked up and saw the royal banners, his lips trembled for a long time before he could squeeze out the words: “Finally... you’ve finally come...” Tyris hauled the man up and handed him over to the soldiers behind for bandaging, then continued the advance with the vanguard.
The situation at the library was much the same. The teachers and students inside the magic barrier were at their limits. The few teachers maintaining the barrier were as pale as paper, with streaks of blood at the corners of their mouths. The Blood Moon Cultists waiting outside were about to launch a general assault when they were sent flying by a dense barrage of magic from behind. Fielding charged out of the smoke with the third elite team. Fire magic and wind blades intertwined into a harvesting net, clearing most of the cultists besieging the library in just a few minutes. A young girl inside the barrier burst into tears the moment she saw this.
More and more people joined Adrian’s ranks—teachers, upperclassmen, academy guards, and even many tourists who had come for the anniversary celebration picked up scattered weapons from the ground and followed. The two hundred men Adrian had brought in, combined with the teachers and students gathered along the way, soon exceeded three hundred, and the number continued to grow.
Adrian remained at the very front of the group, staff in hand, his face devoid of unnecessary expression. Occasionally, a cultist would attempt a flanking ambush, but he would raise his hand and resolve it with a clean, efficient spell, never lingering in battle or wasting time.
The eyes of those following behind him grew brighter and brighter. The royal family had come to save them; the Second Prince himself was leading the charge—this realization was etched into the heart of every person rescued. Someone began to shout, “Fight for the Second Prince!” The cry spread from within the ranks to the outside, growing louder and louder.
No one noticed that every time the Second Prince dealt with a cultist, he would cast an extremely brief glance at the surrounding buildings, his gaze lingering for a moment on walls whether they were collapsed or intact. He was confirming the positions of the mana nodes. One had already been taken by Hector’s men, and the other two were being cleared. Meanwhile, the people constantly joining along the way—teachers, students, guards, and tourists—had responded to the Second Prince’s call and were marching together.
But mana was still continuously draining; everyone felt it. Some began to feel their footsteps grow heavy and their breathing more hurried than usual, but it wasn't yet severe enough to affect their movements. In the short term, it was at most a bit of exhaustion that they could push through.
...
Near the Magic Item Display Hall, in a remote corner hidden by a collapsed pillar.
Setis leaned against a broken column. Her golden ponytail had come loose at some point, and several strands of hair clung to her sweat-dampened cheeks. Her breathing was much steadier than before, but the remaining mana in her body was less than ten percent of its usual amount. Her limbs were beginning to ache, a symptom of imminent mana depletion.
Beside her, Reinhardt leaned against another pillar, his left arm roughly secured across his chest with torn fabric. He looked terrible, his lips almost bloodless, but he managed to stay conscious.
Kyle and Olson lay side by side on the ground. Their breathing had returned to an even pace and both were awake, but their physical condition made it clear they couldn't move yet.
Kyle’s back had taken a heavy hit against a broken pillar, making it difficult for him to even roll over. Olson had suffered internal injuries from the impact of the blast that had knocked him out of the shadows; every time he coughed, blood flecked his lips.
Phil’s condition was the worst. She had been unconscious ever since being hit head-on by the Shadow Impact. She was still breathing but had not yet woken up, a water-soaked cloth resting on her forehead.
The other four lowerclassmen huddled in the corner. Though they were covered in bruises, their injuries were superficial, and they were mentally alert. One of the girls was carefully using a torn strip of cloth to wipe the dust from Phil’s face, her movements gentle for fear of hurting her.
Setis propped herself up with her staff and stood. After looking around, she decided they needed to find help. The nearest shelter was the Second Teaching Building; if she could find a few teachers or upperclassmen who could still fight, they could at least move the wounded there first.
Just as she was about to discuss her plan with her brother, a whistle echoed from the sky above the Magic Item Display Hall.
Immediately following that, a figure crashed down from mid-air.
The figure swept over the roof of the Magic Item Display Hall and smashed through a layer of pillar wreckage. As rubble and dust exploded, the person skidded and bounced twice across the ground before finally coming to a stop. The staff in their hand flew off into the distance. The grey robe they wore was covered in blood and dust; their left arm hung uselessly, and a wound on their back was still seeping blood.
But even with a face covered in blood, that long grey hair was enough for anyone to recognize the newcomer’s identity—Hogg.
Setis’s pupils shrank violently. The injuries on Hogg’s body made it impossible for her to associate him with a powerhouse of the Heroic Spirit rank.
Before she could react, two figures descended from the sky, landing not far in front of Hogg. Ignatius and another tall mage stood there, their robes slightly dusty but without any obvious injuries. Without a moment’s hesitation upon landing, Ignatius raised his staff. The wind mana at the tip condensed directly into three 【Wind Blades】, prepared to fire at Hogg, who had yet to stand up.
Setis’s body moved faster than her mind.
“【Fireball】!”
Lacking mana, Setis could only manage a single fireball. Although the fireball failed to cause any damage to the opponent, the angle of their magic was knocked off—two of the blades flew past Hogg’s body, while the third embedded itself into the stone tiles beside him, leaving a deep furrow.
Rate on N.U.
