Chapter 129 Necromancer [2]
The air was tense.
Feeling the necromancer's gaze, it felt as though I was on pins and needles. My skin crawled, and my legs felt like lead.
Breathing alone beca hard.
"Huff."
It felt as though a heavy truck was weighing down on our chest.
"Haa... Haaa..."
Thousands of eyes were locked onto us.
"Hiek—!"
A screech ca out of the necromancer's mouth. It was hard to see its features, covered beneath the cloak, but the necromancer wasn't tall. From where I stood, it appeared to be rather small in stature.
About that of a young teen...?
"Hiek—!" "Hiek—!"
Screeches continued to co out of its mouth. Their sound resembling that of a strangled beast.
"W-what the hell is it trying to say?"
"Is it even saying anything?"
The sounds were starting to get to the group.
.....And just as it screeched yet again, Professor Hollowe stopped in his tracks as his eyes narrowed.
"You've got to be shitting ."
His words ca as a wake-up call to . Staring in the direction of where he was looking, I saw it too.
"Ah."
Faint cracks around the space near the necromancer.
They hovered in the air, attached to the very fabric of space.
"Mirror Crack."
The words effortlessly ca out of my mouth.
It was one of the gates that led to the mirror dinsion.
"This..."
How did the Mirror Dinsion expand?
The Mirror Dinsion was a separate reality from the known world. However, its expansion and influence were real.
From within the cracks, monsters would erge. Like viruses, they would co out and reign their influence over the land near the Mirror Crack, slowly turning it into the sa environnt as within the Mirror Dinsion.
By killing all the monsters, one could contain the Mirror Crack and stop it from letting the monsters co out of it to expand their influence over the land.
A Mirror Crack needed constant surveillance since there was no way to close it.
In total, there were about twenty contained cracks within the Empire. One within the Academy, fifteen others with the Guild, and the rest with the grail family.
And now...
The twenty-first crack had appeared within the empire.
".....The situation is a lot more serious than anticipated. We will have to retreat for now."
This was Professor Hollowe's evaluation of the situation.
It was an evaluation that I could agree with.
"This isn't sothing that re cadets should be handling. We'll have to get Central to take care of this ma—"
His words were cut short by a distant shriek.
It ca from the necromancer.
Hieeek—!
Before I could even react, sothing flashed above us as Professor Hollowe rapidly spun and brought his hand up.
Clank—!
The surroundings shook.
"Hiek...!"
And the Professor groaned as he retreated several steps back.
A towering beast, resembling a wolf but twice its size, lood over us. Its massive fangs dripped with saliva, and its piercing black eyes bore into us, locking us in its fierce gaze.
Drip...! Drip!
The hair on the nape of my neck stood on edge.
"Careful! This is no ordinary monster."
The Professor's words ca out as a warning.
".....Rember when I said I might not be able to protect you?"
With both hands positioned in front of him in a fighting stance, he grimly stared at the monster.
"Now is that ti!"
Boom—!
His body shot forward like an arrow, appearing right before the creature in a flash.
"Everyone move back!"
At the sa ti as Aoife's shout, the Professor's fist clashed against the wolve's claw.
Bang!
The space around us shook.
"Uekh!"
"....Akh!"
Just the after-effect of the attack was enough to push us all back several ters.
"This, fuck..."
As everyone looked back, all eyes fell on the Professor who stood evenly with the beast.
"This is absurd..."
One of the cadets muttered, staring at the fight in the distance. Just from the mana pulses the two were emitting, the cadets could tell their strength.
It was for that reason that everyone was shocked.
"A terror rank?"
".....If that's the case, does that an Professor Hollow is at least Tier 5?"
Evelyn questioned, staring at the Professor in the distance.
"Wait, hold up."
And as if realization suddenly dawned on her, she rigidly turned to face the necromancer.
"Ah."
Evelyn covered her mouth.
"....This is ridiculous."
Hieeeekkk—!
A powerful shriek escaped the necromancer's mouth as it leaned in our direction.
"Ah...!"
"Move back quickly!"
"Damn it!"
Just as Aoife's shout ca, two shadows cast over the area we were in. The first one to react was Leon who pressed hard against the ground and slashed upwards.
Clank! Clank!
His attack was quickly followed by Aoife who raised both her hands in the air.
"Auakh!"
Her face paled significantly as two smaller wolves appeared above us.
"J-julien! Do sothing...!"
Even without her saying it, I was already on it.
Clenching my hand, eight threads burst out of my forearm and latched onto the wolves in the air. If there was a difference between these threads and the usual ones, it was that the purple glow was more prominent and darker.
"Hm..."
My face twitched slightly as threads moved forward.
'....It's nothing.'
But I brushed it off.
Awoooo!
The mont it latched onto the wolves, they howled as their bodies spasd.
"Fucking die...!"
This was quickly followed up by Kiera who brought her hands forward and flas engulfed the entire surroundings.
SHAAAH—!
"Haa... Haaa..."
Thump Thump!
Accompanying her heavy breathing, two black lumps dropped to the ground.
"T-that wasn't too hard."
Kiera managed to mutter amidst her heavy breath. I was just about to tell her to stop talking when another shriek echoed and several more shadows cast over the area around us.
"Uh...!"
I was the first one to react this ti.
As if my body acted on its own, I raised my hand up and shot the threads up. One, two, three, four... I pushed myself to the limit, with ten threads that covered the space around us.
But it wasn't enough.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
"Ugh...!"
I felt a sharp pain for every thread that snapped. The mana inside of my body started to drain rapidly, and before I knew it, I was on my knees.
Thum!
Drip! Drip...!
Sweat poured down from the side of my face.
"Ah, fuck..."
Although I had originally thought I was fit enough to fight, it beca clear just now that I was rely lying to myself.
I was nowhere near fit enough to fight at the mont.
"Huaaa!"
The fact that my vision was blurry and my chest was hurting was perfect proof of that.
"Oy, get up! What the hell are you doing?!"
I felt sothing grab onto my shoulder amidst my blurred vision. Red, white... It was sothing of that nature.
Kiera...?
"Fuck, what's wrong with you? Weren't you supposed to be the strongest her—Akh!"
A nearby growl told
that another monster was near us.
"I-i'm fine."
"Oy."
I pushed Kiera away and stood still.
Looking around, the world appeared blurry and the sounds were hardly reaching my ears.
"Haa... Haaa..."
The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own breathing.
"Huff."
It was getting rougher with each second that passed.
'Why is my body not responding?'
Regardless of what I tried, it seed as though my situation was getting worse. The pain also intensified, as if my insides were twisting together.
With each blink, my vision would alternate between clarity and blurriness.
Clank! Clank—!
"Ah...!"
From the wolves to the cadets. I could see the bitter struggle everyone was going through. Currently, I was the only one that was doing nothing.
I lowered my head to stare at my hand.
I tried to channel my mana, but all that did was twist my insides further.
"W-what..."
It was a despairing situation.
One that was further solidified by a loud shriek in the distance.
Hieek—!
It was the necromancer.
All stopped at that mont. Be it the cadets, or the wolves.
All eyes fell on the necromancer and the horde near it.
"....."
A strange silence enveloped the surroundings. One that was quickly broken by the sudden movent of the necromancer and its army as it started to move.
Grrooowl—!
Growls accompanied the necromancer's screech as the zombies ca alive.
Thump!
They stepped forward in unison, the ground shaking as a result.
Thump!
Then ca the next step.
Thump!
And then the next one.
The unified sound of their steps felt despairing as they drew nearer to us. And yet, despite the situation, I couldn't take my eyes away from the necromancer who stood at the center of it all.
Even as the zombies drew near, I fixed my gaze on the necromancer.
"Run...!"
"Retreat!"
Cadets ran past
at that mont, their faces pale with fear.
"Leave this! We can't fight this!"
The sa was true for the Professor who ran turned back and ran in the opposite direction. At the sa ti, he tried to contain the Terror Rank wolf who for so reason, remained still and didn't chase.
Rather, it was looking at...
"Oy! What are you doing...!"
"Julien!"
I was the only one that didn't run.
"What are you doing!"
"Run...!"
Thump!
The zombies drew nearer to .
I wasn't sure though. I wasn't looking at them. Blinking my eyes, I stared at the group of people in the distance.
They had only just noticed the fact that I was still standing where I was.
"Julien...!"
Their expressions.
They were a mix of surprise and worry.
Worry...?
"Ha."
I wanted to laugh then. What sort of nonsense.
Thump!
The tremors beca more apparent. I could feel the zombies a few ters away from . However, I wasn't scared.
"....."
The sound of their steps drowned out the noise around.
Soundlessly.
I stared into the distance.
Towards the other cadets and the Professor. They were all looking at , probably saying sothing, but it was hard to hear.
Not that it mattered.
The zombies.
They had surrounded
from all sides.
....It was too late for .
Reviews
All reviews (0)