A mont earlier...
BZZZSSH—!
Raven ran with everything he had toward the hotel, his entire body cutting through the night air like a sharpened blade. Lightning sparks burst around him, scattering in all directions, and violent winds coiled behind each of his steps, tearing fallen leaves and dust upward as he pushed his body even harder.
And in just a few seconds—
TAP-
He reached it.
The hotel.
"..."
Raven ca to a sudden stop outside the building. His eyes slowly scanned the sight in front of him. The once-normal hotel was now burning in several spots, thick smoke spilling out from cracked walls. The windows were shattered or fractured with spiderweb-like lines, so barely hanging onto their fras.
The air was filled with the sound of panicked voices.
He looked around and saw people everywhere— students and academy staff who happened to be outside the facility when the explosion went off... citizens who rushed here after hearing the blast... heroes who arrived to evaluate the situation.
Fear.
Confusion.
Frustration.
All sorts of emotions twisted onto their faces.
But Raven ignored all of them.
Every single one.
He turned his eyes back to the hotel.
Then, at that mont—
-’What’s that?!’
Levina’s voice echoed in his head, full of confusion and alarm.
And Raven understood why.
Surrounding the entire hotel... Was a massive barrier.
It encased the entire structure like a translucent shell, faintly blueish, shimring softly under the flickering lights and flas.
And also...
BAM!
BOOM!
TINK—!
The barrier shook from the repeated attacks from outside, but it didn’t even seem close to breaking.
"What the hell is this? I can’t make a dent on it!"
"We need soone with stronger firepower, and we need them fast!"
Raven heard the frustrated shouts from one of the heroes trying to break through.
He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the transparent wall. The barrier pulsed faintly as if mocking anyone who tried to damage it.
’It’s a mana shield produced by a strong artifact. Every attack from anyone with firepower under [S-] rank will be neutralized.’
Raven stated in his mind, analyzing it instantly.
He rembered this.
After all, he wrote this himself.
This barrier existed in the original storyline— a device he designed to trap the freshn and so tertiaries inside for plot reasons. It prevented reinforcents from entering until much later.
The one who broke the barrier in the novel was Kendy.
He had been supervising sophomores outside the human domain when the explosion happened. Because of that, he didn’t notice the incident imdiately.
But the mont soone notified him of the attack, he rushed back with the other professors.
It only took him around a minute to reach the hotel and shatter the barrier. The mont it broke, heroes who couldn’t enter before and the professors imdiately flooded in, handling the terrorists.
The situation was resolved soon after.
However...
By the ti that happened— more than half an hour had passed since the initial attack.
And in that span of ti...
Countless students had already died.
"Tsk."
Raven clicked his tongue in frustration. The unpleasant mory of that part of the story resurfaced.
But unlike the original version—
The ones trapped inside weren’t the freshn and tertiaries.
This ti...
It was the sophomores.
They were fewer in numbers, so they’ll have more trouble holding up against the terrorists.
And just like in the story—
’Kendy isn’t here yet. aning he doesn’t know about the explosion yet.’
Raven thought rapidly, his mind speeding ahead, calculating everything.
Then—
’Ruby can break the barrier as well. She’s inside the hotel!’
He realized sothing crucial.
And at the sa ti—
His thoughts snapped to another important detail.
Yuki was with Keara and Ruby.
"..."
Raven forced himself to calm down. His breathing slowed. His heartbeat steadied.
Then he closed his eyes—
And connected to Yuki’s vision.
...
...
...
Inside the hotel, Yuki was sitting still, her tiny body trembling slightly. She felt scared.
But more than anything... she felt useless.
She could see Ruby fighting alone— relentlessly trying to protect everyone.
And every ti Ruby blocked another round of attacks...
Yuki felt more frustrated that she couldn’t do anything.
She wanted to help.
She wanted to contribute.
She wanted to make things less overwhelming for Ruby.
But she had nothing to offer.
But then—
-Kyu?
She felt sothing.
Sothing familiar.
-Kyu!
Yuki realized instantly— Raven had connected to her. He was watching everything through her eyes. He could see what was happening.
And so—
SWISH~
Yuki flew out from the hiding spot and landed right on top of Ruby’s head.
She didn’t hesitate.
She wanted Raven to see everything clearly.
She wanted him to understand how dire the situation was.
This was the only thing she could do.
And she knew Raven would understand her feelings.
He always did.
So with all her desperation, all her fear, all her frustration—
’Papa, help us!’
She scread that inside her head.
And that was all she needed to do.
...
...
...
"..."
Raven’s eyes snapped open.
He saw it.
He saw everything.
He understood why Ruby still hadn’t attempted to break the barrier.
He understood how dangerous the situation was inside.
He clearly heard Yuki’s desperate plea.
He saw Keara’s face— full of fear and worry.
[Thought Acceleration] and [Understanding] triggered automatically, responding to Raven’s swelling rage and panic.
In total— only a few seconds had passed since he arrived.
’I can’t wait for Sir Kendy. Every second I waste puts everyone inside at even greater risk. If I hesitate, people will die.’
His thoughts were sharp and cold.
His face stayed calm— too calm.
But his aura rose violently, like a storm about to break.
TAP-
At that mont, Alec and the others caught up to him.
"Raven!"
Alec called out his na.
"..."
Raven slowly turned to face them. He didn’t answer imdiately.
His eyes reflected the burning hotel.
But after a few seconds passed—
"I’m going to destroy this barrier. Get ready to rush inside."
He declared that without hesitation.
"..."
Silence washed over Alec and the others.
Their expressions tightened. They already understood the situation.
They had seen heroes trying and failing to damage the barrier on their way here. The fact that Raven was claiming he could break it—
It should’ve sounded absurd.
But instead—
"Got it." - Eve
They believed him.
Alec, Blake, Curtis, Eve, Adelle, and Aoi drew their weapons and stepped back to give him space.
Raven turned back toward the barrier.
He inhaled deeply once, then—
"I’m sorry, Levina. We might have a bit of trouble after this."
He muttered that under his breath.
-Hah! Like that will bother us!
FWISH~
Levina shot out from his jacket, floating beside him with unwavering confidence.
Raven smiled slightly at his response.
"...?"
On the other hand, Alec and the others blinked, confused for a mont.
But then their confusion turned into shock— Levina’s aura skyrocketed, rising higher and higher.
And soon—
SWOOSH~
Her [A ] rank mana burst from her tiny body, flooding the area with overwhelming pressure.
Everyone in the vicinity turned to look.
Everyone felt the weight of her presence.
But Raven and Levina ignored all of them.
Instead—
BZZZZZZTTT—!!!
Mana, crackling with electricity, surged wildly around the two.
It wrapped around them like furious serpents— dangerous, violent, overwhelming.
’Heroes can attack all they want or combine them even. The barrier will register each strike individually. It will neutralize everything.’
Raven stated in his head.
’But Levina is different. She’s my contracted spirit.’
"Her attacks count as mine."
He whispered that under his breath.
S W O O O O O O S H—!!!
[Emperor’s Aura] flared out without any command, reacting to Raven’s emotions. A shiver ran through the bodies of everyone nearby.
BZZT-!
Electricity roared louder in his body.
FWIP-
Raven and Levina raised their hands at the sa ti.
Their voices overlapped perfectly—
"[Wrath of the Thunder God]"
-[Wrath of the Thunder God]
And then—
They brought their hands down.
ZIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG–!
A gigantic pillar of lightning descended from the magic circle materializing in the sky—
BOOOOOOOOM–!!!
Then the entire world turned white!
A deafening thunderclap exploded across the area.
For a brief mont, everything around the hotel disappeared in blinding light.
The last thing Alec and the others saw—
Was a colossal bolt of lightning striking the hotel.
*(This was the sa attack Levina used on Raven when they first t, before they ford a contract. Chapter 37)
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