Chapter 15: Phantom's Last Stand
"Phantom, put on the mask and reveal yourself."
"On it."
Phantom donned his silver mask and stepped into the open, immediately launching a barrage of fireballs. The students' mana had long been depleted, and no one else had the energy to keep fighting. Only Phantom continued firing spell after spell, unrelenting.
More and more higher-tier orcs started to appear. The warrior-type ones weren't too much of a problem, but the orc mages and orc archers? Those were the real threats. A ranged battle was inevitable, and Phantom knew they'd be tough opponents.
"Damn it, how many are there?" he muttered as the number of orcs kept rising.
Even Phantom's infinite artillery strategy was starting to hit its limit.
"Hey, isn't that the Phantom? The one who stopped the last orc stampede?"
"What's a guy like that doing here?"
"Whatever the reason, we're saved!"
"Don't relax yet. This isn't over."
Rumors about Phantom spread quickly, but revealing his Death Magic here was risky. He gritted his teeth. Where the hell was the kingdom's army? They were close to the capital, yet the patrols were nowhere in sight.
Phantom still had some energy to spare, enough to store orc corpses with his Storage Magic, but even he had his limits. At most, he had ten minutes left before he'd be completely overwhelmed. The number of orcs was increasing at an alarming rate.
"No way I'm dying here!" a familiar voice shouted.
It was Plink, running with his group in tow. Phantom watched as a portion of the orcs broke off to pursue them, diverting half the horde away from the camp.
"Nice one, Plink," Phantom thought with a smirk. "If you're gonna die, at least take that orc army down with you."
With the pressure slightly relieved, his ten-minute limit stretched to thirty. But the orcs kept coming. By now, there had to be over two thousand of them.
Suddenly, an arrow pierced Phantom's forehead.
"Wha—" But Phantom was gone, vanished into thin air.
It was Concealment Magic. He had left behind his shattered mask and the arrow, hiding his face from anyone who might try to identify him. Yet, even in hiding, Phantom knew his limit was approaching.
When it came down to a choice between exposing his Death Magic or saving his life, the decision was clear—his life came first. If the world found out about his forbidden power, the attention would only bring trouble.
"Screw it," Phantom sighed, his decision made. "Death Magic: Death Tornado!"
He unleashed the Death Domain, a vortex of high-density mana swirling before him, rapidly forming a tornado. Anyone watching through mana sensors would see the terrifying cyclone, fed directly by Phantom's own circulating mana.
After his mana had been depleted for so long, he had finally reached the point where he could use such devastating magic. The tornado raged forward, devouring the orc horde as it tore through the battlefield. The orcs caught in the cyclone stood no chance, each one swallowed up by the roaring death storm.
The road became paved with orc corpses.
Phantom started walking again, slowly, as the tornado advanced ahead of him. He continued to store the fallen orcs with his Storage Magic, methodically clearing the path.
The Death Tornado raged two hundred meters ahead, far enough to stay out of range of the orc archers' arrows. With his Fluid Grasp active, dodging their shots was no problem.
At this point, it was just a matter of simple repetition. Maintaining the spell, moving forward, storing corpses—it was all mechanical now.
The students started to whisper among themselves.
"Check your mana sensors. You have to see this."
"What the... there's a giant magic tornado! What is that?"
"It looks like it's connected to Ride somehow!"
"Ride is ranked number one for a reason."
"Idiot, this isn't just a school-level spell. This is the kind of power that could take down a nation!"
He had been discovered. But Phantom knew it was only a matter of time.
"Ride, what you've done is unacceptable!" a voice called out.
It was Samantha, one of the academy's instructors, arriving at the worst possible time.
"I'm a little busy here," Phantom—Ride—replied, not bothering to stop his magic.
"You've still got time to talk, don't you? And you're still storing all these orc bodies," Samantha pointed out.
"Ugh, why does nothing ever go smoothly? Who do I have to curse for this nonsense?"
"Relax," she said, stepping closer. "You didn't want this power to be known, right?"
"Yeah, that's the problem."
"I'll help protect you from all the noise—the authorities, the nobles, all of it. As long as you're here at the academy, I'll make sure you're safe."
"I won't expect much, but... fine. Thanks."
"Just leave it to me."
Maybe while he was at the academy, things wouldn't be so bad. Then again, being dragged into some war wasn't entirely off the table either.
"No way I'm getting a normal student life now," Ride muttered.
"So, what exactly is that tornado spell?" Samantha asked.
"It's called Death Tornado. It's a unique spell, made using Death Magic."
"Death Magic alone is legendary, but a higher-tier original spell too? Impressive."
Ride shook his head. "Seems like the orcs are coming from over there."
The trees were flattened, revealing a path deeper into the forest. Could there really be an orc kingdom nearby? How had it gone undiscovered for so long? The previous orc stampede must have been a sign.
Following the path led them to a cave.
"This must be a dungeon," Ride said. "It looks like the stampede is over. From here, adventurers will take care of the orcs regularly, preventing future stampedes."
"Don't you want to check out the dungeon core?" Samantha asked, grinning.
"I do. Absolutely," Ride replied. "And if I donate it to the academy for research, what'll you give me in return?"
"Anything you want!" she said enthusiastically.
"Well then, let's get to it."
The stampede mission had turned into a dungeon raid, and with his Death Magic fully unleashed, Ride was ready to clear it with ease.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone