章 212: Festival Night (9)
Vikir. The Night Hound stood before his prey.
Moments ago, Vikir had been cooking in the kitchen when a familiar sensation caused him to throw down the wok and run out of the bar.
This was no time to be stir-frying potatoes, judging by the fierce shivering of the Demon Sword Beelzebub lurking in his arteries.
'Is this aura...?'
The smell of the demon. How can I forget the hateful scent of blood?
From the looks of it, the entity that invaded the academy was the Corpse Queen.
I had fought her once before in the ruins of House Indulgentia.
It is unknown why she is inside the academy, or for what purpose she has entered the chaos of the festival.
But it was a crisis, and it was certainly an opportunity.
'Take this opportunity to eliminate one of them once and for all.'
But you want to make sure that as few people as possible get caught in the crossfire.
Especially if it's a classmate you care about.
"Back off. Unless you want to die."
Vikir warned briefly from beneath his Night Hound mask.
"...!"
"...!"
Bianca and Sinclair shuddered slightly at the words.
This was the first time they'd ever seen the Night Hound in person. Nor have they ever heard its voice.
For Bianca and Sinclair, who have only ever read about the Night Hound in newspapers, he's just another villain.
So Vikir purposely spoke in a cold voice without a single ounce of warmth, filled with mana, so that Bianca and Sinclair would be terrified simply by hearing the warning.
"Is that really the Night Hound? I've never heard such a horrible voice in my life."
"I'm sure the face behind the mask is just as terrifying as that voice!"
But Dolores had a different reaction.
"... Guys, let's stay back."
She knows the Night Hound.
That his inner self is sublime and holy, and that he is the only one who can stand up to the demon at this point.
At the same time, Dolores sent some of her juniors to inform the professors of the current situation.
'We cannot summon too many professors, or even the Night Hound will be in danger.'
We need a saving grace, someone who can calm things down a bit.
One or two academy professors would be just the right number.
Dolores adjusted the power of the Salvation Army while simultaneously radiating divine power to control the undead around her.
Next. The Night Hound and the Corpse Queen faced off once more.
Vikir murmured low.
"This time, I won't miss."
But the corpse queen's reaction was slightly different.
[Take it off.]
...?
Vikir shook his head, and the corpse queen made herself clear once more.
[Take off your mask. Reveal your face].
The corpse queen makes strange demands out of nowhere, but there is no reason for Vikir to comply.
"Die."
Vikir draws his black bow, Anubis.
Boom!
Five trajectories of Balak's archery tear the atmosphere into pieces.
Seeing this, the Corpse Queen's aura exploded.
Thud!
The skeleton soldiers rose up and formed a wall to block the arrows, followed by a vague inferno as a topping.
…Pow!
Vikir quickly stepped back.
A fireball fell from the spot where he had just stood, engulfing everything in its path.
Meanwhile. Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, who had watched the Night Hound and the Corpse Queen clash, each said something.
"Is this villain versus villain?"
"I don't know what these villains are fighting about, but it would be perfect if they both died."
"We need to get the professors!"
"This is one of those moments when the phrase 'Stop poisoning by poison', and 'fight against one another'."
"Let's get out of the way, we might end up in a whale fight...."
The Night Hounds are an Evil defined by the Empire that must be eradicated.
Black mages outside of the Empire's control are also dangerous, and their power and harm are not far behind the Night Hounds.
Therefore, everyone who could see the situation wanted the Night Hound and the Corpse Queen to be exterminated here and now.
...only one. Except for Dolores, who knew what was going on.
'Please don't get hurt.'
She was cheering on the Night Hound with a piteous expression.
A pilgrim on a path of sacrifice and hardship. A great being who sacrifices for the sake of all, yet never shows any sign of regret.
I can't help but cast a pitying glance at him, who must be bearing all the blood, wounds, and pain alone at this very moment.
[....]
And the corpse queen, noticing the same gaze from Dolores, became even more uncomfortable.
[...Soul mate? You're kidding!]
A veil of pitch-black fire formed around her, and sharp iron skewers began to protrude from it.
[Remove your mask and reveal your identity, Night Hound!]
It's the corpse queen, still obsessed with the face in the mask from earlier.
But.
"Death to the demon."
Vikir doesn't answer, only sending arrows flying.
The corpse queen's fire grows hotter and hotter as she continues to make demands.
[...Really? You don't have any intention of speaking, do you?]
She momentarily sidetracks the dead soldiers' advance.
[Then I will force you to speak].
Suddenly, the hordes of skeletons change direction and spread out.
Intent on inflicting AoE damage on an unspecified number of people.
The first targets were the crowd near the bar: Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, among others.
"Ouch! They're coming this way! We'll stop them!"
"We can't let the civilians get hurt!"
"Ooh, do you think we can stop it from our line?"
"We have to try!"
"We have to hold on!"
This is where my experience with midterms at the Academy comes in handy.
Defense Test. A defense against an onslaught of monsters.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair had already been through this before and were able to hold off the skeleton soldiers.
But practice isn't the same as the real thing.
The students were overwhelmed by the momentum of the creatures as they clung to them, baring their teeth and nails.
"Ouch! We're breached!"
"We're in danger!"
"Hey, is there anyone who can help! I'm pierced!"
"We're breached too!"
"W, wrong, there's no way we can do this!"
Even if you're in the mood for a party, you can't help but notice what's going on at this point.
Slowly, the crowd at the very back of the concert began to realize what was happening.
The dead, with their unconditional hatred of the living, descend upon the students.
Catastrophe was inevitable.
...then.
Quack, quack, quack!
The storm raged, sweeping away the skeletons in its wake.
A black cloak fluttered before the eyes of the exhausted students.
"Professor!"
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair shouted together, their faces flushed with color.
The man who had reduced countless skeleton soldiers to bone dust with a single blow.
It was Professor Morg Banshee.
"What the hell is going on here, why are there undead on campus...?"
It didn't take him long to realize what was happening.
This was a crisis of the first order.
Wake-up call.
The skeleton soldiers are on the move, targeting students and spectators at the academy.
But not a single one of them managed to break through Professor Banshee's defenses.
"You will not be able to harm my students by a hair's breadth."
Professor Banshee stood in the way of his students with his usual stern and sarcastic demeanor.
Whoosh!
Hellfire and iron skewers flew, but Professor Banshee blocked them all with a wall of wind and ice.
Woohoo!
But even Professor Banshee's storm windows and ice walls couldn't completely block the Corpse Queen's attack.
Taking advantage of Professor Banshee's distraction, the Legion of the Dead broke ranks and attempted to cross over to the concert hall beyond the bar.
"...Professor Sady!"
Professor Banshee opened his mouth to call out, but a high-pitched chuckle came from the other side.
"Ho ho ho – I told you not to call me by my first name, grim old man."
A stalk of whip flew out like a snake, crushing the skeleton soldiers on the other side.
Thud!
Kill Hill's heel pierced the crown of a skeleton rolling across the floor.
Then, a tall, slender woman in killer heels, Professor Sady, appeared.
Puff, puff, puff!
The whip she wielded devastated a radius of several dozen meters, sweeping the dead away like garbage.
Professor Banshee glared at Sady in an annoyed tone.
"How unlucky for you to be on duty at a festival."
"I don't care who's on call, it's ridiculous."
But aside from her work attitude, Sady's skills are the real deal.
She quickly subdues every single one of the dead who make their way toward the crowd.
Professor Banshee, meanwhile, had multicast several great spells of fire, ice, and earth and was aiming for the back of the bar.
"The other professors who were contacted should be here soon, and it's time to hunt down the bad guys."
Professor Banshee was confident of victory.
As the Night Hound and the Corpse Queen bared their teeth at each other, he was ready to ambush them.
But beside him, Professor Sady had no answer.
"...."
She just glances around, her unreadable eyes scanning the area for any sign of backup.
Just then.
…Kurrrr!
A strange phenomenon was detected.
A black curtain suddenly descended around them.
A shield made of an unknown, eerie aura, dark mana, descended like a curtain marking the end of the stage.
The curtain was composed of a demonic energy so powerful and strange that even Professor Banshee, who was well versed in magic, had never seen it before.
"…..Barrier?"
Professor Banshee hurriedly cast a series of spells that had been created.
"Hohoho-what is this? Is it a barrier? Who hit it?"
Professor Sady cracked his whip, but couldn't pierce the black curtain.
Soon, the barrier disappeared in an instant, hiding its presence.
" ... It didn't run away, it's still in this space. We just can't see it."
Professor Banshee scanned his surroundings with a sharp gaze.
The Night Hound and the Corpse Queen, who had disappeared into the subspace of the barrier, were still out there somewhere.
Knowing that, both Professor Banshee and Sady remained alert and on guard.
... But they did not know it.
/ Ring
-Finit hic Deus -On
-Finit hic Deus, the realm of God ends here.
This ring is the product of the power of Andromalius, one of the Ten, and it is the most powerful ring of all, so powerful that anyone but a monster or a child under the age of 8 cannot even look into it.
...And.
"You will die here."
In a subspace void that no one can peek into.
The Night Hound and the Corpse Queen were about to begin their fight, once again alone.
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