CH 74

“There’s … a hundred of them!”

I swung my sword, and Norde, which had been split in half, dissipated. But there were still too many enemies to take a breather.

“Keeeeeee!!!!!”

“I won’t let you!”

I used my banishment skill [Hermes Dash] and accelerated at once to intercept a blow from Norde, who was about to attack the school building. And then the Norde tried to fly away from me, but I was not so naive as to let it get away with it.

“People can’t fly? Who decided that!”

I channelled all the impact from the attack into my legs with the [Orbit Reflector] and leapt over Norde’s head as it was about to fly away. I called out just before I entered free fall, leaving the Norde chopped up in half from the crotch.

“Tia!”

“Ara, I thought you said you didn’t need backup?”

“Don’t be stupid, people can’t fly!”

Who decided that people couldn’t fly? … That would be God or something like that. So, as a mere human, I couldn’t overrule that, but if it was an elf who claimed to be a spirit of beauty, it would be a different story.

“Ed is really Ed. Release, [Air Pressure]!”

With a wry smile on her face, Tia swung her silver sword and I felt a solid sensation under my feet. In spite of what she said, she was prepared for it, She really was a great partner.

I kicked the invisible foothold and dispatched three more Nordes flying in the air before landing on the ground. I could hear the cheers of the students behind me when they saw my acrobatic moves, so I turned my back and lightly waved my hand to them.

“Fufu~, you’re very popular.”

“I’m moving quite flashily. How’s it going over there?”

“I’m trying to conserve my mana because I don’t know what might happen, but so far it’s okay. Maybe they’re giving the blessings of the spirits to the land and the building to make them more durable.”

“I see. That’s a nice miscalculation.”

This could have seriously kept working for a week or so, but … Even if it were safe, there would be no peace of mind if a vicious magic beast was screaming to kill you right next to you.

“But I’m not going to neglect my targets on a defensive mission. Instead of rushing, let’s keep up this pace.” I said,

“Understood.”

Luggage never complains, but humans could easily break down from anxiety. Even if it may take a little longer, I should try to be careful here―!?

“…. What?”

I felt a vicious presence from the north that was so different from anything I had ever felt before. The Nordes in front of me seemed like mere winged insects, and I focused my attention on the north, kicking away the Nordes around me.

“Ugh, what’s this, it’s disgusting …”

“O-Oi Tia!?

Suddenly, Tia crouched down with her hand on her mouth. I rushed over to her and she turned her pale face to me.

“I’m fine. I was just a little surprised.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The spirits suddenly went berserk….. If I have to put it in a way that you can understand, it is like suddenly having an invisible hand shoved into my stomach and stirring around, something like that? But I’m fine now. I’m fine. …”

Tia turned her head in concern, and naturally, the school building was there. There was nothing wrong with the building, but we didn’t know if the children in it were all right.

“If you are concerned, why don’t we go back inside and see what’s going on?”

“Naa, that’s not my job, that’s the teachers’ job. Just as Ed stayed behind that day to keep us going, now I will do what only I can do.”

Following Tia’s gaze, we saw a huge, pitch-black body flying toward us, recognizable even from a distance.

“I see. Then will you stay with me a little longer, young lady?”

“Yes, that would be great. … Fufu”

Tia took the hand I offered and stood up. Meanwhile, the black shadow, which had been approaching us, finally arrived in front of us and opened its big mouth.

“Dragon …., right? No matter how you look at it.”

“Yeah, but it’s not a dragon, no matter how you look at it.”

It was a jet-black dragon that must have been over 10 meters long. But that was only in appearance. My impression was that it was close to a statue. If anything, it was more like a golem or other magical creature.

The dragon turned its face upward, and a black mass of energy converged on its open mouth. … This is bad!

“Tia!”

“Sorry, I can’t do that thing!”

“Fuck that!”

“GYAOOOOOOO!”

Fortunately, what the dragon released was not a breath but a dark fireball. I saw it as a lump of mana and activated [Magiab Soap] but the moment I touched the black ball, I was struck by a painful sensation as if my soul had been ripped out of my body. As it was a technique to suck out mana, the very contamination of the sucked-in mana was damaging me.

“Damn, you made me eat shit! NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

If I couldn’t suck it up, I’d have to deflect it somehow. I activated [Regenerate] and also [Invincible], to deflect it to the side with all my might, ignoring the sound of my body buzzing in the flames of darkness.

The moment it landed on the ground, a large hole opened up in the yard with a loud thud,… and at the same time, a nasty cracking sound was heard from the school building.

“Tia, what was that sound!?”

“The defensive magic on the schoolhouse has been weakened. Maybe the land being razed has weakened the blessings tied to it.”

“No, no, no, it’s impossible to protect the entire academy grounds!”

Even a school building with 300 students and 400 faculty members was big enough, but it was impossible for us alone to protect the entire campus, which was dozens of times bigger than that. So the best way to avoid causing damage was to defeat the source of the problem… …… that was, the black dragon in front of us… …

“I knew it!”

I didn’t know how intelligent it was, but the black dragon, which was blocked by my blow, now began to launch countless dark fireballs in order to exploit our absolute weakness of “manpower”.

Of course, each fireball was much weaker compared to the previous one. However, the difference in the number of shots was insurmountable, and the remaining 200 or so Norde took this opportunity to swarm into the school building at once.

I tried my best to deal with them, but every time a missed fireball or Norde’s body hit the school building, a banging sound would be heard and an amber-colored wall would appear around the building for a brief moment, …… and I could clearly see cracks spreading across its surface.

“It’s hopeless! The barrier can’t hold that much longer!”

“You just said it was sturdier than I thought!”

“That black fireball is cutting directly into the power of the spirits!”

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“Can your magic stop it?”

“…. 10 minutes would be enough to prevent even the oversized fireball I just saw. But–“

“Then don’t hesitate! That’s what only you can do now! And this is what I can do now! Activate [Limit Break] !”

Without waiting for Tia’s reply, I activated my banishment skill. If I activated [Hermes Dash] along with it, I could run about three times as fast as usual.

But the cost was not light. While the [Blood Engine] increased the body’s abilities by 100 times, the [Limit Break] merely removed the limits on one’s body, …. In other words, it did not make it sturdier. In addition, since this was an impact emanating from within oneself, it was not eligible for the [Orbit Reflector] either.

“Gghh ……!?”

What happens when one starts moving with three times the force of a normal body? Bones were broken, flesh was crushed, and legs, like water bags with holes in them, dangled down, dripping with blood. Of course, [Regenerate] would immediately start to heal it, but once it was healed to the point where it would at least move, I would kick the ground again with my feet and jump, knocking down every one of the black dragon’s fireballs.

“Ggghh …… hah. Come on, flying lizard. Let’s see who has more persistence, you or me?”

Wiping the greasy sweat from my forehead, I grinned at the black dragon as it soared effortlessly through the sky.