Chapter 259

Chapter 259

——————

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Join our Discord for release /invite/dbdMDhzWa2

——————

The world is horrifically cruel.

It was a truth everyone repeated over and over.

Flora, a first-year student in the Rosenstark Support Department, majoring in healing magic, had heard it so many times that her ears practically had calluses.

However, the world Flora experienced was not so bad.

She came from the capital.

A wealthy family, loving parents.

A natural talent for healing magic.

On top of that, a reasonably pretty face.

People were kind to her, and she had never encountered monsters or demons, the so-called enemies of humanity, in her life.

...That must be why.

When faced with the gaping maw of the undead, which looked like a small hell, she couldn’t move a single step.

‘Ah, I should have just run away.’

It was the result of hesitating to treat a guard groaning under fallen rocks.

Flora tightly closed her eyes.

“Flora!”

The piercing scream of her friend.

But fortunately, the scream soon turned into a sigh of relief.

Crack-

A huge blunt weapon shattered the undead’s head in an instant.

Clatter-

As the shape-shifter reverted to its sword form, Flora could only blink.

“Can you stand?”

“Oh, yes....”

Leciel, the granddaughter of the Sword Saint.

She was so famous that even Flora, from a different department, knew of her.

Like other friends, she had secretly admired Leciel’s undoubtedly glamorous life.

But now.

The girl standing before Flora looked too unfortunate to be the object of anyone’s admiration.

Flora barely managed to speak.

“Th-th-thank you.”

Yet the face, twisted in agony and covered in blood and dust, did not turn toward Flora.

Groooar-

Leciel only stared at the approaching undead horde from the distance.

Without looking back, she pushed Flora’s back.

“Run in the direction I came from.”

Flora did as Leciel instructed.

Several times, the resilient undead tried to grasp Flora, but with a few more swipes of Leciel’s wrist, they shattered into pieces and ceased moving.

Tap-

Leciel ran forward again.

...How long had it been since the invasion started?

10 minutes? 30 minutes? Or an hour?

During that time, Leciel fought tirelessly around Rosenstark.

At first, she wanted to fight against Yol, but her grandmother mercilessly chased her away.

“Leciel, go to where you are needed most.”

It meant she wouldn’t be useful in the fight with Yol.

Leciel was angry, but she wasn’t so unreasonable as to insist on staying.

Her grandmother wouldn’t be able to focus on the battle just by having her there.

Stepping aside was the wise choice.

...But she was terribly worried.

Leciel kept looking back as she descended the hill.

‘Where I am needed most....’

Before she could even think of that, the horrors unfolding before her emptied her mind.

Corpses being devoured by the undead.

People running around screaming.

Burning buildings and acrid smoke.

The ground covered with dust and scorched blood.

...She cut down all visible enemies.

Many powerful undead fell under Leciel’s hand.

Numerous students, staff, and even professors expressed their gratitude for being saved.

But Leciel’s expression grew darker.Visit novelbin(.)com for updates

‘...It’s my fault.’

The girl looked at the academy turning into ruins with a feeling of nausea.

‘...If only I had been a bit more perceptive.’

Since Dante came to Rosenstark.

She undoubtedly spent the most time with him.

If she had harbored even a bit of suspicion.

If she had discovered even the slightest oddity.

Would the tragedy before her eyes have been lessened?

Leciel bit her lip hard.

‘Because I was stupid....’

She had been completely fooled by his smooth talk and pretense of kindness.

Leciel recalled Dante, who had smiled and drawn pictures in the night sky.

How could she have not noticed such evil?

If it were the quick-witted Cuculli or Karen, they surely would have noticed something off.

‘Ah....’

Leciel stopped in her tracks.

She had found a familiar corpse lying on the ground.

A brown-haired girl.

She couldn’t remember her name.

But coincidentally, they shared several classes, so she knew her face.

At the beginning of the term, when Leciel was extremely shy, the girl had awkwardly scratched her head after asking for an autograph and being rejected.

She should have just signed it.

Her grandmother’s words echoed in her mind once again.

“Leciel, go to where you are needed most.”

Leciel stood there, dazed.

Where was she supposed to go?

Where was she needed the most?

The evaluation he received from the Hero during a simulacrum exercise at the beginning of the semester echoed in his ears.

Combat simulation through dolls.

At that time, Luke had mercilessly used his friends like pieces on a chessboard.

“Hold on, just a bit longer.”

“If Cuculli dies, Nyhill takes the front. If Nyhill dies, Beorn steps in.”

“The rear decoy is Evergreen and Leciel. The two of them will scatter and draw attention....”

A strategy that only considered reason, analysis, and purpose.

The third option was precisely that kind of strategy.

‘Some of us stay behind as a shield to block the reinforcements, while the rest break through the front.’

If they implemented it now, they could probably save the most soldiers and join forces with the control tower.

This kind of strategy, where some troops bore all the risk, was frequently used by Ravias.

Fear of Ravias made the members willing to endure the sacrifice, and they always achieved optimal results.

‘...No.’

But Luke shook his head immediately.

Such a strategy was impossible in this situation.

His friends weren’t soldiers; would they accept an order that demanded sacrifice?

And most importantly, he didn’t want to use such methods anymore.

“...You made us do it all the time, Captain.”

Luke, shaking off the hallucination of a painful face lingering in his ears, made a decision.

‘Option 2, let’s go safely.’

Luke was about to raise his voice when it happened.

Tap-

Someone tapped him on the back.

Gerald, his head tilted to one side, was looking at him.

Before he could ask why.

“Hey, think it over. Why are you acting unlike yourself?”

“What?”

“If the control tower falls, we all die. It’s just a matter of time.”

The only reason the academy’s forces, despite being heavily outnumbered, were barely holding on was due to the academy’s defenses (barriers, siege artifacts, guardians, etc.).

If the control tower were to shut down?

Most of those defenses would be disabled.

“The tower has to hold out at least until the professors arrive. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to die.”

Gerald stared intently at Luke.

“You’ve used such strategies before, haven’t you? Why hesitate now?”

“...Because you’re not my subordinates.”

“Good point. We’re not your subordinates. So, let go of some of that burden.”

The mischievous glint in Gerald’s eyes had vanished.

Gerald reached out and firmly gripped Luke’s shoulder.

“Listen well, Luke. Defending the tower is going to be extremely tough. The undead army will keep coming endlessly, and you’ll be fighting until this crisis ends. You know that.”

Gerald glanced at the undead approaching from behind.

Time was running out.

“So, you have to make it. Not Evergreen, not Karen, not me. You’re the one who can defend the tower in such a dreadful battle.”

Gerald raised his spear.

It was the spear bearing the Hero’s insignia.

“Everyone has a role to play. We can’t leave you here as bait, right?”

“You...”

“I’ll stay behind and draw the reinforcements. That’s the right thing to do.”

Gerald was sincere.

Once a boy who prided himself on having the most brilliant talent, he had come to a clearer understanding of himself after spending time with his friends.

But that ruthless self-assessment did not lead to despair.

That was Gerald’s special trait.

‘Everyone has a role.’

Gerald looked at Luke.

“So, I’m asking you. Act like the cold-blooded commander for once.”

Luke ground his teeth.

“You idiot, you just said we’re not your subordinates.”

“Yet you’re convinced, aren’t you?”

A few of the surrounding children stood by Gerald’s side.

Karen, Beorn, Aileen, Aidan.

...Luke slowly turned to look at the tower.

At that moment.

“What?”

Boom-!

With a loud explosion, part of the undead formation at the rear collapsed.

The children momentarily forgot their resolve and stared wide-eyed at the scene of destruction.

Swoosh-!

A sword light powerful enough to be seen from afar swept through the undead.

A giant greatsword, familiar swordsmanship.

At first, they thought their professor, the Hero, had finally arrived.

But it wasn’t.

Karen blinked.

“...Professor Labin?”

Thud thud thud-

The elderly professor was charging through the undead alone.

Every time his greatsword, reminiscent of Black Hope, was swung, bone dust scattered in all directions.

“Was he always this strong?”

It was an oddly powerful presence.

Even as undead teeth and claws grazed his body, he remained unyielding.

Then, Labin’s thunderous roar swallowed all surrounding sounds and struck the children’s ears.

“What are you doing?!”

The children snapped back to reality.

The elderly professor’s determined face, his eyes shining with clear decisiveness, turned towards them.

“Advance!”

Thud-

The greatsword pointed towards the tower.

“Forward!”

——————

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Join our Discord for release /invite/dbdMDhzWa2

——————