Chapter 55
Norieum inhaled cigarette smoke for the first time in a very long while as he looked down out the window. As always, the beautiful and mysterious city of mages came into full view.
When work became too exhausting, he would sometimes admire the cityscape like this. Then, as the past and present of the city that had undergone turbulent changes for a long time overlapped, a smile would naturally bloom on his lips.
But now, no such smile was on his face. He let out a small thoughtful sound and stroked his long-grown beard.
He recalled his thoughts about Acel.
As much as I'd like to personally storm into the Academy...
Reality was not so easy.
He had heard news about Acel long ago. Not long after, he was able to hear about why he had returned in a half-dead state. At that moment, Norieum felt a violent anger he couldn't even control himself.
Acel's enrollment in the Academy couldn't be said to be entirely his own will. The proposal itself was brought up by Norieum, and that proposal was the result of a tradition and contract continuing from the past. Although Acel accepted it willingly, from the start, he was a talent with sufficient potential to grow through other paths even if he hadn't gone to the Academy.
It wasn't for nothing that the fussy mages of the Witch Association fawned over him. Even in the Alliance, everyone said he was the most likely candidate for the next archmage position, so how much more so for the Witch Association he belonged to.
A decent personality for a mage, and for Ena's disciple. A gentle and soft attitude. Yet with clear self-opinions, and ambition aiming for higher places instead of being satisfied with his own talent. Acel possessed all the characteristics mages liked. There was a reason why more people in Wyheim viewed him favorably than disliked him.
It wasn’t just Norieum who held deep goodwill towards Acel. So when sending him to the Academy, he left words asking the headmistress to please take good care of him, and this was the result that came back.
If he wasn't angry, he wouldn't be human. Norieum had long since transcended the limits of species, but that didn't mean he had attained enlightenment. Rather, that boiling blood, fighting spirit, and academic enthusiasm from when he was young remained the same. And the personality of smashing everything he didn't like was still there too.
He just had to hide it. He had to hide his anger even at the reality where a junior he cared for returned as a corpse, and no apology came from the place he had trusted and entrusted him to.
As mentioned earlier, reality was not so easy.
The position of Alliance leader brought him many benefits, but it also came with shackles. It was now impossible to cause a ruckus just because he didn't like something as he did before. If he did, checks would come from all directions.
Politics was not done with force and violence. It was done with tongue and pen. As the Alliance leader and master of Wyheim, Norieum had a duty to protect this land with pen and tongue. The time for causing youthful ruckuses had long since passed.
So he couldn't just storm into the Academy recklessly. To make a case, he had to go through proper procedures.
And during the period of thoroughly preparing for that, contact came from Ena saying she would smash the Academy.
It was good fortune. Ena had both justification and power. Moreover, she wasn't tied to any position, so she didn't need to take responsibility for anything. It was more than enough to make those bug-like nobles who had only read about the majesty of archmages in books feel a sense of crisis. Rather, it was overflowing.
So he told her to do it. Because after Ena rampaged and the story about Acel became publicized, it would be easier for this side to move too.
From the moment the truth is grasped, it shouldn't matter if I step in directly. Even if I mobilize some mages to visit, they won't be able to say anything.
Although he felt sorry for Fride, who was bound by her position as headmistress and couldn't even offer a proper apology, he still had to do what needed to be done. Until there was a proper apology as well as appropriate measures and legal compensation for this, Norieum planned to keep gnawing at the Academy.
The past contract had already been fulfilled.
There was no need to be considerate anymore.
Thinking this, he read the letter contained in the returned messenger bird.
[It's a very good plan. Let's shake them down thoroughly.]
Grin.
Norieum smiled wickedly.
***
Crackle!!!
Lightning shot out in a fan shape covered Fernan's upper body. Although she didn't intend to kill him so she reduced the lethality somewhat, the power of the lightning was still sufficiently threatening. Fernan realized her words about knocking him out weren't a lie and gritted his teeth.
"Nngh...!!"
He hastily overlayed aura on his skin to partially blocked the magic. Even so, Ena's magic forcibly opened Fernan's magic resistance and drove the power of lightning into it. Every time the pure white light writhed, his skin turned bright red, burst, and tore.
Magic so powerful that even a master's aura couldn't block it. He already knew she was strong, but he never dreamed it would be to this extent.
No matter how much of a new star Fernan was, having only recently risen to master, a master was still a master. The value of that name didn’t go anywhere.
Even so, he was no match.
That was reality. Even after crossing one wall, there was still an overwhelmingly high wall waiting.
"Ugh!"
Fernan ground his molars and leaped backward to put as much distance as possible between himself and Ena. Each of her spells was as powerful as an ordinary mage's trump card. The moment he was directly hit, he wouldn't last long.
Avoiding as much as possible was the best strategy.
"Professor Fernan!"
Although he leaped, Fernan was basically a swordsman. He couldn't maintain flight for long. As a result, he fell rapidly towards the ground. Another professor caught him.
Ayla, the oddball who taught alchemy despite being an aura user, stood by his side and looked up at Ena.
"What are we going to do? Did you talk as planned?"
"Yes. But she says she has some lingering resentment and is going to half-kill me."
"That's possible for Professor Fernan."
"...?"
"So what are we going to do now? Pretend to fight moderately? Or charge in seriously?" Ayla whispered, feeling the presence of other professors gradually approaching around them.
Only those supporting the headmistress knew in advance about Ena's attack. Other professors and staff thought Ena had really come to destroy the Academy. So they needed to be careful with their words in front of others.
But this much needed to be clarified precisely. Because that was how they could know what attitude to take towards Ena.
However, Fernan answered with a dry laugh, as if Ayla was asking something obvious, "Moderate against that? If that's possible, go ahead. For now, I don't think I can."
"...Understood."
"Then could you give me one potion? My entire upper body is shatteredㅡDodge!" Fernan, who had been extending his hand with a glib attitude, shouted urgently.
Ayla also quickly rolled to the side, feeling the chilling magical power from the sky.
Boom!!
A huge lightning bolt struck down centered on where the two had been standing.
Even though they had distanced themselves, their skin tingled from the lightning's aftermath. All the cells in their bodies stood on end, and survival instinct echoing in their minds told them to leave this place immediately. Ayla suppressed all those instincts and stood up.
She raised her head. An indomitable, noble archmage was looking down here with indifferent eyes. She must have heard they were on the same side, but her gaze was far from ordinary, rather cold.
But she didn’t try to understand. She knew that woman was the master of the missing student Acel. Perhaps personal emotions were influencing the current destruction beyond public reasons. If so, it had to be humbly accepted.
After all, his disappearance was the result of the Academy's incompetence.
"Let's go, Professor Fernan. Let's break through," Ayla said, throwing a potion towards Fernan.
Fernan caught it and immediately opened the cap to drink the contents.
A type of potion that amplified the body's regenerative power. Feeling the vitality rising instantly, Fernan grinned.
"What's this suddenly? You're overflowing with enthusiasm?"
"I have to play my role. Let's go refreshingly and collapse refreshingly."
"I like that."
The moment he said that, other faculty members revealed themselves from beyond the bushes.
Fernan shouted loudly towards them, then rushed towards the clearing where Ena had descended, "Everyone draw your weapons! We have to hold out until Lady Genesis calms down!"
That was the trigger. The professors all hardened their faces as if resolved, then drew their armaments and began glaring at Ena. However, Ena's expression remained indifferent as she looked at them. She slightly tilted her head to the side while watching Fernan and Ayla running towards her.
That alone served as an incantation. Lightning formed beside her head shot out like an arrow.
[Lightning Bow]
Rumble!!
Lightning that extended as if grazing the ground created a hole in the mountainside. Power enough to vaporize soil and rocks. The professors gritted their teeth and moved to environments that suited them best. Beck, the survival skills professor, sat on a tree and immediately drew his bowstring.
At the same time, lightning struck the tree he was sitting on. Beck fainted without being able to do anything.
"Monster...!"
One of the knight department professors gripping his spear shaft tightly threw his spear towards Ena. Ena willingly played along with him.
[Lightning Spear]
The formed lightning spear crushed the magic spear thrown by the professor and flew at a speed beyond perception to tear apart the professor's chest. He spat blood and crashed into a tree.
That was with controlled power. If she had used full force, he would have turned to ashes and disappeared the moment the lightning touched his body.
Controlling magic output was as easy as breathing for Ena. She turned her gaze from the professor who fell with one spell and stomped the ground hard. Lightning raced through space from beneath her feet, then began blooming flowers everywhere.
[Lightning Flower Resonance]
It was a spell Acel had created and taught her. He had improved by racking his brains so it could be used in actual combat.
Crackle!!!
The bloomed flowers resonated with each other and scattered lightning around. The radiance alone was bright enough to blind those surrounding Ena. Lightning streams rose from the ground to split the sky, and new lightning was born between the resonating flowers.
Lightning Flower Resonance wasn't simply magic to occupy space. Rather, that was just a new effect created through repeated improvements. The real reason Acel created this magic was to reduce the amount of magical power consumed in the process of converting magical power to lightning.
The amount of magical power consumed in casting magic was never small, but once consumed like that, the bloomed lightning flowers resonated with each other and formed lightning on their own. If that blooming lightning was used as the driving force for magic, the need for the mage to directly produce lightning disappeared, drastically reducing overall magical power consumption.
High-level magic that even Ena, who had created numerous spells, marveled at. As complex as its effects were, the difficulty of its formula ranked among the highest within lightning formulas, but it wasn't a big burden for her.
It was Ena's first time using it directly in actual combat, but its effect wasn't much different from theory.
Crack!!!
The blooming lightning spread in all directions and shattered the professors' shields. Whether made of magic or aura, it made no difference. The moment lightning touched, it broke their foundation and tore apart the flesh sleeping inside.
"Aaaagh...!!"
"Ah, the artifact shattered instantly. What the hell..."
"Kyaa, waaaah! Save me, please save me!!"
Even those haughty professors couldn't endure the momentary intense pain and screamed. Students who had come to this place to grasp the situation or overcome the Academy's crisis all saw this sight.
They saw one mage facing them all.
"I'm not asking for much," she opened her mouth.
She walked towards Fernan lying on the ground, stepping on the earth.
"But if you don't listen, I don't know what I'll do either."
Ena crouched in front of Fernan with an expressionless face. Then she briefly scanned the fallen professors around. She took in the students who had gathered at some point.
Soon, she drew up magical power.
"What happened in the first-year first assignment."
[Falling Lightning]
Lightning fell on Fernan's back.
"What happened to my disciple."
[Falling Lightning]
Head.
"All the details of what happened that day."
[Falling Lightning]
Back again.
"Organize it all and announce it officially. If there's any content I don't like, I'll come back."
[Falling Lightning]
Boom!!
Lightning larger than those used consecutively struck Fernan's entire body. Not long after the lightning cleared.
She stepped on Fernan's head, his whole body covered in pure white lightning and unconscious, and looked up towards where the Academy's main building was.
"I believe you understood. Fride."
"...Acknowledged."
At that moment, as if fog clearing, Fride revealed herself in mid-air. She swallowed hard at the chilling radiance of lightning striking her skin and nodded.
"I'll do as you wish. So today..."
"Withdraw at this point? No. I haven't achieved my goal yet."
"Huh?" Fride asked back in a stupid voice.
She immediately sent a telepathic message to Ena so others couldn't hear.
[You should withdraw at this point. Honestly, it's already too much. It was hard to even find the right timing to appear.]
"I must have looked really ridiculous to you. Trying to bury this incident when you all know whose disciple Acel is. In the past, you lot absolutely wouldn’t have done that."
[Ena? Ena? I know you can hear me. You have to stop now. Isn't the atmosphere getting overheated?]
"So, I'm going to leave just one trace."
[Wait! I haven't done well in this incident either, but I'm politely asking! Please withdraw from here!]
Ena stretched her hand towards the sky.
Fride shouted inwardly.
[Don't!!! Do!!! It!!!]
"I'll show you clearly who you messed with."
Concentrated lightning floated above her hand. However, unlike its size, the power contained within was far superior to all the magic Ena had used so far combined. Just by existing, it caused lightning around it, and unstable lightning swirled inside the sphere.
Ena crushed it without hesitation.
Magic even higher than high-level magic. Transcendent authority allowed only to some among archmages. Extreme magic that left one's own trace in the world or caused phenomena, manifested by containing mental images. Magical power manipulated to maximize destructive power while not taking lives danced according to her will and drew the formula.
Soon.
[Lightning Jade Destroying Heaven]
Boom!!!!!
The world was dyed pure white.