Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Roan called the name of the senior who was the representative of those surrounding him.

“Senior Geodein.”

“Oh, you know me? As expected, you seem to be very interested in the History Club as heard!”

Wrong.

‘I don’t know about history, but I have not a shred of interest in the History Club.’

Instead of answering, Roan unfastened the horn he was carrying on his back.

It was the Choir obtained from the cave before.

“Ooh! Isn’t that a Le Panerdo style horn! Where did you get it?”

Geodein spoke, looking with interest at the horn Roan held.

“It looks similar, but if you look closely at the embossed shape, this is not Le Panerdo, but……”

“Darc!”

“……I almost fell for it. Thanks, Zion.”

Roan, who had almost fallen into a desperate crisis without realizing it!

‘As expected of a 4th year, the battle of wits is deep.’

……Or so he thought to himself.

At any rate, Roan, who snapped back to his senses at Zion’s call, blew the horn immediately.

Buuuu— Huuuuu──

A sound too chilly and gloomy to be coming from a horn filled and wrapped around the alley.

Originally, the Choir gives a massive stat buff to personnel within a certain range around the caster.

But what if a black mage blew such a Choir?

─ Wh-what……

─ Strength is leaving my entire body……!

─ Holy power is disappearing!

It gives an equivalent stat debuff to the surrounding people.

The surrounding current students staggered and were astonished.

A few with lower skills among them even fainted completely.

“D-Darc…… what on earth is this……!”

Geodein also called Roan, unable to properly steady his body from the sudden debuff.

Looking at it, it didn’t seem to be a crafted holy item, but rather a holy relic altogether.

‘How does a freshman have that kind of thing!’

For Geodein, it was a fairly unfair situation.

He prepared a collective holy magic, anticipating that a freshman would use a stealth holy magic.

Naturally, anticipating that a cowardly secret club had taken measures beforehand, he dug traps along every path leading to the place suspected to be their hideout.

And as if that wasn’t enough, did he have to anticipate that they would also possess a holy relic like that!

No one could blame Geodein.

Of course, it was none of Roan’s business.

“Run quickly!”

Seizing the gap where the current students couldn’t pull themselves together, Roan immediately tried to escape the encirclement with Zion and Demona.

But.

“D-Darc…….”

“Roan, I have no strength in my body…….”

The two were also swept up by the Choir’s effect and couldn’t come to their senses.

‘Damn it, in the game, the setting was that it didn’t affect party members.’

Could it be that game and reality are strictly different?

Roan clicked his tongue and slung Zion and Demona over each of his shoulders.

“You help your master too!”

Whoosh—

Fortunately for Demona, it was possible because the Vajra Beetle picked her up and flew, adding its strength.

As soon as they barely broke out of the encirclement, the collapsed current students also began to regain consciousness.

─ Don’t lose them! Once they enter the hideout, it’s over!

─ Run with all your might!

Still, the gap was already widened quite a bit.

‘We’re almost there!’

Even for Roan, it was a situation where he couldn’t help but make an optimistic prediction unconsciously.

But.

Ssssh──

“Huh? Roan, dark clouds are gathering over there?”

“……If you have the mind to speak, run on your own now.”

Though she was annoying, as Demona said, sudden dark clouds began to gather heavily in the sky.

In Akerandir, in this kind of case, one had to expect a far more foreboding situation than a sudden shower.

The reason it was an expectation rather than preparation was.

‘Because they don’t give you time for that.’

Rumble──! Crash─!

Huge bolts of lightning struck down immediately.

And a massive figure appeared directly in the path Roan was running.

The unique point was that it wasn’t a human, but a bear.

“Darc!!!!”

Vulcan called Roan, sending sparks of lightning all over his body.

‘What kind of advising professor……!’

Unlike collective holy magic, Professor Vulcan’s appearance was completely unexpected even for Roan.

Because if even professors set out for club promotion, Akerandir would literally become a shambles.

Moreover, that appearance was the battle form of the Lightning Bear.

Roan spoke, grinding his teeth.

“……Would you have stepped forward like this even if I were a black mage.”

“Uhahahaha! A black mage? What’s that to do with me!”

Vulcan shouted boisterously.

‘Phew, for now, I don’t have to deal with Vulcan…… no, that’s not it.’

He wasn’t someone who could be reasoned with.

─ Uh, uh! It’s Professor Vulcan!

─ What do we do?

─ What do you mean what do we do, if you approach at a time like that, you die!

─ ……Aren’t you in the Crusade Club?

Indeed, even the seniors who followed late hesitantly widened the distance again.

“Darc! I have prepared a very special Divine Beast’s egg for you! If you don’t want to die, come here right now!”

Akerandir, where a professor openly threatens a student!

Demona, still slung over his shoulder, whispered to Roan.

“Roan. I feel like we’ll die if we go there instead?”

“……I agree.”

Roan spoke like that and set Demona down as if throwing her on the ground.

“Ow!”

Of course, Zion was set down much more gently.

“Wh-what, are we going to get caught like this?”

Zion asked urgently.

After all the trouble they had gone through to get here, they couldn’t be blocked here.

……Though it seemed Roan had done all the hard work.

“Huh? But come to think of it, aren’t we allowed to pass?”

“……?”

When Demona asked innocently then, Zion was also momentarily tempted.

‘That’s right.’

It was a clear answer with no room for refutation.

“……Just try going.”

Of course, Roan’s growl and.

“Uhahahaha! Wychronon! You bring the Vajra Beetle and the Fanatic Rabbit King too!”

“Heek…… I can’t pass.”

Were shattered by Professor Vulcan’s words.

In any case, by this point, Roan also felt it was do or die.

“Listen carefully, everyone. From now on, I will blow this horn, of course, and use punishment holy magic with all my might……”

When he shared the plan in a low voice, Zion and Demona nodded as if they understood.

Soon, the decisive battle began.

First, Zion and Demona raised as much holy power as they could.

In addition to this, Zion even unleashed the Blessed One’s Awl, and Demona emitted a flashing light.

Of course, Demona’s light had no meaning other than flashing.

─ Uh, Wychronon seems to be trying to do something!

─ Th-this is Wychronon’s light attribute!

‘That’s not it.’

Thanks to the family name value, it managed to draw attention.

“Uhahahaha! So you’ve finally decided to face this Vulcan! This will be fun!”

Realizing that negotiations had broken down, Vulcan eventually placed his four feet on the ground.

Swoosh──!

And began to shoot straight toward the three of them.

“He’s not a hybrid, he’s a real Lightning Bear!”

Demona freaked out upon seeing that.

─ Uwaaa! Run away!

─ It’s a crazy Lightning Bear!!

Naturally, the current students watching from behind fled without looking back.

Recruiting three supernova freshmen to their club was nice, but that was only meaningful if they were alive.

‘First, it’s according to plan.’

Making Zion and Demona activate plausible holy magics was to lure Vulcan.

Roan immediately pulled out all the remaining curse reagents from his chest, grabbing whatever he could.

There was no longer any room to spare.

‘Rotting Hand of the Dead!’

One of the magics he studied with Taedi earlier, a continuous curse magic effective against a single target.

It inflicts decay and paralysis damage on the part of the opponent’s body it touches.

……It was also the magic that had caused several current students to be carried away on the way to the Great Temple.

On top of that, since the opponent was Vulcan, the effect had been further enhanced by Roan.

A glowing hand slid up along the path Vulcan was rushing.

If one looked closely, it was slightly decayed, but in this situation, no one cared about that.

Crack—

“Uhaha! Monk’s Bind. Can you block me, Vulcan, with just this!”

The Rotting Hand of the Dead successfully grabbed Vulcan’s leg, but was snapped helplessly.

But.

‘Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! Rotting Hand of the Dead! …….’

Roan had not cast basic curse magic with half-hearted resolve either.

The reagents obtained from Taedi in the first place were all focused on fast casting.

Although he used about half of them to get to the Great Temple, in other words, he intended to pour the remaining half entirely onto Vulcan.

Pop— Pop— Pop—

As dozens of hands popped up around Vulcan, even the hybrid Lightning Bear had no choice but to be flustered.

“Wh-what?”

Furthermore, a critical point different from the Monk’s Bind.

Unlike the Monk’s Bind, which was a simple binding effect, the Rotting Hand of the Dead inflicted continuous damage from the moment of contact.

‘A punishment holy magic I don’t know? Or is it a modification?’

Thanks to this, Vulcan’s speed was reduced significantly compared to the beginning.

However, his eyes began to burn once again.

At a point where the distance to Roan was already reduced by half.

Although flustering, by this point, there was nothing he couldn’t shake off.

Crunch— snap──

Gradually, Vulcan’s legs tore off the hands and moved forward.

“Ro-Roan!”

Listening to Demona’s urgent call, Roan brought the Choir to his mouth.

“Raise your holy power to the maximum!”

Zion and Demona, who remembered being hit by the Choir earlier, immediately followed Roan’s instructions.

Buuuu── Huuuuu───!

A sound deeper and gloomier than before flowed out.

Moreover, unlike before, Roan activated it this time by pushing a bunch of the abyss into the horn.

Here, an effect Roan also hadn’t anticipated was added.

Grip— squeeze──

Interlocking with the Choir’s direct stat debuff, the already activated Rotting Hands of the Dead were enhanced!

“……Darc, you bastard……”

Vulcan, grasping the situation instantly with his hybrid spiritual beast instincts, let out a resentful sound.

It was both the first time he had personally stepped forward to recruit a student to a club, and naturally the first time he was taken in like this by a student.

“Uoooooo──!”

Spouting lightning from his eyes, Vulcan let out a grand battle cry.

And.

Rumble──!

A bolt of lightning struck Professor Vulcan directly.

“I-Is he dying?!”

“How could that be! Professor Vulcan is a Lightning Bear!”

Roan spat out curses internally while watching that scene.

‘Damn it!! What kind of professor does this against a student……’

Lightning Bears call down and strike lightning onto their own bodies when they are truly enraged or in a crisis.

With that, they obtain a massive stat buff and……

Crunch── crack!

Gain resistance to curse and punishment types.

“Kuooo!”

Professor Vulcan, whose eyes had completely rolled back, rushed straight toward the three of them.

The worst-case scenario Roan had assumed upon encountering Vulcan had occurred.

“Now we must leave it to luck.”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

At Roan’s chilly words, Zion and Demona were startled.

“Withdraw your holy power! No time to explain!”

But just as he said, there was no time to explain everything now.

‘Moisture of the Swamp.’

Basic charm magic.

Although it also had a very weak stat debuff effect.

Its essence was an emergency escape magic that summoned a wide-ranging mist to block the opponent’s vision and even detection to some extent with very fast casting.

Centered on Roan’s body, a thick mist covered the vicinity in an instant.

“Do you think── you can escape like that──!”

The only advantage for the three was that they could determine Vulcan’s position because he was rushing while emitting bolts of lightning.

And that no matter if he was a Lightning Bear, he should be in a state where his physical senses were practically paralyzed.

But.

“Darc──!”

Vulcan was fast, slightly exceeding Roan’s expectations.

And he was tough.

Swoosh—

Before Roan could even move, Vulcan’s massive hand appeared, parting the mist.

Was it a spiritual beast’s instinct?

That hand was accurately aiming for Roan.

‘Damn it, I’m caught—’

At that moment.

Tap—

“……Oh?”

Demona popped up in front of Roan.

Roan saw it.

The sight of Zion pushing Demona as soon as Vulcan’s hand appeared!

“!!!”

When Roan was shocked by the unimagined scene.

Tap—

Zion quietly pulled Roan’s sleeve and dashed forward.

In an instant, the two succeeded in widening the distance until Vulcan was no longer visible.

“Uhahaha! I caught you, Darc!”

From behind, Vulcan’s triumphant shout erupted.

“You…”

“Shh, escape for now.”

When Roan called him as if whispering, Zion brought his index finger to his mouth.

If they talked now, they might fall into that terrifying Vulcan’s senses again.

“No, I meant you did well.”

“…….”

In any case, the only ones who could enter the Sanctuary were Zion and Roan!

And Demona being caught by Vulcan was rather a relief if it could be called that.

The reason was……

“Roaaann— save meee!”

Demona, caught in Vulcan’s tough hand, cried out sorrowfully.

But in the mist, the figures of Roan and Zion had already vanished long ago.

“Huh? Roan?”

Only then did Vulcan intuit that something was wrong.

A slender build to be Roan somehow, and that uniquely annoying voice.

‘But this gray hair is definitely…….’

Vulcan settled the surrounding mist with a simple holy magic.

Honestly, if Vulcan had engaged in the battle with all his might, things wouldn’t have gone this far.

Since if the opponent was a student, a freshman at that, there should have been a handicap of using only physical abilities.

…Vulcan had long discarded the awareness that he, a professor, shouldn’t have stepped forward in the first place.

In any case, the face of the student caught in Vulcan’s grasp like that was.

“Sob… I can’t even get married now… Right, Sparky?”

Naturally, it was Demona.

He had wondered why there was something hard on her back, but it wasn’t a bag, it was the Vajra Beetle!

The Vajra Beetle struggled to escape, but it was still just a cute baby.

‘Ahem, I’ve been had.’

Seeing the ash dust heavily smeared on Demona’s head, Vulcan groaned.

To think they prepared so meticulously.

“Hmm… well, isn’t it not bad.”

But Vulcan soon nodded.

Losing Roan right in front of him was a pity, but Demona was also one of his targets from the beginning.

Actually, in terms of current strength alone, Demona, who had the Fanatic Rabbit King and the Vajra Beetle, was superior.

“Good. Wychronon. Come with me, to the Crusade Club.”

“No! Save meee!”

Because Demona cried so pitifully, Vulcan was slightly flustered.

‘No, I’m not going to eat you, I’m telling you to join the club.’

Actually, club promotion is only excessively violent in appearance; once joined, they treat freshmen with the utmost kindness in the world.

Did this kid not see it clearly because she had been hiding until now?

Tsk.

Vulcan clicked his tongue once.

In his long experience as a professor, the way to deal with this kind of case was simple.

“Our club’s activity budget is 1,000 Talents per person per semester. I don’t even care how you spend it.”

“Where was the club house? Is it Persivalun Hall?”

“…….”

But despite that, the response was so immediate that Vulcan was slightly taken aback.

…Did I recruit her properly?

Meanwhile, having abandoned Demona, Roan and Zion finally neared the Sanctuary’s club room.

“By the way, what did you mean by ‘well done’ earlier?”

Zion, only then feeling that the surroundings had become quiet, asked Roan.

Roan replied as if asking why he would ask such a thing.

“Literally. My thoughts were similar.”

“Ah, anyway, Demona doesn’t have a club yet…”

Zion nodded, agreeing.

Freshmen were better off doing club activities anyway.

If it was the Crusade Club, the treatment was good, and especially because she was recruited directly by the professor, it would be even more so.

Whatever the process, Roan always thinks of his friends!

Just as he was about to be slightly touched by such thoughts.

Roan added with a savage smile.

“Why do you think I told you to sprinkle ash dust on your head?”

Shiver—

Zion felt goosebumps all over, feeling as if his skin would turn inside out.

No way…?

“There’s no way ash dust would make the stealth holy magic effect better.”

Roan walked ahead with long strides, leaving only those words.

‘Wh-what a terrifying person!’

Did he foresee and move from the secret passage all the way to here?

Even Zion’s family, the Beatrice Family, wouldn’t handle things so viciously and meticulously.

Zion trembled at the thought that, had things gone slightly differently, the one caught in Vulcan’s hand might have been him, not Demona.

Brush, brush, brush───!

And he began to shake the ash dust off his hair more violently than ever.