Episode 223

Even so, Lee Han controlled the fire as carefully as possible.

If a fire really broke out in the library, the skull headmaster might seriously carry out a burning at the stake.

Whoosh!

Concentrated flames appeared throughout the narrow passage.

They were only large enough to burn the back of a hand, but considering the destructive power of the fire element, even this was enough.

‘Making the flames any bigger would just make them harder to control.’

The flames darted through the passage, burning the charging wraiths. Every time the flames exploded, the Shade Wraiths writhed and rolled on the ground.

Since they were insubstantial monsters with a dark attribute, they were even more vulnerable to fire and light.

And the flames Lee Han conjured didn’t disappear after burning up just two or three Shade Wraiths. As if it were an eternal flame, it kept burning as it received mana endlessly.

-■■■■! ■■■■!

The Shade Wraiths let out chilling cries and tried desperately to break through the narrow passage, but Lee Han kept moving the flames.

No matter how many wraiths there were, there was a limit to breaking through in such a narrow space.

Especially when the wizard blocking the passage could endlessly conjure fire without any mana limitations!

‘I can block them…’

Crash!

Just as Lee Han thought he could hold them, an ominous sound came from behind.

The Shade Wraiths had kept ramming, and a stack full of books in the library collapsed, creating a new hole.

“Block it!”

At Lee Han’s command, the students hurriedly fired spells at the new hole.

“Flame, oh…”

“Shoo…”

Magic missiles flew and flames burst forth, creating the unique flashes of magic.

It looked pretty powerful, but Lee Han coolly assessed the situation.

‘The hole is bigger than I thought!’

Unlike the narrow passage, the hole created by the collapsed stack was too wide.

The princess was directing her friends and firing spells, but Shade Wraiths were already starting to come through.

Lee Han gritted his teeth and spun his staff.

“Burn!”

Thanks to Lee Han’s spinning staff, the momentum of the Shade Wraiths surging from the new hole slowed.

If he’d been even a little late, it would have become a complete disaster; there was no other choice.

The problem was…

‘They’re coming!’

In the meantime, the Shade Wraiths coming through the narrow passage had closed the distance.

Even if they attacked again, a few would inevitably collide.

Lee Han had already braced himself. He gathered mana throughout his body, preparing for possession.

‘The more mana you have, the stronger your resistance. Even if the Shade Wraiths try to possess me, I should be able to shake it off relatively quickly…’

Lee Han trusted the resistance his mana gave him.

He had shown strong resistance to mental magic and poison, so he was likely to show the same against the possession of these wraith monsters.

Just as Gainando had managed to break free from possession earlier, Lee Han would too…

Thunk!

“?”

“??”

-?

A strange sound was heard.

It was the sound of a Shade Wraith, charging Lee Han at full force, bouncing off.

And not just bouncing off, but burning as if it had been hit by a fire spell!

Tutu-tutu-tutu-tututung!

The Shade Wraiths didn’t come alone.

Dozens of them pressed through the passage at once, building momentum and slamming into him.

And every single one bounced off and burst into flames.

“……”

“……”

The Blue Dragon Tower student helping Lee Han from behind stared at him in shock.

What the…?

Tutu-tung! Tutu-tutu-tututung!

As dozens failed to possess him at once, the Shade Wraiths behind seemed to sense something was wrong.

They tried to slow down, but the wraiths in the back wouldn’t wait.

Tutu-tutu-tutu-tutu-tututung…

“Wra… Wraith Crusher! Wraith Crusher!!”

“Don’t give me pointless nicknames.”

Such a title would be an honorable nickname for an imperial, but Lee Han didn’t want to be called Wraith Crusher by his friends.

Especially if all he’d done was smash through wraiths in such a brute-force way!

Lee Han swung his staff and pressed forward. Now that he knew the Shade Wraiths couldn’t possess him, there was nothing to fear.

The wraiths packed into the narrow passage literally exploded.

“We came to help!”

“What? You blocked all the passages?!”

The students holding the hole in the collapsed stack were surprised when Lee Han and his friends came back from the passage.

“It’s a long story!”

“Wardanaz! Let’s go!”

“?????”

Instead of casting spells, Lee Han and his friends ran straight toward the hole packed with wraiths, shocking the other students.

“What are you doing…”

Tutu-tutu-tutu-tutu-tututung!

“…Oh, my god.”

“What the…?”

“I just made up a title for that! Wraith Crusher! Isn’t it great?”

“Wraith Crusher… Oh…”

Ahsan thought that was a pretty good nickname.

If it was for someone like Wardanaz, who was fighting so honorably right now…

‘I’ll have to use that if I ever introduce Wardanaz somewhere.’

“Stop babbling and give us some magical support!”

The princess, who was nodding at the nickname, jumped in surprise at Lee Han’s shout.

In fact, not just the princess, but the other students showed similar reactions.

“But did you ask Lee Han? Does he like it?”

“Of course he does. It’s a title given by friends who recognize his achievements and want to praise him.”

“Wraith Crusher doesn’t sound that great…”

When Gainando muttered, Yoner was slightly impressed.

Gainando had that kind of tact?

“I think something like, ‘The great, dignified, and noble-blooded nemesis of wraiths…’ would be better.”

“Oh. That’s pretty good.”

“……”

Yoner shook his head.

• * *

“Pile up, earth!”

“Harden like rock!”

Salko, with the students in his group, built a barricade at the front.

There were thumping noises outside the barricade of earth and stone. The wraiths must have been swarming.

“One’s coming in from the side!”

Whoosh!

Nililia skewered a Shade Wraith trying to slip in from the side with an arrow.

It was an impressive feat in such chaos, but Nililia didn’t look happy.

Nor did the other Black Turtle Tower students.

“The numbers… don’t seem to be decreasing, right?”

“This is bad.”

Lee Han had the confidence to hold the passage as long as there were no variables, but the Black Turtle Tower students weren’t that reckless.

Instead, they built barricades at key points in the passages and held out.

It would have been a good choice if the number of Shade Wraiths didn’t increase beyond a certain point…

Unfortunately, things didn’t go that way.

The lights on the ceiling weren’t getting any brighter, but the number of Shade Wraiths kept increasing.

“It must be a mess in other places too…”

Nililia trailed off, lost in thought.

What if the Blue Dragon Tower students were possessed by Shade Wraiths and came here?

‘…Wardanaz being possessed would be truly scary…’

“It’s Wardanaz!”

“No, don’t!”

“??”

Ratford looked at Nililia curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”

Nililia hurried to the barricade.

Fortunately, Lee Han wasn’t possessed by a Shade Wraith. He looked perfectly fine.

“Thank goo… ???”

“??????”

Tutu-tutu-tutu-tutu-tututung!

The Blue Dragon Tower students were running with Lee Han at the front like a battering ram.

The countless Shade Wraiths screamed and burst every time they hit Lee Han.

“……”

The Black Turtle Tower students were so stunned they were speechless.

After sweeping away the Shade Wraiths a few times, the Blue Dragon Tower students shouted with dignity.

“We’ll take your thanks as given.”

In fact, they came to prevent chaos from students being possessed, but even so, the Blue Dragon Tower students felt very honorable.

After all, they’d come to help!

“But why aren’t those guys saying anything?”

“Yeah, really?”

The Blue Dragon Tower students waited awkwardly for a reply and, getting none, grumbled and left.

Don’t they know how to say thank you!

But it wasn’t because the Black Turtle Tower students were ungrateful.

Only after they left did one student speak up.

“W-what just happened????”

• * *

The Phoenix Tower priests had a similar reaction.

Only, the passage was blazing.

Lee Han cast a minor fire resistance spell and swept away the Shade Wraiths.

Priest Nigisor of the Afha Order greeted him gratefully.

“Thank you, Lee Han of the Wardanaz family.”

“Glad I wasn’t late.”

Actually, the Phoenix Tower students were in the best situation.

Unlike the Blue Dragon Tower, there wasn’t a new breach from a collapsed wall, and unlike the Black Turtle Tower, the Shade Wraiths weren’t piling up.

Apparently, Priest Nigisor’s fire magic had helped a lot.

Lee Han asked curiously,

“Did you cast area fire magic over the whole passage? How did you not burn the stacks?”

Lee Han wondered if it was an Afha Order secret.

Since they specialized in fire, maybe they had a way to cast area spells without burning the corridor.

‘If so, I really want to learn it.’

Priest Nigisor tilted his head, not understanding Lee Han’s question.

“I just let it burn?”

“…Ah. I, I see.”

Lee Han took a step back.

He thought that was true madness.

Casting area spells in the library without worrying about consequences…!

“Wardanaz. Let’s go save the White Tiger Tower guys.”

‘What a pain.’

He stepped up since it would be a hassle if the others got into trouble, but after a few rounds, he was getting tired.

Priest Nigisor said admiringly,

“You truly do good deeds, Lee Han of the Wardanaz family. If you’d like, I could help…”

“…No. I can’t borrow others’ hands for an honorable deed.”

Lee Han was momentarily tempted but held back.

…This time he was lucky, but next time there was no guarantee it wouldn’t turn into a sea of fire!

• * *

The skull headmaster smiled with satisfaction as he watched the students come out of the library looking dirty and tired.

Looks like they studied hard.

The students ignored him.

Not because they didn’t want to please the skull headmaster, but because they were too tired to answer.

Annoyed by the lack of response, the skull headmaster spotted Lee Han and floated over.

He was a truly peculiar student—wanting to praise his outstanding skills in conquering the dungeon, but also wanting to scold him for making it boring.

Did you study hard?

“Yes. Thanks to you.”

You… you pretend otherwise but you’re quite competitive. Catching a Rock Drake and all. The other professors were surprised too.

“…Excuse me?”

Lee Han paused.

Apart from the misunderstanding about “catching” it, the fact that the skull headmaster was watching surprised Lee Han.

Actually, it wasn’t all that surprising.

It was common knowledge that the skull headmaster had eyes all over the school, and with his personality, there’s no way he’d miss such an amusing spectacle.

Still…

“The other… professors?”

Yes. By the way, wasn’t this expedition honestly a hassle? Next time, how about going in alone and fighting?

Ignoring the skull headmaster’s sly nonsense, Lee Han suppressed his rising fear and asked,

“May I ask which professors were there?”

Hmm. There were so many coming and going… You know I’m not the type to remember those things.

“Was Professor Baegrek there?”

Baegrek was there. I remember because he has a knack for ruining my fun.

Lee Han’s face twisted with sorrow and pain.