Episode 940
by CristaeThe -Rampaging Azirmo Illusion- that the Mad Clone had taught directly was truly menacing.
Its jet-black scales bristled as it roared, so lifelike that even the Death Knights were momentarily shaken.
-Did our master leave this behind?
How… dare… they!
The blasphemer shouted thus, yet did not reveal itself easily from within the dimensional gate.
If the opponent really was a powerful dragon, it couldn’t afford to rush. Acting recklessly could be fatal.
“Never thought I’d get to use it like this!”
“…You’re not actually happy right now, are you?”
At Alsicle’s cheer, Lee Han shot him a look.
When the high-level undead appeared in the sky, Lee Han had been the first magician in the palace to realize it—Alsicle the next.
Just feeling the tainted magical ripple as the dimension trembled had told them what was happening.
-How!? There wasn’t even an approach!
-We have to stop it! If it comes down, it’ll crash right through the ceiling here! Any magic that could possibly stop it?
-There aren’t many spells strong enough… Ah! This! Let’s use this!
Fortunately, the two still had -Rampaging Azirmo Illusion- and -Raging Duke’s Phantom Descent- ready.
The magic prepared for the play had survived until now.
-Great idea!
Nodding, Lee Han cast -Rampaging Azirmo Illusion- at once.
The giant dragon’s apparition unleashed a roar that shook stage and hall alike, then soared through the ceiling.
When he checked from above, the blasphemer trying to emerge from the dimensional gate had shifted to a watchful stance.
“O-of course I’m not happy! These mad evil god worshipper bastards! How did they pull off a summon like this??”
Alsicle, embarrassed for having cheered, changed the subject.
‘Truly… how did they manage it?’
Now, as a proper magician, Lee Han understood how absurd the summoning just witnessed was.
There hadn’t been any approach, no preparations.
Approach?
The Death Knights had surrounded and guarded the palace so closely—how could anyone get close?
Preparations were the same.
Even summoning a minor sparrow spirit required proper steps—how could such a being just pop out like that?
“That’s not what matters now. We have to evacuate people!”
“R-right. Let’s go!”
Alsicle nodded.
From the beginning, their aim in buying time was for the audience in the palace.
Several Death Knights took advantage of the delay to fly quickly back inside.
“Everyone, please evacua—”
-WAAAAAAAH!
Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
When the two descended again, they were startled by thunderous applause.
Spectators sitting in their seats were clapping enthusiastically.
‘Is this some kind of curse from the evil god worshippers?!’
“To think they’d reinterpret it so originally!”
“Still, isn’t that too much of a twist? A dragon? Throwing in a huge magnificent creature just to make the play more dramatic is a childish idea!”
“You’re the childish one! The idea that the Alkarmaata family was connected to dragons is the hottest theory in current imperial historiography! This play boldly incorporated that. That’s art!”
Though some objected, most were left with a powerful impression by the sudden dragon appearance.
Of course, the actors on stage were looking around in bewildered confusion.
A dragon bursting out and blasting through the ceiling in a completely unplanned situation—such reactions were natural.
Lee Han apologized inwardly.
‘Sorry.’
-Evacuate! Evacuate! Evacuate!
-Everyone, evacuate now! Einrogard students, drive the spectators as far out as possible! If they refuse, use force!
Death Knights who descended from the ceiling now belatedly ordered evacuation.
Spectators, who had been basking in the highlight of a great performance, were shocked.
“What is going on?”
“Evil god worshippers are attacking! You need to evacuate now!”
“Damnable bastards! How can you end such a masterpiece!?”
A few spectators insisted that even in danger, they had to see the end of this masterpiece, but the students promptly kicked them out.
When Nillia kicked three people at once, the nearby nobles gasped in awe.
“That’s the kick of the Northern Mountains Patrol…”
“Move it!”
“Ah, yes, ma’am.”
Not everyone was crazy enough about theater to risk their lives. Among the crowd fleeing the theater, some were clearly frightened by the thunder and rumbling overhead.
“A-are you all right?”
“I-I’m okay. I just… can’t breathe… a bit of rest and I’ll be fine.”
“Potion! Go get the potion from the restroom!”
“Shh, quietly, idiot! No need to announce the restroom like that!”
Einrogard students hurried off to the restroom and brought back all the potions they’d secretly prepared before.
They floated a small cauldron in midair, had the fallen drink, or doused panic-stricken faces.
Thanks to this, order was restored amid the hasty and chaotic evacuation. Ahsan scraped the empty bottom of the cauldron with a ladle and shouted.
“We’re out of potions!”
“I don’t think we need more now. Everyone seems—”
“That’s not true!”
A spectator butted into the students’ exchange.
With stained, scarred fingers, he was clearly associated with alchemy.
“No one knows how much bigger this incident will get. We have to be ready and prepare even more potions, just in case!”
No one knew exactly what the being atop the palace was, but its sense of foreboding certainly struck fear.
If the Death Knights could defeat the foe atop the palace, good—but if not, everyone had to be prepared for further scenarios.
They needed as many healing and status effect potions as possible.
“But… we’ve run out of materials!”
“Don’t worry. My name is Onil. I supply reagents to House Meikin’s alchemy workshop. If it’s reagents, I have as many as you need. Follow me!”
“I’ll help, too! I supply alchemical tools!”
Spectators banded together on the spot and escorted the Einrogard students outside.
Caught up in this flow, the Potion Escape Party students suddenly realized something.
‘…Wait, can’t we just leave after making all the potions?’
Was this what Wardanaz meant?!
-Students, take the spectators and get out!
Students of the Noble Bewitchment Party quickly led the spectators out.
Opening carriage doors and calming mounts, they packed people inside, who pleaded desperately:
“Come with us!”
“Huh? But we have to stay and help the knights!”
“But! What if enemies are waiting outside?”
“The knights (making sure to bar our escape) definitely patrolled securely, so there won’t be any problem!”
“But…but…”
Frightened spectators wanted Einrogard students by their side.
The Death Knights bellowed.
-Escort them!
“Huh?”
-Illusion magicians, too, go out! Escort the spectators and help evacuate!
With the Death Knights utterly absorbed in the crisis above, they flew off again without waiting for any reply.
Now with permission, the spectators each grabbed students and bundled them into carriages.
“We’re counting on you!”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Students soothed the frightened spectators and some illusion magicians as they evacuated.
And then they thought to themselves.
‘Wait. Isn’t this almost the same as Wardanaz’s plan?’
Did he really think it through all the way to here?!
Salko’s Dwarf Tunnel Party had ended up dealing with the most troublesome group of spectators.
Namely, the mad folks who wanted to keep watching.
“Ugh! No way! I have to see the end of the play!”
“The actors are all gone—what are you talking about!”
Even as the palace ceiling shook and noise boomed from above, these stubborn spectators only hardened their resolve. The faces of the Einrogard students grew grim.
“No help for it. Do it the Einrogard way.”
“What’s that? Let us watch under an invisibility spell?”
The nobles, ignorant of how the world worked, didn’t realize they were in danger even as the Einrogard students rolled up their sleeves.
Just then, the palace ceiling was torn wide open.
YOU… DARE…!
Only now, realizing it was a trick, the blasphemer burst in again, howling with rage.
At first, it had wondered if an actual dragon had been lying in wait, but even as it hesitated behind the gate, the dragon had never attacked.
That was far too cautious for a real dragon. The blasphemer blasted the palace ceiling with a miasma of decay, shoving its body through the dimensional gate. Its huge belly and gigantic eyeball burned with humiliation and rage.
“One more time!”
“But will it fall for it?”
“Nothing to lose, right?”
“That’s right! Cast it!”
Alsicle cast -Raging Duke’s Phantom Descent-. The floor, inscribed with a magic circle, shattered from the shock as a huge demon burst out inside the palace.
The blasphemer, appalled, retreated yet again.
If it were something else, maybe, but in the Empire, demons were familiars commonly summoned by top magicians. Not to be underestimated.
“A…a demon now!?”
“That’s not in the play!”
The students shouted, but the spectators, already deeply immersed, paid no heed.
Salko exchanged glances with the Seniors. A staff swung with a solid whack.
“Let’s get them out!”
“Head for the main gate?”
“No, too late! It’s too hard to fight while protecting civilians. Let’s escape through the tunnel. You can finish it now, right?”
“Yes!”
Seeing the blasphemer’s forces begin to fall inside the palace, the upperclassmen made a quick decision.
Since these were the last spectators left, slipping out through the tunnel was the right call.
“Let’s return these folks to their homes.”
“Yes. And then, take as much gold as we need?”
“……”
The Seniors looked at Salko in astonishment. He hurriedly amended,
“Just kidding.”
“Haha! That was a good joke!”
“Looks like everyone’s out. Let’s join the fight.”
“Yes!”
“…Wait. I think I said ‘let’s’ in my excitement. I meant ‘I’ll’ not ‘we’ll’…”
Alsicle came to his senses and spoke up to Lee Han.
Stedal’s exterior was so cynical and rough he’d misread the situation, but Lee Han should be evacuating too.
But before Alsicle could finish, Lee Han was already moving on to the next phase.
“Sharkan!”
Overhead, the shape of an obsidian mirror breathing smoke formed, and the dimensional gate began to fracture.
From within, a beast of death and darkness burst out, roaring.
-Blasphemer! You dared to mock the Fall of the Beast last time?!
H-ow DARE you!
The two undead powerhouses immediately recognized each other and radiated murderous intent.
The beast ignored Sharkan’s fretting and glared at the blasphemer.
-I sense immense power. You, magician, won’t be able to keep the beast summoned for long, so you’d better end it quickly.
“Take your time! There’s no rush at all!”
With those words, Lee Han began preparing the next summoning.
The beast of death and darkness could only blink its giant eye in confusion at this attitude.