Chapter 525

Episode 525. The Beginning of the War (4)

It was unexpected.

That was the prevailing emotion in Alon Palatio when he confirmed the true nature of the fireworks.

He didn’t perceive it when the first one detonated. But as the second one exploded, Alon could see it: they only looked like pyrotechnics; in reality, they were indiscriminate attacks fired in all directions.

Upon realizing this, he used his Divine Lightning Body to appear in front of the princess instantly. He knew that if a member of the royal family died, there could be issues with the Consecration Matrix. Alon observed the ice he had formed in front of him. Although it blocked the impact, it was so cracked that it would crumble at the next hit.

“Are you okay?” Alon asked, turning around.

He saw Princess Irene looking at him with a stunned expression. She seemed hypnotized by his presence, but he cut her trance immediately:

“Run.”

“… Ah, yes!” she nodded, standing up at once.

“Contanias, do as planned,” Alon said, turning toward the prince.

Even amidst the chaos, Contanias nodded and regained his composure to organize the situation.

“Everyone, follow me!”

He began to evacuate the building, followed by some escort knights who looked at Alon, unable to even imagine his true identity. Once they stepped out, Alon looked down.

The surface was absolute chaos. With every explosion of the “fireworks,” attacks similar to blades rained down, tearing through buildings as if they were the claws of a beast, collapsing them. Students ran in every direction trying to dodge the rubble and projectiles. It was a literal hell.

However, there was a ray of hope.

Wuuuuuuu—!

Penia was displaying a use of magic close to divinity. She blocked the random attacks directed at the plaza at the exact moment, minimizing mana loss and even suppressing the impact recoil. Thanks to her, the students suffered no direct damage from the celestial explosions.

But the problem was something else.

“Aaaaagh!”

Despite Penia desperately blocking the projectiles, there were still victims. And they were caused by other students… No. By the Religion of War (전쟁의 업좌).

Alon observed the crowd. Most students were fleeing to escape the disaster, but among them…

Stab!

“Ugh!”

… the Religion of War had infiltrated. People who smiled in the middle of the carnage as they began to massacre their own comrades. As panic grew, the infiltrators revealed their identities, and Alon‘s expression hardened.

‘There are at least fifty.’

That many? Alon shook his head. He knew that, except for the apostles, the members of the sect went unnoticed until they were controlled through brainwashing.

‘The bulk of the people were supposed to gather tomorrow. Why have they acted today?’

Alon frowned. According to his plans, the ritual was supposed to be tomorrow, as not all the nobles had arrived yet. Had information been leaked? Or was there some other motive? Although his mind filled with doubts, Alon focused immediately. The original plan to ensure the students’ safety had been ruined by the early attack, but now the priority was…

“Fuu.”

… to eliminate them.

“Chained Operation: Chain Lightning.“

Pachik!

As he intoned the phrase, the mana in front of Alon was instantly tinted with the energy of thunder.

“Reduction (縮小).“

Alon counted the number of sectarians who revealed their identities below: exactly 57.

“Arrangement (排列).“

Simultaneously, he traced the optimal route in his mind.

“Projection (射出).“

The lightning bullets formed before his eyes shot out.

Zas!

In a blink, they pierced the bodies of the sectarians attacking the students. Up, down, to the sides. The lightning bullets dodged the crowd of students in the chaos to surgically impact only the 57 targets before dissipating.

Kwaduk!

At the same time, purple threads sprouted among the fireworks that still adorned the sunset. Thousands, tens of thousands of threads caught the projectiles trying to rise to the sky as if they were tentacles, dragging them toward the ground. It was as if a gigantic abyssal fish devoured the lights before they could explode.

As the students finished evacuating, Alon sighed and headed toward an exhausted Penia.

“Are you okay, Penia?”

“Yes… though I feel like I’m going to die. If the Director hadn’t helped me block, it would have been difficult.”

“… The Director?”

Alon followed Penia‘s gaze and saw the Director of the academy approaching them, sighing with fatigue just like her.

“You are…” the Director said, observing them.

‘I think his name was… Anderos?’ Alon remembered the name of the man he had heard a couple of times: Anderos Macedonia. A Circle 8 mage in the Empire, already bordering Circle 9.

“I’m sorry, but we will give explanations later,” Alon told the Director.

“I don’t doubt you; I also received orders to help you. But your magic is…” The Director began to speak with strangeness but fell silent.

Alon felt relieved not to have to give tedious explanations at that moment. Penia, who had already regained her blue hair after removing the ring and was panting from the effort, looked toward where the fireworks had been.

“Luckily… it seems they moved immediately.”

“True.”

Although explosions could still be heard, pyrotechnics were no longer seen ascending to the sky. Alon nodded, but suddenly…

K-BOOOOM!

A massive roar forced him to turn his gaze toward the commercial area.

Rumble!

He saw fragments flying in all directions after a new explosion, while the Golden Eyes of Rine shot out in an erratic pattern across the entire area. Alon let out a small sigh.

“… It seems everything is going according to plan.”

“That’s right,” Penia nodded with relief.

“Let’s go meet up with them.”

Although he doubted Rine and Yutia Bloodia needed help, Alon knew that in a battle, nothing can be taken for granted. Just as he was about to turn around:

“Ha.”

With a small exclamation, a woman appeared in front of Alon. She wore the academy uniform and had a furrowed brow, clearly displeased with the current situation.

“What are you?” she asked, emanating a strange power. Alon knew immediately that she was an Apostle of the Religion of War.

“An Apostle.”

“… It seems information was leaked somewhere,” the Apostle said with a mocking laugh of incredulity. She wore a blue third-year student tag but looked confused, as if a data leak were something impossible.

She observed the rubble and explosions coming from the commercial area and muttered:

“I’m curious to know who opened their mouth, but I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.” She stared fixedly at Alon. “Regardless, you’ve already ruined everything.”

Alon, without saying a word, deployed his Shadow Tree. At the same time, in the sky darkening after sunset, star clusters began to form. The Apostle also released her aura in silence. Her presence exploded in an explosive manner. It wasn’t mana or holy power; to Alon, it was something infinitely heterogeneous sprouting from her.

Alon instinctively prepared for combat.

‘It’s dangerous.’

He had heard from The Wanderer that the Apostles blessed by War would be harder to handle than a Divine Blood. Alon had interpreted it as meaning that, even if they were weaker than a Rank 1 Divine Blood, their abilities would be problematic. But now he understood his mistake.

That aura emanating from the Apostle was more threatening than any Rank 1 Divine Blood he had seen so far. Feeling every cell in his body go on alert against an opponent he couldn’t lower his guard against, he thought of Rine, Yutia Bloodia, and Deus.

‘How many Apostles did they say there were?’

Worrying about Yutia and Rine was perhaps unnecessary; he knew they wouldn’t fall easily to an Apostle. But he was worried about Deus.

‘I must finish this as quickly as possible.’

Alon sighed and maintained his position in this tense confrontation. Neither of them moved. If the opponent were someone within normal parameters, Alon would have attacked already, but caution prevented him from acting. He had before him an Apostle of the “Apostle of War,” and he was unaware of her capabilities. He knew that those who reached the second level ceased to be called Divine Blood to be called “Apostle,” and their abilities were outside all common logic.

Even if it was “only” an Apostle, if the origin of her power was similar to that of an Apostle, a hasty move would be a fatal error. Furthermore, it was suspicious that the Apostle, who seemed ready to launch an attack, remained static waiting for their strike. As the silence prolonged:

“Humph!”

The Director, Anderos Macedonia, who had been quiet until now, took the initiative. A gigantic ice spear formed so quickly it surprised Penia and Alon, and it shot toward the Apostle…

Pfft.

… But it didn’t reach its destination?

Alon and Penia saw the Director disappear from their sight in an instant. The man who was reciting a spell a second ago had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him.

No. He hadn’t vanished.

Splat!

Belatedly, a sound reached their ears. A dry sound, like a watermelon bursting. Immediately after, blood splashed in all directions. It was then that Alon and Penia understood: the Director hadn’t disappeared.

“!”

He had simply been compressed.

“Next,” the Apostle said with a quiet voice and an expression of macabre joy.