‘What’s going on?’

Opening one eye slightly, the sacred bracelet was absorbing the black energy.

“Oh.”

The sacred sword let out a short exclamation. Is this really the time for that?

Seeing this, the Red Eagles exchanged glances and simultaneously drew daggers to throw at Rukna.

More than ten blades rained down like a shower.

Rukna quickly pulled out the club she hadn’t fully drawn and swung it like a windmill blade to block the attack.

The Red Eagles with their hoods pulled low stirred.

“That one has a peculiar weapon.”

“That, isn’t it the sacred sword that was said to have disappeared? The holy power is tremendous!”

“You idiot, would a sacred sword be a stick like that? It must be a new weapon developed by the temple.”

Those trapped by preconceptions did not think Rukna’s weapon was the sacred sword.

“Then that one must be a high-ranking priest disguised as a student. Only those with strong holy power from the Closet bloodline and high-ranking priests can easily resist black magic.”

“The Closet was wiped out, and we took care of all the priests moving to the Island of Wisdom. That one is probably just a mutant. There’s always one mutant somewhere, right?”

“That’s true. But such a being is dangerous, so let’s nip it in the bud.”

The black magicians judged that Rukna had to be killed immediately.

They each drew their swords and lunged at Rukna.

Rukna nimbly avoided the attacks while smoothly connecting movements to strike the back of their heads one by one with the holy power-infused club.

“1 o’clock direction, space distortion black magic is unfolding. Move to the opposite side for dispel. 0/3”

“Like a rat, ugh!”

“The opponent is incapacitated. Purification impossible. 1/3”

“Turn your head to the left to dodge and take three steps back.”

Unlike in movies or novels where they attack one by one, three attacked at once, causing the black magicians to get tangled up with each other, missing Rukna’s quick movements.

“Someone is approaching. Probability of recognizing the great Bisbi is below 9%. Connect part of the holy power to the bracelet, maintaining the state but reducing the power.”

With those words, Rukna’s bracelet gleamed.

“Oh, Ruka. Looks like the bracelet performance is quite good? The situation’s not bad.”

Chad, who had disappeared, belatedly appeared and looked around.

That crazy bastard, Chad, was holding a red bracelet in his hand that he had bought from somewhere.

“Where did you pick up that ugly stick?”

Chad smirked as he looked over the sacred sword. Fortunately, he did not notice the sword’s power.

His languid eyes, moving away from Rukna, slowly turned towards the black magicians.

“Admirably, you’ve already taken down one. Seems your skills are quite impressive, how remarkable.”

“Stop talking and take a defensive stance, Chad.”

“Hahaha. Are you ordering me now? I hate being ordered around, Ruka.”

Then what am I supposed to do? Rukna glanced at Chad. At that moment, one of the black magicians lunged at Chad.

“Oops.”

Chad dodged the attack by moving his body backwards.

The poisoned dagger aimed at Chad flew straight towards Rukna.

“Move two steps to the right then protect your chest.”

Thwack! Rukna raised the sacred sword to her heart area to block the incoming poison dagger. It was a close call.

“You’re nimble, Ruka.”

“Don’t just watch, help out!”

Rukna immediately kicked the black magician in the abdomen.

Ugh! Thud. The body flew and crashed into the ground.

Chad, watching the situation from behind, leaned his upper body to the side and whispered in Rukna’s ear.

“I don’t want to. It’s to my advantage if someone who knows my secret is in danger, Ruka.”

“You bastard!”

Rukna gritted her teeth and focused on the front.

The black magician who had been sent rolling out immediately stood up again and took an attacking stance.

‘They’re strong. What should I do?’

With Chad present, it was difficult to freely use the sacred sword’s power.

As cold sweat ran down her back, Chad continued speaking.

“But I’ll make an exception for Ruka. Because Ruka is interesting. In return, you have to wear the bracelet I bought you, okay?”

He winked and shoved the red bracelet into Rukna’s pants pocket.

“You…!”

Rukna was about to glare at Chad when her eyes widened.

A red magic circle pattern had clearly appeared in Chad’s irises.

‘Magic?’

And as she turned her head, a huge magic circle formed beneath the terrorist’s feet, and a powerful whirlwind arose from the center of the magic circle.

The black magicians also tried to use black magic by drawing blood from their fingers, but they couldn’t keep up with Chad’s calculation speed.

The black magicians caught in the whirlwind soared high into the sky like eagles, their namesake, and flew far away.

‘It’s certainly impressive.’

With that one spell, she could understand why the lazy bum who had dozed off throughout the lecture was second in the school and even the vice president.

“They fly soooo well.”

Chad put his hand to his forehead and watched until the terrorists crashed to the ground.

“I did it, but it was really clean. Don’t you think, Ruka?”

Chad asked, but there was no answer. He had expected an immediate rebuke for showing off, but it was strange.

“Ruka?”

Chad looked around the empty surroundings. This time, Rukna was nowhere to be seen.

Rukna had disappeared somewhere along with the Grand Sage who had been lying on the ground.

Meanwhile, Matian was in a standoff with the terrorists at the top of the central tower.

There was a triangular glass tank filled with water ether.

The transparent pipes connected to the tank were responsible for transporting water to each laboratory on the island, and the terrorists had been deploying a black magic circle there when they encountered the student corps.

The battle that took place in the not-so-large space was advantageous for the black magicians.

Several students caught in the black magic had their bodies twisted and were coughing up blood, but fortunately, there were no major casualties thanks to Matian’s excellent leadership.

The tide of battle gradually turned in Matian’s favor.

“Damn it, I won’t let this go!”

As the leader of the terrorist group used the blood drawn from his finger as a medium to deploy black magic, a dark red magic circle appeared beneath Matian’s feet, and black hands stretched out like jellyfish tentacles.

They wrapped around Matian’s legs and lower body, and black mist that spewed from below joined in to envelop his body.

Crack, crackle! The hands made an eerie sound as they pulled Matian down, but Matian’s expression didn’t change at all.

Usually, one would lose their mind when engulfed by the black energy, but he remained completely unfazed without the slightest tremor.

“Y-you, how can you withstand this!”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors? About what’s in my heart.”

Thanks to the demon fragment he had been born with, Matian felt the black magical power as his own strength, with only a slight pain in his heart.

“C-could it be that you’re that Wiegratz?”

“What difference would it make if I am?”

“One who treats black magical power, which even we find burdensome, as their own strength is a perfect demon… Ugh!”

“I don’t like being called a demon, you see.”

Matian cut down the opponent diagonally without hesitation.

The enemy’s body was sliced like paper and fell to the floor with a thud.

As the leader lost his life, the remaining black magicians exchanged glances and began to take their own lives.

“What’s wrong with these guys?”

“L-look over there!”

Using that life as a medium, the black magic circle at the top of the central tower activated and began spewing black smoke.

As that smoke enveloped and began to contaminate the large glass tank containing the water ether, Matian wrapped the bracelet containing holy power around his blade.

Then, emitting his aura to the maximum to amplify the holy power in the bracelet, he shattered the glass tank where the contamination had begun.

Crash!

As the blue ether poured onto the floor along with the shattered glass pieces, the black magical power that had been rising darkly gradually faded and dissipated.

Overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the unapproachable power, the students couldn’t ask Matian any questions and had to clean up the scene.

Only Bolton knelt in front of the broken glass tank and wailed, “The precious ether that all the alchemists on the island could experiment with for ten days!”

Randall, a student who had been watching the whole situation, pushed up his glasses and approached Matian from behind.

“Th-that was really amazing just now, Matian. I, I want to become like you too.”

Randall fidgeted with his fingers and added words to Matian, who showed no reaction.

“B-but what should we do now that all the black magicians are dead? We, we couldn’t capture the enemy alive.”

Matian, who had been wearing a cold expression, finally turned around, wiping the blood splattered on his face with the back of his hand.

Wearing a very kind smile, which was quite good for something hastily put on.

“This inner area was probably bait to lure us in anyway. We just need to secure the remaining forces hiding outside.”

“R-remaining forces? B-but there are no students who can handle the remaining forces… Ah, ah, Chad?”

“And there’s one more suspicious skilled person.”

“Wh-who’s the suspicious skilled person? Uh, uh, Ma-Matian, where are you going?”

Matian didn’t answer that question and immediately went down the tower.

‘I wonder how far Rukna has managed.’

Whether she’s crying after miserably failing her first real mission or smiling after barely succeeding, either way, it was certain to arouse his thirst.