SRS 97

“Wait, Suhyeok! It is too dangerous alone!”

Yohan chased his friend toward the window.

“What? Why is he even there?”

Suhyeok threw the window open. He intended to swing his blade at the monster but froze in shock instead. Yohan stood beside him and looked out. Just as Suhyeok said, something was caught in the green monster’s grip.

“Good heavens. Melek!”

Melek had consumed a potion of negativity and cowardice. He now was limp in the monster’s hand with a look of despair.

“I am a failure. It is all over now. I have no will to live. Someone like me could never survive this school. I should drop out. I need to drop out.”

The student offered no resistance and chanted negative thoughts like a mantra. Yohan narrowed his eyes at the sight. Suhyeok felt the weight of that accusing gaze and cleared his throat before he turned his focus to the green monster. He seemed more aggressive now that he felt responsible for Melek’s plight.

“I shall assist.”

Kylus drew his sword and aimed it at the green creature. The monster held Melek in one hand and gripped an exterior lamp with the other. A massive bundle sat upon its back. Despite its burdens, the monster was agile and easily slipped past the incoming blades.

“It is like an eel.”

Suhyeok clicked his tongue when every attack met only empty air. Suddenly, Mikael jumped out of the dormitory window.

Yohan almost called out his name in a panic. However, Mikael used flight magic to hover in the air and cast an ice spell before Yohan could speak. He had jumped outside to follow the rule that prohibited the use of supernatural powers within the dormitory walls.

Cr-crack!

Ice began to spread over the green monster’s skin. The two swordsmen did not miss the moment its movements slowed.

Clang!

The sharp blades shattered the ice and pierced the monster’s shoulder. Suhyeok drove his sword deep, he meant to pin the creature to the exterior wall. Kylus grabbed Suhyeok to keep him from a lethal fall as he leaned out at a precarious angle.

–Kee-ge-gek!

The green monster struggled and clawed at its shoulder. It lost its grip on Melek in the struggle.

“Mikael!”

Yohan shouted for the white-haired student immediately. Mikael quickly descended to snatch Melek from the air before he glided back up.

Mikael looked like a pristine white hawk as he gracefully moved through the sky.

“I am a defective product.”

“Mikael. Please cast a silence spell on Melek.”

“Very well.”

Yohan watched the mouth of his friend become sealed for a short time. The constant mumbles were distracting. He turned his attention back to the green monster. The creature was green from head to toe with two arms and legs like a human. Its ears stretched out and tapered into sharp points.

“…I have never seen a monster like this. Is it truly a dimensional monster?”

“It seems so. But it is remarkably weak for a creature from another realm. Usually, they are much harder to handle.”

Swish.

“.….”

A chill ran down Yohan’s spine. He sensed a horrifying presence and tilted his head back to look at the wall above them. Suhyeok and Kylus did the same. They leaned out of the window to inspect the upper floors. A second later, a piercing scream tore through the air.

“Aaaaagh!”

“What are these things?”

“Help! Save me!”

Screams erupted from every direction. This chaos was not limited to the West Tower.

Cries for help echoed from other dormitories in the distance. The entire residential area shook with the sudden uproar.

The culprits were them.

Yohan, Kylus, Suhyeok, and Mikael stared in disbelief. Hundreds of the green monsters they had just fought were now crawling down the exterior walls from the roof.

A few of the creatures spotted Yohan and tore their mouths open in a wide grin.

–Kee-kee-kee!

Yohan bit his lip at that greedy and malicious laughter.

He processed the situation in an instant and made a decision.

“Everyone, run!”

The dormitory would be surrounded in heartbeats. The protective barrier on the building might hold for a short time, but only against a small number of foes. There were at least five hundred… no, seven hundred monsters in sight. The barrier would never withstand such a hoard.

There was only one choice left.

They had to escape to a wider area before the perimeter closed!

Yohan led the way and jumped down first. Suhyeok and Kylus followed right behind him. Mikael used his flight magic to catch them and keep them afloat in the air.

This plan relied on the fact that the green monsters had no wings. They would be vulnerable in an aerial battle.

However, the sense of safety did not last.

Whiz!

The green monsters reached into their bundles and pulled out hammers and axes. They began to hurl the weapons at Yohan’s group with reckless abandon.

“Whoa!”

“.….!”

Clang!

Suhyeok shouted as he twisted his body to avoid an incoming axe. Kylus swung his sword in an arc and deflected the blades that flew toward Mikael and Yohan. Yohan moved quickly to cast a protective barrier and asked Mikael to retreat a short distance.

Mikael maintained the flight spell on the group as he pulled them far back from the exterior wall. This vantage point allowed Yohan to see the West Tower in its entirety. He let out a heavy sigh at the sight.

The number of green monsters was at least double what he had estimated before.

“…What on earth is happening?”

The creatures had emerged from above. Yohan remembered this detail and looked toward the very peak of the tower. He saw a jagged crack forming in the sky right above the pointed spire.

He did not need a professor to come and explain the nature of that fissure.

A dimensional rift.

The same rifts that had been causing trouble elsewhere had finally opened inside Fantasiademia.

“…Wow, this looks exactly like a Monster Wave.”

“A Monster Wave?”

“In the dimension where I lived, this is exactly what happens if you fail to clear a dungeon.”

Suhyeok explained with a scowl before he turned to look at Yohan.

“What is the plan?”

“……”

Yohan rubbed his brow. He did not think they could handle such a vast number of monsters on their own. If they possessed that kind of power, they would be teaching at the academy rather than attending as students.

“…We must find a professor.”

“Don’t they already know? With all this noise? Look, the dormitory supervisor is already out there.”

Suhyeok pointed downward. The supervisor had emerged with a pained expression. He helped students evacuate while he fought off the swarms of green monsters that leaped from the walls.

“Uaaah… I want to drop out…! What kind of school is this?!”

“It isn’t even four in the morning yet! Why are we being attacked now?!”

“Stop crying and run, you brats! If you aren’t going to help the supervisor, get moving!”

“We-we will help!”

“Go now, Merfin!”

The students who had escaped the dormitory reacted with a mix of terror and confusion. Yohan looked back at the tower. Many students had not yet escaped and were either struggling against the monsters at their windows or being threatened by them.

They won’t be able to avoid casualties if this continued.

Yohan calculated the limits of his power. He finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had no other choice.

His conscience pointed toward only one path, and he could not ignore its pull. Even though he knew it was reckless, Yohan chose to follow the plea of his inner moral compass.

“Let’s help. …Of course, you three can evacuate first. But I cannot leave.”

Yohan offered a bitter smile as he looked back at his friends. The students of Room 304 saw his determination and chuckled. Suhyeok drew two daggers from his waist.

“How could we evacuate first when you say that with such a face?”

“…A knight does not show his back to the enemy.”

“I will drop Melek off in a safe place and return shortly. As for the magic… I will imbue your magic stones with the flight spell. This will allow you to maintain flight under your own will for a while.”

Mikael reached out and touched the gems set in the center of their cravats. The stones glowed briefly as they absorbed Mikael’s mana. Just as he promised, their bodies began to move through the air according to their own intentions.

Yohan touched his gem and expressed his gratitude.

He had expected at least one person to choose safety, yet not a single student from Room 304 turned away.

It did not surprise him. He had guessed they would make this choice from the moment he spoke.

They had not become the friends of a priest by accident. Yohan nodded to himself, feeling once more that he was lucky in his choice of companions.

“Then… let’s go. I will head to the tower first, Mikael.”

Yohan gave a short farewell and approached the dormitory tower with his two friends.

“Ugh… uugh!”

The first person he reached was Isaac in the neighboring room. Isaac was crying with terror as green monsters pounded mindlessly against his window. Yohan flew toward them like a bolt of lightning. He kicked a monster with enough force to knock it off the exterior wall and threw the window open.

“Isaac!”

Yohan shouted and reached out. Isaac hesitated for a moment before he stepped forward.

“Hurry!”

Yohan yelled as time grew short. The terrified student scrambled through the window and grabbed Yohan’s hand. Yohan pulled his friend into the air and leaned his own body against the dormitory wall. Since he was holding Isaac, his hands were not free; he had to use his physical contact with the building as an anchor.

In that position, Yohan recited a prayer.

This was beyond the reach of his usual divine power. He had to plead for divine intervention.

The only consolation was that this was not a full summoning of a deity. He did not need to offer his own flesh and blood as a sacrifice.

Yohan closed his eyes and whispered.

“Protect us.”

A massive pillar of light descended from the heavens and struck the West Tower. The holy radiance acted like a purge against the impure. It tore the green monsters away from the walls. Not all of them were gone, but at least one or two hundred creatures fell to the ground below. The light then wrapped around the stone walls to reinforce the building’s defenses.

“Cough!”

Immediately after, Yohan coughed up blood with such intensity that it soaked Isaac’s clothes.

“Yohan!”

Isaac’s face turned pale with worry.