Chapter 98

◈ Chapter 98: The Fire Banquet (3)

At Rine's question, Ludger momentarily trembled.

However, it was such a fleeting moment that Rine did not notice.

Ludger calmly replied, "What are you talking about? Did you see a mirage?"

"Huh? Ah, no, just. I suddenly had that feeling."

"Enough with the nonsense. The treatment is over."

"Ah."

Rine checked her injured leg. As Ludger had said, the wound had healed quickly thanks to the medicine.

"Rine, you should leave this place as soon as possible. It's dangerous here."

"B-But what about you, sir?"

"I will do what I must as a teacher. You are the last one left, so go quickly."

"..."

Rine hesitated, wanting to say something.

In such a tense situation, she couldn't just ask Ludger her questions.

Still, what was this feeling?

Her mind was screaming to ask Ludger her questions right away.

'No, I can't interfere with the teacher.'

Rine reluctantly shook off her lingering thoughts and bowed to Ludger.

"Thank you for saving me."

Then she ran in the direction Ludger had indicated.

After confirming that Rine had completely disappeared from his sight, Ludger turned his gaze to the banquet hall.

Roar!

As the fire giant began to move, the mages and guards were being pushed back helplessly.

While no more deaths occurred as they had before, it was only a matter of time before that changed.

Ludger checked his own condition.

He intended to end this noisy banquet here.

* * *

Countless spells flew through the air.

The target was the supreme fire elemental, the cause of all this chaos.

Eventually, the spells collided with the fire elemental, exploding and scattering powerful shockwaves around.

"Got it?"

Just as the mage, who was sweating from excessive mana consumption, finished muttering, the smoke cleared to reveal the intact fire giant.

It seemed even more ferocious than before, glowing with even hotter flames.

"Move!"

At that moment, Seorun's elementalists stepped forward.

Leading them was Angela Anderson, who taught the fifth-year classes.

"Rip it apart! <Ventusvalpe>!"

Ventusvalpe, the high-level wind elemental.

The giant wolf with a white mane, at the command of its contractor, lunged at the fire giant and bit into its neck.

Roar!

The fire giant, which had remained unmoved even by powerful spells, finally reacted.

In pain, it clenched its right fist and tried to strike the wolf hanging from its upper body.

"That won't work."

Then, Vierano Dantis, the elf who taught the fourth-year classes, stepped forward.

Behind him, a small salamander made of pure water swam around.

When Vierano raised his hand and pointed at the fire giant, the water elemental moved.

It curled its small body into a ball and shot forward like a cannonball.

Boom!

It collided with the fire giant's fist, which was about to strike Ventusvalpe's side.

No one at the scene thought the small lizard could block the giant's attack.

But the result was surprising. The fire giant's right fist turned black and the flames were extinguished below the elbow.

The high-level water elemental, <Unsylain>.

Compared to the high-level wind elemental Ventusvalpe, it was much smaller.

But its power was far greater than other elementals.

Especially against a fire elemental, which was its opposite element.

"Done! We did it!"

"We can win with this!"

Some people who had been watching from behind cheered.

But Vierano, the contractor of Unsylain, frowned.

'Even with a powerful attack, I couldn't completely bring it down.'

Others might not have noticed, but he did.

Especially Unsylain, who had been contracted to him, was struggling to maintain its form after the collision.

Just deflecting the punch had put them at a significant disadvantage.

'Perhaps a high-level elemental can't handle a supreme elemental.'

The supreme fire elemental that suddenly appeared in the center of the banquet hall.

Unlike ordinary elementals, it took a human form and emitted a strong aura of hostility.

It was definitely not an ordinary elemental.

'If the principal were here, things would be different.'

The principal had left in a hurry a little while ago.

The fire elemental appeared after that, so the principal couldn't come to help.

Perhaps.

The one who orchestrated this attack might have taken advantage of the principal's absence.

The timing was too coincidental.

Even so, with many of Seorun's teachers present, the attack had still begun.

They must have been confident in their power.

'If they can control a supreme fire elemental, it makes sense. But who? Who would initiate a terrorist attack with that level of skill?'

However, his thoughts didn't last long.

The supreme fire elemental, which had momentarily paused, began to move again.

Sizzle!

The fire in its right fist, which had been extinguished, flared up again.

The blow from Unsylain, which had thrown itself into the attack, seemed to be nothing to the supreme elemental.

Vierano thought a bold decision was needed.

"Teacher Angela! Pull Ventusvalpe back!"

"Understood."

Angela immediately pulled Ventusvalpe back.

Immediately, a scorching heat spread around the fire giant's body.

If the retreat had been even a moment slower, Ventusvalpe would have been overwhelmed by the heat and recalled.

Teacher Angela muttered in astonishment.

"That... is the power of a supreme elemental."

"Right now, we can't bring it down. But we can buy time. Let's combine our strength."

Eventually, the police of Redervik would move once they received the news.

More accurately, the city's knights, who were above them.

With their help, bringing down the fire giant would be much easier.

'But the elemental is fully heated up. Even if we combine our strength for defense, how long can we hold out?'

In this situation, they might have to use all their strength, even if it meant suffering aftereffects.

Just as he was resolving to do so and about to share his thoughts with others, Vierano noticed a black shadow rising above the fire giant's head.

"Huh?"

"What is that?"

The other guards and mages were also surprised.

A man was floating high above, almost touching the ceiling, looking down at the fire giant.

His black coat fluttered on his shoulders.

He was floating in the air, holding a cane in both hands.

"Rudger Chelis?"

The most frequently mentioned name in Seorun recently.

He had now joined the fight.

'But why now?'

His skills were well-known from the magic duel at the beginning of the banquet.

But this was different.

The opponent was a supreme fire elemental. Even if Rudger Chelis was exceptionally skilled, he couldn't just take it on...

'It's been noticed!'

Vierano's worry came true.

The fire giant had sensed Rudger's presence.

Its fiery eyes, filled with the essence of fire, looked up at Rudger.

Rudger silently stared at the grotesque creature.

Crack.

Did it not like his gaze? The fire giant distorted its face and clenched its fist.

At that moment, Rudger's magic manifested.

A third-tier magic combined with source code. It appeared around him at a speed beyond rapid.

Around Rudger, numerous blades made of various elements appeared, like the hands of countless clocks.

But they were few in number and seemed insufficient to deal with the enemy in front of him.

Finally, the hand holding the cane pointed at the fire giant.

The magic moved simultaneously.

'This won't work...'

All the teachers watching had the same thought.

The fire giant would take the hit from Rudger and then engulf him in flames.

The scene that played out in everyone's mind was the same.

But.

Roar!

The fire giant suddenly screamed and hunched its body.

It seemed to be protecting something from Rudger's magic.

Rudger's magic struck the fire giant's back.

Even the onlookers were surprised by the giant's sudden action.

'Why? Why is the fire elemental, which had been unaffected until now, moving like this?'

Vierano recalled something he had overlooked.

"...The medium? Could he be targeting that?"

"Huh? Teacher Vierano, are you talking about the elemental's medium?"

Angela asked, and Vierano nodded.

Once he was sure, things he hadn't noticed before became clear. Why had such a massive elemental suddenly appeared in the center of the banquet hall?

It was because it had been summoned using a high-quality medium.

Most elementals are summoned using the contractor's mana, so he had forgotten about the other possibility.

"Teacher Rudger is directly targeting the medium used to summon the elemental. That's why the elemental is reacting and hunching its body."

"Does the medium have a separate form?"

In response to Partonia's question, Angela answered with a serious face.

"If it does, it's a big problem. The fire elemental is protecting it with its body. It would be impossible to break through with ordinary firepower."

As she said, all of Rudger's attacks were blocked by the fire giant's body.

No matter how many spells they cast, they couldn't penetrate the fire giant and destroy the medium inside.

Rudger thought the same.

'The power is insufficient. Using other magic here would be difficult.'

He had almost exhausted himself from overusing mana earlier.

If he used more mana now, he wouldn't be able to recover for a while, even with medicine.

Moreover, there were too many eyes watching.

If he used his 'real magic' here, the aftermath would be far greater