Chapter 288 Volume V - Chapter 6: Flames Dissipating Chaos
My eyes sharpened as if the world had suddenly become many times clearer. A colorless energy, but distinct because of its intensity, mana, enveloped my whole body.
I raised my hand, directing the mana in my body with my movements to make it easier to do what I wanted to do in my mind.
When the two creatures in front of me were about to tear my whole body apart with their claws and tails, and the creature attacking me from behind was planning to bite me with its huge jaws... I quickly brought my hand down, using my passive skill, Friend of Mana, to the fullest.
The mana around me suddenly calmed down. The sounds stopped as if time slowed down. The mana that had been flowing calmly in the atmosphere until now, sleeping, suddenly woke up. It collapsed as if it had gained weight many times over. And it pinned the creatures to the ground with it.
I tried to get back among them, to kill a few more, but I knew that would not be enough, I needed to take down many more.
I took a single step toward them, prepared to redirect my mana, but... just then, countless roars filled my ears.
My eyes quickly turned to the red-colored portal, then the flood of creatures pouring out of it, and my eyes widened.
There were too many of them. There really were too many, there was no way we could withstand this much. It had been barely a minute and yet the number of creatures was growing exponentially with each passing second.
Despair and hopelessness enveloped my whole body in an instant.
I could have saved myself here, but what I wanted was to prevent anyone from dying or getting hurt. But when I saw the number of creatures multiplying... it felt like a dream.
Not just for me, but for everyone who was running and fighting in the area.
Still, I clenched my teeth, my fists. I was going to do my best, that was my goal in the first place. If I ran away, if I walked away again... then I would continue to deceive myself.
So, I took another step, a short but firm step toward the torrent of creatures. It was at this moment, in the midst of all this desperation... that I paused, even involuntarily. I seemed to lose my balance as if something had slapped me hard.
I felt a surge of mana, more intense than I had ever felt before, one that felt dangerous. That's why I hesitated, why I lost my balance even for a moment. Not only me but even the creatures that had attacked me staggered as if they had been slapped, unable to continue their attacks.
I quickly turned my head back, toward the center of the mana wave. At the point where countless students were fleeing, I noticed a figure with her hands simply raised in the air.
She had blond hair and blue eyes that sparkled with fury. She was wearing one of her usual suits, always maintaining the appearance of a businesswoman. It was the same now. But... this time she was a little different than usual. This time she was not calm. She was angry. She had a fierce look, a furrowed brow as if she was pissed off.
Her eyes squinted for a moment. While all the creatures in the area stopped moving and looked at her, he, Rector Melany, gave each of them only brief glances. Her eyes shifted for a moment to the red gate, through which creatures continued to pour every second. Then... she squeezed the hand she had raised toward them.
In an instant, an orangish glow rose from the field into the sky. A spark appeared above each of the gray-skinned, four-legged creatures. Then flames rose from these sparks and engulfed them one by one.
As the creatures' screams of agony continued to echo in everyone's ears, Melany kept her eyes on the gate. Her blue eyes flashed with rage again for a moment, the mana leaking from her body expanding as if to cover the entire field. Then a huge wall of flames closed in on her, centering on the red portal in the center of the square.
Amidst the screams of the creatures, as they emerged from the gate and faced the wall of flames, Melany Quie slowly made her way through the students who stared at her. No one made a sound, all eyes were on her.
All the chaos in the field had suddenly calmed down. Despair and helplessness disappeared, replaced by surprise and the slight happiness that comes with it. After all, everything was under the control of the person in front of our eyes.
Everyone who had survived had been saved. They didn't need to run anymore.
"Those who don't have a problem, help the injured. We will take care of the rest. Also..."
Her eyes slowly shifted to her right for a moment, focusing on someone not far from me. Damian White made eye contact with her, his battle staff in hand, and he smiled slightly and waved his hand. With a sigh, Melany tore her eyes away from him, glancing briefly at each of the men fighting the creatures one by one.
Eventually, she looked at me, her expression not changing one bit as her gaze lingered on me for a few seconds. Then she sighed once again and paused when she finally reached the front of the dungeon, surrounded by flames.
"Those of you who fought the creatures, thank you for preventing this from escalating."
With those words, the wall of flame in front of the gate split in two, revealing a pile of corpses of creatures that had burned to death. Melany Quie walked through them as if nothing had happened and entered the dungeon without looking back once more.
As soon as the rector entered the dungeon, all the flames in the area were slowly extinguished. Then, in the brief silence that followed, the academy staff began to pour into the area.
I couldn't help swallowing as my clenched fist slowly loosened. While most of the people around me were finally breathing a sigh of relief, some crying with joy, I... just stood there.
She was strong. Melany Quie was strong. From the surge of mana around her, from the immense control she had over her flames, it wasn't hard for me in particular to understand. Aside from the strength of her flames, she had tremendous control over her power.
Is this what it's like to be an S- grade person?
"Hey, are you okay?"
I was startled for a moment by a voice from behind me, then remembering where I was, I slowly turned toward the voice. There was a healer in front of me, looking at me with urgent eyes, waiting for my answer.
"Oh, I'm fine. I don't have any serious injuries except the one on my shoulder, I'd appreciate it if you prioritized the others."
The healer nodded, though he made sure to send a notification to a team to come to me through the device on his wrist.
In the end, what I did was to let myself fall to the ground with a deep sigh. I smiled involuntarily as I watched the ground, my eyes slightly squinted.
I protected someone. I prevented someone from dying. I did it.
Moreover... I saw with my own eyes how strong someone of S- grade was.
As my smile widened slightly, imagining that one day I could be as strong as Melany Quie, it wasn't long before I was approached again by a couple of healers. Like most people in the area, I was taken to the hospital.
*******
I didn't spend much time in the hospital as I didn't have any serious injuries apart from my punctured shoulder, which had already healed somewhat thanks to the Guardian Radiance. After a simple bandage and a low-level potion, I was free.
The first thing I did was to check on Julian, Lucia, and Sue. I knew that no one had died thanks to students like Damian White who had helped most of them escape. But... that didn't change the fact that there were some seriously injured people.
Lucia was not badly hurt except for a few grazes, and Sue was among the first to leave the area and was able to get away quickly. But Julian... well, he was a bit worse off.
One of the creatures had bitten his arm while he was trying to save someone. If he hadn't formed a layer of ice over his arm at the last moment, it might have been separated from his body, but thanks to his reflexes, he only broke his arm. But that was not the only wound he received.
The creatures had taken advantage of his emptiness to attack him, sticking their sharp tails into the left side of his abdomen. So when he was taken to the hospital, he was immediately given special attention.
Of course, even though he was badly injured... he didn't die. In fact, he didn't even care that he was injured.
"Julian... I still think you should stay in bed."
His ocean blue eyes narrowed, his discomfort reflected on his face, while he pouted as if to show that he was bored.
"But I am bored... Just 'resting' in bed is too boring. I don't know how Aiden could do that. Besides... if it was you, you'd already be at the training center."
I opened my mouth, wanting to retort, but then I paused as I realized he was right.
"Whatever."
I leaned back in my chair in the hospital room, right across from Julian's bed. For a short while nothing was said between us, and I couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"Have you checked the news?"
In response to my question, Julian leaned back on his bed, his eyes fixed on the wall.
"Yes, I have. But I don't understand how they could do something like this."
I couldn't understand it either, no one could. After all... Lunerra was now facing one of the greatest catastrophes it had ever seen.
The 'introductions' we had directly experienced in the square had indeed been broadcast live to almost all of Lunerra. But that was not the important thing. What was important was what the 'gift' they were talking about was.
The gift was dungeons. Lots of dungeons, hundreds of dungeons that appeared out of nowhere and varied in grade. And all these dungeons had been broken in just a few seconds.
So through the gates, as in the square, creatures poured into Lunerra. Just as it happened eighty years ago when the planet first awakened.
"Wiera said, didn't he? He said they feed on chaos... What do you think it means?"
For a moment I just remained frozen, no words came out of my mouth.
What could I say? I knew what wieras were, but it was not something that could be easily explained. Our best friend was a wiera in the first place, even if he was only half one.
So... for now, I decided to lie.
"I don't know."
But as soon as those words left my mouth, I realized another truth.
That huge sword that Aiden had used in the battle... he had also used that purple energy that the wieras used.
Suddenly my eyes widened, my mouth slightly open.
Julian quickly noticed the change in me. His brow furrowed, he looked at me blankly.
"Adrian-"
"Wait, wait..."
If wieras are slowly revealed to the world for what they are... then because of that video, everyone will know that Aiden is a wiera. Won't that make him a bad person in everyone's eyes? He was declared a hero... but what if people care more about what he is?
Big things are happening on Lunerra, or at least they've started to happen, and bigger things are coming. I'm sure of that.
But these events will affect us more than I thought they would, and more than I thought they would affect my best friend in the first place...
It's a small chance... but if it happens that the whole Lunerra has designated Aiden as the enemy... what will I do then?
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