CH 95

Thud!

From the deep pit, a hand emerged.

A figure then clambered out.

It was Ian.

"Damn it…"

Ian cursed as he pulled himself out of the pit.

Once he found stable ground, a realization hit him.

He had been played.

And once he fully regained his senses, all the illusions that surrounded him disappeared.

All that remained was a single magical tool next to him, frantically digging into the ground.

Ian then tried to use teleportation magic to escape, but it failed immediately.

It was due to a device previously set up by Professor Mcguire, designed to obstruct spatial coordinates.

Ian gritted his teeth.

He had always relied on the overpowered teleportation spell and hadn't bothered to learn other forms of movement magic.

But now that teleportation was sealed, there was no quick way out of the pit.

So he chose to use physical enhancement magic to crawl his way out.

It would undoubtedly take time, but it was his only option.

After what felt like an eternity, Ian managed to crawl out.

Eventually, Ian managed to crawl out, covered in dirt, looking anything but the successor to a dukedom.

Once he was out, he noticed a piece of paper laid out in front of him.

Written on it was a single word:

-Pathetic

"This damn..."

Ian crumpled the paper in frustration.

Looking around, he spotted various magical tools scattered about.

Who had done this?

However, he had no time to figure that out.

He had to make his way to the hut.

Had they already rescued Rudy?

Rescuing someone from that place wouldn't be easy.

Judging by the magical tools that had fooled him, this person was an experienced wizard, one who firmly believed in their abilities.

These wizards tend to be overly confident in their abilities.

Rescuing Rudy from inside the hut would be even more challenging due to this.

Magic couldn't be used inside and cutting through the bars would take a long amount of time.

Ian recalled the magic circle he had prepared in advance.

It was a combination of space magic and various others, designed to nullify any magic within its boundaries.

If he could get inside the hut in time, there might still be hope.

"Rudy..."

Who could he possibly have asked for help?

As Ian tried to head towards the hut, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A rumbling sound echoed.

The ground vibrated, almost like a seismic event.

"What now?"

The illusions had surely faded.

But then, what was causing this rumble?

Crash!

A colossal, furry, silver hand burst through the hut.

The hand, covered in sharp fur, resembled that of a beast.

As the hand emerged, the ground shook even more, revealing the creature the hand belonged to, as it tore its way out from beneath the earth.

The ground upheaved, sand flowing away like it was being stripped from the very form of existence.

A creature sprinted on four legs, its eyes ablaze with crimson fury.

Its appearance resembled that of a wolf.

"Krrrrraaaaaa!"

The wolf bared its entirety and let out a howl, head tilted to the heavens.

“What on earth is that?”

Ian stared at the creature, disbelief written all over his face.

Did such a monster just emerge from that shack out of nowhere?

'Am I still in an illusion?'

All sorts of thoughts crossed Ian’s mind.

“Huh?”

Something cold touched Ian's face.

He looked up.

Dark clouds began to shroud what was once a clear sky.

Snow started to drift down from above.

Thud!

The wolf, now closer, took a step toward Ian.

As the wolf's foot touched the ground, the spot froze over rapidly.

Its overpowering presence made Ian involuntarily step back.

Ian looked down at his retreating foot.

"Did I just... back away?”

He was taken aback that he felt fear against such a creature.

Gritting his teeth, Ian reminded himself there was no reason to be afraid of it.

Just a mere...

Ian reached out towards the giant wolf.

"Space Rift."

Crack!

He unleashed his spatial magic.

The space around the wolf distorted.

The wolf’s head and body seemed to separate, its legs shattered, looking like a broken glass bottle.

Ian smirked, reveling in his accomplishment.

“Thought I had a reason to be scared, did you…”

But before Ian could finish, the shattered wolf started to melt, as if it were made of liquid.

Soon enough, the wolf began to reform itself.

“...It's regenerating.”

Ian's gaze sharpened.

"Then I’ll make sure to destroy you until you can’t recover."

Drawing even the deepest reserves of his mana, the trees around Ian swayed violently and a fierce wind swirled around him.

---

---

At that moment.

"Rudy, are you okay?"

"Cough...”

Luna, supporting Rudy, was making her way through the forest.

She had succeeded in creating the magic circle as advised by Professor Mcguire.

But, there was a problem.

Even if she could heal Rudy, she couldn't stop the elemental, Priscilla, from rampaging.

As soon as the elemental rampage began, Priscilla would rapidly drain Rudy’s mana, and she wouldn’t stop until all of his mana was exhausted.

When Luna expressed her concerns, Rudy smiled weakly and said,

-It's okay. Isn’t there someone who can stop her?

The person Rudy was referring to was Ian.

And indeed, things played out just as Rudy had predicted.

Priscilla and Ian began to fight fiercely.

Luna seized the opportunity to quickly escape with Rudy.

“Rudy…”

Rudy’s current condition was dire.

Having triggered Priscilla's rampage and sustained significant injuries, Rudy was bleeding profusely, especially since he had summoned Priscilla in an underground dungeon, causing him to be scraped by jagged rocks.

As a result, even walking with support seemed to be a struggle for him.

"Rudy, I'll carry you. Let me."

“Ugh...”

Luna made this offer, but Rudy couldn't respond properly.

Without waiting, Luna gently lifted him up.

"Physical Enhancement."

After using the physical enhancement magic, Luna carried Rudy on her back.

He was much taller than her, so she had to hold him awkwardly, but it didn't hinder her movement.

"But where to…”

She looked ahead, contemplating.

“Where should we go…?”

She wasn’t sure where Professor Mcguire was, and there wasn’t a designated safe spot to head to.

The ideal place would be the Royal Palace, given its central location in the capital.

It would be safe, especially with the presence of Princess Rie.

But there was a problem.

Without notifying Princess Rie, who would receive them at the Royal Palace?

That was the issue.

Still, there was no other place to go.

"Rudy, for now, we'll head to the Royal Palace."

Rudy, in his unconscious state, couldn’t reply.

"Please hang in there, just a little longer..."

Still, hoping to comfort Rudy even a little, Luna whispered to him.

As Luna tried to move swiftly out of the forest, distant noises gradually became audible.

“Huff...”

Luna quickly took cover behind a tree.

She then peeked toward the source of the noises.

Among the few soldiers, she recognized Thomas from the academy.

“The Astria family…”

For reasons she didn’t know, he, accompanied by several soldiers, were approaching the forest.

“Ugh…”

Luna pondered on their next move.

It didn't seem like a good idea to reveal themselves.

‘Rudy…’

Luna looked at Rudy’s face, which was deathly pale, devoid of any vitality.

Anyone could tell that the situation was dire.

If she were alone, Luna might have been able to escape.

"Should I... distract them...?"

Luna considered hiding Rudy behind a tree and diverting their attention elsewhere.

But then, there would be no one to look after him.

"How can I..."

She anxiously bit her nails, racking her brain for a solution.

But she couldn't think of anything.

While she was deep in thought, something slowly descended in front of Luna.

It was a rope.

"Huh?"

A rope, inexplicably dropping from the sky.

Confused, Luna looked up at the tree from which the rope had descended.

A masked individual, clad in black, stood there.

"Wh...who are you?"

At Luna's whisper, the figure gestured towards the rope.

"Grab on?"

In response to Luna's question, the masked figure nodded.

Who could this unexpected savior be?

"Check over there."

It was Thomas's voice.

The footsteps of soldiers grew closer.

Closing her eyes tightly, Luna gripped Rudy and the rope.

The rope swiftly lifted them, allowing Luna and Rudy to reach the treetop safety.

"There's no one here."

"Alright, let's move on."

Luna watched with relief as the soldiers who were searching their previous location moved on.

Turning, she looked at their unexpected rescuer.

Behind the person floated Sylph, an Intermediate Wind Elemental.

An Elementalist.

But why the mask and dark clothing? An assassin or some kind of covert agent, perhaps?

Regardless, Luna bowed her head in gratitude.

"Thank you. I don't know who you are, but you've saved our lives."

Who this mysterious helper was didn't matter at the moment.

All Luna knew was that this person had saved them.

"Princess Rie sent me. Said you might need some help."

Hearing the voice, Luna was taken aback.

It was a woman's voice.

Upon closer inspection, the mysterious helper was delicate in stature, and tufts of blue hair peeked out from beneath the mask.

The casual tone caught Luna off guard, but she brushed it off as a part of the woman's personality.

Carefully, Luna spoke,

"I promise to repay this favor someday."

The masked woman shook her head.

"No need. I'm just here to apologize for my mistake."

"...Mistake?"

The woman removed her mask.

"...Se...Serina?"

A striking blue-haired Elementalist.

The shining star of Liberion Academy's Elementalist Department.

Yet, the same Serina who had been imprisoned on charges of attempting to murder Rudy.

Seeing Serina's face, Luna wasn't sure how to feel. After all, Serina had once severely injured Rudy.

'However, you did save us now…'

"You don't need to make that face. I only want to make it up to Rudy Astria and the others, nothing more."

Serina smiled faintly.

"And I can't afford to harbor ill feelings. If I did, I might just end up dead."

"Dead?"

Luna was full of questions.

However, before Luna could voice any of them, Serina hoisted Rudy onto her back and rose to her feet.

"We'll talk more about it when we get back."

"Get back?"

"To the Royal Palace. Princess Rie asked me to take you there."

Serina flashed a warm smile.