A deathly silence filled the classroom.
Priscilla held her breath, quietly observing the leopard.
He still held the shotgun, but he hadn’t shown any signs of killing students or causing any other trouble yet.
However, he mercilessly shot any student who showed suspicious behavior, inflicting injuries that made it difficult for them to move.
“Ugh…!!”
“It hurts…”
Groans and the thick smell of blood seeped out from various places.
*Bang!*
[If you use even a little bit of magic, I won’t let it slide. Keep that in mind.]
The leopard, having shot another student in both thighs, rendering them unable to move, gave a chilling warning.
[If you wait quietly, a negotiator will arrive to take you away. Until then, don’t utter a single word. Understand?]
There was no answer.
This was because the leopard had already made an example of the undergraduate students who had answered such questions, making them the victims of his bullets.
However, Priscilla, unfazed by the subdued undergraduate students, was slowly counting numbers.
‘Eight. Nine. And one last time…’
After confirming something while counting in her head, she took a shaky breath and slowly rose from her seat.
“I don’t think I can do that.”
[…You.]
The leopard’s eyes flashed as he looked at Priscilla, who had suddenly stood up.
His gruesome and messy appearance, as if he had put on the head of a living beast.
However, Priscilla focused her mind so that her composure would not be shaken by his outward appearance.
When a missionary from the Heretic Shrine [a religious group with unorthodox beliefs] infiltrated the school, she had faced things even more terrible than this.
She always thought about the calm response of the assistant professor who was with her, and she had always wished to be like him.
She couldn’t let her heart waver here and ruin things.
“You’re not a negotiator. You’re just waiting until your side’s purpose is completely fulfilled.”
[I told you to shut up, didn’t I?]
Even as the leopard immediately aimed his shotgun at her, Priscilla simply took another deep breath.
“A negotiator or police who will save us won’t come. In the first place, you wouldn’t even think of informing the outside world about this and starting a hostage situation.”
Priscilla glared at the leopard as she spoke.
“The fact that you targeted Lavatenon Magic University, not other educational institutions, means you want us alive…!!”
*Bang!*
The bullet from the shotgun directly hit Priscilla’s upper body.
Her back bent forward sharply, and she collapsed on the spot.
“Kyaaak!!”
“Priscilla!!!”
This was the first time the leopard had aimed and fired at a student’s head and chest.
Amidst the undergraduate students who couldn’t hide their agitation, the leopard coldly muttered.
[For a student who doesn’t know the ways of the world, you’re quite sharp.]
“…”
[I said I didn’t intend to kill you, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t kill you. Do you still not know the difference?]
The leopard spoke as he walked unhesitatingly across the lecture hall, which seemed ready to explode at any moment.
[If you utter even one word, you’ll see blood from now on…]
*Thud!*
At that moment, Priscilla, who had fallen forward, dashed forward with all her might.
A blood-stained textbook fell from her arms.
Even though she had taken measures, expecting to receive the shot after hearing from Lenox that the shotgun’s power had been intentionally reduced, she couldn’t avoid the injury.
She didn’t even try to hide her pained expression, gritting her teeth as she charged straight towards the leopard.
[…One shot wasn’t enough, it seems. Are you planning to struggle until your last breath!!]
The leopard immediately raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger again.
This time, he was aiming not at her chest, but at her forehead. If he pierced her head, would she be able to move while enduring the pain?
*Click!*
However, the moment the leopard pulled the trigger, only the hollow sound of the spring echoed from the shotgun’s magazine.
[…!!!]
Only then did the leopard’s face change drastically as he realized that Priscilla knew the shotgun’s magazine was empty.
Priscilla, having thrown herself to the floor, slid past the leopard and reached her hand towards the lower part of the platform.
At the same time as she picked up a water bottle that had fallen on the floor and splashed it over her head, she drew up her mana and deployed water magic.
The accelerated water droplets, shot upwards as if from below, struck the leopard’s back.
*Thud!!*
[Kuh!!]
The water magic shot upwards didn’t stop there, it shattered the projector support on the lecture hall ceiling.
*Crash!!*
The projector and lighting supports that collapsed from the ceiling pressed down on the leopard’s body, as if trapping him in a cage.
Priscilla, having rolled her body to the side with all her might, barely avoiding the collapsing supports, shouted.
“Assistant Professor!!”
“I know…!!”
Kasia, who had been watching the situation with a tense expression, didn’t miss the opportunity.
She used the remote control authority over the facilities inside the lecture hall, which was given to the professors of the magic university. She moved the platform and the lecture hall chairs all at once, throwing them directly at the leopard.
*Clatter, clatter!!*
The shapes of all sorts of structures and supports collapsed and fell into the place where the leopard was buried.
*Crash!!*
She used impact magic to smash the closed lecture hall door and quickly shouted to the undergraduate students.
“Everyone, run away!!”
“Help the injured and get up…!!”
“There’s a bunker for protection against explosions in the underground laboratory of the lecture hall. Let’s go there!!”
The undergraduate students were thinking for themselves, and without any other instructions, they immediately shared their destination and began to evacuate.
Immediately after that, the leopard’s figure rose, having smashed the lecture hall’s internal mechanical devices that were rising and falling haphazardly.
*Bang!!*
[Did you think you could trap me with such a trick!!]
“But we bought some time, didn’t we?”
Priscilla smiled weakly, clutching her shoulder with a pained expression.
[You…]
The leopard glared at her with an annoyed expression, but quickly regained his composure.
Kasia, who had returned after evacuating the undergraduate students, swallowed hard at the sight.
‘He’s regaining his reason faster than I thought. He’s a dangerous person…’
The urgency, tension, and impatience associated with terrorists were not felt at all from the opponent.
His eyes were those of an organization member who was thoroughly planning his objective and focusing only on eliminating variables in the process of achieving it.
Priscilla was also clearly aware of that.
‘This whole thing is a carefully planned and prepared operation. It’s not some impulsive crime. It’s closer to a premeditated crime.’
The shotgun used by the leopard was modified to hold as many bullets as possible in one magazine, instead of increasing its power.
And Priscilla, whose older sister, Mila, worked in the mercenary industry, had heard from Mila about the number of bullets that generally went into such a shotgun.
Through that, she tried to provoke the leopard when only one bullet was left, get shot by him, and then seize him in the single moment when he was off guard.
Unfortunately, all she managed to do was buy time for the other undergraduate students to escape.
‘What should I do here? What should I do…’
In the worst-case scenario, Priscilla had prepared herself to fight alone to keep the leopard occupied and then be taken hostage again.
However, it was difficult to guarantee that she could buy enough time until the other escaped undergraduate students properly requested help from the outside.
In a situation where she didn’t know how many sorcerers from the Evil God Palace were inside the school, the only way to successfully inform the outside world about the terrorist attack that had occurred at the school and resolve the situation was…
While Priscilla was quickly racking her brain, Kasia bit her lip and stepped in front of her.
“Priscilla, get behind me.”
“Assistant Professor Kasia…”
Kasia was drawing up her mana with a determined look on her face.
“I’ll buy some time, so please find a way to contact the outside world with the students who escaped.”
“Assistant Professor, but…!!”
Priscilla, who had spent more than half a year in the same lecture hall with Kasia, knew that she was a mage who was thoroughly focused on research.
Although she had gained a high rank through her outstanding talent, the essence of Kasia’s talent was not in combat.
She sought and formalized results that were gradually improved through the research and combination of magic theories.
Kasia was an excellent mage, but her own combat ability and athletic ability were virtually non-existent.
Priscilla knew that as well, so she knew how reckless Kasia’s words were.
However, Kasia, with a resolute face, didn’t turn around and grabbed Priscilla’s shoulder, pushing her away.
“Priscilla knows the internal structure and terrain of the school better than I do, who hasn’t even worked at Lavatenon for a year.”
“…”
“The judgment and decisiveness you showed just now were far better than mine. I’m not the one who should be moving in this situation.”
*Whoooom!!*
Kasia, who had struggled to chant impact magic at her fingertips and gathered a shockwave, said with a hardened face.
“Go, quickly!!”
Priscilla gritted her teeth, grabbed her shoulder, and ran down the hallway where the undergraduate students had left.
Leaving behind the clash of mana and the roar echoing from the lecture hall, she quickly went to find the escaped undergraduate students.
‘The bunker inside the underground laboratory of the lecture hall…!’
It was a bunker prepared for somewhat dangerous or extreme demonstrations, but it had an emergency communication network that could connect to the outside world in case of an emergency.
For now, that was virtually the only place to rely on.
Priscilla quickly ran down the central staircase of the lecture hall, passed through the material storage and hangar, and headed towards the back of the hallway where the underground bunker was hidden.
[Ah, so you’re the child named Priscilla.]
The smell of blood rushed in.
Other undergraduate students were standing, barely supporting themselves, staggering against one wall of the hallway.
The figure of a sorcerer wearing a monkey mask was squatting down, resting his chin on his hand, and looking this way.
And behind that monkey, there was a huge magic circle stained with bright red blood.
“Hah, hah…!!”
Several humans, covered in blood, were breathing heavily on top of that magic circle.
She had been found.
The moment Priscilla realized that fact and took a step back without even being able to breathe properly, the monkey spoke.
[I wondered where the pig had gone, but it was found dead in a corner of the lecture hall.]
“…”
The sorcerer wearing a pig mask. That sorcerer who had left saying he would take Evan was dead.
‘Assistant Professor Evan…’
The monkey tilted his head, staring intently at Priscilla’s face.
[The elephant hates anything that interferes with its work, so I was going to get rid of the pig’s corpse first, but suddenly these guys came running out.]
‘Mana…’
A strong sense of lethargy and the feeling of having her mana forcibly taken away from her body.
[Your friends were calling your name, thinking you were the one dying here. You have good friends.]
Every time the people offered in the magic circle struggled, they greedily absorbed Priscilla’s mana, as well as that of the undergraduate students.
Priscilla didn’t recognize anyone, but they were probably university officials as well.
[Just wait a little bit. It’s more efficient to offer civilians first, and then offer mages.]
The monkey mask gave the feeling that the sorcerer was smirking.
[You’re next.]
“…”
Only then did Priscilla understand why the sorcerers had taken the undergraduate students hostage and hadn’t even tried to contact the outside world.
These people weren’t trying to take the undergraduate students hostage to demand something from the outside or attempt a trade.
They were only trying to use the undergraduate students, who had awakened their mana and learned magic, as materials to perform an unknown ritual at this university.
‘No, if this happens, I won’t even reach the bunker…!!’
*KWAHAAAAANG!!!*
At that moment, the lecture hall building shook violently, and at the same time, acrid dust burst out from outside the window.
The figure of a giant elephant could be seen through the broken hallway window.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and it was letting out a mad roar, dripping with a chilling ferocity.
The monkey, looking at the elephant, didn’t seem surprised at all, and sighed while resting his chin on his hand.
[They’re already taking out the spirit before they’re even properly prepared, what a mess. Why is the spirit so angry in the first place… hmm?]
The monkey tilted his head, seeing someone standing in front of the house-sized elephant spirit.
[Was there someone like that among the students we took hostage?]
“A, Assistant Professor Evan…!!!”
The other undergraduate students also widened their eyes as they saw the pale-faced young man through the collapsing lecture hall building.
[Ahahahaha, so there was an assistant professor!! What can a human do alone in front of a spirit…!!]
At that moment, something fell in front of Lenox at an incredible speed, accompanied by a chilling illusion of lightning.
*Thud!!*
The figure of a baby fox, emitting a tingling electric current from its entire body and spinning its four tails madly.
From all over the fox spirit’s body, as if its fur was standing on end, a blue light flashed through the sharp vortex of electricity.
From inside the spirit’s body, which had a light sky-blue glow, a deep navy-blue glow, like the sea, spread out like a wave and rippled throughout the baby fox’s body.
The spirit’s entire body was a heavy presence that constantly scattered navy-blue electricity like a ripple.
Like a life breaking out of an egg, its appearance, which seemed to change into something else at any moment, made the students call out the spirit’s name.
“Davi!!”
“He’s not your opponent, run away…!!”
[Oh, so he was a spiritist? Ah, come to think of it, I heard there was a researcher with a unique spirit.]
The monkey, who seemed momentarily flustered, soon showed a blatant sneer again as he looked at the confrontation between the two spirits.
[One step will be enough. It’s a terrible thing to put something like that forward as a battle. Don’t you think so?]
The difference in size between the elephant and the baby fox was so overwhelming that it was pointless to even compare them.
The fox spirit, with its four tails held high and glaring at the elephant, was cute, but.
On the other hand, the spiritual power emanating from the elephant’s body as it stomped its feet was so strong that it was crushing the ground and even evaporating it.
The outcome was already decided, without even needing to confirm the victory or defeat.
The faces of the elemental science students, who belatedly realized Lenox’s appearance and the fact that he was going to fight, also turned pale.
“Assistant Professor, if you face that monster with Davi…!!”
“Professor, don’t worry about us and quickly escape outside!!”
“If someone dies here…!!!”
There wasn’t a student who didn’t know how famous Evan Bailon had become as a researcher in the past few years.
Moreover, the students who were currently trapped in the lecture hall were those who had taken classes with Evan since Aris was a professor.
They knew that it was better for Lenox to secretly escape from the school and find a way to help them, rather than recklessly trying to save them.
However, Lenox and Davi glanced at those undergraduate students and then immediately refocused on the elephant that was charging at them.
*Bbooo-ooo-ooo!!*
The elephant’s figure charged forward, roaring and stomping the ground wildly with its bloodshot eyes.
In front of it were the baby fox and the researcher, who looked as if they would turn into a handful of blood at any moment.
“What should we do, I can’t watch!!”
“Professor, please…!!!”
The students, unable to watch the scene until the end, closed their eyes tightly or turned their heads away.
[Elephant, bring it back alive if possible!! If he’s a spiritist, he’ll be quite valuable as an offering…!!]
The moment the monkey put his hand on the broken window frame and shouted as if he was excited.
Davi, who had crouched down and lowered his body, spun his tail fiercely.
[Spirit Rank Common Magic Power Deployment]
*Whoooom!!*
The amount of light was so intense that it filled the half-collapsed courtyard of the lecture hall and still had plenty to spare.
The monkey’s words were cut off the moment he felt a chilling murderous intent in that clear mana.
*Flash!!*
A blue line, like lightning, crossed his vision, and at the end of it, the baby fox passed by the elephant and landed lightly.
[Head Pat!]
Immediately after, the elephant’s head, which was cooked to a golden brown, fell off its massive body.
*Thud!!*
[…Huh?]
The monkey was momentarily stunned by the completely unexpected result.
“He, he won!!”
“Davi-ii-ii!!”
The students couldn’t help but shout, as if they couldn’t believe it.
“Davi was so strong!! I believed in you!!”
“I’ll pray every day from now on!!”
“Spirit! Thank you for saving us!!!”
The baby fox, with the cheers of dozens of people behind him, lowered his head, scattering lightning.
[…Hehe.]
A satisfied smile that couldn’t be hidden leaked out from between Davi’s snout.
[Uhu huhuhuhut…!!!]
He tried not to show it, but his four tails, which were wriggling wildly, and his twitching shoulders showed how excited the cybernetic spirit was.
“Are you happy?”
Lenox lifted Davi with a pathetic look, but the baby fox’s mouth was already stretched wide to his ears.
[It’s a very wise decision, Master!!! From today on, let’s become a cool and strong superhero spirit…!!]
Davi was flapping his arms and legs wildly while his body was held in both hands.
His appearance, trying to show off his dignity in order to hear the praise of the students behind him more clearly, was all too familiar.
“It’s not over yet, so focus. You see that thing moving over there?”
However, Lenox put Davi down towards the monkey sorcerer, and whispered quietly in his ear.
“Let’s go one more time.”
[This time, I just need to pat the head of that organic being, right?]