Chapter 352 : Purification and Growth
Chapter 352: Purification and Growth
"Imprison—"
The moment Uthaz-Dimsun recited the prayer, the overwhelming undead creatures, under Anthony-Rook’s command, surged forward like a white ocean, instantly engulfing the enemy.
At the same time, outside the 【Law Domain】, a barrier made of thick gray-white mist spread like a massive curtain, shrouding the entire back mountain without leaving any gaps.
"Janna, can your Contracted Creature divine whether the Headmaster is safe right now?"
Outside the mist barrier, Vivian Rose, who stood beside Janna, was staring intently at the distant gray-white fog.
She then asked Janna in a grave tone.
"No——my Contracted Creature’s tier is still too low, so it cannot perform divination on a formal wizard."
Janna, who was meditating lightly to restore her Spirit Power, responded calmly upon hearing Vivian’s question.
"Yeah, this is a wizard-level battle. Normally, it’s rare to witness one. If only there wasn’t this layer of mist."
"If it weren’t for Professor Uta’s barrier protecting us, not just you and me—probably every Wizard Apprentice here would die horribly."
The mist barrier covering the back mountain had been personally set up by Professor Uta.
The reason for setting up the barrier was to protect all the transcendents in White Coral Academy from the soul contamination of the Darksun Apostles.
After all, Janna had once personally witnessed Anthony-Rook and Lucia Heigel join forces to fight a Darksun Apostle.
At that time, just hearing the Apostle’s voice—or even catching an unintentional glimpse—had been enough to make Janna’s body show symptoms of cursed contamination.
If not for the Celestial Finch’s continuous purifying treatment at the time, Janna would likely have already undergone an aberration and died incurably.
"Crack——"
While everyone quietly waited for the final outcome, a sound like an eggshell breaking suddenly came from the direction of the back mountain.
"Crack-crack-crack——"
As the sound grew louder and more frequent, the originally calm mist barrier began boiling like a pot of water brought to a furious boil.
"Professor Uta, are you alright?"
"I’m fine, it’s just unstable magic power——"
Crack——
Before Professor Uta could finish speaking, a narrow spatial rift suddenly tore open in the air above the mist barrier.
From it, a swarm of black bats poured out like a cloud of pitch-black smoke, surging toward the entire White Coral Academy.
"Where did all these bats come from!?"
Seeing the approaching swarm of black Vampire Bats, Vivian Rose, who stood beside Janna, immediately transformed into her 【Cochin King Serpent】 bloodline form, ready to leap into battle at any moment.
"Don’t worry, they won’t be able to harm us."
Unlike the surrounding Wizard Apprentices who had already gone on full alert, Janna, knowing the power of the Magic Tower, felt no concern at all.
"Whoosh——"
Sure enough, just as the swarm of bats was about to rush into the crowd, a surge of magic power like rippling water waves spread rapidly from the Magic Tower.
The bats caught in the magical wave froze in midair as if struck by a petrification curse, unable to move an inch closer.
Even the spatial rift above the mist barrier began to shrink, halting its expansion.
"It really stopped—"
Seeing the Vampire Bats fall from the air one after another, Vivian reverted from her bloodline form to human form, her eyes filled with amazement as she looked toward the Magic Tower behind them.
"No wonder my father told me to take refuge in the Academy—so the Magic Tower is this powerful!"
Crack——Before Vivian could finish marveling, another anomaly erupted.
The spatial rift, which had stopped expanding, once again emitted an ear-piercing tearing sound.
A massive Pale Giant Hand suddenly emerged from the rift without warning, pushing against the Law Repulsion Force of the 【Material Plane】, and slammed straight toward the mist barrier below.
"Ah——"
Divine beings could not be gazed upon.
At the sight of the Pale Giant Hand, all the Wizard Apprentices of White Coral Academy let out cries of varying degrees of agony.
In contrast, ordinary humans without transcendent power only looked up at the sky in terror.
Apart from the shock to their minds, they showed no other unusual symptoms.
"Boom——"
The instant the Pale Giant Hand struck, the mist barrier over the back mountain collapsed with a deafening crash.
As the caster of the barrier, Professor Uta suffered intense magical backlash the moment it shattered.
Blood trickled red from the corners of his eyes, beneath his nose, and at the edges of his mouth.
His body wavered, nearly collapsing.
"Professor——"
Seeing Professor Uta’s wretched state, Janna endured the stabbing pain in her soul, supporting him with one hand while retrieving the Life Essence gifted to her earlier by the Humanoid Willow from her Thorn Bracelet, and handing it to him.
"Thank you."
Though he had intended to refuse, upon sensing the rich vitality in the Life Essence, Professor Uta first glanced at Janna in surprise, then decisively accepted and swallowed it.
"Janna, I’ll borrow the power of the Magic Tower to repair the Shadow Rift—during that time, I need you to protect them for me."
In mere moments, the immense energy contained in the Life Essence completely healed Professor Uta’s injuries.
After giving his instructions to Janna, before leaving, he pressed two gems filled with pure energy into her hand.
"So these are Light Essence and Plant Essence."
Looking at the two top-tier Elemental Essences in her hand, Janna immediately understood his meaning.
As a Third Tier Wizard Apprentice, no matter how great her talent, she was still far from capable of defending an entire city’s residents in place of a formal wizard.
However, there were two things that Janna excelled at above all else——
"Aph, I’m entrusting this Light Essence to you.
Remember, no matter what happens next, your first priority is to ensure your own safety."
"Yes, Master——"
Taking the Light Essence from Janna, the Celestial Finch let out a clear chirp and flew toward the Wizard Apprentices whose bodies had begun mutating due to contamination after witnessing the Pale Giant Hand descend.
On the other side, under the amplification of the top-tier Plant Essence, green light bloomed rapidly from Janna’s hands.
With the power of the 【Law of Growth Fragment】 pushed to its limit once again, vast tangles of vines sprouted swiftly around her.
In no time, the intertwining vines formed a towering, curved wall of greenery that stood before everyone——