Chapter 74. When Friends Die
Chapter Warning
This Chapter contains graphic scenes of violence, including a monster brutally attacking and killing multiple people. Readers can expect depictions of blood, gore, severe injuries, and death.
Reader discretion is advised.
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The sky burned a deep, blood-red. Beneath that crimson expanse, a colossal barrier had sealed the entire jungle in an unbreakable cage. Above the barrier, a massive black firestorm raged in a furious vortex, its dark flames twisting and roaring as they completely engulfed the enclosure. The relentless fury of that infernal whirlwind battered the forest without mercy, forcing the ancient trees themselves to tremble and cry out.
Every student present saw the apocalyptic scene unfolding around them. But none of them cared.Their eyes were locked in only one direction on the savage monster standing before them. The creature that had become their living doom.
And that monster was staring straight at the student right in front of it.
Xath’rael kept its gaze locked on Lyra, mandibles clicking together, as it raised one blade-arm to strike her down. Lyra saw it coming, but she wasn’t nearly fast enough to dodge a blow like that. Still, she tried to throw herself backward but no matter how hard she tried, her speed was nothing compared to what was bearing down on her.
Xath’rael brought its blade down toward Lyra, and then
Thud.
The blade struck something head-on, but it wasn’t Lyra. It was another sword. The instant Elizabeth saw Xath’rael move toward Lyra, she didn’t hesitate for even a second she launched herself forward, one hand on the hilt of her sword, the other bracing along the flat of the blade, and caught the strike head-on from above.
But the moment she blocked it, the full force of the attack surged straight through her body. The impact was so overwhelming that the instant she stopped the blow, blood began pouring from her nose and mouth. Lyra’s eyes went wide the moment she saw Elizabeth standing in front of her. She thrust both hands forward and unleashed another bolt of lightning at the creature. The instant it struck, Xath’rael staggered back a step.
The moment it pulled away, Elizabeth’s knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground. Lyra rushed to kneel beside her.
"Are you okay, Elizabeth?"
Looking closer, she saw blood streaming from Elizabeth’s nose and mouth.
"...I’m fine... It’s nothing.."
Elizabeth forced the words out between ragged breaths. Every part of her body ached. She couldn’t summon any strength in her arms, and her legs refused to hold her up. But she wouldn’t allow herself to stay down. Using her sword as a crutch, she pushed herself back to her feet, and once standing, she raised her blade toward Xath’rael and steadied her stance.
Watching Elizabeth successfully block its attack, Xath’rael’s mandibles twitched with interest. It turned its gaze toward Lyra, standing beside her, studying them both for a moment before letting them be for now. It turned instead toward the rest of the students behind it. The moment it turned, several students who had been backing away found themselves under immediate attack. In an instant, thirty more students were dead.
If it wanted to, Xath’rael could have wiped out every single student here in a single strike. But it wasn’t doing that. It was savoring this. It had only just returned to life after nearly thirty thousand years, and it craved this pleasure. So it killed them slowly, plate by plate, drawing the experience out.
By now, roughly half the students present had been killed nearly seventy of them. Then it noticed another wave of attacks bearing down on it. A barrage of potion bottles and various other strikes slammed into its body all at once. It turned toward the source of the assault.
The alchemy department students had just finished unleashing their second wave of attacks. Watching their strikes connect, they felt a brief flicker of relief. But then they saw the creature’s gaze fix directly on them. Hana, standing among them, felt her whole body turn cold the instant she saw it looking their way. Her first instinct was to fall back, and she immediately decided to retreat. But the moment she turned to run, she realized the abomination was no longer where it had been. It had vanished entirely.
Hana had no idea what had just happened, but she didn’t waste time trying to figure it out she focused only on getting away. But as she turned, she found Xath’rael standing directly behind them. The instant she saw it, her eyes went wide. Before she could do anything, she suddenly felt her entire body go cold not the cold of fear, not a physical chill, but something else entirely, a sensation like her body no longer had any weight at all. Her ability to think began slipping away for some reason she couldn’t grasp. Her vision began to darken at the edges. And then she realized she was falling, slowly, toward the ground for some reason she couldn’t understand. A moment later, she hit the ground with a heavy thud, rolling once like a ball.
Her eyes settled on the spot where they’d all been standing. Every student there had had their heads separated from their bodies. The moment she registered this, her mind refused to process it any further, because the strength was already draining from her eyes. And in that final instant, she understood exactly what had happened to her.
She died.
The moment Alana saw Hana’s head separated from her body, she sank straight to the ground. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she couldn’t hold them back. She’d only met Hana that very day, but in that short time, she’d already come to think of her like a little sister. Watching her die felt as though the sky itself had come crashing down on top of her.
But she couldn’t afford to dwell on it for long. A strange fury took hold of her mind entirely, and even with tears still welling in her eyes, she fixed a sharp, burning glare on the abomination. She commanded both Messy and Lucy to attack it, and they surged forward immediately. And they weren’t the only ones the rest of the summoning department students followed their lead, unleashing their own spirit animals against the creature as well.
Dozens of spirit animals converged on Xath’rael from every direction at once, striking wave after wave of attacks yet none of them managed to close the distance to it. Watching this, Xath’rael grew visibly irritated. None of them were coming close enough for its liking.
It lowered its two bladed arms and raised its two bare hands instead, a green light beginning to swirl around them. The instant the students saw it, fear rippled through the crowd, and several of them cried out in warning.
"Everyone, watch out! It’s starting to use magic attacks now! Stay alert!"
One student shouted the warning, but it made little difference none of the students had anywhere near the reaction speed needed to respond in time. An instant later, a massive tornado tore through the area around them.
The tornado swept up nearly every spirit animal in the vicinity, dragging them inward before hurling them straight at Xath’rael. The animals were flung toward it at incredible speed, and it swept its four blades through them, tearing them to shreds one after another.
The moment the summoning department students noticed what was happening, they tried desperately to reverse-summon their contracted spirit animals back to safety. But nothing worked. Their connection to their companions had been severed completely, and they had no way to issue any commands.
Within seconds, nearly every spirit animal in the clearing had been destroyed. One of Messy’s wings had been severed clean off. Lucy lay torn in two. Both of them writhed weakly for a moment before dissolving into a shimmer of green and red light, fading away entirely. Watching this, Alana let out a wailing scream through her tears.
"NO! Messy, Lucy! Please, don’t die! Please!"
But no one answered her cries. Both of them had already dissolved into the light. Seeing it happen, Alana clutched her head with both hands, unable to think, unable to process what to do next. Messy had been her childhood friend they’d grown up together, played together, learned to fight side by side. And now she’d watched her die right in front of her, and it was because of her. If she hadn’t given the command, Messy would still... It was all her fault. But she couldn’t hold onto that thought for long.
She looked up and saw Xath’rael advancing toward them. But Alana couldn’t do anything. She was still frozen on the ground, unable to stand. There was no strength left in her body, no courage left in her heart. She simply sat there, helpless. And then she saw Xath’rael standing directly in front of her.
Alana tilted her head up and looked at the monstrous abomination staring down at her. After a long moment, she managed a smile.
"Go to hell, you ugly bastard."
The instant she finished speaking, she saw a blade hurtling toward her and an instant later, it cut her cleanly in two.
Alana died.