Chapter 254
Chapter 254: Get Up
Safirose was covered head to toe in blood, her clothes long since torn beyond recognition, the wounds beneath laid bare.
The great pair of black-and-white wings at her back had been reduced to a single one, hanging limply and alone against the ground.
Safirose swung the blade in her right hand and spun around sharply, bringing it slashing down toward Viktor's body.
The sharp blade gleamed with cold light, cleaving through the air—the razor Sword Aura it carried barreling straight ahead.
The transparent Wind Blade in Viktor's hand spun without pause. He brought it horizontal before him, blocking the fierce blade gust, then flicked upward—knocking the incoming cold gleam aside in an instant.
The enormous blade in Safirose's hand was struck by the external force and lost its balance.
Her body lurched. She couldn't hold her footing.
She tipped backward slightly. Thud!
Safirose tried to twist her body back upright, but her grievous wounds refused to cooperate. Her legs buckled and she toppled to the ground.
Safirose hit the mud hard. She looked up to see the full moon hanging bright and clear in the night sky—and then heard Viktor's cold voice sound out before her:
"Continue."
Safirose steeled herself against the searing pain once more, pushed herself upright, held the blade flat before her, and launched herself at Viktor again.
To Viktor, Safirose's blunt charge was entirely meaningless.
In the blink of an eye, he deflected the thin gleam of cold light with the transparent blade.
He needed nothing more than a single swing—a tremendous Sword Aura burst outward—and Safirose was completely driven back.
She slammed hard into a massive tree trunk beside her.
The roots trembled. The branches swayed. Safirose nearly collapsed where she stood.
"Continue."
At the sound of his voice, Safirose staggered to her feet again.
This time, flame ignited across her body.
A torrent of crimson fire coiled rapidly along the ground, incinerating the weeds underfoot in an instant, and lurched crookedly toward Viktor.
But that fierce blaze looked pathetically weak in Viktor's eyes—no more than a feeble candle.
He gave a casual wave. A Magic Formation materialized behind him in an instant.
A far more surging tide of flame spread outward from the Formation's perimeter, coiling around and swallowing every last blade of grass.
Towering walls of fire surged upward. Scorching tongues of flame licked at the dry air, and a pressure wave erupted outward.
It sent Safirose's fierce flames swaying and lurching without stop.
The next second, Safirose's incoming fire was blocked by Viktor's fierce wall of flame.
As if absorbed—the attacking fire coiled around the fire wall's perimeter and slowly dissipated.
With the flames gone, the air slammed together with tremendous force, creating an enormous wave that completely swallowed the already-unsteady Safirose.
"Continue."
"Continue."
"Continue."
...
Safirose listened to Viktor's commands, again and again, and dragged her wounded body through the fight.
But every single time, the result was the same.
She crumpled feebly onto the ground, covered in mud and blood, too exhausted to push herself up.
At that moment, Weija's voice sounded softly in Viktor's ear.
"Viktor, don't go breaking her."
Hearing this, Viktor let the Wind Blade in his hand dissipate into the breeze.
In Viktor's eyes, Safirose's HP had dropped to an absolutely critical threshold.
One hair further, and she would die on the spot.
Lv41
Viktor glanced at Safirose's Level and said slowly:
"It seems you don't have enough strength yet."
In the game, Safirose was the final Boss of Chapter 3.
Viktor could remember it clearly: back then, Safirose in the eyes of the players had been nothing but an unreasonable stat wall.
Immense HP and MP. Extremely high Poise and resistance. Defense and attack both at peak levels—and her speed went without saying.
But the Safirose of right now...
She was nowhere near as powerful as she would be in the future.
Viktor looked at her with an indifferent glance, his expression carrying not a ripple.
Still, the current state of things was unsurprising.
After all, there were still 2 or 3 years before the formal storyline surrounding Safirose would arrive.
2 or 3 years were plenty of time for her to grow as powerful as she would be.
A blood-red potion appeared out of nowhere and dropped in front of Safirose, rolling toward her with a soft clink clink clink.
"Drink it."
Safirose could no longer see the rolling potion, her vision reduced to blurry red shapes. She groped across the ground by feel alone.
At last, her hand closed around a hard glass bottle.
Taking Viktor's command, she forced herself up and pulled the stopper free, bringing it to her lips.
Then, with a single tilt of her head, she drained every last drop.
As the bottle emptied, Safirose's entire body was gradually enveloped in a green aura.
The wounds covering her healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and strength returned to her limbs.
Seeing this, Viktor tucked his left hand in his pocket. The transparent Wind Blade reappeared on his right.
The Coat stirred without wind.
"All right."
"We continue."
***
Moonlight turned the waterfall silver-white.
Safirose let the clear, icy water rush across her pale skin.
Cold water slid down her smooth skin, flowing along the curves of her figure, pooling at the bottom of the spring and sending up glittering splashes.
But at this moment, Safirose had only 1 wing left.
Water mixed with blood and mud rushed over her steadily. She stood beneath the waterfall silent as a wooden puppet, without a sound.
Viktor stood quietly before her. His cold, detached voice sounded slowly:
"If you want to live as a human, there are things you need to know."
He stood with both hands in his pockets, his gaze deep and steady as he looked at Safirose.
Safirose seemed to stir awake. She raised her head in a daze.
Viktor's reflection appeared in those jade-green eyes.
Viktor's gaze swept across the ruined wing at Safirose's back—sharp as a blade.
She seemed to understand what he meant. She slowly reached out a slender hand and gripped the root of the wing tightly, then pulled with force.
Rip—
The tearing sound echoed through the air. Safirose endured the violent pain, and blood poured down like a waterfall.
She gasped for air, her eyes bloodshot, her entire body trembling in the cold rush of water—as if she might collapse at any moment.
The red was swiftly diluted by the clear water, slowly staining the surface beneath her feet.
Viktor stepped slowly toward her, as if taking in the sight of her figure beneath the moonlight—unusually fragile.
The features on her gaunt face were exquisitely refined. The silver of her long hair caught the pale moonlight and shimmered, and soaked through by the rushing water as it was, something about it stirred pity.
Without her wings, she was like a wounded girl—utterly defenseless.
"Not bad."
"Now, you have the right to follow me."
Safirose endured the pain and raised her head.
Those jade-green serpent pupils reflected Viktor's form.
Then, slowly, she lowered herself into a bow.
【Recording target information—Viktor Clavena】
【Added to Whitelist】
***
The morning sun had barely crept over the horizon when the Royal Magic Academy was already buzzing with life.
Word of the Academy's Dungeon had been spreading since yesterday, and by now it had stirred vigorous discussion across the entire city.
Countless curious eyes were fixed on the live-combat examination. The plaza outside was packed wall to wall.
Despite the crowd's eager anticipation, a Magic barrier separated them from the Academy, making it impossible for anyone to push through.
With so many people showing up, the Academy had issued a directive.
Only students and the parents of new students participating in the examination were permitted inside.
At that moment, under the gaze of the crowd, an elegant Carriage rolled slowly to the Academy's gate.
The onlookers, upon seeing it, instinctively parted to either side and cleared a path.
The Carriage door opened slowly, and Erika stepped out.
She was dressed in the Royal Magic Academy's School Uniform, her long golden hair lifting in the air—radiantly noble and graceful, like a perfect goddess stepping out of the morning light.
Countless eyes were immediately drawn to Erika's arrival.
The most gifted young woman in the Royal Capital right now, and last year's Top-Ranked Freshman at the Royal Magic Academy.
Not to mention her identity as the daughter of a Duke—there was almost no one in the entire Royal Capital who didn't know her.
But with the extended new student examination this year, classes at the Academy hadn't resumed for a few more days yet.
What had brought her here today?
While others were puzzling over it, Erika herself didn't enter the Academy.
She stood beside the Carriage and waited quietly for a moment.
After a little while, Duke Livi stepped slowly down from the Carriage.
The moment the crowd recognized Duke Livi, eyes went wide in astonishment.
"That... that's Duke Livi!"
"What!? The Duke's returned to the Royal Capital?"
"The Duke is back!"
Duke Livi—who had been away from the Royal Capital for 2 months—had returned at precisely this moment.
Right when the Dungeon's new student examination was underway.
Could it be that he had come specifically to see Viktor's Dungeon?
While the crowd turned this over in their minds, Duke Livi wore a faint smile.
Sensing the gazes all around him, he gave a nod of acknowledgment to the pedestrians on either side.
Then, a little while after, another horse came plodding along unhurriedly from behind the Carriage.
Astride it sat a powerfully built old man with white hair. Even through his short sleeves and short trousers, the knotted muscle of his calves and arms was plainly visible.
He rode with practiced ease, then vaulted off the horse's back in a bold, sweeping motion.
When Erika caught sight of the powerfully built elder, she gave a very respectful bow.
"Uncle."
Seeing how deferential Erika was toward the man, the onlookers couldn't help but grow curious about his identity.
Who was this person?
Vladimir smiled and gave Erika a nod, then turned to look at the sprawling Magic Academy.
He looked it up and down, then turned his head toward Livi and said:
"This place—is this that Academy?"
"I hear Viktor works here?"
Livi only smiled and replied:
"Why don't you go in and find out for yourself?"
Vladimir straightened up and looked toward the Academy gate ahead.
"Heh, then I'd better go in and have a good look."
He took a stride forward and walked straight toward the Academy gate.
But the pedestrians on either side had just opened their mouths to warn Vladimir.
The Academy's outer perimeter was wrapped in a layer of Magic barrier.
People from outside simply could not get through.
But before the words were even fully out, Vladimir suddenly furrowed his brow.
As if he'd sensed something, he raised one hand and pressed it flat against the barrier.
His palm carried a layer of ice crystal. Then his arm jolted—frost spread rapidly across the entire barrier.
Under the extreme cold, it shattered outward with a tremendous crack, scattering into countless fragments that filled the air.
As the entire Magic barrier cracked and broke apart, every onlooker's eyes went wide—frozen in stunned disbelief.
What the—!
But the old man seemed to treat the whole thing as if he'd done nothing of note. He shook out his hand, gave a hearty laugh, and strode forward into the Academy.
Livi and Erika were equally unsurprised—they followed behind Vladimir and entered the Academy in turn.
The crowd stood there, dumbfounded.
The violent scene they had just witnessed was beyond anything they had dared imagine.
Someone had actually used brute force to shatter the Academy's Magic barrier!?
Hssss—just who on earth was this?
Then someone suddenly realized.
The barrier was broken?
Wasn't this their chance?
That meant they could get inside the Academy too.
With that thought, 1 foot had barely stepped forward when they saw Duke Livi—already inside—turn back and offer them a small smile.
"Oh, my apologies. I forgot something."
His finger touched lightly against the shattered barrier. Water immediately streamed from his fingertip.
It caught all the scattered fragments drifting in the air and swept them together, rebuilding a complete water barrier that covered the entire Academy from end to end.
The water barrier flowed and surged without pause. Before everyone's eyes, the Magic Academy behind it became so obscured by the rushing water that it could barely be seen at all.
Someone, curious, went up and poked at the newly restored barrier—and came away even more despondent than before.
The barrier that had been rebuilt was noticeably thicker than the one that had been there before.