I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 674: The One Who Attacks, The One Who Defends (2)

-Awoooooo!

The fusion cryptid howled in the air while continuously bombarding the ground.

Each time a black sphere fell, explosions occurred on the ground, killing or severely injuring those caught in them.

"Damn it! Do something!"

"It's flying in the air so our attacks aren't hitting properly!"

"Form a firing net!"

"I can't see clearly because of the fog!"

The ground was in utter chaos and pandemonium.

The fusion cryptid continued to bomb from the air, and those on the ground couldn't manage to inflict any significant damage.

It wasn't that the mages weren't doing anything.

They tried to shoot down the airborne fusion cryptid with magic, but it easily avoided their spells by hopping around in the air.

Even when they formed a firing net covering the sky, the problem was that the fusion cryptid's speed was too fast.

To counter this, War Mages deployed flight magic through the fog.

The intention was to engage in aerial combat since the enemy was fighting in the air.

But those mages ended up becoming food for the fusion cryptid.

Even with flight magic, they couldn't match the fusion cryptid that moved freely through the air as if treading on wind.

Moreover, even though they could use flight magic, they were inevitably less skilled in the air than on the ground since aerial combat was uncommon.

As mages, they had to maintain flight magic while casting offensive spells, essentially doubling what they needed to focus on.

Because of this, all those who bravely stepped up did not return.

Their attacks were ineffective, and heading skyward was suicidal, leading straight into the monster's jaws.

Meanwhile, the creature was sweeping the ground with seemingly endless magical power, toying with them.

Who knew the lack of aerial forces would be this frustrating?

"At this rate, we'll be annihilated! Retreat!"

"No! Hold your position! Are you cowering before the Demon King's subordinate?"

"Are you suggesting suicide? We need to fall back and find a solution!"

There was confusion in the chain of command.

Normally, Tarian, who had the strongest authority, should have led them, but Tarian was currently fighting Hans.

As a result, opinions split between fighting and retreating, fragmenting their formation.

At this rate, total annihilation seemed inevitable.

-Whoosh.

Suddenly, the wind blew.

"What's that?"

The wind blew and the fog moved along with it.

Looking closely, it wasn't just ordinary wind.

Like a black hole that sucked in everything it touched, the thick fog that filled the surroundings shifted to one side in a deformed way.

At the center where the fog was flowing stood a man holding a sword.

The fog was being sucked into the tip of his sword.

Magic? No. This wasn't magic.

This was pure swordsmanship. Highly trained swordsmanship that had reached a state where it affected the surrounding air currents, sucking in the fog.

After all the vision-obscuring fog had disappeared, the man who gathered it looked up at the sky.

"Hmm. Similar yet different from what I saw back then."

Luther Wardot smiled playfully, recalling the deer leader he had seen in Leathervelk.

The fusion cryptid's face contorted.

-Kwaaaak!

With a roar, black spheres formed around it.

Just as it was about to drop them, Luther moved first.

As he thrust his sword, the compressed fog gathered at its tip shot toward the fusion cryptid.

As the compression released, the gathered fog expanded, immediately filling the area around the fusion cryptid and obscuring its vision.

With limited visibility, the fusion cryptid indiscriminately dropped spheres toward the ground.

It had the simple idea of sweeping a wide area to kill Luther.

If Hans had been in a position to properly command them, he would have immediately ordered the cryptid to retreat upon seeing Luther.

But Hans didn't have that luxury while fighting Tarian, and the fusion cryptid made the worst choice.

"You seem to have even less of a thinking brain than before."

Luther's voice, which should have been coming from the ground, was heard right next to it.

-Krung?

Surprised, it moved instinctively by reflex, but it was too late.

-Slash!

The thick fog surrounding it was split in half.

A huge wound appeared on the fusion cryptid's body that was caught in the range of that slash, causing black blood to pour out.

The fusion cryptid quickly healed its wound, then created distance from Luther and once again generated black spheres around it.

"Your recovery seems better though."

Luther leisurely observed the fusion cryptid.

Having jumped high, all that remained for him was to fall to the ground under gravity's influence.

The fusion cryptid prepared an attack anticipating this, but strangely, Luther was still suspended in the air.

"What? Did you think flight was exclusive to mages and yourself?"

Luther had storm currents wrapped around his entire body.

With that output, he could remain suspended in the air without falling.

-Kwaaaak!

The fusion cryptid roared and fired a magic cannon.

A total of five streams of high-density black pillars targeted Luther.

Luther saw them and lightly swung his sword.

Luther's swordsmanship unfolded and before the black pillars could reach Luther's body, they curved and flew in the wrong direction.

In the moment the fusion cryptid was taken aback by this, Luther's form shot toward it like an arrow.

With an intense hurricane at its back, the fusion cryptid charged at Luther with black magical power throughout its body.

It intended to ram him head-on like an enraged bull.

"I've seen that one before."

But Luther easily avoided the attack and mounted the fusion cryptid's back.

Luther struck its back with his sword faster than the fusion cryptid could use wind transformation to shake him off.

-Clang!

The fusion cryptid's massive body crashed to the ground.

Amidst the thick dust, Luther stood firmly with his foot on the fusion cryptid's body.

Those who witnessed the one-sided battle were speechless.

The monster that had given them so much trouble had been subdued by just one man.

Even if that person was Luther Wardot, known as the continent's premier swordsman, this defied common sense.

"Oh my."

Luther stepped away from the fusion cryptid's body.

Black magical power was wriggling and rising from all over its body.

"Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"

After Luther's appearance, the Bretus knights and priests began arriving one after another.

Luther clicked his tongue.

"I detest being monitored like this."

But he knew that acting recklessly could have unpredictable effects on the empire.

Though reluctant to admit it, Salesin had now gained the power to control the entire continent as he pleased.

For now, showing cooperation with the Crusaders against the Demon King's army was the priority.

Luther's gaze caught the cryptid rising to its feet and grinned.

"Sturdy thing."

Despite what must have been significant damage, intense hostility burned like flames in the fusion cryptid's eyes.

Luther raised his aura as if a good idea had struck him.

"Everyone fall back. If you stay here, you'll be caught up in this."

"Wait, Lord Luther. What do you mean...?"

A knight who was monitoring Luther tried to object, but Luther paid no attention.

"Control my power against that monster? I have no intention of doing so."

"There are still allies here...!"

"That's why I told you to evacuate quickly. Ah, for the record, I gave ample warning."

Luther spoke one-sidedly and charged toward the fusion cryptid.

And then a gray storm formed at the center of the already ruined Second Checkpoint City.

* * *

"Oh my."

Alex sighed as he saw the large ash-colored dome, clearly visible even from the First Checkpoint City.

"Looks like that old man has arrived too."

It was obvious whose technique that giant vortex was.

Luther Wardot's visionary swordsmanship, Tempest.

The dome, reaching a diameter of 1km, no longer expanded but continued to rotate rapidly in place.

"So that's the power of the famous Solo Numbering Gladius Arts, [Jet Stream]."

Gladius Arts that brings out a knight's abilities to their fullest.

Therefore, it's given only to highly trained, very special knights.

Alex lightly brushed the sword hanging at his waist.

Of course, he too had brought a Gladius Arts in preparation for battle.

Having money made such things possible.

"Old man. I understand you deliberately raised the stakes, but you shouldn't do that. Is it okay to show me everything like this?"

Alex's eyes couldn't leave the storm dome.

That hurricane was Luther's swordsmanship, which meant for Alex, it was something to be observed and analyzed.

Alex's eyes deconstructed the technique piece by piece, analyzing its principles, processes, and results.

Just a little more.

Just a little more and he could make it completely his own.

Just as he thought that, a bright white flash sparked in the distance.

"Ah. And it was just getting good."

Alex immediately jumped backward.

The building where he had been standing crumbled when struck by the flash.

Landing on the rooftop of a building opposite, Alex whistled.

"That's a fierce entrance. I was thinking you'd be coming around now."

As Alex muttered, knights in black uniforms appeared from various parts of buildings.

All dressed in neat attire, they stared at Alex with cold faces.

"The Night Crawler Knights."

Seeing the black uniforms of the newcomers, Alex immediately identified them.

"Meeting like this on a cloudy day is quite grim. If we'd met at night, I might have wet myself."

Despite Alex's banter, the Night Crawler Knights did not respond.

They simply remained in position, as if waiting for orders.

Alex's eyes calmly settled.

'Hmm. As expected of a renowned knight order. Not a single movement.'

To maintain such composure even in the face of his flippant attitude, they weren't under the Information Bureau for nothing.

So rigid that it made onlookers weary.

Then, with the sound of footsteps, a woman with long white hair appeared.

Black uniform. Long white hair down to her waist that didn't match it.

Her sharp impression and strong appearance seemed to roar like a lion.

'Terina Lionhowl.'

Alex's eyes trembled greatly upon seeing the Imperial Guardian who protects the empire's security.

It wasn't because of Terina.

It was specifically because of her adjutant who accompanied her.

"Alex."

Enya gazed at Alex standing on the rooftop with a complicated expression.

The fact that Alex was here implied too much without needing to be said.

Then, Lloyd, standing next to her, pushed up his glasses and said,

"Enya. Don't forget what we have to do."

Enya bit her lip.

"...I know, senior."

"He's a subordinate of the Demon King. And if he's guarding this place alone, we must assume he's quite skilled."

Terina did not underestimate Alex.

Being alone in this First Checkpoint City, he couldn't be just an ordinary skilled person.

The successive explosions coming from one side of the city indicated that an enormous battle was taking place.

"I'll ask one last time."

Terina said to Alex.

"Do you intend to surrender?"

"Surrender? But I'm part of the Demon King's army, as you say."

Alex laughed as if incredulous.

"And if I surrender, will you accept it?"

"According to the laws of war, we can treat you as a prisoner."

"That's Imperial law. Bretus doesn't have such laws."

Terina couldn't deny Alex's statement that Bretus wouldn't follow such practices.

"Well, having the Imperial Guardian as my first opponent isn't bad."

Saying that, Alex drew the sword at his waist.

His sword, which gleamed subtly even in the gloomy weather, clearly looked extraordinary.

Several characters were engraved on the side of the blade.

"A Gladius Arts?"

"Despite appearances, I'm also a knight in name. Though I dropped out midway."

"...Yes. I've heard about you. A student more outstanding than anyone else, but not recognized because you were a commoner. Had you officially become a knight, perhaps you could have been another Master of the Empire."

Enya flinched at Terina's words.

It reminded her of her painful memories.

"To have such talent and yet join hands with the Demon King. Did you hate the Empire that much?"

"Hahaha. An interesting question. Did I hate the Empire that oppressed me for being a commoner?"

Alex grabbed his stomach and laughed loudly.

Soon, all expression disappeared from his face.

"No. I hate the entire world."

* * *

Even the well-trained Night Crawler Knights all flinched at the suddenly changing atmosphere.

It was the same for Enya Joiners.

To Enya, who only remembered Alex's always playful smiling face, his expressionless face was too unfamiliar.

"Alex. You..."

As Enya unconsciously tried to say something, Alex coldly cut her off.

"Did you come all this way to exchange dull jokes? Anyone with such careless thoughts should leave now. You're not worth fighting."

No one responded to those words.

"See? Everyone knows. Coming all this way, we can't settle things comfortably with just conversation. What can we do? This is the only path left for us."

Alex swung his sword around.

Though his attitude seemed playful, the aura flowing from his sword was not.

"Yes. Perhaps you're right."

Terina sighed and stretched out her hand.

Something sprung from the ruins of the collapsed building where Alex had first stood and was grasped by Terina's hand.

-Swoosh!

It was a long greatsword that looked even larger than Terina's build.

The pure length of the greatsword was an impressive 2.3m.

It was in the form commonly called a Zweihänder.

It was a sword that didn't match the sharp dual swordsmanship Terina usually displayed.

But in fact, this type of sword best complemented her swordsmanship.

Gladius Arts Solo Numbering [Giant Killer]

Terina, holding the formidable-looking sword, charged toward Alex.

"That's more like it."

Alex, with an expressionless face, confronted Terina.