Chapter 53
Fwoosh—
At this point, Kane Hover had shed even his human form, now resembling a blazing ember that emitted flames.
‘Damn it.’
Flames shot toward Cynthia Surplus, who had suddenly appeared.
The problem was that the speed of the flames was on an entirely different level from before.
As if the ember had been waiting for an opponent who couldn’t counter its attack, it launched a powerful and swift assault.
Whoosh—
Although Professor Amilion was right beside me, this wasn’t the time to hesitate.
As I swung my sword, I tore through space and appeared in front of Cynthia.
Boom—
“Kyaaah!”
I barely managed to cut the flames in front of Cynthia, but the explosion was inevitable.
Whoosh—
Opening a Subspace Storage, I absorbed the fragments of the explosion and simultaneously grabbed Cynthia, pulling her backward.
“Huh… What?”
“Stay here.”
Whoosh—
“Where is this…!”
Before Cynthia could even finish her sentence, I had already crossed space again.
Not even a second had passed.
In the blink of an eye, I moved in front of Cynthia, cut through the flames, and transported her to my dormitory.
‘Damn it.’
Under normal circumstances, I would never have done something like this, but I had no choice in the heat of the moment.
Leaving Cynthia here would have been too dangerous.
What was she thinking, recklessly jumping into this?
“What just happened…? Where’s Cynthia?”
The situation had unfolded so quickly that even Professor Amilion seemed unable to comprehend what had occurred.
But there was no time to explain.
“So, what do we do about that thing?!”
At my shout, Professor Amilion quickly turned her attention back to the ember.
What had once been Kane Hover seemed to grow stronger with time, not weaker.
It would have been best to strike when I had resolved to do so earlier.
Hoping there might be another way, I had waited and assessed the situation, but it was only worsening.
“To revert a rampaging mage, you either need to drain all their mana or overpower them with a stronger mana force.”
“Is that possible?”
“…I’ll do what I can.”
“What should I do?”
“You need to immobilize him while I cover him with my mana.”
“Got it.”
A Crescent Academy professor wasn’t a professor for no reason.
Even in such a dire situation, Professor Amilion quickly presented a solution and began preparing her magic.
As Amilion started gathering mana, I immediately moved.
Kane Hover’s mana was so chaotic that it was difficult to sense others, but faintly, I could tell that other students were heading this way.
‘This presence… It must be Elaine.’
As expected, the most distinct mana signature belonged to Elaine Sinclair.
I needed to handle this quickly to avoid another situation like the one with Cynthia.
Whoosh—
Since I had already revealed my abilities, there was no reason to hide them now.
Even with Professor Amilion watching, I moved decisively toward the ember.
Boom—
I swung my sword directly at the center of the ember.
The collision of my blade with the flames produced the familiar sound of an explosion.
The explosion’s force pushed against my sword, trying to drive it back, but I held firm.
Crash—
Then, an even greater force erupted from within the flames, beginning to push me back.
‘What kind of power is this?’
The strength was enough to slightly push me, even though I was using my full effort.
It was impossible to suppress this level of power with physical strength alone.
Reluctantly, I began infusing my sword with mana.
As mana coursed through the Black Shadow Blade, its dark blade vibrated in response.
The already black blade became even darker, now shrouded in black mana.
Fwoosh—
Black mana spread from the Black Shadow Blade, radiating outward and suppressing the flames around it.
From this point forward, it was a battle of strength.
The fiery red aura of the flames clashed against the black aura of the Black Shadow Blade, locked in a fierce stalemate.
Crackle—
The clash of immense energies produced a sinister sound.
And then, cutting through that noise, came a voice.
“…Help… me…”
Startled, I almost lost my footing.
The voice that pierced through the sound of the collision was Kane Hover’s.
It was faint, weak, and barely audible—something you wouldn’t hear unless you were intensely focused.
But one emotion was clear in Kane Hover’s voice.
Desperation.
Crackle—
I poured more mana into the Black Shadow Blade, causing its black mana to ripple and further engulf the ember.
In contrast, the ember’s resistance did not grow stronger.
“How much longer?!”
Hearing Kane Hover’s voice, I found myself unconsciously urging Amilion.
There was no problem holding my ground, but it felt like something needed to be done about Kane as soon as possible.
He wasn’t someone I particularly liked, but I didn’t hate him enough to let him die like this either.
“Almost there!”
Just as I shouted behind me in frustration, Professor Amilion’s response echoed back.
The words “almost there” didn’t feel like a lie, as a massive presence of mana began to approach from behind.
It was mana woven tightly together, like a net.
Kane, sensing the approaching mana just like I did, suddenly changed his behavior.
Until now, he had been desperately trying to push me back, but now he was trying to escape.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
Fwoosh—
I expanded the black mana further, pressing down on Kane.
There was no way he was going to get away.
In the meantime, Professor Amilion’s mana arrived quickly, wrapping around both Kane and me like a net.
“It’s done now!”
Whoosh—
As soon as I heard Professor Amilion’s words, I leapt back.
Whoosh—
It was difficult to maintain my stance as I exerted myself, but I swung at the ground for stability and looked up toward Kane.
Professor Amilion’s mana had successfully captured Kane.
The blue mana enveloped the ember-like form of Kane, binding him tightly before completely surrounding him.
‘Is it over?’
“Did it work?”
Professor Amilion didn’t respond, her eyes closed as she focused intently.
I had thought the process would end once Kane was wrapped in mana, but apparently, there was still something else that needed to be done.
I turned my gaze away from the focused Professor Amilion and observed Kane, now surrounded by mana.
Crackle—
Intermittent sounds of massive energy clashes, similar to the ones I had heard earlier when I fought Kane, echoed faintly.
I kept alternating my gaze between Kane and Amilion, never letting my guard down.
After a short while, the sounds changed.
Sizzle—
This time, the sound was different.
It wasn’t the sound of energy colliding but more like steam escaping.
The flames enveloping Kane began to diminish noticeably with a sizzling sound.
As the ember cloaked in blue mana grew smaller, the surrounding flames that had been burning the forest also started to die out.
It was as if all the flames were interconnected.
‘Is it finally over?’
Sizzle—
Professor Amilion opened her eyes and watched as the ember gradually diminished.
A moment later—
Thud—
Kane, surprisingly intact despite having been engulfed in massive flames, collapsed onto the ground.
By the time he fell, the flames that had covered him and burned the forest had all vanished.
Tap, tap—
As the fire disappeared and Kane hit the ground, Professor Amilion immediately ran toward him.
“Kane!”
Amilion frantically lifted Kane’s upper body to check his condition.
She shook him and even slapped his cheek, but Kane didn’t regain consciousness.
‘At least he’s not dead.’
My heightened senses from the intense battle assured me of that much.
Kane Hover hadn’t lost his life.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
‘His mana flow is completely wrecked.’
Looking closely, I could see the extent of the damage.
The rampaging mana had wreaked havoc inside his body, leaving no part untouched.
If I could see it, then surely Professor Amilion had also noticed Kane’s condition.
That explained the desperate expression on her face as she tried to wake him up.
‘If he doesn’t wake up now…’
With his body severely damaged by the rampaging mana, this was the golden time.
If Kane didn’t regain consciousness and stabilize his mana internally, he might lose the ability to use mana forever.
“Wake up!”
Amilion called out desperately, but Kane showed no signs of waking.
Expecting a first-year student at Crescent Academy to endure something like this and recover was an unreasonable expectation.
“Kane!!”
Amilion even resorted to slapping Kane harder, but he didn’t open his eyes.
“Ryu…? What’s going on?”
“Ah.”
Amidst the commotion, Elaine Sinclair arrived.
Her expression showed clear confusion as she looked around the scene.
“Professor? Is that Kane Hover?”
Even as another student arrived, Professor Amilion remained solely focused on Kane.
‘Sigh.’
“Professor.”
Startled—
Professor Amilion, who had been continuously shaking Kane, finally stopped at my call.
Kane’s body, held in her arms, was completely limp.
“We should take him to the infirmary first.”
“Ah…”
Professor Amilion now realized it too.
The golden time had already passed.
—
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