Chapter 198: A Victory Marred by Blood

Near the eastern cloister, Professor Elowen moved through the remains of a shattered corridor.

Dust covered her robes, and a few strands of green hair had fallen loose around her face. Despite the destruction surrounding her, her expression remained composed.

A faint disturbance brushed against her senses.

She stopped.

The residual mana was weak, but unmistakably demonic.

Elowen turned toward a partially collapsed archway.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

Dark scales covered its shoulders and neck, while a pair of short horns protruded from its forehead. One arm hung uselessly at its side, and blood ran down its body.

The demon stared at her.

Then its gaze shifted toward the passage behind her.

It understood that the situation had turned against it. Its comrades had fallen one after another, the academy’s defenders were stronger than expected, and the objective of the invasion was now beyond reach.

It needed to escape.

Dark mana gathered around its legs.

Elowen noticed immediately.

"Still thinking about running?"

The demon lunged.

Its claws swept toward her neck.

Elowen raised one hand.

A magic circle formed beneath her fingertips.

"Gravitic Bind."

The space surrounding the demon grew heavy. Its forward momentum abruptly slowed. Its knees buckled under the sudden pressure, and its claws stopped just short of reaching her.

The creature roared.

Dark mana surged through its body as it struggled against the spell. Cracks spread across the stone beneath its feet, but the pressure continued to increase.

Elowen studied it closely.

Its mana circulation was unstable. Forcing power through its injured body only made it harder to resist the spell.

She didn’t need to overpower it.

She only needed to keep it from moving.

A second magic circle appeared above her hand.

"Arcane Rupture."

The spell struck its chest.

A violent surge of mana erupted within the demon’s body. Its roar broke into a strangled sound before its limbs gave way.

It collapsed against the broken stones.

Elowen lowered her hand. After confirming that the creature was dead, she continued through the cloister.

---

In the lower archive of the library, Professor Alaric Thornwood stood before a towering demon.

Its thick arms were covered in dark, uneven plates, and every step cracked the already damaged floor. Toppled shelves and scattered pages lay between them.

Alaric adjusted his glasses.

His reserves were far from full after the earlier fights. He could not afford a prolonged battle.

The demon charged.

A massive fist swept toward him.

He shifted aside, allowing the attack to pass. The fist struck a stone pillar, sending fragments scattering across the archive.

Before the creature could recover, Alaric raised his hand.

Pale lines of light spread across the floor, walls, and ceiling, dividing the space into interlocking sections. Their intricate patterns gradually aligned.

The demon noticed the formation and tried to retreat.

Alaric’s fingers moved.

The lattice locked into place.

"Seventh Circle Spell: Veil of Bound Echoes."

The lattice disrupted the flow of mana around the demon, binding its movements while steadily compressing the space surrounding its body.

The demon roared and raised both arms, dark energy spreading across its body to reinforce its defenses.

Alaric closed his hand.

The lattice tightened.

Each contraction forced the creature farther back against the shelves. The protective mana surrounding its body began to fracture under the continuous pressure.

It tried to push forward.

The formation contracted a final time.

The impact shook the archive.

When the dust settled, the demon lay motionless beneath the shattered stone.

Alaric lowered his hand. The pale lines gradually faded, leaving only faint motes of light drifting through the air.

He exhaled slowly and glanced toward the corridor leading north.

There were still traces of demonic mana in the distance.

Adjusting his glasses, he continued his search.

---

Elsewhere, Professor Kaelen Draven moved through a dormitory corridor.

His sword remained drawn, and his shoulder was still stiff from the earlier fight.

Broken doors and shattered windows lined the corridor. Dark blood stained the floor, and the lingering scent of demonic mana hung heavily in the air. Somewhere farther down, frightened students had barricaded themselves inside the rooms.

A sudden movement caught his attention.

A gaunt demon stepped out of a ruined doorway.

Its pale skin looked cracked like dry clay, and faint crimson veins pulsed beneath the surface. Thin strands of dark mana drifted around its arms. Its body was already marked with injuries, yet its eyes held something sharper than simple desperation.

The moment it recognized Kaelen, it did not turn to flee.

Instead, it smiled.

Kaelen’s eyes narrowed.

The demon’s mana began to surge—wild, unstable, and rapidly increasing. The flow was wrong. Rather than circulating through its body, the energy built toward a single point, as if the creature were deliberately overloading itself.

Kaelen did not wait to understand it.

He attacked at once.

His sword moved in short, deliberate arcs. With every cut, a line of compressed Battle Energy settled into the air around the demon, exactly as it had in the training hall.

The demon made no attempt to dodge.

It simply stood there, smiling.

The lines set perfectly.

That should have been the warning.

"Thousandfold Severance."

The lines activated in rapid succession.

Blood sprayed as the demon’s body was carved by multiple intersecting strikes. Its arms, shoulders, and torso were torn open one after another.

Yet it did not fall.

Instead, the smile widened.

"Too late."

Dark mana erupted from every wound.

The demon’s body began to swell as cracks of crimson light spread across its skin. The unstable energy neared its critical threshold.

It was no longer attempting to fight.

It was detonating itself.

Kaelen’s eyes widened.

He immediately reinforced his body with Battle Energy and threw himself backward.

BOOOOOOM!

The detonation tore through the corridor.

A violent explosion of dark mana and compressed force erupted outward. The walls on both sides shattered, sending broken stone and debris in every direction. The shockwave ripped through the passage, hurling nearby students who had been sheltering farther down the corridor.

Screams were cut short.

When the dust began to settle, the corridor was unrecognizable.

Several students closest to the blast lay motionless among the rubble. Others had been thrown against the walls, their bodies broken. Blood and torn limbs were scattered across the shattered stone.

Kaelen was on one knee, one arm braced against the ground.

His left side was covered in blood, his clothing torn apart. Deep lacerations crossed his shoulder and ribs, while his left arm hung at an unnatural angle, the bones clearly broken.

Blood dripped steadily from his mouth.

He forced himself to remain conscious through sheer will, Battle Energy still circulating weakly through his body to keep him from collapsing.

The demon was gone. Nothing remained but a scorched crater and scattered fragments of dark flesh.

Kaelen’s breathing was harsh and uneven.

He had survived.

But the cost had been high.

Footsteps approached rapidly.

The distant explosion had drawn Elowen toward the dormitory corridor. She appeared at the far end of the ruined passage, her expression sharpening the moment she took in the destruction.

"Kaelen!"

He raised his head slowly.

"I’m... still standing."

Elowen reached him quickly, already forming a diagnostic spell. Her eyes moved over the scattered student bodies, the blood, and the crater where the demon had been.

Her expression hardened.

"Self-detonation."

Kaelen gave a weak, humorless breath.

"It waited until the last moment."

Elowen pressed a hand against his shoulder, channeling stabilizing mana into his worst injuries.

"Don’t move. You’re fortunate to still be conscious."

Kaelen’s gaze drifted toward the bodies of the students.

"...Not all of them were."

Silence settled over the ruined corridor.

---

Near the old duel arena, Professor Valeria Draven stood among the broken stands.

Her dark hair remained tied behind her head, though several loose strands had fallen around her face. Dust covered her clothing, and a torn sleeve showed a shallow cut along her arm. Her ribs ached with every deeper breath. Her sword was already drawn.

A broad-shouldered demon stood before her.

Its thick claws scraped against the ground as it advanced.

Unlike the other creatures, it showed no intention of retreating.

It attacked relentlessly.

Its first strike came from above.

Valeria shifted aside, narrowly avoiding the blow. The demon immediately followed with a sweeping attack, forcing her to retreat several steps.

She raised her sword.

Battle Energy gathered along the blade.

The demon’s claws crashed against her defense.

The impact drove her backward, her boots scraping across the broken stone. She managed to maintain her footing, but the force behind the attack sent a sharp pain through her ribs.

The creature pressed forward.

Valeria watched its movements.

Its attacks were powerful, but predictable. It committed too much strength to each strike, leaving little room to adjust its movements.

She waited.

The demon raised its arm and swung again.

Valeria moved just beyond its reach.

Its claws tore through the ground.

Before it could recover, she stepped inside its guard and drove her sword into its exposed side.

Battle Energy erupted along the blade.

The demon staggered.

Valeria didn’t give it time to regain its balance. She followed with another strike, targeting its knee.

A sharp crack echoed through the arena.

The creature dropped onto one leg.

It tried to turn toward her, but she had already moved behind it.

Her final strike landed at the base of its neck.

The demon collapsed.

Valeria remained still for a moment, watching as the mana surrounding its body gradually faded.

Then she straightened, one hand pressed briefly against her side, and turned back toward the damaged academy buildings to continue her search.

---

Beneath the collapsed colonnade near the main gate, Garrick found another of the remaining invaders.

The demon was already limping, one leg dragging behind it as it tried to force its way toward the outer grounds. Dark blood trailed along the stone with every step.

It noticed Garrick too late.

The creature turned and raised its claws, dark mana flaring weakly around its arms.

Garrick did not slow.

Battle Energy surged along his sword. Ignoring the ache in his injured shoulder, he closed the distance in a single step and cut through the demon’s guard in one clean motion.

The blade passed through its chest.

The demon staggered, eyes widening, then collapsed without a sound.

Garrick pulled his sword free and continued walking without looking back.

---

A short distance away, Alaric encountered the final remaining presence.

The last demon was heavily wounded, its movements slow and uneven. It tried to slip into a side corridor the moment it sensed him.

Alaric raised one hand.

A single magic circle formed.

The spell struck before the creature could take another step. Its body seized, then collapsed against the wall.

---

The professors searched the smoking grounds until they believed no hostile presence remained in the areas under their protection.

But the damage the invaders had left behind would not disappear so easily.

---

Garrick eventually found Elowen kneeling beside Kaelen in the ruined dormitory corridor.

Kaelen sat against a broken wall, his left arm immobilized and blood still seeping through the hastily applied bandages. Several student bodies had already been covered with cloaks.

Garrick’s expression hardened.

"What happened?"

Elowen looked up.

"A demon with a self-detonation talent. It waited until Kaelen’s finishing technique connected, then triggered the explosion."

Garrick studied the crater and the scattered remains.

"...How many students?"

"Four dead. Three severely injured."

Kaelen spoke through gritted teeth.

"I was too close. It smiled when I cut it."

Garrick’s jaw tightened.

He had already allowed one demon to escape. Now another had taken students with it even in death.

"There’s something else you need to know," he said.

Elowen studied his face.

"What happened?"

"One of the demons escaped."

Her expression changed slightly.

"Escaped?"

Garrick nodded.

"The one responsible for opening the spatial fissure. I confronted him near the western passage."

He briefly explained the encounter, describing how the demon had exploited the injured students to distract him before forcing open a second fissure through sheer desperation.

He also mentioned the damage to its body and the portion of its bloodline it had sacrificed to escape.

Elowen listened without interrupting.

"Did you manage to identify its abilities?"

"Spatial manipulation. Its control was already deteriorating when I found it, but it still managed to open another fissure."

Elowen’s gaze lowered.

A demon capable of manipulating space was not an ordinary threat. Even in its weakened state, it had managed to escape from a professor of Garrick’s standing.

"Did you see where the fissure led?"

"No. It closed almost immediately after the demon passed through."

Elowen remained silent for a moment.

Then she looked at Kaelen’s injuries, the dead students, and the crater left by the self-detonation.

The invaders had failed to achieve their objective, but the academy had paid dearly for it.

And the demon responsible for bringing the invading force into the academy might still be alive.

If he survived, he could report the failure to those behind the operation—and reveal how badly their plans had gone wrong.

"We need to inform the Headmistress."

Garrick nodded.

"Agreed."

Elowen reached into the storage space of her robe and retrieved a small communication crystal.

Its surface was smooth and pale, with faint magical markings running along its edges.

She poured a controlled amount of mana into it.

The markings began to glow.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the crystal emitted a soft chime.

A familiar voice came from within.

"Elowen?"

A faint shimmer spread across its surface.

The image gradually stabilized, revealing a woman with a composed but clearly strained expression. Her surroundings appeared to be a well-furnished room, though the details remained slightly blurred through the communication spell. Tension showed in the set of her shoulders and the tightness around her eyes.

Headmistress Calista.

She had not been present during the attack. The imperial meeting had kept her away from the academy, and the lack of information had clearly weighed on her.

Elowen straightened.

"Headmistress. We need to discuss what happened at Ambrose Academy."

Calista’s expression grew more serious. A flicker of anxiety passed through her eyes before she controlled it.

"Has the situation been resolved?"