After passing through the narrow stone corridor, a spacious area that could be called a plaza appeared. Thick stone pillars reached up to the high ceiling, forming an open space.
There was no sunlight here, nor any illumination from torches or oil lamps; only endless darkness surged from all directions.
Erica had never imagined such a vast space inside this ancient castle and couldn’t help but wonder about its purpose. A greasy smell seemed to permeate the air…
Suddenly, a scream cut through the air. A black shadow lunged at Emil. The golden-haired girl was no pushover; she easily sidestepped the fierce charge and drove her knee hard into the opponent’s abdomen.
Bang! “Ugh—”
Emil lightly kicked the head of the guy lying on the ground with her toe and said nonchalantly, “We’ve taken down about a dozen, right?”
“There are twenty students in this batch. Besides me and Lady Miona, there might be three or four more hiding here.” Phew—
Erica adjusted her breathing. She was dizzy and had a splitting headache, as if a thick fog filled her head, and her thoughts began to blur.
The girl had used close to ten spells by now, and her mana limit was inevitably approaching. Still, that wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Using magic in actual combat gave her a clear understanding of its power and limitations—experience she could apply in the future.
Her spell [Ember] was like holding a shotgun—a shotgun made of air pellets. The closer the range, the stronger the power; the farther the distance, the weaker it became.
Of course, it also depended on her aim. Even when using her wand to weaken the power for better stability, a close hit could easily shatter bones and cause severe internal damage to the body. If it hit the head, it was naturally a one-hit kill.
A mage who had only reached the second tier and glimpsed part of the Demon King’s essence already possessed such magical prowess. What must the spell [Ember] be like when cast by Solomon himself, who once reached the tenth tier?
And who were those family warriors capable of subduing such an overpowered Demon King?
In any case, after using offensive magic roughly ten times—though it was just a rough estimate—she felt that chanting twice more might be her limit.
Her mana was nearly exhausted, and she endured a pounding headache, suspecting that this might be an attrition strategy by her opponent. Professor Barlan had deliberately lured them to a spawn point favorable to the enemy, slowly wearing down their strength, tiring them, and then wiping them out in one fell swoop.
If it were her, she would probably choose to launch a surprise attack when the opponent was exhausted from continuous fighting. It was an evil plan that saw the end from the beginning, yet it was an open conspiracy—they had no choice but to step into it step by step.
However, only Erica was exhausted. Emil and Miona were still full of energy—their combat experience was indeed on a different level.
Holding the Liones family’s sacred artifact [Shipbreaker], Emil spoke calmly, “So, Miona, this is the place, right? Do you sense something? Let’s finish this quickly so we can go eat dinner.”
“It’s around here. I can feel my father’s presence somewhere. Everyone, be careful.”
“Hmph, what does being careful matter? Hey, Erica, can’t you use some light magic to illuminate the area?”
“I can’t use that kind of spell.”
“Tch—” If she couldn’t, she couldn’t. What could she do about it? Still, there were other things she could accomplish.
Rustle— Keeping a calm mind, Erica pricked up her ears and listened carefully to the surroundings.
Her elven ears were far more sensitive than a human’s, so in this vast, silent darkness, detecting any movement was not difficult.
Suddenly, a low rumbling sound reached her ears.
“Bul’sJack.”
Well, no need to listen anymore. Behind them, flames had already burst into the sky.
Boom! Boom!!!
The fire blazed brightly, illuminating everything around. Was it because of the greasy smell that had been lingering?
Whoosh— The burning flames seemed to trace something, forming a ring and finally creating a wall of fire.
Erica realized it was a spell formation. They had unknowingly stepped into the center of the formation.
Black shadows appeared one after another, closing in from all directions. These were real zombies, skeletons—undead unlike the Ark students they had encountered before. The stench of decay and killing intent they exuded was no joke.
The moment she saw them, Miona Draco’s body trembled again.
“Uncle… Aunt.”
Emil swung her massive halberd to block the undead from approaching. “You know these corpses?”
“They’re bodies from the Dreyko family cemetery. It looks like our family tomb was completely looted! These guys are on a different level from ordinary undead. Be careful!”
“Hah—This is why I hate the Dreyko family. Even in death, they cause me trouble. So, Miona, think of something. Are we just going to be surrounded and have our stamina ground down?”
“A way…”
“If it were just me, I’m confident I could break out, but protecting the two of you—the enemy won’t be so easygoing.”
Emil’s gaze was fixed on something floating in the air. It was an undead draped in a black robe with white hair hanging down—the high-ranking Lich, Sir Arest.
“Itumkalli, HurBoltJack.”
The flames roared. Blue fire flickered in the high-ranking Lich’s withered hands. When they had met him a few days ago, those same hands had handed candy to Erica.
“ExackSkarrrrr…!”
Now, this uncle had been robbed of control over his body by this unknown Professor Barlan, reduced to a bloody butcher slaughtering the living.
“Honestly, I don’t know how to beat that guy. He seems on the same level as my father.”
Emil looked at Arest, remembering her father Leonardo. In fact, Leonardo and Arest were rivals and classmates.
“Hey, Miona, doesn’t your dad have any weaknesses? Liches usually have phylacteries, like an urn for hiding their soul or something.”
“Arest Draco is the most perfect creation of our family’s alchemy. There’s no way he has such obvious weaknesses.”
“Then how do we defeat him? Even if we cut him down, he’ll keep reviving, right?”
“If there is a weakness, it’s the caster controlling him. We need to find Professor Barlan as soon as possible. She should be nearby. I’ll try to regain control in the meantime.”
Gwaaaah! Another zombie from the Draco family charged at them. The undead were unusually fast and agile, nothing like ordinary zombies.
“Looking for a professor whose face we haven’t even seen around here?”
Shlash! Whoosh! Emil swung her huge polearm, cleaving the approaching undead in two. With each swing of the giant axe, severed limbs and flesh flew everywhere, blood and body parts interweaving into a bloody scene.
“That’s nothing!” Arest muttered something at the confident Emil. “HaloDasiTumb!” At the same time, the blue flame flickering in his hands burned more intensely. Whatever it was, it didn’t look good.
But suddenly, his movements froze.
“Grrrrrr.”
“Death is not the end or rest, but a new beginning—” Perhaps it was the effect of a prayer-like incantation Miona Draco was reciting beside him.
“Just as snakes and dragons shed their scales and old skin, death is merely an entrance to new life and the spiral, as the prophecy says—”
“Grrr….” She was trying to wrest control of her father.
“These small fry are endless! Do something, anything! Hurry up!” Emil was busy dealing with the zombies surging from all directions.
“Therefore, even walking through the gloomy valley of death, do not fear. I will seize the weeping demon by the neck…”
“Grrrrrrr…!”
Both of them seemed extremely occupied with their own tasks. That left only Erica to find the main body pulling the strings—Professor Barlan.
Phew— The girl adjusted her breathing.
From what she knew, a necromancer controlling the undead had to maintain a certain distance from their servants. If the distance was too far, they would lose control; if too close, their location would be easily identified.
Professor Barlan must be hiding somewhere in this darkness—but where? How irritating. How was she supposed to know?
“Professor Barlan! Show yourself!”
“Hee hee hee, how pitiful. Little girls, resistance is futile.” A sinister voice echoed through the vast space.
As if responding to that hopeless shout, a figure slowly emerged—it was Professor Barlan, wrapped in a black robe.
In one hand, she held a dagger shaped like a cross; in the other, a long staff. A thick iron chain coiled around her neck like a heavy gold necklace.
“Well, I’ve appeared now. Little girl, what are you going to do?”
What, did Erica really summon her? She had only shouted out of despair…
“Resistance is futile. Useless, unnecessary, wasted effort. Even if you struggle in vain, that barrier will collapse. Beyond the barrier, the evil that has been ignored will eventually erode this world.”
Unlike her stammering in class, Professor Barlan now spoke darkly but fluently.
Emil picked up on the topic. “Barrier? Why bring up the barrier all of a sudden? Isn’t she just a crazy black mage?”
The senior frowned, unable to understand, but Erica caught a different meaning. When she heard the mention of the barrier collapsing, the plot of the second part of the novel after Evelyn’s execution came to her mind.
The northern wall collapsed. To block the ensuing Dark Legion, the Hero Training Academy Ark became the final fortress, engaging in a desperate battle with the hostile forces.
But that didn’t happen. As long as Evelyn wasn’t executed like in the original novel, the barrier wouldn’t collapse—that was the setting.
Miona shouted, “Professor Barlan! Surrender now and return what belongs to me, Miona Draco!”
The professor chuckled. “Professor Barlan? That fool no longer exists. Only an empty shell remains. She resisted stubbornly before… but now only this husk is left.”
“Professor Barlan… is dead?”
“More or less. What remains here is nothing more than a half-assed Draco who can’t even perform necromancy, and a Liones brat who can’t control the family heirloom…”
Rustle. Professor Barlan’s blood-red eyes turned to the half-elf girl.
“…And who are you?”
“I am Erica Angelina. I’ve attended your lectures. Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t. Come to think of it, you’re an elf? I didn’t notice until now. A insignificant, useless little fairy.”
That was harsh.
“Hee hee hee. In any case, you can’t beat me. I am Galir, one of the Four Pillars of the Demon King Solomon—the great necromancer Galir.”
“Galir!?” Miona gasped.
“What is that?”
“It’s a spell of the Demon King Solomon! One of the four legendary spells with their own will… This is one of them!”
“What do you mean? Wasn’t the Demon King Solomon vanquished? All the spells he left behind should have been nullified, right?”
While speaking, Emil continued to deal with the undead.
“Uwaaaah…” “Eeeek…” Emil had cut down all the surrounding undead, leaving them writhing on the ground.
But the powerful Lich Arest and the self-proclaimed Galir, Professor Barlan, remained unharmed. As long as they chanted their spells again, the undead would revive and attack endlessly—that was the battle against a necromancer.
However, Professor Barlan, no, Galir, didn’t seem eager to crush them immediately.
“The Demon King Solomon is dead? The Noel bloodline is cut off? Ridiculous. Noel still lives. The fact that I still have a will is proof.”
“Nonsense!” Emil growled, as if unwilling to listen.
But Miona Draco’s face was almost green with fear, trembling and unable to speak.
“Miona Draco, you should know. Hasn’t your family long been aware? Noel lives somewhere.”
“…That is.”
“What? What does that mean?” Emil asked incredulously. Galir chuckled.
“The Draco family has known for a long time. Noel’s will has never ceased. If you’re still in the dark, go ask them. They know more than I do. Hee hee.”
“Hey, what does that mean?” Emil demanded angrily, her face blood-spattered and twisted with a mix of rage, confusion, and distrust.
Erica realized it was a ploy by this guy called Galir—to sow distrust between Emil and Miona. Their alliance was already shaky. This would capsize their friendship boat.
Still, what Professor Barlan had said was very interesting. The will of Noel was still alive? Was she referring to Erica?
Only she would fit, since the system had confirmed that Erica was the sole survivor of the Noel family. But did the Draco family also know about her existence…?
No, it didn’t seem like that either. The situation was getting complicated.
No, it didn’t seem like that either. The situation was getting complicated.
“Explain yourself properly right now! Noel is still alive, and you hid this from us? Do you have any idea what this means?”
Shwip. Emil grabbed Miona by the collar.
Miona, held in her grip, didn’t resist. She simply murmured quietly, as if she had known this would happen all along.
“…No point in lying now… It’s true. Noel is alive. More precisely, the blood of the Demon King…”
“Like the Forbidden Legacy…”