Chapter 128

“Monsters?”

The initial reaction from the homeless people to that word was indifferent.

Even as the man named Billy hurriedly shut the shelter door and slid the bolt into place, most of them just scoffed.

“Don’t freak us out like that, man. Monsters? Seriously?”

“Did you get drunk again, fall over, and now you’re making stuff up?”

“How many times do you think we’ve fallen for your nonsense?”

But then—

Thud!

The moment Billy secured the bolt, something slammed violently against the door, and the inside of the shelter fell dead silent.

“What was that sound just now?”

“I told you! It’s a monster!”

Billy flailed his arms, shouting passionately.

Looking closer, his injury was so severe that one of his fingers was barely hanging on.

As everyone fell speechless, the door shook again.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

This time, it was as if whatever was outside was trying to break it down.

The people began glancing nervously at one another.

“Wait… is this for real? A monster?”

“Wh-What do we do?”

“Shh.”

The leader of the homeless group raised his index finger to his lips.

He meant for everyone to stay silent.

Maybe if they held their breath, the monster would think no one was inside and leave.

That must have been his hope.

But then…

Gulp.

As someone’s throat moved up and down with a swallow—

Crash! Crack!

A hole burst through the wooden door, and something began forcing its way inside.

It was a black, muscular beast’s leg.

“Kyaaah!”

A woman couldn’t hold back and let out a scream.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

The sound of dogs barking echoed outside the door, and the scratching of claws that were sharp and relentless grew more intense.

Panic spread among the people.

“Put out the fire! The light will attract the spirits!”

“You idiot! If it’s a beast, fire’s the only thing that’ll scare it off! What are you thinking, turning it off?”

“Are we all going to die?”

“Shut your mouth!”

Creak, crack. Craaack!

The gap in the door began to widen. Snapping out of their shock, a few of the homeless dragged chairs and tables over to block the broken part of the entrance, forming a barricade.

Women and the elderly were evacuated into the inner room.

The homeless leader grabbed Jacqueline’s arm.

“You too, miss…get inside!”

Jacqueline shook her head.

“I can help! I’m a mage!”

“You? A young lady like you? But—”

There was no time to argue.

At that moment, the door gave way with a loud crash, and the entrance burst open.

The uninvited guest was shaped like a hound, but its face was disfigured and grotesque. It was clearly not of this world.

The makeshift barricade slowed the creature down, but eventually, one of them broke through and made it into the shelter.

Everyone froze in terror.

The hound, spotting easy prey, bared its fangs and lunged at a homeless man.

Just then, a clear voice rang out:

“Twelfth watch, divine will of Santuan, become the arrow that shatters the enemy’s edge! Naphizano’s blazing flame!”

Fwoooom!

A blazing fireball engulfed the hound’s head.

Screeeech!

The faceless creature howled in agony as flames consumed it. Thrashing on the ground, it eventually fell still.

The homeless people turned around in shock to see Jacqueline, her face tense, both arms extended in front of her.

Her outstretched arms were trembling slightly.

“I… I did it on the first try…”

She had cast this spell countless times at straw dummies, but it was her first time using it on a living, moving target.

Her heart was pounding so hard it was almost unbelievable.

Get a grip, Jacqueline Dogwood! You’re a mage. Isn’t this exactly why you learned magic? For times like this…

Jacqueline clenched her teeth and forced herself to focus.

Though her arms refused to move easily, she pushed them forward, aiming at the enemy.

Another hound was crawling through the broken entrance.

Just one more… stay calm!

Flames flared from Jacqueline’s hands once more.

Months had passed since she enrolled in the academy.

The training she’d undergone in that time did not betray her.

“…Naphizano’s Blazing Flame!”

Another hound was struck by fire and sent flying.

Screeech…

Jacqueline clenched her fist tightly.

“Did I get it?”

“There’s more coming!”

Just as one of the homeless men shouted, the creatures’ assault intensified.

Horrific howls filled the foggy night streets, and more footsteps gathered outside the shelter.

“Everyone, get behind me!”

As Jacqueline stepped forward and shouted, a sliver of hope appeared on the faces of the homeless.

“Hang in there! Please!”

“Save us!”

“I thought you were just a kind-hearted young lady… but you’re actually an amazing mage!”

As if responding to their hopes, Jacqueline fired flame after flame.

She had never used this much magic in her entire life.

But in the end, she was still just a first-class rookie.

Every time the monsters stepped over the bodies of their fallen kin and advanced, all Jacqueline could do was add one more charred corpse to the pile.

That was because the only spell she could fully control was Naphizano’s Blazing Flame.

She lacked the kind of variable that could shift the tide of battle, even slightly.

To make matters worse, Jacqueline was starting to tire.

No… My mana’s…

As her mana ran low, the power of her spells weakened, and her breathing grew labored.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the enemies breached the barricade.

“Haa… Haa…”

As the frequency of Jacqueline’s magic clearly declined, the leader of the homeless group approached with a grim expression.

“Miss… You’re a student from the academy, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry… Hah… I don’t have the energy to answer that right now…”

“There were other students back at the hall, right? They must all be mages too.”

“That’s true, but why?”

“We’ll clear a path. Could you go and ask them for help?”

“What?”

“It looks like you can’t hold off those monsters on your own. Then it might be better to go and get reinforcements.”

“That’s ridiculous. If you fight those monsters, you’ll all be killed.”

“……”

The homeless man fell silent, his face clouded with conflicting thoughts. Then he spoke.

“But at least you have to survive.”

“Don’t say that. I’ll push myself harder.”

Running away and abandoning people to die when she knew they wouldn’t make it—

Jacqueline could never accept that.

Even if she tried to run, there was no guarantee she could shake off the hounds.

All she could do was hold out and hope that someone would hear the chaos and come.

Shannon or Rita, maybe.

Or perhaps…

Boom!

The shelter’s ceiling collapsed, revealing a new face.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the ally Jacqueline had been hoping for.

It was a different kind of monster from the faceless hounds.

It was a grotesque creature shaped like a giant clam.

Its body was encased in a pair of thick, streamlined shells, and a wet mass of flesh was hidden between its gaping jaws. It unmistakably resembled some kind of mollusk.

Slither.

A slimy tentacle slipped out of the clam monster’s mouth and then coiled like a whip around an old man’s neck.

“Uwaaagh!”

Before anyone could rush in to save him, the clam monster yanked the man in.

Snap!

The clam’s mouth snapped shut with a thud.

The captured old man was instantly swallowed up inside the monster’s shell.

“No! Naphizano’s Blazing Flame!”

Jacqueline quickly chanted a spell, but the flames failed to pierce the creature’s hard carapace.

As if mocking her, the clam monster slithered across the floor with its tentacles and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling.

“Help me!”

As the kidnapped old man’s scream tore through the night air, Jacqueline found herself chasing after the clam monster without thinking.

“Come back! It’s dangerous out there!”

The homeless leader tried to stop her, but Jacqueline was already stepping on the collapsed debris, leaping through the hole in the ceiling.

But the moment she set foot on the roof of the rickety wooden building—

Jacqueline regretted her decision.

Because it was waiting outside the shelter.

“Ah…”

Jacqueline came face-to-face with it.

A figure standing three meters tall.

Not human…though it looked like one.

Clad in a black priest’s robe… or something that resembled one.

The instant she looked directly at it, Jacqueline’s legs froze in place.

“I have to run…”

She had to run, but no matter how hard her brain screamed the command, her muscles refused to respond.

Her body only trembled, as if nailed to the ground.

“Hey! Miss! Are you alright?”

A voice called from below the roof.

Jacqueline barely managed to part her lips.

“…Mister?”

“It’s not too late! Come back!”

“…No.”

“What?”

“It’s too late… far too late. You should run while you still can. That thing…”

There was no way to win.

To fight that thing meant certain death.

She didn’t know what it was, but Jacqueline’s instincts were screaming it at her.

Whoosh!

In that instant, with a slicing sound through the air, Jacqueline’s body was flung to the side.

A tentacle had whipped out from inside the priest’s robe and struck her.

“Guhk!”

Slammed into a pile of rubble, Jacqueline couldn’t breathe from the shock.

Before she could even recover from the pain, the enemy was already approaching.

Slide.

It glided across the floor soundlessly, the black priest advancing like a shadow.

What Jacqueline had thought was a robe…

Now she realized, it wasn’t clothing at all.

It was skin, drooping and fluttering.

Beneath that outer shell that mimicked a human form,

A black, mud-like darkness oozed out—

A darkness as deep as the abyss.

Just looking at it made Jacqueline dizzy.

A powerful mental attack.

“Urgh!”

Jacqueline curled up like a shrimp, trying to suppress the urge to vomit.

While she struggled, the black priest’s tentacles slithered toward her.

One wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air.

Her body rose higher above the black priest’s head, up toward the sky.

As soon as her feet left the ground, Jacqueline thrashed with all her might.

“Naphizano’s… blazing—”

Her attempt to cast a spell didn’t work at all.

Jacqueline realized that her magic field wasn’t functioning properly.

It was likely being disrupted by the black priest.

From the start, the difference in power between “that thing” and herself had been overwhelming.

A wave of helplessness washed over her.

Squeeze!

The tentacle began to tighten around her waist.

With no mercy, it dug into the unprotected parts of her body,

And she felt her organs being forced out of place from the pressure.

“Hyaghhh!”

A strained gasp escaped Jacqueline’s lungs.

If the tentacle squeezed any harder, her spine would snap in two, and she’d die.

Even if it just slammed her down to the ground, her skull would shatter, and her brain would turn to mush.

Or maybe it would take her away like it had taken that homeless old man earlier?

What would happen to her then?

Death.

A concept she had never seriously considered until now flashed through her mind.

A concept she had never seriously considered until now brushed through her mind.

Jacqueline had resolved to fight for the homeless and stand against the monster, but she had never truly prepared herself for the possibility of dying.

And so, this was far too sudden and far too cruel an ending.

I’m going to die? Just like this, so pointlessly?

A sob welled up inside her.

The courage that had allowed Jacqueline to stand against the mysterious monster just moments ago began to dissolve and scatter like cotton candy dipped in water.

How fragile her resolve had been.

Tears started to gather at the corners of Jacqueline’s eyes.

They ran down her face.

“I don’t want to die…”

Tears and snot mixed together.

Her face twisted into something ugly, but she couldn’t care less.

“Please… someone, anyone… help me… hic.”

Jacqueline prayed as she searched.

For her parents, her friends, or the strongest and most dependable person she knew.

And that was…

“Please, Professor.”

As those words slipped from her bloodless lips…as if someone had actually heard her prayer, a miracle occurred.

Whirr!

A faint slicing sound came from somewhere.

Slash!

At last, the force that had been constricting Jacqueline loosened.

Something had sliced through the tentacle and passed by.

Freed from its grip, Jacqueline went into free fall, soon landing on her back.

But not on hard ground, she fell into a gentle touch.

Into someone’s arms.

Jacqueline looked up at the face of the one who had caught her, and her voice trembled with disbelief.

“P-Professor…?”

“You’ve done well. Leave the rest to me now.”

Professor Winslet’s long hair fluttered like a scene from a painting.