Chapter 32: Under the Moonlight

(T/N: Those who are reading it from Novelupdates, in case you missed it, I wrongly posted the chapters from Chapter 29 to 31 yesterday. I have fixed it already. You can read Chapter 29 first before continuing)

You are warned of gore content in this chapter.

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Hunter arched his brows momentarily but then snapped his fingers right away.

“!”

A magic circle then unfolded at the spot where Fina had placed her foot. Realizing that it was an installation-type trap, Fina managed to intercept the sharp-edged stone pillar that ejected with an impetus from the trap with the middle of her sword.

Fina’s body was nonetheless thrust to a height of roughly five meters by the stone pillar as it continued to extend.

Having been flung into the air, Fina was launched into a follow-up attack by Hunter. He quickly attached an arrow to the jet-black bow in his hand before releasing two simultaneous arrows. The magic bow, free of invisibility magic as before, was purely enhanced in its intensity.

“Ugh!”

Fina was a magician, undoubtedly, but she was likewise a knight. Aside from wielding magic, her physical training was not lacking either.

She flawlessly intercepted each of the two arrows that were nearly shot at the same instant while spinning her falling body and knocked them down.

Fina braced herself anticipating Hunter to pursue after landing, but surprisingly he did not, clapping his hands together discreetly as if he were giving applause.

“Not bad. So it wasn’t a fluke that you blocked my arrows in the hospital.”

“Protecting Lady Karen is my responsibility. To bring down long-range attacks is an indispensable skill. Well, it was my first experience protecting her from invisible attacks.”

Despite her aggressive words, Fina mentally cursed the fact that she had been introduced into a gnarly field.

Even before her arrival, Hunter must have laid traps in this church in advance, taking into account the moves of a follow-up assault. Expecting a long-distance battle-style enemy, she had pursued him this far but failed to foresee that she herself would be drawn into the enemy’s field in the reverse order. Fina bit her lower lip at her own lack of thoughtfulness.

“You seem to have understood. Let me make it clear to you that escape would not be an easy feat. I am a hunter. Not only am I adept at killing my prey by erasing all trace of them, but the same goes for finishing them from behind as they flee.”

To Hunter’s savage smile, Fina curved her lips to avoid being perceived that she was putting up a bold front.

“Hmm, considering that you failed at assassination, your prowess at dispatching prey also doesn’t seem to be all that remarkable.”

“Heh, very well said!”

Within a heartbeat, Hunter leveled his bow at her. Even if Hunter’s attacks were averted, she would have to keep an eye out for traps in the area where she was going to move.

The string was drawn away from Hunter’s fingers after which an iron arrow passed through Fina’s cheek, tearing it shallowly.

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“Seaaaah!”

The “Flame Pillar” that Luke unleashed with all his force engulfed the Golem’s massive body.

For a golem made of boulders, fire-attribute magic was not compatible, but it still inflicted sufficient damage to temporarily halt the sorcery Golem’s movement.

“Dean!”

“Yes!”

As if Dean were about to press on with further strikes, “Mud Swamp” was deployed at the Golem’s feet, sinking its legs down to around its knees. This brought the Golem to a complete standstill.

Watching the timing, Ragan, who had been waiting behind them, sprang out. In his hand was a huge halberd, nearly over two meters long.

“Shatter!”

The halberd swung down by Ragan, whose physique had been reinforced adequately by sorcery, brilliantly struck the Golem squarely on the head. The Golem’s body fissured from the contact with the hammer.

“All right!”

With a roar of cheers, the Golem’s body shattered as if it had been burst open. Luke and the others, after confirming that the enemy had been totally wiped out, shouted a battle cry of victory.

“We won without any particular injuries, didn’t we? Both of you have shown improvement in your skills.”

“Senior Strait, it’s the same for you. Your magical power has risen to a level unmatched this spring, and your magic activation lag has shortened, too. You were strong before, but now you’re powerful in a whole new way!”

Being told by Dean, a bitter smile emerged on Luke’s face. Luke has single-handedly made such rapid progress thanks to the mock battle he had with Karen last month.

This was partly due to the fact that Luke did not witness the mock battle between Karen and Rain, which made many of the people lose confidence since he was immediately taken to the infirmary, but Luke was essentially a competitive person.

The mock battle with Karen, which would have been enough to break anyone’s heart, did not hinder Luke; in fact, it served to motivate him to strive even harder.

“This is Luke Strait of Unit 4. We have succeeded in defeating the sorcery Golem that was engaged here. There are no major injuries.”

[―Roger that. You did a fine job. Can you continue the operation?]

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“Yes. Any instructions?”

[I see. If so, as you may have seen, Fina Trinity and someone who appears to be Hunter are currently engaged in a battle at the church on the edge of the city. Would Unit 4 please go to support her?]

“―May I?”

That meant that Luke and his team could effectively play a key role in this operation. After all, once Hunter was taken down here, the greatest threat would be neutralized. They were entrusted with the task of addressing the ultimate threat, something that only the third and second-year students like themselves were equipped to tackle.

[The other groups are too distant or still combating the sorcery Golem and the traitors in the Garrison Corps. You guys are the only ones available and relatively close to the church. Can you handle it?]

Looking around at the rest of the unit for once, Luke was met with a strong nod. Then the answer was set.

“―Please leave it to us.”

“That’s a lifesaver… Don’t die.”

The final word was spoken in his usual warm tone of voice, and Rain ended the communication without further ado.

Luke felt conscious of his body quivering. Of course, fear was playing a part, too. But more than that, he had to admit that he was exhilarated to be trusted by Rain Aldar, whom he admired so much.

“Let’s do it, Senior!”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Luke moved his feet in the direction of the church after giving Ragan, who was holding the halbert back up, another nod.

Bang.

“Hmm?”

The sound of something popping could be heard, and Luke turned around to check what it was but only to be met by the sight…

“What…?”

…of Dean, who had collapsed to the ground. No, was that Dean? Luke’s vision was dominated by a spectacle that eluded his grasp.

The “thing that was a person” that collapsed was headless. No, to be exact, the part where the head should have been was covered with something sloppy and crimson, and something that had the appearance of white paper. Luke was struck by the resemblance, and immediately had a flash of memory. Right, this looked like potato salad, a dish made of mashed potatoes. The moment his recollection surfaced, though, Luke denied that this was different. That dish was not a vivid red, and above all, there was nothing shining in the moonlight like this―

Bang.

The sound was heard again.

This time, he found Ragan sitting down.

“Raga…”

Right as he was about to call out to him, a realization of the abnormality dawned on him.

The huge halberd that Ragan always carried with him. The edge of it was somehow pointed inward, and up to half of the blade was implanted in Ragan’s face.

A shuddering Luke hurried over to him and held him up. At the sight of his face, Luke almost blacked out there briefly.

The halberd was half-diagonally wedged in Ragan’s face, and he was already out of breath. Had he not even had time to shut his eyes? In his open left eye, the halbert’s edge was buried so deep that his eyeballs were halfway down, and was leaking through it like an undercooked fried egg.

This was a huge halberd. The edge of the tip, only half-buried, was already extending out from the back of Ragan’s head, and at the tip, something that must have been precious to Ragan was shining spectrally against the moon, as it had been earlier.

Was it a sixth sense? For some reason, a chill swept over Luke.

He swiftly rolled over and heard a sound in his ear that was not present before as if it were ripping through the air.

“―You avoided it huh?”

Standing where Luke had been was a man in a suit.

His hair was trimmed to a reasonable length—neither too short nor too long—and subtle creases were visible around his eyes. Because of his rather thin build, he could probably be mistaken for an average person anyplace if he were to go about his business.

But there was no doubt― Luke understood instantaneously. It was this same man who had sent the two men to their deaths. And that he would share the same fate as them in the not-too-distant future.

“…You are aware of the power imbalance between us, huh? That level of wisdom is exceptional for someone your age. Had we hadn’t crossed paths here, you may have earned a reputation as a renowned magician in the future.”

“I don’t want to die.”

The next thing he knew, Luke was uttering these words in a muffled voice that he didn’t even recognize as his own. Even Luke himself was astounded by this. The stark disparity in power between him and Karen had never disheartened him, but now he was giving up in the face of his enemy and pleading for mercy. The man stared intently into Luke’s face with vacant eyes.

“I don’t want to die, huh? I suppose that’s true. You are still young and have a future. The act of losing your life at your age must be a terror to you.”

“No, just when I have finally… I have finally been acknowledged by that person. I don’t want to die here, in a place like this, where nobody knows me.”

“You may have regrets about disappearing in the midst of your ambition. But that’s how this world often works. Death has always existed close at hand, but simply out of your conscious awareness.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die――――――――――”

“There will be no pain. Be at ease.”

Another small burst of sound was heard in Luke’s ear as he spewed out words that could neither be defined as a plea nor a curse.

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