Chapter 36: Battle of Academy (3)

"Enough, go inside!"

Professor Karen, who had taken out her sword for the first time in a while, urgently shouted, pushing the students into the classroom.

The situation was urgent; the spirits, who had materialized due to the barrier, directly attacked with force.

Fortunately, even though there were many of them, they weren't exceptionally powerful.

To put it bluntly, the students were unable to cope properly mostly because they were intimidated by the grotesque appearances of evil spirits.

"Professor Karen! We have roughly cleared this area!"

The professor who was blocking the spirits rushing down the right corridor with his magic shouted confidently, but Karen furrowed her brow when she looked in that direction.

"Aren't they still coming over there?"

"Hmm?!"

The spirits that had just burned and disappeared regained their original forms and began charging again.

The startled professor quickly cast spells, but he was already caught by the ankles.

Even if Karen tried to help in a hurry, she thought it was already over when she saw the spirits piling up on the fallen professor.

At that moment, sword strikes swept through the corridor, as if engulfing everything.

It was an intense and explosive power, like a violent storm that swallowed everything.

Swish!

The sword strikes, unleashing tremendous winds, swiftly cut through the spirits in the corridor.

Moreover, the strikes skillfully bypassed the professors and students, precisely targeting only the spirits. It was as if it was a magical technique that could only be described as sweeping away the spirits.

"P-Professor Deus."

And at the end of the path stood Deus, holding a worn-out black sword in his hand.

He extended his sword forward like a staff and calmly approached.

With him were other professors like Erica and Gideon, who began assisting in the rescue of the students.

Deus, who arrived in front of Karen with the scantily-clad maid, opened his mouth nonchalantly.

“Just because spirits have a physical body doesn’t mean they are truly resurrected.”

This meant despite repeatedly knocking them down, they would keep coming back.

Karen exhaled as she plunged her sword into the corridor.

"Many students and professors have already been injured. You are too late. Too late."

With this much chaos, there was no future for the Robern Academy anymore.

Karen thought so, but Deus shook his head.

"It is a barrier where the boundary between life and death is crumbling. It is a very unique and peculiar barrier, but it is not yet complete."

"That means..."

"Trust me. No one in the academy has been hurt yet."

In the end, if this boundary is lifted, the situation will be resolved.

Karen, who couldn't understand how it worked, could only feel perplexed.

"It's not as easy as you think for the dead to harm the living."

Deus, who informed Karen of the highly unusual situation in the academy, simply walked away.

There were spirits rushing forward again, but as soon as he extended the sword he was holding forward, they were swiftly cut down without hesitation.

It seemed to be a staff in the shape of a sword - a staff that possessed unique and distinctive magic.

"Take the students and leave the academy. The guards must have gathered outside, so it should be safe out there now."

With that, he continued walking forward with his maid… Deeper into the academy where only darkness could be seen.

***

The gymnasium was one of the initially prohibited areas.

It was one of the places with the most incidents, particularly known for overlapping eerie voices and supernatural phenomena.

And before the dean left, he had entrusted it to the priests.

"Oh, merciful Lady Justia! Bring us salvation! Protection!"

"J-Justia-same is with us! No soul can dare to approach us!"

Ten priests were kneeling in prayer at the center of the gymnasium.

They, who served the goddess of justice, Justia, were summoned with the little money the dean could afford.

[Hehehe!]

[Fools! Keep praying! Fools!]

[Even if your legs are severed, your arms torn off, and your eyeballs plucked out, can you still call upon Justia?]

"La-Lady Justia!"

One of the priests shook a hammer-shaped rosary while tightly closing his eyes, but...

[Hehehehe!]

[Go on! Let’s continue! How high is the sky, can the goddess hear your voice?!]

[Hurry and call! Let the goddess devour you all!]

The mocking voices of the spirits grew louder, filled with laughter and pressure, echoing relentlessly.

Crash!

The door shattered.

No matter how the priests shook, kicked, or thrust their bodies against it, the gymnasium door, which had not budged an inch, was cut through like tofu.

Accompanied by the sound of boots, the scantily-clad maid, Finden Ai, stepped out after breaking the door.

Deus followed her, who had an ax slung over her shoulder, and entered the gymnasium with the sound of his boots.

At that moment, bloodlust appeared in the eyes of the spirits, who had been celebrating among themselves.

[Deussssss!]

[You're not dead yet! Accursed existence! I will chew on your intestines!]

[Demon! A monster without even respect and mercy for the dead!]

The spirits surrounding the priests flew towards Deus as if seizing with convulsions.

They reached out their hands, ready to tear him apart.

"How can I treat you, who have no respect for the living, with kindness?"

As his right hand lifted, the sword pointed toward the spirits.

With a swirling gust of sword energy, the spirits were cut down without leaving a trace.

There was a strange anger embedded in the sword strikes.

"What's the point of using a sword as a staff?"

Ignoring the grumbling Finden Ai by his side, Deus stood before the priests.

Looking down at them, who were all kneeling and praying with tears and runny noses, he scoffed.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue and asked.

"By kneeling like this, are you expecting a god to come?"

"......Ah."

They couldn't offer any response.

Memories of the days when they believed they would never deny a god in any situation flashed before their eyes.

"I'm not denying the existence of the god you speak of."

Because he knew this world clearly had a cosmology where gods existed.

"Even if they are all-powerful..."

Deus castigated the priests with eyes filled with disgust and disdain.

"For those fools who simply kneel and shout, no one would want to lend them their power."

"......!"

The words couldn't help but evoke a reaction from the priests as well. They knew how hard they had worked to control the spirits in this gymnasium.

"What do you know?"

"Do you think we haven't made an effort? Do you think we just kneeled and pleaded? Don't make me laugh!"

"Ah, Lady Justia!"

They trembled but held onto their faith. They couldn't tolerate any insult toward Justia.

This was martyrdom.

This was their faith.

This was the true belief in their god.

With conviction, the priests shouted for Justia.

Deus' hand slowly rose, pointing to a corner of the gymnasium.

There, the trembling souls of numerous young children were present.

"These children are the physical forms of the spirits you cursed and insulted."

"......What?"

The priests all had the same expression of dismay. The frightened children, even though all the spirits had disappeared, couldn't come towards them.

Their translucent eyes were fixed on them, filled with fear.

"Until the barrier was created and the boundary between life and death blurred, this place was nothing more than a playground for those children..."

They were the children of Setima, who had gathered in the gymnasium to play among themselves.

Deus slowly approached the children and planted his sword in front of them.

Then the sword let out a mournful cry and apologized to them.

The children cried and hugged Musah, who apologized for being incompetent for not being able to protect them.

Slowly closing his eyes, Deus entered a state of rest.

After waiting for a brief farewell and send-off, Deus drew his sword again.

Without giving a single glance to the priests, he walked towards the entrance of the gymnasium.

One of the priests, who had been staring at him in a daze, suddenly stood up, overwhelmed by emotions, and cried out in frustration.

"We didn't know! We didn't know! We didn't know that the spirits were those children! If we had known, we wouldn't have done such a thing!"

Thud.

Deus stopped in his tracks, slowly turned his body, and responded to him.

"If you're going to just make excuses like that, then you can do so for your whole life."

“No! We really didn’t know!”

"...."

Deus calmly turned, his eyes did not show even a hint of expectation toward the priest.

"Keep spouting those cunning excuses, comforting yourself and reassuring yourself. Stay true to your wicked nature, unwilling to even know anything... Don't let go of your behind unless one packages the commission fee as a donation."

Saying that he felt he didn't want to keep them in his sight any longer. Deus turned his body again and headed towards the exit of the gymnasium.

"Inevitably, there will come a defining moment in your life where you must stake your very existence and once more beseech God."

Each of his quietly uttered words struck the heart with an unusual heaviness.

The cold wind outside felt like a sharp lash from God, aimed at them.

"And God, too, will answer that they don’t know you."

Deus departed, but the priests couldn't take a step forward.

Only the ominous sound of the wind lingered in their ears, along with the warning left behind by Deus.

--- End of The Chapter --

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