༺ The Childhood Friend Kidnapping Case (3)༻

“Why are you…?”

Mateo frowned. He never imagined that Kaya, the second seat, would break in.

He had no idea what happened, but under these circumstances, it was clear that she had joined hands with Ian. In other words, she is an enemy.

He would fight back, but in the face of Kaya’s powerful magic, the outcome of the battle was already set in stone.

“Mateo, where is Amy?”

Before Mateo knew it, Ian was approaching him. Mateo, however, only gave him a sidelong glance, as he was wary of Kaya. Kaya’s wind, which was dominating the abandoned warehouse, would attack him fiercely if he moved carelessly.

A stream of cold sweat ran down Mateo’s cheek.

“Answer me.”

Chuck-

Ian said menacingly, pointing his wooden sword at Mateo.

A man whom he considered insignificant, an aristocrat whom he hated, drew a wooden sword at him.

Mateo was furious and his eyes turned red with rage.

“How dare you command me…!”

Drurrrrrrrrrrrrr─!

The moment Mateo was about to cast a rock spell at Ian, a wall of ice protruded from the ground, standing between the two.

「Ice Wall (Ice Element, ★4 )」

Mateo was startled and quickly retreated, believing it was an attack.

He turned to face the ice spellcaster. Kaya’s wand had formed a light blue magic circle, which she was pointing at Mateo. It was the [Ice Wall] spell.

“Answer me.”

The [Ice Wall] turned into blue powder and scattered.

Even Kaya’s wind threatened Mateo.

As long as she was there, Mateo couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t even deal a blow to Ian Fairytale, who was right in front of him.

It was a critical situation.

Mateo gulped.

“…?”

At that moment.

A strange and ominous mana swept over the abandoned warehouse.

Kaya, Mateo, and Ian’s gazes were drawn to it instinctively.

Their survival instincts set off an alarm in their heads.

Black mana rose slowly and started concentrating in the middle of the abandoned warehouse.

[Shaaaaa…]

[Sueuuuuuuuu…]

The black mana let out a weird cry, transforming into a strange two-headed creature. It stood three meters tall with gray-brown skin while the eyes protruded from the sides of the cheekbones, which resembled a hammerhead shark. His black-clad body was extremely short, and his legs were unusually long and flaccid.

Both his arms were shaped like shark fins, but they were long enough to reach the tips of his toes.

In a hoarse voice, the two heads said ‘shaaaaa’ and ‘sueuuu’. The students’ expressions became solemn as they stared at the hideous creature.

“W-what is that…?”

They immediately guessed the identity of the strange creature.

“A demon…?”

That was… an existence that was considered a natural disaster, a ‘Demon’.

[Shaaaaa—!]

[Sueuuuu-!]

The two-headed shark demon roared at Ian and Mateo, and a blue magic circle appeared beneath the demon’s feet, followed by a ring of dark water reminiscent of the deep sea.

The ring of water instantly transformed into a wave that slammed into the students.

「Tidal Wave (Water Element, ★6)」 + 「Black Water (Water Element, ★5)」

= 「Black Wave (Water Element)」

Pyuuuuuuuuuu-!!

“Ugghhh!”

Kaya quickly deployed a [Ice Wall] towards herself and Mateo’s fainted minions, while Mateo built a [Rock Wall] to protect himself from the raging waves.

However, their defensive spells were destroyed with a single [Black Wave].

Ian, on the other hand, could only concentrate light mana in the sword he had brought with him because he didn’t know how to use defensive magic.

“Khuhh!”

The [Ice Wall] was successful in protecting those covered by it until the very end, while the [Rock Wall] was shattered and failed to serve its purpose.

At the same time, Ian’s sword skill proved insufficient in driving away the demon’s [Black Wave].

Ian and Mateo were both swept away by the waves, the impact felt as if something had exploded inside of them.

The [Black Wave] shattered the walls of the abandoned warehouse with immense force and hurled them into the forest.

The two people rolled on the ground and bumped into a tree. As the clear black water settled down, the two men were huddled together like drowning mice.

“Are you okay?!”

Kaya shouted urgently at Ian and Mateo, but had to turn her gaze back to the demon without having time to care for them.

To get out of this critical situation, she had to defeat that dangerous being.

[Shaaaaa—!]

[Sueuuuuuuu-!]

Once more, a ring of black water rose around the demon.

Mateo coughed up blood and water from his mouth. He wanted to avoid the attack, but his body refused to listen. In the face of such powerful magic, even [Rock Wall] would be meaningless.

It was a futile end.

He recalled the plan to kidnap Amy Holloway and defeat Ian in order to threaten the nobility.

The small throbbing in his chest that he had faintly felt during the gang meeting deepened.

In the midst of a sense of skepticism, Mateo lowered his head.

“What are you doing?”

A man’s voice came from the front, causing Mateo to raise his head.

A man with black hair was standing in front of him, holding his wooden sword and glaring at the demon.

“Ian Fairytale…”

“If you don’t want to be protected by me, get up quickly. It’s hard to even protect myself.”

Mateo couldn’t understand Ian’s words. Wouldn’t it be natural to use him as a shield or to run away? Nobility was such a thing.

But instead, he says he will protect me. Me, who was also an enemy?

The thought that the second son of Viscount Fairytale came up with such an idea was hard to accept.

He didn’t even have the strength to protect himself in the first place.

But Mateo looked at Ian’s back and felt his heart tightening.

In fact, he was well aware that not all nobles regarded commoners with contempt. He was simply ignoring it.

He couldn’t control his rage after witnessing his parents, a commoner and a housekeeper, being abused and bullied in an aristocratic mansion.

“…”

Mateo stretched out his arm and sent a stream of rock mana.

A wall of solid rock formed in front of Ian.

「Rock Wall (Rock Element, ★4)」

“You…?”

Startled, Ian turned his head back to stare at Mateo, but he had no time to talk as a second [Black Wave] hit them.

Pyuuuuuuuuuu-!!

To protect herself and Mateo’s subordinates, Kaya made another [Ice Wall] and tried countering with [Gust].

With her magic, she couldn’t even break the momentum of the [Black Wave].

A torrent surged towards them like a tsunami with the speed of a cannon.

“Keuk!!”

“Kyaaa!”

The [Ice Wall] that was protecting Kaya and the [Rock Wall] that was protecting Ian and Mateo were both smashed once again.

The shockwave sent Kaya’s body flying backwards.

Even though it was water, the pressure felt like a giant sledgehammer.

The tree Mateo was leaning on was smashed, and he and Ian were once again swept away by the waves while being tossed around the forest for a while.

Ian finally lost consciousness. The last act he managed to do was get up and use his remaining strength to protect Mateo from the evil being.

Mateo coughed up blood and looked down at the ground helplessly. His whole body was damp. He didn’t even have the strength to raise his head.

All he could see was mud.

“Ugh…”

Meanwhile, Kaya rose from the floor, trembling.

A ring of black water was rising without mercy. The third [Black Wave] was approaching.

The demon didn’t even give them a chance to fight back.

Soon, the [Black Wave] came flying toward Kaya, the unconscious Ian, and Mateo.

In that fleeting moment, Kaya knew that she was going to die.

“…!”

Then suddenly.

The air began to clear, and a cold, overwhelming basic elemental magic seemingly froze everything on the battlefield.

Kaya’s eyes widened.

「Ice Generation (Ice Element, ★1 )」

Charaakkkkkk——!!

In the blink of an eye, the gushing [Black Wave] froze. The magic lost its momentum and became like a sculpture.

Kaya looked around, surprised.

Amidst the cold chill, a scene as if time had stopped was reflected in her eyes.

“Move aside, Kaya.”

“…Ah.”

A voice as cold as ice, heavier than a glacier.

The feeling of survival overtook Kaya.

She quickly turned to face the man behind her.

Blood-red eyes and blue-silver hair. A man dressed in a first-year uniform from Märchen Academy’s Magic Department.

Kaya uttered his name in relief.

“Isaac!”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

No, no, what’s happening?

What’s going on here?

[Orpheus the Submerged] Lv: 110

Race: Demon

Elements: Darkness, Water

Danger: High

As soon as I came to the abandoned warehouse, I couldn’t help but freak out.

A severely damaged warehouse with a demon emerging from within.

The sunset glow had yet to fade from the sky… It was fast, too fast!

‘Why is Kaya here…?’

I had no idea how Kaya got here, but it seemed Orpheus the Submerged sensed her powerful mana and appeared sooner than expected.

According to the story, it was supposed to sense Mateo’s mana and appear when Ian and Mateo were fighting.

‘Whew, this almost got screwed up…’

I almost ran out of time. Ian would have fallen if I were even a second slower, and this world would have met a bad ending.

The original plan was for me to put on the Magic Cloak of Disguise, defeat the demon, and escape.

However, I felt that the situation was going awry, and rushed over without a chance to put on my Cloak of Disguise.

‘Anyways, we got over the bad ending.’

Fortunately, Ian and Mateo were lying down in mud together.

The fact that the two were together meant that Ian has created a situation where he protected Mateo.

Even though things went wrong, somehow it worked out the way I wanted it to. Now it was time to clean up.

There was only one thing left to do.

[Status] Name: Isaac

Lv: (130)

Gender: Male

Year: 1st

Title: Freshman

Mana: 35990/36000

– Mana Recovery Speed (A-)

– Stamina (A)

– Strength (A+)

– Intelligence (C-)

– Willpower (S)

From the moment I decided to fight Orpheus, the [Hunter] trait activated and my level and abilities skyrocketed.

It was also possible to freeze his [Black Wave] with only [Ice Generation]. My level and elemental synergy were superior. I should have no trouble killing him.

The ice melted right away. The frozen [Black Wave] became dark blue powder and scattered in the air.

[Shaaaaa?]

[Sueuuuuu?]

Orpheus the Submerged glared at me with a perplexed expression.

For some reason, I felt a gaze from the direction of Ian and Mateo. I glanced at them sideways and saw Mateo staring at me in disbelief.

It seemed he hadn’t fainted yet.

Mateo had a big mouth, so I needed to keep his mouth shut.

“Healing magic, do you know how to cast it?”

“Yes? Ah yes!”

I knew that Kaya could use healing magic, but I deliberately asked and checked. If I made her question how I knew that, I might get a headache for nothing.

Mateo’s subordinates looked unharmed, so I gestured my chin towards Ian and Mateo.

“Go over there, and heal them while I defeat the demon.”

“Alright!”

Kaya flew towards them, imbuing herself with wind magic.

Next, I approached Orpheus.

It would now be an exchange of large-scale magic. I had to make sure the others didn’t get swept away.

I lightly waved my index finger wrapped in mana and a translucent ice curtain surrounded Kaya, Ian, Mateo, and Mateo’s subordinates.

“This…”

I heard Kaya’s voice. She must have stopped on the way to Ian and Mateo.

This one had a much thicker concentration of mana than the simple [Ice Curtain].

「Ice Barrier (Ice Element, ★6 )」

A shield that protected the caster with ice magic. Even if I used 9-star magic, I would be safe as long as I had that [Ice Barrier].

“Isaac, what are you going to do…?”

I heard Kaya’s worried voice.

What do you mean? I just have to defeat the demon.

[Shaaaaaaaaa─!]

[Sueueuuuuu─!]

As Orpheus roared, a large blue magic circle formed beneath me. It was a trail of deep blue light, like the color of the sea.

‘Already the [Waterspout] pattern?’

Orpheus used [Waterspout] whenever his HP fell below 50% and when it dropped below 30%, he applied [Black Water] to [Waterspout] as a last resort.

Seeing as he was about to use that last resort right away, he seemed scared of me.

Before I knew it, water mana began to swirl around me.

Its size increased in an instant, and it took the form of a huge whirlwind; a dark-colored water tornado, a combination of water and darkness.

「Waterspout (Water Element, ★6 )」+ 「Black Water (Water Element, ★5 )」

= 「Black Dragon Ascension (Water Element)」

Pyuuuuuuuuuuu─────!!

The water prison instantly tightened without any openings to escape through.

The water tornado blew away the abandoned warehouse’s roof and continued into the sky. There was no end in sight.

If I was swept away by this water tornado, I would soar into the sky while suffocating from the agony of being torn apart by intense water pressure without even a chance to breathe. That was what happened when you got hit by Orpheus’ [Waterspout] pattern. [Black Dragon Ascension] in particular was unparalleled in terms of power.

A black tornado reached for the sky.

Freezing the mana of such a powerful, fast-spinning, and large body of water would be difficult to do with a simple [Ice Generation].

However, now that I had a stronger skill than [Ice Generation], it should be fine.

I gently stretched out my hand and poured a large amount of mana, the mana then scattered dark blue light and spread out all at once.

「Black Ice (Ice Element, ★5)」

Charaakkkkk—————!!!

The water tornado froze in an instant. A huge pillar of ice was soaring into the sky.

I immediately released the ice mana that froze [Black Dragon Ascension].

Crack—!

As the black ice pillars, which soared like the Tower of Babel, shattered, they turned into a large amount of dark blue powder and flew back down the sky.

The [Black Dragon Ascension] disappeared without a trace. A look of panic was visible on Orpheus’ face for the first time.

I approached Orpheus and held out my open palm.

As cold mana flowed and condensed, a light blue magic circle appeared in front of my right hand.

[Shaaaaaa…!]

[Sueuuuuu…!]

Orpheus was unable to flee.

When I used [Black Ice], the ground on Orpheus’ side froze as well. His legs had frozen, rendering him immobile.

“Let’s finish this.”

I released the condensed cold mana and at the same time, ice rushed in.

「Frost Explosion (Ice Element, ★5)」

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak—!!!

The exploding ice engulfed Orpheus, tore through the abandoned warehouse, and ran wild through Josena Forest.

It grew in size until it resembled a massive iceberg.

A cold wind blew wildly. The abandoned warehouse was frozen solid, and a faint cold air flowed as I sighed.

On the other hand, the other students were not affected by my magic thanks to the [Ice Barrier].

Soon, the block of ice shattered at once, turning into blue powder and scattering in all directions.

[Shaaaaaaaaa…]

[Sueuuuuuuu…]

Orpheus was bleeding purple blood and his entire body was in shambles.

Orpheus fell and turned into gray powder before vanishing.

Tukkk-.

A small earring fell and tumbled across the ground where Orpheus vanished.

I wouldn’t have noticed it at first glance, but because I was already aware of the reward, I recognized it without difficulty.

It was the ‘Abyssal Ring’.