The Academy’s Barbarian

Chapter 69: You Are a Prophet (3)

A body severed in half.

Duode collapsed without a single scream; innards and flesh spilling onto the ground. Desem was stunned by the suddenness of the attack.

But his surprise short-lived.

Feeling the impending danger, he quickly distanced himself from Ulan. Soon after, he urgently shouted towards his colleague behind him, "Nonus! Warp space!"

And Ulan closed the distance between them.

This man was dangerous. He must not be involved! Desems instincts had been screaming warnings at him from the moment he first saw Ulan.

......I don't stand a chance!

So, he chose to run and to do so, he needed Nonus' help.

Distort space, throw Ulan out of the forest, and then create time to escape. But no matter how long he waited, Nonus's magic didn't activate.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and cast your magic......!" He yelled in frustration but he heard a rather dull noise

Thump! Degurur!

and soon, a round object rolled across the ground. It was the face of an old man with his eyes wide open. It was the head of Nonus.

"......!?"

Upon seeing it, Desem was horrified. He had every reason to be. Ulan hadn't left his sight since he'd sliced Duode in half.

'W, when did he swing the axe?!'

It was completely invisible.

Also, the distance between Ulan and Nonus was ten steps away.

But how could he cut off his head in a single blow from such a distance? That too, so quickly that even an advanced-level mage could not perceive it.

Wait, I didn't perceive it?

At that moment, goosebumps broke out all over his body and a sudden conjecture crossed his mind.

A monster that could wield absolute power within a certain range. A superhuman who moved much faster than the eye could perceive.

Desem narrowed his eyes, "Seriously, a Master......?!"

And then, in that moment, Ulan's rough response echoed.

Kwaaaang!

Grabbing Desem's face with his palm, he slammed his head onto the ground.

"Kkeuk!"

A sound of bones breaking.

Desem let out a short scream and at the same time, he realized something.

He must have just.......

Before Ulan grabbed his face, he hadn't been able to observe Ulan's movements properly for a single moment.

This could only mean one thing

'A Master!

and his face turned pale in an instant and a soundless scream soon followed.

Why would a monster called the nation's strategic weapon be in a forest like this? Weren't there only students from the academy here?

All sorts of questions arose but the confusion was brief.

'...Calm down, let's stay calm.'

Desem regained his composure in no time. Because he realized that if he didn't calm down, he wouldn't survive. So, he calmly sought a way to escape this crisis.

He didn't kill me right away.

There was only one reason for that he must have had something to ask.

And in the current situation, it was obvious what question Ulan would throw at him. Probably to reveal the locations of his other comrades.

Then.......

The best course of action was to stall.

Next, without Ulan realizing it, he'd gather the scattered alter egos in the forest.

Then, if he could seize the chance to escape from the Master's domain, Desem would win.

'Alright, let's go with that.'

Now all that remained was to put the plan into action.

But Desem did not know

that Ulan was familiar with fighting against Abyss Worshippers. So he would swing his axe first, before even asking a question.

Thump! Crack!

The sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking echoed and Desem's ankle was ripped right off.

"......! Aaaaaaargh!"

An unexpected surprise attack. Deshem screamed in agony. He felt like his head was turning white with the terrible pain, but Ulan did not stop his actions.

Crunch! Squelch!

He sliced cleanly through Desem's other ankle, as if slaughtering a beast. Only after he had removed all means of escape did Ulan finally speak, "Let me ask you a question."

"Ugh! Ughhh......." Desem let out a pained groan. At first glance, it might have seemed pitiful, but Ulan did not bat an eye. He simply asked what he wanted to know with a dry face.

"How did you summon Candira?"

"......?!"

The question startled Desem.

Candira, the carnivorous plant from the abyss.

At this point in time, only a small number of people knew this name and existence. So he asked with a face full of pure curiosity, "How, how, Candira, and... gulp!"

But what came back was a huge fist and a piercing pain accompanied by a loud ringing in his head.

Feeling pain so intense that he couldn't even scream, Ulan spoke again at the time, "Answer only what I ask you."

"I, I don't know! I don't know either!"

"......."

"I swear it's true! I really don't know!" As Ulan raised his fist again, the man startled and waved his hands frantically, "The way to summon the monsters of the abyss was only known by Duode among us!"

"Who is Duode?"

"The big guy you killed earlier......."

The moment he said that, a fist imbued with spirit flew out.

Pow! Crunch!

With the sound of the skull being crushed, the head fell to the ground in a mess. He too died without a scream like his other companions.

"I picked the wrong guy to spare."

He thought he looked the smartest of the three, so he spared him, but he drew a blank. Ulan frowned and kicked the headless body.

The next thing he knew, he was on his feet.

Saaaaaaaah!

And suddenly, the sense of strangeness felt in the forest disappeared.

The forest returned to its original state.

The illusions that were felt here and there also evaporated like smoke. Probably because he killed the one who created them.

"Well, now all that's left is..."

To find Dilia and take out the remaining Abyss Worshippers and they would be done. Noah said there were six of them in total.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Ulan wiped the flesh off his axe.

He was about to turn to the west when suddenly, he sensed a new presence.

Slither! Slither!

A familiar presence at his back.

Ulan immediately turned around and his eyes locked with an unexpected creature.

[Grrrowl!]

A huge wolf stepped out from the shadows.

It was Bai Lang.

The appearance of the creature suddenly stretching and yawning surprised Ulan, "Have you been in my shadow all this time?" However, no answer came back.

Bai Lang simply nodded; an affirmative answer.

tilted his head again at this, "But why haven't you been... yet?"

You didn't come out, did you?

As he was about to ask the question that came to mind, suddenly, the white wolf stirred. He turned to where the bodies of the Abyss Worshippers lay.

It tore the body of Nonus to shreds. It tore into Nonus' torso. As if he was taking out his anger. This scene suddenly brought to mind a guess, "Was it because of that guy that you couldn't come out?"

[Growl! Growl!]

Bai Lang nodded his head vigorously.

Ulan's guess was correct.

As the entire forest warped, Bai Lang had been trapped in the shadows all this time, and in a fit of rage, he tore into the body of the culprit.

Crunch! Crack! Crack!

With an eerie sound of flesh being torn and bones breaking, his body was severed into hundreds of pieces.

[Grah!]

Bai Lang, who seemed to be satisfied, laughed. Then, as he was about to turn around, he suddenly put his nose into the ground.

While sniffing as if searching for something, the creature's body abruptly expanded to more than twice its size; twice as big as a wild horse.

Then, it turned its back toward Ulan.

Its swaying tail was an added bonus. An action that conveyed intentions without the need for words.

Ulan immediately asked, "You want me to get on your back?"

[Grrr!]

The white wolf bared its teeth and smirked; as if it was the right answer.

As there was no reason to refuse, Ulan promptly mounted Bai Lang back, and without delay, they embarked on a swift journey, much like the wind.

Clop-Clop!

It was indeed a brutish charge. Bai Liang made a beeline for the west, smashing everything in his path. Not long afterward, something caught Ulan's eye.

"That's......."

A shooting star piercing through the clouds; a familiar sight for Ulan.

It was the magic Dilia often used in her past life. In that moment, the amulet he received from Noah trembled faintly.

Flash!

The amulet shimmered with vibrations and the blue light pointed directly ahead. In other words, Dilia was three kilometers ahead.

And there, too, would be the reason she had to use such magic.

And what that reason was

he didn't need to find out.

"Abyss Worshipper!"

Three more prey remained ahead. With a smirk, Ulan gripped his axe. The time for the hunt had arrived.

* * * * *

As Ulan was busy cutting through the trees, Dilia stared at the man before her, fear still fresh on her face.

A mage without no eyes; his grotesque appearance bothered her, but there was something else that caught her eye.

The ambient mana.......

It was fluctuating unstably. As if it could explode at any moment. Moreover, a powerful curse emanated from the mana itself. Only one group possessed this kind of magic. Mad mages who had forsaken their humanity Abyss Worshippers.

'...Terrifying.'

The moment she realized it, Dilia clenched her fists tightly; the persistent tremor she had been feeling intensified. Her golden eyes trembled slightly as well.

And then, at that moment, the man suddenly spoke, "Then let me introduce myself first." With a twisted smile, he bowed politely, "I am Quinth Vinitas, a mage who has reached the level of an Archmage, as you mentioned, devoted to worshiping the abyss."

As if to show off his Archmage status, Quinth unleashed the full extent of his power; it was a vast amount of mana that could swallow everything, but Dilia's expression remained indifferent.

After a moment, she shook her head, "......Lies."

"What?"

"The real, Archmage, the threads are different."

By threads, she referred to the threads of mana.

After all, Archmages were beings who transcended ordinary mages. Therefore, they had a unique thread that was completely different from ordinary mana.

Dilia could see it.

'On the other hand, in that man.......

the threads of an Archmage were not visible.

So if she were to estimate his level simply based on his mana, he would probably be a 'Magus', which was a step before an Archmage.

Just as she was assessing his opponent's level, Quinth suddenly chuckled.

"I see you can see the flow of mana after all."

It wasn't a reaction to being caught in a lie. It was the reaction of someone who had deliberately lied for some sort of validation. Dilia's eyebrows wiggled uneasily.

Rustle!

The bushes around them shook and a moment later, two men appeared.

Like Quinth, they also wore ash-colored robes.

"Well, then there's no need to verify it separately."

"If the verification is over, let's take her away quickly, before we get involved in something troublesome."

One was missing a nose, and the other had sprouted tree roots where his arms should have been.

The unstable mana was the same.

In other words, they were both Abyss Worshippers.

In terms of the quality of their mana......

It's definitely weaker than Quinth's.

Still, they could reach the level of an advanced-level mage. Just like Dilia. After observing the situation up to this point, she bit her lip.

'It'll be hard for...... to escape.

There were three mages of her level. There was no way she could escape. Besides, the forest was currently warping space.

She had to make another choice and Dilia made a quick judgment call.

I must stall for time.

Until someone appears to help her.

Even with Professor Stella, she might be able to hold her own. Of course, there was another ally she really wanted.

Ulan.

If only he were here, his mere presence would make her feel more secure.

But it was unlikely that Ulan would come.

And there was no telling when he would show up.

So instead of getting her hopes up, Dilia has decided to try to navigate the situation on her own.

I'm honestly scared, but......

The enemy in front of her was a mad mage. They use forbidden magic and call upon unidentified monsters.

Still, she couldn't give up.

There was something she wanted to do.

I want to be reunited with Ulan.

A reason to survive.

And with that in mind, Dilia was determined to fight against the Abyss Worshippers. A moment later, her golden eyes sparkled like stars. They were the eyes of one who was ready to fight.

(End of Chapter. . . . . . . .Thanks for Reading. . . . . . . . . )

Translator's Notes:-

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