Volume 3 Chapter 185

Volume 3 + Chapter 185: Return

Laurel Tree Academy, Northern Magic Array.

“Professor Biden, Professor Biden!! How much longer is it going to take? Why hasn’t the support from the Templar Knights arrived yet?!”

Albert questioned Biden, so anxious that he didn’t even know what else to say.

The northern magic array was still firing light cannons, sweeping at the monsters outside the Laurel Tree Academy.

But at the same time, the Calamity Legion inside had already reached this place and launched an assault on the array.

This forced the magic array to split its firepower to deal with the monsters on all fronts.

However, that also created gaps in defense. The insufficient firepower had already allowed monsters to rush up to the array and ram against it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The attacks of the mutated beasts struck the light barrier of the magic array. Each impact was terrifying to behold, gradually spreading panic among the people.

All the humans still alive in the Laurel Tree Academy had gathered here.

If the magic array was broken, it meant everyone would die.

“Professor Biden, say something!!” The student council president’s emotions were also spiraling out of control.

Although he was usually a calm person, when facing true death, how many could remain rational?

Biden was drenched in sweat at this moment. The dual pressure of mind and body was nearly overdrawing his very life, and he could hardly hold on any longer.

Even using magic to launch attacks against the Calamity Legion outside to delay them was nothing more than a drop in the ocean—utterly useless.

Like throwing a stone into the sea; aside from a few ripples, it changed nothing.

He also knew the Templar Knights could never make it in time. Even if they did arrive, upon seeing this situation, they would never choose to recklessly plunge into it.

What could be done now?

The day Biden became a grand human mage, he never thought this would be the ending.

“How laughable, Biden, to see you in such a disgraceful state.”

At that moment, the monsters all stopped, and a young girl’s voice came from among them.

Everyone was stunned.

They saw a girl with long dark-purple hair, wearing a witch’s hat, floating in midair. She landed upon the back of a massive calamity beast, as though treating that mighty creature as a mere mount, standing loftily above.

A baleful aura swirled around her body, even denser than that of the calamity beast itself.

This was the legendary witch—the Apostle of Calamity!

“Ah, ah… it’s her!! She once appeared at the freshman mixer!!” Albert shouted, “It’s her, the one who invited classmate Xia Yi to dance!”

Everyone remembered: during the final dance session at the freshman mixer, this mysterious girl had invited Xia Yi as her partner.

And Xia Yi had accepted.

But later, when the unexpected incident of Anthony’s rampage occurred, the mysterious girl disappeared, and no one paid further attention.

So she was the witch all along!

“Could it be… what that poor student said… was all true?”

Infinite regret surfaced on Biden’s face.

What Xia Yi said wasn’t an alarmist fabrication—it was real. Yet he hadn’t believed it.

Perhaps if he had taken it seriously earlier, everything might have been different.

But now, it was too late.

“How pitiful you look, like a stray dog, Biden. This is the path you chose.” The witch mocked.

“You… know me?!”

Biden was astonished.

Why would the witch know him?

Others were just as perplexed. Why would a grand human mage, devoted to fighting calamity, have any connection with the Apostle of Calamity?

“Know you? Rather, have you forgotten me?” The witch’s lips curled into a cold smile.

“You are…”

Biden lifted his head, staring at the witch atop the calamity beast, feeling a trace of familiarity—as if from a very long time ago…

Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and his mind was thrown into chaos.

“It’s you!! Saphia!!!”

“Looks like your brain hasn’t completely rotted,” the witch—Saphia—admitted. “Yes, that was my name before I became a witch. Now, I am Lord Samael’s envoy, the Apostle of Calamity!”

“I thought you were dead!! Why… why did you become a witch!!”

Biden’s breath quickened as if he were having a heart attack. Clutching his chest, he was utterly devastated.

“Professor Biden, who is Saphia?”

“She was my classmate, enrolled at Laurel Tree Academy during the same period as me—a magic student whose talent and aptitude even surpassed mine. I thought she died in the calamity!!” Biden demanded, “I always believed, if Saphia had survived, she would have become a grand mage before me… But why did you become a witch? Didn’t you witness the terror of calamity?!”

“Hehe, precisely because I witnessed it, I understood—human bodies have limits. No matter how gifted one is in magic, we are shackled by this decaying shell, not even a higher species. That’s why I chose to embrace calamity.”

The witch spoke cheerfully.

“Now, I understand calamity, I understand death—I have broken free from a rotten life!”

“Why do you want to harm us, your fellow humans?!” Biden roared in anguish.

“To think that you, who studied calamity more than anyone else, can still say such things—you’ve gone senile. Why? You know the answer in your heart.”

“I…”

“Enough reminiscing. It’s time to end this.”

The witch raised her hand.

A seed of calamity floated upward, dropping into the body of the calamity beast beneath her feet.

“Slaughter every life here. Offer death to Lord Samael,” she commanded.

The calamity beast beneath her performed a bizarre act: it opened its massive jaws and began devouring the surrounding mutated beasts and calamity beasts it had seized.

The other mutated beasts continued their assault on the northern magic array.

“Everyone, hold the line!!” Biden shouted. “The Sword Saint is still here!!”

The Sword Saint lifted the holy sword, releasing blue radiance, and charged toward the horde of monsters.

Meanwhile, Biden led a group of magi, casting spells to provide support.

“Blizzard!!”

The howling blizzard swept forth under the bombardment of the northern magic array, attempting to block the legion of calamity.

But the number of monsters was truly overwhelming.

It was like a tsunami about to drown a lone leaf-boat drifting on the sea—no matter how those on board struggled, it was all in vain.

The calamity beasts rammed against the light curtain of the northern magic array. With each bone-chilling impact, cracks appeared—announcing the imminent collapse of the array.

The calamity beast beneath the witch completed its evolution at last. Using the calamity seed as a greater core, it devoured other calamity beasts to evolve into a colossal chimera—over ten times the size of a normal calamity chimera, a terrifying behemoth.

ROAR!!!

The giant chimera unleashed an earth-shaking roar. In its sonic waves, teachers and students fell to their knees, clutching their heads, writhing in agony.

Everyone saw it—the sonic shockwave shattered the northern magic array.

It was over.

All faces turned ashen.

“You… shall go no farther!!”

The Sword Saint raised the holy sword and unleashed his ultimate technique. He leaped toward the chimera, the holy sword Balmung blazing with blue light.

“Sword of Hope and Victory!!”

Sword aura howled like a storm, slashing toward the giant chimera.

The chimera opened its massive jaws and bit down. The aura of calamity spilled from its maw as it crushed the Sword Saint’s sword aura to pieces.

“What…?”

The Sword Saint was stunned by the chimera’s power.

The next moment, the giant chimera lifted its colossal palm and slammed it upon the Sword Saint, flinging him like a cannonball into the ground.

BOOM!!

The Sword Saint crashed violently, the holy sword flying from his grip, its glow gone, the engravings upon it dimming.

In tatters, he spat a mouthful of blood. After such a blow, his bones were likely shattered.

At that instant, all realized—humanity’s hero was no match for calamity.

When the hero fell, it brought suffocating despair.

“Lord Sword Saint… has lost…”

“If even the Sword Saint cannot win, what hope do we have…?”

“We’re all going to die here!! We can’t escape—none of us can escape!!”

Monsters were everywhere. Calamity possessed a combat power humans could never rival. All anyone could do was wait for death.

“Damn it…”

The Sword Saint’s hands trembled.

He clenched his teeth and stared at the giant chimera.

There was one last choice, to fully unleash his dragon blood and gain even greater power.

But he had never done it before and didn’t know if he could stay conscious.

To use such liberated draconic power to defeat all the monsters here and save everyone… The chance was slim.

Almost impossible.

Most crucially, it would expose his draconic heritage before everyone—and he desperately wished to avoid that.

If he only partially unleashed his power to escape, that he could do it.

At least he could survive—and when he became stronger, he could still protect humanity.

“So this is my only choice?” The Sword Saint felt a trace of regret.

But he also understood: if humanity’s hero fell here, it would deal a tremendous blow to mankind as a whole.

He had already become humanity’s symbol of faith, bearing the responsibility of inspiring everyone. His life no longer belonged to him alone.

Even for others’ sake, he had to live.

“You should accept death, foolish lives!”

The witch waved her hand, and the calamity beasts lunged toward the wounded.

The Sword Saint rose, picked up his sword, surveyed the scene, and began deciding how to leave.

However, when everyone else had given up and awaited death, one person chose to fight.

It was Hill!

Even knowing she would die, she refused to surrender. She picked up her sword and stood before the crowd as their shield.

“Professor Hill?!” Albert’s face showed confusion.

So did everyone else—they could not understand why she would go to such lengths.

Now, instead of collapsing mentally, she maintained her fighting spirit.

“If it’s for my students…!”

Hill hesitated not, activating her Heart of Tranquil Clarity to elevate her state of mind, unleashing fierce sword shadows that forced back two calamity beasts.

But it was only two. There were still many more.

A claw strike shattered her sword, and the beasts followed up in pursuit. In the next moment, she was about to be torn to pieces.

But then—

A fierce sword aura descended from the sky, annihilating the calamity beasts.

Before Hill knew what happened, she felt herself being lifted. Her vision filled with a broad, armored figure shielding her from danger.

A terrifying sword aura spread outward, halting the calamity beasts’ advance.

Everyone was stunned.

The one who saved Hill was a swordsman clad in golden armor. The fully enclosed armor concealed his appearance.

But somehow, the sight of that golden armor stirred a sense of worship and reverence deep within every human soul. That towering figure filled them with security.

The holy sword named Gram radiated golden brilliance, and the holy engravings upon the gauntlet were clear, as if declaring a single truth to all—

That man… had returned!!

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[Author’s Note: Surprise bonus update! Today: 4k + 3k words = a total of 7k words! Doesn’t hardworking Swiss Roll deserve some sweet monthly votes for encouragement? – ?ˋ?( ?’?’?)??ˊ]