[Vol. 7] Chapter 194: Blasphemy
Maybe the red spear came too fast and too suddenly. This time, the man couldn't dodge or block it like he did before. His hand, which had been reaching toward the princess, was pierced straight through from the front. The spear went all the way through his left chest and, with a powerful force, knocked him backward into the cave wall behind him, creating a huge cloud of dust and a loud crashing sound.
But that wasn’t the end of it!
“Buzz!!!”
Just then, a bright white shield dropped from the sky, blocking the magician's attack on Carinvega. The shield broke immediately, and Rosie, who made it, coughed up blood.
That short moment of delay was enough.
Another girl, moving incredibly fast, used that moment to grab the princess and jump away from the shadow’s reach. With just a few quick leaps, she returned to the safety of her teammates.
“Your Highness, are you alright!?”
“Ugh... I-I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy from all that jumping around...”
Carinvega shook her head, still feeling a little out of it from the sudden movements. As she tried to calm herself, she looked up at the knight-like girl who was still holding her in a princess-carry.
“Saved again... But Gladys, why are you here? And what about that man…”
The girl named Gladys, who was known as the other half of the fighting duo “Twin Lotus Stars” and served as the main fighter in the Frederic Royal Academy team, gently put her master down and quickly explained with a serious look:
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Sainz Academy predicted something strange might happen in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth]. That’s why I’m here. A lot of strong fighters from different academies have already entered the labyrinth to help teams retreat safely. As for that man…”
Another young but noble-sounding girl’s voice cut in perfectly at that moment.
“I was wondering who was causing trouble at such a time… Of course, it’s you again, Timos Young. What’s wrong, did you really think that just because you borrowed a few helpers from your master, you could act all high and mighty in my territory?”
No one knew when she arrived, but now standing calmly at the entrance where the red spear had come from was a small girl wearing a fancy, elegant dress. She was no taller than 145 cm, but her presence was powerful. The moment the students from the Royal Academy team realized who she was, they were shocked.
“That’s Headmaster Lucine of Sainz Academy?!”
“Even someone that important showed up?!”
The little girl didn’t pay much attention to the others. She simply glanced over at Carinvega to make sure the most important imperial princess was safe and sound. Then, without saying anything else, she walked past the group and headed straight toward the area covered in dust and smoke, where the situation was still unclear.
“What’s wrong? Not planning to say anything? Aren’t you usually pretty good with words?”
“Cough... Heh. Attacking someone from the shadows doesn’t seem very noble of you, Princess Lucine.”
As the dust began to settle, the figure of the man slowly appeared in front of everyone again.
Compared to his previous elegant and graceful demeanor, he now looked quite disheveled. Now, he was in bad shape, pinned to the wall by that strange blood-red spear, his hat had fallen off, revealing messy light blue hair. His entire right arm hung weakly at his side, dried out and thin like it had been drained of blood.
Dark red energy sparked and spread outward from the spear, creeping over his body. That seemed to be the reason why his strength was fading so quickly.
The young princess walked up to him. Her small face remained expressionless as she stared at the badly wounded man.
“I’m really curious... How do you plan to escape from the Godslayer Spear in your condition? Timos Young, can you show me one more of your escape tricks?”
“Hah...”
Despite being badly hurt, Timos didn’t seem especially panicked. He just sighed a little, looking slightly helpless.
“Honestly, I knew this would probably happen. Showing up within Princess Lucine’s reach at a time like this... I had a feeling it’d end badly. But the higher-ups were pressuring me so much... I had no choice but to take the risk, heh...”
“...Still, it sounds like you believe I can escape, Your Highness. Do you really have so little faith in your divine weapon?”
“Of course I trust it. But I also believe that someone like you wouldn’t walk into death for no reason. It’s been 800 years, over a dozen battles between us. You know how wide the gap is. If you dared to do this, you must have something up your sleeve, don’t you think?”
Even as she said this with certainty, the little princess didn’t hesitate for even a second. A dark red glow gathered quickly in her hand, forming a beautiful, rune-covered spike. With a flick of her jade-like fingers, it shot out like lightning, aimed straight at the man's forehead!
But right at that moment…
A thick, ash-colored fog suddenly rose from beneath the cave and rushed toward the blood-red magic spike. As if it had a mind of its own, the fog quickly spread out and turned into a giant mouth, swallowing both the vampire princess and the man. It was a planned ambush!
“Headmaster Lucine!”
Gladys, who had arrived with the vampire, looked shocked and was about to rush forward to help. But before she could move, waves of blood-red light burst out like a fountain, forcefully tearing apart the creepy mouth-shaped fog. The vampire princess, holding her magic spear, walked out of the fading ash-colored mist without a scratch. The man, however, had completely disappeared.
“So it was [Blasphemy]... One of His [Child of God] has actually come into the real world. No wonder Timos acted so boldly. Was it because of that earlier ritual...? Ugh, what a headache.”
Lucine muttered this to herself in a voice so soft it was nearly impossible to hear. Meanwhile, Gladys, the mercenary from the Royal Academy who had rushed over, finally reached her side. She looked at where the enemy had vanished, then turned to Lucine, puzzled.
“Are you alright, Headmaster? That evil thing...”
“Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with these kinds of things many times before. It couldn’t hurt me. But Timos Young has been taken away by it. They used a very high-level magical rule, something even I couldn’t stop without being fully prepared.”
Gladys seemed to deeply trust Lucine. Hearing this, she nodded right away.
“If even you say that, then they must have really planned this. But... it looked like their target was the princess. Now that he’s escaped, if he tries again later…”
Lucine didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she turned her head slightly. Her deep red, vertical pupils swept across the Imperial Royal Academy team, who were now regrouping and healing the wounded. Her gaze lingered on the core members, especially the princess, for quite a while, as if she was studying them.
After a moment, she looked back at the knight protecting the princess and calmly shook her head.
“Don’t worry. Timos Young only had a chance to act this time because he prepared in advance, taking advantage of the competition's location in [Morst]. The later stages of the tournament will all be held inside Sainz. Under the protection of the Seven Towers, he definitely won’t have the courage, or the power to sneak into the Sainz Academy and cause trouble.”
“Still, you all need to stay alert. This... is probably just the beginning.”