Three days had passed since losing contact with Helena.
The news came that Solaris, the headquarters of the Church of Righteous Radiance, was surrounded by a horde of monsters.
“Have these bastards finally lost their minds?”
How long has it been since they lost all their key leaders and monsters to me and Iona, and now they’re coming at us with a full-scale assault again?
What happened to all the hiding and waiting they’d been doing until now?
Their reckless actions, without thinking about the preparation and the aftermath, were clearly irrational.
…Come to think of it, they’re fanatics, so being irrational is just part of the package.
I sighed deeply and asked Iona, who came to inform us as soon as the urgent news reached the academy.
“It’s bad, really bad. For now, they’ve turned the main church into a fortress and are holding the line… but do you know? In a siege between monsters and humans, who has the advantage?”
If the monsters of the past were simply bizarre animals that adapted to mana.
The current monsters have been transformed into more vicious beings, blessed by an Evil God.
If the Evil God they follow would die, they’d all perish together, but on the contrary, as long as the god giving them power remained intact, they could survive for a long time without food.
They only eat people for fun and taste.
Moreover, the mental corruption by the Evil God converts negative emotions like fear and anxiety into madness under their control.
And madness in battle is just another word for morale.
With morale that doesn’t easily drop and hardly any need for food? Along with formidable individual strength, they make a considerable army.
If it were a simple battle, it might be different, but in a siege, humans are overwhelmingly disadvantaged.
“Still, thanks to Yandel’s warning, it seems they were somewhat prepared. Although they are trapped in the main church, there haven’t been any deaths except for a few civilians. Helena should be safe.”
“…I didn’t expect them to attack so soon.”
I smiled bitterly as I looked at the crystal orb connected to Helena.
Though they’d been preparing to bring down the Righteous Radiance for a long time, this timing was way too early.
They probably changed their plans. Instead of completely corrupting the faith… Perhaps they intend to weaken it by making the faithful addicted to the tainted belief, rendering them powerless, or driving the Saintess connected to the Righteous Radiance insane.
I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s something along those lines.
Did the Saintess’s early appearance make them anxious?
Anyway, what’s important now isn’t why the cultists attacked Solaris.
“We need to go rescue Helena.”
“Yes, yes, we do. I’ll take care of the excuse for your absence.”
“By the way, do you have any information about the enemy’s size?”
“The exact number is unclear. But the messenger said that everything in sight was green.”
“Greenskins, huh? They’ve always had an overwhelming number.”
Even with a large number, they wouldn’t have been surrounded by mere goblins, so they’re likely orcs or trolls.
Of all times, it’s the servants of the Reckless Roar.
Even if there were only a few of them, it was unimaginable when counted by the number of heads, but the types of monsters were almost fixed.
Orcs, trolls, ogres.
There were various subtypes—warriors, shamans, named or not, regular or mutant—but those three species were the base.
Add a pinch of nasty monsters, like minotaurs or cyclopes, and that’s the army of the Reckless Roar.
In terms of monster level, these guys were several tiers higher than the fishermen and undead combination I fought last time.
They’re unnecessarily tough and unnecessarily strong.
Carla, seemingly thinking the same thing, gently held onto my arm and leaned against me.
“Master… You’re not planning to go alone this time, are you?”
Her eyes shimmered with moisture as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment.
Looking into her deep, transparent ruby-colored eyes—different from Iona’s blood-red eyes—I gently stroked Carla’s head.
“Why would I go alone? The situation is different from last time.”
There was no one around, and it wasn’t like before, where retreating temporarily would have put Iona in danger.
The fact that the battle had settled down somewhat meant that, although surrounded, they were holding out relatively well.
It wasn’t like there was no room to breathe, but it was also not something that needed immediate action.
There was enough time to ask for help from those who might be willing.
“Elisha. Contact Iris and explain the situation. Tell her to be ready because I’ll be there soon.”
“Understood.”
I watched Elisha infuse the crystal orb I handed her with mana, then turned to Carla.
“Carla. Go to Senior Faye and get everything you can. Potions, poisons, bombs, magical tools… anything. Just bring as much as you can that’ll help in battle.”
“Yes, Master. Should I come back here after getting the items from Faye?”
“Yes. We’ll be teleporting, so there’s no need to gather outside.”
Finally, I spoke to Iona.
“Professor.”
“Yes, yes. What should I do?”
“Guide me to the Chairman.”
“Guide? You can just go to the Chairman’s office; she should be there.”
“Not the doppelgänger; I need to see the real body. Professor Iona, you know where she is, right?”
“…Are you serious?”
“I wouldn’t joke in a situation like this.”
When I shrugged and said that, Iona hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Alright! Alright! I’ll take you there! But… whatever you’re planning, don’t get too disappointed. The Chairman doesn’t meet just anyone, and even if she does, she’s in a tough position to help anyone.”
“I understand.”
Perhaps better than anyone in this world.
We walked past several classrooms still in session, following Iona’s lead.
But instead of heading towards a specific location, it felt as if we were wandering in circles, going up and down corridors and stairs.
Iona wasn’t trying to mess with me; this complex and tedious act was a kind of knock.
The Chairman’s real body was in a small room deep beneath the academy, but the problem was that there was no physical way to reach this room.
No passageways. Not even a vent connected to the outside, making it a completely sealed room.
To enter, you must first walk through the academy along a predetermined path to send a signal to the Chairman.
The academy wasn’t just a cool-looking building; it was like a massive magic circle constructed with meticulous calculation.
Every building had space-distortion magic cast on it because, to activate the magic circle, mana must flow through the objects at each location.
Well… this had led to unexpected side effects like the library ghost stories, though.
Anyway, the academy faithfully fulfills its creator’s intentions, including the underground magic field that disrupts spatial movement.
In other words, the Chairman usually lives in a perfectly isolated space, both physically and magically.
No matter how skilled Iona was, breaking through the grand magician’s interference magic field with teleportation would be difficult.
At best, you’d end up somewhere random, and at worst, your body would be torn to pieces and scattered all over the place.
So, you walk along a specific route, sending mana as a signal to the Chairman, who then decides whether to open the door.
If she opens it, you teleport over. If she refuses… you just keep wandering and never meet her.
Even now, she’s probably watching Iona and me from somewhere. Her mana operation is so subtle that you don’t really sense anything wrong.
After following Iona back and forth for a while, we arrived at an old storage building. Just as we reached the shadowed area behind it…
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, I felt the ground give way beneath me, and a dizzying vertigo hit. It was so brief that I staggered forward…
The surroundings had changed completely.
The dark, shadowy view brightened suddenly, and the walls and floor were neatly covered with inorganic white tiles.
A space so white and brightly lit that anyone would lose their mind if they stayed too long.
The only things in this space were a cylindrical tank in the center and the thick lines extending from it.
…What’s this? Where’s Iona?
Just as my brow started to furrow, a strange voice reached my ear, beating me to the punch.
-Do not worry. I only brought you here alone; Professor Iona is safe on the surface.
“Chairman…?”
The voice wasn’t produced by vocal cords but seemed to resonate throughout the space. As I tilted my head, my body was lifted and pulled toward the tank.
“Whoa!”
I flailed my arms in surprise but quickly realized it was telekinesis magic pulling me, so I stopped resisting.
-If I was rude, I apologize. But both you and I are short on time, aren’t we?
“…True. Then let’s get straight to the point.”
I politely requested, looking at the doll floating inside the tank filled with a faint orange liquid.
“Please lend me a piece of the Dragon Heart.”
-Are you out of your mind?
Oh, come on.
I just need to borrow it for a bit, and I’ll return it, I swear.