(I have to save them all...) Edwin thought.
His body trembled from exhaustion, wounds stinging and bleeding, but he refused to fall.
Two voices called out at once, Elysia and Jin.
"We... we’re all going to die." Alina whispers to herself. Her hands glowed faintly, but the light sputtered and died.
Her healing magic was gone—her mana completely drained. She looked at her blood-stained palms in despair.
The leading demon looked at them.
Behind him, dozens of other demons crept closer, their black claws dragging along the broken stones with screeching sounds that made everyone’s skin crawl.
Their grins widened as they sensed their prey weakening.
The survivors Kael, Jin, Elysia, Alina, Edwin, were barely standing.
"Look at you... so fragile, so small. Your struggle only makes the feast sweeter."
The other demons hissed in agreement, their sharp teeth flashing in the smoky light. They moved as one, preparing to pounce.
A deafening explosion of icy wind and brilliant light tore through the battlefield.
The ground quaked beneath their feet, and a surge of freezing air blasted across the plaza.
Dust and smoke were swept away like fragile paper, revealing two figures standing at the edge of the destruction.
And beside her was Orwen.
Her sharp gaze swept across the battlefield, landing first on the battered students.
Her jaw tightened as she saw their injuries, the blood, the fear, the sheer hopelessness in their eyes. Googlᴇ search 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
Orwen’s expression hardened as his eyes adjusted to the sight of the enemy.
"What the hell..." he muttered.
Stretching across the plaza was a horde of demons—at least one hundred and eighty of them.
The lead demon’s crimson eyes flared with excitement at the sight of the newcomers.
"Ohhh..." he rumbled.
"Another meal has arrived. How thoughtful of you to bring dessert to the table."
"Madam Sylvia..." Elysia said, "you just reached in time". Her knees nearly gave out from the sudden release of tension.
Sylvia didn’t waste a single breath on comfort.
"Orwen. Hold the horde. I’ll take their leader." said Sylvia.
"On it," Orwen replied without hesitation.
Sylvia raised one pale hand, her slender fingers glowing with pure, icy light. Without a single word of warning, she unleashed her power.
The air around her snapped and cracked as a colossal glacier burst from the heavens.
From the storm-filled sky above, a gigantic block of shimmering blue ice descended like a fragment of the frozen moon.
It slammed into the center of the demon horde with a thunderous crash.
The impact shook the entire plaza.
Frost exploded outward in a deadly shockwave, freezing everything in its path.
Demons howled in rage and pain as their bodies were trapped beneath layers of glistening ice.
Dozens were crushed outright, their twisted forms frozen mid-scream.
But Sylvia wasn’t finished. Her eyes blazed with cold determination as she raised her other hand.
FROZEN WORLD! She shouted.
The temperature plummeted in an instant. Frost raced across the ground like living lightning, encasing broken stones, walls, and even the air itself in a sheet of shimmering ice.
The weaker demons found their movements locked mid-strike, their eyes widening in terror as their bodies stiffened like statues.
The lead demon staggered back.
Frost crept along his arms and legs, though he fought against it with waves of dark energy.
"You... you’re—" He snarled.
"You’re the Ice Goddess of the Nation... Rank Ninety-Seven. What a present you are."
Sylvia’s cold gaze didn’t waver.
"I don’t waste words on nonsense."
The demon’s grin returned, cruel and eager.
"Good. That makes you a more interesting opponent."
With a roar, he leapt forward, shattering the thin layer of frost that clung to his feet.
His massive claws glowed with dark energy as he swung for her head.
Sylvia didn’t flinch. With a flick of her wrist, a wall of crystalline ice erupted between them.
The demon’s claws slammed into it with a thunderous crack, sending shards of frozen light spraying through the air.
Sylvia countered with a burst of icy wind that drove the demon back a few steps, frost forming along his blackened armor.
Meanwhile, Orwen faced the horde of 180 demons alone.
"Come and get me," he shouted.
The demons screeched and charged as one, their claws scraping across the icy ground.
Orwen moved like a storm, he picked Elysia’s sword fast.
Each swing of his sword cleaved through demon flesh and shadowy armor.
Black ichor splattered across the frozen ground as demon after demon fell.
Sparks of mana danced around his feet as he pivoted, dodging a swipe from one demon while cutting down another in a single spinning motion.
"Don’t fall back!" he barked to the trembling students behind him.
"Stay together and cover each other!"
Edwin, still bleeding and barely able to stand, gritted his teeth and forced himself to rise.
He grabbed his fallen sword and staggered toward Kael.
"Kael... get up," he hissed. "This fight isn’t over."
His body screamed in protest, but the sight of Professor Sylvia battling the demon filled him with a surge of determination.
Sylvia and the lead demon clashed again, their powers colliding with earth-shattering force.
Each strike sent shockwaves through the frozen plaza. Ice and shadow clashed, her Eternal Glacier against his dark inferno.
The ground cracked and splintered beneath their feet, chunks of frozen stone flying into the air as their blows met.
The demon roared, swinging a clawed fist wreathed in black fire.
Sylvia countered with a spear of ice, the two attacks exploding in a burst of steam and frost.
"You’re stronger than I expected," the demon growled.
"But strength alone won’t save your students."
Sylvia’s gaze hardened.
"Watch me," she said coldly.
With a sudden surge of power, she summoned a storm of shimmering icicles from the ground, launching them like a thousand arrows toward the demon.
He batted them aside with a roar, but several spears pierced his blackened flesh, leaving trails of smoking frost.
Behind them, Orwen’s relentless assault continued.
His blades flashed like silver lightning as he carved a path through the remaining demons.
Demons fell in droves, their bodies shattering against the icy earth.
Kael, Elysia, Jin, and Alina could only watch in awe.
The hopeless despair that had threatened to consume them moments ago was slowly replaced by hope.
Meanwhile, in the Demon’s Whereabout
Wrapped in a tattered black cloak that shimmered faintly with dark energy, the Shadow Disciple gazed into a pool of swirling mist.
The mist revealed fleeting images of battlefields across the region—students fighting for their lives, villages burning, heroes struggling to hold the line.
A cruel smile curled across his thin lips.