Chapter 38 – The Mask Gifted by Professor Aegis
“What is… that…?”
I was so utterly dumbfounded that I was left speechless.
Fernandes, who had been by my side, had long ascended onto the arena with a mask and a cape. Even the code-named Protean, sparkling with a myriad of colorful lights in his hair, had descended from the sky.
Ignis gazed coldly at them, Vundine was sipping from a teacup she conjured from somewhere, and Cecilia, losing interest promptly, perked up her ears and clutched poor Lynn, who was desperately trying to tear herself away from the clinging girl.
In the midst of the match, Allen, trembling with contorted expressions, spread his arms wide and shouted.
“I stand here now on my own willpower!! As proud Ahopa warriors, for our idol, I shall oxidize!!!!”
‘TNR’ he called himself.
…Wait. TNR?
Freya’s Ahodan…?
I’d heard it somewhere before—during the last roundtable meeting, it was the code name of a member who caused a stir by depicting something about Freya’s abuse materials or whatever it was.
Even when I first saw Allen’s bare face at Midgard, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen him somewhere before. Perhaps it was just a passing familiarity, casually brushed off as having encountered him coincidentally while passing by the school.
Surely, he couldn’t be TNR—the alleged perpetrator responsible for the incessant creepy cries of a baby near the boys’ dorms during every mating season due to his habit of feeding stray cats behind the dorms, could he? Even for me, it was unimaginable.
I’d deemed Ahopa members as pitiful for merely donning a mask.
But it turned out, I was the blind one.
What nonsense was this about mental magic?
They’re attacking Freya? Brainwashing?
In the midst of the confusion, Allen, who was proudly shouting “Ae-ho! Ae-ho! Ae-ho!” suddenly turned his gaze towards the audience, his face flushed with anger.
He began to scream like a madman, looking at something in the audience.
“No!! You devil’s spawn! How dare you lay a hand on anyone!!”
I wondered who he was talking to.
I swallowed a sigh that rose to the top of my head and turned to look at the audience that Allen’s furious gaze was directed at.
There was a change.
It was the direction of the seat I had just been sitting in.
To the right, below the 7th entrance. The fourth row.
Right where Professor Aegis and Freya had been sitting together just a moment ago.
Sure enough, Freya’s figure stood out conspicuously.
Professor Aegis, who was solely responsible for all the information of the Ae-ho group, must have already known that Allen’s codename was TNR. She must have felt something was amiss as soon as Allen mentioned the Ae-ho group and hurriedly rushed down to the stadium.
So in the end, the only one left in the seat was Freya.
It was only natural that there would be a suspicious shadow cast behind her.
Fluttering white wings. Two shadows. The Vanir race. The Brisingamen.
In an instant, everything fell into place in my mind like a puzzle.
“Mad Vanir bastards!”
The distance to the audience was considerable. Unless they had stocked up on space-time magic in advance, casting and summoning a teleport spell at a crowded point like that would inevitably cause harm to the surrounding people, regardless of their skill level.
There was hardly enough time to inform Ignis and Undine of the situation. They didn’t even know where Freya was sitting.
It was said that the Ae-ho group always kept a watchful eye from a distance, but there was no guarantee that Allen wouldn’t be distracted from such a situation.
Directly jumping seems to be the only way.
There was little hesitation.
Imperial standard, acceleration.
Skipping Yeongchang. Along with casting, the body soars.
Crossing the stadium, leaping over the stands, and shooting up backward, ignoring the screams of the people, high into the air.
At the moment when the view was secured, it was possible to see the Vanir tribe trying to block Freya’s mouth and attempting to lift her rebellious self.
Whether it was preemptively stocked with a teleport or something else, another person swiftly began to cast a spell.
I sense that if left like this, the matter will become troublesome to an irritating degree.
I casually tossed the bata tied to my waist. It was a calculated move to draw attention.
But it seems they also had the skills to be selected among the tribes and dispatched to the outside world.
One of the tribe members stopped casting, deviated from the trajectory, and drew out a sword.
Kaaang!
I swiftly grabbed the bata embedded in the ground and lowered my stance.
Engaging in a binding while in contact with the sword, balancing the strength.
I aim for the moment when he adeptly tilts the sword.
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Click, forcibly disrupting the balance and digging into the lower part, I clashed with his sword.
As I exhale a short breath, a sword strike, equivalent to a dozen, sparks flames.
The sword and staff separate.
I confirmed the emptiness on the right.
Paaahh!
The newbies realized their mistake and immediately swung their blades horizontally, but it was too late as I had already moved away.
*Thud!*
The sensation of bone cracking beyond the armor was vivid.
Without a blade, I should consider myself lucky to have avoided getting cut.
“Finally, you’ve shown your true colors.”
Without hesitation, the other newbie cast a sharp spell.
Woosh…!
The ground of the arena trembled violently and surged towards me.
The surrounding people finally noticed us and began to scream and scatter in chaos.
If I were alone, I could escape, but Freya was still among them.
To snatch her, I needed to use magic.
My current condition left my magical power uncertain.
Even casting a simple spell felt precarious.
It was all because I had just used swift magic excessively.
I grumbled briefly.
“…Anyway… those so-called heroes, they seal magical power without understanding, sealing it crudely and recklessly!”
Blood boiled.
I pushed through the resistance and forced it to heat up.
At the same time, as my hair turned crimson, I felt some of the empty magical power returning to its place.
The heavy body lightens slightly. I sense the loosening of the constraints that had bound me, the restraints on my body releasing ever so slightly.
Transitioning the margins of the magic I was casting simultaneously into parallel, I conclude the spell.
Triple casting.
Elemental Magic, Mist of the Black Swamp.
Imperial Standard Issue, Accelerate.
Secret Number, Illusion.
First, the dense mist envelops the spectator seats.
“Kuk! Quickly dispel the mist!”
“Wait! It’s not elemental magic, it’s elemental magic! Focus on covering Freya and escaping!”
“What…?! Wait a moment! Freya was just here! She was here a moment ago…?”
“Lost her?! That can’t be! No signs of her presence? Deception! There might be an illusion! Just explode this mist all at once!”
Using an illusion, I deceived one of the new races and retrieved Freya. As she was about to scream at the sudden contact in the mist, I hastily covered her mouth and signaled briefly in her ear.
“…Shh.”
It wasn’t certain if she realized it was me. At least, it would be fortunate if she only realized we were allies.
Looking a bit bewildered, Freya nodded her head slightly in the mist, silencing her breath.
Wheee…
Meanwhile, it seemed the new races had completed their explosive magic casting, and the ambient magic around began to distort strangely.
Crazy bastards.
Are they going to unleash a widespread explosion with people still around?
Deploying the fastest-casting Imperial Standard Issue Type 2 Defense Barrier along with Freya, I cover the surrounding area simultaneously.
However, the limits of magic had found their way, unable to shield even my body.
Once, I briefly bit my tongue, turning my body to endure the pain and reduce the impact.
Shaaack…!
Suddenly, a clear stream of water formed a thin barrier in front of me, swallowing up all the flames. I know the unknown owner of this magical intervention.
Thank you, Undine. Remind me to pat your head a hundred times later.
Sending deep gratitude in my mind, I spewed out fire like erecting a pillar.
I immediately leaped recklessly towards the outside, amid the aftermath of the explosion.
Freiya, who was in my arms, without bothering to check her surroundings, tightly closed her eyes against the pressure of the wind. She only let out a thin moan until the moment she fell into the arena.
Thud…!
I, landing in the middle of the arena, instinctively lowered my face. The most attention-grabbing spot in this area. All eyes were soon on me.
I know best how I must appear right now. However, it takes time to bury the blood-red hair, almost synonymous with my lineage.
If I reveal my face here, I won’t be able to stay in this school any longer.
“Eek…!”
Without a chance to apologize to Freiya, I first smeared her face with mine. I heard a brief scream, but I ignored it for now.
Now, what should I do?
I didn’t have many choices given to me in my desperate contemplation.
Right, Professor Aegis gave me a new mask today!
I hastily took out the mask from my pocket and pressed it onto my face.
Only then could I slowly raise my face.
“…… Who are you?!”
Mr. Protein, Pedonandes, and Allen blinked their eyes and looked at me.
“Who’s there…?”
“Who is it?”
“Who’s there!”
…They’re like incompetent members who can’t even recognize a disguise.
But unlike them, Ignis sighed as if asking what I was doing there.
Vundi proudly recognized me and shrugged his shoulders.
Cecilia, who immediately recognized me by the smell.
Lynn, with a cautious look, still couldn’t recognize me.
And Professor Eegis, who was examining Allen’s condition, needs no introduction as the one who gifted this mask.
“…! Catch that guy! He’s a wicked vampire!”
It was the Banir tribe who had suddenly rushed down to the stadium shouting like that.
Emphasizing the fact that I am a vampire, they must have thought it would justify their actions.
None of them had yet realized what the Banir tribe intended to do.
If one were to consider how this situation would be perceived by the majority of the audience, it would become even clearer.
From the stands, amidst a huge explosion, an unidentified giant figure flew in, embracing Professor Freya, who was nothing less than the school’s hidden idol, like a princess, wearing a mask as if trying to do something suspicious.
In a situation like this, if the Banir tribe, praised as the race of love and sensuality, were to appear and announce that the identity of the suspicious individual is indeed a ‘vampire,’ then no one could hold onto a false conviction.
There was no need for much thought; they were indeed smart. For the citizens of the empire, the vampire race held considerable influence. Sure enough, even from the stands, voices gradually began to grow louder.
“A vampire…?”
“It’s a vampire, look over there! His hair is crimson!”
“Yikes! How can there be vampires in the heart of the empire!”
“Where did they suddenly appear from?”
The Baneer tribe must have thought at that moment.
They exerted their momentum and drove the stakes.
“Nepherna! The heinous vampires who kidnapped Lady Freya, the forgotten hero of the Second Holy Sword! Catch that scoundrel!”
I clicked my tongue briefly.