After the Syria rescue class began, many of the students put in a lot of effort, but rescuing Syria proved difficult.
They just tried to pull her out as if they were randomly pulling out grass, but their calves turned red from the effort.
“Well, it’s her fate. What can you do?”
“By the way, is this going to work?”
“We’re not infusing mana. It’s not like we’re trying to force it. With a little more effort, you should be able to pull her out.”
They didn’t implant any magic formula either. They’re not continuously infusing mana.
“W-wait, are we going to pull her leg off?”
Some of the boys worried, but it seemed really insignificant.
Even though Syria couldn’t use magic, she wasn’t weak enough for the students to pull her leg off.
“I would have to apply force, though.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“She’s so thin, is she going to be alright?”
The students touched Syria’s leg and frowned.
Honestly, there’s nothing to worry about.
Even though it looks like that, her legs might be thin, but they’re really strong.
Even if ten adult men attacked her, they wouldn’t even move her.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t come off. It’ll be fine. If it does come off, I’ll just reattach it.”
It’s not going to come off, but if it does, I’ll fix it.
“Is that even possible?”
“Anything is possible for a saint.”
“If it doesn’t attach, I’ll just regenerate it.”
“As long as the head is intact, the lower part can slowly regenerate.”
“But, how do you expect to pull this off, logically?”
An oddly familiar voice.
“Hm. Croissant? Is Croissant still in the magic department?”
I didn’t expect Croissant to still be there.
“At least, I thought remembering someone’s face was part of noble etiquette. Even if I did wrong by you, I was pardoned. My brother was knocked out, but I’m different.”
Ah, so that’s what happened. I didn’t realize because her hair was a bit tidied up.
Still, Croissant’s traces were still visible, with both sides of her head styled like Croissant’s.
“So? What’s the problem?”
“Tying this so tightly from the start? It’s too difficult for the students.”
Croissant muttered like that.
“Well, I can’t deny that.”
“It’s too difficult.”
“Especially since the students ended up in Zerato’s dungeon.”
“The difficulty couldn’t be anything but high.”
“Then at least, they should be able to move.”
“Think about it this way. Have you never considered that you need to pass through this to move on to the 4th floor? If you manage mana well, you should be able to pull this off. Now, Croissant, what’s the problem?”
‘I didn’t intend to scold Croissant, but she still hadn’t realized the reality.’
“Well, I get the magic part. I understand that we need to pass this.”
“Then?”
“I know I’m far less skilled than you. But, shouldn’t we just call the professor for this?”
“Yeah. That’s a really good idea.”
“But that method contains many contradictions.”
‘Still, I applaud Croissant for thinking so hard.’
Clap, clap, clap.
When I clapped, Croissant’s face twisted like a deflated bread.
“Oh, that sounds reasonable. This is the most sensible thing Croissant has said so far. But there’s a contradiction in that.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, the students here all want to clear this dungeon.”
“Well, if the great saint convinces them.”
“Sure. You could beat them all into submission.”
‘I abandoned the idea of bringing the students along and thought about the worst-case scenario, but it’s still a foolish approach. Why?’
“Second, and this is the biggest reason.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, the exit to this dungeon is blocked.”
I pointed at the far back of the room.
“What? That can’t be…”
As expected, it was typical Zerato.
The exit that once let in light was now completely blocked.
Now, only darkness remained.
It must be Zerato.
They want to capture us.
I hadn’t planned to leave, but since Zerato had provoked us, we had to respond.
From the outside, it would seem like only the students were there, so it was obvious that Zerato was planning to capture them, devour them, and expand their power.
Especially using dark magic to turn corpses into undead monsters.
“They were probably aiming to raid Atlerina and expand their power.”
“It’s possible they could break through.”
“But Syria’s head was easily fixed, and the ground seemed weak.”
“If they tried to break through the blocked door, the nearby area might collapse.”
“So it’s better to clear the dungeon as part of the student training.”
“Does that mean we’re trapped?”
Now that Croissant understood the situation, her face contorted with realization.
“Yes. The only way out is to clear the dungeon. In other words, we have to defeat the Dungeon Master.”
“We’ll have to keep defeating Zerato, again and again.”
“This time, I’ll tear their throat out and make sure they never show their face again.”
“Is that possible?”
“Stop asking so many questions and focus on getting Syria out. Do you not understand the situation?”
“Sorry.”
Croissant lowered her head with a sullen expression.
I scolded her, but someone like Croissant would probably rise in the world.
She’s good at making her presence known for some reason.
Plus, she’s not bad at magic.
She’ll likely be good at mana manipulation.
“For your punishment, Croissant, you go first.”
I decided to make Croissant go first.
***
At that moment, Syria, seemingly in pain, began to flail her legs as if asking to be freed.
I just hoped the students would cooperate with the training instead of worrying about whether she would die or not.
“Ah, she’s struggling,” someone said.
“Well, at least Croissant probably doesn’t have bread for a brain,” I replied. “Let me explain slowly. You can pull her leg out the brute force way if you like, but we’re from the Magic Department. We’re going to use mana a little more elegantly to get her out.”
“It wasn’t just about mana, though.”
“If you controlled your strength carefully, you could pull her out as easily as picking a vegetable.”
“But, we were wizards, so let’s make this a bit more sophisticated.”
“Alright.”
“Surround her with mana and start loosening the mana bindings on the wall.”
“Instead of pulling her out carelessly, just focus on gently tightening the mana bindings and melting them slowly. Let it soften and loosen.”
“Um, is this how it’s done?”
Croissant, being from a wizard family, seemed to pick things up quite quickly.
She began pulling Syria out carefully and slowly.
“Ooh, it’s coming out slowly!”
“Impressive!”
The students were amazed.
It was too early to be this surprised, though.
I had already placed mana clumps on Syria and the wall, and they were melting rather well.
I intentionally placed the mana clumps, but it was Croissant who pulled Syria out completely in the end.
“Ugh… Syria, are you alright?”
Croissant dusted off the body she had just freed.
“Ah, I’m fine. Don’t worry, just a little dirt on me. Croissant’s touch was so gentle, I almost liked it.”
“Thank you.”
The only thing I felt was that if I had just poured mana into the mana clumps and let them dissolve for a while, it would’ve been easier.
That would have allowed for more precise mana control too.
But, we pulled her out right away after melting it.
Croissant was fine with it, but there were still many students. ‘Should I set the bar higher?’
‘Maybe I should have them learn just enough to survive in the dungeon?’
Come to think of it, every time they get poisoned, I just heal them right before they die.
The best way to develop immunity to poison is to feed them the poison, after all.
The only problem was that the dungeon was close to going out of control.
“Hmm, well, this should be enough for now.”
“Does that mean we’re leaving?”
“Leaving? We weren’t anywhere near that point yet.”
“I’m tired now. Can’t we just leave? Look at me, my hair’s all messed up because of you, Saint. The walls are all wet too, so I felt awful.”
Syria’s face was a mess.
Especially her hair, which was all tangled.
It was so ridiculous-looking.
‘This much already? We weren’t even close.’
It was annoying, but I couldn’t let her off the hook just yet.
We still had 24 hours, so I might as well train the students.
“What do you mean? We’re still far from done.”
Syria, for someone who was a wizard, didn’t seem very perceptive.
‘Was she a genius or something?’ At her age, she was already a candidate to become the Master of the Magic Tower.
“Yes?”
“We’re doing everyone, right? We’ve only done one person so far. Or do you want to leave Croissant behind while taking the others?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Exactly.”
The students needed to work on their mana control.
“Alright, I’ll reset the mana bindings, and we’ll do one person at a time. There’s no sign of this being over anytime soon.”
“Doing it all at once wouldn’t improve their mana control.”
“If I took them all at once, it’d be a massacre.”
“I couldn’t just kick them out after coming this far.”
“This was supposed to be Adran’s job, anyway.”
“I had to step in.”
“Okay, then the next one is…”
“You wanted to be my friend, right? Think of this as the fee for becoming my friend.”
Bang!
I slammed Syria back against the wall.
‘What was she complaining about already? We still had a long way to go.’
***
Deep within the dungeon, in a dark and murky center filled with magical energy, a man with gray hair sat on a stone chair, staring at a crystal ball.
Inside the crystal ball, he could see a group of Atlerina students entering the dungeon.
He frowned, muttering to himself.
“I didn’t think they’d get here this quickly.”
They were moving faster than expected.
I never imagined Atlerina would send students for practical training so soon.
The dungeon had only just been stabilized.
“No, wait.”
This could be an unexpected opportunity.
After all, I had regained control of the dungeon that was taken by the Empire a long time ago.
Even though I had just regained control, killing kids like them wouldn’t be difficult.
I could use this place to terrorize the Empire’s capital.
The students from Atlerina would make great sacrifices.
‘Zerato is an indomitable man.’
Despite being beaten every time by Noah from the Hero’s Party, he still considered himself the top among dark wizards.
Now that Noah was dead, no one could stop him in terms of magic.
Those students from Atlerina must be from noble families.
If I kill them, it could weaken Atlerina’s power.
Since many of the central nobility had already been purged, this could be a perfect opportunity.
If I succeed here, Atlerina will be in a difficult position within the Empire.
Especially with the Saint of the Empire who recently captured a succubus and the mages from the Magic Tower.
Those two must die.
They could become a hindrance to the Master in the future.
Killing them would cause a great disturbance.
When that happens, I can gradually destroy the Empire from within by expanding the dungeons.
“Although the Seven Stars are a problem, setting up all the dungeons and teleporting them shouldn’t be too hard.”
Once I capture those Atlerina students, word will spread to Atlerina.
But by then, the dungeon will have already gone into chaos.
The magic has already started to spread.
‘Will anyone be able to stop it?’
Even if Atlerina has powerful individuals, without the Seven Stars, no one can stop me.
Since the Master has instructed me to destroy the Empire, there’s no way I can be stopped now.
The Seven Stars aren’t nearby either, so this is the perfect time.
‘Good. Come on in, you fresh-faced kids from Atlerina. If it weren’t for Noah, I would’ve gotten you long ago.’
Zerato didn’t know.
The Saint he was trying to kill was Noah.
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