The Demon Prince goes to the Academy
chapter-539

In the southern region of Riselen, the largest metropolis, Serandia.

Up until now, we had divided our forces into five units to secure the path of our advance.

However, now we are initiating a preemptive strike to eliminate the monsters at what can only be called the eye of the storm.

Five Vampire Lords.

Alongside them, the Holy Knights of the Holy Order, the mages of the Vampire Council, and powerful demons.

Olivia, Harriet, Liana, Airi, and myself.

Our corresponding armies, hidden within the cloaking barrier created by Harriet, looked down upon Serandia from the high ground.

The city resembled a belt, with a massive river called Razi flowing through its center, dividing the metropolis into northern and southern sections.

But the city itself was merely a shell, with monsters already swarming nearby.

Harriet muttered, her energy drained, "The monsters..."

Growl!

Screech!

Roar!

Monsters the size of skyscrapers from my past life roamed, while countless smaller monsters swarmed around their feet like ants.

There were also flying monsters that filled the sky in blackness, and among them, monsters boasting overwhelming power.

Although we didn't have to face the dragons from another dimension just yet, a massive monster resembling a dragon had already appeared.

The number of monsters was increasing, as was their strength, making them incomparable to what we'd encountered so far.

As the Gate Incident intensified, the monsters began acting as if they were guarding the Warp Gates.

It was fortunate that the so-called boss monsters were not being produced in substantial numbers.

From the high ground, we could see that the number of monsters spewing from the Warp Gates wasn't particularly high, perhaps due to saturation.

However, if the nearby monsters were pushed away, the Warp Gates would start pouring out monsters again at an incredible speed.

No matter how elite our forces were, it was impossible to annihilate this colossal swarm of monsters numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

A hell of boiling monsters unfolded in the present world.

It was a sight that made me think the world had gone pitch black.

We had to face this.

And it would only become more numerous and dangerous.

Everyone gathered here, the non-humans and those accustomed to slaughter, couldn't help but feel tense as they beheld this hellish sight, myself included.

"They've detected us."

Even though we were on the outskirts, we were in a location with a clear view of Serandia.

It was only natural that there were monster hordes nearby, and naturally, there were monsters that could sense our cloaking barrier and detect us.

"Let's begin."

At my command, the Vampire Lords and the clan's wizards began chanting spells.

Liana, who had already completed her preparations, began to focus her power as well.

Her abilities couldn't be used offensively when a large-scale army was engaged in a frontal battle; everyone would be swept away if she did.

Once again.

Whirrrrr!

A massive tornado erupted in the distance, near the horizon, sweeping away the monsters.

A wave of monsters poured toward us.

"All units! Battle formation!"

Olivia shouted, brandishing her demon sword, Tiamata.

Whirrr

Although we were outnumbered, Olivia could summon an army.

An army made of the dead.

Hahaha!

Over a hundred Death Knights began to crawl out of the ground in response to the demon power of Kier, wielded by Olivia, and the demon sword Tiamata.

A single Death Knight had been powerful enough to easily subdue me when I was only proficient in Magic Body Strengthening.

"Death, lead us."

Not only Olivia but also the holy knights of the Holy Order strengthen their own bodies and the bodies of the Death Knights summoned by Olivia.

Monsters have no strategy or tactics.

However, the best strategy and tactics have always been having more soldiers and a stronger army than the enemy.

Strength in numbers is both strategy and tactics.

Overwhelming numbers of monsters begin to charge at us.

While mages cast large-scale spells together and Liana creates a weather anomaly, the priests of the Holy Order, including Olivia Lanze, and the Death Knights protect them.

But that's not all.

"I'm counting on you today, Uggren."

"Grrr... Human, lend me your strength."

A priest standing on the shoulder of an ogre over five meters tall starts chanting a sacred spell, and the ogre's body becomes radiant.

The ogre's tendons, thicker than a human finger, begin to bulge and twitch in its arms.

Humans, vampires, and demons.

"Krrrrr."

Lycansloth joins the formation as well.

"For the great ancestors and the Demon King!"

"Gwoooarrr!"

The orcs, too, are covered in a blue aura.

They follow Gallarush after me and Charlotte. They must be orcs as well.

Gallarush himself seemed to dislike it, but he had lived too long to have a racial identity.

Undead, demons, and humans.

A small army of only about a hundred.

"Gwoooarrr!"

The horde of monsters clashes with the strangest army in the world.

A massive iron club swung by the ogre is imbued with divine light.

"Jjeong!"

The head of a giant monster that charges at the ogre explodes, and the ogre roars.

"Gwoooarrrrk!"

"Ahh! My ears are ringing!"

The wave of monsters crashes down, and Death Knights, Olivia, and demons stand their ground to protect the mages and Liana.

"Kwaaang! Kwaaang!"

Even while causing weather anomalies, Liana summons a lightning storm from the sky, causing the pouring monsters to explode.

They're holding them off.

They're definitely holding on.

But as monsters that can detect magic and intercept spells attack us first, those that can't also start to recognize us and push in soon after.

It was a nauseating sight, like waves undulating to engulf us.

"Krrrrrrrr!"

Flames of Tuesday.

I project magical power towards the incoming monsters, the ground erupts in flames and a vast area is swallowed in fire.

"Gwoooarrr!"

Medium and small-sized monsters that cannot withstand the flames or have no innate resistance begin to die as they try to break through the inferno.

Even so, the surviving monsters swarm in, and are crushed by Olivia and the Death Knights.

The howls of monsters, the roars of ogres, and the growls of Lycansloths shake the earth.

Flying monsters in the sky also recognize us and dive in like arrows.

"Ugh!"

Blue magical lines boil over Harriet's body, and space begins to warp around a single point in the sky.

"Jjiiiing."

Dozens of strange light refractions, as if the world itself is warping, appear.

Then.

"Kwaaarrrrrrr!"

A massive shockwave is generated, shaking not only the air but also the earth from the sky.

Shockwave.

The wings of the flying monsters diving towards us are torn apart, and their bodies explode.

A shockwave originating from the sky tore apart or hurled down the thousand or so monsters that were flying towards us.

Our individual strength could hardly be described as a hundred-to-one ratio.

But even if we were a thousand-to-one, it would still be insufficient.

The numbers were terrifyingly high.

Liana's third tornado began to tear apart the ground.

Even though the tornado appeared far away, we could feel the violent wind that tore the earth apart.

Even at this great distance, we could feel the pressure from the wind; at the site where the tornado appeared, trees were being uprooted and monsters screamed in agony.

Aside from facing fire and lightning, enemies that are too close are crushed by the Death Knight and demons.

Is this even possible?

The appearance of so many monsters and their constant resurgence as long as the warp gate was not destroyed – is this even plausible?

I feel a vague sense of despair at the unfairness I've created.

Even if they're killed, they reappear.

The warp gate that once benefited humanity has now become the greatest catastrophe to humans.

The tragic, no, unjust situation I created with shallow and half-baked thoughts makes me realize how superficial I was.

-Growl!

In the midst of the overwhelming sight of the creatures' onslaught.

I am here seeking salvation.

I know that someday this tragedy will end.

But how many must die? How many will be sacrificed?

Who will die?

Who will survive?

-Kwarrururung!

A lightning-spewing monster reduced a Death Knight to ashes, and Olivia stepped on the monster's foot and climbed up its leg, driving her Demonic Sword Tiamata into it as if performing an acrobatic act.

"Die, and answer the call of demon power."

As Olivia whispered the curse, a black flash from the Demonic Sword penetrated the monster's brain.

-Swoosh!

The lightning-spewing monster suddenly turned its head and began to discharge lightning towards the oncoming monsters.

-Kwarrurururung!

The lightning that once burned Death Knights now began to incinerate the monsters.

As Olivia raised Tiamata, the darkness pouring from the sword enveloped the countless dead monsters.

Beheaded or torn apart, the monsters came back to life through the power of the divine, now rushing towards the other monsters instead.

Biting, tearing, and ripping them apart.

As more enemies died, the corpses increased, and the power of death grew stronger.

The monsters that once engulfed us like a wave now became a wave of undead, charging at the other monsters.

Despair covered by despair.

Wrapped in the power of the divine, Olivia Lanze almost dominated the battlefield.

As the dead monsters rose and began pushing in from our side, the tide of battle turned.

We shifted from protecting the mages from the monsters to pushing back the horde of monsters.

The power to revive the dead, including necromancy.

Anna de Gerna of Class B also joined the battle in this way.

However, Olivia manifested this power through divine might, not magic.

The scale and effect were overwhelming.

But even so, it was just a small breakwater against a tidal wave.

As our battle dragged on, the monsters of Serandia would eventually focus on this minor disturbance one by one, and as the scale of our fight grew, more monsters would be drawn to us.

As the scale of the battle grows, we will reach our limits.

A hundred people are hardly enough to wage war against hundreds of thousands. Even if we have a thousand-to-one force, there are tens of thousands of enemies, and they will continue to be replenished.

But we haven't come here for a suicide mission.

We are buying time.

Time for Liana to summon the tornado.

And.

-Wooong!

The five Archmages.

And the vampires of the Vampire Council to complete their magic.

-Kuruung!

The storm of mana shook the earth as if it would cause an earthquake.

I have never seen it before.

We don't know what will happen when magic of this level, with this level of mana, is unleashed.

When the Archlich Lukren manifested it, numerous shooting stars could be seen pouring out from the void of the torn sky.

And now.

The magic created by the five ancient beings and the mages they have nurtured.

Meteor Shower Summoning.

As if a divine fist struck the mirror called the sky.

The shattered and fragmented blue sky turns to dark night.

The void's darkness, constellations, and the Milky Way were projected within.

And from there, beams of light began to fall.

Amidst the life-and-death battle, it was an unreal spectacle that made one stare blankly for a moment.

Thousands of beams of light, starting from the distant sky.

The white flames of meteors burning as they friction with the atmosphere were so bright that they outshined even the daylight, wrapped in a white light as they fell towards the earth.

Though they seemed slow, in reality, hundreds of beams of light were falling to the ground at a speed faster than sound, continuously dropping from the void's rift.

"Is this…"

Preventing the gate crisis and bringing about the world's destruction?

Isn't this the saying of burning down the house to catch the fleas?

The massive meteors were imposing enough to bring such anxiety.

Slow but surely, the meteors falling towards the earth were gradually increasing in speed.

It's not that they were getting faster.

The closer they got, the more realistically their speed could be felt on the skin.

On the ground, tornadoes raged, and in the sky, meteors rained down.

The hell of monsters was covered and crushed by the hell of natural disasters.

A meteor exploded near the horizon in the distance.

-Flash!

A massive explosion occurred with the flash, covering the area.

That was the beginning.

-Flash! Flash!

-Kuruung!

With the thunderous noise tearing the atmosphere, the meteors began to evaporate the surroundings of Serandia.

I desperately hoped that the flashes would blow away the warp gates as well.

At the same time, I couldn't help but pray that the meteors wouldn't destroy the world.

The meteors struck the world, and the flying monsters were either swept away by the explosion or torn apart and fell.

The monsters on the ground disappeared along with the craters.

But despairingly, it didn't wipe out all the monsters.

Due to the excessively vast range of impact, there were still monsters overflowing in areas not hit by the meteors, and their numbers were still greater than ours.

-Kukwakwakwang!

And hoping for a meteor to directly hit the warp gate was no different from wishing for a miracle.

We could summon meteors but not aim them.

Even if the warp gate was affected by the meteor's impact, it wouldn't break.

Due to the exceptional durability of the gate itself, it firmly withstood the impact of the meteor collision explosion.

Although I hoped that a massive meteor would strike the warp gate directly, it did not happen.

But the important thing is, since monsters are everywhere, they were undoubtedly being massacred within the falling meteors.

The number of monsters is drastically decreasing, and that is ongoing.

However, monsters pouring out from the warp gate is also ongoing.

I already knew that hoping for the meteor shower to directly strike and destroy the warp gate was like wishing for a stroke of luck.

"Harriet!"

"Yes!"

At my call, Harriet crossed the space and immediately arrived at my side.

"Let's go."

I begin to plunge towards the hellish landscape where meteor showers and stormy rains pour down.

I will destroy the warp gate.

With my own hands.

By the time the allied forces arrive, even if it is not as bad as it is now, the monsters would have replenished enough to be scattered all over the ground.

At this very moment, when the number of monsters is drastically decreasing.

This is the only time when a small elite force can act.

I don't know how far we can go, but we will destroy as much as we can and then flee.

The ones plunging in are Harriet de Saint-Owan and me.

Only the two of us.

-Kwarururung!

The storm of lightning summoned by Liana opened the way ahead for us, who were rushing toward Serandia.