Perguck.
"Off. Ouch. Ouch."
None of its four arms were intact.
The creature had even lost an eye, as it had attacked the eye on its forehead once it realized it was the one using the magic.
"You've worked hard. Now rest."
With a bitter expression, Adrias stabbed the monster student in the heart.
Gently setting the creature down after it twitched a few times, he raised his head and looked in the direction of the Knights' Faculty.
"Vivian. You'll be fine.'
It was impossible to tell whose hands the potion had fallen into.
That was why Adrias had asked her to do him a favor, but also to call the professors first if she found the creature.
"If anything happens, she's Vivian, so she'll be able to handle it.
Adrias looked back down at the dead body.
Normally, it was almost impossible to take on a potioned student alone.
The game itself encouraged party play with NPCs, so most of the enemies you'll encounter from now on won't be able to be defeated alone.
"I'm unusually strong now.
Unlike the players in the game, I was able to kill them on my own thanks to my overwhelming growth.
Of course, if a non-mage knight had taken the potion, even Adrias couldn't defeat it alone.
'I can't even take on a potioned knight student by myself, so the scenario can't progress without the help of other characters.
That's why I was more concerned with the growth of the playable characters, but Lucia almost died. That's why Adrias' steps were strangely heavy as he walked toward Lucia, leaving the dead body behind.
'I wonder if she was worried about the progress of the scenario.
The thought of Lucia almost dying made me feel dizzy.
Was she just a playable to help the scenario progress?
No, it wasn't. Not anymore.
This world is not a game.
She was now his junior and someone he had to protect.
"Lucia, are you hurt?"
The way Adrias asked the question with concern, with the blood of his enemies all over him, was contradictorily sad. Lucia could only stare at him, mesmerized by his unknown aura.
"I've never seen you like that before, Adrias. Because of me?
What can I say?
I'm on a deadline anyway.
But inside, she was overjoyed.
That he had come to her, and that he was looking at her so worriedly.
Adrias sheathed his sword and approached Lucia.
He reached out to take her hand, then pulled it back when he saw the blood on it.
"Senior."
"Why. Are you hurt?"
"Help me up."
Adrias smiled vaguely at Lucia, who spread her arms wide as she spoke.
"I'm covered in blood, my clothes are dirty."
"I don't care, just help me up."
Adrias looked embarrassed, but he couldn't help but grab Lucia, who was still waiting with open arms, and pull her to her feet.
Lucia smiled sheepishly, despite the blood on her clothes.
"Thank you, senior."
"Don't laugh. I'm serious."
"Hehe."
Adrias's heart sank at the sight of that stupid smile.
He knew Lucia was on life support, and the sight of her was so fleeting.
"I know she's pretending not to be, but it must be hard. I'm sure she's realizing that there's no cure, and she's dying every day.
I decided that once this was over, I would prioritize Lucia's cure above all else.
Her suffering could no longer be ignored.
"Neither Vivian nor Lucia are characters in the game anymore.
He almost lost Lucia.
Adrias was painfully aware of the importance of all the beings in his life.
They were no longer just pieces on a chessboard, but his friends and peers.
It wasn't the same as when he'd been grinding to win the game.
"I'll never let them die."
Adrias muttered under his breath, and Lucia looked at him in surprise.
But Adrias was still staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought.
"You'd never let me die? Me?
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if she'd overheard his hidden thoughts.
Lucia clutched her chest as if he could hear her heartbeat, but she couldn't see his face as he stood there.
* * *
Kwagagak-!
Kwajik! Kwaang-!
Serena was nursing a bleeding, unconscious Chris in the corner of the training center.
A part of her wanted to get out of there and call for help, but she was stuck in the middle of a fight with her K'tian comrade.
Quang!
With a giant gulp, the dainty newcomer stepped back.
"Whoa, whoa."
Half-dazed, Vivian leaped back in.
She slashed at Todlon with a sword technique that looked like she was trying to dismember her opponent.
Kwajik! Quadruple quadruple!
The sight of her wielding her sword while pushing her physical abilities to their limits made her look like a yakka from hell.
Unfortunately, his opponent was no match for him.
Todlon, whose skin had only been scratched by the many blows he'd taken, had forgotten his swordplay and was simply swinging at random due to the overflow of mana from the potion and his uncontrollable body.
But even that simple movement was too fast for Serena's eyes to see.
Pfft!
A gust of sword wind whipped out from the sword, knocking Vivian off her feet.
The sound was dull, as if she had been struck by a blunt object.
"Gulp."
Blood trickled from the corners of Vivian's mouth.
But still, she walked in without bending over.
"Ms. Vivian."
Seeing her like that, Serena finally gave up and stood up.
If we keep this up, we're all going to die, so we have to go through that storm, kill, or be eaten.
As she dragged her wounded body, she heard voices.
Serena felt a surge of joy, more intense than she had ever felt before, at the sight of the group entering the rehearsal hall.
"Dean Surahan!"
* * *
The danger was not yet over, so I took Lucia with me to the Faculty of Knights.
As soon as he stepped off the train, he heard the intense sounds of battle and immediately ran with Lucia on his back.
"Please. Vivian!
As they ran to the epicenter of the noise, they were met by an unexpected group of people.
"It's Dean Surahan."
Lucia muttered from her back.
It was the professors of the Faculty of Knights, the Dean of the Faculty of Knights, and Surahan.
They spotted our hurried rush but made no pretense of recognition, instead heading in the direction of the explosion.
"Once Surahan is out of the way, it's over. Just hold on till then.
We followed them to a performance hall we had visited before.
When they entered, they saw a bloodied Vivian and a monstrous knight student fighting.
'That guy is....'
It was a student named Todlon, who should have won the last tournament.
It seemed that the changed future had affected him as well.
Quang!
Shae-ae-ak-!
Kugugugung!
"Vivian!"
I immediately put Lucia down and drew my sword to save Vivian.
But someone stood in my way.
He was a man with black hair neatly tied back and numerous scars on his face that proved he had faced adversity.
"Dean Surahan."
"I will."
If Dean of Magic Vereal held the title of youngest Warlock, he was the youngest superhuman to reach the rank of Auror Master.
He was thirty-seven when he became an Auror Master.
He would later be surpassed by Ivy Claire, and the title of youngest by a playable character, but for now, he held the distinction of being the youngest person to become an Auror Master.
He seemed to slowly make his way to the center of the fight, then vanished in an instant.
"Gone.
The noise cut off abruptly, and Surahan, who had disappeared, was now standing between Vivian and Todlon, holding their attacks in one hand each.
"Todlon. Pity, how did we end up here?"
"Ugh!"
Todlon's reason seemed to have vanished.
What remained of his killing intentions were fueled by a surge of mana.
"Vivian Velocan. You have done well. Now stand back. I see your friends have arrived."
Vivian's gaze snapped to mine at Surahan's words.
Her slightly unhinged eyes held a faint glint of madness, but then they cleared as she recognized my face.
"Adrias."
She dropped her sword and staggered toward me.
I strode to her, ignoring the murmurs of the professors around me, and caught her as she tried to collapse.
"Vivian. I told you not to push yourself...."
"Adrias. You protected me, those boys. Didn't you?"
I didn't know what to say to Vivian, who was smiling blurrily through her bloodied face.
I simply fed her the potion I carried as a spare in my arms.
"You did, and you did very well."
"Of course. You're going to give me a prize, right?"
"Yes. I'll definitely give you a prize."
Hearing my answer, Vivian smiled softly and closed her eyes.
My heart sank at the sight, and I quickly checked her pulse.
"She's alive.
Thank God.
For a moment, I felt like I was about to sink into despair.
"How did I give her my heart?
Lucia and Vivian had stirred emotions in my heart that I had rarely felt in my previous life, and I felt them again.
"I'm weaker than I thought.
The traumatizing events of my past life.
And this one, too.
As much as I tried to deny it, I, a human being, was actually very weak at relationships.
Kiiiiiind.
Just then, a tinkling sound echoed next to me.
Naturally, he turned to find Surahan, his favorite sword, Niraya, drawn, facing Todlon.
'Surahan's auror secret weapon, the Infinite Goblin Ganyanga'
The moment he recited his auror mantra, the white auror of Surahan rubbed against his sword.
Screech.
An eerie noise, like a human scream, rose up, and blood suddenly gushed out of Todlon's body.
Fuhua!
It was the living song of swords and aurors.
Surahan stood still and drew his sword, but with each echo of the song, the wounds on Todlon's hardened body grew.
Todlon was the head of his graduating class at the Knight's Academy.
In terms of swordsmanship alone, he was strong enough to surpass even the weakest professor.
He took the potion.
His current physical endurance and physical prowess must be phenomenal.
"An Auror Master.
Surahan was dying without being able to use his hands.
I couldn't even imagine how I would react if I were the enemy.
I can't imagine how I'd react if I were the enemy, constantly being hit by invisible attacks that I can only hear.
Besides, from the looks of it, Surahan wasn't using his full strength.
If Surahan was fighting with all his heart, the tinkling wouldn't be sporadic like this, it would be constant, like a song, and on top of that, Surahan himself could wield a sword himself, using the Wu Liang Tinkling Banyaga.
"Poor thing, I had high hopes for you. I hope we'll have a good time together in the next life."
Surahan's last words were accompanied by an enormous boom.
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Scoop. Degurr.
Todlon's massive fuselage, dismembered, slowly collapsed backwards.
Todlon had been trying to reach Surahan the entire time he was dying, but he'd been blocked by the turbulence, and he'd met his end in a heap.
"Overwhelming power. This is the Auror Master, the so-called superhuman.'
As I watched his unrealistic strength, I suddenly wondered.
What would I be like?
'What if I became an Auror Master....'
I looked at Vivian's sleeping face in my arms.
As she breathed in and out, I was inspired to be stronger.
'I want to protect the people who mean the most to me.
There is only one way to become an Auror Master.
And that is to create an Auror bogeyman.
"It's like a wizard.
Just as a wizard must create original magic to earn the title of Warlock, the title of Auror Master is only given to those who create an Auror Biggie.
But while a Warlock's original magic is a matter of study, an Auror Master's is a matter of pure talent and enlightenment.
While the talent required for initiation may be lower in swordsmanship than in magic, it is the sword that requires overwhelming talent to reach the end.
'I aim for both'
I have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of games under my belt.
Based on that, I aim for both the Warlock and the Auror Master.
If I used to run for the same goal, which was to end the world, or at least catch a glimpse of it, that has changed a bit today.
I now run to be strong for myself, to protect my loved ones.