"Ragni, you did it," Katrina hurried to greet the exhausted students who had finally reached the shelter.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't bring everyone," Ragni replied.
"But where is Liri?" The princess scanned the faces of the newcomers but couldn't find her friends.
"Algo stayed with her. We could only make it here with their help."
The princess looked down, concealing her tears from the others.
"Go to Grain, he's organizing the defense. Since everyone is here, we need to give the Rector time to raise the refuge he spoke of."
"Kat?"
"I'm fine. Just give me a moment to collect myself."
For some time, the princess stood alone, gazing at the battle unfolding in the distance. She wanted to help but couldn't abandon those who had gathered in the square.
"Princess," Rector called from behind, "I'll need your help now."
"Yes, of course." The girl quickly wiped away her tears and returned to the center of the circle.
"I need to finish some preparations, and I'll remove my barrier. For now, I'll focus on healing the new students, and I leave the defense to you."
"You know that my protection and Seleria's shield don't stop them very well. They seemed to fear only your barrier."
"At least you will protect the warriors from magical arrows. Levris and Grain will handle the obstacles on their path."
"Very well, we'll hold them off as long as we can."
"I'll need ten minutes."
Rector stood in the center of the square and plunged his staff into a small recess. A warm golden aura emanated from him, healing the students' wounds, though it couldn't restore their lost strength. Meanwhile, the mages focused on the defense.
As soon as the barrier of light disappeared, the golems effortlessly moved inside, only getting stuck for a few seconds in the barriers created by the two princesses. Behind them followed a dark sorceress, comfortably perched on the shoulder of a fifteen-meter colossus. She wasn't letting him act yet, leaving the main work to his smaller kin.
"I've come to bid farewell," Alfred approached Katrina while the others were busy with the enemies.
"Oh, so you've finally decided to run away? Good riddance."
"You're so rude. I did give you a chance to come with me, but you chose these... companions," Alfred sneered, casting a contemptuous glance at the students.
Only Seleria stood nearby, helping Katrina create the protective barrier.
"Ah, the cowardly flatterer wants to teach us manners. You better leave right away; it will truly make breathing easier here."
"Well, southern princess, your culture never ceases to amaze me. But it seems we won't see each other again, so I wish you a pleasant time," the inquisitor took an octagonal crystal from his pocket and prepared to cast a spell.
"Oooh, so you plan to escape with the help of that? The runes on the crystal look like teleportation magic, but you managed to tinker with them quite well, I admit."
"Hmph, you know what this is?"
"Yes, yes, I'm familiar with the symbols on the crystal, and I know how this magic works. But it's too complicated to use without some magical amplifiers, so I couldn't be bothered to learn it. By the way, I wouldn't advise you to use it."
"Oh, don't try to stop me. I'm not here to die. Goodbye."
The mage directed his magic into the crystal, and in the light of a smooth magical circle, he instantly vanished.
"Sel, what were you talking about?"
"Oh, you'll understand soon enough," Seleria smirked maliciously. "The symbols on his stone were from demonic magic, and trying to escape from a demon using it was rather foolish."
"Hmm? What do we have here?" Kurone, perched on the shoulder of the giant golem, snapped her fingers, and the golem caught something in the air. At first, it seemed like there was nothing, but soon, a crimson magical circle appeared in the air, and the escaped mage reappeared from it. "Funny that you hoped I wouldn't notice. You know where inquisitors draw their power from, or did you think your father invented something new?"
The girl smiled sweetly, and the golem tightened his grip on the mage's hand. The smile was accompanied by a faint crack of bones and the moans of the captured mage.
"No-no-no, I won't kill you just yet. You must suffer a bit more. You thought you could escape so easily, but now just wait until it's your turn."
The golem threw the mage onto the square. Alfred's hands and several ribs were broken, but his life was not in danger. Rector immediately started healing him, but he couldn't mend the fractures until he regained enough strength.
"We should end this performance," the sorceress gave a signal to the golem, and he prepared his magical weapons to attack. Hundreds of shots hit the shield, and judging by their direction, they were aimed at Rector, who couldn't put up his barrier. "The old man must be taken care of first."
The barriers of Seleria and Katrina couldn't withstand such intense firepower, and Grain began helping them by constructing a wall to intercept the magical arrows. However, the arrows easily tore through the wall, getting closer to their target.
"Oh, damn it," Ragni was still weak, but she had to stand up and replace her comrades in the battle. "We won't hold out for long like this."
"Give me a little more time," Rector, despite his injuries, resumed his ritual.
"Ho-ho, you're still alive after such an attack. Maybe you're not that old. Then we have to rely on you," Ragni prepared for battle, but there were still too many enemies in her condition.
Suddenly, much-awaited help came from above. Streams of invisible energy scattered the nearest golems and cleared the center of the square.
"We apologize for the delay. We hid everyone we could find on the territory in the guild, but unfortunately, we couldn't save everyone," the first girl with silver hair landed.
"Rumy stayed in the guild to chop down anything that approaches the fence with ill intentions. And for now, we decided to help you," the one who managed to fly here on her own wings landed next to her. "By the way, not the best decision to hide on the square. What were you hoping for?"
Reines looked at the rector reproachfully.
"I am working on it," the rector smirked heavily; breathing was difficult for him due to his injuries. "But it would be better if you sent Rumy and stayed at the Guild."
"Hey, we actually wanted to help," Rizel frowned in dissatisfaction.
"Thank you, of course, but you are the ones he needs right now," the rector nodded towards the possessed sorceress. "Try not to let them injure you, or everything will be in vain."
"Hmm, we just won't let them hurt us, it won't be difficult."
The two necromancers changed the course of the battle.
While the warriors protected the students gathered in the center, the two necromancers dealt with the golems trying to reach the center of the square.
The dragoness turned both hands and tore apart the smaller golems. Rizel easily cut through the golems' armor with her scythe, but both girls struggled with the eight-meter golems.
Neither the dragoness's claws nor the scythe's blade could easily cut through the thick armor of the large golems, but when the necromancers buried their weapons into the golems' armor, they used decay magic. Magical barriers weakened even the necromancers' magic, but it still corroded the metal, making it much harder for the new golems to recover after the dark mages' attacks.
"As I suspected, soul stones," Reines pulled a magical stone from a small golem. "They absorb the souls of the killed students... but as long as this creature controls Kurone, I can't destroy them."
Reines crushed the stone, but it didn't lose its power and began to regenerate, along with the other golems, into a larger one.
"First, let's deal with the smaller golems, and then we'll drive him out of her body. Though I still don't know how to do that," Rizel looked uncertainly at her scythe.
"I don't think it will help to separate their souls. First, we need to break the contract with the demon," Reines pushed the girl away. "If it's not a permanent contract, it will be enough to make the demon's promised condition unattainable."
"Heh, if only we knew what that condition was."
The necromancers continued to destroy the golems until the last eight-meter giant was defeated. In the end, only the fifteen-meter colossus remained, on which the dark sorceress sat.
"Hmm, are you done already?" The demon purposely imitated Kurone's voice to create confusion. "I hope you're not tired. I'm looking forward to playing with you."
The necromancers caught their breath and faced the golem.
"Don't worry about us, we'll manage with just one golem, even such a big one," Reines tried to hold herself together, but the previous battle had exhausted her a bit. It was difficult for her to maintain transformed limbs and wings for long.
"I'm glad you're okay. Actually, there would be enough souls here for more," with a wave of the sorceress's hand, the remains of the smaller golems began to gather in two places. First, the soul stone fragments collected in the air, and then the armor began to meld into a gigantic suit of armor. "Three shouldn't be a problem for you either."
The girl smiled and ordered the golem to step back a bit.
While two golems formed behind them, the sorceress stepped back from the square a little.
Rizel leaped towards one of the assembling golems and cleaved the soul stone into pieces, but it didn't stop their regeneration. She tried to drain the energy from the stones, but for the first time, the souls resisted her and returned to the stones they were bound to.
"It won't help," the playful voice of the possessed sorceress irritated the necromancer. "They cannot be destroyed until they are complete. Though you can still kill this body. It will be much more effective. Don't hold back; I won't take offense."
"Silence, demon," Reines took a combat stance. "We won't fall for your tricks. If Kurone dies, her soul will be yours."
"Haha, you necromancers are so amusing. More souls, less souls. I've collected enough today. By the way, your opponents are ready."
Now three golems surrounded the square. Rizel leaped towards one of them and cut across the chest plate with her scythe's blade, engulfed in the flame of decay. The strike left deep gashes, but they still couldn't reach the soul crystal.
"Haha, this will be a bit more challenging, but I'll find a way to keep you occupied," at the demon's command, all three golems prepared their magical weapons and aimed at the center of the square.
"Damn it."
Both necromancers pooled all their magic to create a barrier just before thousands of magical projectiles hit it. The Thanatos shield could withstand the blows, but the two sorceresses were hardly stronger than three gigantic golems.
"We won't last long like this."
"That's not necessary," the rector weakly smiled. "I'm finished."
With his words, the ground trembled, and the square began to split into four parts.
"Hey, what's happening?" Katrina lost her footing and stopped maintaining the barrier.
"Just jump down," with these words, the rector jumped into the opened fissure, and all the students followed suit.