Chapter 592: Spirit Growth Promotion Ritual (3)

“Assistant Professor Evan!!”

“I really thought I was going to die—!!”

“But you didn’t, did you?”

Lennok said, pressing the open button on the control panel to swiftly open the train doors.

Stepping onto the train, Lennok glanced at the students sprawled across the seats, then quickly explained to Cassia how to operate the train’s control panel.

“If you press this button and pull the lever, it will automatically operate at a fixed speed. To apply the brakes, use this button…”

“W-wait a moment.”

Cassia interrupted Lennok, pressing her injured shoulder.

“Y-you’re teaching me how to operate the train right now…?”

“Assistant Professor Cassia, you will drive this train and escape the university grounds.”

As Lennok spoke, another train car slowly rolled into view on the opposite track.

Lennok gestured behind him, pointing at the newly appeared train, and smiled.

“Because I plan to ride that one deeper into the university.”

“…”

Only then did Cassia’s mouth drop open, realizing how Lennok intended to evacuate the students and deal with the Ghost God Palace simultaneously.

“You’re insane. Do you mean ‘deal with’ as in…?”

“If no one directly draws the attention of the Ghost God Palace, this train won’t be able to escape the university normally.”

Lennok said, nodding towards Ludmilla, who was toying with a shotgun outside.

“Ludmilla and I will draw their attention and hold them off, so Assistant Professor Cassia, please get out and call for external help.”

“…”

Cassia bit her lip, her expression grave, and nodded with difficulty.

“Alright. There’s no point in stubbornly insisting I can be of help now.”

“I knew you’d understand.”

“But promise me you’ll only focus on buying time.”

Cassia shook her head with a resolute expression.

“This isn’t your fault, Evan. Even if something happens to the Dean, you must prioritize your own safety. Understand?”

“…”

“I would have said the same thing if the Director or the Dean were standing here.”

“Understood.”

Lennok nodded and stepped off the train car.

As Cassia, with a hazy look, pressed a button on the control panel, the train slowly began to move.

Students, who had been leaning against the train car wall with expressions of relief, suddenly startled and stood up upon seeing Lennok standing outside the window.

“A-Assistant Professor!! Where are you going!!”

“You should escape with us!!”

“W-we have to stop the train—!!”

“Davi!!!”

“I have something to do; I’ll follow along slowly.”

Lennok smiled and waved his hand.

“I’ll be fine, everyone, just escape first.”

Around Lennok, the fallen spider spirits, which had been lying belly-up, slowly began to rise one by one and approach him.

Ownerless spider spirits rampaged throughout the dark terminal station, approaching to prey on living beings.

It was obvious how Evan, left among the spiders while the train pulled away, must have appeared to the students.

“N-no! If you stay here, you’ll definitely—!!”

“Please, come with us!!”

The students desperately pounded on the windows, their eyes red-rimmed.

Ludmilla, who had been clearing a jam in her shotgun next to them, chuckled at the sight of the students.

“You’ve got good students. They even cry for you.”

“It would only be awkward when we meet again alive.”

“Oh, so you’re confident you’ll survive?”

“More than confident—”

Lennok smiled. There was no need to explain it in detail.

“Well, everyone has their reasons, right?”

Seeing Lennok trail off, Ludmilla nodded, then reloaded her shotgun and turned her head.

“I don’t know how you got a personal bodyguard contract from our Director, but I’ll do my best for now.”

Ludmilla grinned, channeling her magic, and aimed her shotgun at the approaching spiders.

Click! Clack!

“Let’s do our best not to die.”

“Ah, there’s no need for that.”

“What?”

Lennok chuckled, snatching Davi mid-air as the fox spirit leaped, and hugged her.

“Because from now on, I plan to deal with this a bit more quickly.”

[Spirit Hierarchy General Magic Partial Deployment]

Fzzzzzzzt!!!

At that moment, an immense thunderbolt erupted from Davi’s body, and simultaneously, three foxfires began to appear beside the spirit.

Beyond the window of the departing train, amazement spread across the students’ faces as they gazed at the dazzling electric radiance.

“Belly Tickle.”

Kwooosh!!

Rotating like a replacement for the dark station lights, the foxfires each chanted different lightning spells, reducing all the charging spiders to ashes.

[Kieeeek!!]

[Khe, eeeek!!]

The spider spirits shrieked in pain, turning into handfuls of ash in an instant.

Ludmilla looked back at Lennok with a bewildered expression.

“…You gave such a cute name to such a horrifying spell?”

“It’s Davi’s personal preference.”

Cassia shook her head, watching Lennok nonchalantly shift the blame to Davi.

Amidst the spiders, the three foxfires scattered brilliant electric light, and dozens of lightning currents converged and dispersed, spraying lightning whirlwinds throughout the underground terminal.

The shape of the little fox wasn’t just burning the charging spiders; it was actively burrowing through them and breaking through their ranks.

[Tot, tot, tot!!]

Each time Davi leaped, gracefully stepping on the spiders’ slimy bodies with the foxfires rotating around her.

A piece of brilliant blue lightning bloomed from where she leaped, fiercely burrowing into the spider spirit’s body and exploding.

Puh-buh-buh-bang!!

Spider spirits shrieked bizarrely from all directions, crushed and annihilated.

Lennok didn’t miss a beat in explaining.

“He calls that the ‘Post-Feast Digestion Hop.’”

“…Alright, can you stop explaining?”

With Davi gracefully landing on the tracks behind them, a beautiful illusion, like blue flowers blooming, spread throughout the underground terminal.

Inside the train, students watched the spirit’s overwhelming combat power, their mouths agape.

Rumble! Rumble!

Meanwhile, Cassia seemed to have gotten used to the train’s control panel, as the train slowly began to move further down the tracks.

[Kiek?]

At the sudden movement, the spiders, who had been focused on killing Davi and Lennok, snapped their heads around, their green eyes glowing intensely.

“Gasp—!!”

“Th-they’re looking this way.”

The students paled and recoiled at the overtly bestial gaze, filled with sticky murderous intent.

The spider spirits instantly shot webs under the train wheels, seizing the train car and bringing it to a halt.

Screech!!

Spraying webs all over the terminal pillars and walls, the spiders swiftly glided over them, instantly surrounding the train car.

Had trying to escape by moving the train backfired?

Just as the undergraduate students, sensing that combat was unavoidable, desperately tried to channel their magic to counter with elemental spells.

Bang! Bang!

Lennok used the automatic pistol in his hand to shoot and sever the webs holding the train wheels.

As the webs, tangled between the wheels and stopping the train, were severed, the train began to move forward again.

[Kweeeeh!!]

When shooting webs proved ineffective, the greedy spiders wrapped their bodies around the train, trying to seize and devour it.

Students gritted their teeth and tried to prevent the glass from shattering as they saw the spiders’ fangs and multiple eyes glinting outside the windows.

But the glass couldn’t withstand the spider spirits’ grip and shattered, their bodily fluids dissolving even the glass shards.

Chiiiiik!!

[Kheheheheh!!]

A dozen or more spider spirits shrieked what sounded like laughter as they climbed onto the running train.

They didn’t even spare a glance at Lennok, who held a gun in the train terminal, focusing solely on the students.

Lennok’s eyes darkened as he instantly grasped the situation.

‘They’re not trying to fight me. Are they completely focused on their prey?’

These dozens of spider spirits, currently filling the station, were far from ordinary spirits summoned through a contract with a sorcerer.

The only spirit contracted by the Ghost God Palace sorcerer was the gigantic tank spider spirit that had filled the tracks.

The spider spirits rampaging now were merely ‘will-thought byproducts’ created directly by the tank spider that died from being hit by the train.

In essence, they were similar to the foxfires Davi had newly created.

However, the will-thought entities of spirits that had lost both their sorcerer and main body were purely reliant on instinct, existing only to satisfy their desires before disappearing.

That’s why they ignored Lennok, Davi’s owner, and targeted the students on the train, who appeared relatively vulnerable.

Tang!

Ludmilla, who had blasted open a spider spirit’s body with a shotgun’s shockwave, urgently asked.

“Shouldn’t we stop them, at least?”

“It’ll be fine.”

Lennok grabbed Ludmilla’s shoulder as she was about to leap down to the tracks, glancing behind him.

“Though she was annoyed, she didn’t dislike it.”

“…Who are you talking about?”

The answer to Ludmilla’s question came quickly.

Amidst the swarming spider corpses in the terminal, a brilliant flash of blue lightning erupted, streaking diagonally along the wall.

Davi’s new form, four paws pattering, flashed dazzling electric light, instantly catching up to the train’s speed, then sharply changing direction and entering the train in a flash.

Kwooosh!!

Davi landed majestically, like a superhero, having burst through the train roof.

At that moment, as the students’ gazes, startled by the swirling electricity emanating from her body, focused on the fox spirit.

Davi and the three foxfires rotating around her simultaneously chanted and unleashed the same spell.

Lightning-type General Magic

Triple Chant of Resonant Deployment

[Ionic Bounce]

Wiiiiiiiiing!!!

Three enormous spheres of electricity, floating in the air, rotated in place, condensing lightning and scattering it in all directions.

The electric bolts reflected and bounced dozens of times off the train walls and floor, skillfully avoiding the students while bursting the spider spirits’ heads and eyes.

Puh-buh-buh-bang!!

On the spot, a dozen or more spider spirits clinging to the train instantly evaporated and vanished.

“W-we’re alive.”

“The speed… it’s back…”

The train, which had been bound by webs and unable to pick up speed, now rolled away, beginning to pull away from the terminal.

Only then did the situation seem to truly sink in, as someone among the students, who had been holding onto the broken door, muttered.

“She saved us again…”

[…]

Davi stared at the students for a moment, then, without a word, walked on four paws to the very end of the train.

If she stayed on the departing train like this, she would only get separated from Lennok.

“…Davi!”

From behind Davi, who was about to jump off immediately to return to Lennok, someone carefully stroked the spirit’s tail.

The students, dusty from the intense battle and escape, smiled at Davi.

“Let’s definitely meet again in the classroom next time. Alright?”

[…Hmph.]

Davi didn’t reply to their words, instead, she lightly wagged her tail, poking the students’ foreheads.

As the students giggled and recoiled from the tickling sensation on their foreheads, Davi vanished without a trace.

While waiting for Davi to return after letting the train go first, Lennok and Ludmilla focused on clearing the webs clinging to the terminal.

Most of the spider spirits’ bodies had vanished, but the webs, closer to will-thought byproducts, remained.

“Evan, look at this. It’s so sticky.”

Ludmilla held out a long, stretched piece of web, smiling.

Lennok, who was using a lighter to burn the webs clinging to the train, shook his head.

“What are you doing? You’re not a child.”

“Wouldn’t kids actually like this kind of situation? It’s fun.”

“I don’t think there’d be any children who’d like spiders the size of people, but…”

Lennok retorted, secretly checking the residual mana lingering in the webs, unbeknownst to Ludmilla.

‘The residual mana is excessively active…’

The tank spider, far exceeding the size of a normal spirit. The dozens of spider spirits that continuously popped out, like its offspring.

Though they had been dealt with quickly by crushing the entire train, wasn’t this too powerful a spirit for a single sorcerer to command?

‘But then again, it’s too weak to be an Insinjuryeong that grew by devouring a mage… Have they not properly started the ritual yet?’

The sorcerers who infiltrated the Department of Elemental Studies and imprisoned the students were likely preparing them as sacrifices.

If the true Spirit Growth Promotion Ritual had begun and the spirits of the Ghost God Palace sorcerers had started to grow, it wouldn’t have ended like this.

The two soon easily cleared the webs clinging around the train and successfully got the train moving.

Clunk! Wooooosh!

“The control panel is working well. Fortunately, no webs seem to have gotten into the engine room.”

“That’s good. So, are we going straight to kill that sorcerer leader now?”

“What are you talking about?”

Lennok retorted, looking at Ludmilla, who spoke as if it were obvious to go face the Ghost God Palace’s leader.

“How could a humble researcher like myself possibly confront a high-ranking sorcerer from such a dangerous criminal organization?”

“…”

Despite Ludmilla’s somewhat sullen gaze, Lennok shamelessly continued to plead his case.

“Although my spirit unexpectedly awakened and showed good results, dangerous criminals like that should, of course, be left to the city government’s public security forces.”

“A humble researcher, huh… Well, alright. My job was to escort our ‘little brother’ here.”

Ludmilla nodded with a bitter expression, then, as if something occurred to her, asked.

“No, if that was the case, why didn’t you just escape with the students instead of staying here?”

“Ah, that wouldn’t have been possible either.”

Lennok shook his head.

“If someone didn’t draw their attention from this side, the Ghost God Palace sorcerers wouldn’t have allowed the students to escape.”

“…”

“Well, this is clearly the more reasonable choice. The other students haven’t even properly learned how to protect themselves yet.”

Leaving a silent Ludmilla behind, Lennok caught Davi, who had darted along the station wall, and spoke.

“Once this situation is resolved, I should propose a motion to move the combat magic proficiency curriculum forward, to below the second year… If the administrative staff are still alive, that is.”

Crucially, this was the only way to lighten his load without sacrificing other students.

No matter how well Lennok feigned being an excellent spirit user, it would be extremely difficult to fight and win against sorcerers while accompanied by dozens of students.

Even if he won, suspicions about Lennok’s or Davi’s abilities would be unavoidable.

It would be preferable to safely evacuate the students and, in the process, for Lennok and Ludmilla to split up and appropriately deal with the Ghost God Palace sorcerers.

“…Alright, I understand what our ‘teacher’ is thinking. But drawing attention won’t be easy with just any action.”

Ludmilla asked, slumping onto a makeshift chair behind Lennok.

“Unless we’re directly trying to kill the Ghost God Palace leader, it’ll be hard to keep the other sorcerers tied up with us.”

“As I said, there’s no need to directly confront the Ghost God Palace leader. I’m not even confident I could do so.”

Lennok said, manipulating the control panel to slowly start the train.

The train began to move quickly out onto the tracks, leaving the station behind and picking up speed.

Kakakak!

With the refreshing screech of the train wheels against the tracks, the surrounding scenery blurred from points into lines.

Lennok moved the locking device on the control panel to fix the train’s speed, then turned to Ludmilla and nodded.

“So, from now on, we’re going to rescue the Dean.”

“…What?”

Seeing Ludmilla’s blank expression, Lennok stood up and began rummaging through the shelves inside the train’s driver’s compartment.

“The moment the Dean’s spirit requested help, it was clear he was still within the university. Unless a person has exceptional abilities or meets specific conditions, a spirit and its sorcerer cannot be far apart.”

Lennok quickly found a disposable coffee pot, cups, snacks, and other daily necessities, then belatedly replied to Ludmilla’s question.

“That means the Dean himself is in a difficult situation, unable to provide any assistance with the current crisis, despite being inside the university. If you connect this with the Ghost God Palace sorcerers, doesn’t the answer become clear?”

Only then did Ludmilla’s expression subtly change as she understood the meaning of Lennok’s words.

“The Ghost God Palace sorcerers are holding Dean Garteanon hostage?”

“To be precise, they likely plan to use him as the highest-grade offering for the Spirit Growth Promotion Ritual.”

Lennok quickly brewed two cups of coffee and handed one to Ludmilla, speaking as he did so.

“Didn’t they say they would sequentially increase the purity of the ritual, starting from low-level mages?”

“…”

“That means, in other words, that they need high-level mages to properly complete the ritual.”

“Dean Garteanon held hostage to become a ritual offering… It’s true that if that weren’t the case, this whole situation wouldn’t make sense.”

Ludmilla said, then tilted her head.

“But the Dean himself is a 7-level Ascendant Mage, and I know he’s a veteran who participated in the Great War, so he’s been taken hostage?”

“The Dean himself wouldn’t have willingly allowed himself to be captured, I presume.”

Lennok muttered, sipping his coffee.

“I suspect he was unwillingly subdued, perhaps by students or school staff being taken hostage during the process.”

If it were the Dean he knew, he wouldn’t have willingly become a hostage, even knowing of the sorcerers’ presence.

However, it wouldn’t be difficult to understand if he was forcibly made an offering due to various hindering factors during the combat.

Lennok had intuitively sensed that the Dean had sent his spirit to ask for help during that process and intended to rescue him.

“As Ludmilla said, Dean Saiolus is an excellent 7-level Ascendant Mage and an experienced superhuman who has lived for a long time.”

Lennok shrugged, seeing Ludmilla’s still confused face.

“So, if we succeed in rescuing the Dean, won’t we have no need to worry about who will confront the Ghost God Palace leader?”

“I see… I understand.”

Ludmilla’s expression filled with admiration as she grasped why Lennok hadn’t been overly concerned about the Ghost God Palace’s leader.

“You mean we rescue the Dean, and leave the Ghost God Palace leader to that old man. Are you some kind of genius strategist?”

From the beginning, Lennok had no intention of resolving this incident alone.

Confronting the Ghost God Palace alone under the identity of Evan Vylun would only draw unwanted attention.

He needed someone to find the clue to solve the problem, then step forward in Lennok’s stead and take responsibility for tying up the loose ends.

Lennok had known all along that the only person capable of doing that was the Dean, Saiolus Garteanon.

“I think I have a rough idea of where the Dean might be.”

Lennok, manipulating the train’s control panel to increase its speed, spread out a map.

“It seems I can now see where to resolve and conclude this situation.”