Chapter 215: 215. The way to win this war – 1

Booooom!!!

A shocking explosion wrecked the entire academy domain as a monstrous chimera-type beast launched an attack from its maw and destroyed several important buildings.

The blast tore through the air like a thunderclap, shaking the foundations of the World Academy.

Windows shattered across several towers, raining glittering shards over courtyards that had once been quiet places of study. Dust and smoke surged upward in thick waves as the shockwave rolled through the surrounding structures.

Yet the buildings did not collapse, as most of the damage was absorbed by layers of several barriers erupted under a single large central array.

Meanwhile, several chains blazed through the chaos and war towards the beast and restrained it in a moment.

In the sky, General Marcus controlled the minds of judgments, which were weapons imbedded inside the academy formations, and in moments, several demons and demonic beasts were obliterated wherever they moved.

The glowing golden vines whistled through the air like streaks of lightning blazing through the battlefield.

The only downside was that several of these demonic entities were just constructs of demon lord Bellial’s illusions.

Many demons dissolved into black smoke the moment Marcus’s binds of judgement touched them, leaving behind nothing but faint distortions in the air.

The battlefield was filled with both real monsters and hollow projections, making it nearly impossible for the defenders to tell which threats were genuine.

At this point in time, light elemental users were highly sought after, but there were only limited individuals in the academy who had light affinity.

Their abilities were the only reliable way to dispel Bellial’s illusions, which were demonic in nature, yet those few mages were already stretched thin across the battlefield, moving from one collapsing defense line to another.

The church had denied any assistance, and the light stones were already short in supply.

The news about the shortage of lightstones had spread through the academy’s warriors like a cold poison and had downed the morale for many.

At the core of the academy domain, head professor Kevin stood in front of a huge array.

This was the central defensive array that was holding it all together for the academy and was barring demons from entering the core domain.

patterns of glowing sigils spread across the massive stone floor like a web of radiant veins.

Each rune was pulsing with a faint glow, feeding energy into the massive barriers that protected the heart of the academy.

But this was also the last line of defense for the academy. If this formation collapsed, the demons would surge straight into the central grounds where the academy’s most important archives and relics were kept.

The demon lord Bellial had come with a clear goal, and that was to take away the millennium’s old heritage and secrets buried deep in the academy.

Some secrets were so taboo that even the leaders of the academy did not touch them. The vaults beneath the academy had remained sealed for centuries, guarded by traditions older than most kingdoms on the continent.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Kevin.

Andrea appeared covered in blood, which belonged to her own. She clenched a long halberd in her hands and walked limply. Her crytalline armor was cracked in several places, and deep gashes ran across her shoulders and ribs.

Each step of hers was clearly costing her effort, yet she refused to release the halberd from her grip. The blade of the weapon was still dripping with thick black blood from the creatures she had cut down moments earlier.

Kevin rushed to support her, but Andrea just waved her hands and walked with him towards a wall before sitting against it on the ground.

There was no one around except Kevin, so she could afford to be herself. The normally fearless warrior finally allowed her shoulders to slump as exhaustion crept into her body.

Kevin came forward and stood in front of Andrea before pouring a few potions over her head. The shimmering liquids flowed over her wounds and seeped into the torn flesh with a faint hiss.

The injuries on Andreas’ body stopped bleeding, although they were far from healed up completely. The potion only stabilized her condition, knitting the most dangerous wounds while leaving the deeper damage untouched.

Andrea sighed and closed her eyes.

“That annoying bitch,” she said.

Kevin chuckled, “Seems like Bellial’s mastery over illusions transcended your expectations.”

Andrea kept her eyes closed and said, “Yeah, 20 years ago I would have considered him an equal, but now…” Andrea could not find words to say.

Her brows tightened slightly as memories of the recent battle flashed through her mind; his illusions had completely taken her off guard and had fooled even her divine sense.

“Makes me rethink what I have been doing for the past decade,” she said with a sour expression. Her voice carried a rare trace of frustration, something Kevin had seldom heard from the normally confident principal.

“It’s not your fault; their gods support them, and ours don’t.” Kevin tried to soothe her annoyance, but the lack of reply from her side made him concerned for her even more.

Andrea opened her eyes as she looked at the huge array embedded in the ground, working silently.

“How many batches of light stones are left?” she asked Kevin while looking at the depleting stones in front of her that were kept on the nodes of the array.

Across the vast formation, hundreds of small crystalline stones were embedded at fixed intervals. Many of them had already dimmed.

“We have 3 batches left,” Kevin replied in a grim tone, making Andrea look at him with wide eyes.

“That means we only have 3 days, right?” she asked in shock. The attacks from the demon’s side seemed not to slow down one bit from the point in time it had started.

In fact, the pressure on the defensive lines had only grown heavier with each passing hour.

If not for another astral warden from the council coming to her aid, she would not even have gotten a chance for a breather.

“How many more do we need?” Andrea asked with a stunned expression as her eyes flickered, trying to find a solution to this problem.

Kevin looked at her sadly but then spoke the truth: “The array has 1000 node points where the stones are fixed to keep the array running.”

“A batch thus consists of a thousand stones, and each one lasts depending on the severity of the conflict.”

“The previous batch lasted only 15 hours, Andrea,” he looked at her and said, “and this one seems like it won’t last even 12 hours.”

Andrea seemed shocked and worried now. “If this array goes out, the whole academy will become a mess.”

Kevin nodded. He did not need to add anything else. Both of them knew exactly what that would mean.

Without the barrier, demons would flood into the inner domain like a broken dam releasing an ocean of monsters.

“Did you contact the dwarven emperor?” Andrea asked.

Kevin shook his head. “We were already hoarding most of the light stone the dwarves produced, but their production is too slow for our need to catch up; they hardly mine 200 stones a day.”

Andrea bit her lips. “Think, Kevin, think! What do we do?!!! Any assistance from the council will arrive in almost a week; the other 2 commands of the celestial army are occupied in the abyss.” She nudged Kevin continuously.

Kevin remained stoic and unreactive under the repeated poking of Andrea’s finger. His gaze remained fixed on the glowing array.

“There are only 2 producers of light stones on the continent, and both options are out for us now.”

“We can only hope for a miracle.” He gave a dry laugh like someone who was at the edge of his end. The laugh carried none of its usual warmth; it sounded hollow and tired.

Andrea pitied Kevin.

“Well, I will implode my core if push comes to shove; I will take Bellial down with me if I have to, for saving the most unified wall of resistance against the demonic invasions,” Andrea said in a heavy tone as she looked around the white walls of the academy with a silence Kevin rarely had observed from her side.

Those walls had stood for centuries, surviving wars, invasions, and countless political struggles. Generations of students had walked through these halls, yet now the academy was being threatened to such a state.

If such an invasion had happened a few decades ago, then it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the times were different now.

“Count me in.” Kevin smiled.

“Nah, you should leave everything and settle somewhere nice,” Andrea chuckled as she gave him a warm look.

“Nope, my old man always said ’never settle,’” Kevin spoke, making Andrea chuckle again.

Both of them were tired to their core, but they were both living for a purpose that they would never leave until their deaths.

As both of them were losing any hope of the future, a bend in space caught their senses. The air around them rippled slightly, like the surface of water disturbed by an unseen stone.

Andrea was about to move and attack before Kevin stopped her.

“Wait,” he said, and chose to wait; he had seen this phenomenon before.

A small portal rippled open in the air, and a golden butterfly fluttered out from it. Its wings shimmered with soft golden light, scattering tiny particles that sparkled as they drifted downward.

The delicate creature moved slowly through the air towards them.

“Is this??” Andrea asked Kevin with a surprised expression on her face. She had heard about a golden butterfly before; it was a sign of that man.

The butterfly gently landed on Kevin’s palm before turning into a golden, glittered scroll.

Kevin opened the scroll to read the contents; meanwhile, Andrea came closer to peek into the letter.

“Why is the scroll blank?” she asked.

“It’s not,” Kevin replied while his gaze remained fixed on the letter.

“What!!?? Trust me, it is blank,” Andrea spoke unknowingly before a realization dawned on her; maybe the letter was meant for Kevin only, so only he could read it.

A few minutes passed as she looked at Kevin’s figure, digesting the contents of the message. She saw him gulping with a serious expression.

The letter dissolved into the air, suddenly snapping Kevin out of his thoughts.

“What did the letter contain?” she asked curiously.

Kevin looked at Andrea seriously.

“The way to win this war.”

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