Chapter 109: Cry of Hellfire

Cry of Hellfire.

A demonic, far more powerful variant of Oblivion Rain. Actually, it wasn’t even a variant of Oblivion Rain exactly…

Evelina herself still knew nothing about the book Theoretical Dark Magic Applications or the spells recorded within it.

Cry of Hellfire was closer to an advanced version of Night Call, which in turn was a lesser form of Oblivion Rain that you can find in any decent dark magic spellbook. But at first glance, you couldn’t even tell the difference.

Yet even compared to those two, Cry of Hellfire stood on an entirely different level.

You couldn’t even sense that it was a demonic spell. The darkyte Evelina previously refined had strengthened her dark magic to such a degree that it erased even the faintest trace of demonic energy from the spell.

To the professors and students who witnessed it, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary Night Call, just one that was far, far stronger.

“A Night Call?”

A dark mage professor stopped his barrage as he looked up at the sky, seeing the signs of a generic Night Call spell.

Anyone who had ever opened a beginner’s dark magic grimoire would have recognized it.

Night Call.

Simple, predictable, and irritating, at worst.

The professor scoffed, already preparing to dismiss it. “That’s it? Someone’s trying to interrupt us with a—”

The world went silent.

Not quiet, nor muffled. Just silence, as if reality itself had recoiled.

The roar of spells, the thunder of collapsing buildings, the overlapping detonations that had filled the street only moments before, all of it vanished at once. Sound ceased to exist, smothered by an invisible pressure that pressed down on everything beneath the sky.

Several professors faltered instinctively, their movements stalling without conscious thought. Even the most reckless among them felt it. Even the ones who had long since abandoned self-preservation.

This wasn’t fear.

It was instinct.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Above them, the sky did not continue to darken.

It thickened.

Clouds did not roll in so much as congeal, spreading like ink through water. The heavens themselves seemed to rot, heavy and swollen, as spell circles multiplied at an impossible rate.

Ten.

Twenty.

Fifty.

Then hundreds.

Each one pulsed slowly, rhythmically, like a massive heart beating far above the world.

Thum.

Thum.

Thum.

“…That’s too many,” someone muttered.

Night Call could not sustain that number of circles. It never needed to.

“Is it a layered night call attack?” another whispered.

It was supposed to be just Night Call from a glance, right?

But no one could really tell; they had no idea why they even chose to suddenly stop their barrage and pay attention to what seemed to be a generic AOE spell.

No one could answer.

They could all feel it now.

The pressure bore down on them. Not hostile, not overtly murderous, but immense. Like standing at the bottom of the ocean, aware that something vast hovered above, considering whether you were worth the effort of being crushed.

Then something warm struck the street.

A professor glanced down.

Red liquid splashed across the stone.

“…Isn’t it supposed to be black liquid?”

Another drop followed.

Then another.

They hissed on contact, concrete melting where they struck, metal warping and dissolving. When the liquid touched flesh, the effect was immediate.

“Melting!? Night Call is supposed to be cold—”

A scream tore through the street as a professor’s shoulder blackened and collapsed, his skin sloughing away as though it had aged a century in a single heartbeat.

“This isn’t Night Call—!”

He never finished as an observer took him away for healing the moment another droplet touched him.

What started as a simple patter of rain turned into an all-out storm.

Crimson torrents slammed down in screaming columns, each thick as a wrist, each descending with catastrophic force.

One struck the street.

BOOM!

The entire block detonated.

Another tore through layered barriers and the professor behind them as if they were paper.

BOOM!

And in the middle of it all?

[Demonic Step]

“What’s with all the commotion…?”

Evelina appeared with a smile, the rain splitting where she stood, not even daring to harm her skin, let alone her uniform.

And not just that, even I was untouched, like the storm itself had recognized me as an ally.

ZIP!

ZIP!

FWOOSH!

All around me, observers rushed in, wearing specialized coats from the royal palace, layered with barriers and runes.

Each coat was strong enough to withstand at least a few droplets, allowing them to teleport in and out to escort those who couldn’t escape the massacre on their own.

*** Observer’s Deck

“The D’Arclight heir…?”

The main observer watched with bated breath; he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The sheer power, the sheer destruction…

He knew Evelina D’Arclight was powerful, strong enough to rival the royal family’s own Marcellus Lionbright.

But this was unprecedented…

What could she have done to attain this much power!?

“She seems to be allied with the student we placed the bounty on.”

That single sentence was even harder to believe than the literal hell on earth unfolding in the dormitory grounds.

“Allied!? A D’Arclight, allying with Baron Vance’s child?”

It was absurd. Duke Vredemann’s own daughter, his perfected heir, taking an interest in a mere baron? Yes, the child was powerful, but was that really enough to warrant the attention of a D’Arclight?

***

“You look worse for wear.”

Evelina crouched beside me, kneeling on the ground from the sheer mental exhaustion of healing through death. For anyone who wasn’t escorted by observers yet, or for some who could see yet out of the zone of death.

That was enough to spark a major scandal.

“You could’ve come a bit earlier…” I laughed.

“Let me make it up to you later then.”

I was sure the succubus was behind this sudden, dramatic move.

There was no way Evelina would use such a powerful spell and put on so much theatrics just to save me. She could’ve just teleported me to safety, and I probably would’ve been fine.

But that wasn’t the only reason I suspected the succubus. Evelina’s choker was subtly glowing, a sign the succubus was either amused or had just spoken to her.

What could she have said to make Evelina act like this?

Actually…

The memory of her jealous antics replayed in my mind.

I might already know…

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