The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 119

A calamity was falling from the sky. The dragon’s roar was so loud, it felt as if my eardrums were being scraped.

“Kyaaaaaaaaghk!”

“Run! Everyone, run away! We have to get off this island!”

In a panic, the students started running towards the commercial district, which Mexes Bridge is connected to.

As everyone ran out of Nail Hall in complete fear, I swallowed harshly as I looked up at the sky.

When The Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok raised his foot, a huge storm would rage on.

It wasn’t magic. It was simply physics. It was so powerful that, with just a single swing from its front foot, the entire air current around the island could change.

Boom! Screech!

Scratch.

No, it was more like the sound of an explosion.

Velbrok’s foot took a step towards the commercial distract, off in the distance. Following that step, a huge storm blew.

And with that, half of the commercial district blew away. It all happened in an instant.

Buildings that were once attached to the ground were now up in the sky, flying around. Occasionally, you could even see people that had been caught up in the air as well.

It was impossible to guess just how many people would be injured. The number would most likely be massive.

The cause of their death was Velbrok’s kick. As his foot kicked in the air, all those people died simply because they were in the commercial district.

Conversely, all the people still in the education district had survived because of their good luck.

If Velbrok had come towards the education district first, it would have been the students in the buildings that would have died first.

In just a single kick.

A massive wind raged on as it knocked all the students down. As the panicked crowd fell down to the floor, many of them were crushed, injured, or broken.

“Euaaaaak!”

“What’s going on? Get up, quickly…!”

Some students got up with their teeth clenched as they ran away, but most only looked up at the sky, unable to say a single word.

Everyone thought the same thing.Could we even survive if we ran away? In fact, we may already be dead.

Fwoosh!

As I sprinted, kicking off from the floor, I pulled out the golden ring from my pocket. ‘Glast’s Golden Phoenix Ring’.

Utilizing every single function of the ring, I drew out all of my magic power to its limit.

I didn’t even know what the limit was. Since the penalty was so dangerous, it was an item in which you had no choice but to control the amount of power you used when using it.

However, now wasn’t the time to worry about such penalties. I had to use every means available to me.

It was impossible to know just how strong the backlash would be. Aside from not being able to use magic power for several years, my senses when using magic power might burn or deteriorate. Or, at worse, it might threaten my life.

However, if I just stood around doing nothing, I would die.

“Keeeeeuk!”

I clenched my teeth as I bore the strain on my body from the overload. Still, I didn’t stop running.

Fwooooooooooooooooosh!

Then, releasing the mana around me… I manifested a complete version of the high-ranking wind spirit, Merilda.

In my normal condition, she was a spirit with whom the magic power efficiency to just manifest her incomplete human form was very burdensome.

However, giving up on my future and gathering magic power to the limit, even after the massive wind wolf was manifested, I still had much magic power left to spare.

Awooooooooooo!

After Merilda was fully manifested, she let out a massive roar. The massive stature of that wolf was the same as always.

“What about Yennekar?”

[I don’t know…! She should still be in the arena… For now, we don’t have a choice but to leave it to Takan…!]

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!

A roar echoed through the sky again. But this time, it was from the dragon that covered the sky.

Fwooooosh!

It rained. Of course, it wasn’t real rain.

Dragon scales started to pour down from the sky. As if watching an old blockbuster war flick, it looked just like a massive storm of arrows being fired by hundreds of thousands of troops at once.

The thin scales that filled the sky began to smash into the ground without mercy.

Bo-Boom! Craaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Fragments of the marble floor were flying in the air as the trees that lined the street began to fall. Benches and fountains near the square started to crumble, and the glass on the buildings shattered.

I poured a large amount of my remaining magic power into a defensive magic spell, but it immediately broke.

Hwaaaak!

However, the falling scales were blocked by a blowing wind. Storm’s Blessing. Even without me having to do anything, it was a passive skill that blocked an enemy’s fatal attack, making it futile.

[Keeeeeuk!]

Merilda, who barely managed to block the scales that came towards her, groaned for a moment before speaking.

[Where are you going?! Are you going to join Yennekar?!]

“No. There’s something I need to check…!”

I had to figure out why Velbrok, the final boss of the storyline, had suddenly appeared.

The flow of the storyline was already completely tangled up. No matter how twisted things became, I had made up my mind that I would take care of it as much as I could.

But wasn’t it just way too messed up?

If the story began to change, the chances it was because of me were quite high. If I could find the cause, there just might be a way to put that dragon back to sleep.

But there was no time. There was a limit to what I could do.

“Keuk!”

I pulled out the scales from my body that Storm’s Blessing couldn’t block. The few scales I pulled from my shoulders fell on the floor, along with my blood.

Right now, weren’t we supposed to be in the middle of Act 3? So… I needed to go and look for the main characters of Act 3 first. After all, it was difficult to say that the characters that are supposed to show up later than Act 3 were the ones that had an influence on the situation.

The first ones that came to my mind were Adele and Clarice. Adele’s whereabouts were difficult to guess, but I knew where Clarice was.

“For now, I need to run to Trix Hall.”

Pain started to rush up from the ring that was on my hand. I had to pay a price if I used magic power beyond the limit that my body could handle. Right now, that price I had to pay was only being postponed.

But I had no choice. With all my strength, I suppressed the magic power as I climbed on top of Merilda’s back.

***

“You must run away, Saint.”

With a crashing sound, the door slammed open as two Knight Templars entered the conference room. They had a tone that resembled begging.

“With the situation outside now…”

“I-I know. Take care of the other people quickly… We have to move quickly…!!”

Clarice was also looking at the situation outside her window. A dragon of unbelieve size. An existence that had only been spoken of in myths was now appearing in the sky right above Silvenia Academy.

The moment Clarice stood up from her seat, an earthquake hit Trix Hall. It was the aftermath of Velbrok destroying half of the commercial district.

“Kyaaaaaaaaghk!”

Clarice screamed as she slipped, falling onto the floor. The Knight Templars also stumbled back and forth.

The various office supplies and documents that were on the conference room table had fallen to the floor. Antique paintings that hung on the wall were unable to withstand the shaking as they fell. All the glassware had cracked as the windows shattered, unable to withstand the impact.

“Saint! Please, take my hand…! I’ll escort you to the prepared wagooo…!”

Hwaaaaaak!

It was the sensation of the Holy Blessing that surrounded the activating Saint’s body. As soon as Clarice felt it, her skin began to crawl.

Turning her head, she saw that there were a few dragon scales that got stuck in the bottom of the Saint’s back. There was a slight scratch on the surface of her skin, but somehow almost all of the scales’ force had been nullified by the Holy Blessing.

A parade of scales that penetrated through the broken windows.

They weren’t able to make their way to the girl’s body because of her blessing, but had she just been an ordinary girl, she would have surely suffered a fatal wound.

However, the soldiers were different.

“Euahk. Keuk… Huff…! Heuk…!”

“M-My ear… My ear….!”

One of them had his entire right ear cut off. The other had been pierced straight through his throat.

Seeing the blood flowing out, Clarice felt shivers go down her entire body. If it hadn’t been for the Saint’s Holy Blessing, she would have also ended up like that.

The knight’s throat had been pierced and was rolling on the floor in pain. The other knight, who had his ear cut off, clenched his teeth as he pressed on the bleeding to stop it. He dragged the Saint out by her wrist.

“We… need to… get out…”

Clarice’s legs trembled, unable to move. The knight somehow managed to lead Clarise to the hallway of Trix Hall.

However, even the Knight couldn’t help but fall over after clutching his side. She only saw it now. A large scale had also pierced straight into his side.

He tried to suppress the bleeding, but the knight’s consciousness was starting to become hazy.

“Down there… Run down the hallway… In the central hallway… go through… the back door…”

He was telling her to leave him. Clarice tried to say something to the knight, tears running down her face, but the knight shook his head desperately. He then pushed Clarice on her back, saying there wasn’t enough time for her to hesitate.

With a face full of tears, she forced her trembling legs to take her down the hallway. She continued to run for quite a while, repeatedly falling over from the earthquakes, until she finally reached the crowded lobby of Trix Hall.

As she ran towards the back door, she found the carriage. Even though it had also been damaged by the scales, it was still in relatively good condition. The Saint’s carriage was placed behind Trix Hall, so the building acted as a shield, protecting it from the scales.

Of course, the front of the building was in miserable shape. It was fair enough to call it a sea of blood. The Saint forced her eyes open as she ran, but she couldn’t’ help the chattering of her teeth from her overwhelming fear.

“The carriage is broken, Saint.”

The horseman relayed the bad news. The only thing that was fine with the carriage was how it looked on the outside.

No matter how much the outer walls of the building acted as a shield, it wasn’t a perfect defense. One of the wheels of the carriage had fallen off.

Still, one of the horses managed to escape. The horseman, with a trickle of blood dripping from his head, walked towards Clarice and grabbed her. He then put her on top of the remaining horse, passing her the reins.

Clarice had never ridden a horse before. It didn’t even have a proper saddle because it was a horse that was meant to draw a carriage. Just sitting on its spacious back, her body already started to tremble.

“Hold onto the reins tightly, Saint. She’s a well-trained horse. She will take you across Mexes Bridge and out of Acken Island.”

“I-I… Riding a horse is…”

“Just keep a hold of the reins and hold onto the horse’s neck tightly.”

There wasn’t any more time to explain. The horseman hit the horse’s butt, making it take off.

The horse started to run like crazy, letting out a loud ‘Neighborh.’

“Kyaaaaaghk!”

Trix Hall sat on a small hill. The speed of the horse galloping downhill was incredible. Clarice grabbed ahold of her fading consciousness as she looked around, soon regretting it.

The main entrance of Trix Hall, which had become covered in blood… It was so horrific that it would be difficult to describe. The number of casualties just from the storm of scales that had fallen down… There were surely at least a hundred people.

Somehow managing to keep ahold of the horse’s reins with her trembling hands, Clarice looked up at the sky.

The head of the massive Holy Blue Dragon looked down upon the entirety of Silvenia Academy.

Long ago, he was sealed away by the Primordial Swordsman, thus living out his countless days in the deep sea in great torment. During that time, the Great Sage of Acken Island had maintained and repaired the broken seal so he could never escape.

Spending his day looking at the academy that the Great Sage had built, it felt an unbearable rage building up. This was the result of Velbrok’s wrath.

An astronomical amount of magic power gathered in the dragon’s mouth. The amount was so tremendous that it was impossible to miss the sight of the magic power, even from far, far away.

A magic that only appeared in myths. Dragon’s Breath.

Even though it was just gathering magic power to release… It was a magic that had the power to easily blow away half of Acken Island.

A magic circle large enough to fill the sky started to form around the dragon’s mouth… Most of the people in Silvenia Academy had already started to expect their inevitable death. Clarice was one of them.

Kwaaaaaaang!

It was so massive that you could mistake it for the sun rising again.

The direction it was facing was Silvenia Academy.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!

However, the Dragon’s Breath never reached Silvenia Academy. There was another unbelieve level of magic cast against it.

The ultimate defensive magic. A large-scale magic power neutralization barrier.

Clarice raised her head, looking towards Trix Hall. There, she saw the Headmaster of Silvenia Academy, the war hero of the Kroel Empire known as ‘Guardian Obel’, standing on the roof as he looked straight at the dragon’s face.

A gorgeous and long-lived robe that only the headmaster could wear. Lowering the hood, his short hair was exposed. He was wielding a gigantic wand.

No matter how much of a hero Obel ranked in the all-time greats, he still wouldn’t be able to completely block magic of that size. He just needed to change the direction of it as much as possible to send it elsewhere.

Kwaaaaaaaaang! Booom!

Soon, the Dragon’s Breath bent its direction as it was sent off into the blue sky, far away.

With that, the destruction of the academy was postponed. Albeit, just for a short while.

Kwaaaaaang!

There was no time to rest. Next, a physical attack was incoming.

Velbrok’s attack was dangerous enough that a single strike could destroy the entire school. The heavens and earth trembled as the tremendous dragon lifted just one of its legs.

Then, it moved across the sky towards Obel, who was standing on the roof of Trix Hall. The moment Obel was about to recast the ultimate defensive magic—

Booooooooooom!

A girl floating in the air cast a massive barrier that blocked the dragon’s huge hand.

She was petite. To prevent her witch’s hat from flying away, she held onto it tightly with one hand. The size of that hat alone was enough to cover her entire upper half.

Her beautiful white hair was tied neatly as it fluttered in the wind.

Even from such a distance, Clarice easily recognized her.

The top second year magic department student, as well as the greatest genius at Silvenia Academy. A girl gifted with such enormous talents, to the extent that the greatest individuals throughout time could only lower their heads in acknowledgement of her talent. Lucy Mayreel.

That exceptional genius magician now looked up at Velbrok’s head in deep thought.

“One day, if the school faces a massive obstacle that they are unable to handle themselves, you must lend out your hand.”

That was Glockt’s final will.

She had promised to do as he asked, but she never imagined her opponent would be the Holy Blue Dragon from the myths.

Still, Lucy looked up at the sky as she drew magic power from her body.

To fight with all her might. It was, perhaps, the first time she would do such a thing in her short life.

In the first place, from the beginning up till now, there was never such an opponent to do so against.

Paaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Then, Lucy’s Ultimate Telekinetic Magic aside threw the massive dragon’s hand.

From that, a tremendous wind swept through the area. The trees swayed as much as they could as everyone in the education district stumbled.

Kyaaaaaaaghk!

Even the horse Clarice was riding on had fallen from the wind. Clarice was still holding onto the horse’s back as it fell over, but she only fell on a soft patch of grass.

In the first place, her body was rather light, so she could handle falling over on the ground a few times. She didn’t get particularly hurt or break anything.

However, Clarice still groaned after falling down and rolling on the ground. It took a few minutes before she was able to pick her body back up.

“Ughk… Keukk…”

Clarice, who barely managed to stand up with a body full of light scratches, made her way towards the fallen horse. Right now, the most important thing was to run away as far as possible.

However… when Clarice saw the condition of the horse, she couldn’t say a word. She didn’t see it due to the chaos of the situation, but the horse had a dragon scale stuck in one leg and a part of its stomach.

The horseman had only given her ‘the better’ horse that was available. He must have hoped that it would have been enough to escape Acken Island, but unfortunately, when the horse fell over, the scale pierced even deeper into its body until it reached its vitals.

The blood of the horse constantly flowed out to wet the ground. Even the hem of the Saint’s pure white dress was soaked in its blood.

“Ahhhhhh…”

Looking up at the sky, it looked like the apocalypse.

That petite genius magician had been struck by the Dragon’s attack. She fell down, crashing into the middle of Right Mountain. She quickly got back up, brushing off her body as she soared back into the sky again.

An unbelievable amount of magic power began to swirl around Obel as he began to cast the ultimate elemental magic.

All of the magic being cast at once looked like a firework display in the sky. It was so bright that it could be seen clearly throughout all of Acken Island.

“Eughk, Keuk…”

Sitting on the side of the hill Trix Hall stood on, there was nothing Clarice could do. She forcefully held back her tears as she clenched her teeth, trying to come up with another plan.

If there wasn’t a horse, she would just have to walk towards Mexes Bridge. Then, the moment she tried to force herself to stand back up…

Fwoooooooooooooosh!

A warm wind, different from the gust from before, slowly started to spread down the road she was on. What appeared was a massive wolf that had hastily rushed over.

Merilda, who was the size of a house, landed light on her feet. She then laid down on her stomach so that Ed, who was riding on her back, could easily jump down.

Ed jumped off Merilda’s back as he ran towards Clarice, who was sitting near the corpse of the horse.

“E-Ed…”

“You are safe, Saint.”

Ed didn’t look all that great either. There were traces of being struck by the scales, and it looked like he was quite exhausted, running out of magic power.

Despite that, he ran all the way over to her… Clarice’s voice trembled as she spoke.

“H-How… did you know I was here…?”

“I ran over to Trix Hall. Obviously, the distinguished guests from the Holy City would have gone there. But it doesn’t look like we have the time to talk about such details.”

Ed grabbed her wrist as he helped her stand up. Clarice, who had never been pulled up by the mere strength of a man, was startled and let out a strange yelp.

“Are you hurt?”

“N-No… I… Just… The horse I was taking to Mexes… Towards Mexes Bridge…”

“There’s no point in going towards Mexes Bridge right now. You’ll definitely be killed if you go now. You’ll get trapped in the massive crowd of people that are trying to leave the island.”

Ed had run up the hills with Merilda, so he was able to look down at Mexes Bridge. She could have also probably seen the situation at Trix Hall, but she must’ve been unable to check due to the urgency of the situation.

“Th-Then… Another bridge…?”

“They’re all the same. And there’s no way we would be able to get out of the dragon’s attack range just by running for a short while.”

If it really wanted to, it could destroy the entire island in an instant. Thinking of things like that, she started to wonder if there was even a point in trying to run away. Clarice started to become overwhelmed with fear as tears started to well up.

Ed quickly gave her his coat as he wiped Clarice’s tears with the collar of it. He then grabbed her wrist tightly as he led her along.

“For now, the best thing to do is for us to evacuate to a safer place.”

“A safer place…?”

“Ophelis Hall. A place that is surrounded with advanced defensive magic. Normally, it wouldn’t be activated. However, given the current situation, the Head Maid Bell Maya should have activated all the magic spells inside the management office.”

Still, no matter how advanced that defensive magic was, if Velbrok really wanted to he could easily break through it.

Still, at least the probability of being killed off by another scale attack or the aftermath of another massive magic attack would be minimal.

Also, from Ed’s point of view, the best destination to visit next was none other than Ophelis Hall.

After finding the Saint, the next best thing to do is to find and check on the other important characters. In that regard, Ophelis Hall was the best place to go, as all the important students within the school gathered there.

“Th-Then…”

“Saint Clarice. Try to calm yourself down.:”

Ed’s hand gripped Clarice’s wrist. A red handprint was left on her thin and slender wrist.

It seemed that his intentions had gotten through to Clarice, as she was now able to control her heart despite being in great pain.

Ed then hugged Clarice tightly as he helped her get up onto Merilda’s neck. Pushing her up from below, Clarice was able to pull on Merilda’s fur, albeit with difficulty, and climb onto her back.

Ed then quickly grabbed her hand, jumping up sitting down on Merilda’s back.

“Hold on tightly.”

Ed then pushed down on the Saint, who was clutching onto Merilda’s fur tightly, with the back of his elbows. Merilda raced towards the still-intact section of the commercial district.

There stood Ophelis Hall.