The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 160

The amount of magic power consumed by summoning an ultimate spirit went beyond one’s imagination.

It felt as if all the magic power in Ed’s body was being sucked out just from manifesting a high-ranking spirit. However, to descend an ultimate spirit for even just a moment, it felt as if he was scraping out all the remaining magic power in his body to the very bottom.

Even then, the ultimate fire spirit ‘Theorpis’ wasn’t fully summoned. Only its head had manifested as it spewed out fire, casting the spiritual skill.

It all happened in less than ten seconds. The moment the flames erupted from the magic circle, it cut the sky over the mansion in half.

Flames that spewed out in a flash soared high into the night sky.

Everyone on the mansion’s grounds witnessed the spectacle.

The Knights Templar and the Imperial Guards, as well as the guests they protected on the outskirts of Rothstaylor Mansion, all saw it. Naturally, the soldiers inside the mansion could also see it, including Princess Penia and Yennekar, who were heading towards the central garden.

A single ray of flames shot through the sky over the mansion, flying high into the night sky.

The sight was reflected in the eyes of Saint Clarice, who leaned against a tree in the central garden, being protected by Lacia.

Tanya could clearly see it as well as she sat by Arwen’s corpse, being protected by Mugg.

Lucy clashed with Mebula, her body a mess. Her hair, which had been tied into two parts, had come undone. Even she clearly saw the flame that passed through the sky.

Selah, who was walking in the central garden, and Lortel, who had gotten out of the carriage, also looked up at the sky.

That single breath burned through the mansion, exposing the underground laboratory, the spire, and even the outer walls of the central mansion before stretching high into the sky.

‘Theorpis’ hellfire burned everything equally.

The underground laboratory, the craftwork of the spire, the beautiful exterior wall of the central mansion, as well as things you couldn’t see. To it, everything was the same.

The real danger of Theorpis’ flames was that it completely burned all the magic power within the area.

Temporarily, all the magic power within the central mansion disappeared with the flames.

However, as long as there were humans—who were the source of magic power—still remaining, the area would soon be refilled with magic power… But it still was meaningful that all of Mebula’s magic power had been temporarily disabled.

Kwaaaaang!

Hwaaaaaak!

Krepin, who was covered in wounds, was thrown to the side as the entire area became engulfed in flames.

He barely managed to avoid the scorching heat, but… All of the disgusting, wriggling tentacles burnt up as they twisted like dry twigs.

“Keheuk…”

He took an attack that his body could no longer bear.

With all of Mebula’s magic power completely burned up, Krepin barely managed to move his blood-covered body.

His bloodshot eyes struggled to look up at Ed.

Theorpis’ flames used an astronomical amount of magic power just by casting it for a short period.

Ed was also in a horrendous state from the recoil of the ring, unable to control his body.

The burning underground laboratory.

Ed sat down on his knees amidst the heat, completely unconscious.

If he was going to finish it, now was the time. However, Krepin’s body wasn’t moving according to his will either.

Crash, Boom!

A stone column in the underground facility burned as it fell down. The ground itself was collapsing after receiving a major attack. Sooner or later, they would all be crushed to death.

The burning Rothstaylor Central Mansion also began to sink as the pillars collapsed.

With a sound that spread throughout the night sky, the majestic mansion that boasted House Rothstaylor’s glory soon came to an end.

As the gigantic mansion collapsed, dust covered the underground laboratory.

Hwaaaaak!

Because of the flames, the entire area was filled with smoke. He couldn’t see anything as the smoke and dust from the debris of the building covered the area.

Krepin clenched his teeth as he widened his bloodshot eyes. He barely managed to stand up.

“Keuk…. Keuaaaaaak!”

Krepin barely managed to raise his body as he screamed out. Somehow, he managed to raise his left hand.

Mebula’s engraving was still there on his burnt left hand. He could fight again if he just received magic power from Mebula once more.

Mebula reacted to the engraving as it began to exert a great amount of magic power once more in the sky above the mansion.

Although Theorpis had temporarily burnt all the magic power within the area, once Mebula started to exert its strength, the entire mansion would be filled with magic power again. It was only a matter of time.

However, Lucy read Mebula’s intentions.

Hwaaaaaak!

Numerous magic circles appeared as they centered on Mebula. It was magic meant to block the flow of magic power to the outside. She couldn’t stop the flow of magic power on the inside, but it was still enough to stop Mebula from affecting the battlefield.

Mebula’s numerous eyes all turned towards Lucy in the sky.

A girl who wiped her face full of dirt with her sleeve as she tidied up her messy hair.

She was a monster of the human world that even the Evil God couldn’t easily subdue.

Her blank and emotionless eyes were terrifying.

Her braids had come undone as her hair blew in the night sky. Lucy swung her hair back as she looked up, concentrating on cutting off the entire flow of Mebula’s magic power.

“Quit messing around.”

An enormous amount of magic power, the origin of which no one knew, rose up. It was even comparable to Mebula’s magic power.

With a quick wave of Lucy’s hand, hundreds of ice spears were thrown towards Mebula.

Mebula’s magic power didn’t come.

Krepin’s skin began to crawl when he realized that. In the middle of the burning laboratory, as it collapsed… if he just stood still, he would fall to the ground and die.

Although his body was a mess, he managed to stand up.

“Keheuk… Heuk…”

Krepin didn’t lose his desire to survive. Maintaining one’s power while living in the dark, their desire to live became stronger than anyone else’s.

Without any strength left, he dragged his body, which was screaming in pain.

Although he managed to somehow pull himself out through the thick smoke and dust, the height of the wall he needed to climb up was still steep.

It looked as if the facility would collapse before he could even climb halfway up it. But Krepin didn’t stop.

How could he survive in that chaos? As long as he survived until Mebula could replenish his magic power, he would be able to fix the situation.

So, for now, all he needed to do was go to the ground level, stay alive, and hide wherever he could.

An opportunity would come as long as he was alive. He couldn’t get caught and die in a place like that.

With such a desire, Krepin grabbed onto the cliff as he somehow pushed his body up. Climbing up through the debris was a desperate and miserable act.

Grab.

However, an arm stretched out through the thick smoke behind his back.

The arm that reached out like a demon from hell grabbed ahold of Krepin’s collar as it threw him to the ground.

Those few steps he barely managed to climb up pitifully were all in vain.

Krepin crashed into the floor of the hall… He had goosebumps all over his body again.

Ed Rothstaylor had blood dripping from his forehead. He was still somehow conscious after casting such an attack.

His stubbornness was beyond that of a cockroach. He didn’t have the willpower of a human.

The recoil caused by the Golden Phoenix Ring didn’t end with just not being able to use magic power. The more magic power he gathered, the more his muscles froze, the hotter his fever got, and the fainter his consciousness became.

Even Yennekar Palerover had been on bedrest for nearly an entire month after summoning an ultimate spirit.

Although the scale was much smaller, Ed Rothstaylor had also summoned an ultimate spirit. Despite consuming an enormous amount of magic power, he didn’t let go of his consciousness until the very end.

Krepin was frustrated as he ground his teeth. Ed Rothstaylor’s murderous intentions were like a curse that was following him until the day he died.

“Calm down… You little… Shit…!”

In the end, Krepin couldn’t bear it any longer as he swore.

His stubbornness was so great that he felt a sense of awe. But now it was closer to fear.

Fragments of the collapsed pillar fell as it struck the two of them. Krepin yelled from the impact of a few rocks hitting him as Ed Rothstaylor lost his balance and fell to the ground.

However, amid the rising flames and smoke, he staggered up again with his teeth clenched.

He had no magic power left.

Both Krepin and Ed.

In a situation where he might be crushed to pieces if he remained still, Ed staggered up as he grabbed Krepin by the neck.

Krepin had to use most of his body’s remaining strength just to grab his hand and shake him off.

Krepin and Ed staggered as they nearly lost their balance and fell, but Ed grabbed Krepin’s shoulders once more, slamming him in the head with his forehead.

Krepin staggered backwards as he fell to the ground. Ed climbed on top of him and punched him with his clenched fists over and over.

The sound of punching continued for a while as Krepin screamed out. His molar fell out as it rolled onto the floor.

Still, Ed didn’t stop and continued to beat his face in. Krepin, who had been punched for a while now, managed to gather his strength by pushing Ed’s stomach back with his feet, knocking him back.

Krepin coughed up blood as he staggered back to his feet, stepping on Ed’s ankle.

Ed let out a scream as Krepin stomped on his foot. Krepin climbed on top of Ed, strangling him.

Krepin’s hands, covered in scorched blood, continued to grab his throat tighter and tighter.

Because of the recoil of the ring, Ed had a massive headache, a high fever, and chills. The smoke from the flames obstructed his breathing and vision as Krepin’s hand pressed down on his neck, making him slowly lose consciousness.

“Hekeuk… Keukeuheuk…”

Krepin continued to press down on his neck with an expression that was impossible to tell if it was crying or laughing.

“What… Do you know… You bastard…? Just to stay alive… Do you know just how much I struggled…? What did you say about me? Coward?”

Krepin strengthened his grip as he spoke with his bloodshot eyes widened.

“Don’t judge me with those eyes, you stupid bastard… Don’t insult me! You can’t understand me! You don’t understand a single thing, you bastard…!”

“This… pathetic bastard…”

With a chuckle, Ed responded.

Picking up the stone he held in his hand, he smashed it into Krepin’s hand. Krepin shouted as he fell backwards.

“If you weren’t a coward, if you were truly a malicious person made of pure evil, you wouldn’t feel any regret or remorse.”

The attack had broken Krepin’s nails. The pain was as if his hand had torn apart. Ed staggered back onto his feet as he grabbed Krepin by the neck, slamming his fist into his face.

“Would such a person hang such a large portrait of Arwen right there in the hall of the central mansion?”

Krepin’s pupils trembled violently again.

On one side of the burning central mansion, there was the large portrait of Arwen that Ed Rothstaylor had seen when he first entered the estate. It was now burning alongside the mansion.

He didn’t even hang the portrait of the house’s great ancestors in the large hall. Was it a token of respect towards Arwen? Or was it his guilt?

“You should be able to handle what you’ve done with your own two hands. You’re not a kid. Did you think if you covered your eyes and pretended to not know a thing, that everything would just disappear?”

Krepin blocked Ed’s fist, which had been repeatedly striking him. As he pulled him back, Ed’s exhausted body rolled over onto the floor.

Krepin, who barely managed to stand, looked back at Ed with bright red eyes.

“Shut your mouth… And stay down…!”

However, with Ed on the ground, he kicked Krepin’s leg to make him fall over.

Krepin rolled onto the floor as he yelled out. Ed grabbed his collar as Krepin tried to stand up again.

But Ed managed to get on top of Krepin’s body once more.

The cloak he was wearing had been thrown aside, revealing a silk vest that he wore on the inside.

On his chest… There was a feather ornament that Arwen had given him as a gift. The same feather ornament that was in Ed’s room.

Ed Rothstaylor burst into laughter upon seeing it. Krepin’s very last bit of conscience that he held onto the very end was this.

“Do you think that Arwen Rothstaylor followed you to the very end with only respect and admiration towards you?”

As his heir, Arwen Rothstaylor always followed Krepin Rothstaylor’s footsteps. But looking up at his back, she must have seen the countless burdens that were pressuring him.

Both his benevolent figure and corrupt figure were all just masks. Beneath those countless masks, there was just one pathetic coward who was running away from the weight of his burdens.

Arwen Rothstaylor was the first person to notice that before anyone else.

“She only pitied you. You should have known that.”

Krepin’s blood boiled as he tried to grab ahold of Ed’s neck, but Ed smacked his hand away, grabbing onto Krepin’s neck.

“You were the one who ruined Arwen.”

“Shut… Your mouth…!”

As Krepin clenched his teeth, rolling to the side, Ed’s body was also dragged over.

Krepin somehow managed to get his body free as he tried to stand back up. Ed had also gotten ahold of himself.

Krepin dragged his staggering body around as he ran towards Ed, slamming into his shoulder. Ed yelled as he fell down, rolling a few times. Now his body was really at its limit.

Grab!

Ed could see the wand lying there on the floor. But without any magic power, it was pointless to grab it.

However, all of a sudden, Ed’s senses pointed at the small feather ornament that was hanging from the tip of the wand.

Yennekar Palerover knew Ed’s fighting style better than anyone.

If he really was at his limit, Ed would ultimately use Glast’s ring to burn through all of his magic power.

And that was the last resort sent by Yennekar, who was well aware of that fact.

Yennekar’s message came from the faint flow of mana contained in that feather.

If it came to an extreme situation, the scale between victory and defeat would tilt towards the person who has even a bit more magic power left.

“Now… Die…!”

Clenching his teeth and picking up a large rock, Krepin rushed towards Ed to deliver the final blow.

Ed, who was on the floor, clenched his teeth and pulled himself up. He grabbed onto the feather that was on the tip of the wand.

Hwaaaaaaak!

Wind energy enveloped Krepin.

Krepin’s eyes widened. Ed shouldn’t have had any magic power left. It wouldn’t make sense for him to have enough magic power to use a spirit.

Wind Blade formed as it cut through his shoulder blade to his waist. Blood spurted out.

Gathering the last bit of magic power he had left, he cast a spiritual skill. The ceremonial dagger then returned to Ed’s hand.

On the ceremonial dagger that was used for various events of House Rothstaylor, there was a flying hawk that was engraved on it. It was a pattern that symbolized the majesty of the great House Rothstaylor.

And that same dagger pierced through the head of the house’s heart.

Slice.

Paak!

Blood spurted out.

The amount of bleeding was so great it was as if there was no blood left in his body.

Tadak, Kwak!

The rock Krepin was holding in his hand rolled across the floor.

Krepin took a few steps backwards in the center of the burning underground laboratory… as he collapsed right there on the floor.

Blood spread as it ran down across the floor.

“Keheuk…”

Looking up at the sky… he could see Lucy grabbing all of Mebula’s eyes and bursting them.

The night sky was filled with magic and stars.

Ed, covered in blood, appeared right in front of him, blocking his view.

“Y-You… Why… Did you…”

Ed didn’t give a long answer.

“Now that things have become like this, one of us has to die.”

Clang!

The dagger fell out of Ed’s hand as it fell on the floor, rolling. Ed then bent over, telling Krepin clearly,

“Yeah. You cowardly bastard or whatever… You must have been struggling to survive in your own way…”

“Keuh… Cough… Cough… No… My blood… Is leaving me… Save me…”

“So, why did you have to become such a shitty person to let things become like this? Not having any moral standards… Well, that’s now an issue of the past…”

Ed spoke softly.

There were all sorts of justifications and reasons that could be used against Krepin. But Ed didn’t take everything into account.

However, to say it simply.

In that world, which was like the wild, it was a survival of the fittest. Running into each other on the same road, one of them would have to die.

“I survive and you die.”

That was the only thing he said.

As the underground laboratory collapsed, he lost all strength in his body as he knelt down.

Even though his body was in ruins, he was clearly breathing.

And just like that, he had survived. Just like always.

* * *

When the energy of the one who summoned Mebula disappeared, it seemed that Mebula had also been surprised.

Bringing out a large amount of magic power, it tried to destroy all the magic that Lucy had cast. It tried to cover the area with its own magic power once more.

Once again, numerous gremlins rushed towards the mansion as the weakened tentacles began to rise.

During the temporary period when the mansion lost all flow of magic power, all the Knight Templars who entered the central mentioned were bewildered.

However, shortly after, the spirit corps returned once more as they began to clean up the gremlins one by one.

Lucy didn’t stand still, either. She once again cast ultimate magic as she continued to push Mebula into a corner.

Yennekar appeared with a rather desperate expression on her face, moving among the spirit corps that covered the sky. Princess Penia, who had ridden a spirit with Yennekar towards the entrance of the central garden, headed towards the collapsing underground laboratory without hesitation.

There, she saw a corpse that was lying, looking up at the sky with blank eyes. Next to him, there was a blonde boy sitting.

As Yennekar and Penia quickly landed in the collapsing underground laboratory, they lost their breath upon seeing Ed’s injured body.

He had nearly lost consciousness as he had finished it all.

He sat next to Krepin’s body with his eyes closed through the smoke… He looked like a pilgrim that had finished his journey.

How did he look in the eyes of Penia, who could see through humans?

They met for the first time in the North Forest of the school on the day of the entrance exam. After all sorts of other incidents, they met once again at Krepin’s death.

From a glance, it seemed as if he had run out of House Rothstaylor on his own two feet and survived to the end after bearing through everything… Penia couldn’t breathe.

Was Penia the only obstacle in his ordeal-filled road? Thinking about it… it felt as if a stream of flames was going down her back.

Watching Yennekar run towards him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder… Penia finally realized.

Ed Rothstaylor had lived a life in the wild. The many obstacles he faced, as well as the occasional fruits he harvested, were all just a part of his process of struggling to survive.

How could she not respect such a life?

She saw a completely different figure from herself. Throwing away her dream of becoming the emperor after a few obstacles and failures… She finally realized the shame in that.

Desire once again came back to Princess Penia’s eyes. She shouted out to Yennekar that they needed to take him out of there immediately.

The burning mansion.

Holding onto Ed’s ruined body, the two girls escaped the collapsing underground laboratory, riding a spirit.

Way at the bottom, they could see Krepin Rothstaylor.

There were no signs of life in his blank eyes as the rocks fell around him… Only the appearance of Krepin looking up at the crumbling sky remained.

* * *

“This should be the end of House Rothstaylor.”

Princess Selah, who was looking around the central garden, spoke quietly to Dest.

When she roughly looked at the situation inside, it seemed that most of the people who were a part of it were either vassals or servants of House Rothstaylor.

“As for condemning the remaining sinners and putting an end to them… It will probably have a large impact on the competition for the throne. A monarch should also know how to properly punish the disloyal.”

The massacre that took place at Rothstaylor Mansion was perhaps the most catastrophic in the history of the imperial family.

Was it a God-given opportunity or a curse to have been directly present at the scene of the catastrophe?

Selah quietly thought to herself as she looked down at the mansion.

Someone needed to take the initiative to rectify the situation.

If she could take the initiative and complete the task well, her ability would be thoroughly recognized. The fact that she handled such a disaster would go down in history.

The first thing to do was to arrest the remaining members of House Rothstaylor and charge them with their crimes.

Mebula’s energy that covered the sky also got weaker. With Krepin’s death, Mebula had lost her medium and was losing strength little by little. That led to Lucy being able to pressure Mebula even harder.

“It seems I’ll be busy.”

Seeing this, Selah turned around.

“For now, once the imperial army arrives, I will order them to block the entrance of the mansion. I shouldn’t let even a single rat escape.”

The moon was still high in the sky.

The long night continued.