CHAPTER 60: FRESHER BALL(8)

Chapter 59: Freshers Ball (8)

The frozen battlefield groaned under the weight of battle. Shards of ice littered the ground, slick with demon blood. Above, the crimson tears in the sky widened with every pulse from the obsidian pillar.

Michael’s eyes locked on it the nearest pillar, standing like a spear driven into the heart of the academy’s training field. Mana radiated from it in sickening waves, each pulse accelerating the summoning.

"We can’t just hold the line," he muttered. "We have to shut that thing down."

Leon fell into step beside him, blade blazing with holy fire. "Then let’s cut through. I’ll match your pace."

Michael spared him a glance. Leon’s breathing was steady, his grip tighter than before. No hesitation this time.

Good. Maybe you’ll finally start fighting like yourself, not your bloodline.

---

They surged forward.

Michael’s sword flashed, a crescent of frozen aura tearing a path through snarling demons. Leon followed immediately, his Lionheart Style – Crushing Claw smashing down with fiery force, scattering enemies like brittle dolls.

Behind them, Selena appeared in flickers of shadow, her scythe severing the heads of those who slipped past. "Don’t slow down," she hissed, vanishing again.

Aiden crashed through on the flank, lightning arcing from his dual blades. "Hah! Finally, a real fight!"

Michael didn’t bother to scold him this time. For once, recklessness was exactly what they needed.

---

But the pillar was not undefended.

Three elite demons emerged—warped knights clad in twisted armor of obsidian and bone. Each carried a jagged weapon that pulsed with dark mana. Their eyes locked on the approaching students.

"Guardians," Michael muttered. "Of course."

Leon’s jaw tightened. "We’ll take them together."

The knights struck first. One blurred forward unnaturally fast, jagged spear thrusting toward Michael’s chest.

Quantum lines flickered in Michael’s vision. He twisted, swapping with a shadow across the ice—Shadow Swap! The spear pierced nothing but mist. He reappeared at the knight’s flank, blade cleaving across its armor.

Sparks exploded, but the strike only gouged shallowly.

Damn, it’s tougher than the last one.

The second knight swung at Leon. His Rising Fang intercepted the blow, flames screeching against corrupted steel. The impact forced him back, boots sliding across the ice.

"Too heavy—!" Leon grunted.

The third knight raised its hand. Dark mana spiraled, forming a crackling orb of shadow. It hurled it at the formation.

"Chris!" Michael barked.

"On it!" Chris slammed his shield down. "Stone Guard!"

The orb detonated against his barrier, shaking the ground but holding firm. Students behind him gasped in relief.

Michael gritted his teeth. They’re coordinated... just like us.

---

"Leon, follow my lead," Michael said sharply.

"Understood."

He surged forward, aura flaring, freezing mist swirling with every step. The first Demon knight thrust again. This time Michael didn’t dodge he let it come, pouring mana into his blade.

"Aura Conversion—Overload!"

Blue-white aura roared along his sword. He swung upward, meeting the spear mid-thrust. The explosion of power shattered the corrupted weapon in two.

Before the knight could recoil, Leon lunged. "Lionheart Style—Rising Fang!"

His fiery strike carved through the knight’s chest, splitting it in half. The creature shrieked before dissolving into ash.

Michael allowed himself a brief smirk. "Better."

Leon met his eyes, breathless, but this time he didn’t flinch. He nodded once.

---

The remaining two knights roared in unison, striking together.

Michael’s Quantum Mind screamed with probabilities. In one line, Leon was impaled. In another, Michael lost his arm. In most everyone behind them died.

No time to hesitate. Push past my limits.

He poured more mana into Aura Holder. His blade blazed so bright the air itself cracked with frost. But the conversion burned his stamina, his muscles screaming as fatigue clawed at him.

Doesn’t matter. Thirty seconds, that’s all I need.

The second knight swung its axe. Michael met it head-on, blade clashing in a burst of frozen sparks. His arms nearly buckled, but he forced the strike aside, teeth bared.

Leon charged the third knight. Their blades collided—flame against shadow. The corrupted knight snarled, pressing him back.

"Damn it—!" Leon gritted, sweat beading his brow.

Then—something shifted.

For a heartbeat, the air around Leon shimmered. A ripple, faint but undeniable, like warped glass. The knight’s blade missed him by inches, diverted unnaturally.

Leon blinked, wide-eyed. Was that... space?

He didn’t understand it, but instinct guided his strike. His blade plunged forward, fire flaring, driving straight through the knight’s helm. The monster collapsed, crumbling into ash.

Michael caught the flicker, even through the haze of battle. So... you’ve finally touched it. Your real power.

---

The last Demon knight roared and raised both arms. Dark mana surged, condensing into a massive sphere far larger than before.

The students panicked. "It’s going to wipe us out!"

"Michael—!"

He didn’t think. He moved.

Aura roared, every drop of his mana pouring into his blade. His body screamed with overexertion, lungs burning, vision tunneling.

"Frozen Edge—OVERDRIVE!"

He leapt, slashing upward. His strike collided with the shadow sphere. The explosion was blinding—frost and darkness colliding, ripping shockwaves across the battlefield.

The ground cracked. Ice shattered. Students screamed as they were knocked back.

When the smoke cleared, Michael was kneeling in the ice, blade driven into the ground for support. His chest heaved, every muscle trembling from exhaustion.

The last knight lay shattered in pieces, dissolving into ash.

And the pillar’s pulsing had slowed frost climbing its surface, cracks spreading from the backlash of his strike.

---

Silence fell.

Then Maria whispered, almost reverently: "He... he stopped it."

Selena’s voice followed, quiet but sharp. "He’s killing himself to keep us alive."

Leon stepped forward, planting his blade in the ice beside Michael. "Then we’ll stand with him. All of us."

The students rallied. For the first time since the battle began, they weren’t just surviving—they were fighting as one.

Michael exhaled, forcing himself upright despite the searing ache in his limbs. His vision blurred, but his resolve sharpened.

One pillar slowed. But there are more. And something worse is waiting to come through.

His gaze locked on the crimson rift overhead, its edges widening like a hungry maw.

This is only the beginning.

------

The smoke still lingered from Michael’s last strike, curling in the frigid air like ghostly fingers.

Students coughed, battered but alive. The first pillar stood fractured, ice creeping through its veins, its pulsing slowed to a faint, irregular beat.

But the rifts above had not closed. They widened further, like wounds refusing to heal.

Michael wiped blood from his lip, his hands trembling as he steadied his blade. His body screamed at him to stop, to collapse. But his eyes never left the battlefield.

If one pillar nearly drained me... how the hell do we stop the rest?

Selena appeared from the shadows, her scythe dissolving into mist. "You’re burning yourself out. Keep going like this and you won’t last the next wave."

Michael gave her a dry smirk, though it didn’t reach his tired eyes. "If I fall, you’ll cover for me, won’t you?"

Her expression flickered for something unreadable before she looked away.

---

Leon strode up, holy flame still dancing faintly along his blade. His armor was cracked, his face streaked with grime, but his eyes were steady now.

"That shimmer back there," Michael said quietly, studying him. "That wasn’t just fire. You touched something else."

Leon stiffened. "I... don’t know what you’re talking about."

Michael’s gaze didn’t waver. "Space. You bent it, even if only for a second."

The Lionheart heir looked away, lips pressing into a thin line. His pride battled with something else—l fear, maybe, or doubt.

Before he could respond, Draven stalked forward, his halberd still bloodied. His face was twisted in rage.

"This is madness! We’re following a gutter-born brat who should never have set foot in this academy!"

The fragile unity of the students cracked instantly. Whispers rippled through the ranks. Some nobles nodded grimly, others looked uncertain.

Aiden spat to the side. "You got flattened earlier, Draven. If not for Michael, you’d be demon chow by now."

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Draven snarled.

"You think I’ll take orders from him? From any of you?"

Michael sighed inwardly. Of course. The battle’s only half the fight. The rest is pride.

He raised his voice, calm but cutting. "You want to keep arguing, or do you want to survive? Because while you’re whining, the next pillar is waking up."

As if on cue, the second obsidian spire in the distance pulsed violently. Cracks of crimson light spiderwebbed across its surface. The air vibrated with the promise of something worse.

The students’ faces paled.

"Another one?"

"We barely survived the first!"

Michael pointed his blade toward it. "That’s our target. We move now."

Draven stepped in front of him, halberd lowered across his chest. "Over my dead body."

The battlefield went silent.

---

Michael’s inner thought

He’s not just arrogant but he’s a liability. If he keeps this up, we’ll lose more than just time.

---

Selena’s scythe reformed with a hiss. She stepped closer, her voice icy. "Move, Draven. Or I’ll move you."

His eyes flashed. "You dare "

"Enough!" Leon’s voice boomed, infused with mana. Everyone turned to him. His flame burned brighter, authority radiating from his stance. "Michael’s right. The enemy doesn’t care about our status. Only about how fast we die. Either fall in line, or get out of the way."

The Lionheart name carried weight, even in the heat of battle. Draven trembled with barely restrained fury—but he lowered his weapon.

"For now," he spat.

Michael gave Leon a brief nod. Maybe you’re finally starting to understand what leadership means.

---

The formation shifted again. Maria and Lyra moved to the backline, staffs raised. Chris tightened the shield wall, covering the casters. Aiden and Aurelia flanked left, blades ready. Selena melted into the shadows at the edges.

Michael and Leon stood at the front. The point of the spear.

Michael’s grip tightened. His stamina hadn’t recovered, his mana was dangerously low, but retreat wasn’t an option.

"Move," he ordered. "We break through to the second pillar. No matter what’s waiting for us."

And so they advanced, the frozen battlefield groaning beneath their boots, toward the throbbing heart of darkness that loomed ahead.

---