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'Ayla... no, innocent students might be sacrificed.'
Was it a foreboding feeling? His reason became strangely clouded, and anger surged.
Growing desperate, he urged his horse to go even faster.
After moving like that for a while, as Ruvahn had said, he sensed the presence of various Monsters ahead.
However, the surroundings were dark, and his vision was not clear. Then, the Magic Tower Lord Seran, sensing the situation, cast a spell.
"Light."
In an instant, the darkness receded, revealing the confrontation before them.
"Oh..."
"How could such a situation exist?"
As Ruvahn had said, a tremendous number of Monsters, both Intermediate and Superior Magical Creature, were gathered in this area.
It was as if every Monster in Ritsha Forest had gathered here.
Darian's gaze moved urgently, searching for the students. It was then.
He felt a strong surge of Mana from somewhere.
Even Darian, who was insensitive to Mana, could sense that something unusual was happening.
The Magic Tower Lord, also sensing the anomaly, fixed his gaze on one spot. Soon, he exclaimed in a small voice.
"Unbelievable..."
In the center, surrounded by Monsters, condensed Mana gradually devoured the surrounding darkness, growing in size.
"--."
Riding the wave of Mana, a low voice soon echoed.
Energy exploded, and a giant pillar of light split the sky. At the same time, a bright light flashed, and a huge flame engulfed the surroundings.
The heat reached Darian and his party, who were far away.
If the Magic Tower Lord Seran hadn't quickly cast a defensive spell, they might have been swallowed by the fire as well.
Fortunately, the flame made of Mana disappeared as soon as it swallowed everything within a certain range.
More than half of the Monsters that had been swarming around just a moment ago were already gone.
Regaining his senses, Darian hurriedly shouted.
"Eliminate the remaining Monsters! Approach the students at the same time."
"Yes!"
Because the siege had been broken, the Monsters fell helplessly to the knights' swords.
Soon, Darian could see the students blocking the Monsters' attacks not far away.
Felix, as well as the young master of the Blanche Noble house, showed considerable swordsmanship skills, but Ayla's Magic skills were truly amazing.
She used offensive Magic, sometimes assisting her sword-wielding comrades or casting shields.
'It hasn't been long since she used that incredible Magic.'
Usually, Mages would be exhausted for a while after consuming that much Magic power.
But she fought against the rushing Monsters as if she had unlimited stamina.
Darian couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Ayla! Cedric, Felix!"
As the distance narrowed, Ruvahn got off his horse and ran towards his friends.
The students' faces lit up with joy as they confirmed that the rescue team had arrived.
"Ruvahn!"
Among them, Ayla's gaze briefly met Darian's.
Her eyes widened slightly, and then, without hesitation, she began to approach him.
As her face got closer, his heart pounded inappropriately.
'Why am I like this?'
While Darian moistened his dry lips with his tongue, Ayla stopped in front of him and bowed her head.
"Your Highness."
"Ayla, are your companions all safe?"
"Thanks to your quick arrival, everyone is fine. But I'm sorry to ask, but I have a request."
"A request?"
Ayla whispered softly to the puzzled Darian.
Darian groaned softly at her words.
"I understand. I'll tell my men."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Having finished her business, Ayla respectfully bowed her head and stepped back.
Darian stared blankly at her, and then belatedly realized that Felix was approaching her.
'Why are you looking at her with such regret? Get a grip, Darian.'
Strangely, whenever he was in front of her, he felt like he was becoming irrational. To dare covet someone who has a lover.
Besides, she was a commoner, so the possibility of them being together was slim.
Darian tried to ignore her in any way he could and coldly ordered his men.
"Get all the students on the horses. Leave this place quickly!"
The knights quickly followed his orders.
Having finished his preparations, Darian immediately pulled on the reins of his horse and watched the darkness. But his attention was still focused on the back.
Meanwhile, the day waned, and complete darkness arrived.
However, the surroundings of the camp waiting for the scouting party were still brightly lit like daytime.
"What's going on? Did something bad happen inside?"
"I asked the kids who went on the subjugation, but they don't know what's going on either."
"Then why did the Prince leave so urgently?"
As the students murmured and became anxious, the professors tried to get them inside.
"It's very late! I'll tell you what happened tomorrow, so everyone go inside."
It was then.
"Oh! They're coming back!"
At the shout of a student, everyone turned their heads.
Soon, they saw the Imperial Palace knights returning with the missing students on horseback.
Their clothes were a mess, but fortunately, they all seemed safe.
'Ayla is safe too?'
Freya, who was mixed among the students and anxiously waiting for the results, gnashed her teeth as soon as she confirmed Ayla's unharmed appearance.
She looked back at Rosia with a look that seemed to ask what was going on.
But Rosia was standing still with a frozen face.
From the looks of it, Ayla seemed quite unharmed, except that her clothes were wrinkled and covered in dust.
'How... how can she be so unharmed after fighting so many Monsters? It must have been a force that even the scouting party would have had a hard time extracting?'
For this, Freya and Rosia had suffered for over a month.
Freya had obtained a forbidden secret art for Rosia and had also supplied the materials used in the Magic.
Rosia, with her help, had drawn a very complicated Magic Circle and completed the secret art.
But how could she return so completely intact?
'Could it be that Ayla has become even stronger in the meantime?'
It was logically impossible, but there was no other answer.
Soon, the sound of hooves subsided, and the knights stopped in front of the camp. Ayla and the three students staggered off their horses.
Ayla slowly moved her steps following Darian and the knights, then turned around.
Soon, her gaze pierced exactly through Rosia and Freya.
"......"
Eyes that seemed to know exactly what they had done.
The traces of the Magic had already been completely erased, but somehow, she felt uneasy.
Rosia bit her lip tightly and watched them follow Prince Darian into the camp.
"Prince Darian! Are you alright?"
"What happened inside, Brother?"
As soon as Prince Darian entered the camp, the people who had been anxiously waiting inside jumped up from their seats.
Soon, Princess Peony's gaze reached her friends behind her.
"Everyone... you're all safe. I'm so glad. I was so worried when I heard you were caught in a swarm of Monsters."
Peony teared up and rushed to Ayla, hugging her tightly.
Ayla smiled as if she understood her feelings and patted the Princess's back.
"We were able to survive thanks to the scouting party's quick arrival."
"Are you hurt anywhere? I'll call a doctor right away."
"No, there's something more important to do now."
Ayla shook her head and gently pulled the sobbing Peony away from her body.
Then, she turned to the Dean and Prince Darian.
"Professor, and Prince Darian. I have something urgent to tell you about what happened a while ago."
"Yes, tell me what happened."
The Dean opened his mouth, watching the Prince standing next to him.
Ayla explained to them what they had experienced a while ago.
As soon as the explanation was over, the Dean and most of the professors looked disbelieving.
"What? Is that even possible?"
"It's a phenomenon that is completely contrary to the habits of ordinary Monsters."
However, there was a witness next to them who had seen all this with his own eyes, a witness with the most reliable identity.
It was Prince Darian.
"Ayla's words are true. I, along with the Magic Tower Lord and the knights, witnessed it."
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