༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart () ༻
Ravaged by explosions, the city was in ruins.
Craters, born at the epicenter of the blasts, marred the landscape, and the groans and screams of dozens of people sprawled on the ground filled the air.
The Homecoming Festival was an event that involved not only academy students but also a huge number of civilians.
Considering that multiple explosions had gone off in the middle of such a big event, the devastation they wrought was unimaginable.
I hadn’t expected, even in my wildest imaginations, that there would be self-destructing demonic beasts.
All living creatures typically adhered to their survival instincts. A creature, regardless of whether it was demonic or not, sacrificing itself to cause an explosion contradicted all norms.
It seemed more plausible that these creatures were purposely engineered for malevolent purposes, and they successfully brought down pandemonium.
The masses were in a frenzy as they screamed and hastily attempted to flee. It was utter chaos.
It was understandable. If I was feeling this bewildered despite having anticipated an attack, it was obvious how panicked everyone else was feeling.
However, fleeing was the worst response. The attack wouldn’t stop merely because they were running away.
Just like I expected, more cats began growling and swelling, their bodies grotesquely deforming as their flesh expanded into abnormal lumps.
At a glance, there appeared to be dozens of them.
On paper, we had enough force to withstand hundreds of demonic beasts with proper coordination. Although we were just a ragtag group of students, each and every member of the Knight Division and the Magic Department was a student of the prestigious Academy whose individual talents had been recognized.
Yet, the lack of practical combat experience and the ghastly sight of blood and gore splattering everywhere posed a serious problem.
While some third and fourth-year students reacted promptly and armed themselves, the majority of first and second-years were screaming and frantically trying to escape.
As for me, I swung my hatchet and swiftly shattered the skull of a demonic cat that was fiercely rushing towards me.
With a resounding crack, blood and brain matter splattered across my vision.
Then, slicing through the air, the hatchet carved the faces of two more cats that were lunging towards the people on the ground.
I raised my voice.
“Don’t run! Organize yourselves and evacuate the injured!”
Although they were still visibly shaken, several students hesitantly began to follow my instructions. They would soon realize that my directive was the best course of action they could take.
Dashing forward, I retrieved my fallen hatchet and charged at the two demonic cats with my sword in hand.
Blood flowed down their faces from my previous strike, and blinded by their own blood, they wildly flailed their paws haphazardly. Although their movements looked fierce, their random attacks posed no threat to an experienced swordsman.
-Swish.
Diving into range, I severed the cat’s paws with a single step. Then, driving my sword even deeper, the sword cleanly severed its head.
The cat’s head tumbled to the ground as blood erupted like a fountain. Unperturbed, I swiftly turned and dispatched the remaining cat.
These demonic cats weren’t very strong.
The real problem laid in the uncertainty of how many could self-destruct.
As evident from the numerous students writhing on the ground in pain, the resulting explosions were strong enough to pierce through magical protection.
“First and second-years, focus on aiding the injured! Priests from the Theology Department, begin emergency treatment! Mages, provide rear support! Knight Division upperclassmen, get out there, NOW! Evacuate the civilians!”
As I had requested of her, Senior Delphine promptly assumed command and decisively responded to the crisis. It was more suitable for the heir of Yurdina to issue orders to the noble students than the despised son of a rural viscount.
The impact was immediate. Several members of her group were already ushering civilians to safety, and other students rallied together as she shouted out a few more orders.
Given the risk of explosions, it was crucial to reduce the population density.
Only now could I somewhat relax and dive into battle.
Blood continuously sprayed and splattered across my body as I maneuvered through the demonic beasts. Crushing their skulls, severing their necks, and piercing their hearts—I didn’t stop until blood, brain matter, and bone fragments all merged together and rained down.
The spectacle of pure carnage drew frightened glances from the surrounding students as admiration, aspiration, and fear emanated from them. Most were underclassmen with little to no real combat experience.
Shaking off the excess blood off my hair, I flashed them a smile.
“What are ya looking at, ya runts? Aren’t ya gonna start swinging your swords?!”
They hastily took up their swords with startled expressions but soon roused their fighting spirit. It felt nice seeing them swiftly return to action.
Then, taking a deep breath, I took a brief moment to rest after having slain over ten cats and surveyed the situation.
Thankfully, our rapid reorganization seemed to have minimized the damage. Had we been caught unaware, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
Among the students, a few distinguished themselves with their exceptional performances.
It wasn’t just me. Both Seria and Celine were also calmly fulfilling their roles, and Senior Delphine was particularly impressive as both a commander and swordsman.
As for Senior Elsie, she was fully unleashing all her prepared spells without restraint.
“…O’ Light, overwhelm mine enemies and flood them in your brilliance!”
-Pajijijijik!!!!!! -GYyiaaAAAaacKK!!!!!!!
Veins of electricity sporadically burst forth, dyeing the ground a pure white hue.
A symphony of crackles and the demonic cats’ shrill screams assaulted my ears as it reverberated high into the sky.
Then, as if their piercing shrieks were a mere illusion, they collapsed lifelessly, and the scent of burnt flesh saturated the surroundings.
Seemingly sensing my gaze, Senior Elsie turned and waved her hand with a radiant smile, as if asking, ‘I did well, right?’
I could almost hear her voice. I was sure that if she had a tail, it would be happily wagging right now.
“Pffft.”
I chuckled at the thought before redirecting my attention.
This time, Senior Delphine locked eyes with me and gave a subtle wink.
Though the two were a bit odd, they proved more dependable than anyone else on the battlefield. With them around, I didn’t have to worry about this front.
However, I was still concerned for the civilians. Unlike academy students, they were ordinary people without any combat capabilities.
In hindsight, it probably would have been better to gather the civilians towards the center of the procession as well. Now that we had some room to breathe, we seemed to have enough spare manpower to protect them.
…But it wasn’t long before my misplaced optimism was blasted apart.
I was the first to sense that something was amiss.
As the faint sound of flapping wings grew unusually loud and frequent, I instinctively looked up towards the sky in a daze.
A swarm of birds soared overhead. Blood-red eyes, black feathers, and notably large talons that were gripping small creatures—these strange birds were like none I had ever seen before.
As I observed the birds, the small creature that was in their grips suddenly grew within my vision.
It was a cat. A cat was falling down towards us.
Judging by its trajectory, the cat was aimed straight for the center of our defensive square formation where the Saintess and the priests were tending to the injured.
As soon as I realized its target, profanity inadvertently escaped my lips.
“Fucking dam-“
My body soared through the air before the expletive could even finish coming out of my mouth.
Time was of the essence.
By the time I passed through the crowd and reached the Saintess’ side, several seconds had already passed.
She gazed up at me, puzzled, but at that moment, my eyes locked onto the plummeting cat.
Its spinning pupils seemed to be taunting me.
Gritting my teeth, I firmly planted my foot forward and swung my sword, striking it with the flat of my sword and shooting it back into the air.
However, it turned out to be too late.
I quickly wrapped my arms around the Saintess and her patient to try and shield them as much as possible from the impending blast.
-Booooooooom!!!
With a thunderous explosion, I was sent flying as a strong impact slammed into my back.
Blood threatened to spill from my mouth. It felt as if all my internal organs had been shaken. As a result of shielding the Saintess and bearing the force that should have hit her instead of dodging the blast, while I wasn’t critically injured, I sustained definite damage.
-Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
All my senses were disoriented, and a constant ringing pierced my ears.
When my senses finally returned, the first thing I heard was a shrill scream assaulting my eardrums.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
It wasn’t a singular cat that was dropped. Besides the one aimed at the Saintess, more had been released by the birds.
While some students discerned the situation and reacted early upon witnessing my frantic movements, it was still impossible to completely prevent them all.
Chaos erupted everywhere.
The center of our formation, where non-combatants were gathered, was especially vulnerable, and the shortage of priests became increasingly evident.
Heck, they were the ones who were supposed to be treating the injured, but right now, most of the people who were collapsed on the ground were either the priests or those who were already injured.
It was unfortunate, but they were likely to suffer permanent damage in this battle. No, they would be lucky if they didn’t lose their lives here.
My eyes sank in despair as I imagined the grim future.
I had been careless. I didn’t expect the birds to be demonic beasts as well.
If only I had noticed, I would have been able to prevent this disaster…
What snapped me out of my despair was a hand.
Someone was frantically shaking my shoulder. Dazedly turning my head, what entered my sight was a woman’s tearful face.
It was the Saintess.
Her trembling hand gradually approached my bloodied mouth.
“A-are you okay?! O-o-o-oh no… I-I’ll treat you right now, so just wait a bit. I-I need to heal you immediately…”
“Sain-cough! S-Saintess.”
I tried to speak normally in an attempt to pretend I was fine, but it was futile as I coughed up blood. If anything, it seemed to only further aggravate her panic.
Her eyes quivered violently, and she immediately mustered up more holy power than I had ever seen before. She seemed determined to rouse every last bit of her holy power to heal me.
While I was grateful for her intentions, I grabbed one of her arms to stop her.
Bewildered, she looked at me as I feebly opened my mouth.
“Take… Take care of the patients… first…”
I smiled at her, trying to convey my sincerity, but instead, her gaze turned blank.
Then, the next moment-
-Pak!
Her palm smacked my back.
“…Are- Are you crazy?! You’re the patient right now!”
Blood spurted from my mouth.
It seemed my bravado wasn’t very convincing…
It was only a few minutes later that I belatedly realized that the Imperial Princess was nowhere to be seen.
