City Under Siege

Having successfully broken through, Hekate planned to head back.

As the sky gradually darkened, she decided to find somewhere to rest for the night before continuing her journey tomorrow.

Earth Star increased comprehension by 100%. Combined with the Silver Moon Spirit Ring's enhancement, she wondered just how far it could take her.

Hekate flew toward the town as she pondered this.

Breaking through three star ranks in such a short time, fusing Thunder Fire Tribulation, and resonating with Earth Star—her luck had been unbelievably good. It was just a little regrettable that the Fate Lottery had yielded nothing these past few days.

In high spirits, she flew over a forest toward a nearby town.

At the entrance to the town, she saw two groups of mages fighting.

"Run! Don't get tangled up with them!"

"Damn it, it hurts! Heal me already!"

"What do we do? We're not going to die here, are we?"

A group of young mages cried out miserably.

Why do they look like Grants Academy students?

Hekate spotted the robes worn by both sides and accelerated toward them.

Sure enough, they really were wearing Grants Academy robes. Their enemies were undoubtedly Cultists who had entered during the war to spread their faith on a large scale.

The Grants students had been completely surrounded by the Cultists.

The Cultists held black staffs, radiating fanaticism and violence as they toyed with and threatened the students in low, hoarse voices.

"Haha, seeing you afraid makes me so happy! Go on, keep running! If you can outrun me, I'll let you go!"

"Hehe, none of you are getting away! Be good and become nourishment for My God!"

"You can also submit to us, because our god is the strongest god in the world! It will forgive your sins of ignorance."

Hekate frowned. Her wonderful mood had been ruined by these people.

Where had so many Cultists come from? She had encountered a group on her way here, another while breaking through, and now another on her way back.

They seemed endless. It was utterly ridiculous.

Still, these were her fellow students. It would not be right to leave them to die, and dealing with this was only a trivial matter anyway.

Hekate raised a finger and silently unleashed Thunder Fire Tribulation upon the Cultists present.

Golden-red lightning tore through the darkening sky. Like the arrival of hope, it struck one Cultist and turned him into a cloud of foul-smelling air.

That Cultist had been too weak to even leave behind an intact corpse.

"? What's going on? Where did that lightning come from? What kind of magic is this?" Seeing his companion vanish after being struck by lightning, one Cultist stared in shock before asking in terror.

"Who dares interfere with the Chaos Cult's business?!" Another Cultist glared furiously and looked around.

"She's in the sky! I saw her!" One Cultist spotted Hekate and shouted, making all the students and Cultists look upward.

Sure enough, they saw a petite figure.

Hekate smiled. "Now it's my turn to say it: none of you are getting away."

Then, one after another, she sent down Thunder Fire Tribulation.

"Caw! She's a powerful High Mage! Everyone, run!"

"Tch, I'm a High Mage too! I'll take her on!"

Boom—!

Golden-red lightning cleaved through the sky.

The Cultist who claimed to be a High Mage had not even gotten airborne before Hekate turned him into a charred figure. Like a plane failing to take off, he plummeted instantly.

The remaining Cultists scattered in terror. Hekate chased after them, and before long, she had struck every last one of them dead.

The students, who had been heavily surrounded and trapped in a desperate situation, finally began to recover from their extreme fear. Their joy at surviving left them babbling incoherently.

Several of them went weak in the knees and dropped to the ground, yet they still cast grateful gazes in unison at the figure in the sky.

"That's great, we didn't die! Thank you, esteemed mage!"

"May we know your name, respected mage? We are students of Grants Academy, and we wish to express our gratitude."

"M-Me too! I'm a noble from the royal capital. You saved me—my father will thank you!"

Hekate hovered in the sky, and with the heavens growing darker by the moment, they did not realize that she was also a student of Grants Academy.

Hekate did not respond to their invitations. Instead, she asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

"We accepted an Academy mission to eliminate Cultists, but we ended up surrounded by them instead."

"It's all Uls's fault. He was too rash and reckless."

"Next time, we should discuss a plan before chasing after them!"

At that moment, a Magic Messenger flew into one student's hand. He opened it, took a look, and said in panic, "Chaos has gathered its army at the border again. They haven't given up on attacking us!"

"What? Didn't my father say their king had died and the war was ending?"

Hearing them, Hekate descended to the ground and asked, "What did you say?"

The student repeated, "The Chaos Kingdom's soldiers have come to our border again. The war isn't over!"

Hekate's brows immediately knitted tightly together, her heart filled with confusion.

The king was already dead, yet they still wanted to continue the war. What was going on?

Had their entire country gone mad?

She asked Star.

A Chaos Kingdom army was rapidly approaching the Uruk Kingdom's border. Uruk Kingdom's border defenses were currently weak, so they could very likely break straight through.

Holy shit!

Did that mean they were about to have the city under siege?

Hekate immediately took flight, accelerating fiercely toward home. If she wanted to get back as quickly as possible, she could only travel through the night.

The students left behind watched Hekate with envy. Being able to fly really was amazing.

"Wait, doesn't the robe she's wearing look like one from our Grants Academy?"

"Huh? Really? It was too dark, I couldn't see."

"Which teacher at our Academy is that short?"

"Teacher Ivin!"

"But Teacher Ivin doesn't use lightning magic."

After flying nonstop for a day and a night, Hekate finally returned home.

Lady Audrey had been worried sick these past few days. She had not even known when Hekate had left. And yesterday, the Chaos Kingdom had suddenly gone mad, launching an attack with a huge number of soldiers. The mages at the border could not hold them back at all.

On the outskirts of Lundria, the mages of the Uruk Kingdom and the mages of the Chaos Kingdom had fought for a day and a night. Brutal magical power had scorched the land outside the city black.

Dean Ornis of Grants Academy led numerous teachers in resistance. By now, nearly everyone had been wounded, while the enemy's offensive remained swift and strange.

The supposedly dead King of Chaos, Arthurx, floated in the air and continuously chanted spells. The dean struggled to hold him off, while Teacher Ivin, Teacher Emand, and the others desperately intercepted the magical attacks of the other enemies.

Arthurx fixed a vicious gaze on Dean Ornis and sneered. "This resistance is meaningless. I advise you to surrender quickly, or all the teachers under your command will die."