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Chapter 108
Outside the arena, screams rang out just as an urgent announcement echoed throughout the academy.
[Emergency situation. Emergency situation. Monsters have appeared inside the academy. Everyone on campus, please evacuate to the nearest building basement or to the aspen forest in the southeast. Once again…]
This time, the group had already agreed to regroup where Jaelin was teleported. One by one, the team members arrived at her location.
“What the hell is going on? Monsters, here in the middle of the academy?!”
Nathan, who had heard the announcement on his way over, asked urgently. Lionel’s voice, lower and heavier than usual, answered him.
“A dimensional portal must have opened inside the academy.”
“A dimensional portal? I didn’t notice anything strange on the way here.”
Nathan casually shot down a charging Belialian with a magic arrow and continued.
The creature collapsed, and the moment it hit the ground, its body turned into rainbow-colored fragments and vanished.
“See? It’s not real. Just a hologram.”
Nathan shrugged as he pointed to the empty air where the Belialian had disappeared.
But Lionel revealed something hidden among the withered grass—a Belialian corpse that hadn’t vanished.
“Look. Check this out.”
Adrian stepped closer and nudged the corpse with his foot.
“It’s dead… and it didn’t disappear.”
“What the—?! It’s a real monster? A real one, here in the middle of the academy?!”
Nathan cried out in horror after realizing the truth.
“Yeah. Looks like the portal only opened recently. There aren’t many creatures yet, and most are fast-moving flying types. But the longer it stays open, the more monsters will pour out.”
At Lionel’s words, Iliana’s voice trembled.
“Then we shouldn’t be standing here! We need to evacuate too.”
“Right. The closest building is probably the waiting room. We should head there first and hold out until reinforcements arrive—”
Lionel cut Nathan off, shaking his head.
“No reinforcements are coming.”
“What do you mean, no reinforcements?!”
“Exactly what I said. No one’s coming to help us. We have to survive on our own.”
“But we’re near the capital! The Imperial Knights stationed there will come to help, won’t they?”
It was Adrian who refuted her.
“The Imperial Knights aren’t in the capital right now. They left for Radipel, the military city, yesterday for field training, leaving only a skeleton crew behind.”
That wasn’t the kind of information one would normally know—but no one questioned Adrian. The situation was too dire.
Nathan ran a hand roughly through his hair, his voice strained.
“Why? Why the hell did it have to be now of all times?!”
“This isn’t a coincidence.”
Lionel’s words made Iliana’s face harden.
“What do you mean it’s not a coincidence? Are you saying this whole thing was planned?”
Lionel stayed silent. The method was the same.
It was just like years ago, when the crown princess killed his mother—when a dimensional gate had suddenly opened inside the castle, spewing monsters until the entire fortress was reduced to ruins.
The culprit was obvious. But Lionel couldn’t say it aloud—an accusation without proof was treason.
Instead, he shared what he knew.
“The portal must connect to the northern Kelyonia Mountain Range.”
“The northern range? That’s the infamous monster stronghold! If reinforcements won’t come, what are we supposed to do?”
“We close the portal before the damage spreads.”
“Who? How?”
Lionel just looked at Nathan silently. Nathan’s jaw dropped as he realized what Lionel meant.
“Are you insane? If you’re right, then monsters are pouring out of there right now! Going there is suicide!”
“I know. But we have to close it before more spill out. The academy is crowded with civilians because of the festival. The aspen forest can’t shelter everyone either. The longer we wait, the worse it gets.”
“So you’re saying we should head straight into the middle of the monster outbreak?”
“Yeah. Responsibility comes with our positions.”
“Damn it!”
Nathan cursed under his breath.
“I’m going to close the portal. I can’t do it alone. I want you to come with me—but I won’t force anyone. I can’t promise we’ll make it back alive.”
Before he even finished, Heren spoke up first.
“I’m in. Think of it as early combat training.”
“Thanks.”
Adrian also nodded his agreement. Jaelin, who had been listening quietly, raised her head.
“I—I’ll go too!”
“You can’t.”
Unlike with Heren, Lionel’s rejection was firm and immediate.
“W-why not? You just said you wanted us to come with you.”
“…”
Interpreting his silence her own way, Jaelin rushed to defend herself.
“I—I can help too!”
“What can you do? You can’t even protect yourself.”
So she was right—Lionel truly thought she wasn’t strong enough to be useful.
But Jaelin had to go. Especially when it came to closing the dimensional portal.
“I-I can protect myself. I’m going.”
“Jaelin.”
Lionel’s voice was icy as he called her name.
“I said no. You’ll evacuate to the aspen forest. Go—”
“E-everyone else is going! Why am I the only one who can’t?!”
“Uh, I actually haven’t said I’m going yet…”
Nathan muttered, but neither Lionel nor Jaelin paid him any mind. Lionel pressed harder.
“What do you know how to do? Swing a sword a little because I taught you? You think that’s enough to fight monsters? Or you think your magic schematics will save you against creatures that can appear anywhere, anytime? This is real. Not like the safety of hologram battles in the arena!”
But Lionel’s harsh words only steeled her resolve.
Jaelin had her reason. She had watched her mother die powerlessly in front of her eyes—because of a dimensional portal. Because of monsters.
She refused to stand by helplessly again.
If she could contribute even a little to closing the portal, she was willing to risk anything.
“I—I can do it too!”
“I said no—”
“N-no! I don’t care! I’m going! I’ll close that portal with my own hands! If you won’t take me, I’ll go alone!”
Jaelin clenched her fists and shouted with all her strength, trembling.
Silence fell over the group.
No one had ever seen her like this before. Adrian muttered blankly:
“Peanut… what’s gotten into you?”
She didn’t care what anyone thought. Jaelin stood firm, locking eyes with Lionel.
“This isn’t a hologram. If you get hurt, you could die. You’ll have to put your life on the line.”
“I-I don’t care. If I die, I’ll die there.”
Her stubbornness showed no sign of breaking. Lionel couldn’t control his emotions. His head was burning, ready to explode.
Why would she choose danger when a safe path was right there?
He covered his eyes with his palm, taking a deep breath to calm himself. The tension grew heavy, until Nathan offered a compromise.
“Uh, Jaelin. How about this? I’ll go, and I’ll fight double—enough for you. You just head to the aspen forest, okay?”
But Jaelin shook her head. Unlike her usual timid self, today she was unyielding—almost unrecognizable.
“No. I’m going. I can protect myself, at least enough for this. I can help close the portal.”
“Just take her along. Peanut’s learned plenty in class—she won’t go down that easily. Besides, it’s more dangerous to split up now. Wandering alone and running into a monster is even riskier.”
Adrian’s reasoning won out.
“…Fine. Do what you want.”
Even as they spoke, more Belialians attacked. The group took turns cutting them down—most still holograms, but with some real ones mixed in, they couldn’t take chances.
“Peanut, when you first saw that Belialian, which direction was it flying from?”
At Adrian’s question, Jaelin checked her bearings.
“N-northwest. It came from that way.”
Lionel gave the order.
“Then we head to the west gate, confirm the portal’s location, and move from there.”
They advanced toward the western exit, fighting monsters as they went—never sure which ones were real and which were holograms.
“If only the control room had shut down the hologram system, this would’ve been easy,” Adrian grumbled as he cut one down. But ever since the emergency announcement, no one from the control room had responded—likely they’d already evacuated.
Luckily, there were fewer holograms near the outer edges of the arena, so the group didn’t face too much resistance on their way to the west gate.
But the moment they stepped outside—Jaelin and the others were confronted with a sight none of them had ever imagined seeing within the academy.
