320 - The Warning of the Great Lord
Rose Olarion:
I had been stabbed by William Halldam. I fell to the ground, the sharp pain from the wound in my abdomen overwhelming me.
"My mission was to kill you… I couldn't let anyone steal that from me," he said, stepping closer with his knife raised. "If I kill you… I will ascend even further."
I conjured a ball of wind and fired it at him, using the moment to get up and run.
"You won't escape!" William shouted, launching a blast of fire that struck me in the back.
I hit the ground face-first, rolling along the trail. The intense heat scorched my skin. At the last second, I conjured a wind barrier, deflecting another fireball he hurled at me.
"Why are you doing this!?" I screamed, trying to understand what was happening.
I grabbed my sword, but William lunged and kicked the blade, disarming me. I unleashed a gust of wind that threw him back, seizing the opportunity to run. The wound throbbed, and I felt the warm blood trickling down.
"Come back here, Rose!" he bellowed.
Without looking back, I began shooting wind arrows randomly. William used fire to propel himself forward, relentlessly pursuing me while launching waves of flames.
I threw myself onto the trail, rolling across the ground. I tried to stand, but my legs failed me.
"This is how it has to be!" William declared, raising his sword. "If you knew what they're capable of, you'd see that dying like this is far better than suffering through what they'll do."
"Please, William!" I pleaded, crawling backward.
He stepped on my back, forcing me against the ground.
"Don't worry… I'll have a little fun with you first," he murmured, tugging at my pants.
"Stop! Help!" I screamed, struggling to break free.
He tore part of the fabric and ran his hands over me.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I kicked him hard between the legs and tried to get up, but I tripped over my own pants and fell again.
"This is going to be fun, Rose. I've wanted to do this for so long…" he muttered, pinning me down.
"Help!" I cried desperately, trying to push him away, but a violent punch struck my face.
My consciousness faded for a few seconds. When I came to, he was trying to pull down my underwear.
"Help…" my voice came out weak, dizzy from the blow to my head.
"I promise you'll like it…" he whispered.
Suddenly, a brutal impact sent him flying.
My body trembled. A suffocating fear paralyzed me before I even saw who was there.
"Well, well… a filthy pig," a female voice filled with disdain echoed through the air.
I turned my head and saw a woman in a black dress. Her skin was gray, marked by streaks of dark lightning coursing through her body. Her eyes glowed a vibrant pink. Beside her, a black snake slithered silently.
William scrambled to his feet, shaking.
"L-Lady Sindra!" he stammered, his eyes widening. "I-I was carrying out my mission… to kill Rose Olarion…"
She stared at him, and a heavy silence filled the air.
"Did I, by any chance, ask you a question? Did I order you to speak?" her voice carried both boredom and fury.
William immediately fell silent.
"You're a disgusting little creature… lowering yourself to such animalistic acts," Sindra continued, crossing her arms. "But that's fine. I enjoy torturing pigs and listening to their screams."
"I-I-I don't understand…" he stammered, his voice weak and trembling.
"You've served your purpose," she said simply.
With a snap of her fingers, the black serpent lunged at William and began to coil around his body, squeezing tightly.
"W-Wait! What did I do wrong!?" he choked out, struggling.
The snake constricted tighter and tighter.
"Please! Stop! I can still be useful!" he screamed in desperation.
Sindra completely ignored him, letting the serpent do its work.
She turned to me, grabbed my chin, and forced me to look into her eyes.
"This was a message for you, Rose Olarion," she said, a cruel smile on her lips. "So you understand that you could have died whenever we wished. Poisoned, killed in your sleep, or murdered during one of your little academy meetings. So you realize that you've only been alive because we allowed it."
Her fingers tightened in my hair, yanking it brutally to force me to my feet.
"Get dressed!" she ordered, her voice laced with irritation.
My hands trembled as I adjusted my torn pants. As soon as I finished, Sindra yanked me by the hair again.
"Now move, little 'princess.' I have a message to deliver to those students. If I bring you to them as my trophy, it will make quite the entrance."
We walked along the trail. No orc dared to attack us.
Along the way, hooded figures wearing wooden masks began to appear, forming a silent corridor as Sindra led me toward an uncertain fate.
Edmund Valemont:
"Keep going!" one of the knights shouted.
I woke up with the strange sensation of being carried. I didn't know what had happened, but a healing mage explained that I had passed out. For a moment, I thought I was dead. A wave of relief washed over me when I realized I was still alive.
Looking around, I saw Thyra and Viktor, still unconscious, being carried by other students. We were at the entrance of the tunnels. Chaos was everywhere, with students in panic running in all directions.
I knew I had to act.
I got up, still dizzy, and made my way toward the group trying to hold back the orcs.
But my mind remained in turmoil, trapped in memories. I had seen that woman with pink eyes, the one who had my life in her hands. And yet… she let me live.
What should I do? Should I find someone and warn them about the danger we're facing, or should I keep helping with the evacuation?
I watched the students rushing past in desperation and made my decision. I would keep helping.
The professors were at the front lines, creating paths of thorns to protect the retreat.
Where is Professor Beatrix?
Amid the chaos, I desperately searched for her. I needed to warn her about the powerful enemy lurking nearby.
And Lady Sindra? I can't sense her presence. Why did she let us live?
The orcs advanced alongside other creatures. Everywhere I looked, there were more of them.
The students who weren't fighting directly provided support with their magic. Water mages summoned massive waves to push the creatures back, earth mages made spikes sprout from the ground and raised walls, wind mages shielded us from arrows and spears, and fire mages hurled explosive fireballs.
The elves with plant magic threw seeds that exploded into growing trees and conjured roots to block the enemy's path.
I could only hope that my friends had either made it safely to the elevator or escaped through other tunnels, like some students had. But those who took the tunnels would have to seal the entrance on their own.
"Now! Earth mages!" someone shouted as the orcs broke through the burning trees. Thorned spikes erupted from the ground, impaling them.
"At least this way, we're managing to reduce their numbers," said a soldier beside me.
The demi-humans with the mud element created swamps, causing the orcs to sink while we attacked and finished them off.
As I took a step toward an orc, I suddenly felt a suffocating presence. At that moment, everyone—students, soldiers, even the orcs—froze in place, unmoving.
"Excellent… excellent," said a voice emerging from the forest. A voice I recognized immediately.
From the shadows of the trees, Lady Sindra stepped forward. And in front of her, Princess Rose was walking, her face pale and stricken, one hand clutching a terrible wound on her abdomen. Beside them, the black serpent slithered silently across the ground.
"If anyone moves… if anyone takes a single step… they will die," she said in a soft, almost gentle tone.
"Please! Do as she says," Princess Rose pleaded.
A student ignited his sword with fire, and in that instant, Lady Sindra conjured something red—something like blood, a floating blade hovering around her. It shot forward like a spear, piercing through the student instantly.
She then pointed at another student standing still and sent a crimson lance flying toward him, impaling him where he stood.
"If anyone disobeys me, someone else will pay the price for their mistake," she said, walking leisurely. "You in the tunnel! Come out, or you will die!"
No one spoke.
Princess Rose was forced to her knees on the ground while the woman walked freely among the students, making her way toward the tunnel, her piercing gaze fixed ahead.
"You in the tunnel, you can move now. Forgive me, I gave conflicting orders," she said with a laugh.
She strolled among the students, her twisted smile scanning their faces.
"I see so many faces… so innocent, so sweet, so pure," she mused. "Ah… the tender beauty of youth."
Her tone could have been mistaken for affection, but something about it oozed malice.
Once all the students had gathered, she clapped her hands together.
"Very well! We can begin," she said, continuing to walk forward.
"Don't worry about the orcs; they won't attack you."
She snapped her fingers, and the creatures retreated into the forest.
"See? I'm a good person. What do you think, little one?" she asked, tilting a young student's chin up with her fingers.
"Y-y-yes…" the girl stammered, terrified.
"Hmm… that didn't sound very convincing."
"Y-you are a good person!" the girl said quickly.
"Oh, I like your spirit. That's it, stay optimistic," she chuckled.
At the far end of the clearing, figures cloaked in black with wooden masks stood in eerie silence.
"It looks like the wounded and unconscious are still lying inside," she said. "But that's no problem. I think the rest of you can pass along the message."
She turned to face us.
"The Great Lord is offering you a gift: a unique opportunity to stand on the right side," she said. "Your continent is about to undergo great changes. Soon, many others like me will arrive here. There is no way you can match our power, let alone the Regents… and even less so, the Great Lord himself."
Her gaze scanned the crowd, her sinister smile widening.
"A new order will be established. The Great Lord will reign supreme, and only those who are worthy will have a place in that future. There will be no mercy, no room for last-minute regrets. When our power is revealed and your resistance is crushed, any chance to join us will be gone."
She took a step forward, her eyes gleaming with cruelty.
"The seats for those allowed to live are limited. Once we demonstrate our strength, it will be too late to change sides. Those who hesitate or defy the Great Lord will face a fate worse than death. You and everything you have built will be reduced to nothing."
Her voice grew quieter, but each word dripped with venom.
"Your homes will be reduced to ashes, your hopes torn from your hearts. You will beg for relief that will never come. Do not deceive yourselves into thinking you can resist. Svartalfheim, the Dark Kingdom, is coming. And when we arrive, it won't just be to conquer. It will be to exterminate. Remember this: your time is running out."
She paced, her gaze sweeping over the students.
"Now, I will select some of you at random—a fair process. You will suffer in front of your peers so that I can ensure my message is burned deep into your minds. It will be a small torture session… with an audience."
Her eyes locked onto Rose Olarion.
"Princess Rose, you will help me choose the lucky students. Ah, just a little warning… for every second you hesitate, I will add another minute of torment to the chosen ones. Be quick… or don't."