NOVPUBAt Rine's question, Ludger flinched.
It was only for the briefest moment, so quick that Rine didn’t notice.
Ludger responded calmly.
“What are you talking about? Were you seeing things?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just... got this weird feeling all of a sudden.”
“Then keep the nonsense to yourself. Treatment’s done.”
“Ah...”
Rine checked her injured leg. Just like Ludger said, the wound had completely healed, probably thanks to the medicine.
“Rine. You need to get out of here. This place is dangerous.”
“Wh-What about you, Professor?”
“I’m a teacher. I have responsibilities here. You're the last one left—now go.”
“...”
Rine opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself.
This wasn’t the time to barrage Ludger with questions, not in a situation this tense.
Still, what was this feeling?
Her mind screamed at her to just ask what she wanted to know right now.
No. I can’t get in his way.
Swallowing the stubborn urge that clung to her, Rine bowed her head to Ludger.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Then she took off in the direction he’d pointed.
Ludger waited until Rine disappeared completely from sight before turning his attention back toward the banquet hall.
KRAAAAAAH!
The fire giant had started to move again, overwhelming the guards and mages alike.
At least now they weren’t dying outright like before, but that wouldn’t last. It was only a matter of time.
Ludger checked his own condition.
This noisy banquet ends here.
* * *
Countless spells sliced through the air.
Their target: the highest-tier fire spirit—the one at the center of all this chaos.
Eventually, magic clashed with the fire spirit in a thunderous blast, sending powerful shockwaves rippling outward.
“Did we get it?”
A mage, dripping with sweat from magical exhaustion, barely managed to whisper the question before—
The thick smoke cleared... and there stood the fire giant, completely unharmed.
If anything, it looked even more vicious than before, glowing hotter with searing heat.
“Move!”
That’s when Seorn’s spirit tamers stepped up.
Leading the charge was Angela Anderson, instructor for the fifth-year class.
“Bite it to shreds! <Ventuswalfe>!”
The high-ranking wind spirit Ventuswalfe.
A massive white-furred wolf with a mane like snow launched itself at the fire giant, latching onto its neck with bared fangs.
GUOOOHHH!
The fire giant, which had brushed off all previous attacks without flinching, let out its first cry of pain.
Grimacing, it clenched its right fist and aimed a furious swing at the wolf latched onto its upper body.
“Not happening.”
That voice came from Vierno Dentis, fourth-year instructor—and an elf.
A small salamander made of pure water wiggled around behind him, swimming through the air.
When Vierno raised his hand and pointed at the fire giant, the water spirit reacted.
Curling into a tight coil, it suddenly shot forward like a cannonball.
BOOM!
The tiny creature collided with the fire giant’s incoming fist—right as it was about to strike Ventuswalfe.
No one at the scene thought that tiny lizard could possibly stop the giant’s attack.
But the result was shocking.
The fire giant’s right hand, from elbow down, went black as the flames were completely snuffed out.
High-tier water spirit: <Unsyllain>.
Compared to Ventuswalfe, Unsyllain looked pitifully small.
But its power? Far stronger.
Especially against an enemy like this—an elemental opposite.
“We did it!”
“We can win this!”
Cheers erupted from those watching in the back.
But Vierno frowned ever so slightly, hiding it from the others.
That attack had weight behind it, and it still wasn’t enough to take it down...
No one else seemed to notice, but he did.
Unsyllain, his contracted spirit, was already struggling to maintain its form after the hit.
All it had done was knock back the giant’s fist—and it was them that took the heavier toll.
A high-tier spirit still can’t match a highest-tier one...
That fire spirit that appeared in the center of the banquet?
It wasn’t ordinary by any stretch. It had taken a humanoid form, radiated killer intent and hostility—
No doubt about it, this thing was not a regular spirit.
If only the Headmaster were here, this might’ve been different...
But the Headmaster had left just before the fire spirit appeared.
Meaning they weren’t coming to help.
Maybe... whoever orchestrated this attack waited for the Headmaster to leave.
The timing had been suspiciously perfect.
Even so, Seorn’s staff were still here. Attacking now meant whoever was behind this was confident they could deal with them.
And if they can control a highest-tier fire spirit, then yeah... I’d bet they are. But who the hell could pull this off? Who launches a terror attack on us with power like that?
His thoughts didn’t go any further.
Because the fire spirit started moving again.
FWOOOOOSH!
The right fist—scorched and extinguished just moments ago—blazed back to life.
The hit Unsyllain landed had meant nothing.
Vierno realized he had to make a bold call.
“Professor Angela! Pull Ventuswalfe back!”
“Understood!”
Angela followed without hesitation, ordering Ventuswalfe to retreat.
A second later, intense heat surged out around the fire giant’s body.
If they’d hesitated even slightly, Ventuswalfe would've been banished by heat overload.
Angela muttered in shock.
“So that’s the power of a highest-tier spirit...”
“We can’t defeat it right now. But we can buy time. Let’s work together.”
If they could just hold out a little longer, the police in Rederbelk would start to mobilize.
More specifically, the city’s knight order would get involved.
And once they showed up, subduing the fire giant would be a hell of a lot more manageable.
But it’s burning hot right now. Even if we all focus on defense, how long can we hold out?
They might have to risk serious backlash and go all in.
As Vierno braced himself to call out to the others—
He spotted a black figure rising above the fire giant’s head.
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
Others saw it too—guards, mages, everyone.
A man stood high above, nearly clinging to the ceiling, looking down at the fire giant.
His black coat flapped behind him.
Both hands gripped a staff as he floated in midair.
“Ludger... Cherish?”
The name on everyone’s lips at Seorn these days.
He had entered the fight.
But why now, of all times?
Vierno had seen what Ludger was capable of during that duel at the start of the banquet.
But this was different.
This was a highest-tier fire spirit. No matter how skilled Ludger Cherish might be, there was no way he could just—
Shit. It saw him!
Exactly what Vierno feared happened.
The fire giant had locked onto Ludger.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
The blazing eyes, filled with the essence of fire, lifted to fixate on Ludger.
Ludger stared back, silent, meeting the gaze of the grotesque beast.
Crack.
Maybe it didn’t like that look. The fire giant’s face twisted, and it clenched its fist with a grinding snarl.
At that moment, Ludger’s magic activated.
A 3rd-circle spell merged with source code—it unfurled faster than lightning, almost instantaneously, and began to manifest around him.
As if countless clock ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) hands had materialized, spears of pure elemental energy surrounded Ludger.
But there weren’t many of them. And against the monster before him, they looked utterly insufficient.
Then, he pointed his staff at the fire giant.
And the magic launched.
That won’t work...
Every instructor watching thought the same thing.
The fire giant would take the attack head-on, ignite with rage, and consume Ludger in flame.
Everyone pictured the exact same outcome.
But—
KRAAAHH!
The fire giant suddenly screamed, hunching over violently.
It was like it was trying to protect something from Ludger’s magic.
The spell struck the giant’s back.
Even the onlookers were caught off guard by its unexpected reaction.
What the hell? Why is that fire spirit, which has shrugged off everything so far, suddenly reacting like this?
Vierno remembered something he had overlooked.
“...A medium? No way, did he target that?”
“Huh? Professor Vierno, are you talking about the spirit’s medium?”
Angela’s question was met with a firm nod.
Now that he realized it, he could finally see what had been hidden. Why had such a massive spirit suddenly appeared in the middle of the banquet?
Because someone had summoned it using a top-tier medium.
Spirits were usually summoned through a contractor’s mana, and he’d completely forgotten the other possibility.
“Professor Ludger is targeting the medium used to summon that spirit. That’s why the spirit’s reacting like that, trying to shield it.”
“If it’s a medium, then... what exactly are we looking for?”
Partonia asked, and Angela responded, her expression tense.
“Even if there is something, it’s a big problem. That fire spirit’s literally shielding it with its body. No way normal firepower can get through.”
She was right.
Every attack Ludger had launched so far had been blocked by the fire giant’s body and vanished without a trace.
No matter how much magic they threw at it, getting past that wall and destroying the medium hidden inside was impossible.
Ludger knew it too.
Not enough firepower. But switching spells now... that’s not an option either.
He’d barely avoided mana exhaustion a moment ago.
Using another large-scale spell would push him past recovery—even potions wouldn’t help.
And besides, too many people were watching.
If he used his real magic here, the fallout would be a thousand times worse than when he revealed the source code.
In that case...
All he needed was a spell that required little mana, but could still resolve this situation in the most efficient way.
Ludger stopped floating and descended to the ground.
He stood right in front of the hunched-over fire giant.
The beast raised its head, eyes locked on Ludger.
“The party’s over.”
Ludger spoke just loud enough for the giant alone to hear.
And then, he cast his spell.
The incantation was slow, unimpressive—no source code, no flash.
But when it finished—
The fire giant shuddered.
It seemed to sense something was wrong.
Its massive upper body hunched lower, guarding the metallic tray hidden beneath it—the summoning medium.
CLANG!
With a sharp crack, the tray split clean in half.
“No matter how much you try to cover it up, you can’t protect it completely.”
Because this attack didn’t have to pierce the body.
It skipped space, hitting the target directly.
Coordinate Designation Magic.
The spell Ludger had used was nothing special.
But when it bypassed the giant wall that was the fire spirit and struck only the true target—the story changed.
FWOOOSH!
The fire giant’s eyes widened, disbelief written across its flaming face.
But now that the summoning medium was gone, there was nothing left for it to do.
The intense heat, strong enough to melt everything nearby, began to fade.
The fire giant glared at Ludger, eyes burning with murderous rage, and opened its mouth wide.
A last, desperate attempt to breathe fire?
Everyone thought so.
But what came from the spirit’s mouth was something no one expected.
[Humans. Loathsome vermin.]
Words.
Language.
The will of a spirit, a force of nature itself, lashing out not just at its enemy—but at the world.
[I will burn everything. Every last one of you.]
Even as the unbelievable scene unfolded before him, Ludger’s expression didn’t change.
“Try it.”
That was all he said, taunting.
The fire giant had nothing left to say. Without another word, it was forcibly banished.
Sparks scattered through the air.
What little remained of the fire giant’s presence dissolved, vanishing without even ash left behind—like flames that burned too hot to leave a trace.
“...Holy shit.”
And the people watching?
They could only stare in stunned disbelief.
A highest-tier fire spirit—one that countless mages and guard-class knights couldn’t bring down.
Ludger Cherish had subdued it, alone, in the blink of an eye.
