Proofreader: Me!

Serina's POV (Continues directly from Julia’s POV 2 chapters ago or so.)

The mouths of those bugs which insulted Luke… I will deal with that later. For now, I had to determine this girl’s relationship with my friend.

I returned her question, “Then Julia, what is Luke to you?”

“A precious friend, who may be a commoner, but what about it?” She answered rapidly.

“Nothing.”

The words ‘precious’ resonated within the confines of my mind. She was attached to Luke, but it mattered most whether or not she would help me set his stage.

Unfortunately, the Deviliser would be released in a matter of minutes. It has only failed once, due to my interference in my past lives. Thus, before I did anything, I would have to secure this group’s safety regardless of their status. The ‘end’ would require as many lives as possible.

I raised my hand alerting everyone, “I caught wind of a telepathic message, the dungeon will break soon.”

One of the insects flinched, “How are we supposed to-“

I glared into the worm’s eyes, receiving a pathetic response. Julia simply accepted the flow, although her eyes did not leave me once.

I cast multi-teleport a high-level spatial magic, delivering everyone to the entrance.

“Wait outside,” I ordered.

“Professor Clarisse,” I beckoned her over to my side. “Demons have infiltrated the dungeon.”

Stone-cold, her face had become. My words would be taken as absolute fact due to my family’s standing, as well as a result of my prestige.

“Serina, as a carer of these children, shameless as it may be, please assist me in saving them,” Her words were calm but anger seethed from within.

“Of course.”

I summoned the magic circle below the both of us, preparing for combat. Clarisse put a finger to her head, most likely using it to circulate the mana in her brain to send a telepathic message to the staff.

“Wait!” The twin-tailed girl reared her face toward us, “Bring me with you!”

“It’s too dangerous,” Clarisse warned her, “I can’t let any of you be harmed.”

“Serina’s a student as well! A great noble such as I would not be a burden either.”

Clarisse pondered momentarily, “You used telepathy am I correct?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll allow it only if Serina agrees.”

Both faces turned toward me. Reasons for and against it flooded my head. However, my curiosity lay within the idea of Luke’s and Julia’s friendship.

“Okay,” I nodded.

I poured more mana into the circle expanding the number of people being transferred.

“I’m sending us now, be ready.”

The scenery changed from bright to dark.

-x-

Third Person POV

“Please, I trust you two to care of the remaining students inside,” The professor begged the two, “I can feel it, the presence of a monster wave

Clarisse decided to part ways with Serina and Julia, realising the necessity of saving the students.

“…”

“…”

Pure silence followed the two as they sped across the fleeting passageways.

Julia actively applied mana searching to learn about the surroundings, while Serina marched with such knowledge already burned in her head.

A situation of a duckling following the mother, so to speak.

Julia stammered, “S- serina, where’s Luke?” With the atmosphere broken, she gulped nervously.

“Close.”

“Yes, but how close?”

“Ahead.”

Julia’s eyebrows furrowed as she attempted to redirect her senses to the stretch in front of the two.

Crash!

She felt the sensations of destruction, an unnatural release of unbridled rage. As such, her body tensed at the vivid imagery which overtook her brain.

“We have to hurry!” Julia panicked, “Luke’s in danger!”

“Not true.” Serina’s face retained its calm demeanour, unperturbed by her discovery.

Despite Julia’s plight, another group of footsteps resounded from within a close range.

“Wait, Serina! There are others nearby, we have to evacuate them!”

“They don’t require help.”

‘What is she thinking!?’ Julia’s thoughts echoed this sentiment.

From a short distance a faint voice was heard, “Over there, Serina is present with one of the honour students.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Following the voice, a silhouette homed in on the two. Julia readied her sword, while Serina stood motionless.

“Oh? Julia? You’re here, wait- are you okay?” Uriel was all over her in moments.

“C-calm down!”

“No, I have to make sure you’re alright!”

In contrast to the worrying Priest, the Paladin’s expression encompassed profound seriousness.

“I assume the both of you are here to help Luke and Fen?” Rodney crossed his arms.

Julia tilted her head, “What’s Fen got to do with this?”

Rodney turned toward Serina, sighing somewhat. “It’s fine, just know they both need our help.

“Is Luke with Fen?”

“Th- that’s a bit complicated,” Rodney scratched his face while Julia was smothered in a holy embrace.

Uriel whispered from beside her, “Erm… we’ll explain it to you later.”

Ash called from behind, “The three of you, Miss Rosemary are already leaving.”

“Yes, Luke is in the tunnel ahead of us,” Serina confirmed.

“Let’s get going! C'mon Uri, get off her,” Rodney dragged her by the scruff.

“Ye- yeah! We have to move now,” Julia relented.

Now following them from behind, she solidified her determination. ‘You’ll owe me for this one commoner!’

Unfortunately for Fen, he was not present in her thoughts at all.

Not long after they began moving, the fight between Luke and Iveen made itself apparent. Large vibrations had shaken their feet immensely.

Which the leader of the group understood perfectly. Serina leading the charge, poised her hand. As if ready to hold a weapon.

“Serina?” Ash questioned not far behind.

He was ignored splendidly.

“Alkesius, heed my call.”

Violet purple mana surged all around them, swirling not with vigour, but calm wind. Particles formed at the fingertips of Serina, forming the silhouette of a legendary weapon. It matched the height of her figure entirely, creating a sense of imbalance.

“Wait… isn’t that the staff of Abel’s former companion?” Rodney muttered.

“Uwaaaahhh…” Uriel let out sounds of amazement, her robes fluttering from the surge of mana.

‘Seriously, what did those Rosemary bastards create?’ The thoughts of Julia soured.

Her personal weapon, [Lumen Grace], was considered a national treasure. A heirloom passed down since their ancestors founded their house. However, it wouldn’t be considered a match to the stuff of mythos.

Ash had paused but realised the meaning of this showing. “I see the Rosemary’s have attained the hidden lineage of Gaia, the former archmage.”

“Mmm,” Serina half-heartedly replied before taking a few steps forward.

Unexpectedly as she began to chant a spell, rocks tumbled from the ceiling blocking off the path to Luke.

“Oh shiiiiiiiii-“ A familiar scream echoed towards them. “MY BAD!”

“Luke is that you?”Julia smacked the wall trying to get a response.

“Forget about me! I’m just about done here!”

“What do you mean?!”

“Yeah! Julia’s right, explain what’s happening!” Uriel joined her struggle, yelling all the while.

“I would if I could! Just go and help- oh fuck!”

The entrance to the room was completely crushed, with no more voices being heard. Only vibrations and shockwaves could vaguely be felt.

Rodney called out, “Serina what are you-“

However, she was already eyeing the blockade, holding her staff forward and the chant finally finished. The result was one of the three ultimate spells which she had mastered within her seven regressions. However, due to restrictions, it was many times weaker than it may have been otherwise.

“[Mana Ultima: Ray of Destruction].”

A magic circle the size of the tunnel formed in front of the protagonists, mana oozing out of it as Serina compressed it together. Just a single glance was enough to realise the complexity it held, with equations engraved within even smaller circles that acted as a core.

In her mind, a single word was held. ‘Blast.’

At once, as if heaven itself struck the world, a ray of light blasted forward. The surroundings were pulverised as the dungeon itself had bent to her will.

Rubble fell from the ceilings, and walls collapsed. The shape of the dungeon’s cave system reformed as a hole bored through its entirety. Away from the group, Ash watched on, as if still mesmerised by the spell’s destruction. Disturbing his trance was a slight screech from beyond the walls.

“Holy shit…!” A murmur escaped the rubble from the other side. “Was that Serina?”

Rodney, Julia, Uriel, and Serina launched forward. Concern was plastered across their faces, regardless of prior perspectives.“Wha- wha- what’s happening!” Luke cried out hearing the encroaching footsteps.

“You’re okay? Well, hot damn buddy! It sounded like a troll’s tournament from this side!” Rodney slapped his back.

“I mean yeah… I did tell you guys to help Fen instead,” Luke looked toward Serina who was piercing him with her eyes. “Looks like she’s out of mana.”

She was barely standing, using a rock as a balancer.

“Really?” Julia had peered her head in the conversation.

“She cast what is considered one of the pinnacles of attack spells, albeit at the cost of mana exhaustion,” He added. “I guess because you are a Rosemary you could.”

…

Serina stared blankly.

‘I suppose there would be great risks for using such a spell, right? I’ve long accepted it at this point, that she’s not the same. But still… the price must be large even for a much weaker version. Thinking back to the time reversal spell, there was no possible way to cast something like that without burning life force.'

Luke met Serina with a fierce gaze, causing her to blush. Such tension only broke due to the arrival of a certain saintess candidate.

“Good thing I have mana potions!” Uriel chimed in.

This interruption jogged the reincarnator's memory, however.

“Ahem. I have to ask, however, how is the outside right now?” Luke eerily asked.

“What do you mean?” Serina muttered.

Such words were met with question marks by the group. Not even the regressor understood his question.

“Welp, we’re screwed.”

He shook his head all of a sudden, “Wait, I take that back. Percy’s there.”

“Who?” Someone asked.

While they all racked their heads to understand a fraction of what Luke meant, where only Serina displayed an understanding expression.

-x-

Hordes of black shining armour clashed against the barriers of students. It was clear there was an onslaught between forces that numbered hundreds.

“Combat report at once!”Clarisse demanded the close seniors to explain the situation.

“Ambush, we’ve been surrounded by these demon fanatics!”

She grinded her teeth, “Who’s been organising the students?”

Despite the ongoing chaos, there was an element of control. There were squads of students ordered into perfectly split formations, where right at the centre, sat a map and a student with what seemed to be platoon leaders.

Clarisse called out, “Percy?”

“Professor I ask you to wait a moment, I am currently thinking of a way to break through the enemy’s assault.”

It turned out, the platoon leaders around him were the remainders of Luke’s group.

Clarisse took a second to reorganise her thoughts. ‘Since when did we have such capable… and why was Luke in charge of them… no… what’s important right now is that the students are safe.’

“Student Percy, you said that there is a need to break through enemy lines?”

Percy’s behaviour was completely unlike his complaints with Luke. “Currently, there is a commanding unit that has been organising these hordes of mindless soldiers. We’ve been struggling to find the right opportunity to strike, unfortunately.”

“Well… with you professor, I believe it would be a cinch.”

“Understood, with this it’ll all stop right?” She awaited further confirmation.

“They will most likely scatter, losing their command unit.”

That was all she needed to hear as she blasted off toward where Percy indicated.

Percy ordered the others, “Kyle, Carlos, follow her lead with some other seniors, no person has infinite mana.”

“You know, you’re quite talented. What do you think of the empire?” From behind, Charles prodded the intentions of the tactician.

“So, so.”

“How bold,” The Prince chuckled.

The words of Luke had indeed rung true.