CHAPTER 199: WRATH OF ZEUS
Lightning flashed down from the sky and Edward waved his hand, spreading lightning everywhere.
Those powerful and swift lightning bolts went to the ‘Rock Golem’ and the summoner Laurence.
*BOOM*
The lightning, which seemed to be trying to burn everything in its path, exploded as the golem shielded itself, while Laurence moved through the sky, dodging swiftly.
As a Terran summoner, Laurence could not use other magics as a Terra nova summoner could.
For such a reason, he specialized in flight and, at the same time, used quite a few artifacts and items.
The golem lunged towards Edward at a speed that did not match the size and he surrounded his body with lightning and spread a barrier of lightning that charred the golem’s body.
All while retreating.
An S-Rank battle, unless one went with the intent to assassinate, was mostly slow because one had to be wary of the enemy.
Never knew what could happen or if they had a hidden card that could change the battle outcome in a few seconds.
Maybe S-Ranks couldn’t be compared to SS Ranks, which in some ways were close to resembling natural calamities, but that didn’t mean they were weak.
Edward waved his hand again, and with the other waved his wand.
Dozens of lightning bolts gathered in the sky, while from his hand came another group of lightning bolts.
The lightning from the sky was thick and bright, while the lightning from his hand was small and fast.
“Tch...”
Not caring about his opponent’s tongue clicking, Edward sent out the lightning bolts.
As if a storm suddenly broke out, the lightning bolts fell from the sky at the golem who could only take cover.
*BOOM*
A huge explosion resounded and an arm of the golem fell to the ground next to the rock leg.
It was not a creature that had ‘life’, at least not in the traditional way, so losing part of its body, while it was a type of wound, was not ‘serious’ and it was for such a reason that the barrier did not activate.
The lightning bolts from his hand were fired at Laurence, who wisely erected a wall of earth using the wand.
Edward, noticing Laurence’s advantage, continued to press as the summoner retreated to the center of the stage.
The rock golem tried to recover by using the earth to repair its lost limbs, but it could not and only served as a shield to protect Laurence.
Edward was waiting for Laurence to summon the other creature so he could unleash all his lightning and burn it completely.
However, unlike what he thought, Laurence, with a bitter expression, retreated, using his golem as a shield, until he could not avoid the damage and the summoning was canceled.
At that point, they were both in the middle of the stage and Edward’s expression changed.
“Attack!” Laurence ordered and from the center of the stage, where a barrier and most of the Merlin Academy students stood, a large, combined spell was fired.
Although Edward returned fire, he had to back away dodging the spells.
However, when he paid closer attention to the camp, his expression changed when he saw a mass of darkness forming a cocoon inside the barrier.
One glance was enough for him to realize who was inside the cocoon.
“Alice are you?” Edward asked, using the comm system.
“...”
“Leader, we’re all assembled now, but we don’t see Alice anywhere. Shouldn’t she be off the grid hunting creatures?” Andrés hesitated over the comm system.
Edward glanced around the camp directly at the sphere where that black cocoon was and didn’t know how to react.
How was it possible?
That was his first question, for even if he fought with all his might, he felt that defeating Alice was going to be difficult.
It wasn’t about respect for the strength of someone like Alice, but the difference in experience between the two of them.
If defeating her was difficult, capturing her... It gave him the feeling that it was impossible.
“Anything going on?” Andrés asked over the comm system.
“Yes, have some drones keep an eye on the enemy camp. I’ll be at the camp in a moment,” Edward replied and looking at the holographic watch, flew to where his group was.
Looking at his holographic watch as he flew, he could see the losses in his team thanks to Andrés’ organization.
Marc, Dalia, Lucas, Taqiyya and Érica.
Marc was a strong student who fought with vigor and did not give up easily. Although Dalia and Lucas were weaker in strength, each had high ability compared to other students.
However, the real losses were Taqiyya and Érica.
Taqiyya was an excellent craftswoman and without her repairing weapons was impossible and Érica was very strong with enormous ability and in a sense was a secret card, which she now could not reveal.
Edward was not angry, when Taqiyya called for reinforcements Andrés had managed to capture images from his holographic watch and realized who ambushed them was the A-Rank group.
That meant that five A-ranks with excellent teamwork defeated them... When they were all B-ranks, at least officially.
As for the others, since the task was to hide once they arrived and regroup, they could only defeat two B-Rank students and the criminology student.
Flying to the small camp where small scout drones were keeping watch, Edward noticed the expressions of the group when he arrived.
They had almost all A-Ranks on their team, but the number of losses was higher with respect to Merlin Academy and it was a slight initial blow.
Just as everyone was approaching, Andrés stopped wearing a holographic watch and approached with a stunned expression.
“We have lost Marc, Dalia, Lucas, Érica and Taqiyya... Also, Merlin Academy has captured Alice,” Edward reported in a serious tone.
“What?” Leslie asked immediately.
Clémentine and Nicole also gave stunned expressions, as if they thought his words were a joke, and instead of insisting, Edward waited for Andrés.
“There is a sphere containing a black cocoon... Only someone can do that,” Andrés reported as he ordered a drone hidden in the sky to project the Merlin Academy camp.
Unlike Edward’s normal view, the drone was specialized for long-distance scanning and Andrés zoomed the camera in, letting the cocoon into view inside the barrier.
“...”
Silence.
Edward noticed how Clémentine, Nicole, and Leslie’s expressions became completely dumbfounded.
It was as if they couldn’t believe it, as the reality in front of their eyes hit them hard.
The others also had hard expressions, and that was more for Niels or Gregorio, who had fought Alice and even Jordan, who had taken a beating with Oliver.
But the blow was harder for the foursome who had been with Aurora and Alice at the mid-year practices... Edward, deep down, felt that way too.
No matter that they said they wouldn’t try to depend on Alice, the truth was that when push came to shove and the most necessary one could depend on Alice, who gave the impression of being unstoppable.
In a way, she was the reason why the students could let loose in the fight against Cernunnos Academy, and no matter who they faced, Alice could win.
If Edward was leading, Alice was that finish line that gave the feeling that she could always win and could even win the fight on her own.
“This...”
Clémentine tried to say something and when she couldn’t, she inevitably kept silent.
Could this be a joke?
Could Alice be playing a game?
Or was she simply being bribed with chips to go into that sphere?
The latter question seemed more likely compared to her losing or being defeated.
Edward realized that everyone present received a blow to morale, a very strong one.
At this level was the confidence they all placed in the ‘monster’ of the academy.
Realizing the level of Alice’s importance in the minds of the students and those closest to her, Edward couldn’t help but put on a serious expression.
“Sometimes the strongest have weaknesses,” Edward said suddenly and, as if remembering something, he stated. “Understanding that will help you understand that you can’t be perfect. And that the people they look up to can also be defeated.”
His gaze went especially to Clémentine, Nicole, Leslie, and Andrés, whose expression trembled.
Perhaps it wasn’t dependence, but they did have enormous confidence in those people with whom they trained.
Edward could understand them better than anyone else, for even though he did not have a good time with the sisters because of his personality at the time, he could now tell that his trust in both of them was enormous.
Aurora seemed to be able to carry enormous burdens on her back and, as captivating as that willpower was, she actually had weaknesses.
Alice was similar.
Emotional, physical, or in ability... Weaknesses could be different, but one could be ‘defeated’ by them.
In this case, it wasn’t something so deep and severe, still, Alice being caught agitated her closest companions.
Somehow or other, they put Alice in a very high position... Now they suffered the shock of seeing her ‘fall’.
Looking at the students, who were silent with a bitter and slightly depressing atmosphere, even for Jordan or Frank, who always tried to cheer everything up, Edward just laughed.
What could he do at this point?
The atmosphere felt depressing.
Losing Érica and the others was a big blow, but losing Alice made it hard to cope.
What would a leader do at this moment? What would Aurora do at this moment?
At that question that came to Edward’s mind, he couldn’t help but laugh even harder, causing everyone to look at them.
“Come on, it’s no big deal. She was caught, not defeated,” Edward said with a smile full of confidence.
He too had enormous confidence in Alice, but he was the leader and, as such, needed to regain his lost morale.
What would Aurora do at this point?
She would trust her sister and if it wasn’t possible, she would carry everything by herself... That was what Edward got when the question appeared in his mind and that was what he was going to do right now.
“Whether we want to rescue Alice or defeat Merlin Academy, we need to prepare,” Edward said, and looking at Andrés, he ordered. “Keep an eye on the camp and the Merlin Academy’s communication network. I don’t know how they communicated, but they must be using something. We need to see what it is and, incidentally, understand what their plan is.”
He was using a solemn tone that caused Andrés to nod immediately.
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“They are using some kind of telepathic communication,” Clémentine said, regaining her composure and meeting his gaze, explained. “Before I defeated the criminology student, I noticed that there was something strange, as it stopped every so often and when I concentrated, I could sense something.”
Edward nodded.
Psionics had their own means and, in some cases, were sharper than a normal mage in matters concerning the mind.
“Can you try to see something? We need to see what they are trying to do before we start our plan,” Edward said, and looking at the projection of the enemy camp, he commented. “They seem to want to stay in that position and expect us to attack. If so, then we are at a disadvantage.”
They didn’t have Taqiyya and that meant that even when searching for weapons, they wouldn’t be able to repair it.
Merlin Academy, on the other hand, had a space mage and they could move everywhere in seconds.
As if that wasn’t enough, attacking a place defended by mages was a job that would be extremely difficult.
After all, Merlin Academy took center stage and chose a small plain where they could see in all directions.
Being mages, they had greater long-range attack power and could set up barriers of all kinds for defense.
Clémentine and Jaxon teamed up to see if they could do anything, while Leslie gave her small scout drones to Andrés, who employed them to keep an eye on the enemy camp and the surrounding area.
Edward, for his part, took a magic energy potion and climbed a tree to sit and look into the distance where the enemy camp was.
The minutes passed, and from the other side there was no movement, but all was not calm.
Slowly, it was about to get dark.
As if that wasn’t enough, the barrier was rapidly approaching, making the area even smaller.
The wait was stressful for some of the students and among them were included some third years like Gregorio, Rachael, Niels, or Jordan.
Edward only focused on the enemy camp, observing the barrier they installed and seeing everything, he realized what Laurence and his students’ plan was.
Merlin Academy was waiting for them to attack.
At some point, both academies would have to face each other, and right now who had the advantage was Merlin Academy.
Not only did they have the central position, which meant they would be the place where the barrier would close in the end, but they were also mages who clearly had great teamwork.
Their ranged attacks would be devastating, and many heroes would fall before they got close.
When that time came, it would be hard to win.
“Leader, Clémentine, and Jaxon found nothing. Merlin Academy has shut down its telepathy network. They say if they get close maybe they can manage to pick up something at the team's telepathy level,” Andrés reported with his last words being slightly awkward.
Getting close was like sending them to ‘death’.
Edward watched Merlin Academy, who remained motionless as they waited for them to make the first move.
The large barrier they set up could protect them from ranged attacks, while their mages could attack from a distance... It was very similar in style to the group combat they had with the Paladin Academy.
However, at the moment the Hero Academy didn’t have a fighter capable enough to break through the barrier as they moved in... Alice could have taken that role, but she was gone.
Giving back a glance at his companions, who were losing morale, Edward sighed and gave a glance at the sky, whose black clouds were evident.
His emotions caused the atmosphere to change and, over time, the stormy weather was settling in.
It was hard to lead... He realized that.
The pressure of having to take control of everything, to make sure that everything went smoothly and that the right outcome could be reached and that everyone wanted.
It was in itself a difficult task.
Still, it was time to take it all on.
Descending to the group and looking at the expressions of those who already realized the situation the academy was in, he smiled as best he could.
“I’ll do something experimental,” Edward said and, as he felt hope rising, he announced. “You will have to protect me, but I guarantee that they will not be able to stay locked up and will have to get out. There will be sacrifices, but I will wipe out their camp.”
Perhaps what he was about to do was not the right method for a real situation... Moreover, it was quite possible that Aurora would never carry it out, even if she had the chance.
To protect him, many would have to risk, but to win, many would have to sacrifice.
Perhaps he was taking this as an actual situation and was going overboard, but only with enough limits could he learn from this situation.
Now he realized that sometimes victory cost... And it was a cost that very few could take.
“Are you willing?” Edward asked, looking at each of the students.
Catching their expressions, he didn’t need a response.
******
Clémentine glanced up at the sky.
Clouds stretched out, covering the entire stage as lightning crackled.
Stretching out her hand, she could feel several raindrops falling softly.
Because of Edward’s constantly changing weather, stormy weather with black clouds now managed to settle in.
The rain was just a minor side effect.
Looking calmly she could see Edward soaring into the sky as lightning covered him.
He had already cast his [Storm Domain] and that meant there was a powerful area-effect spell in the area.
Turning his gaze to the enemy camp, he could notice how the mages were getting into positions.
Small formations of mages made their barrier increase in size and thickness, managing to give the impression of being impenetrable.
Thanks to the knowledge brought back from Terra nova, the Terrans knew of magical military formations to make excellent use of magic.
Not by using strong people, but of common soldiers, and that was now being applied by the Merlin Academy.
Divided into small groups and spread out around the barrier, they used magical energy to power the barrier waiting for Edward’s attack.
However, Edward did not attack as expected.
He could use the storm domain to attract hundreds of lightning bolts to strike the barrier, but that was not the way he would move.
“Be ready. I will begin,” Edward warned over the comm system.
Clémentine turned to Nicole, Leslie, and Andrés, who were accompanying her, then seeing that they were ready, she turned her head back up to the sky where Edward was standing.
He was at a far distance, but not far enough that he could not be seen.
The plan was simple... Edward would cast a spell he had been working on, expending all his magical energy.
In a way, it was an experimental spell because he had not perfected it, and if he was interrupted, he would be in a very dangerous position, as he could lose control of the spell.
Their mission was not to protect him, that mission was given to the other A-Ranks and B-Ranks who would attack or defend.
The mission their group had was to rescue Alice or free her.
If Merlin Academy went out to try to interrupt Edward, then they would be intercepted by their teammates and allow them to move forward to help Alice.
Conversely, if they did not move and only relied on protecting themselves, Edward had confidently declared that he could sweep through the entire enemy camp.
That was the confidence of an S-Rank Archmage who was about to cast his personal and strongest spell he had.
In the end, whether Edward cast his spell, or they released Alice, either way, they would be close to victory.
Looking at Edward in the distance, the group began to feel a high amount of magical energy emanating from the young man.
It was definitely impressive, for even though they were far away, they were still feeling it and he was just getting started.
Lightning began to resound and even though it was dark at the moment because of the black clouds, the light from the lightning illuminated the surroundings.
The lightning surrounded Edward as if he was a tornado of lightning, all while the magical energy emanating from him increased.
It was at the moment that everyone felt a sense of danger at the sight of the tornado that, from the enemy camp, Laurence rose up summoning his rock golem.
The pressure that released Edward rose and the amount of magical energy he was gathering in his spell went from dangerous to terrifying.
Clémentine hadn’t seen many S-Ranks fighting, but at this moment she realized that whatever Edward was going to cast was going to surpass what an S-Rank could do.
And the Merlin Academy camp realized it as well, which made Laurence turn pale.
“Attack! Interrupt him!” ordered Laurence, flying with his group.
Since most of the students were mages, each of them felt the magical energy and terror of the spell Edward was casting better.
Without hesitation, most of the Merlin Academy students advanced to stop Edward, and those who stood in his way were Rachael, Niels, and Gregorio intercepting them immediately.
Then the others intervened, starting a full-scale battle.
Clémentine, receiving the look from her companions, gave a nod.
Her group was at the back of the camp on the other side of the main assault, so when they saw that the battle had broken out, they ran to get closer to the camp.
One B-Rank student and the extra tournament students were left protecting the camp.
On the other side, Rachael launched a fire tornado to contain the rock golem, while Niels and Gregorio supported her in a team of three.
The other students clashed against each other, unleashing a chaotic battle.
Even Vanessa was present using her magic to augment everyone’s ability and Jaxon, for his part, used psionic artifacts launching all sorts of mental attacks.
They were not ‘fighters’, but in this world, it was necessary to have ways to protect themselves.
As they were about to arrive, Clémentine felt a sense of danger and erected a psionic barrier in front of the group.
“[Spears of darkness]”
“[Blinding sun]”
The first attack was a trap, and the second was the real deal and that was why, she turned her barrier purple, infusing psionic energy and repelling both attacks.
When the barrier that prevented the blinding attack disappeared, Clémentine could see the A-Rank group that had remained hidden with darkness magic.
This was the level of importance they attached to Alice!
*Bang*
The gunshot sound rang out and the light mage’s barrier shattered into pieces, sending the mage flying from the gunshot.
Their group charged forward again with Nicole, this time taking the lead.
“[Fireball]”
The magic swordsman cast his spell as he charged, and Nicole, not needing to dodge, went head-on into the spell.
*Boom*
The fire covered Nicole’s body and she, without stopping, came out completely unharmed, managing to surprise the swordsman who received a punch.
*BOOM*
The punch was strong enough to create a wave that broke part of the ground and sent the swordsman flying, who defended himself.
Clémentine kept moving forward without missing this opportunity and when she saw the space mage next to the curse mage preparing an attack, she waved her hand.
A force of attraction caused both of them to slightly lose their concentration, allowing her to approach the camp barrier.
“Coming!”
Letting out a warning shout, Andrés soared through the sky as the drones began to surround him.
In just an instant, they joined together and all unleashed dozens of lasers towards one point of the barrier, managing to disintegrate it completely.
Then, without warning, he made all his drones go berserk, spreading lasers everywhere as if he wanted to burn them all.
That attack led to the space mage having to protect the curse mage while preventing the magic swordsman from getting close.
Leaving the dark mage to again have to protect the light mage, who cast a spell.
“[Solar Barrier]” chanted the light mage covering the curse mage and the space mage with her barrier.
Feeling the gaze of the curse mage, Clémentine realized that she was the target of his spell.
*Bang*
The next moment, Leslie fired and at the same time, the students inside the barrier cast a spell in tandem at that sniper.
Different spells bombarded the area where Leslie had been.
Leslie’s shot hit the light barrier, and the bullet deflected, allowing the curse mage to be safe and not lose concentration on the spell.
“[Eternal Sleep]” chanted the curse mage spreading a black cloud towards Clémentine, who was approaching.
Trying to use her blink and dodge, Clémentine realized that move was sealed and, as if that wasn’t enough, the black cloud seemed to be chasing her.
Before she could try to create an intangible barrier, someone lunged at that black cloud.
“...” Everyone was silent as they saw Nicole roll on the ground after grabbing the black cloud with her body.
She tried to get up and couldn’t, falling to her knees as her eyelids became heavy.
Nicole had sacrificed herself to save her!
Clémentine, without hesitation, charged towards the barrier and when she noticed the cocoon inside a psionic sphere next to the weapon that held that ability, her expression changed.
*BOOM*
Using her telekinesis on her body, she made a quick dodge as a giant squid fell from the sky.
Without giving her time to be surprised, a tentacle struck her with a terrible force that caused her personal barrier to shatter.
“Ughh...”
Hitting the ground and rolling around holding back her pain, she could see Laurence’s giant squid and noticed that the summoning archmage was pointing at Edward looking at the space mage.
Even though they were using telepathy to communicate when the space mage looked towards Edward, whose spell had already exceeded any level of danger and felt extremely frightening, Clémentine could understand what he was going to do.
Laurence’s rock golem had recovered from the previous battle with Edward and even though he didn’t fully, his body was using the earth to heal itself.
With that golem and himself, he was stopping the other students.
Leaving the giant squid here to stop them, he would allow the space mage to move close to Edward to attack him.
Watching as he was preparing his spell and seeing several tentacles being shot at her, Clémentine moved.
“STOP!”
Her shout spread a mental wave terrifying enough to paralyze the giant squid, which was a beast, but as for the students...
“HAA...”
“Ughh...”
“AHHH!”
They screamed in pain as Clémentine, through the telepathic link, mentally attacked.
Using the telepathic link as a medium lowered the mental defenses to a minimum and allowed her to deliver a direct hit.
Were they feeling thousands of needles piercing their brains after a hangover? Such was the consequence of going against a psionic.
A psionic’s field of mastery was the mind.
*Bang*
Another shot rang out and this time, the curse mage was instantly knocked down as the shot hit that student’s head.
Leslie had very strong combat armor with the ability to blink, so she was clearly able to come out healthy and more so when she was away from the battlefield, unaffected by the spells that impeded movement.
“GrhaA!”
Without letting Clémentine get close, the giant squid snapped out of its stupor and waved all tentacles towards her.
*BOOM*
Andrés, who was pale, overloaded his drones again and released powerful laser beams that burned the squid and hit the other students’ personal barrier.
Clémentine could only grab the remaining tentacles with her telekinesis and felt the enormous force behind each strike.
“Ughh...”
Her nose began to bleed and, watching as the space mage recovered, she took one last look at the black cocoon.
It was true that when she heard that Alice was captured, she received quite a shock, but she wasn’t disappointed.
While in her mind Alice and Aurora were individuals who possessed a high position because of their ideals or overwhelming strength, seeing Alice captured now, all she wanted was to save her.
That was the same for the others and for such a reason, it was Nicole went out of her way to help her.
Feeling the pressure of the tentacles of an S-Rank, Clémentine did not hesitate any longer and stopped holding it with her telekinesis.
Redirecting her strength, she sent a powerful attack towards the weapon holding Alice, disabling it.
*BOOM*
“Ugh...”
Coughing heavily from the giant squid’s blow, Clémentine groaned painfully as she rolled on the ground.
The tournament barrier didn’t activate, but she was sure that if the squid attacked her again, she would be disqualified immediately.
That didn’t happen, however, as the cocoon reached out dozens of hands everywhere, trapping the giant squid, but also catching, unsuspecting, the other students nearby.
A large black hand held Clémentine and the others, but before she knew it they were thrown far away.
Clémentine, dazed, tried to steady her flight as best she could and glanced at the black cocoon, noticing Alice was out.
She was in the middle, catching the students and luring them close to her, then when they noticed her look, she gave a smile, pointing towards Edward.
When they followed the direction of that signal, everyone’s expressions changed.
******
“Run!”
“Run!”
“Stop him!”
“We fall together!”
The shouts echoed, and the battlefield became extremely chaotic.
Alice, who was released, trapped the Merlin Academy students with her black arms, preventing them from fleeing.
Nearly a hundred black arms extended from the cocoon where she was.
Laurence gave the order to retreat, but the Hero Academy students would not allow it.
Rachael waved her wand, creating a powerful flare, while Gregorio intercepted Laurence, leaving Niels suffering with the rock golem.
The other students, like Alexey, Frank, Cristian, Jordan, and even Vanessa and Jaxon, were stopping their opponents.
Edward, who was watching all that, focused on his surroundings, where thousands of lightning bolts were crackling.
Opening his hand in the sky, the lightning gathered above his hand, creating a lightning bolt that started to become tangible.
It resembled the weapon of a Greek god.
Edward designed this spell in imitation of that god.
“Run!”
The screams sounded again and at the same time, hundreds of lightning bolts descended from the black clouds, falling on that lightning near his hands.
The power increased extremely and the spell long ago passed from being an S-Rank attack... Coming close to an SS-Rank attack.
Perhaps it was far from a forbidden spell, but still, it was a terrifying personal spell.
When the sky became quiet, Edward grabbed the lightning and, as if that power was too much for his current ability, his lightning began to burn his hand.
Resisting the pain, Edward looked at the battlefield one last time and launched his lightning at the center where Alice was.
Traveling at an enormous speed, all the students disappeared before his attack hit the ground, and when it did...
*BOOM*
A huge explosion was created, so strong that Edward himself was ejected backward with extreme power.
When Edward could stabilize his flight and the dust cloud disappeared, he realized that there was a crater of several hundred meters.
The entire center was obliterated, along with most of the surrounding area.
A crater several tens of meters deep, like the fall of a meteorite, but unlike the meteorite, the lightning did not leave flames, but other lightning was spreading everywhere around a lightning bolt at the bottom of the crater.
That lightning imitated Zeus’ weapon... And this attack imitated his wrath.
This spell was the ‘Wrath of Zeus’.