Chapter 44

The team battle had matured before I knew it.

Boom!

We took down the seventh Apostle.

It was a collaboration of me and Seron on the front lines, with Card and Grantoni providing support from the back. We battled hard and finally knocked down the seventh Apostle.

Huff, huff.

Next to me, Seron was breathing heavily. After a fierce clash with the Apostle, she was already a wreck.

If Grantoni hadn’t patched her up with necromancy, she would’ve been out of the game long ago.

But considering Seron’s original capabilities, she had done surprisingly well.

Seron’s skill level was in the upper-middle tier. For her to fight all the way to the seventh Apostle was purely her own willpower.

Even I, with my stamina, was panting. Seron was in worse shape.

Crack-

At that moment, I heard the sound of time flowing.

Time had already ticked 25 minutes on the clock hanging from the ceiling.

It took us 25 minutes to catch the seventh Apostle.

Team Iris took only 31 minutes and 21 seconds to take down their Apostles. Essentially, if we couldn’t catch the next three Apostles within 6 minutes, we wouldn’t stand a chance at first place.

“Seron, can you hold on?”

“Hhh, hhh, who do you think I am? A weakling?”

Seron grunted as she gripped her axe tightly, showing she still had some fighting spirit left.

“We have 6 minutes left to get first place.”

Seron bit her lip fiercely. She was struggling hard to get first place, but the gap between us and Team Iris was overwhelmingly large.

It took us 25 minutes to capture the seventh Apostle. The next one would be stronger, and the one after that would be even tougher. By the end, even Team Iris had taken 10 minutes for their last Apostle.

But despite that, Seron didn’t loosen her grip on the axe.

“Hmph, I’m good enough!”

She snorted, revealing her determination instead.

I couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Right, well said.”

We had taken down the Apostles as quickly as we could. Now it was time to see the fruits of our labor.

“We’re ready.”

Thud!

No sooner had I said my piece than a colossal coffin came crashing down from the sky.

Squeeeak-

Immediately after, the coffin door swung open, revealing an Apostle dressed in formal attire, hands clasped over its chest.

The Apostle’s face was hidden, but its elongated fangs jutted out from its only visible feature: its mouth.

The eighth Apostle.

A vampire.

The dark energy radiating from the Apostle washed over me and Seron, roughing up our skin.

Even my hair stood on end from the chilling presence.

But to me, there was no welcome that could compare to this ominous energy.

Our previous battles had all led up to this moment.

The vampire opened its mouth wide and prepared to spread its wings. If it took to the sky, we’d be in serious trouble.

“Sharine.”

So I called out.

“Uh-huh, it’s finally about to go down.”

Sharine prepared her ultimate attack.

The staff in her hand spun around in circles.

She hadn’t used her power until now, but now it was visibly gathering.

“Wow.”

Card, being another magician, gasped in awe at the sheer amount of magic pouring out of Sharine.

“So neat!”

The surroundings began to glow white.

Sharine’s earrings were shaking like crazy with the energy.

Finally,

“I’ll erase you.”

Sharine’s staff swung downwards.

―――――――！

All sound in the vicinity was swallowed up.

A blinding light streamed through the vampire as it tried to fly up.

It was bright enough to blind even those watching from the outside.

BOOM!

The delayed shockwave rocked the area, sending everything shaking.

I barely managed to grip Seron’s neck to keep her from rolling away.

What lay before us was now a white wasteland.

There was no sign left of the vampire or even the coffin.

Once again, I was reminded of how terrifying the magic of the top student, Sharine Sazarith, truly was.

If I had faced that directly, I would have definitely been sent to the other world without exception.

“Phew.”

Sharine gently blew on the tip of her staff.

The eighth Apostle, the vampire, unfortunately dropped dead the moment it appeared.

It took a mere 50 seconds to catch the vampire, including its appearance time.

“If it could be done like this from the start, why not?”

Seron, who had been dumbfounded, suddenly let out a shout.

“No, we wouldn’t be in first place then.”

I straightened Seron up and turned to look at Sharine.

Sharine had severely depleted her magic with that last spell.

As powerful as Sharine was, it took a lot of energy to wipe out an Apostle in one shot.

‘On top of that…’

Crack-

Sharine’s staff shattered and turned to dust.

Looking disappointed, Sharine shook the fragments away and pulled out a new staff from her waist.

Modern staffs couldn’t withstand Sharine’s full power output.

As a result, Sharine had to manage her power as if it were lacking due to her staff.

‘For a magician, the staff is like a launchpad.’

Even with bullets, you can’t shoot without a gun. Likewise, without a staff, a magician faces many restrictions in casting spells.

Sharine had the world’s best ammunition, but modern staffs couldn’t fully launch the power that was Sharine.

‘Those staffs might all be top-notch, but they still can’t handle her magic output.’

That’s why, the more she used her staff, the more limitations were placed on Sharine’s ultimate spells.

She could theoretically use magic without consuming a staff, but she wouldn’t be able to catch the remaining Apostles within the time limit.

“Grantoni.”

So I had devised this party composition.

With my call, Grantoni’s eye sockets gleamed with energy.

“It’s your turn.”

Immediately, the sky opened up.

From the opened sky emerged an Apostle, flapping a semi-transparent cloth.

The dozens of long arms brandishing ruthless weapons peeked through the fabric.

Soon enough, several eyes became visible on the inside of the cloth.

The ninth Apostle.

Underworld Constable.

It had emerged to take the lives of the living.

The Underworld Constable straddled the line between the real and spiritual worlds.

As a result, it was virtually immune to physical attacks and resistant to magic attacks as well.

To defeat the Underworld Constable, the most crucial factor was having someone who had studied Holy Studies.

Only divine blessings could inflict damage upon him.

Team Iris had managed to take down the Underworld Constable thanks to their Holy Studies Deputy.

But even so, it still took them a good amount of time to defeat it.

So, what about us?

“Ah.”

Seron finally caught on as to why I had recruited Grantoni.

Just like she realized, it was all for this moment.

A small shrine.

Spirit Sorcerer, Grantoni.

To him, who could traverse the spirit world, the Apostle straddling the two realms was nothing less than an easy target.

Clash!

Grantoni’s teeth clashed together in glee.

At the same time, a gray world quickly spread from beneath his feet.

Everything around us lost its vitality and light.

The gray world enveloped even the Underworld Constable that had revealed itself.

Spirit world.

Grantoni drew the Underworld Constable into his own backyard.

He clapped his hands together.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At that moment, dozens of chains appeared from the air, wrapping around the Underworld Constable.

Although it was immune to physical attacks, the Underworld Constable couldn’t escape the chains and got bound up instead.

Thunk! Bang!

The Underworld Constable, surprised to be caught, displayed its bewilderment.

But there was no time to be surprised.

Rumble!

At that moment, the chains began to unleash a blue glow.

Then, the semi-transparent Underworld Constable began to solidify.

“Hehehehe.”

Grantoni began chuckling as he ground his teeth.

“This is my world.”

In the spirit world, Grantoni’s authority far outweighed that of the Underworld Constable.

Finally, the Underworld Constable began to struggle.

But the chains only tightened around him more and more.

He couldn’t find a way out of the chains which were already wrapping around his very soul.

Grantoni flicked his finger with a flourish.

“Get out.”

Clang!

Gray fragments shattered off from the Underworld Constable’s body.

They cast out the Underworld Constable that had been lingering between the two worlds.

As a result, the Underworld Constable fully materialized in the real world.

And what welcomed the now-solidified Underworld Constable was none other than Sharine’s magic.

The white light erupted in the sky once more.

The Underworld Constable, who had high resistance due to its ghostly nature, was now back to normal since that ghostliness had been dismissed.

BOOM!

Sharine’s magic, sacrificing her elite staff, swept through the space once again.

The Underworld Constable shattered into countless pieces, scattering away.

But this time, it wasn’t just a single blast.

Sharine’s magic didn’t stop there. After retrieving another staff, she unleashed her continuous firepower onto the Underworld Constable.

Splash, cling!

Amid the flying pieces of cloth, a small, lingering child was caught in the white heat and disappeared.

Sharine had definitively eliminated the Underworld Constable’s second life as well.

“Phew.”

Sharine released a light breath, scattering the remnants of her shattered staff from her hands.

Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

She had unleashed maximum firepower three times in a row using her best staff.

Even Sharine would be exhausted from draining that much magic energy.

“It’s, it’s the tenth time already.”

Seron, lost in thought, hurriedly checked the time.

It took 2 minutes to take down the Underworld Constable.

Time had passed 28 minutes and 10 seconds.

We had only 3 minutes and 2 seconds left.

If we couldn’t defeat the tenth Apostle in this time, we wouldn’t get first place.

“We’ve got time! With Sharine’s magic, we can make it!”

“No, Sharine’s magic alone won’t be enough now.”

Even though Seron looked like she already had victory in the bag, unfortunately, I couldn’t agree with that.

Rumble!

At that moment, the ground shook and split apart.

Card used shadow magic to lift us so we wouldn’t fall into the crevice below.

Amidst that, a being emerged.

It had a long body with multiple feathers instead of a head, and a tiny palm-sized figure glowing faintly.

The tenth Apostle, Urese, had emerged, who was considered the strongest in unarmed combat, and who could only be captured by Team Iris thanks to their Holy Studies Deputy and the blessing received, it took them 10 minutes to do so.

The tenth Apostle. Urese.