I got into school for nothing - Chapter 52
I got into school for nothing (52)
Lesson 12. Monster Wave - 2
The moment they arrived in the lower-rank dimension ‘Gellas’, they were met with a huge cheer.
It was a reception beyond their imagination.
“Welcome to Gellas, all members of Union Academy!”
“We will strive to ensure your stay is free from any inconvenience!”
“Soldiers of the Tolmon Empire, salute our saviors!”
What in the world was happening?
Countless soldiers lined the vast square, awaiting the Union Academy students. The sight of them saluting in unison upon the students' arrival was truly a grand spectacle.
“Shameless...”
“Ashamed? Of what?”
“...”
As Light didn't immediately reply to Ban Yuwon's counter-question, falling silent for a moment.
However, unable to endure Ban Yuwon's unwavering gaze, he spoke again to explain.
“They can’t solve the problems afflicting their dimension on their own, instead relying on beings from higher-rank dimensions. It’s pathetic, and that’s why I spoke thoughtlessly.”
“Hmm.”
So that was one way to look at it, Ban Yuwon nodded.
Though As Light, judging them by his own standards without knowing the full circumstances of this dimension, didn't seem entirely in the right either.
He also felt no desire to berate As Light for that reason.
—Everyone, attention.
Zenon, who had amplified his voice with magic so all assembled students could hear, announced again.
—The Gellas dimension is currently struggling against a Monster Wave. The objective of this special activity is the complete suppression of the Monster Wave occurring in Geronica.
“Oooohhh!”
“Thank you, thank you...!”
It was none other than the soldiers gathered in the square who cried out, excited by Zenon’s voice.
Among them, some collapsed to their knees, sobbing, while others stood at rigid attention, tears streaming down their faces. It made clear just how dire the Monster Wave crisis afflicting this dimension truly was.
With thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, reacting this way, even As Light, who had been giving them scornful looks merely for relying on Union, found his eyes welling up as if moved by their plight.
“You called them pathetic?”
“Sh-shut up!”
—Now, we will proceed to the most intense battlefield in this dimension for an observation period. Everyone, do not leave your current positions, and wait while following the instructions of the faculty and the Student Council.
The moment Zenon finished speaking, a massive, hemispherical shield formed, encompassing all thousand or so members of Union Academy.
Soon, countless strings of characters raced across the shield, and Ban Yuwon recognized them as the magical script that constituted spatial movement.
Astonishingly, Zenon had activated a spell to spatially transport the entire shield and everyone within it directly to the battlefield!
As Light, who had been sniffling along with the crying soldiers, seemed to shift his target to Zenon, glaring in his direction as he spoke.
“Did he just say we’re here to observe the battlefield?”
“Surely, with such a large group, we won’t just go to the battlefield and merely spectate.”
Indeed, Dokgo Yeon was right.
Upon discreetly approaching Professor Yumina and asking, Ban Yuwon learned that today was meant to showcase the horrors of a large-scale battlefield (or, more precisely, to starkly reveal the reality of lower-rank dimensions to the students), as well as to demonstrate the might of the faculty.
As Light, however, seemed even more appalled after hearing that.
“To use human deaths as teaching material. What do they even think of their sacrifices?!”
“We’re here to help, aren’t we? Don’t be so disgusted.”
“If only I had a little more power...”
“Alright, alright, let’s keep working hard then.”
Ban Yuwon, who was inwardly just as shocked as As Light, gave a wry smile and patted his shoulder, when a voice called him from behind.
“We meet again, Ban Yuwon.”
“Ah, Senior.”
A man who boasted a height and colossal physique more than a full span taller than Ban Yuwon, whose own body had recently shot up to 185 centimeters due to the real-time modifications from Hyunsingong.
The student, whose physical attributes were not so different from an Earthling’s, save for his grayish skin, looked down at Ban Yuwon and spoke.
“I am Graham, the secretary of the Student Council. A third-year.”
“I remember, Senior Graham.”
Ban Yuwon’s peak popularity had begun around two weeks prior, when he first uploaded a Tower exploration video.
In fact, even now, first-years, or even sociable second and third-year students, would occasionally approach Ban Yuwon.
But this senior had left quite a strong impression, being the only one among all those students who had come to invite him to join the Union Academy student council.
“Is that so? Have you perhaps considered joining the Student Council?”
“It’s a very grateful offer, but I’m still struggling just to manage myself...”
“Hmm. The Student Council will always await your visit. If you have any questions, please feel free to approach us at any time.”
Graham nodded heavily, then moved away.
Ban Yuwon merely offered an awkward smile, seeing Graham off, wondering if the senior thought too highly of him.
At first, he had been flustered and refused without really knowing, but it turned out the Union Academy student council was a group with considerable authority.
They were fundamentally responsible for the security of the Academy and its floating island, as well as the management of the Academy’s facilities.
Given that even many official events held at the Academy were influenced by the Student Council, one could guess their significance.
‘More importantly, there are no Special Class members among the Student Council executives.’
This was because they were a group designed to check and monitor the Special Class, preventing them from wreaking havoc and ensuring students could compete fairly.
Naturally, they were in a position to be at odds with the Special Class, and all their members possessed skills superior to the elites of the Special Class.
Perhaps that was why the Student Council was trying to co-opt him.
They would have anticipated that Rebellion would come into conflict with the Special Class.
‘Since their purpose was fair competition, they were also the group that at least treated students from the Special Admissions for Lower-Rank Dimensions like human beings.’
However, it was truly regrettable that even they couldn’t stop the machinations Ortima had carried out this time, leveraging his family’s prestige.
Ultimately, as a group composed of students, they had their limits.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Huh? When did... ah.”
Continuing his thoughts on the Union Academy student council, Ban Yuwon realized that the spatial transfer was complete, alerted by Dokgo Yeon’s voice beside him.
“Ah, ahh.”
A dumbfounded Rucell clutched Ban Yuwon’s sleeve.
Following her gaze, Ban Yuwon turned his head and soon found himself wearing a similar expression.
‘The sheer scale...’
They had been spatially transferred to an area of empty sky, roughly a hundred meters above the ground.
Below the sturdy shield supporting their feet, an impossibly vast plain stretched out before them.
No... it would be more accurate to say it had been transformed into a plain.
‘If you look closely, there are traces of many collapsed buildings... Only.’
Only, most of them had been reduced to dust, scattered by the enormous number of monsters filling the space.
—KWOOOAAARRRGGHH!
—Let’s all become one. Let’s turn all these pitiful humans into our comrades!
—Don’t falter, hold the defensive line!
—Hold on! I said hold on! Just hold on!
—KWAHHH!
The number of monsters densely packed across the land appeared to easily exceed several million.
Of course, there were human armies confronting them, but they were so overwhelmingly outnumbered that their defensive line seemed poised to collapse at any moment.
Ban Yuwon swallowed hard, mumbling at the sight of a true ‘battlefield’ for the first time in his life.
“Is this what a Monster Wave... is like? I mean, is it always this horrific?”
“The scale is much larger than what I know, but...”
Goblins, Orcs, Trolls, and Ogres formed the main force of the wave.
There were also grotesque monsters with twisted bodies, undead monsters moving despite death, and many other amorphous creatures.
In the sky, winged creatures, primarily higher-tier monsters like Harpies and Wyverns, soared freely. When they suddenly saw the group of over a thousand humans appear in mid-air, they startled and lunged, only to be bounced back by the shield enveloping them all.
—Currently, there are at least ten more battlefields of this kind in Gellas.
Just as he stood stunned, Zenon’s voice resonated in his ears, as expected.
—If dungeons are not dealt with promptly and are left unchecked, they resonate with the natural mana, giving birth to an absurd number of new monsters. This is a Monster Wave, and if it’s not properly contained, the scale of the resonance will grow, causing the number of monsters to increase exponentially.
The explanation continued in a calm voice, as if they were on a field trip.
Below them, people were dying in real-time, even now. It was truly an absurd situation.
—As you can see, if a wave intensifies, its effects can extend not only to natural mana but also to other objects, or even humans, that contain mana. In such cases, humans transform into monsters and join the wave.
“Khk, grrk...”
“Stop making those animalistic noises and calm down, As Light. If you jump in there alone right now, it’ll be a pointless death. But it truly is... astounding.”
The battlefield’s situation was so appalling that it made one wonder if this was what a world on the brink of destruction looked like.
Especially horrifying was the fact that humans could transform into monsters due to the waves emanating from the monster horde, and Ban Yuwon, wide-eyed, could faintly read the four characters for ‘Infection Wave’.
But that was as far as it went. Finding the source of the mana resonance amidst such a complex and vast web of concepts was too much for Ban Yuwon, who had only recently begun to wield Authority.
‘Of course, I don’t think something happening on such an immense scale can be easily stopped...’
Most of the students watched the horrors with an attitude as if they were viewing a rather watchable movie.
They were literally observing.
Of course, there were students among them who trembled with indignation, just like As Light, but unless they were going to step forward and annihilate that enormous number of monsters themselves, they couldn't intervene.
—Many lower-rank dimensions fail to stop Monster Waves and meet their destruction. Protecting them from such a fate is also a virtue of those in power. Remember well what you have seen today for the future.
Zenon’s gentle, almost emotionless voice continued.
Just as Ban Yuwon scoffed, wondering if this was some form of imperial indoctrination.
Zenon, who had been at the forefront of the group, took a light step forward.
He had moved outside the shield.
The change was immediate.
—SSSWAAAHHHH
In an instant, black storm clouds covered the sky.
And black rain began to fall upon the battlefield.
—KYIIIIEEEK!
—KURUK, KUHAHHH!
Ban Yuwon didn't immediately realize where the sounds were coming from.
He soon realized they originated from the storm clouds covering the sky, and after raising his head, he hastily lowered it again.
It was different from the Chancellor’s presence, which simply overwhelmed him through observation.
He instinctively knew that merely observing it was a concept that would harm him.
“Everything... everything is melting away...”
“Kiiing.”
As Light groaned, and Rucell whimpered like an animal, clinging tightly to Ban Yuwon.
The black rain that began to fall on the battlefield melted and disintegrated every being it touched, without discrimination.
Naturally, it spared neither objects nor people.
Humans, at least, seemed to have received a warning and moved to retreat from the rain’s range, but nearly a tenth of those engaged in close combat with the monsters ultimately couldn’t escape, swept away by the rain and melting alongside the monsters.
“Wow.”
“As expected of the Vice Chancellor. To erase all of them in a single stroke.”
“I can’t even begin to guess what kind of ability he just used.”
“...What a formidable power.”
As students whispered here and there, overwhelmed by Zenon’s display of force, Dokgo Yeon also murmured in admiration of his power.
“But it’s not clean. Just like the impression I got from him.”
“It is cruel, isn’t it...? To make no distinction between friend and foe.”
Professor Yumina, who likely already knew about Zenon’s ability, also had a slight frown on her face.
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon was focusing on a different aspect.
‘Concepts are being annihilated.’
Since the beings that filled the battlefield had died, there should have been residual concepts lingering in that place for a while, but there were none.
It wasn’t life dying and concepts disappearing.
It was concepts dying and life disappearing.
If Ban Yuwon had to confront that ability, what in the world would he do?
...At least for now, he couldn’t find an answer.
—Now, we will move to the next location.
Zenon, who had erased millions of lives in less than a few minutes, spoke in a voice that remained utterly serene.
As Ban Yuwon stared blankly at the strings of spatial transfer characters again covering the shield, lost in thought, Zenon’s voice resonated in his ears.
—As I said earlier, please do not forget what you have seen today, and remember it well.
For some reason, Zenon’s voice seemed to be etched distinctly into his mind.
Comments