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“3-2? A special alert?! Everyone, gear up immediately! Corin! Corin? Has anyone seen Corin?!”
“Will, Corin hasn’t come back,” Mia told William with a worried expression.
“What? It can’t be! Damn it! Willie! Dana! I’m leaving everyone to you! Make sure even the children from the lower levels have gear on! I’m going to activate the barrier device!”

The barrier device was a magical tool installed in the school. Now that a special alert had been issued, they needed to activate it immediately to set up protective wards and encircle the entire campus. But it wasn’t something the students could use right now; only William had the authority to activate it.

He was worried that Corin hadn’t returned just yet, but his priority was securing the school. After leaving the situation in the hands of the two oldest students, William dashed out of the training area.

The office where the activation device was located was about 30 meters south of the training area. William ran, fumbling to fasten the clasp on the breastplate he had on after hearing the first bells. His boots were already laced up, and by the time he slipped his hands into his gloves, he had reached the main building’s office.

William threw open the door to the office and dashed inside. Almost immediately, he realized that she was there.

“Corin?! Why are you here? Is Fiorina with you?”
“Will?!”

Corin stood inside the office, holding Fiorina, the very girl she had gone searching for, tightly in her arms. Seeing Fiorina pale and limp in her grasp, William quickly assumed that Corin was having trouble moving her.

“Both of you, hurry and get back to the others!”

Relieved to have found Corin, William turned toward the shelf where the barrier device was stored.

“No, Will! Please be careful!”
“I know, Corin. But right now you need to hurry, go to the training area, and get geared up.”

William quickly instructed Corin on what to do, and without waiting for a response, he reached towards the double doors at the top of the shelf. Using a bit of Mana, he unlocked the doors and reached inside to retrieve the device to activate the protective barrier.

“Hmph, so it was there.”

The moment the unfamiliar voice rang out, a massive shadow surged forth, morphing into countless spears that launched toward William with terrifying speed. The shadow tore through the office’s north wall, and before William could even grasp what was happening, he was hurled outside—completely powerless to resist.

“ARHG!!!”

William’s body was blown out of the building. He bounced on the ground several times before eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the yard.

“NOOOOOOOO! WIIIILL!”

Corin’s scream echoed in the courtyard. Clutching Fiorina tightly in her arms, Corin sprinted through the rubble of the wall toward William.

“I was in quite the pinch, you know. Both of these girls here kept saying they didn’t know where it was. I was at my wits’ end.”

The figure of a boy wrapped in shadows emerged from the shattered wall. In his hand, he casually toyed with the activation device that William had retrieved earlier. The boy’s once-black hair had turned silver. Inside the office, it had been hard to tell, but now, it was clear that he was wearing a butler’s uniform.

“Either way, it looks like only someone with the proper authority could take it out, so thanks for the help.”

William, struggling to lift his body off the ground, placed his hands firmly against the earth. He tried to use the muscles in his chest to push himself up, but… “Blegh!” Blood escaped William’s mouth.

(Damn it! Several broken ribs. Did my lungs get damaged?)

William grimaced as he coughed and immediately channeled Mana through the breastplate of his armor, casting a restorative spell on himself. The magical engravings on his armor responded, beginning to enhance his physical abilities while aiding the healing of his wounds.

Both William’s healing spell and the armor’s support were basic spells. They wouldn’t be enough to quickly heal his wounds. But they were enough to let him move. It also didn’t take long for Corin to come to William’s side.

“Will, Will! Are you okay?! Can you move? Hang on! I’m going to heal…”
“I’m alright, Corin. Take Fiorina and go meet up with the others!”
“But Will, you’re wounded! We have to heal you quickly!”
“That won’t do… He’s not the type of opponent who’ll let us get away with that. I don’t even consider this a wound! Save your magic. Don’t use it on something like this! You should focus on supporting from the rear!”

A bitter expression crossed Corin’s face. She knew the situation all too well. She understood that the person in front of them would not allow them any time to recover. If that was the case, the right thing to do now was to get to everyone as quickly as possible while Will was still standing and capable of defending them. That was what Will was telling her.

That he would become a shield while she ran away.

Corin knew that all too well. But even knowing that, there was no way she could leave Will behind as a shield! Corin’s face twisted with anguish.

Soon, the children emerged from the training area, having heard the destruction coming from the school building and sensing the unusual situation.

“No! Everyone, get back! It’s an enemy attack!!! Get the children inside!!!” Determined, Corin stood up with Fiorina in her arms, turned toward the training area, and shouted as she ran.

“I wish you would leave big sis here.”

As he spoke, the shadow that enveloped him undulated like a wave and rose sharply, transforming into spears, which shot forward with tremendous speed. Several black spears passed by William, but he couldn’t react to them in time.

One of the spears pierced Corin’s right shoulder and left calf, pinning her to the ground. Immediately afterward, the shadowy spears vanished, dissolving as though they were made of water.

“Argh!” Corin’s screams echoed through the area as she hit the ground. Fiorina slipped from Corin’s grip and fell to the ground, rolling across the dirt. Corin remained on the spot, writhing in pain, blood flooding from her shoulder and calf.

William’s consciousness boiled as he watched the blood stain Corin’s shoulder. In the distance, he could barely make out the sound of the alarm bell ringing twice.

“YOU B̲A̲S̲T̲A̲A̲A̲A̲R̲D̲!!!”

Not only did he fail at being a shield, but he also allowed Corin to get hurt in front of him. Rage surged through William, and he turned toward the boy, charging at him with fury.

The weapon William held in his hand was a single short sword. He hadn’t brought his beloved longsword to Amukham this time. So he’d borrowed this sword from Howard for self-defense. Despite the blade being smaller than what he was accustomed to, its performance remained more than sufficient.

The white boy twisted his mouth into a smirk and sent another shadow hurtling toward William. William rushed forward, weaving between the black spears thrusting out at high speed. The spears scraped and gouged at his arms, legs, cheeks, and any unprotected part of his body. Still, he closed the distance between himself and the boy, and with his momentum, he swung the sword down. However, the boy shifted like a mirage, retreating backward to avoid the strike.

Moreover, the boy’s hand was gripping Fiorina’s arm, who was supposed to have been right next to Corin. It was as if he were dragging a doll.

“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! When did you?!” William gritted his teeth in anguish. He couldn’t help but feel angry at himself for not only allowing Corin to be harmed but also for easily letting the girl, whom Corin had tried to protect, fall into the enemy’s hands.

“ARGHHHHHH!”

Suddenly, from behind, someone rushed forward while yelling. “Will! Move!” Dana passed William and charged at the boy, facing him head-on.

“HOW DARE YOU HURT CORIN!” Dana’s face was twisted with indignation as she thrust her spear at the boy several times, only for each of her strikes to be blocked by the black spears.

“Damn it!!”

Still increasing her speed, Dana unleashed another thrust of her spear. The sharp, high-pitched sound of Dana’s spear slicing through the air echoed like a drumbeat in rapid succession. Sweat poured down Dana’s face as she concentrated, her determination almost visible. The boy, observing the scene, looked as if he was enjoying himself. His mouth twisted into a wicked smirk.

“Stop it! Dana, get back!”

William also stepped forward and deflected a series of black spears that were closing in on Dana. The boy’s eyes narrowed, his mouth lifted even higher, and the number of black spears grew. William quickly placed himself in front of Dana to block the black spears, but he was overwhelmed by their sheer number. Although they avoided a fatal blow, both Dana and William were sent flying backward.

“Argh!”
“Ughh!”

Dana and William were thrown back four to five meters, rolling on the ground.

“Ahh!”

Suffering yet another impact, the pain from William’s earlier injuries flared up, and he felt like he was about to pass out from the pain. As soon as he tried to raise himself into a fighting stance, a black spear shot out toward him.

(I won’t make it!)

At this rate, the spear would reach him before he could defend himself. He couldn’t allow himself to take it head-on right now! But his body couldn’t keep up. Out of the corner of his eye, William saw that Dana, too, was still unable to get up.

(We’re both goners!)

Just when Will thought that, a figure stood before him. Immediately afterward, there was a loud echo followed by the sound of metal creaking and being struck.

Lombard Brook stood in front of them, holding out his large tower shield to block the black spear from reaching them. Beside him, Irvine Haggard was slashing away with his longsword at the black spears Lombard couldn’t cover.

“Both of you, get up! Now’s not the time to be sleeping!!!” Irvine yelled.

“Corin is fine! We stopped the bleeding!” Willie Hodgson, who was busy casting a healing spell on Corin, also shouted.

“Everyone, fall back! Keep your distance!” At Beatrice’s command, the four began to retreat, trying to create some space between themselves and the boy. Corin, who had barely regained consciousness, was dragged to the back thanks to Mia’s support.

“Wait! Please, wait! That child has Fiorina!” Corin’s voice was weak, but she still tried to stop Mia, who was supporting her by the shoulder.

“Calm down, Corin! You should focus on recovering! If not, we’ll be overrun!” Beatrice’s harsh words hit Corin like a bucket of cold water, making her bite her lip and fall silent.

“Besides, what is that thing?” Dana glared at the boy, voicing the question on everyone’s mind.

“He’s an enemy! A type of monster, and a high-ranked one at that!” William answered, using a spell to heal his wounds as best as he could.

“A Vampire. Fiorina had her blood sucked out by him, and now she can’t regain consciousness!” Corin revealed the boy’s true nature with a sad, pained expression. The group froze in shock at Corin’s declaration.

Willie muttered, “No wonder they don’t come out of the shade.”
“What?! Why is someone like that here?!”
“Now is not the time to be worrying about that!”
“I know! So? Will! What should we do?”

“We call for help,” Corin said quietly as she raised her head and stopped relying on Mia’s shoulder for support.

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