From the moment that the siege of Theta magic Academy had begun, to the moment that was now, the conditions of the battlefield had changed drastically.
From the start, the students of Theta were caught completely off-guard.
Panicked, fearful, and unable to think straight, they were rounded up and slaughtered like cattle.
5 impossibly strong enemies had snuck through the barrier that should have been impenetrable, and without alerting a single person, had managed to kidnap every single teacher and seize control over multiple key points in the magic academy.
Completely taking over the P.A system, blocking off the main exit, and even ensnaring the headmaster in a trap.
Not only had the caught the students off guard, but they had also taken complete control over the entire situation.
They were on top. An entire army of non-magicians and magicians who fought like rabid animals to their very last breaths.
All of them tattooed with pythons.
However, from that moment on, there was a shift. The battlefield had begun to change and shift to come to the advantage of the students of Theta.
It began with Shindo's defeating of Greed. Restoring nearly everything that had gone missing, including the teachers and students.
Of course, all good things didn't come without drawbacks. A majority of the students and teachers were knocked completely out of commission, and left in unresponsive states after being let out of greed's vault.
People had to be diverted to collect them, and ensure they were all moved to an area where they weren't at risk to be hurt.
And when you were trapped in one huge battlefield, finding one such area was not easy.
Finally, it was decided that they would be moved to one of the magical engineering's branch buildings, that hugged the barrier, directly opposite of the front gates.
After sending a message through the P.A system, courage was instilled in all of the students. They began to fight harder, coming to realize that their foes were not invincible.
And then swiftly after, came the defeat of Wrath.
The most recognizable of all of these attackers, and the one who initiated this act.
The one to clash head-to-head with a World ender.
He had been defeated, and now the battle was seeing more and more winnable.
The student's morale on the front lines had risen significantly, and no longer were they just trying to survive.
They were attempting to win.
To triumph over what was previously impossible.
When Aergia, the third, had fallen, the battle that was occurring on the frontlines had completely shifted from the state that it had been in originally.
No longer were the students of Theta being slaughtered like animals on a farm.
Now they were the aggressors, putting the pressure on the quickly dwindling numbers of they python tattooed men.
The allegiance of these men, their goal, and their reason for coming her and slaughtering these students did not matter.
Because they were about to lose.
However, the battle did not remain in the favor of Theta's students for long.
Just as the tides of the oceans rise and fall. Rise and fall.
That was also the flow of the battle.
Rise.
The castle of dreams had been a successful hit. A beautiful, mystical land that you could lose yourself in.
A plethora of activates waiting to be tested, things to be done, foods to be eaten, and fun to be had.
The grueling hours of everybody had paid off.
Fall.
And then the attack begun. Muder after murder, and injury after injury, they were overwhelmed and pushed to the very brink.
Rise.
They had made a comeback. They were nearing the home stretch. Soon, this battle would be over.
And just like the natural process of the ocean, when the tide would rise, then it would inevitably fall.
And that was exactly what had happened on the battlefield.
Fall.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Suijin stood in a momentary shock at the sight in front of her.
After issuing the orders to everyone, she had taken Masayoshi and Erika and decided to scale the destroyed outer wall of the magic academies lobby.
They had taken the wall and managed to get themselves along one of the balconies of the second floor.
From that position, what they saw could only be described as chaos.
The last moment they had seen the battlefield, it was a place full of raging battles, blood and destruction everywhere.
Despite that grim description, they were winning.
The students of Theta had managed to push back their attackers significantly. They were on the precipice of victory.
That's what made the sight in front of them even more disheartening.
Massacre. Destruction. Whatever term you wanted to use to describe it would work.
Hundreds of bodies were scattered about. Splayed out along the ground. Burnt to a crisp. Damaged to the point they were unrecognizable.
Belonging to both student and enemies alike.
They were impaled upon spikes and weapons, scattered along the floor, fallen off of the elevated platform of the magic academy into the deep moat below.
The sight was horrific. Flames ravaged the battlefield, consuming and everything in their path. Raging like a massive beast they tore about the battlefield, indiscriminately destroying everything in their path.
The final addition to the horror was the rain, which continued to pound down ceaselessly. Just as raw and powerful as the flames that raged about, it could only be described as a force of nature.
The drops of rain were more like bullets and bombs that fell at an alarming rate. The rain fell so violently that it reduced the field of vision.
It clashed with the flames in a storm of elements, something beyond human comprehension. Neither would yield.
An immovable wall vs and unstoppable force.
And caught in the middle of this hell, was the ongoing battle.
It was horrific.
And yet Suijin could not tear her gaze away. All of this death, all of this violence and loss.
Who could be blamed for it all? Who would the blame fall upon?
As her eyes took in every part of the battlefield, she began to thing to herself, "Why?"
What exactly had they done to deserve a horror like this befalling them.
For the first moment during this entire battle Suijin wanted to fall unto her knees and scream.
Cry, rip out her hair and pound her fists against the wet ground.
It was in this moment of raw emotion that Suijin confronted her true feelings.
She was tired.
I want to give up. Can't I just give up? No one would blame me, would they?
She just wanted to get away from it all. Return to a safe place. The arms of her mom. Back to a time when her only worry was making sure Yuri didn't do something stupid on her behalf.
Back when all she had to worry about was Shindo isolating himself from everything.
Back to a time when all she had to worry about was the wellbeing of the magic academy. The plans of the castle of dreams.
As cowardly as it may have sounded, she did not want this role. She did not want to be the one that everyone looked too for help in the perilous situation. She didn't want to be the one who gave orders.
Because it would mean that the outcome would be a product of her own decision. She would be responsible for all deaths that occurred.
And in truth, she didn't want that. Tearing her eyes away from the battlefield for a brief moment, she looked at her own hands. They were shaking.
Covered in dirt and wet with rain.
And yet from her vision, her hands were slick with blood. In fact, her face was covered with the substance as well.
IN a single moment the rain falling had been transformed into blood.
The entire world had been given a red hue. Everything was drenched in the deep dark red of blood.
Blood that belonged to somebody's child. Somone's cousin, and someone's best friend.
All of spilt by Suijin's own hands.
In that moment, she felt small amidst the blood rain. The face of the raging flame that stood in front of her, on a path to consume the entire magic academy.
She was tiny.
Aergia's words returned to her in that moment.
So that when you meet your inevitable end, you'll realize that no reason can justify the struggle against the inevitable.
In that moment the words Suijin had cast away returned, and they occupied a majority of her head. The only thing that she could think about was the idea that,
"Maybe she was right."
And in that moment, Suijin Hajimoto was on the verge of giving up.
If allowed one more second in her thoughts, she would have succumbed to her doubts.
She would have fallen to her knees.
And she would have been defeated.
However just then she heard a faint cry. One that originated from the battlefield down below were students fought desperately.
"-one!"
At first Suijin couldn't make out what was being said.
Snapped out of her own spiral, she focused her hearing, boosting its range with mana.
"Just one! Remember the president's words! Just one!"
At first hearing those words made her want to collapse. They were using her words as motivation to fight.
Her own words would lead them to their death.
However, Suijin recalled what she had intended when she had given that speech. She had told them that all it required to still have hope was for one person to keep battling. As long as one did, the rest could find their feet as well.
And so, hearing all of these students crying out, and using her words to keep on pushing, it would be the greatest disrespect for her to not honor that, and continue to fight on herself.
Even if she was scared of all the deaths that might happen because of her.
Even if she was tired.
Even if she wanted to give up.
And even if she wanted to fall.
She would force herself to try. In order to, at the very least, honor the will of those fighting.
Erika, who had been watching the whole situation, placed a firm, but Shakey hand on Suijin's shoulder.
Receiving that support, she nodded, steeling herself, and continued on their ascent.
Within minutes, they reached the battlements were Riko and her sister Ayung were manning the cannons along with other students from the magical engineering branch.
When they noticed Suijin and the others approaching, they wheeled around, shock in their faces momentarily.
"Riko!"
"Suijin! You're okay!"
As much as the wanted to crush each other in a hug, they knew they had more important things going on.
Riko's eyes had the same tired look as Suijin's.
"It isn't good is it?" Suijin asked.
Riko shook her head. "Their tech has neutralized out best advantage. Not to mention it seems to convert any mana nullified into whatever that flame is. It can't be put out by any water spells.
Looking down at the battlefield once more, Suijin said, "We need to pull back. We can't beat them like this."
Riko nodded at that statement.
"Do you happen to have any aces up your sleeves?" Suijin asked. She knew that Riko tackled many projects on her own, even without the authorization of her or the headmaster.
Riko paused for a moment.
"We have to use it Riko. It's our only option!" Ayung shouted from where she was a bit farther down.
After hearing that, Riko nodded. "We have something. We were testing out different things with teleportation magic along with Shindo. If it works, we could defeat them without a large-scale battle."
Not wasting time to wonder about whatever secret project they were getting up to with the help of Shindo, Suijin nodded. "How much set up do you need?"
"We can buy a bit of time with this barrier that we've been holding out on using, but with this much mana nullifying tech, it won't last long. Once it falls, we'll need people to serve as a bit of a distraction."
Riko had a hard time saying that last part, but Suijin nodded her understanding.
Erika and Masayoshi volunteered. More Erika volunteering for both of them, because Masayoshi wa staring into the rain.
"Fill me in on the specifics of this machine as soon as we regroup."
Riko nodded, and pointed towards the loudspeaker they had mounted the battlement.
"That should amplify your voice loud enough for you to be heard."
Suijin nodded. Took a deep breath and then took a step forward.
And another.
And another.