There were flying spirit beasts in the air and spirit beasts crawling on the ground everywhere.
Which would be easier to fend off?
"I-I'm sorry, Grandma..."
Even Demona realized that blocking those in the air would be much more difficult, not to mention that there seemed to be far more of them.
"You're freshmen, so you don't have to catch them. Just chase them away! Good luck!"
With that, Lady Arne swiftly flew off. She moved so quickly that, before long, she blended in with the spirits among the tree branches, making it impossible to spot her.
While Sion and Demona stood there, staring blankly up at the Sacred Tree, suddenly —
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Roan began to draw up the abyss with a menacing force.
"W-What are you doing?" Sion asked in shock.
Roan responded casually as if it were obvious what he was doing, "It's time to prepare. The spirit beasts will be here soon."
"But Lady Arne just told us to chase them away..."
Sion couldn't help but notice that Roan seemed to be preparing for an all-out battle rather than just driving the spirit beasts off.
To Sion's innocent confusion, Roan simply smirked.
"Do you still trust Akerandir?"
"???"
Before Roan could even finish speaking —
Whiiiiiirrrrr — Whoooooooom —
An ominous flapping sound echoed from all directions.
Sion and Demona turned their heads, horrified by the scene they saw in front of them.
The already dark night sky had turned even blacker as swarms of insect spirit beasts gathered from every which direction.
***
Bang! Bang!
The overwhelming appearance of the insect spirit beast army was mostly for dramatic effect.
Most of them were blocked by the golden barrier Lady Arne had placed around the Sacred Tree.
'They're like insects flocking to a mosquito trap.'
Even as Roan watched the incredible sight, he couldn't help but think of a more mundane comparison.
In any case, the task left to the students was only to chase away the few insect spirit beasts that had managed to get through the barrier.
'The problem is, the ones that make it through...'
Roan kept his mouth shut.
'... are the elite!'
Crack!
"They're coming!"
Roan pointed his finger to one side and shouted.
Sure enough, an insect spirit beast was slowly approaching the Sacred Tree through a weakened spot in the barrier.
"Wolf Mantis!"
Sion recognized the creature immediately, her face becoming as pale as a sheet of paper.
The Wolf Mantis was a spirit beast classified between medium and large-sized beasts. With a body length of nearly 3 meters, its exceptional combat abilities made it a formidable opponent, even in the holy battles where it had excelled against similar-sized creatures.
There was no way the three freshmen, who had just entered the academy, were capable of dealing with such a beast.
Maybe if there were three fourth-year students...
Thud ─
But Roan dashed toward the Wolf Mantis, emitting streams of bright gray holy power from both arms anyways.
"Da-Darc!"
Sion didn't even have time to stop him. In Sion's mind, this wasn't something Roan should be confronting. They should be alerting the professors and evacuating instead. No matter how quickly Akerandir could heal its students, if someone's head was cut off, they would just die.
'What does Darc think he's doing?!' Sion felt like screaming.
Of course, Roan knew exactly how powerful the Wolf Mantis was, probably better than anyone else. But he also had a strategy.
'It tends to focus on the sap, so its combat strength will be reduced because its attention is elsewhere.'
Even though managing the Sacred Tree was an ordeal, it was more of a side event than a main quest. As long as you didn't panic, the difficulty itself wasn't that high.
'Besides, there are extra rewards based on performance.'
Roan's eyes were already on the hidden rewards! But for that, he needed help from the False Divinity.
'"You saw the blood magic I used in the future, right?'
Whuuuum ─!
The False Divinity responded positively.
'Can you translate it? If it's too hard, I'll just use blood fragments.'
Whaaaang ─!
The False Divinity, irritated by Roan's arrogant request, roared like a massive motorcycle. 'Hurry up and draw the magic circle!'
Roan smirked. "As you wish."
He opened the cap of the water bottle hanging from his waist and began drawing a blood magic circle using the abysshe summoned. The magic circle itself wasn't particularly complex, but it required abyss rather than normal dark magic to function.
In fact, magic involving the abyss tended to have simpler magic circles than regular spells of the same level.
'Abyssal Blood Spears!'
With the spell activated, three gray spears materialized around Roan. They weren't adorned with fancy decorations, but their solid and imposing appearance was enough to make anyone feel intimidated.
'What kind of holy technique is that?!' Sion was left utterly shocked.
"Go!"
At Roan's command, the three blood spears shot toward the Wolf Mantis.
Thud — Thud—
— !!!
The spears embedded themselves just in front of and beside the Wolf Mantis, deliberately avoiding a direct hit.
Since the creature was a spirit beast and not a monster, Roan had to avoid directly harming it.
After all, Lady Arne had specifically said to chase them away, not kill them.
The Wolf Mantis's triangular head jerked in surprise as it scanned for its attacker. Hundreds of compound eyes locked onto Roan, glaring fiercely. It spread its wings, preparing to attack.
But Roan didn't even flinch once.
'Abyssal Blood Spear, Abyssal Blood Spear, Abyssal Blood Spear….'
Roan, while unable to use high-tier magic, had plenty of magic power to spare. His strategy was simple: overwhelm the opponent with numbers.
In an instant, dozens of blood spears formed behind him. On top of that, he unleashed the full power of his dark magic.
Roaaaar!
A terrifying aura erupted from Roan's small frame, making him seem far larger than the Wolf Mantis in that moment. The shift in presence was immediate and overwhelming.
— ?!!?!?
The Wolf Mantis, completely caught off guard, recoiled. If not for its inability to step backward due to its body structure, it would have already retreated.
With a twisted grin, Roan spoke.
"They said to chase you away, but no one said I couldn't kill you."
"Go ahead and try if you dare!"
Flap — Flap —
The Wolf Mantis, startled and flapping its wings frantically, seemed to say, "I came here for a meal, not to die!"
It had only come to sip some sap, never imagining it would run into a human as terrifying as Roan.
"Get lost."
At Roan's fierce command, the Wolf Mantis took the chance to escape through the opening it had entered, fleeing for its life.
"What the hell just happened…?"
Sion stared in disbelief, glancing between the fleeing Wolf Mantis and Roan.
So, a freshman had just chased away a Wolf Mantis by himself?
'... With just his sheer presence?'
It was like something out of a novel playing out right in front of her.
At that moment, Demona approached from behind Sion, puffing out his chest with pride.
"Didn't I tell you? Roan can handle anything!"
Sion, too flustered to contain herself, shouted back.
"I-I knew that too!"
"???"
Before Demona could fully grasp the situation, Roan called out again.
"Over there!"
In the distance, another hole was forming in Lady Arne's barrier.
"This time, I'll go!"
Determined, Sion gritted her teeth tightly and ran toward the opening. She couldn't just stand by and let Roan outshine her any further.
'I can't lose to him!'
Roan, noticing Sion's odd behavior, turned to Demona and asked, "What's with her?"
Demona scowled and tattled, "I think the Saint Candidate doesn't have a great personality."
"What did you just say?"
'That didn't seem right…'
***
Meanwhile, in his office, Harden was deep in thought, glancing toward the east.
"…I suppose I should be concerned."
Though he had laughed it off earlier, managing the Sacred Tree was a challenging task for just three freshmen.
"No matter how capable Darc and Sion are, it's not going to be easy for them."
Naturally, Harden had already mentally excluded Demona from being part of their efforts. The wise Holy Spirit knew better than to count on him.
Rising from his desk, Harden decided to head to the Sacred Tree.
Traveling throughout Akerandir was convenient for the Holy Spirit. Although leaving the academy required the cumbersome process of full manifestation, within Akerandir's grounds, Harden could arrive almost instantaneously.
When Harden reached the Sacred Tree, he chuckled to himself as he surveyed the area.
'I can't believe that kid. Let's see how proud he is now.'
He fully expected to find large and medium-sized spirit beasts rampaging through gaps in the barrier, causing chaos.
And if the freshmen were truly in danger, Harden was prepared to step in and lend a hand — just a little, enough for that arrogant Darc to look up at him with gratitude and respect.
But…
The scene before Harden was completely different from what he had originally imagined.
'… What is this?'
Buzz, buzz —
"I'm sorry! Please find another sap elsewhere!"
As a Saint Candidate, Sion was doing her best to turn away an enormous swarm of small spirit beasts. Even Harden could understand that much.
'If it weren't for Darc, Sion would've easily been top of the class.'
Furthermore, Harden could acknowledge Sion's impressive divine power and affinity with spirit beasts.
But the real surprise was Darc.
Inside Lady Arne's golden barrier, several large and medium-sized spirit beasts had definitely managed to get through.
Normally, the students would be desperately trying to hold the spirit beasts back, preventing them from reaching the Sacred Tree.
Boom! Boom! Thud!
But instead, powerful holy techniques — or perhaps dark magic — were flying around, sending spirit beasts scattering in all directions.
Whizz! Crackle!
Spirit beasts scrambled to flee, narrowly avoiding the terrifying magic aimed at them.
And of course, the one relentlessly chasing the spirit beasts like a hunter with his spears was none other than Roan.
Small spirit beasts were being expertly handled by Sion, with her incredible affinity for them, while the larger beasts were being overwhelmed by Roan's sheer power.
In the end, they made a perfect team.
"What the hell is going on here?!"
Even Harden was at a loss for words.
Managing the Sacred Tree at night was supposed to be a difficult task that made even third- and fourth-year students tremble at that thought.
At that moment, a casual voice called out from behind Harden.
"Principal, you're here?"
"…?"
Harden turned to find Demona sitting comfortably on one of the exposed roots of the Sacred Tree.
"… And why exactly are you just sitting there?" Harden asked with a face full of frustration.
"Roan and the Saint Candidate are doing all the work, aren't they?"
Crack.
As befitting the Holy Spirit, Harden managed to hold back his irritation.
"Shouldn't you be helping your friends in some way too?"
"Hey, I've been working hard! I even cleared some branches."
"Oh, so you cleared that huge pile over there?"
"No."
Demona pointed his finger to the smallest, barely visible pile.
Crack, crack.
But, again, Harden remained composed like the Holy Spirit he was.
"… Why don't you at least contribute by casting a holy spell or something?"
"I'm a freshman, you know? I haven't learned any spells yet."
That was true.
Still, it was no excuse for Harden anymore.
"Then go swing a branch or throw a rock, at least!"
"Ahhh! The principal's angry! Roan, help!"
Demona bolted toward Roan as if his backside were on fire.
"Sigh, what's going to become of the Holy Empire... Well, Wickron has always been like that."
Harden shook his head in disbelief.
Not long after Harden's arrival, the situation with the spirit beasts was mostly under control.
Many were still being drawn to the Sacred Tree, but it looked like Lady Arne's barrier could hold up for now.
After some time, Roan, Sion, and Demona gathered around Harden.
"I thought you'd have a harder time, but you did well."
His tone was clearly laced with disappointment and reluctance.
"Thank you for the compliment," Roan said with a smirk on his face.
Harden glared daggers at Roan for a moment before clicking his tongue and saying, "Since you freshmen did such a good job, you'll be rewarded. I'll be back tomorrow after everything is finished."
"Yes!"
"Thank you!"
Demona and Sion were overjoyed, practically jumping with excitement. There was nothing more honorable than receiving a reward directly from the Holy Spirit.
With a kindly expression, Harden looked at Demona.
"Wickron, you have no shame, do you?"
Despite doing the least amount of work and barely helping with the spirit beasts, he had the nerve to be excited.
Of course, Harden had a particular reason for still rewarding Demona.
"But Darc, you are excluded."
He had no intention of rewarding Roan!
He knew Demona would be furious if he received a reward and Roan did not.
"Why not!?"
As Harden expected, Roan protested immediately since he did most of the work!
Harden chuckled and then narrowed his eyes at Roan, scolding him.
"You're hardly in a position to complain, are you?"
He glanced at the pouch hanging from Roan's waist.
Roan, realizing the situation, quickly backed down.
"I am just happy my friends are receiving the principal's grace."
After all, if Harden was letting him keep the pouch in exchange for not getting any reward, then Roan would have nothing to say to that.
Harden had expected this, but Roan was far more slippery than even he had imagined.
'Seriously, what kind of person is this kid?'
Without even realizing it, Harden was clicking his tongue, barely concealing his disbelief.