Chapter 91

I was honestly at a loss for what was happening.

Suddenly, a phantom of Carlisle as big as a school building appeared.

"Students of the academy. It's me, Carlisle."

While saying this, he waved his right hand.

Perhaps reacting to his voice, students began to show their faces from the windows of the school building, looking completely bewildered at the giant phantom of Carlisle.

"Listen up. A bad guy has invaded this academy. We need to take him down—this guy!"

Carlisle's hand stretched out and pointed to the masked man standing in front of me.

"So, let's all shoot Magic Arrows, shall we?"

At that moment—

The man seemed to grasp Carlisle's intention. As if time that had stopped suddenly started moving again, he rushed towards me.

I was also aware of his movement.

"Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow"

White flashes of light rushed at the man one after another.

However, the man deftly cut them all down.

It didn't matter.

If I could just stop his advance. Even a step back. My role was to stop the man.

It didn't have to be me who defeated him.

"Alright, everyone. One, two, Magic Arrow♪"

Carlisle led the chant.

But the students, unable to grasp the situation, didn't respond.

"Without hesitation. One, two, Magic Arrow♪"

"Magic Arrow♪"

"Magic Arrow♪"

"Magic Arrow♪"

Carlisle encouraged the students with a cheerful tone.

Gradually, more students began to follow.

"Magic Arrow...?"

At first, it was a voice of doubt.

"Magic Arrow..."

A few more voices joined in.

"Magic Arrow"

The voices grew louder and more confident.

"Magic Arrow!"

The volume and momentum drew in more students.

Eventually, the entire school shouted in unison.

"Magic Arrow!!"

With a loud voice—

A rain of white arrows descended.

A torrent of Magic Arrows rained down on the masked man.

"Chi-i-i-i-i!"

While deflecting my Magic Arrows, the masked man also skillfully dodged the students' Magic Arrows, but he had nowhere to run.

Dark scales appeared on the man's body, the same kind that had enveloped Riz's body when she went berserk.

The man swung his greatsword.

With one slash, a large number of the students' Magic Arrows were cut down. However, not all of them were destroyed. The white arrows that weren't deflected struck the man's body, but they seemed to be negated by the scales.

"Come on, come on, keep it up. One, two, Magic Arrow♪"

"Magic Arrow!!"

The students continued to shoot.

I wasn't about to miss this chance either.

"Magic Arrow"

Aiming for the moment when the students' rain of arrows would engulf the man.

With one sword, which to hit?

If either one hit directly, it wouldn't end well—

"Don't underestimate me!"

As he said this, the man's greatsword suddenly split.

Split?

No, it had turned into two swords. The man now held a sword in each hand.

He deftly deflected the Magic Arrows coming from all directions. The parts he couldn't deflect were absorbed by the dark scales.

"Ha ha ha, you're doing great! Everyone, keep it up!"

Carlisle's voice faded out behind me.

The phantom must have disappeared.

But I had no time to look back.

"Magic Arrow!!"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow!!"

"Magic Arrow"

"Magic Arrow!!"

"Magic Arrow"

Countless Magic Arrows rained down on the man.

He continued to intercept and dodge them. The ones he couldn't deflect, he took head-on. I assume the scales were protecting him—

Or was it just my imagination?

The concentration of the scales seemed to be thinning.

The man, deflecting the barrage with both swords, started running.

It was a reckless charge.

Not the careful, precise movements he used when facing me initially, but a desperate, all-or-nothing rush.

It was proof that the man was running out of options.

When the black scales covering his body had completely disappeared—

"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

Finally, the man exceeded the range of the students' Magic Arrows.

Standing in front of him was—me alone.

The man transformed his two swords back into a greatsword and approached me.

"Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow"

I fired white arrows in rapid succession.

The man's greatsword flashed, quickly deflecting the Magic Arrows.

...This isn't good.

The man was almost upon me.

"It's over!"

With a roar, the man thrust his pitch-black greatsword at me.

"Magic Arrow!"

I extended my right hand and fired a white flash.

Black and white intersected at a single point.

Immediately after—

With a sound like shattering glass—

The man's greatsword shattered.

"What!?"

A note of surprise escaped the man's voice.

Probably—

He had reached his limit. He had deflected the overwhelming number of Magic Arrows from the entire school and withstood mine as well.

It was more impressive that he had held out this long.

The man, momentarily stunned by surprise, quickly regained his composure.

He was a swordsman—a warrior.

Zero distance was a warrior's range.

Thud!

With a dull sound, the man's fist struck my cheek. I narrowly avoided a direct hit by extending my arm, but the heavy impact still traveled through my arm, nearly knocking me out.

As I stumbled—

A swift draw cut aimed for my throat. If it hit, I would definitely—

Die.

At that moment.

In the corner of my vision, which had moved sharply as I stumbled, I caught a glimpse of something.

A white-haired girl leaning out from the rooftop railing, desperately shouting something.

The distance was too great, and with many students shouting, I couldn't make out what she was saying.

But her desperate expression conveyed a prayer-like wish to me.

Just the wish for my safety.

That's what I felt.

It must have been because she wanted to convey that feeling to me.

And because I wanted to receive her feelings.

The feeling reached me.

It had reached me.

Because it had reached me—

I couldn't die.

That will moved my body. My martial arts skills were limited to what I had learned in my noble days and a bit in class.

They were far from enough to face a top-tier warrior.

But my body, moving with all my might, narrowly avoided the man's draw cut.

I mustered my strength and shouted.

"Magic Arrow!"

At zero distance, the man reacted to my Magic Arrow. He dodged the white arrow by leaning his body.

But—

The robe he was wearing couldn't keep up with his quick movements.

The white arrow tore through the chest of his flapping robe.

The man deflected it and roughly pushed me away with his arm.

"Ugh!?"

I stumbled and put some distance between us.

At that moment.

Clank, clank.

A light sound was heard. Both the man and I looked in the direction of the sound.

It seemed something black had fallen from the man's torn robe.

"!?"

Seeing this, the man visibly panicked.

Should he retrieve the object that had rolled behind him, or prioritize his safety and escape?

His hesitation was palpable.

But before he could make a decision, the situation changed.

At the man's feet—

A magic circle appeared.

A magic circle?

...What is that?

The man's reaction, a visible shudder, suggested it was an unexpected phenomenon.

His response was quick.

The man ignored both the black object and me.

He fled like a rabbit, dashing towards the main gate with incredible speed.

"Wait, Magic—"

I reached out to shoot a Magic Arrow at the fleeing masked man—

But my vision suddenly flickered.

I had reached my limit. The impact from the punch to my face.

"Ugh..."

Kneeling on one knee, I lost consciousness, falling into the darkness.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Carlisle stood on the balcony of the highest floor of the royal castle.

An image floated in mid-air.

It showed the figure of the Prince trying to escape from the academy.

(...Do you think you can escape from me, Prince of Darkness?)

He couldn't let the big fish he had caught slip away.

Carlisle intended to settle everything here.

His mouth had been chanting a long, continuous incantation.

For someone of his caliber, a genius in the seventh rank, few spells required such an incantation.

But this time, it was unavoidable.

Because—

He was about to activate a 'Divine Magic'.

A magic in the realm of the divine.

Carlisle's lips twisted into a smirk.

(Prince of Darkness. Can you escape the wrath of the Divine Dragon King?)

The Fantastic☆Magic Arrow! was brought to you by Carlisle P and the students of the academy.

[Announcement]

The cover for the book version of Magic Arrow is complete!

With permission to share, I've followed the example of many other authors and posted it at the bottom. Scroll down to see it, and I hope you enjoy it.

Lola is so cute! There are no other words.

I've also seen other illustrations, and I mostly respond with, "Lola is so cute. No issues."

Incidentally, the 'Magic Arrow Flight' has also been illustrated.

Even as the original author, I wondered, "How is it flying?" and "Isn't it hard to illustrate that?" but the professional did an excellent job.

It's a wonderful illustration that makes you say, "So that's how it flies!?"

It's flying in the color pages, so look forward to it.