Academy’s Barbarian

Dragon.

A body like a mountain, scales harder than black iron, dominating mana with its will, and summoning typhoons with a flap of its wings—the strongest creature on earth.

Hundreds of years have passed since the last dragon disappeared from the world, but the legends and records left by ancient heroes have become songs of warning, passed down through generations, endlessly reminding us of the dragon’s might.

And then…

【Krrrrrrr…!】

Was it some unwritten rule of the old bards?

Though the names, forms, and deeds of dragons varied from song to song, there was one line that always appeared, as if by some unspoken agreement.

Whether the dragon was good or evil, strong or weak, there was one phrase that never failed to appear in any song.

“The breath that scorches walls and fields.”

That was why dragons were considered calamities.

—

【Krrrrrr…!】

Nidhogg, flapping its wings and soaring high into the sky, opened its maw wide as it looked down upon the earth.

Its insect-like jaws split open in four directions like a cross. The magi that covered Nidhogg’s body, boiling like lava, spread out in all directions, forming a massive sphere.

A sphere of magi so large that the insect-dragon’s body was no longer visible. It was as if a black sun had risen.

“What kind of magi is that…!”

The overwhelming magi emanating from the sphere left the high-level magicians pale and trembling as they looked up at the sky.

A mana pool nearly a hundred times their own.

Was it a trait of the dragon? Or was it because it had been resurrected using the body of an insect monster?

The magi Nidhogg emitted had turned into a dark, turbid energy, but in terms of scale, it was still the power of a dragon capable of melting mountains and evaporating lakes.

-Uuuuuung!

Then, with a strange vibration, the sphere of magi, boiling like the sun, shrank as if being sucked into a single point, condensing in front of Nidhogg’s maw.

The insect-dragon, holding a massive black orb of condensed power in its mouth, looked down. Seeing this, Ferne turned around and shouted urgently.

“Everyone, run! Its breath is coming, get out of the line of fire—!”

“No, how are we supposed to know where it’s going to—”

As one panicked high-level magician reflexively began to complain,

【Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!】

Nidhogg’s maw spewed forth a waterfall of black flame.

The flame of magi. A dragon’s breath, carrying the heat of the sun, poured down upon the earth like lava.

Lacey urgently raised her cross spear and offered a prayer to the sky.

“May He spread His wings and shield us with His feathers, so that even the sulfurous flames of calamity may not invade us!”

A desperate high-speed incantation. In an instant, a pure white light spread above Lacey’s head.

A hemispherical holy barrier covering a radius of ten meters. It was the highest-level defensive miracle she could cast.

“Over here!”

From Ophelia and Bels to Persval and Milia, those who had been futilely attacking the flying insect-dragon hurriedly gathered around her.

The heat that even a high-level magician’s mana barrier couldn’t withstand for a moment. The only thing they could rely on was Elpinel’s miracle.

“Can we block it with this?!”

“We have to try!”

Lacey herself wasn’t sure if she could hold it. She was merely a human acting on behalf of the divine will, not a god herself.

Even as a saintess chosen by the gods, there were clear limits to what a single human could do.

Of course, she wasn’t the only one praying to the heavens.

“Elpinel, hear us!”

Bels Rugnar, Lacey’s paladin guard, gripped the holy symbol around his neck and added his holy power to Lacey’s barrier.

“Combat priests! Support Archbishop Elmain!”

“Lend your strength to the Saintess!”

She wasn’t alone.

The paladins and combat priests, who had been fighting off the hordes of specters spreading throughout the city, also offered prayers to their gods, adding their strength to Lacey’s holy barrier.

The pure white holy barrier, symbolizing the Elpinel Church Order, grew thicker, with crimson, gold, silver-blue, and pink divine light adding to it.

A dazzling web of multicolored light intertwined, supporting the holy barrier of the Elpinel Church Order.

And then.

-Kwaaaaaaa!

The next moment, a waterfall of black flame crashed down upon the pure white barrier like lava.

A pain as if her head was splitting and her organs were being twisted, a pressure as if all her bones were about to shatter, weighed down on Lacey’s entire body.

“Ugh…! Ugh…! Kuh…! Haaaaaah…! Elpinel… hear me…!”

The breath Nidhogg exhaled covered the entire pure white barrier, burning fiercely and emitting an immense heat. Lacey, maintaining the holy barrier, had to bear the brunt of the power contained within that breath.

It was beyond human capability.

Lacey staggered, blood mixed with groans escaping through her clenched teeth.

“Lacey-senpai!”

“Archbishop Elmain!”

Milia and Bels hurriedly stepped forward, supporting Lacey’s shoulders as she threatened to collapse.

“Ugh…!”

Lacey’s condition was dire.

She was clearly coughing up blood from internal injuries, and her eyes were streaming with bloody tears as if all the blood vessels had burst.

Her pale face was smeared with fresh blood, and her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

Despite her condition, she gritted her teeth, raised her convulsing arms, and continued to maintain the holy barrier, blocking the dragon’s breath.

But unlike Nidhogg, which endlessly spewed magi, Lacey was clearly nearing her limit. She could barely hold on for another minute.

“This is bad, if this continues…!”

Persval muttered with a grim expression, alternating between checking Lacey’s condition and the state of the holy barrier.

The pure white barrier, shaking with a deafening roar, was thinning as if burned by the flames, cracks slowly forming, threatening to shatter at any moment.

‘It seems we can’t completely block it.’

Ophelia, looking up at the scene, clicked her tongue and glanced at the dying Lacey. She gathered her remaining mana, preparing a high-level spell.

“…Lacey, hold on for just ten more seconds.”

“Do you have a plan?”

In response to Bels’ question, Ophelia nodded. A powerful mana gathered in her outstretched right arm.

“Yes. If we keep holding on like this, we’re all going to die…”

We have to jump.

Her finger pointed toward the ground.

—

-Fwoooooosh!

Nidhogg, spewing the flame of magi toward the most irritating presence.

It watched with unparalleled joy as the pure white barrier that had been blocking its breath finally began to crack.

Though it had expended a considerable amount of energy maintaining the breath for dozens of seconds, it was worth it.

【Grrrrrr….】

As it stopped its breath and closed its mouth, the scene revealed itself.

-Sssssss…!

Black steam rose like clouds from the smoldering embers.

The radiant white holy barrier that had blocked the dragon’s breath was gone, and the heart of the imperial capital had instantly melted into a lake of lava.

The superheated air shimmered like a mirage, and the molten bedrock bubbled and boiled.

A heat capable of burning buildings and melting the ground itself. No trace of human form or presence remained.

Most likely, the moment the holy barrier broke, the heat that rushed in was too much to bear, and everything melted.

Nidhogg turned its gaze away from the lava pit.

Having melted away the most irritating woman, it now judged that it could leisurely burn the remaining humans one by one.

“Don’t stop firing! We have to bring it down somehow!”

For example, the humans on the city walls who had started firing massive arrows like spears after it took flight.

【Krrrr…!】

Nidhogg tilted its body to the side, spinning once to evade the barrage of dragon-slaying crossbow arrows.

While it could block arrows aimed at its body with its carapace and magi, the arrows targeting its fragile inner wings were somewhat threatening.

If its inner wings were torn, it would inevitably crash, and it wouldn’t be able to take flight again until its wings regenerated.

Moreover, aside from the dragon-slaying crossbow arrows, there were still other threatening enemies.

Unlike those who had hidden under the holy barrier or the few humans who had been swept away by the flames before they could hide, there were those who had leapt into the air to evade the breath.

“…Did they all die? Really?”

Though bewildered by the thought that their allies had been wiped out, Floheta, the Tower Master, maintained her levitation magic and hurled lightning bolts from both hands.

“That can’t be!”

Following the instinct that the best attack is a leap, the best defense is a leap, and the best evasion is also a leap, Damien had leapt high into the air, flying close to the dragon.

“The empire’s doomed. My life feels half-ruined too.”

Ferne, summoning a giant eagle-like wind spirit, rode on its back and soared into the sky.

Of the thirteen knights and magicians who had gathered to face Nidhogg, only those three remained on the battlefield.

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