The air was tense.

Feeling the necromancer's gaze, it felt as though I was on pins and needles. My skin crawled, and my legs felt like lead.

Breathing alone became hard.

"Huff."

It felt as though a heavy truck was weighing down on our chest.

"Haa... Haaa..."

Thousands of eyes were locked onto us.

"Hiek!"

A screech came out of the necromancer's mouth. It was hard to see its features, covered beneath the cloak, but the necromancer wasn't tall. From where I stood, it appeared to be rather small in stature.

About that of a young teen...?

"Hiek!" "Hiek!"

Screeches continued to come out of its mouth. Their sound resembling that of a strangled beast.

"W-what the hell is it trying to say?"

"Is it even saying anything?"

The sounds were starting to get to the group.

.....And just as it screeched yet again, Professor Hollowe stopped in his tracks as his eyes narrowed.

"You've got to be shitting me."

His words came as a wake-up call to me. Staring in the direction of where he was looking, I saw it too.

"Ah."

Faint cracks around the space near the necromancer.

They hovered in the air, attached to the very fabric of space.

"Mirror Crack."

The words effortlessly came out of my mouth.

It was one of the gates that led to the mirror dimension.

"This..."

How did the Mirror Dimension expand?

The Mirror Dimension was a separate reality from the known world. However, its expansion and influence were real.

From within the cracks, monsters would emerge. Like viruses, they would come out and reign their influence over the land near the Mirror Crack, slowly turning it into the same environment as within the Mirror Dimension.

By killing all the monsters, one could contain the Mirror Crack and stop it from letting the monsters come out of it to expand their influence over the land.

A Mirror Crack needed constant surveillance since there was no way to close it.

In total, there were about twenty contained cracks within the Empire. One within the Academy, fifteen others with the Guild, and the rest with the Megrail family.

And now...

The twenty-first crack had appeared within the empire.

".....The situation is a lot more serious than anticipated. We will have to retreat for now."

This was Professor Hollowe's evaluation of the situation.

It was an evaluation that I could agree with.

"This isn't something that mere cadets should be handling. We'll have to get Central to take care of this ma"

His words were cut short by a distant shriek.

It came from the necromancer.

Hieeek!

Before I could even react, something flashed above us as Professor Hollowe rapidly spun and brought his hand up.

Clank!

The surroundings shook.

"Hiek...!"

And the Professor groaned as he retreated several steps back.

A towering beast, resembling a wolf but twice its size, loomed over us. Its massive fangs dripped with saliva, and its piercing black eyes bore into us, locking us in its fierce gaze.

Drip...! Drip!

The hair on the nape of my neck stood on edge.

"Careful! This is no ordinary monster."

The Professor's words came out as a warning.

".....Remember when I said I might not be able to protect you?"

With both hands positioned in front of him in a fighting stance, he grimly stared at the monster.

"Now is that time!"

Boom!

His body shot forward like an arrow, appearing right before the creature in a flash.

"Everyone move back!"

At the same time as Aoife's shout, the Professor's fist clashed against the wolve's claw.

Bang!

The space around us shook.

"Uekh!"

"....Akh!"

Just the after-effect of the attack was enough to push us all back several meters.

"This, fuck..."

As everyone looked back, all eyes fell on the Professor who stood evenly with the beast.

"This is absurd..."

One of the cadets muttered, staring at the fight in the distance. Just from the mana pulses the two were emitting, the cadets could tell their strength.

It was for that reason that everyone was shocked.

"A terror rank?"

".....If that's the case, does that mean Professor Hollow is at least Tier 5?"

Evelyn questioned, staring at the Professor in the distance.

"Wait, hold up."

And as if realization suddenly dawned on her, she rigidly turned to face the necromancer.

"Ah."

Evelyn covered her mouth.

"....This is ridiculous."

Hieeeekkk!

A powerful shriek escaped the necromancer's mouth as it leaned in our direction.

"Ah...!"

"Move back quickly!"

"Damn it!"

Just as Aoife's shout came, two shadows cast over the area we were in. The first one to react was Leon who pressed hard against the ground and slashed upwards.

Clank! Clank!

His attack was quickly followed by Aoife who raised both her hands in the air.

"Auakh!"

Her face paled significantly as two smaller wolves appeared above us.

"J-julien! Do something...!"

Even without her saying it, I was already on it.

Clenching my hand, eight threads burst out of my forearm and latched onto the wolves in the air. If there was a difference between these threads and the usual ones, it was that the purple glow was more prominent and darker.

"Hm..."

My face twitched slightly as threads moved forward.

'....It's nothing.'

But I brushed it off.

Awoooo!

The moment it latched onto the wolves, they howled as their bodies spasmed.

"Fucking die...!"

This was quickly followed up by Kiera who brought her hands forward and flames engulfed the entire surroundings.

SHAAAH!

"Haa... Haaa..."

Thump Thump!

Accompanying her heavy breathing, two black lumps dropped to the ground.

"T-that wasn't too hard."

Kiera managed to mutter amidst her heavy breath. I was just about to tell her to stop talking when another shriek echoed and several more shadows cast over the area around us.

"Uh...!"

I was the first one to react this time.

As if my body acted on its own, I raised my hand up and shot the threads up. One, two, three, four... I pushed myself to the limit, with ten threads that covered the space around us.

But it wasn't enough.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

"Ugh...!"

I felt a sharp pain for every thread that snapped. The mana inside of my body started to drain rapidly, and before I knew it, I was on my knees.

Thum!

Drip! Drip...!

Sweat poured down from the side of my face.

"Ah, fuck..."

Although I had originally thought I was fit enough to fight, it became clear just now that I was merely lying to myself.

I was nowhere near fit enough to fight at the moment.

"Huaaa!"

The fact that my vision was blurry and my chest was hurting was perfect proof of that.

"Oy, get up! What the hell are you doing?!"

I felt something grab onto my shoulder amidst my blurred vision. Red, white... It was something of that nature.

Kiera...?

"Fuck, what's wrong with you? Weren't you supposed to be the strongest herAkh!"

A nearby growl told me that another monster was near us.

"I-i'm fine."

"Oy."

I pushed Kiera away and stood still.

Looking around, the world appeared blurry and the sounds were hardly reaching my ears.

"Haa... Haaa..."

The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own breathing.

"Huff."

It was getting rougher with each second that passed.

'Why is my body not responding?'

Regardless of what I tried, it seemed as though my situation was getting worse. The pain also intensified, as if my insides were twisting together.

With each blink, my vision would alternate between clarity and blurriness.

Clank! Clank!

"Ah...!"

From the wolves to the cadets. I could see the bitter struggle everyone was going through. Currently, I was the only one that was doing nothing.

I lowered my head to stare at my hand.

I tried to channel my mana, but all that did was twist my insides further.

"W-what..."

It was a despairing situation.

One that was further solidified by a loud shriek in the distance.

Hieek!

It was the necromancer.

All stopped at that moment. Be it the cadets, or the wolves.

All eyes fell on the necromancer and the horde near it.

"....."

A strange silence enveloped the surroundings. One that was quickly broken by the sudden movement of the necromancer and its army as it started to move.

Grrooowl!

Growls accompanied the necromancer's screech as the zombies came alive.

Thump!

They stepped forward in unison, the ground shaking as a result.

Thump!

Then came the next step.

Thump!

And then the next one.

The unified sound of their steps felt despairing as they drew nearer to us. And yet, despite the situation, I couldn't take my eyes away from the necromancer who stood at the center of it all.

Even as the zombies drew near, I fixed my gaze on the necromancer.

"Run...!"

"Retreat!"

Cadets ran past me at that moment, their faces pale with fear.

"Leave this! We can't fight this!"

The same was true for the Professor who ran turned back and ran in the opposite direction. At the same time, he tried to contain the Terror Rank wolf who for some reason, remained still and didn't chase.

Rather, it was looking at...

"Oy! What are you doing...!"

"Julien!"

I was the only one that didn't run.

"What are you doing!"

"Run...!"

Thump!

The zombies drew nearer to me.

I wasn't sure though. I wasn't looking at them. Blinking my eyes, I stared at the group of people in the distance.

They had only just noticed the fact that I was still standing where I was.

"Julien...!"

Their expressions.

They were a mix of surprise and worry.

Worry...?

"Ha."

I wanted to laugh then. What sort of nonsense.

Thump!

The tremors became more apparent. I could feel the zombies a few meters away from me. However, I wasn't scared.

"....."

The sound of their steps drowned out the noise around.

Soundlessly.

I stared into the distance.

Towards the other cadets and the Professor. They were all looking at me, probably saying something, but it was hard to hear.

Not that it mattered.

The zombies.

They had surrounded me from all sides.

....It was too late for me.