Chapter 28
The barrier enveloping the entire academy shuddered, emitting a grating sound as it wavered.
“Kuh… What is this?!”
I looked up at the sky from my room’s window.
Cracks of light ran through the barrier, pulsating ominously in the darkness.
I immediately rushed out of my house and headed for the academy.
A crowd was already beginning to gather.
From somewhere, a voice shouted,
“It’s an attack!”
Voices echoed from the hallways, from behind the school buildings.
The academy was buzzing, confusion spreading.
When I rushed to the training grounds, the Professor and Leon were already waiting.
“You’re late, young lady~♡”
Although the Professor cracked a joke, her expression was tense.
“Lydia, from here on out, this is the real thing. Don’t let your guard down.”
Leon’s voice was short and sharp.
My heart trembled deep within. But my feet didn’t stop.
Soon—the darkness tore open.
A horde of shadows, like the ones I saw that night, emerged one after another from the rift in the barrier.
They emitted a low, moan-like sound, creeping towards us.
“They’re here…!”
The Professor opened her fan, deploying a magic circle.
“Lydia, you get ready too.”
“Y-yes…!”
I tightened my grip on my staff and began an incantation.
The moment the first one lunged, Leon stepped forward and cleaved it with his sword.
Seizing that opening, another one approached from behind.
“Lydia!”
Reacting to the Professor’s voice, I instantly released an arrow of light.
The arrow pierced the shadow’s chest, and it vanished into black smoke.
“…I… I did it…!”
My chest grew warm.
But immediately, more than ten shadows surged forward at once.
The numbers were wrong. They were overwhelmingly greater.
“Whoa there~♡ This is just a bit troublesome, isn’t it?”
The Professor pursed her lips.
“Lydia, fall back!”
Leon yelled.
But I didn’t retreat a single step.
(If I run, it’ll just end with me being ‘protected’ again…!)
I channeled magical power throughout my body and raised my staff.
“—Luminous Barrier!”
The moment the shadows attacked, a dazzling wall of light expanded, pushing the horde back.
Squinting from the brightness, I shouted.
“Now’s your chance!”
Leon and the Professor moved simultaneously; slashing strikes and magic exploded forth, shattering through the light wall.
The darkness was blasted away, and the swarm of shadows dissipated into mist.
The moment the fight ended, the strength left my legs and I collapsed onto the ground.
But my chest was trembling. Not from fear, but from exhilaration.
“Lydia… that barrier just now…”
Leon’s eyes widened, his voice tinged with surprise and pride.
The Professor also smiled as she caught her breath.
“Hehe~♡ Looks like you’ve finally started to become ‘my student,’ haven’t you?”
Even though I was being praised, for some reason, I felt like crying.
