Seeing the way Sellen practically bristled with anticipation, Lucian immediately understood: the resentment she harbored toward the sorcerers of the Academy had clearly been festering for a very long time.
Back then, Sellen had been imprisoned on the Weeping Peninsula, subjected day and night to relentless magical torment. That hatred had not faded, it had merely been waiting.
Lucian turned his gaze toward the Church of the Cuckoo connected by the corridor and asked softly,
"Teacher, how are you planning to make your move?"
Sellen let out a light laugh, her lips curling into a smile so sweet it was almost intoxicating.
"My dear apprentice, the Church has only two exits in total."
—
Inside the Church of the Cuckoo, several sorcerers had been assigned to stand guard.
Guard duty in name only, really—they weren't taking it very seriously.
After all, the Academy of Raya Lucaria had remained sealed off for many years now. Even if someone had somehow obtained a key and infiltrated the Academy today, the grand lift had already been destroyed. Logically speaking, no one should have been able to come up here.
With nothing pressing to worry about, each of them simply held a sorcery tome and pursued their own research.
The weather today was… odd.
A few peals of thunder had sounded earlier, something none of them remembered encountering before.
The sorcerers had taken the anomaly seriously enough to send someone out to check, but the conclusion was ultimately mundane: it was probably just a rare fluctuation in the magically controlled climate.
Then suddenly, the sorcerer reading at the center of the church lifted his head and turned toward a nearby wall.
From behind it came the sound of footsteps.
That direction… led to the side door connecting to the Academy classrooms.
Had one of the previously dispatched support members returned?
A sorcerer stepped inside, clad in standard Academy robes, his head encased in a Karolos Glintstone Crown.
The moment the newcomer entered, the sorcerer in the church sensed something was wrong.
This person was definitely not any of the support sorcerers they had seen earlier—nor was he an Academy sorcerer at all.
Because this sorcerer was wearing shoes.
All sorcerers of Raya Lucaria went barefoot.
There was no doubt about it.
This was the intruder they had been warned about.
The priority now was clear: alert the others immediately.
"Enemy intrusion!"
The sorcerer standing in the center of the church tossed his book aside and raised his staff.
With a clatter, Marionette Soldiers dropped down from above, while the sorcerers on the second floor lifted their staves, already preparing their spells.
They only needed to hold out for a short while—long enough for Academy reinforcements to arrive.
The Church of the Cuckoo was under magical surveillance. As long as they could endure, the support team that had only just departed would surely return—
But… could they really hold?
Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead.
This was terrifying.
They had been certain the intruder couldn't possibly come up here—and yet he had appeared directly from the rear, as if by magic.
Everything about this man was shrouded in mystery.
—
Lucian himself didn't understand how he had been identified so quickly.
He had emerged from the Academy's direction. His clothing and glintstone crown were flawless. And yet some low-ranking sorcerer had instantly seen through him.
He'd even thought his disguise was pretty convincing.
It seemed he'd need to study this issue later, otherwise infiltration would become troublesome in the future.
As for now, the solution was simple.
Just kill every witness inside the Church of the Cuckoo.
The sorcerer before him and the mages on the second floor raised their staves, unleashing a barrage of glintstone sorceries at Lucian.
In response, Lucian calmly constructed several shields of pure magical force in front of himself.
One after another, glintstone spells slammed into the barriers—only to shatter harmlessly.
No matter what kind of sorcery they cast, none of it could break through his defense.
This magic shield—designed specifically to counter sorceries, wasn't anything particularly profound. Lucian had just learned it from Sellen a short while ago.
The spell's strength depended largely on the amount of magic power supplied.
And Lucian's reserves were vast.
The magic consumed in blocking these attacks was utterly negligible.
From behind the shields, Lucian unhurriedly began experimenting with the dual-casting technique he had just learned.
In an instant, countless glintstone crystal shards erupted from the tip of his staff, scattering toward the sorcerers and puppet soldiers alike.
Sorcery — Crystal Barrage.
Much like Crystal Barrage's cousin, Crystal Release was a spell reverse-engineered by sorcerers through the study of Crystalians.
If Crystal Barrage was a glintstone machine gun, then Crystal Release was without question a glintstone shotgun.
The crystal fragments, laden with immense kinetic force, spread outward in all directions, instantly pulverizing every puppet soldier on the ground floor.
The sorcerers, however, reacted swiftly.
They raised magical shields of their own just in time, blocking the incoming crystal shards.
Seeing this, Lucian shifted tactics and unleashed Crystal Barrage at the sorcerer directly in front of him.
Dense streams of glintstone crystals hammered relentlessly against the sorcerer's shield, shattering one after another and rapidly draining the opponent's magical reserves.
The sorcerer being raked by the glintstone "machine gun" was not alarmed—instead, he felt a surge of relief.
With the intruder's attention focused on him, the sorcerers on the second floor could attack without restraint.
True, the enemy was capable of dual-casting and possessed terrifying power—but they had numbers on their side.
Maintaining defensive sorcery while continuing to cast Crystal Barrage, the intruder had to be reaching his limit.
At least, that was what they believed.
The sorcerers on the upper floor clearly shared this judgment.
Several of them maintained sustained suppressive fire, while one Lazuli Sorcerer vaulted over the railing and leapt down.
Lazuli Sorcerers wield sword and shield, study both Carian and Academy sorceries, and excel in close-quarters combat.
Still midair, the Lazuli Sorcerer had already formed a Carian Greatsword, swinging the massive blade down toward Lucian.
Just before the magical greatsword fell, Lucian did something that shocked everyone present.
He dismissed the magic shields in front of him outright.
The incoming sorceries struck his body directly—but they barely hurt at all, only managing to break the skin.
Then, with his free left hand, Lucian threw a single punch.
In an instant, the Lazuli Sorcerer was smashed cleanly in half—organs and blood scattering through the air.
As the other sorcerers stood frozen in disbelief, a Night Comet hidden among the Crystal Barrage pierced straight through the remaining sorcerer's defenses.
The dark comet shattered the magic shield instantly, fragments flying everywhere.
His body was skewered by the Night Comet, then riddled with countless holes by the continuing crystal barrage, reduced to a grotesque mound of flesh.
Just moments ago, they had believed victory was assured, convinced the surrounded intruder was as good as dead.
But now, the sheep they thought they were cornering had revealed itself to be an unmanageable monster.
The remaining sorcerers screamed in terror.
"This thing isn't a sorcerer at all!"
Lucian casually followed up with Crystal Release combined with Meteorite, sending the spells roaring toward the three remaining sorcerers on the second floor.
Using cover and defensive magic, the trio barely survived the barrage.
Realizing the situation was hopeless, two of them exchanged a glance. Leaving the last sorcerer behind to stall for time, they quietly crawled toward another direction.
On the second floor of the Church was a balcony—normally unused, cluttered with old debris.
But now, it seemed to be their only escape route.
Below was soft, rain-soaked earth. Jumping down shouldn't be fatal.
However, as they continued firing spells while scrambling onto the balcony, they abruptly discovered that someone was already waiting for them.
Sellen sat atop the balcony's railing.
One leg rested on the guardrail, her arms wrapped around her knee, her head leaning gently against it. The other leg dangled casually over the side, her calf extending from beneath her skirt, rainwater glistening faintly along its surface.
Turning her head slightly, Sellen looked at the two sorcerers before her and smiled sweetly.
"Fufu… I knew you'd come this way~"
"But even in a situation like this, you still choose to abandon a fellow student to buy time for yourselves. That really broadens my horizons."
"Academy sorcerers… truly, you only ever think of yourselves."
The two sorcerers immediately recognized the beautiful woman before them, their hearts plunging into despair.
At that moment, they would have preferred to run back into the Church rather than face her.
Because this woman was the most terrifying witch in the Academy's history.
A sorceress who had slaughtered countless sorcerers in pursuit of the Primeval Current—
The Graven Witch, Sellen.
With a wolf ahead and a tiger behind, there was no path of retreat left.
If that was the case, they could only gamble everything.
They had heard countless rumors of Sellen's terror—but rumors were still rumors.
Compared to Lucian, whom they knew they could not defeat even at full strength, Sellen looked like the lesser threat.
They decided to make a desperate break for it.
The two charged at Sellen together.
The Lazuli Sorcerer raised his shield, layered another magic barrier over it, and braced himself to block her attack.
Meanwhile, the Olivinus Sorcerer ran while casting Meteorite, trying to suppress her.
Sellen watched the two sorcerers rush toward her, shaking her head.
She raised the Azur's Glintstone Staff in her hand and aimed it directly at them.
In the next instant, an overwhelming torrent of magic erupted from the staff's tip—a vast, emerald comet-stream engulfing both sorcerers completely.
Stars of Ruin—Ultimate Sorcery: Comet Azur.
This was the ultimate art of Master Azur himself.
When Sellen finally ceased her casting, the two sorcerers had been erased without a trace.
The destruction did not stop there—the Church of the Cuckoo behind them suffered as well, vast sections of stonework being annihilated outright, reduced to the finest dust.
Yet Sellen's control over her magic was exquisitely precise.
She limited the range and output, and even preemptively interfered with the surrounding magical currents. At this scale, the disturbance was still insufficient to draw the attention of the Academy proper.