The first course of action was an emergency lockdown. Index, fortified with multiple layers of magical systems, activated its defensive protocols almost immediately.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Barriers flared to life, sealing off sections of the fortress with walls of glowing energy as reinforced gates slammed shut.
Thump!
Vanitas and Alaric moved swiftly down the corridor. The rumbling fortress and distant sounds of battle could be heard down the corner.
“We need to contain this before it spreads further,” Alaric said. “The west wing is our priority. That’s where Edmund Velgrind was last reported.”
“What about the reanimated monsters?” Vanitas asked.
“They’ll be dealt with. The Crusaders are trained for this. Velgrind is the bigger threat.”
But what Alaric feared was Edmund’s specialty.
Necromancy.
A forbidden branch of dark magic. According to reports, monsters were rising again and again despite being killed. It was almost certainly Edmund’s doing.
“Necromancy,” Vanitas muttered. “So, the monsters….”
Alaric nodded with a grim expression. “His work. If we don’t stop him, this won’t end.”
“I see.”
Ahead, the sound of battle grew louder.
Vanitas adjusted his gloves. “Then we stop him.”
Alaric glanced at him briefly and sighed. “Stay close, Professor. This isn’t like dealing with theories and books. Edmund is dangerous.”
“….”
Vanitas held back a frown. He was clearly being looked down on, but it was understandable.
If he had to be honest, some of the guards might even be stronger than him.
“I’m aware,” Vanitas replied calmly. “Lead the way.”
As they moved deeper into the west wing, the sounds of clashing metal and roars echoed through the walls.
“Edmund!”
The moment they arrived, Alaric didn’t hesitate.
His figure blurred as he dashed forward. The blade in his hand glowed faintly under the dim light, leaving Vanitas momentarily behind.
“Shit—” Edmund cursed under his breath, startled.
Clang!
The sound of metal against metal reverberated through the hallway. Alaric’s blade had been intercepted, not by Edmund, but by someone else.
Vanitas narrowed his eyes, pouring mana into the spectacle.
It was another inmate. One of the inmates Edmund must have freed.A powerful Crusader, who seemed to have stolen the sword from a guard he killed.
“Fuck, you a bull, Warden?” the inmate cursed. “You owe me one for this, Edmund.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Edmund said. “Now hold him back for me.”
Clang! Clang!
Alaric’s blade collided with the inmate’s weapon again and again, filling the corridor with the sharp ring of steel.
Despite the inmate’s strength, Alaric’s skill kept him on the defensive. In fact, Alaric was pushing him back.
Meanwhile, Edmund moved further back.
Vanitas raised his hand, forming his fingers into the shape of a gun.
Extending his arm forward, he whispered.
“Windblade.”
A gust of wind in the shape of an arc burst forth, catching Edmund off guard and forcing him to stumble back.
“Wha—You? I thought we—” Edmund began, but Vanitas didn’t let him finish.
His lips moved as if he were chanting before he spoke clearly.
“Stone Cannon.”
A spinning projectile of compressed stone shot forward like a drill.
Edmund, startled, quickly chanted a barrier spell, deflecting the attack just in time. Sparks flew as the barrier absorbed the impact.
The sound of boots echoed through the hallway as guards rushed in, surrounding Edmund and the inmate still locked in combat with Alaric.
“Damn it!” Edmund cursed, his eyes darting around.
Then, suddenly, he smirked.
“….”
Vanitas’s senses sharpened. Something wasn’t right.
A chill ran down his spine as he sensed movement behind him. Turning around, he saw figures emerging from the hallway.
More inmates.
A myriad of chants filled the air as voices overlapped one after another. Magic erupted from all directions, bolts of fire, shards of ice, and arcs of electricity.
“Shit,” Vanitas cursed, quickly dodging a lightning strike that cracked against the wall.
“Regroup!” Alaric shouted, cutting down the inmate in front of him with a swift strike before turning toward the new threat. “Stay together and hold the line!”
The guards scrambled and chaotic fighting ensued. It was a battlefield.
Vanitas stepped back, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire.
‘I expected it to go like this, but okay, shit. This is harder than I thought.’
There was a deep sense of regret, but he quickly dismissed it. Index wouldn’t fall so easily. He was sure of it.
There was one crucial factor he clung to.
The inmates, even those skilled in magic, lacked a proper medium. Without a staff or conduit, they could only cast up to Master-level spells effectively.
Anything beyond that would backfire.
But Master-level spells were still dangerous, and Vanitas knew better than to underestimate them.
Adding to his troubles was his own limitation. His cancer made casting anything above Advanced-level spells risky.
Chaos surrounded him. Guards fell, some slashing through inmates while others were overwhelmed.
Magic lashed out from all directions, forcing Vanitas to dodge constantly as he returned fire with his own spells.
His mind worked in overdrive, assessing the situation, calculating his options.
He had one advantage—his intimate knowledge of the game’s mechanics.
He knew how to handle team fights, even amidst this chaos.
Vanitas quickly scanned the area, noting down weak points and choke points in the fortress.
His Spectacles glowed as he analyzed the structure and enemy positions.
‘Use the environment,’ he thought. ‘Control the flow.’
Dodging a lightning strike, he spotted a corridor to the left.
It was narrower than the others. Perfect for bottlenecking the inmates.
He dashed toward it, raising his hand and pretending to mutter a chant.
“Ice Wall.”
A thin sheet of ice formed behind him, blocking several inmates from pursuing him.
He turned back and yelled, “Funnel them here! They can’t overwhelm us if we control the space!”
The surviving guards quickly understood and began falling back toward the corridor, forcing the inmates into a tighter formation.
“Fireball.”
Vanitas called out. A flaming orb launched toward the clustered inmates. The explosion forced several of them back, disrupting their chants.
But the fight wasn’t over.
One of the inmates—a burly man—charged through the ice wall and instantly shattered it with brute strength.
Another inmate cast Earth Spikes, forcing Vanitas to dive to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled.
“Shit….”
Vanitas’s breathing grew heavier.
His calculations couldn’t keep up with the relentless barrage of attacks.
“Ukh!”
He stumbled as a shard of ice grazed his leg, blood trickling down. His heart pounded in his chest as pain flared through his body.
‘Stay calm. Think.’
Vanitas grabbed a fallen guard’s shield, raising it just in time to block a lightning bolt. He slammed it into the ground and crouched behind it as he muttered another spell.
“Icicle Break.”
A barrage of sharp ice bolts shot from his hand. The frozen projectiles forced them back, buying him precious seconds.
But the inmates weren’t slowing down. One of them launched a Flame Surge, causing the ice bolts to melt midair.
Another used Force Palm, shattering a section of the wall and sending rubble flying toward Vanitas.
He barely managed to roll out of the way as his lungs burned from exertion.
Thankfully, the inmates that were in the upper levels of Index. If it were lower, Vanitas wasn’t sure if he could keep up at all.
In fact, he was barely managing.
As he dodged another lightning bolt, his eyes scanned the area for something—anything—that could turn the tide further in his favor.
But before he could focus, an inmate hurled an Earth Spike toward Vanitas, forcing him to roll to the side. Another inmate launched Flame Arrows.
Vanitas raised a hand.
“Windburst!”
A sharp gust of wind blew the flaming arrows off course.
But then, it happened.
As if they’d been waiting for this moment, one of the inmates finished a chant.
The air around him shifted with energy as a Master-level spell was unleashed.
“Storm Hammer!”
A massive, crackling bolt of lightning surged forward, splitting the ground as it raced toward Vanitas. The attack struck several guards in its path.
Vanitas’s eyes widened. He tried to dodge, but the sheer speed and area of the attack made it impossible.
Boom—!
The spell sent him flying backward. His body slammed against the wall. Pain exploded through him as the electricity coursed briefly through his limbs.
“Ukh…!”
Vanitas forced himself to move. His muscles screamed, and his vision blurred from the impact.
“Professor!” a guard shouted, trying to push forward, but the inmates blocked the way.
He couldn’t take another hit like that.
And, as if on cue….
Another spell, no, a barrage of Master-level spells, erupted across the corridor.
Columns of fire erupted from the ground. Massive ice shards rained down. A wave of electricity surged across the walls.
It was utter chaos.
The fortress trembled violently under the relentless assault. Debris rained down from the ceiling.
Despite the destruction that ensued, Index still stood, barely damaged.
The Sovereign-level barrier protecting the fortress absorbed most of the impact, but it couldn’t stop the tremors or the falling rubble.
———!
Low growls echoed from the corridor. Monsters flared back to life and lunged forward, attacking everything in their path—guards, inmates, no one was spared.
Vanitas glanced around. He spotted guards struggling to fend off both inmates and the reanimated monsters.
And then he noticed.
“….!”
Edmund was gone.
———!
A sudden snarl brought him back to the moment as a reanimated beast lunged toward him. Vanitas raised his hand, casting Windburst to knock it back.
Swoosh—!
He followed up immediately with Windblade, slicing clean through the beast and dropping it to the floor.
But before he could catch his breath, the sound of screams echoed through the corridor. Blood sprayed like a fountain, bathing the stone walls in crimson.
“….”
Vanitas turned to see Alaric in the middle of the chaos.
The Warden stood drenched in the blood of inmates. His blade moved seamlessly, cutting down inmates one after another, sparing no one.
Despite the cracks in his armor and the wounds across his body, Alaric persisted.
His figure blurred, disappearing and reappearing in flashes as he navigated through the chaos.
‘His stigmata….’
Alaric’s relentless assault was momentarily interrupted as two inmates—both former Crusaders—intercepted him.
Their coordination slowed him down and forced him into a defensive stance.
Meanwhile, the guards fought fearlessly, cutting through inmates and monsters alike.
But it was clear they were struggling. Some guards had already fallen, motionless.
Vanitas clenched his fists, realizing he would only get in the way.
But there was another way he could help.
His Spectacles flickered, displaying the layout of Index.
Key points and potential escape routes lit up on the map.
Vanitas quickly analyzed the information, noting places where Edmund might be heading.
Without hesitation, Vanitas turned and began running. His mind raced as he pondered the best route to intercept Edmund.
But the fortress wasn’t going to let him go so easily.
———!
Reanimated monsters emerged ahead. Vanitas skidded to a halt, raising his hand as the first beast lunged.
This wasn’t the time to hold back. There was no need to fake a chant.
A swift Windblade cut through the beast, dropping it instantly. But more were already closing in.
Vanitas dealt with them quickly, casting Windblades and Stone Cannons.
Thud!
As the last monster fell, Vanitas wiped his brow, feeling the strain. His mana reserves were dwindling, and blood started trickling down his nose.
“Fucking terminally ill patient!”
He scanned the stigmata.
「Boundless Reservoir」
◆ Understanding: 30%
◆ Capacity: 2870/9000
◆ Fosters continuous growth in mana reserves, allowing mana capacity to expand and evolve over time.
——————
Vanitas pushed forward, feeling his body ache.
“Tsk.”
More monsters intercepted him. Vanitas gritted his teeth, deciding to conserve his mana.
Instead of casting spells, he used wind magic to enhance his movements, dodging their claws and fangs as he sprinted down the corridor.
One monster blocked his path, but Vanitas ducked low and slid beneath its swipe. Another lunged from the side, and he used a broken piece of rubble to knock it back.
As he approached one of the marked locations on his Spectacles, he turned a corner and spotted him.
Edmund stood before a large, glowing barrier. His hands moved as he muttered to himself.
Tak.
Edmund’s head snapped up, startled. “You…?”
His eyes widened in shock before narrowing. He quickly composed himself, stepping back slightly from the barrier.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“….”
Vanitas didn’t answer immediately.
Edmund frowned, clearly frustrated.
“You’ve got no stake in this. So, what’s your motive?” Edmund asked.
“Motive, huh?”
Before Edmund could press further, the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor.
“Professor!”
Guards from the south wing, still battered and bloodied from fighting monsters, arrived at Vanitas’s side.
“….”
For the first time, Vanitas grew uneasy, biting his lip.
“Go back! I’ll handle him!” Vanitas screamed.
“Professor, bu—”
But before the guard could finish….
Tak. Tak—!
The sound of more footsteps came from behind them. Vanitas and the guards turned around.
There, emerging from the dimly lit corners, stood familiar figures.
“Darwin?” one of the guards muttered, his voice trembling.
“Clayton….” another whispered, recognizing the faces.
….Reanimated guards.
The tension became palpable as the reanimated guards took slow steps forward, gripping on their weapons.
“You people are fighting the wrong battle,” Edmund began. “That man over there….”
He pointed directly at Vanitas, smirking.
“Him! He’s the reason I was able to escape!”