I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

Chapter 166

There was no way I could beat two hundred and fifty armored cavalry.

Whether I used the purple flame, White Flame, or pulled some batshit crazy miracle out from my ass... I’d still be screwed.

Not even with the help of Headmaster Alderson and the rest of the young heroes.

So I looked at Alderson in disbelief.

“Why in the world did you make that many combat golems? Were you planning a rebellion or something?”

“It is as I said: I admire the Platinum Knight Order. There were two hundred and fifty knights in the legend.”

“I’m asking why make so many? Why not just one or two, maybe ten at most for decoration? That would have been plenty.”

“That's...” the headmaster began, and I narrowed my eyes at him. He hesitated before continuing, “Because historical accuracy must be respected...”

“...”

I imagined lunging at him and yanking his gray beard out.

“Young Hero Luan, what are you doing?”

“...Hm?”

When I came to my senses, I found a hand clenching his beard, and when I followed the hand to the arm, I realized it was mine. I quickly let go and took a step back.

Once again, I was reminded that Alderson was a weirdo.

Even though what I had met was a doll, it had copied the original personality perfectly.

I let out a sigh and said, “If the demon lord has already descended—and even revealed itself—it is safe to assume that most of this world has been corrupted by demonic energy.”

“That’s correct. The concentration of it outside the building is especially thick. An ordinary cadet wouldn't last half a day before dying, which means...”

“The only ones who can survive in this situation are those from the Great Houses, people who have been blessed.”

“Indeed.”

After a short moment of thinking, I asked, “By any chance, are dolls also affected by demonic energy?”

“What do you mean?”

“The first omen of a demon lord’s summoning is the mutation of creatures affected by demonic energy.” I cast my gaze out the window, where I could see dolls running around the manor like rabid beasts. “I wonder if the puppets were turned into demons by demonic energy? That would explain their current state.”

“Hmm.” The headmaster thought for a moment. “That would be possible if the dolls have souls.”

“Souls?”

“Necromancy, as people often call it. You’ve heard of the Abraham Coven, yes?”

“Ah, them.”

Alderson immediately saw through my lame act and explained, “...They are one of the continent’s mysterious powers. They are a mysterious organization whose base and members both remain a complete mystery. I do have some acquaintance with the Witch of Puppets, who is affiliated with them... But to answer your question, binding a soul to a doll creates what is called a ‘cursed puppet.’ Depending on how you look at it, it might even be considered a form of life.”

“Then, I guess it’s fair to say that the smaller dolls are mutated lifeforms and the larger, adult ones are summoned demons.”

Summoning demons was the second stage.

And the third stage was a solar eclipse...

I glanced at the blood moon. In a place without sunlight, there was no way to identify an eclipse.

Honestly, with the demon lord already descended, this wasn’t really the time to be analyzing omens.

“There is something off about the demonic energy,” I told Alderson.

“Hmm?”

“Headmaster, is this building safe?”

Alderson replied, “What I unleashed earlier was a grand magic. It is a fortification barrier used in large-scale wars to defend a stronghold. For now, not even the demonic energy of the demon lord can breach it.” RÃNȱᛒΕś

“So you mean it will be breached eventually.”

“...If I were at full strength and I had amplification tools, it would hold for at least a week...” Alderson muttered, looking slightly dejected.

It seemed that even as an archmage, admitting his own inadequacies in this dire situation wasn’t easy.

It was only fair to respect the dignity of such a great master, so I just nodded and said, “That's a relief. At least the students here are safe for the time being. It also makes things a lot simpler: We just need to take down the princess to win.”

“Which brings us back to the beginning. Two hundred and fifty cavalry protect the princess. Your defeat of the demon commander is impressive, but taking on my Platinum Knights is pure recklessness.”

“Is there no way to control them? Powerful means dangerous, and for combat golems of that caliber, I’d assume you built in at least a safety mechanism or two.”

“Mm...” Alderson looked troubled for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Of course there is. The golems use mana stones that I personally crafted. Injecting mana in a certain rhythm will stop their movement.”

It sounded like a simple solution to this whole problem, but...

Alderson wouldn’t be making such a grim face if it was truly that easy.

“Is there a catch?”

“Yes. You may have noticed that... I’m not exactly in top form. My insides are all tangled up, so I’m not in any state to control mana properly. However, the rhythm I designed is quite intricate, and it’d take at least 10 minutes to sync.”

“Ten minutes?”

Alderson shook his head. “I know. It's impossible.”

“No, I think I can manage something for ten minutes.”

“Really?”

I nodded half-heartedly, my mind elsewhere.

Of course, I wasn’t entirely confident in my idea. It was definitely a long shot and there were a lot of uncertainties, so I decided to elaborate.

Alderson’s face lit up. “Then—” Just as he was about to say something...

AAHHHHHHHH...

He was interrupted by a scream from beyond the window.

The headmaster and I fell silent and moved to look outside, where we saw the academy grounds bathed in a crimson hue.

And also a group tearing across it.

“Those are...”

They were academy cadets.

The headmaster urgently said, “They are being chased. I have to save them quickly.”

“With your body in that state?”

“It may not be in its best state, but that many dolls, I can handle with no problem.”

I hmphed. “No. You need to conserve your energy, Headmaster. I’ll go instead,” I said while staring at the face of the cadet running at the front of the group.

A guy wearing a large newspaper cap.

“I happen to see someone I have some business with anyway.”

* * * * *

* * * * *

I turned to see who had called my name and found Hector smiling brightly at me.

The situation was urgent, so I only nodded curtly before joining Barter’s group to kill the dolls.

There were quite a few of them, but Barter’s team was skilled enough that they quickly handled the situation.

After a few moments, when all the dolls were down, Barter let out a small sigh.

“Phew...”

He sheathed his sword with a clean click, then bowed his head to Glenn.

“I'm glad to see you safe, Your Highness.”

“...Sir Barter.”

Were they familiar with each other? Their interaction suggested as much.

...Actually, it would be strange if the imperial family and House Goodspring didn’t know each other.

As I tilted my head at an angle to eavesdrop on the conversation, another familiar face approached me.

It was Sellen, the owner of the white head.

“You're safe.”

“As you can see.”

I looked at Sellen and asked, “I didn't expect you to be dragged here too. What happened?”

“I was in the main building, taking a tea ceremony class, and I remember taking notes, but at some point, I opened my eyes and I was here.”

I paused at Sellen’s answer.

“You were taking a class in the main building? Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t get dragged here because she went to the research building?

I looked around again.

...There’s definitely...

There were too many people.

There was no way this many people had gone to the research building together.

I gathered my thoughts. “There's a temporary base. It's one of the buildings in the research wing, and Headmaster Alderson used grand magic, so it's safer than anywhere else. Let's take shelter there for now.”

Sellen’s expression darkened slightly. “Hmm. It’s not a bad idea, but...”

What was with her reaction?

I noticed the subtle jerk of her chin in Barter’s direction.

Then I heard a slightly raised voice.

“That's ridiculous.”

It was Hector's voice.

Barter and Hector... The two of them were glaring at each other as they argued about something. I had heard that they got along pretty well, but there was no evidence of that right now.

Hector, noticing the attention he had attracted, flinched and lowered his voice.

It was barely above a whisper, but it still reached my ears.

“...If we leave the students here as they are, they will all die.”

“And the opposite is just as true. If we can’t kill the demon lord, we will all die anyway.”

“That’s true, but...” Hector paused. “...But we could just take them to a relatively safe place nearby.”

“We are in a time-critical situation. There is no guarantee that the princess will stay in the same place for long, and if we lose track of her in this vast academy, it will be our defeat.”

“Then allow me to temporarily split away. I will lead them.”

“Rejected. We cannot afford to waste precious manpower on unnecessary tasks. Our chances of victory are slim as it is,” Barter said in a grim tone. “Hector Bednicker. In a time of emergency, the authority of the Imperial Special Forces surpasses even the Imperial Guards.”

“...”

“Disobeying orders is a serious crime. Do you understand?”

I got the gist of what was going on.

Barter and his units had located the princess...

But they were now torn between pursuing her immediately and protecting the students they had encountered along the way.

I guess they figured out that the princess is the mastermind.

Anyway, it seemed that Barter was in favor of pursuing them... while Hector was in favor of protecting the cadets first.

To be honest, it was hard to tell which side was right.

Barter’s seemingly heartless statement wasn’t entirely wrong.

But not allowing Hector to leave is a bit much.

In any case, this argument was actually meaningless.

They didn’t know, but thanks to the headmaster, a safe place had already been secured...

Instead of Hector, I could escort the students and take them to the building.

I was about to interject, but Barter sneered.

“Or is it because you're a Bednicker that you don't want to obey a Goodspring's orders?”

I bristled at the off-topic remark.

“I can’t listen to this any longer... Hey, Sir Butter, you’re being unnecessarily harsh here.”

Bartor's gaze snapped to me.

“It's Barter, not Butter. Are you Luan Bednicker?” Barter smirked. “I heard you received a blessing during the second Blessing Ceremony. In that case, I suppose you may be somewhat useful. As of right now, you are a member of my unit and must follow my orders.”

I stared blankly at Barter for a moment, then asked, “I'm not even one of your men, and I'm supposed to follow your orders?”

“Of course. In a situation like this, someone like me needs to be in command.”

“What do you mean, ‘someone like you’? What's so special about you?”

“Someone who can accurately assess the situation at hand, someone who can make the right decisions based on that assessment, and someone who can take responsibility for their decisions. In other words,”—Barter's gaze turned to me—“the strongest person here.”

“I see.” I nodded at his words without so much as a reaction. “But I’m not interested in taking charge, you know?”

“...”

Barter blinked. Then his eyes narrowed as he processed my words. His eyebrows twitched, although not significantly.

My words were not a joke, but I inwardly gleamed in happiness at being able to get a reaction out of him.

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