A C-Rank Magic Student Who Deludes Himself into Thinking He Is SSS-Rank - Chapter 26: The Onslaught <2>

That day, the peace of Crawford Magic Academy was shattered by a sudden explosion and its impact.

The walls of the cafeteria burst open, scattering debris in a massive blast.

Then, a giant “something” peered through the hole in the wall and let out a roar. The vibration was so intense that it threatened to bring down the building, a roar that was a disaster in itself.

After the earth-shaking roar subsided.

One of the students who saw the pitch-black “something” widened their eyes, trembling and letting out a voice tinged with fear.

“It’s a dragon!”

Their scream set off a chain reaction, and students in the cafeteria began to cry out in fear.

“What’s happening? Why is there a dragon here?”

“Run!”

“Someone, help!”

Students reacted differently to this sudden overwhelming threat. Some were injured by debris from the exploding wall, others were paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move, and some panicked, screaming as they rushed towards the back exit.

The pitch-black dragon that suddenly appeared at the academy watched the scene with amusement.

“Good, good. This pleasure, it’s been four hundred years. Cry more. Scream more.”

“Show me more of your fear.”

Just as the group running towards the back exit was about to escape.

“──……!”

An explosion occurred right in front of the leading student, and several near the exit were blown away by the blast.

“Ugh… uhh…”

Confused voices rose from the students who stopped in their tracks.

“What’s happening?”

“What just happened?”

Then, a student who had seen the dragon’s action shouted.

“It’s a fireball! The dragon spat out a huge fireball!”

Hearing this, the students’ fear of the dragon intensified, and they screamed as they ran back towards the exit.

“Hurry up! What are you doing?”

“The exit’s blocked! Stop pushing!”

The exit was blocked by falling debris, delaying the students’ escape. In an unreal sense of urgency, a student, breathing heavily with fear, turned back to look at the dragon and immediately shouted.

“Look! Another fireball

is coming!”

The students behind saw the dragon preparing to launch another fireball.

“Damn it! Fireball Magic!”

One of the students cast a spell at the dragon, inspiring others to desperately resist with their magic.

“Water Bullet Magic!”

“Flame Arrow Magic!”

“Wind Cutter Magic!”

The students’ magic hit the dragon one after another, but they couldn’t even scratch it, let alone stop its movement.

“Bad news! Here comes another fireball!”

The dragon slightly pulled its head back, preparing to launch the fireball.

“Giant’s Thunder Fist Magic!”

“…!!”

A giant fist-shaped lightning bolt struck the dragon’s face with a thunderous roar.

Although the dragon seemed unharmed, it extinguished the fireball and turned its gaze towards the direction of the lightning, to its left.

“Terrible stench, I thought. Indeed, it’s from that lineage.”

Alphonse Freed, the second highest ranked student of the second year, was there.

Alphonse called out to the students near the exit.

“I’ll buy you time! Calm down, take the injured and escape!”

Saying this, Alphonse advanced towards the dragon, unleashing a series of high-level magic.

A barrage of powerful magic spells exploded on the dragon.

“That’s Alphonse Freed, a second-year! The S-class!”

“Alphonse Freed, the descendant of that great hero!”

“Amazing! He’s stopping the dragon all by himself!”

“Now’s our chance to escape. Clear the debris and take the injured!”

The students, seeing this, regained their composure and began to escape while Alphonse fought.

“The dragon, while parrying Alphonse’s attacks, turned to look at the escaping students and fired another fireball towards the exit.

However,

Alphonse quickly chanted, “Unyielding Steel Wall Magic!” and created a robust steel wall in the path of the fireball, blocking it.

“I’m your opponent, End of Black Annihilation Dragon…!”

Alphonse shouted in the dragon’s language, and the pitch-black dragon turned its gaze back to him.

“…”

Then, suddenly.

“─ What?… Gah!”

As if teleporting, the dragon that was supposed to be outside the building appeared in the cafeteria with incredible speed and struck Alphonse with its tail at a blinding pace.

Alphonse, struck with tremendous force, was blown away and crashed into a distant wall with a thunderous noise.

“…Opponent? You think you’re my opponent? Amusing.”

“Ugh… Ah…!”

“You, of all people, think you can stand against me?”

The dragon entered the cafeteria. The sight of Alphonse Freed, who had just displayed an array of incredible magic, being defeated in an instant plunged the students into despair again.

“No… He’s been defeated…”

“Damn it! Hurry up and get out!”

The students panicked again, rushing to escape.

But then.

“Hey, this is bad! The wall is collapsing!”

The wall above the entrance, previously blasted by the dragon’s fireball, collapsed again, completely blocking the exit.

“No way…”

“Over there! We have no choice but to escape that way!”

One student shouted, and they all ran towards the hole the dragon had made, opposite the blocked entrance.

Seeing this, the other students hurriedly followed, desperately running towards the wall broken by the dragon’s arrival.

“Kukuku… Good, very good…”

The dragon watched the students’ desperate attempts with evident enjoyment.

“Indeed, the fear of humans is irresistible.”

The dragon unleashed a series of small fireballs at the fleeing students, causing explosions around them.

As the students screamed and ran desperately through the exploding cafeteria,

“More. Fear me more.”

The dragon unleashed more fireballs.

「Kyaah!」

A girl student was blown away by an explosion next to her and rolled on the ground.

As she tried to stand up, wincing in pain, a fireball hurtled towards her.

She instinctively closed her eyes tightly, bracing for the end.

However, the fireball didn’t hit her.

When she cautiously opened her eyes, Alphonse Freed stood before her, seemingly unsteady, having created a wall from the ground to block the fireball.

“Are you okay…? Can you stand?”

“Yes…!”

Asked by Alphonse, the girl gritted her teeth and managed to stand despite the pain.

“Good, then hurry and escape.”

The girl, too frightened to speak, nodded and ran towards the large hole in the wall created by the dragon.

Alphonse watched her leave and then turned back to face the dragon.

“I was enjoying the humans’ fear. Don’t interfere. You’re not ready yet,” the dragon spoke to Alphonse.

“Heavy breathing… Still…?”

“I will torment and kill every descendant of that man thoroughly. I won’t let you die easily. You’re for later.”

After saying that, the dragon appeared before Alphonse in a blink and slapped him away.

With a simple flick of its wrist, the dragon sent Alphonse crashing through the ceiling to the second-floor seats.

“Now that the nuisance is gone, humans, let the fear continue.”

Injured students, lagging behind, were engulfed in profound despair.

Alphonse, who had been blown to the second floor, lay on the ground for a moment but soon gathered his strength and stood up.

He was shocked to see the scattered tables, chairs, and meals on the second floor.

Students who were dining there must have fled after sensing the danger below.

No one seemed to be left on the second floor, or so he thought, until he saw him.

A male student was eating lunch as if nothing was amiss.

“What… Why are you eating here…?”

Alphonse couldn’t comprehend the sight

before him.

The student, with black hair and eyes, and a uniform with grey lines, continued his meal unperturbed.

“What do you mean? Can’t you see? I’m having lunch.”

This was an abnormal sight, comparable to the appearance of the End of Black Annihilation Dragon itself.

The scattered furniture and dishes indicated that a catastrophic impact had reached this

floor, confirming that the destruction was no ordinary event.

Yet, all other students had evacuated from this floor, leaving only this one eating as if nothing had happened.

“Why are you still eating, considering the situation?”

Hearing Alphonse’s words, the student stopped eating and responded.

“The End of Black Annihilation Dragon? That was supposed to have been completely eradicated four hundred years ago.”

Alphonse, despite his astonishment, continued, “The history books say that, but it’s not the truth. The Black Annihilation Dragon possesses absolute immortality. Even Sieg Freed couldn’t destroy it entirely. So, it was sealed deep underground with a sword imbued with sealing power, and has been contained for four hundred years.”

“So, the seal has been broken?”

“It’s hard to believe, but probably. I’ve seen it sealed once, and the dragon that appeared in the academy is definitely the End of Black Annihilation Dragon.”

“I see.”

“You understand, right? It’s a dire situation. You should escape quickly.”

“Are you not escaping?”

“No, there are still injured people below who need help.”

Alphonse, still unsteady, walked over and picked up a sword lying on the floor, probably a decorative piece fallen from the impact.

“That’s a replica.”

“It seems so… But I’ll use hardening and attribute magic. It’s better than nothing.”

“Alright.”

Catching his breath, Alphonse said, “I must go now. You should escape as soon as possible.”

With that, Alphonse jumped down to the first floor through the hole created by the earlier impact.

◆

Ted Evans, ranked fifth in the second year, was now in a dire crisis.

When the dragon’s fireballs completely blocked the cafeteria’s entrance, Ted was among the students who had run towards the hole made by the dragon.

However, he was hit by debris from a fireball explosion, injuring his left leg and side.

As he tried to crawl away, another explosion near him threw him into the air, unable to brace himself.

“Guh…!”

Despite the intense pain, Ted felt a sense of relief that he wasn’t directly hit.

But then, a suspicion arose in him.

“Why hasn’t anyone been directly hit by these fireballs?”

Looking around, his suspicion grew.

“Could it be…!”

He had felt something was off from the start.

The dragon, instead of targeting the group of students running towards the exit, deliberately destroyed the wall above it.

Despite its power to instantly kill Alphonse Freed, the dragon was only launching small fireballs.

And now, seeing the fireballs and the students being blown away, Ted’s suspicion turned into certainty.

“That thing… It’s enjoying this! It’s tormenting us like insects, taking pleasure in our desperation!”

Ted’s fear of the End of Black Annihilation Dragon was overshadowed by a surge of emotion.

“Damn you…!”

He unleashed his most powerful magic at the dragon.

“Spiral Thunder Wind, Spinning Revolt!”

A powerful spiral of lightning burst from Ted’s magic circle, hitting the dragon with a loud thunderclap.

“Ha… How’s that…!?”

But, the dragon remained unharmed.

“Damn…”

Exhausted, Ted collapsed, barely able to glare at the End of Black Annihilation Dragon.

“Was hoping to play a bit longer… So, you want to die?”

The dragon muttered, turning its gaze towards Ted.

“Then, I shall kill you.”

Opening its mouth, the dragon began to form another fireball.

Ted, not understanding the dragon’s language, knew his end was near.

Just as the dragon prepared to release the fireball,

“Chains of Hellfire, Chain Volcano!”

The End of Black Annihilation Dragon was suddenly engulfed in flames, and the fireball aimed at Ted was thwarted.

“Good… You’re safe…”

A battered man rushed to Ted’s side, leaving him in disbelief.

“Why…?”

“Chains of Hellfire might be just a warm breeze to that dragon, but it should distract it for a moment… I’ll heal your wounds now.”

The man, barely breathing, began casting a healing spell on Ted.

“Why… Why are you saving me…!?”

Overwhelmed with emotions, Ted called out the man’s name.

“Alphonse…!”