crawling forward
Since he could remember, Ximu had almost never had a memory that was so cherished and carefully protected.
She was born into a family that took pride in killing, and even before she was designated as a sacrifice, she had no warm memories of living in harmony with her family.
Her frail brother resented her health, her elegant mother had been missing for years... Even the servants and maids walking through the dark castle had uniform expressions as if they had been measured with a ruler. They looked more like well-trained weapons than humans.
Everyone she saw had their own indifference, their own morbidity, and their own predicament.
Everyone is busy taking care of themselves and cannot spare an ounce of warmth for anyone other than themselves.
The only time I dressed up with my mother by my side was the night before the ceremony.
She sat in front of the mirror, looking at the beautiful woman humming a little tune, and rolled up her hair little by little, fixed it, and then decorated it with beautiful hair accessories.
That was the closest she ever got to being a normal girl.
And when the midnight bell rings, she will walk up to the altar to meet her death.
Her mother only confirmed the details of the ceremony with her, without showing any reluctance or attachment. Her brother, who was born to the same mother, didn't even show up.
She didn't mean to blame them.
Because that's just the way they are.
——Everyone in the Kelinlet family is like this.
Those who were unwilling to obey either left their hometowns by relying on their own strength, or their bodies were sunk under the turbulent underground river and returned to the embrace of the gods.
She thought that was how it was between people.
No matter how nice the words were before, no matter how much they drank and talked happily, secretly, they were still intertwined with surging desires, and kept repeating various kinds of fratricide.
But she didn't feel anything negative from Ruixia.
He was just worried about her.
I worried about her safety, whether she could move around easily, whether she was trying to be tough, and also worried about... whether she could return safely again and again.
This feeling of being taken seriously and cherished made her so happy...even to the point of panic.
She couldn't dwell on it any longer.
If I continue thinking about it, I feel like it will develop into something very scary and difficult to control.
"...Ximu, Ximu! Oh, I know you're shy, but don't walk so fast!"
The short-haired girl's complaints came from behind, accompanied by the sound of fast footsteps. Ximu suddenly came to his senses, stopped abruptly, and as expected, bumped into his teammate behind him.
"N-Not shy. It was a little quick, sorry."
It is indeed necessary to be more careful when going out again - Ximu took a deep breath, suppressed those thoughts that were exploding like bubbles back into his heart, and gradually returned to his calm demeanor during the war.
Morina glanced at her and raised her eyebrows with an expression that said "I understand", but she didn't continue to bully her. Facing the cool night breeze, she began to look at the corridor bridge in the sky with her.
This covered bridge is located on the upper floors of the dormitory area. Judging from the map given by the old man, the end point is the teaching area adjacent to the dormitory building.
The two buildings are essentially independent and have different terrain heights. Perhaps these connecting sky bridges were specially built to facilitate the entry and exit of teachers living on the upper floors.
Previously, they had been moving inside the building, and although they could observe the scenery outside through the windows, they couldn't help but sigh heartily when they actually stood outside.
Although it appears hazy in the night, one has to admit that this magic academy standing on the high ground by the lake is very stylish in terms of both architectural standards and layout.
The unique pointed roof design, the elegant inner courtyard garden, and those wonderful aurora-like colors that appear and disappear around the building for unknown reasons, even laymen who know nothing about it would praise it as ethereal and elegant.
certainly--
It would be much better if there weren't those "natives" who barely had a human form and who attacked them at every turn.
"...Hmm? It seems a little different."
Taking advantage of the height, the girls, who were far out of the attack range, were able to leisurely stand on the edge of the bridge and observe below.
Hearing this, Molina poked her head out and looked down, agreeing, "Yeah, those people over there don't seem to be wearing magic robes...hiss, that emblem, why does it look a little familiar?"
Ximu carefully identified it and nodded, "I've seen it on the flag at the gate. The largest one in the front is this emblem."
Having said that, the answer is naturally obvious.
The old man had said before that the group responsible for the academy's security were a group of royal knights sent by the Kingdom of Len'ate - judging by their attire, configuration, and even the way they operated in groups of three, it must be them.
"They look... as if they're not that severely alienated?"
Molina's eyesight is not as good as Ximu's. At this distance, even if she squints, she can't see clearly.
From the outside, the knights did not look as devastated and confused as the magicians, but... judging from the fact that they were able to pass by each other peacefully, those knights were probably no longer able to communicate normally.
Moreover, compared to the magician who has lost all his mind and has suffered great damage to his strength, these opponents who still remember to maintain their formation even in abnormal conditions will probably be more troublesome to deal with.
Just as he was anticipating the various problems that might be encountered during the battle between the two sides, a chill suddenly came from a distance, instantly waking Ximu from his thoughts!
"careful!"
As she spoke, she strode forward and immediately threw Morina to the ground - an extremely thick crossbow arrow brushed past their side and sank into the ground with such force that most of the arrow was embedded in the bricks and stones.
At the critical moment, several strands of her red hair were cut off and Moli Na was horrified. She knew that if Xi Mu had not rescued her in time, her head would have been in danger!
"Hey, what... where..."
She was so frightened that she was incoherent for a moment. Ximu lowered her head and motioned her to crawl on the ground, while he himself moved several meters to the other side along the brick and stone guardrail - fortunately, the guardrails on both sides of the bridge were solid.
She followed the trajectory of the crossbow arrow in reverse, and carefully stuck to the brick surface, with only one eye exposed, looking for the culprit who attacked them.
At this moment, the second attack came again!
Xi Mu raised her head and bent her waist, almost lying on the bridge, almost passing head-on with the giant crossbow arrow flying towards her - but fortunately, this time, she had already seen the culprit on the opposite side.
It was a launch device placed on the roof of the opposite building. When it was activated, it was surrounded by a magic circle. It should be some kind of security fortification that would automatically search for enemies and attack.
She was not surprised by this. After all, the old man had mentioned before that because the academy had entered a state of war, the security measures in the academy had been strengthened, and even the combat puppets were activated. It was normal to have some long-range attack methods like this.
Judging from the size of the crossbow and the force of its launch, ordinary defensive magic would be difficult to block. Even if it was blocked, the balance would inevitably be destroyed... and at such a high altitude, losing balance during movement would be extremely dangerous.
It would be too uneconomical to just go over and demolish it now. It would be better to wait until we gradually explore that side and then go upstairs to destroy it.
Thinking of this, Ximu immediately turned around and gestured to Molina, indicating that she should maintain her current posture and crawl to follow him.
"Is this okay..."
Although her tone was questioning, Molina had already twisted her body as she spoke, and moved over with a grunting movement that Ximu thought was a bit too much.
Ximu waited for a while, and when he saw that the crossbow in the distance did not continue to attack, he felt temporarily relieved.
If even the thick bricks and stones cannot block the opponent's attack, with the attack power of this large crossbow, it may be possible to shatter the abutment of the corridor bridge after a few shots... Then they really have no choice but to get up and run to gamble on their speed.
Knowing that they would not be attacked as long as they did not show their heads, Ximu and Molina kept a low profile and moved forward little by little towards the teaching building.
Even when Ximu thought of releasing the airplane worker insects, he did not do it casually like he did elsewhere. Instead, he deliberately let the little insects crawl out from the corners and crawl along the bridge piers to reach higher places.
I don't know if the crossbow will attack this flying mechanical product... Forget it, let's not gamble. If this little thing is shot down with just a flap of its wings, it would be a unnecessary waste.
Molina's movements were far less skillful than Ximu's. The other party had been waiting at the finish line for a long time before she finally arrived.
"Oh, gods, I've been climbing all this way, my robe is about to be worn out..."
After finally getting through this embarrassing section and standing up with Ximu's help, Morina patted her dusty priest robe and looked around curiously.
The style of the teaching building area is much more majestic than that of the dormitory area. The niches in the corridor and the monster sculptures of various shapes hanging high up flicker in the candlelight, giving people an unpredictable sense of mystery.
But after walking out of the corridor, the lights suddenly became brighter, sweeping away the obscurity of the night.
They were in a very high place, and not far away there were various staircases and corridors leading to different floors.
There is a place similar to a hall downstairs, but its style is more like a discussion room than a traditional chapel. Rows of stepped seats radiate from the direction of the pulpit, and are filled with various astrolabes and parchment manuscripts under the gaze of many portraits hanging on the walls.
Seeing the number of magicians in the teaching building, the two realized that their previous estimate of the number of enemies was somewhat too optimistic.
Not to mention the other classrooms that we have not yet visited, just the densely packed discussion rooms downstairs look overwhelming enough.
Most of them sat at their desks furiously writing. Some, unable to find their eyes, were trying to open their skulls. Some, with their lower bodies festering and limp, were desperately clawing at the desks. Some even tried to argue with their deskmates, but when they didn't respond at all, they became so angry that they tried to strangle them with their staffs...
"Is this... is this the world of academic masters? They're already half-human, half-ghost, yet they haven't given up on studying..."
Xi Mu on the side didn't have the leisure to marvel at this. After observing and considering for a while, she gave up the idea of jumping directly into the enemy camp and prepared to sweep slowly from top to bottom.
"Let's familiarize ourselves with the terrain first... I hope we can find some normal clues here."
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