The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
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The walls surrounding the Hero Academy.
Standing 10 meters tall and designed in the Empire’s traditional style, the walls were more than a defense against intruders—they were a work of art, blending seamlessly with the beauty of the academy.
Or rather, they were.
Before they became drenched in blood.
“Graaaahhh!”
“Raaaargh!”
“Urrrroooooo!”
The air shook with monstrous roars.
A horde of thousands of demonic beasts bared their vicious fangs, surging toward the academy walls.
“Damn it! Hold the line!”
“Where did all these demonic beasts come from?!”
“Not a single one must enter the academy!”
The sudden onslaught of the demonic beast army sounded alarms across the academy.
The first to respond were the professors.
“Hyahhh!”
Professor Lucas let out a battle cry, wielding a massive axe with both hands.
True to his nickname, “Bloodthirsty Hound,” Lucas tore through the demonic beasts like a lone wolf unleashed upon a herd of sheep.
“Graaaargh!”
“Rrrraaah!”
“Headshot!”
He charged forward, cleaving the heads of oncoming demonic beasts with his axe.
More demonic beasts surrounded him from every direction.
Lucas’s eyes turned a blood-red hue as crimson aura flared around him.
“Grrrrr!”
Harnessing the blessing of the Blood Berserker, Lucas unleashed savage cries, indistinguishable from those of the demonic beasts, as he swung his axe wildly.
Splat! Thud! Crunch!
Blood splattered, and skulls burst apart, their contents raining down like a gruesome storm.
“Raaaargh!”
Even as claws and teeth tore into him, Lucas pressed forward, obliterating the demonic beasts in his path.
“It's hard to tell who's the real monster here.”
A golden-haired woman descended through the chaos on a staff, her voice calm.
She leaped lightly from her staff, landing as though using an invisible parachute.
“...Bianca?”
Lucas turned, soaked head-to-toe in demonic beast blood, to see Professor Bianca elegantly flip her wavy hair behind her shoulders.
“I’ve evacuated the lower-grade cadets to the main auditorium.”
“Good... Now all we have to do is keep these damned demonic beasts out of the academy.”
Bianca nodded and fixed her gaze on the endless swarm of demonic beasts.
Narrowing her eyes, she gripped her staff tightly.
“There’s an awful lot of them.”
“And it’s not just numbers. There are high-tier demonic beasts mixed in too.”
“Sigh...”
Bianca let out a weary breath and aimed her staff toward the demonic beasts.
“I’ll cast a big one. Cover me while I prepare.”
“Tch. Why should I cover you?”
Lucas scoffed, his tone sharp.
Bianca shrugged with a sly smile.
“Oh, feel free to just stand there and watch me get torn apart, then.”
“Hmph. As you wish.”
Despite his curt words, Lucas stepped in front of her, swinging his axe to keep the demonic beasts at bay.
Not one could get past him.
“You’re such a liar, Lucas,”
Bianca chuckled softly as she began casting her spell.
Blue flames ignited at the tip of her staff, swirling and intensifying as she chanted.
The heat became a storm, radiating outward.
“Rrraaaagh!”
“Hissss!”
Sensing danger, the demonic beasts howled and surged toward Bianca.
“Not so fast!”
Lucas, now enveloped in his blood-red aura, stomped the ground and swung his axe mercilessly.
Smash! Splat! Crack!
Heads exploded, one after another.
Lucas’s eyes glimmered with feral exhilaration as he roared,
“If any of you touch a hair on Bianca, I’ll slaughter you all!”
His ferocious shout even made the demonic beasts flinch momentarily.
And then—
“Burn.”
BOOOOOOM!!!
A colossal wave of blue fire engulfed the demonic beast horde.
The sickening stench of burning flesh filled the air, accompanied by ear-splitting shrieks of agony.
“Phew...”
Bianca wiped sweat from her brow and smirked.
“Oh my, Lucas. Don’t touch a hair on her head, you said? I’m touched.”
“Sh-Shut up!”
Lucas barked, glaring at the demonic beast army.
Despite the devastating spell, the horde was quickly replenished, their numbers now greater than before.
“Damn it.”
“...Looks like we don’t have time for banter.”
The two professors tightened their grips on their weapons, their faces grim as they stared down the never-ending swarm.
Glancing to the side, they saw other professors struggling against the relentless tide of demonic beasts, gradually being pushed back.
“There’s just too many.”
No matter how many they killed, the numbers didn’t seem to decrease.
“Where the hell are they all coming from...?”
Gritting his teeth, Lucas gripped his axe.
There was no time to think.
For now, they had to keep the demonic beasts out of the academy.
“Bianca! Hit them with another one! Stronger this time!”
“You make it sound so easy... Fine, fine.”
Bianca sighed deeply and began casting another spell.
Just then—
“Drink this and cast your spell.”
An elderly man with a rough beard and weathered face handed her a glass vial.
“...Professor Jade?”
Bianca froze, her expression stiffening.
Jade Bastien, the infamous “Student Slayer.”
His terrifying reputation was well-known even among the professors.
“I know how you all see me,”
Jade said, offering a bitter smile.
“But right now, protecting our students and defeating that demonic beast army is what matters most, isn’t it?”
“...”
It was a compelling argument, even coming from the Student Slayer.
Bianca hesitated before asking,
“What is this?”
“It’s a Stigma Amplifier. It’ll temporarily boost your mana significantly, though it has some side effects.”
“How bad are we talking?”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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“Well, this diluted version will knock you unconscious for a few days.”
“...”
Diluted, and she’d be out for days?
“And if I drink the undiluted version? Would I die?”
“Exactly. Your internal organs would liquefy instantly.”
“How reassuring.”
Hah.
Professor Bianca let out a deep sigh and, without hesitation, gulped down the stigma enhancer Jade handed her.
Wooong!
The mana flowing from her stigma surged explosively.
“Haha... As expected of the descendant of the Great Sage. The effect is incredible.”
Barely controlling the overflowing mana, Professor Bianca chuckled wryly.
Professor Lucas turned to her with wide eyes.
“Bianca, you...!”
“Lucas... I’m preparing one... and it’s going to be a big one....”
“......”
Professor Lucas bit his lip with a heavy expression.
He glared sharply at Professor Jade.
“If something happens to Bianca later, I won’t let you off.”
“At that time, you’re welcome to use your axe to cut my head off.”
“......”
Professor Lucas let out a short sigh, then raised the axes in both hands.
Facing the oncoming horde of demonic beasts, he roared ferociously.
“Come at me, you bastards!”
Thus, Professors Lucas and Jade held back the tide of the demonic beast horde, buying time.
How much time had passed?
Fwoooosh!
Massive blue flames rose high into the sky.
Not just one, but dozens of fireballs.
“BURN... THEM... ALL!”
BOOOOM!
The blue fireballs fell like meteors, crashing into the demonic beast horde.
Thick smoke billowed.
Hundreds of demonic beasts were engulfed by the blue flames, reduced to ashes.
“Hah, hah, hah!”
Professor Bianca collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest.
Professor Lucas quickly rushed over to support her.
“Are you okay?”
“No... not, okay....”
Professor Bianca looked out at the thick smoke, gasping for air as if on the verge of collapse.
“...What about the demonic beasts?”
“The demonic beasts are....”
As the smoke slowly cleared, the demonic beast horde came back into view.
“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A curse escaped involuntarily.
New demonic beasts trampled over the ashen remains of their predecessors, endlessly pouring in.
“How many... are there?”
It wasn’t hundreds or thousands of demonic beasts attacking the academy.
It was at least ten thousand—an army capable of wiping out an entire nation—swarming into the Hero Academy.
“Graaaahhh!”
“Grrrrrk!”
“Damn it...! We can’t hold on any longer...!”
As the professors were forced to retreat under the relentless onslaught—
“EARTHQUAAAAKEEEE!!!”
THUUUUUD!
A deafening roar shook the ground as it split open.
A massive student candidate, rivaling or even exceeding Professor Lucas in size, charged toward the demonic beasts.
“Take this!”
The enormous candidate hurled a giant sack strapped to his back at the demonic beasts.
Clink, clank!
The glass bottles inside shattered, spilling their magical contents everywhere.
“Now, Senior Sophia!”
At the booming command—
“Detonate.”
KA-BOOOOOOOM!
The flammable magical reagents erupted in a massive chain explosion.
Demonic beast flesh was blasted into the air, raining down like droplets.
“Haha! What a fantastic ‘Hell Player’ spell, senior!”
“It’s Hell Flare, not Hell Player. And where did you get all those magical reagents?”
“I borrowed them from Professor Jade’s lab!”
“MY TEN YEARS OF MAGICAL REAGENTS!!!”
“...You borrowed them, right?”
The red-haired candidate looked awkwardly at the wailing Professor Jade.
“Wait... That candidate is....”
“Berald Ryu?”
“And there’s also Candidate Sophia.”
But it wasn’t just Berald and Sophia who had arrived.
“We’ve come to help!”
“Those injured, come to me!”
“Saintess, don’t go too far ahead—it’s dangerous!”
“Eek! Th-there are so many demonic beasts...!”
Euren, Iris, Camilla, Lanez.
And the candidates following behind them.
“Why are you all...?”
Professor Lucas’s eyes trembled.
A timid-looking candidate stepped forward toward him.
“I-I’m here as the representative of Class C! I gathered volunteers to help the professors!”
Despite his trembling legs, Albert took a firm step forward.
“We may still be candidates, but we’re proud heroes too!”
“Albert, you....”
Professor Lucas’s eyes welled up as he placed a hand on Albert’s shoulder.
“...Thank you.”
“Professor Lucas....”
“I promise you. When this is all over, I’ll gift you enough special health juice to last a lifetime.”
“...Excuse me?”
Wait, what...?
“Alright, rookies—no, ‘heroes’! Don’t let a single demonic beast set foot inside this academy!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Let’s go! Bring it on, you bastards!”
The battle between the demonic beast horde and Hero Academy had begun in earnest.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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