Academy’s Barbarian

Startled by the eerie voice piercing his mind, Ragnar quickly realized it was the effect of Ka`har’s magic—sorcery. He immediately recognized who the woman speaking to him through the spell was.

The Third Apostle. The very woman who had goaded him into this dire situation was now offering him a lifeline.

“Help me…?”

Could she have been inside Edricksa all along?

“No, that can’t be.”

Ragnar dismissed his own speculation.

If the Third Apostle had been hiding in Edricksa from the start, she would have joined the fray during the height of the battle, aiding the Eighth Apostle and herself in subduing Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur.

She was likely speaking to him remotely from her lair. So, her offer to help probably didn’t mean she would fight Ha-shal-leur in his stead.

Ragnar concluded as much.

“For a short while, I can numb that monster’s senses and buy you time to escape.”

The Third Apostle’s voice whispered again, confirming Ragnar’s judgment.

“I can survive. If I can just escape this place and reach a spot where I can use rune magic…!”

Hope surged within Ragnar.

Even if he regained the power of rune magic, he couldn’t fight the superhuman before him again. Having already used the power of Einherjar, which converted his life force into divine light, he could barely move, let alone fight.

But escaping was still possible.

“If I awaken Rúnadýrið, those beasts…”

Ragnar recalled the final card he had buried throughout the city as a last resort.

Rune Beasts, Rúnadýrið.

They were the product of knowledge bestowed upon him as an apostle of the ancient god Alfodr.

Monsters created by engraving various runes onto wild beasts. They were slaughter machines, no different from monsters, perhaps even the origin of monsters themselves.

Since aligning with the Third Apostle, Ragnar had buried the Rúnadýrið he created in various underground locations in Edricksa.

In case he was ever forced to flee, he could awaken them to hinder his pursuers.

Facing Ha-shal-leur, he hadn’t had the luxury to awaken them.

If he paused his magical bombardment even for a moment, she would charge at him with incredible speed and swing her sword. Ragnar had only one way to avoid her strikes.

By activating five runes simultaneously, he could explosively enhance his physical abilities, though it felt like his body was shattering with each use. Still, it was better than being unable to move and losing his head.

He fought on, believing that Ha-shal-leur’s power wasn’t infinite and that he would eventually win…

But to his genuine astonishment, the mana in the atmosphere depleted before Ha-shal-leur’s strength gave out.

Ragnar had never known that atmospheric mana could be exhausted.

It was unbelievable. Just how much karma had she accumulated to endure until mana depletion occurred?

Ragnar was certain. The variable of fate, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur’s strength, had already reached the limits of the mortal world.

It was a praiseworthy feat. If only she weren’t his enemy.

Reaching the limits of the mortal world meant that until the next Holy Grail was destroyed, the woman before him was the strongest being in existence.

For Ragnar, fighting such a being was a cause for despair.

After dozens of minutes of battle, the surrounding mana was completely depleted, and Ragnar, having lost his magical power, sensed his impending death without even being able to use his emergency measures.

Awakening and controlling Rúnadýrið also required rune power, so in this place where atmospheric mana was exhausted, he couldn’t even awaken them.

“But if I can just escape this spot, I can use the Rune of Domination and the Rune of Message. If I can awaken Rúnadýrið, I can escape!”

Ragnar’s escape plan was simple.

Awaken the monsters buried throughout the city, have them slaughter every visible citizen and charge at Ha-shal-leur… and amidst the chaos, slip away among the panicked citizens.

It was an extremely simple plan, but in Ragnar’s current state, it was the best option.

“Ten Rúnadýrið should buy enough time.”

Ragnar didn’t even expect the Rune Beasts to defeat the exhausted Ha-shal-leur.

The Rúnadýrið weren’t weak. Beasts enhanced by rune power were formidable monsters that could overwhelm even rune-engraved holy warriors.

Just as a bare-handed human couldn’t defeat a bear, a rune-enhanced human couldn’t defeat a rune-enhanced bear.

The problem was, the humanoid monster before him possessed a body that could snack on bears with a single strike, even without the power of karma.

So, even a rune-enhanced beast would be lucky to last ten minutes.

Of course, for Ragnar now, those ten minutes were more precious than anything in the world.

“If you swear to your god that you will obey me, I will help you. No need to answer, just nod.”

The timely whisper. The Third Apostle blatantly revealed her intentions.

With a simple spell, she aimed to establish a new master-servant relationship rather than the ambiguous cooperation they had now.

Ragnar hesitated for a moment. He knew what it meant to submit to a sorcerer.

It was a thorough slave contract, where he would have to bark and roll on the ground at her command.

Ragnar sensed it. The moment he accepted this offer, he would be reduced to a hunting dog for the Third Apostle, with a high chance of being devoured someday.

But he had no other options. There was no time for lengthy deliberation.

If he refused the Third Apostle’s offer, his fate would be either losing his head here or being completely subdued and tortured until he spilled all his information.

“…Better than dying.”

He nodded.

Whether she was watching from afar through her remote-viewing spell, the Third Apostle chuckled and began to whisper like a snake.

“Good thinking. Then, I’ll cast ‘Hypnotic Fog’ right away—”

*Crunch.*

And then, the whisper was abruptly cut off.

By a black iron dagger thrown by Ha-shal-leur, who had glanced up at the sky.

Feathers mixed with flesh scattered in all directions.

======[ Ha-shal-leur ]======

“What…?!”

Ragnar’s eyes widened in shock as he let out a cry of astonishment. I turned my gaze from the falling, shredded hawk back to him. Judging by his reaction, my prediction had hit the mark.

As expected, the Third Apostle had been up to something. Good thing I checked.

Just moments ago, as soon as I noticed a different emotion mixed into Ragnar’s expression—something other than fear—I heightened my senses to the limit, scanning the surroundings. There had to be a reason he was no longer afraid. I needed to find that reason.

Thanks to that, I spotted a hawk circling in the sky.

As soon as I noticed the hawk, I became certain of why Ragnar’s expression had changed.

I didn’t know the true identities of the apostles.

They had always hidden their identities and names, attacking relentlessly until the very end in the game.

But even if I didn’t know their identities, I knew their methods. In fact, I knew them better than anyone. After all, I had experienced them firsthand in the game.

So, the moment I sensed the hawk circling above, I immediately knew what it was.

The Third Apostle’s specialty was exactly that.

“Remote Viewing.” A technique where she subjugates the consciousness of a being weaker than herself and uses it as a reconnaissance drone.

With this method, she could observe from afar, gather information, and even launch attacks from a distance.

That’s why, the moment I felt the hawk’s gaze on us, I threw a dagger to block its line of sight.

“Remote Viewing” was only terrifying when unnoticed. Once you knew about it, countering it wasn’t that difficult.

All I had to do was kill the medium observing me, and the Third Apostle wouldn’t be able to see us or cast spells remotely.

“Damn it…!”

I had been somewhat skeptical, but seeing Ragnar lower his head and curse confirmed that it had worked.

The lifeline from above had been abruptly severed.

“Ready to die?”

“W-wait! If you spare me…”

Begging for his life now, huh?

“Can’t do that.”

I smirked down at Ragnar.

I would have liked to keep him alive, torture him, and extract information, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

To neutralize Bølberg’s Authority, Einherjar, I had to pour every curse of the Ice Blade into him, draining his life force.

Unless he met a saintess of Elpinel like Knut, he wouldn’t last thirty minutes even if I left him be.

So, what could I do? Kill him.

But the one to kill him wouldn’t be me. Originally, I had planned to kill him myself to increase my karma, but since things had turned out this way, Knut needed to grow stronger.

After all, killing him wouldn’t increase my karma any further.

I realized this while killing the royal palace knights. At some point, I stopped feeling the unique sensation of accumulating karma. It was as if an invisible wall was blocking me.

The restriction of the Heavenly Barrier.

I had reached the limit of strength the world allowed.

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