The Wyvern's movements drastically slowed, its balance disrupted by the internal attack from before. Still, the creature roared defiantly, thrashing its tail in anger.
But Abarran simply hovered above it, unfazed and completely calm.
With a flick of his fingers, he casually created another blood spear and without any delay threw straight at the struggling creature. Slowed by its injuries, the wyvern couldn't dodge this time.
The spear tore through the sky, spinning violently before impaling another of the wyvern's wings with a sickening crunch.
Now only two of its wings remained functional. It could no longer maintain proper flight. Instead of soaring, the wyvern was doing everything it could just to stay afloat, barely flying, desperately trying not to plummet to the ground.
Abarran watched it for a moment, then floated closer. Without any urgency, he descended and landed right on the wyvern's head, as if stepping onto solid ground.
The wyvern tried to respond… tried to shake him off, attack, do something, but it couldn't. Its vision had turned blurry from blood loss, dizziness overwhelmed its senses, and its limbs barely obeyed its commands. Even its wing flaps were no longer conscious effort, but just an instinct keeping it in the air.
Abarran slowly extended his hand and placed his palm flat against the creature's head.
It looked like a simple pat.
But the moment his palm made contact, the wyvern's eyes glazed over. Its body went limp, and in the next instant, the massive beast dropped like a meteor, falling from the sky with a thunderous silence.
Dead.
Abarran floated back up, watching the corpse fall toward the ground. And after a brief moment, he turned without a word and returned to the airship.
Mortis had watched everything unfold, especially that final, effortless act. His head slowly turned toward Valthor.
"Don't tell me… That he really just landed on its head and killed it with a single touch. That was another internal blood element spell, wasn't it? But this time… he went for the brain…" he said blankly.
Valthor, still staring at the sky in disbelief, nodded slowly. "Yeah… that's exactly what he did. Landed on its head and destroyed its brain from the inside. Just like that."
All around them, the students stood frozen, eyes wide, mouths slightly open. No one moved. They looked like statues.
This was the first time any of them had witnessed a true battle between beings of Official Magus strength, and it had ended in such overwhelming dominance that it barely felt like a fight at all.
Mortis replayed the entire battle in his mind, especially that final scene.
'That was incredible,' he thought. 'I need to learn something like that someday. I'm lucky my highest affinity is blood.'
'If I master that skill and even add poison into the mix, it'll be insanely useful in the future. I could fight like Professor Abarran, sure… but I could also use it for sneak attacks. Just a light touch could injure someone before the battle even starts. And in the right moment... maybe I could kill them right away.'
'This is amazing. From now on, I have to focus primarily on developing my blood element affinity. There must be countless methods and spells that have even better uses than this.'
Just as Mortis finished with his thoughts, the calm voice of the airship's captain echoed once again through the airship's speakers:
"The situation has been fully resolved. All passengers may now return to their usual activities. I repeat: the situation has been fully resolved. Thank you for your cooperation."
As the announcement ended, the atmosphere aboard the ship finally loosened. The students, many still visibly stunned finally began to stir. Some slowly returned to their rooms, others wandered back to their seats in the dining room. A few formed small groups, eagerly discussing what they'd just witnessed.
Some students even glanced toward Mortis, clearly wanting to approach him and talk with him about this. But with senior students Valthor and Jareth at his side, no one dared to interrupt them.
Mortis too slowly returned to his table with the two, slipping into the seat he'd left behind earlier.
A passing waiter approached to clean their table, and they used this situation to order a new food and drinks. Soon, the three of them resumed their conversation, though all of them still had the image of the wyvern's death burned into their minds.
Time passed slowly.
The airship cruised steadily through the sky, gliding over seas of clouds. Although they encountered several more flying beasts along the way, none were as strong as the wyvern. Each was handled quickly, either driven away by the ship's defenses or dispatched by professor Valthor.
During this period of time Mortis only eaten and drank inside the dining room with Valthor and Jareth. All three of them actively awaiting their arrival to the academy.
And finally, after about four hours later, from the encounter of wyvern, they finally heard once again captain's voice.
"Hello, students. I'm pleased to inform you that we've reached our destination—Myriad Demons Academy. In a few seconds, we'll begin our descent. Please brace yourselves for landing. That is all."
As soon as the message ended, Mortis felt a familiar pressure, the kind he remembered from airplanes in his previous world when taking off or landing. A growing heaviness pressed against his chest.
Bang!
The airship touched down with a loud thud, and the entire interior shook lightly from the impact.
"We have officially arrived at Myriad Demons Academy! All students, please gather your belongings and exit the airship in an orderly manner. Once you're outside, remain in place and wait for Professor Abarran, who will escort you to the academy. That's all from your captain, Kircheis Beria, goodbye."
One by one, the students stood up and began walking out, moving calmly without hurry. Despite the excitement, no one pushed or rushed. After all, the earlier shock of the wyvern attack had left a lingering sense of seriousness in the air.
Outside, they gathered together near the landing site and waited.
A moment later, Abarran stepped out of the ship, his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. His voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"Valthor, take attendance."
"Yes, sir!" Valthor replied with a firm nod and immediately began counting heads.
Once he finished, he turned and shouted, "Sir, all new students are present!"
Abarran gave a simple nod. "Good. Then follow me."
Without another word, he turned and began walking.
The students followed behind him in a loose formation, Mortis among them.
And as they moved, Mortis took the chance and looked around to observe his surroundings.
'So, this is where the academy is... Looks better than I expected.'
They had landed in a wide clearing, surrounded by lush, towering trees. And the path they took led them straight into a dense jungle.
'I thought it'd be in some kind of scorched wasteland, with ash and lava everywhere. I mean, it's called Myriad Demons Academy, that kind of name literally screams hellscape. But this? This is more like a hidden sanctuary buried deep in the wilderness.'
'Guess that saying is true after all… You really can't judge a book by its cover.'
They walked along a narrow trail, barely wide enough for two people side by side. Vines and strange plants lined the edges.