Thump! Thump!
As Javier stared into Knox's cold crimson eyes, his heartbeat began pounding faster and faster. An unfamiliar sensation crawled through his body, causing his instincts to scream at him despite the young man standing before him being nothing more than a first-year student.
This... What is this feeling? My heartbeat...
Javier's expression stiffened as realization finally struck him.
Is this... fear?
Before he could even finish that thought, Knox moved.
BAM!
His foot slammed directly into Javier's abdomen.
"Gah!"
Javier's body folded from the sheer force of the kick before he was launched backward like a cannonball. He smashed straight through the side of the carriage and flew outside, leaving behind a gaping hole surrounded by splintered wood.
The violent impact immediately threw the already unstable carriage completely off balance. Its wheels lifted from the ground before the entire vehicle tipped onto its side, dragging the panicked horses along with it.
BOOOOOOM!
With a deafening roar, the carriage crashed and tore itself apart. Wood and debris exploded in every direction as the shattered vehicle rolled across the ground, throwing Meilyn helplessly into the air along with it.
"Kyahhh!"
With her hands still bound behind her back, Meilyn could do nothing to protect herself. She squeezed her eyes shut as the ground rapidly approached, instinctively bracing herself for the painful impact.
But the pain never came.
Knox shot through the air like a streak of light and caught her before she could touch the ground. One arm slipped beneath her knees while the other supported her back, leaving Meilyn safely held in the legendary posture known throughout countless worlds as...
A princess carry.
Realizing that she was no longer falling, Meilyn slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah..."
And there, filling almost her entire field of vision, was Knox's face.
A face so handsome that it had nearly reached the same realm as the reader's own.
For several seconds, Meilyn simply stared at him, seemingly forgetting about the destroyed carriage, the scattered debris, and even the danger surrounding them.
Knox looked down at her before his previously cold expression softened into his usual easygoing smile.
"I'm sorry, Meilyn. I came a little late." His voice carried a hint of apology before returning to its familiar playful tone. "Still, at least I caught you, right~?"
Ba-thump!
Meilyn's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Knox..."
"You worked hard, Meilyn," Knox said softly.
"...!!!!"
BA-THUMP! BA-THUMP! BA-THUMP!
For some reason, Meilyn suddenly found herself unable to look directly at him. She hurriedly turned her face away, her cheeks becoming so red that even the tips of her ears seemed to burn.
Fortunately, her hair was long and sky-blue.
If it had instead been short and red, perhaps her name would have changed to Arima Kana by now.
Thump! Thump!
W-What...? What's wrong with you, Meilyn?!
She was completely bewildered by her own reaction. Knox had just come all the way here to rescue her, yet instead of properly looking him in the eye and thanking him, she had turned away like this.
How can you be so rude?! Shouldn't you properly express your gratitude as a lady of the Ivory Tower?!
"Hmm?"
In complete contrast to the fierce battle taking place inside Meilyn's mind, Knox merely tilted his head. Considering what Javier had put her through, he simply assumed she was still somewhat shaken.
"No...!"
A furious voice suddenly interrupted the moment between them.
"No, impossible... Absolutely impossible!"
Knox and Meilyn turned toward the source of the shout. A short distance away, Javier was crawling among the wreckage of the shattered carriage, blood pouring from his nose and mouth while one of his legs was twisted at an unnatural angle.
Despite his injuries, the old necromancer trembled as he forced himself back onto his feet.
"Grrrgh! Damn it! Who the hell are you?! Who sent you?!"
"..."
Knox didn't answer.
Instead, he carefully lowered Meilyn onto the ground before moving behind her and cutting through the restraints binding her hands. Once she was free, he stepped forward again and placed himself between her and Javier.
"It would've ended nicely if you'd just stayed down."
His voice was cold enough to make Javier's expression twist with rage.
"How dare you...!"
Despite his current appearance, Javier hadn't always been merely a corpse dealer wandering around Death Land. Before his retirement, he had been a professional necromancer notorious for committing countless atrocities.
With a furious expression, he slammed the bottom of his staff against the ground.
Thud!
Multiple subspaces opened around him, and enormous skeletons immediately emerged one after another. Each stood over three meters tall and carried a massive spear, until more than twenty medium-class skeletons had formed an imposing formation around their master.
Meilyn's expression immediately became serious.
"Knox, be careful! That perverted old man is no ordinary opponent!"
Knox merely stared at the summoned skeletons with an indifferent expression.
As they continued charging toward him, a vicious killing intent began emanating from his body.
Yet even with the skeletons rapidly closing the distance, Knox showed no intention of moving from where he stood. Instead, he simply raised his right hand toward them.
[Dominator's Touch]
Almost immediately, an invisible force seized the approaching skeletons, abruptly stopping them in their tracks.
It looked as though an invisible giant hand had seized every one of them at once. Their bones creaked violently under the unseen pressure, while Javier's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before him.
As the pressure continued to build around them, Knox slowly closed his raised hand into a fist.
CRUNCH!
The moment his fingers completely closed, all twenty skeletons were crushed simultaneously.
Their enormous bodies shattered before they could even make their debut, sending fragments of bone raining across the ruined street. Within seconds, the force Javier had confidently summoned had been reduced to nothing more than scattered debris.
The moment his fingers completely closed, all twenty skeletons were crushed simultaneously.
Seeing his summons reduced to piles of shattered bones in an instant, Javier's jaw dropped.
"W-What is happening?!"
His gaze immediately fell toward the remains scattered across the ground, and as he stared at what was left of his summons, a chill slowly ran through his body.
It was fortunate that whatever invisible force Knox had just used was directed only at the skeletons. If Javier himself had been caught in that grip...
He didn't even want to imagine it.
He would've ended up looking like mashed potatoes.
"That power... How could a student possibly possess something like that?!" Javier shouted. "There's no way you're still fine after using such powerful magic!"
Unfortunately for him, his expectations were betrayed almost immediately.
Knox showed absolutely no sign of exhaustion.
Meilyn, who had finally recovered enough to properly follow the battle, stared at Javier with an expression that practically screamed:
Come on. Keep joking. I mean... keep guessing.
"B-Bastard!" Javier gritted his teeth. "Alright! You forced me!"
With his summons destroyed and escape no longer looking possible, Javier realized he had only one option remaining.
His final measure.
He shoved a hand beneath his robes and activated a black magic circle engraved across his chest.
"Urgh!"
Javier suddenly clutched his throat and staggered backward. His entire body convulsed before he began vomiting grotesque chunks of flesh onto the ground.
At the same time, his body rapidly withered. His skin shriveled against his bones as though every drop of vitality inside him was being drained away, while the mass of flesh he had expelled absorbed that essence and continued growing larger.
Meilyn's face twisted in horror.
"What the hell was he growing inside himself?!"
Splorch! Crackle! Crack-crack-crack!
Flesh and organs twisted together into a monstrous lifeform over three meters long. Its limbs swelled with bundles of grotesque tissue, its entire body gradually turning jet-black as sharp bones erupted from both arms.
KWOAAAAARRR!
The creature released a hideous roar that echoed across the ruined streets.
"Heh."
Knox, however, looked thoroughly unimpressed.
If Javier really wanted to catch his interest with a transformation like this, then at the very least, he should have transformed into something shaped like Mr. X.
Knox briefly focused his senses on the creature before raising an eyebrow.
"This guy... He's dead. His presence is completely gone."
He glanced at what remained of the monster before letting out a small sigh.
"So it's a monster summoned by sacrificing your own life? Sigh... You old monsters who have lived for far too long really do come up with some unique ways to die."
As though enraged by his complete lack of concern, the creature roared and prepared to charge toward Knox and Meilyn.
Yet even as the creature prepared to rush toward them, Knox showed no intention of backing away. Instead, he simply extended his right hand.
The next instant, a greatsword appeared within his grasp.
Violet flames immediately erupted along its blade, wrapping around the weapon before surging higher and higher. Their radiance illuminated the surrounding ruins in purple, forcing Meilyn to raise an arm slightly against the sudden brilliance.
"This...!" she muttered.
Knox gripped the greatsword with both hands.
Once his grip was firm, he pulled the weapon back... before swinging it forward in one powerful motion.
SWOOOOSH!
Following the path of his blade, a massive violet slash tore through the air.
The creature barely had time to react before the incoming wave engulfed its entire body. For one brief instant, Meilyn could still see its silhouette inside the raging violet light.
Then even that silhouette disappeared.
BOOOOOOM!
A violent explosion erupted where the creature had been standing, shaking the surrounding ruins as violet flames surged outward before gradually fading away.
When the flames finally disappeared, nothing remained.
Not even ashes.
For several seconds, Meilyn could only stare at the empty spot where the creature had once stood.
"..."
Then her gaze slowly shifted toward Knox's back, her expression completely blank.
"...Isn't this already way beyond the strength of a first-year?"
There were only two words she could think of to describe what she had just witnessed.
Overwhelming strength.
Javier had clearly been a veteran necromancer, yet Knox had crushed more than twenty of his summons with a single gesture. Even after the old man sacrificed his own life to create that grotesque final monster, Knox had simply erased it with one swing of his sword.
Meilyn couldn't help staring at him with increasingly complicated eyes.
Knox Aznable... Just what is your real identity?
"Meilyn."
A gentle voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
She blinked and looked up to find Knox standing in front of her again, his earlier coldness completely gone. He gave her his usual easygoing smile and gestured toward the road ahead.
"Let's go."
Meilyn stared at him for a brief moment before a smile gradually appeared on her own face.
"Yeah... Let's go!"