Chapter 28: He Will Eventually Embark on the Road of No Return Called Hero
Since receiving the instructions from the Ash Patriarch, his immediate superior, the Arsonist Leader did not choose to waste any more time.
He spoke in a low voice, “I agree to your deal.”
“But—” The Arsonist Leader cast his gaze towards Aerora, who stood beside Shaya. “You must guarantee that she does not intervene and disrupt the completion of the ritual.”
From beginning to end, this blonde maiden had exuded an immense sense of pressure.
If she remained, even with dozens of cultists assisting him, he dared not guarantee that the fire sacrifice ritual would proceed without any accidents.
“Alright.”
Shaya looked at Aerora beside him. “Little Ai, you’ll withdraw with Diris and the others later.”
Aerora glanced at Shaya and nodded silently without saying anything, then retreated into the crowd.
“Then let’s start quickly.”
Shaya looked at the Arsonist Leader before him, urging him impatiently, as if what awaited him was not becoming a sacrifice, but an outing.
“Hurry it up, I’m getting bored of waiting.”
It could be called a standoff, but in reality, it was all over within a few minutes.
Soon, the arsonists roughly untied the ropes binding the students’ hands, and they stood up, covered in dust and grime.
After they were scattered into ragged lines, the Arsonist Leader raised the scythe in his hand and waved it slightly, tearing a narrow gap in the wall of fire.
“You are very lucky.”
The Arsonist Leader looked at the students who had regained their freedom and spoke in a hoarse voice, reminiscent of a viper in the barren sand.
“I never thought there would be such fools in this world, willing to sacrifice their lives to exchange for a path to survival for you.”
His words carried a hint of emotion.
Although they were on opposing sides, Shaya’s fervent and pure spirit seemed to flicker with light.
It was a pity that the other party was about to meet their God.
Of course, for such a radiant soul, being freed from the corrupt mortal world and becoming part of God might even be considered a fortunate thing.
“Get lost.”
He waved his hand dismissively towards the students.
The students, in their tattered clothes, paid no mind to their dishevelment and hurried to escape through the created passage.
As they passed by Shaya, they instinctively lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze.
Even though, on the surface, Shaya’s actions were more for the sake of President Diris—
Shaya had indeed saved their lives, that much was undeniable.
Many of them, before this, had never even known Shaya’s name.
They asked themselves, if it were their turn, they would absolutely not sacrifice themselves for classmates they might not even have heard of.
This stark contrast made the students, who had always considered themselves prodigies, feel profoundly ashamed.
The crowd quickly passed through the wall of raging flames, only Diris remained.
Her pitiable face was flushed red from the intense heat of the fire, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she urgently spoke to Aerora, her expression anxious.
“What are you doing here? Go save him.”
“I know, classmate Shaya is very strong. The academy’s internal records do not reflect his full strength. He might be stronger than you, perhaps even surpassing many professors at the academy.”
“Someone like him would never die so passively. Perhaps he plans to counterattack only after entering the altar…”
“But you haven’t personally experienced what’s inside that altar. You have no idea what kind of existence is being gestated in there…”
The student council members who had attempted to attack the altar earlier had all passed out and were being carried away from the passage by others in a flurry.
Among all the teachers and students present, only Diris, who had provided support at the time, knew what was hidden inside that sealed altar…
The blackflame, which seemed to gather all the evil in this world, burned the soul to ashes even with the slightest touch.
Even a Master Grade Beast Tamer of Four Rings would be incapacitated and unable to act for long in the face of such blackflame.
This was why the arsonists of the Ash Cult dared to place that pitch-black altar in the center and let others approach it. Because this was their strongest trump card, even more reliable than the Four Rings Patriarch outside the fire formation.
However, in the face of Diris’s urgent plea, Aerora’s expression did not waver in the slightest.
She merely stood at the entrance of the passage, subtly blocking Diris, who seemed to want to rush in.
Her light golden long hair, draped over her shoulders, fluttered with the rising heatwave. Her solitary words echoed gently amidst the crackling flames.
“That is his decision.”
This was a decision Shaya had made after careful consideration.
Therefore, Aerora would not question Shaya’s judgment, nor would she pry into the specifics of the plan Shaya had formulated.
She would appear at the right place at the right time and then do what Shaya expected her to do.
Just as they had agreed eight years ago, in that icefield town shrouded by black mist and thick smoke.
Diris frowned, completely unable to comprehend Aerora’s stubbornness. She tried to get around her a few times but found herself locked by a sharp aura.
“You blindly believe him just because it’s his decision? This is a gamble for life and death, but classmate Shaya is lacking a lot of intel.”
“Have you ever considered—”
“What if his decision is wrong, what will you do?”
Just then, Diris suddenly froze because she saw the clear blue eyes of the blonde maiden.
Her gaze was indifferent, still solitary.
But the silent answer contained within it made Diris tremble inwardly.
It was only now that Diris realized that as the one who should be in charge of the overall situation of Saint Roland Academy… it wasn’t just Shaya, but even Aerora, the often-seen number one in the academy’s sequence, she had never truly understood.
Diris opened her mouth, as if wanting to confess something, but in the end, she did not speak.
It was in this moment of Diris’s trance that the flames surged, and the wall of fire closed again.
Soon, mentors and troops waiting on the periphery rushed over and led the students away to a safe area far from the academy.
According to the reconnaissance of Lieutenant Colonel Sieg’s eye demon familiar, a highly dangerous magical fluctuation was gestating within the pitch-black altar. Once it erupted, more than half of Saint Roland Academy would be reduced to ruins.
Silently arriving within the army’s formation, the mental detection light screen projected by the eye demon familiar quickly attracted the attention of all the students.
Only the Ash Cult, who were standing in battle formation, remained in the fire scene, along with Shaya, who was the target of countless gazes and killing intent, alone.
The Arsonist Leader said something.
Then everyone saw that, on the light screen, Shaya, with his hands in his pockets, took a step towards the pitch-black altar.
That slender figure, at that moment, appeared exceptionally tall in the eyes of the teachers and students of Saint Roland Academy.
Just like—
Embarking on a road of no return called hero.
One more chapter at 12:00.
