31 Struggle

"What's the matter, old man?" asked Kevin hastily.

"When I was going through your father's gear yesterday, I found something interesting stuffed in one of his sheaths," Alf smiled while taking something out of his pocket.

'Dad's?' thought Kevin before jumping off the beast's head as he was quite interested in the contents. So far, everything his father had left behind was useful in some way, be it an immense defense that could save him from the Valaar's blow, or be it a weapon that could easily cut through the beast's bodies.

"I haven't bothered to look inside since it's probably personal, but it does look intriguing," Alf held out his hand to Kevin, holding a strange scroll with two golden dragon heads on either side.

Kevin took it without much thought and examined it more closely. The first thing he noticed was that the material used to make this scroll was of the highest quality, glimmering with shiny golden color.

Interested, Kevin tried to open it, but something felt like a miss. No matter how much force he applied, the scroll wouldn't bulge, let alone open.

"It's no use, there's a certain lock causing it to be unopenable" Alf spoke, seeing the fidgeting Kevin, who raised a question mark after hearing Alf's words.

"Don't look at me like that...Every lock has its key, and in this case, that's mana," Alf explained while pointing towards the head of the dragon from the side.

"Do I need to flow my mana into this lock?" Kevin guessed, causing a bright smile to appear on Alf's face.

"It seems the son of Rufus isn't such a blockhead," Alf said, causing a few wrinkles to form on Kevin's forehead. No matter how old he is, it's still painful to be called a dumbass.

"Anyway, what you said is true, all you need is to get the mana flowing into the scroll, but a substantial amount is a requirement which you obviously don't have at the moment" Alf explained as he picked up the shards of champagne from the floor and began licking the edges in satisfaction.

Kevin eyed Alf's actions in disgust, really beginning to wonder whether this old man is that of a sane mind.

"Thanks...I have to go now, take care" Kevin stuffed the scroll into his pocket, trying not to let it stick out, and after remembering his original goal, he instantly bid farewell to Alf.

Promptly, Kevin jumped on Wolf's back, not even letting Alf say anything, and disappeared from the sight.

"Young people these days are so rude," Alf exhaled while doing a quick stretch by extending his hands in the air.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he muttered a smile:

"Since that bastard, Oda still hasn't shown up, I'm going to clean up this mess."

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"Sophia, as soon as you get a chance, go straight to the hunters association, they have a bunker under the building where everyone is evacuated," the teacher whispered while the swords around him began to circle faster, creating a few afterimages.

Sophia still couldn't grasp the current situation, thinking the teacher would easily outdo this beast, but seeing his serious gaze, she decided to do as she was told.

After all, even if she stayed, she wouldn't be much help in a fight of such magnitude, instead, it would put the teacher into a troublesome position.

"Hu-humans no r-run," the monkey spread its small hands forward, alerting the standing duo as both of them prepared to act.

However, the next move executed by the monkey made the situation even more difficult.

The ape disappeared without leaving a trace, even the immense mana that spread throughout the area vanished without a hint.

'What kind of invisibility has such power... I can't even sense a trace of him,' the teacher inwardly cursed as he signaled Sophia to come closer.

Now that they both can't even see a sign of the ape, trying to escape would be fatal.

'This is bad... we're basically cannon fodders with no defense,' teacher's mind was slowly turning unstable as he controlled the swords with less confidence.

He had the power of [Telekinesis], which allowed him to mentally control objects from a certain distance. However, due to the immense absorption of both mana and his mental power, five swords were the maximum of his ability.

"Sophia, take the sword," teacher drifted one of the golden swords directly into Sophia's hand, as she gripped it with all her might.

Even though Sophia doesn't have any god powers related to the offense, it's still better to have a high-quality sword than being barehanded, which she clearly understands.

*Fluff*

With a sudden change in the air, both Sophia and the teacher turned to look behind them, where a large ball of light was already coming at them at full speed.

The teacher immediately sent out all golden swords to stop the incoming attack, but an unexpected uneasiness from all sides made him pause in the mid-process.

"What the heck?", fright spread across Sophia's face as she looked around. Countless bright orbs that seemed to light up the entire world itself, were streaming towards the group from all sides, leaving no way out.

'Sh*t' teacher cussed internally as he placed his hand on his head, extending the middle finger forward.

Intense pain overwhelmed his entire body as blood made its way out of his nostrils.

Sophia, who was surprised by the sudden intrusion, still managed to see the change in the teacher's expression.

Understanding the situation, Sophia acted, by casting numerous spells of [Healing] at the struggling professor, hoping to facilitate his pain.

Fortunately, just when the orbs were about to collide with the terrified duo, the professor managed to stop the attack.

Slowly, but steadily, the orbs began to recede, while the expression on the teacher's face also relaxed.

Launching the orbs farther into the distance, a loud blast overwhelmed the ears of Sophia as she smiled brightly:

"That was incredible tea-teacher?"

Sophia looked towards the professor, but after seeing the look on his face, any desire to even say anything vanished. Instead, she was filled with horror as her eyes widened in shock.

Countless daggers that glowed with bright color protruded from the teacher's body, covering his entire mass with crimson blood.

The teacher was on the verge of falling, yet he kept himself upright, because of sheer will and healing performed by the startled Sophia.

'My powers are not enough to heal such injuries,' Sophia cursed inside as she continued to heal the already relatively standing teacher, hoping to somehow resolve the situation.

If the teacher died, then Sophia's death was guaranteed as well.

"Ru-run," the teacher managed to mutter with the last of his strength as he fell backward, only to be caught by the thin pair of hands.

"Teacher?" Sophia muttered in disbelief.

Watching the pair of green eyes slowly roll aback and feeling the strange coldness that surrounded the professor's body, her eyes watered.

The teacher had always been a role model to her, and losing someone of such importance, really shackled her emotions.

However, the sorrow didn't last long, as her eyes flickered with unbelievable rage.

"Weak human," finally spoke the monkey who had been standing in the front the entire time, as if enjoying the whole process of the professor's death.

"You disgusting creature" Sophia gently laid the teacher on the ground before standing up.

With a few tears spreading on her eyelids, she looked at the ape with a resolute expression while gripping the golden sword with even more force.

Even if she had no way of escaping this creature's wrath, she would definitely resist it with all means possible.

On the other hand, the ape only smiled creepily while its hands flickered with the familiar golden light again.

Sophia was already prepared for such a development as she rushed towards the ape at full speed, preparing to swing with the sword.

However, during a battle, the winner is determined by the amount of power, experience, and composer, while anger only messes with the brain, causing unreasonable decisions.

But it was too late for any apprehensions.

An even creepier smile formed on the ape's cast as he extended one of the middle fingers forward, which glimmered with light.

An incredibly fast projectile shot out of the beast's finger. Sophia didn't even manage to notice how a hole formed in her shoulder.

"!!!" Sophia felt an immense pain go through her hand as if it was getting burned inside and out. However, even after completely losing the feeling of her own hand, she continued on.

Once again, another shot followed, this time landing on her leg.

Sophia gritted her teeth in pain, but didn't pause for a second and began to slowly close the distance to the ape.

Seeing the determination on Sophia's face, the smirk on the monkey's face vanished and he muttered:

"Human disgusting"

As the sentence ended, the creature aimed a finger at the forehead of the already pale Sophia, who was still walking at the edge of her ability.

*Boom*

A light bullet made its way towards Sophia, who closed her eyes finally giving up, with the only thought running through her mind:

'I hope Kevin is alright'

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'Huh?' a question mark formed in Sophia's head after she felt no pain in her scalp. Confused, she reopened her eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar back of a huge dark monster that seemed to reach the heavens itself.

"Sophia, you have managed to hold on quite well"