Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 52: The Blue Demon

Her mind becoming a daze, Koko slowly advanced on the two cultists, feeling as if her blood was on fire and that her heart were about to explode. However, nothing mattered to her at the moment. Nothing but the absolute fury she was feeling.

"What is that?!" The silver-cloaked swordsman asked in shock, visibly recoiling as his partner backed away slowly.

"I- impossible! A member of the mortal races should not be capable of emitting that energy!" The other man yelled, though his voice seemed uncertain. "It's impossible! This has to be a trick!"

"Then let's end it!" The swordsmen yelled, suddenly charging in yet again in order to cut her. However, to Koko, it almost seemed as if he were moving in slow motion as she walked forward and punched him in the chest before he could do anything. And without even stopping to watch him fly away, Koko continued on to the man that had tried to kill her, charging forward to tackle him before she suddenly met some kind of invisible barrier that the man had casted. Though, even if it had slowed her progress, the barrier still shattered when she'd hit it, sending thousands of shards of purple light flying in all directions, which curiously seemed to mix with a black mist that seemed to have strangely appeared over her.

"Die!" The mage yelled, holding his hands out in front of him before another bolt of lightning shot from them. However, with one easy movement of her right arm, the skill was immediately cancelled. And while the lightning would normally just disappear, for some reason it seemed to double back until it hit it's original caster, blasting the man back similarly to what had happened to the swordsmen before they both landed on the ground together.

"This power... it isn't fake!" the swordsmen gasped as he struggled to get up.

"N-no! It's can't be!" The mage yelled in reply. "This is the Great One's power! No mortal should have control over it!"

"Kill them..." An unfamiliar voice suddenly whispered in her ear, and Koko spun around furiously to see who had spoken to her, only to find that there was no one there. And as the cultists yelled at each other, Koko's head suddenly started ringing in a low pitch, seeming almost as if someone had rang a gong inside her ears. Though while it made her somewhat confused, she still had to focus as the swordsman attacked her again, though this time her attempt to parry his swing ended up with her backhanding his sword forcefully enough to completely shatter the blade.

"Koko!" A familiar voice rang out, and Koko looked towards the entrance of the academy where Christina and the instructors seemed to have returned and were currently flooding out of the doors. Though most of them paused to look at her as entered, seeming to almost be shocked at what they saw. However, upon seeing Christina again, Koko's head suddenly became clear enough so that she could think again before she turned back towards the two cultists that might have killed Richard, only to find that another person had joined them.

"Both of you, that is enough." A man in a gold and black cloak stated as he held both of the other cultists shoulders. "You have done the best that you can... the adversary is simply to great."

"You have our deepest apologies, my lord!" The mage said in a pained voice before falling to one knee as the swordsmen fought against the other man's grip.

"No! I'm not finished yet! Not without my sculpture of blood!"  He screamed in protest, though Koko was shocked when the man suddenly seemed to vanish into a cloud of ash. Following soon after, the mage disappeared as well, leaving only the golden-cloaked man as he walked closer to Koko. And while the other two men's faces had been obscured by their hoods, this man suddenly removed his hood, revealing a bald head that was completely covered by black tattoos. His eyes were so black that Koko thought that he might be missing his eyes entirely, and even though the man wore golden rings that covered every inch of his ears, Koko thought that the strangest thing about the man was the fact that he was crying for some reason.

"We will take our leave for now, Koko Cryner." The man announced before bowing slightly in her direction. "But I cannot thank you enough for blessing us with your presence..."

With those words the man disappeared as well, the ash left in his place soon disappearing in a slight breeze as Koko was left wondering just what was even happening. And while she was relieved that the immediate threat was gone, her eyes scanned the area around her at a new threat, one that confused her to no end as all of the academy's faculty seemed as if they were ready to fight her.

"What are you all doing?! Can't you see that Richard needs help?!" Koko asked furiously while pointing over to where Richard was currently laying.

"Koko... is that you?" Christina asked with her hands covering her mouth, making Koko even more confused until she started swaying on her feet. And just like that, all of the anger than had built up in her before suddenly vanished along with the last of her MP.

<System>

Demon Mode Deactivated

"It's about time you got here. I almost died!" Koko complained at a shocked looking Christina before the girl ran forward and threw her arms around Koko for some reason.

"I- I don't know what that was, but thank goodness you're alright!" Christina replied, seeming to completely ignore Koko's words.

"Never mind about me, Richard's in trouble!" Koko yelled frantically, once again pointing towards him only to find out that the academies medics were already working on him.

"What happened here?" The headmaster asked as he approached, turning his stern gaze towards Koko. Though with what she'd just been through, he may as well have been wearing makeup as far as how intimidating he was.

"Things got crazy when you left!" Koko replied immediately as she started her rant. "First, I tried to go get some logs to train so that I could keep my mind off of worrying about Christina, but when I got into the equipment storage room I found out that Richard's harem had turned on him! They gave him a cursed wrist chain that drains MP that he still has on his left wrist right now, and they were about to torture him before I showed up to save the day! But then when we tired to leave, a bunch of cultists showed up and there was a lot of fighting! A lot of it! And you're late!"

Ignoring Koko's accusing finger, Conner walked past her and towards Richard, fumbling in his pocket for several moments before he withdrew a set of keys until he finally unlocked the cuffs. And seeing as how the cuffs were originally attached to the academy's wall in the first place, Koko almost felt like slapping herself for not realizing that only faculty would have the keys for them. Though that didn't seem like it mattered now as Conner took the black wrist chain off of Richard and handed it to a nearby instructor, who was already holding out a cloth in order to receive the item.

"Hang on Koko, I'll heal you." Christina thankfully started using her healing magic on Koko, who only realized now that her entire body was starting to sting from the cuts she'd received.

"Thanks. I really thought that I was going to die." Koko breathed a sigh of relief, thankful now that it was all over.

"But what special ability was that at the end? It almost made you look like a monster." Christina asked in concern.

"I'll tell you about it later." Koko mumbled as her relief suddenly gave way to exhaustion before she fell unconscious entirely.