I whistled atop a tree as I saw Ier slice down the whip of the giant Chimera.

There it was. He finally managed to use his mana like a weapon. This usage of mana alone would increase his spells’ power by many times.

If he could compress mana and use what nature had given him in a better way, then even with low stats, he would be able to counter the ones who did not know how to use their mana.

A slither rang as the whip, which looked more like a tentacle, started to move again.

“W-wwhat!?”

Ier stepped back in surprise, raising his sword. Well, if that much had been enough to defeat the Chimera, then he would have won long ago.

I crossed my arms and observed as more and more of the green blobs merged with the Chimera. The green-tinted film that had escaped the Black Rose Classroom wriggled in my hands as it tried to reach its main body.

“You are not going anywhere.”

I shoved the film in my coat and stood up.

The Chimera’s cut-off tentacle had merged again and was about to attack Ier once more. This was, by all means, a major slip-up. Any chimera that went rogue should be killed, but then again, it was the most unique monster I had seen in my years of being in this world.

“Guess I can teach Ier more…”

I looked to get my sword… but there was nothing in my hands. Right, I had left the case back in my room since no one could have expected a fight here.

“Well, no can do.”

I left my hat on a tree next to me and flexed my muscles—I shot off.

“KRIEE!”

The giant Chimera had raised its whips once more in front of Ier. The boy scrambled back to avoid it, his eyes filled with horror.

I stepped in front of him right that instant.

“Professor—”

The whip was right in front of us. I emitted mana from my hand and flicked the whip back.

The Chimera’s whip swatted away like a mosquito.

“What are you doing just standing around?” I asked my eyes on the Chimera.

Something was wrong.

As the blobs filled it up, the Chimera’s composition was changing.

There was something different about its mana. As if another being had taken over it.

How many damned monsters did they use to make this one? It had immense mana, comparable to some demons.

A sick, twisted thought momentarily entered my mind, but I shrugged it off. The protocol was to burn. There was no way in hell that Gladwin would go against protocol.

I took a sharp breath and stretched my hand out.

***

Prince Ier couldn’t believe his eyes.

But he had to. He had seen the same person over and over until he was sick of him this last week.

“Professor… what are you…” he muttered. “How are you here?”

This was the worst of the worst-case scenarios. The monster was far too much for Ier to handle alone, but now… the professor was here too.

If he were going to die alone, he wouldn’t have been this worried. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans.

“You did good. Your slash was perfect.”

The professor said strange words as he stood in between Ier and the Chimera.

Ier couldn’t pay it any heed. How was he supposed to?

Why… Why was this professor standing in between him and the monster? At this rate, both of them would die.

“W-we have to run, professor!” Ier desperately screamed as he raised his blade. “You can’t fight that thing! I’ll hold it back, so go get help—”

The professor scoffed and slightly turned his head. He stared Ier down from the side of his eyes.

“Can’t fight…? What makes you say that?”

Ier froze in his spot.

The professor…

The person who seemed weak all this time.

There was never a reason to consider him weak. He was someone who was far too cheerful, someone who seemed the very opposite of strong…

But…

“Student Ier, prepare that spell again.”

With those words, the professor lowered his stance.

The monster had changed tactics. This time, dozens of tentacles shot out of it like the first one. The acidic content and temperature of its flesh had increased so much that the tentacles were on fire.

At the same time, the professor stretched his arm to the side, and a vast amount of mana spilled out of his hands.

The mana coalesced around his palm and formed a blade of pure mana.

Ier had just learned how to use his mana like that.

He believed himself to be the best person to say that this was a straight-up impossible feat.

The Chimera wasn’t going to wait for Ier. Dozens of tentacles boomed toward them at once.

Faster than Ier could see, the professor swung his sword and charged ahead. The tentacles of the Chimera dropped to the ground, and a gust of wind struck Ier.

The professor was in front of the Chimera in the blink of an eye. He pulled his hand back and punched the body of the giant monster.

Another boom echoed as the Chimera arched from the center and flew to the skies.

“KEIIIIE!?”

“Ouch! Ouch, ouch!” The professor waved his hand and blew on it. “This thing is hotter than I thought!”

Something melting the ground was merely ‘hotter’ for the professor. Ier could not believe his eyes.

A growl resounded as the cut-off tentacles all shot straight for the professor while the main body of the Chimera formed two hands, ready to smash the professor into the ground.

Casually, the professor swung his blade and cut off the tentacles into smaller pieces. He then twisted his body and met the falling Chimera with a punch.

His hand collided with the monster's, and a shockwave spread through the thicket, shaking the trees whole.

Ier could only watch.

Shrewdly, the professor used his other hand and cut off the Chimera’s head. He turned around and let the Chimera’s body slide off to the ground before kicking it to the side.

The Chimera flew off, and the professor turned back to Ier.

“Freeze!” he said as he tossed the head toward Ier. It tumbled toward him like a canon.

Ier stretched his hand and used a frost spell to freeze the head of the Chimera. It fell on the ground and was left immobile. Unfortunately, it was not enough to deter the monster.

Albeit slightly shorter, the monster had regenerated its head from all the tentacles it had absorbed.

“Student Ier…” the professor brandished his sword and said. “I’ll hold it down, so prepare your spell.”

The spell. The one that he had used and failed to pull off against Wilbur.

“Do it! Don’t hesitate!”

The Chimera jumped ahead again and smacked the professor. The professor narrowly dodged.

This time, the dozens of tentacles had turned shorter and grew in number. From twenties to forties, eighties, hundreds of tentacles all shot at the professor. He dodged what he could and blocked the rest.

The professor’s suit was burning, but he didn’t seem deterred in the slightest. He was determined to keep the Chimera away.

How could Ier hesitate in this situation?

He used the sword and started to etch a giant circle on the ground.

He had failed before.

He had lost before.

This same spell, and he couldn’t do it. What if it happened again? What if he failed again?

Those thoughts stopped Ier in his tracks. His hands trembled.

What if… he let someone down again?

A gust of wind blew and pushed Ier back. He looked to the side and found the professor kicking the monster in his direction.

Ier rushed to the back as the Chimera zoomed past where he stood. Then, in the very next moment, the Chimera stood up once more and charged back at the professor.

Ier looked down and saw the magic circle completely flattened out.

“Ah, sorry!” the professor screamed from the side. “It got ruined. Just make another one.”

Another one…

Ier scoffed.

Of course. If he let someone down, he could just try again.

“Yes!” Ier shouted and created the circle once more. He made the giant spell on the ground and then another magic circle above him.

The professor’s coat was utterly ruined, he was slightly bleeding from his cheeks, but the monster was in much worse condition.

It was shocking to see something that could regenerate without any end in sight as tired as the professor had rendered it.

He was sure, no matter how long Ier took, the professor would handle it.

Ier rushed to finish the circle. He made the last sigils on the ground and gathered all his mana.

This time, he compressed it like he had learned. The compressed mana seeped out of him, and the magic circles started to spin.

A blue glow gleamed out of the circle. The temperature in the air started to drop.

“PROFESSOR!” Ier roared. “It is ready!”

The professor glanced at Ier and then skewered his sword of mana into the Chimera.

He lifted the Chimera with his strength alone and then flicked it toward the magic circle. The blade of mana dissipated as the monster hit the ground.

The professor immediately grabbed the Chimera again and drove its head into the dirt. Finally, he kicked the Chimera again and sent it flying at the circle.

“Do it!”

Ier closed his eyes.

The Chimera was flying at him, but Ier only focused on the spell.

His hair started to crinkle, his lips dried, and the effect of the spell was making everything freeze over already.

And then, as soon as the Chimera was in front of him.

“Blizzard!”

Ier raised his hand high.

The magic circle glowed the brightest it had. A wave of pure ice emerged from the ground, swallowing the Chimera whole.

The trees around froze, and the ground formed a layer above them. The wave of ice went higher and higher, its tip taller than the trees.

And inside it, the Chimera was trapped.

Ier’s spell had succeeded.