He hurled a bolt of fire toward the monster's chest, aiming for the core. He knew it probably wouldn't connect, but a distraction was all he needed. The Effluence twisted to defend its core, and the blast exploded in a flash--searing white spots into his vision-- and momentarily disrupting its balance. Steam burst from its vents in retaliation, its target was already gone.
Argh…! I can't forget I don't have my old elemental immunity anymore--bright light can hurt me now!
Ray darted left, his spear swinging wildly through the air. He probably couldn't see them well, but the floating metal shards behind him snapped to attention before accelerating in a spiral. Julien heard them hum in a sharp vibrating pitch just before they struck.
One managed to hit the Effluence's shoulder, another slammed into the side of its neck. The monster recoiled.
Julien acted fast; a pair of small fireballs formed in the air. One crackled with white flame, and the other shone with blinding mana. He launched them together.
The white flame struck first, igniting the damaged scales across the Effluence's side. The other one followed a moment later, creating an oddly chaotic shockwave as it struck.
Huh?! It was like the spell decided to do its own thing for a second. That was too unstable… I thought I had decent enough control--is it the light and the headache throwing me off?
The blast veered to the left as it traveled, almost clipping Ray in the side. He staggered back, nearly losing his grip on his spear.
"Ian!" Ray barked. "What the hell was that?!"
"Sorry," Julien said quickly. "Whatever's going on in this gate must be affecting me too. The mana just suddenly escaped me."
Ray spat to the side, eyes sharp. "No kidding. My shards are starting to drift out of line too. They're slower, like the skill's resisting me."
It's not just healing, then. Offensive abilities too. This is worse than I thought. The Effluence hissed again, already recovering and Julien's mind snapped back to the fight. No time to dwell.
"Can you still control them?" he asked, already preparing another spell.
Ray nodded. "Barely. Might not be precise, but I can make it loud."
"Good enough."
The fire around Julien's hand heated up again--but this time, he gave himself more space before casting again.
He launched a tight barrage of shots low to the ground. The Effluence dodged the first two, but the third slammed into its foot, burning through its scales. The creature screeched in rage.
Ray pushed forward, using his injured arm for balance as he ducked in close. His floating shards tried to follow, but they faltered again, lagging in midair.
"Tch…!" He threw the spear manually instead.
It flew straight, but its twisted and blunted tip clanged harmlessly against the Effluence's body and broke apart into pieces.
Julien snapped his fingers, and a delayed burst detonated across the impact point, engulfing the monster in white-orange flame. Its limbs flailed, steam bursting uncontrolled from its vents.
Suddenly, the shine surged too bright. Firelight spread unnaturally wide, bouncing off every surface like a mirror. Even Julien flinched when heat scorched up his arm. While it couldn't burn him, his grip on control slipped a little as the spell pushed back against him, reckless and overcharged with mana. He turned the other way quickly, trying to avoid looking directly at it.
"Fuck!!" Ray wasn't as fast, and he swore violently as he threw his hands over his eyes to protect them from the glow. His metal shards wavered in the air, thrown into disarray by their master's distraction. Light caught on their edges, refracting in painful bursts.
But when the fire cleared, the Effluence collapsed, its core cracked open underneath its muscles.
[Named Defeated: Effluence Lvl.77]
[Core: Destroyed]
[Participants: Raymond Altain, Ian Mooring]
"Why does that keep happening?" Ray muttered, blinking rapidly. "Sparkly spells are suddenly blinding… That wasn't you, was it?"
Julien winced as he walked over to him. "It was, partially. I think… mana is becoming visible, and catching the light. Normally, my fire spells just glow like any old flame. But for some reason, they're way too bright. I fought a Petra a little while ago and it wasn't this bad."
"W-what?? You fought a Named too? Damn, you look almost unscathed."
"Yeah, thanks. But that's not the point. The point is, visibility is getting worse over time. We might not be able to see at all soon."
Ray stayed quiet for a second, picking up the remains of his spear, then he nodded. "Well, this isn't looking good. Damn it, this was a nice spear… But how'd you find me, anyway?" asked.
"I ran into one of your team," Julien said. "A girl, and she said you told them to run."
Ray groaned quietly. "At least one made it… I'll take that."
"And the rest are scattered?"
"Yeah. It was a simple route… or it should've been. I let the kids lead, as instructed. We were moving slow, checking for signs like we were supposed to. Nothing showed up beyond the first, what, half an hour? Then that thing burst through the trees like it had been waiting. No pressure spike, no mana surge. Just steam and screaming."
His grip tightened on what was left of his weapon. "It hit the front hard. Caught us completely off guard. I think two of the kids took the worst of it, but I couldn't check. Everyone ran, probably to the west--and I tried to stall it."
"How long did you hold it back for?"
Ray managed a short laugh. "Maybe a little more than ten minutes? Wouldn't say I held it, though, haha… More like I pissed it off long enough for them to get away from it. Honestly, if you took even a little longer, I'd be a puddle of acid right now."
"Still, that's pretty impressive. I hope the others are okay too," Julien said, sighing. "But we need to find the kids first."
He paused. That came out fast--and unfiltered.
Why did I even say that?
It wasn't the [Character Guidance]. That still hadn't reactivated. There hadn't been a single tug, no system input guiding his tone.
He actually meant it.
They'd only been together for a few days. Sunday morning was the first time he'd ever talked to Ray and Amara, and he'd never known Haley well either. The knowledge that they were in danger stung more than he'd expected it would.
I barely know them. But was that really true anymore?
I thought I'd moved past this. That I'd toughened myself up to the knowledge that people smiling one moment could be dead the next.
But I guess you can never really get used to it, no matter how hard you try.
He turned away before Ray could see the look on his face. Ray started to nod, then winced. "I can still walk. You all good, Ian?"
Julien gave him a look. "I'm not the one bleeding out."
"Not dying either," Ray muttered, wiping at his shoulder. "But don't mind me… just gonna sit for a while." He sank to the ground.
Julien crouched beside him, summoning a spare bandage from his inventory. "Hold still."
Ray didn't protest as Julien tied it around his shoulder. Ray's wound wasn't debilitating, but it would eat away at his health points if left alone.
"Nice touch," Ray said wryly. "Didn't know you were secretly a healer."
"I'm not," Julien replied, tugging the knot. "But I'm not carrying you either."
"Why so cold, man? Is the stress getting to ya?"
Damn system. That acting it does is useful, but why only extend it to basic social situations?
Ping.
[Character Guidance: Reactivated]
[Mode: Partial Override (Stability priority engaged)]
[Partial Override is only available to the user during the Villain Path tutorial quest.
How convenient… but this is a tutorial quest? For the Villain Path?
Julien stared at the notification. The Villain Path had been there since the day he transmigrated. He just hadn't paid attention. Too much noise, too many things to process--and if he was being honest with himself, he still didn't believe Ian could be a villain.
Most people only got tutorial quests once, right after awakening their Mark. A welcome message--a sign that something special had begun. He'd only seen it happen again once before. To himself.
Back then, he was just six or seven months into his first year at the Academy. The day Amerulo City burned, and a quiet evening turned into chaos. Inferno had attacked without warning, and by the time the dust settled, Ian Mooring was found dead. Julien didn't even find out until the next day.
The system had given him a new quest then. His "Hero's Path," a call to stop the monster who'd stolen power and lives alike. And now, he had one again. But one tied to the opposite side. Something he'd never choose of his own free will.
Forget it, I'm not going to become a villain as long as I live. Anyway, I need to focus on the current situation.
His voice eased almost instantly. He spoke more smoothly after that. "You're lucky it missed anything vital. But don't get dramatic on me yet."
Ray grinned, looking satisfied now. "That's more like it."
Julien stood. "Let's go. West, right?"
"Yeah. Past a large pond. They should've scattered toward that side. Hopefully."
They moved fast. Julien's eyes swept over the trees looking for signs. A snapped branch here, a a faint outline of a satchel there. Then he heard a faint cough from far away.
"There. I think I heard something. We should go check it out."
When they arrived, three students were crouched beneath a twisted tree, one lying flat with a torn belt clumsily tied around his leg. The other two looked up at him, breathless and scared.
Their eyes widened. "Ray! And Ian--?!"
"Wait, is that really…?!"
"Ian Mooring!"
Relief washed over their faces like a flood. "We're saved!"
Julien paused, then gave them Ian's typical kind smile. "Yep, we're here now. Everything'll be fine! Don't move too fast, though. Just in case."
One of them looked like he might cry. "R-Ray… We thought you were--we didn't think anyone--"
"I'm fine, thanks to Ian here," Ray said, shuffling closer. "Can any of you move?"
The girl nodded quickly. "Just Ben's hurt. We tried, we really tried…!"
"We'll take care of it." He motioned to Ray. "Help me lift him."
As they bent down, Julien heard one of the kids whisper, almost reverently:
"I can't believe it. They actually came back for us."
Julien kept his attention on the treeline as he helped lift the boy. The mana in the air was still too bright, but through the shine, he felt a sense of something approaching.
"Ray," he said under his breath. "We've got incoming."
Ray's expression hardened. "How many?"
"Can't tell, but they're close."
He loosened his grip on the wounded student's arm. "I'll move ahead. If it's just a few, I can deal with it."
Ray didn't argue. "I'll hold position here. The rest of you, stay low."
Julien walked away from them, taking long steps across the brush. Just twenty yards away, and he couldn't make out the group through the light anymore.
He was about to step into a clearing when the ground shuddered beneath his feet. From the left side of the ridge, half a dozen large sparks of mana flared up at once.
They weren't trying to ambush us. They're stampeding!
He raised a hand, preparing a flame burst, but before he could aim it, a chorus of shouts rang out behind him.
He heard Ray's voice, sharp and strained. "Stay together--!"
A second later, there was screaming, the kind that didn't leave room for hesitation. Julien spun around and raced back to where he'd come from.
He had just reached the halfway point when he saw fast-moving, blurry gray bodies through the bright haze. Although he couldn't tell exactly what the monsters were, the danger was clear. As he ran, he watched Ray dash in between them and his students.
Then suddenly a blur of gold, frost, and force slammed into the nearest monster from above. Then another--and another.
A girl's voice shouted, "On your left, Karis!"
Julien's breath caught. Five figures emerged from the smoke and wreckage like something out of a war novel. Uniforms torn, weapons drawn, eyes blazing.
Julien blinked, stunned. …You've got to be kidding me.
Jenna cracked her knuckles as another monster lunged toward her. "He said stay put," she muttered, water droplets starting to gather across her arms. "But nobody listens when it actually matters."
Little Julien stepped forward next to her, blade drawn. "Sorry we're late," he announced. Then all five of them charged.