Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 290: The Chimera Corps (3)

“Hold them back!”

At a knight’s shout, gunfire erupted through the air.

From behind a makeshift barricade, the police emptied every last bullet they had.

The bullets struck the front line of chimeras surging down the street in a dense horde.

Some chimeras fell, spraying blood—but it was only a handful.

With elastic muscles and tough hides, most of the chimeras easily endured the barrage.

Those that died were either unlucky enough to be shot through the eye or overwhelmed by sheer bullet volume.

The rest remained terrifyingly intact.

“Keep firing! Don’t stop!”

The police, pale as ghosts, continued pulling the triggers.

Behind their barricade, terrified citizens who hadn’t managed to evacuate huddled together.

If the line broke here, the civilians would be slaughtered.

That alone had to be prevented at all costs. The police were fighting with everything they had to hold the defense line.

But the bullets were running out. And the chimeras—were not.

There was a limit to what guns could do.

“Everyone move aside!”

That was when a mage, panting for breath, stepped forward.

Loina Pavlini.

She raised a massive barrier of mana with all the power she could muster.

As the wave of chimeras slammed into the barrier, the ground quaked under the impact.

Gritting her teeth, Loina imbued the barrier with elemental fire, turning it into a wall of searing flames.

The chimeras near the wall instantly ignited.

But they weren’t deterred by fire.

Some even stepped on the burning corpses of their fallen kin and tried to leap over the blazing barrier.

Whenever they did, the waiting police fired and cut them down midair.

Then, Loina collapsed to one knee, sweat pouring down her pale face.

“Mage! Are you alright?!”

A knight from the Cold Steel Order rushed over to check her condition.

“I... I’m fine.”

She said she was fine—but her face was ghostly white.

The police nearby stiffened.

‘She’s exhausted.’

It was hard to imagine a 6th-circle Lexuror-ranked mage being drained, but the situation was just that dire.

Loina had already overdrawn her mana reserves more than a dozen times.

The survivors had fortified themselves outside the Crystal Palace, fending off the chimera attacks.

They couldn’t defend from within—it too had underground paths that chimeras were emerging from.

As the continent’s top tourist destination, the Crystal Palace had many open routes and transit points.

There were simply too many avenues to guard.

Loina had personally held each of those routes by herself.

At this point, it was a miracle she hadn’t collapsed already.

Thanks to her self-sacrificing defense, there had miraculously been no casualties so far.

But now... that too had reached its limit.

Loina tried to stand, legs shaking uncontrollably—but collapsed again.

“I... have to get up...”

Chimeras were still coming.

The only reason she’d gotten a moment’s rest at all was because the knights were pushing themselves to the limit in close combat.

If they hadn’t been, everything would’ve been wiped out long ago.

“Loina!”

Unable to bear it any longer, the students of Seorn stepped forward.

At the head of them stood the radiant blonde-haired Third Imperial Princess, Erendir.

“We’ll help!”

“No, don’t! Get back!”

“We know we’re not strong enough yet. But if we work together, we can at least buy time. Please, let us.”

As Erendir and the students spoke with resolute determination, Loina could no longer refuse them.

She knew better than anyone just how desperately every pair of hands was needed.

“They’re coming again!”

The moment Loina’s fire barrier finally collapsed, the chimeras—drooling just beyond it—charged forward.

Rumble rumble rumble...

As the mass of chimeras stampeded all at once, the ground shook like an earthquake.

Their bloodshot eyes locked onto their targets like demons crawling from the depths of hell.

And considering they had emerged from underground, one might have believed the gates of hell had literally opened.

“Hold the line!”

The female knight leading the Cold Steel Order bellowed with all her might.

Knights stationed at every barricade drew their swords, activated artifacts, and cut down the incoming chimeras.

The police and the palace guards joined the fight, swinging rifle stocks into chimera faces and firing every remaining bullet they had.

The students of Seorn did not stand idle either.

They worked in groups, dividing roles among themselves.

One would raise a wall from the ground to block a path or deflect an attack, while another struck down any chimera that climbed over or tried to flank.

They were proving their worth as students of Seorn.

In this extreme, everyone was giving their all in their own way.

And perhaps thanks to that, the chimera horde—once a storm—began to falter, if only slightly.

Loina’s efforts at the center played the biggest role, but the knights and students were all contributing to holding the line.

“Good! Keep it up just like this!”

“Rotate out the exhausted! Switch places!”

Hope was beginning to bloom.

Grrrrrr...

Suddenly, the chimeras halted.

Then, the spines running down their backs and tails began to bristle violently.

It was as if they were responding to something—like a psychic command.

One of the Cold Steel knights, stationed on the front line, sensed something was off just moments before it happened.

Kyaoooooo!

The lead chimera threw its head back and howled—then lashed its tail forward into the air.

At the end of each of its twin tails were clusters of sharp spines. As it whipped them, the spines were fired like bullets.

And then—

Every chimera in the horde followed suit.

“Take cover...!”

A knight screamed the warning—but it was already too late.

The barbs shot through the barricades and skewered the officers behind them.

Compared to ordinary bullets, these spines had far greater penetrating power.

“AAAGH!”

“Guhhh!”

Police collapsed in blood, some struck fatally.

The barricades had helped minimize the crisis—but the injuries were undeniably serious.

And the worst part was... the chimeras weren’t done.

“This isn’t fair! Since when can they do ranged attacks?!”

“They’re firing again! Block it!”

There was no dodging the spines that blanketed the streets.

Their only option—was defense.

Unlike the knights, who had personal defensive tools, the police were mostly unprotected.

Then Loina acted.

“Everyone, get down!”

She gathered the last of her mana and conjured a dome-shaped barrier.

Like a downpour hammering an umbrella, the chimeras’ barbs clanged against the barrier and bounced off.

But they didn’t stop. The constant bombardment began to crack Loina’s shield.

Just as it looked like it might break—

Flora stepped forward.

“Sheryl!”

“Got it!”

The two moved in perfect sync, as if this were routine.

Sheryl activated her prepared spell, conjuring a massive wave of water that surged into a towering wall.

Then Flora cast her spell on top of it.

WHOOOOOSH!

A blast of white frost swept over the wave—freezing it solid into a massive glacial wall.

Barbs embedded into the ice, clattering against its frozen surface.

“Flora! This won’t hold long!”

Even before Sheryl shouted, Flora was already casting her next spell.

Around her, more than ten spheres of lightning formed.

And then—those spheres elongated, transforming into spears.

As Flora swung her staff, the lightning spears arced through the air and rained down upon the chimeras that had been firing spines.

Blue lightning spread like a web, crackling violently as it dispersed in every direction.

A gaping hole was blasted through the horde of chimeras.

WAAAAAH!

The watching citizens erupted in cheers, and even the other Seorn students were left speechless.

Everyone had known Flora Lumos was called a genius at Seorn, but few had expected she would wield magic this freely even in real combat.

‘Amazing.’

Rine, too, let out a quiet breath of awe as she watched.

There was no hesitation in Flora’s spellcasting—fitting for someone so often called a genius.

Even in the face of terror, her spell lines never trembled, her formations never faltered.

She used the minimum necessary mana and invoked the right spell at precisely the right time.

Even her mentor, Loina, looked on with admiration.

‘Huh?’

That was when Rine caught something in the corner of her vision.

Flora hadn’t seen it, but Rine had.

Several chimeras were silently climbing up the walls of nearby buildings, moving across the rooftops.

‘Why are they going up to the roof...?’

One of the rooftop chimeras stopped, stared directly at Flora—and then its twin tails began to quiver.

In that instant, Rine sprang to her feet before she even realized it.

“Watch out!”

Her shout came just as the chimera launched its spines from above.

Flora also noticed at the last moment—but it was already too late.

Just as she reflexively shut her eyes, Rine cast her spell.

It was a simplified mana shield, drawn hastily with no elemental attribute.

Normally, she would’ve struggled to form it in time—but thanks to Ludger, her mana discharge rate had improved, and the spell activated correctly.

A silvery-gray, circular barrier appeared in front of Flora, intercepting the spines.

Some bounced off. Others partially embedded themselves—but none made it through.

It held.

Flora, dazed, stared at the barrier—then slowly turned to Rine.

“You...”

“Are you hurt?”

“....”

Flora, seeing Rine’s concerned expression, gave a faint, complicated nod.

Rine sighed in relief—but then remembered the rooftop chimera wasn’t alone.

“There’s more coming!”

“I know.”

Flora responded immediately and began to prepare a counterattack.

But just as the chimera raised its tails to fire again, it suddenly froze.

It lifted its head—then, as if sensing danger, abruptly turned and tried to flee.

For a moment, no one could understand why the chimera had suddenly changed its behavior.

Then they saw it.

A shaft of light descended from the cloud-darkened sky.

The light plummeted straight down—then violently curved midair and pierced the fleeing chimera through the torso.

KEEAAAK!

The beast let out a shriek and collapsed instantly.

“Look! Up there!”

Someone pointed toward the sky, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Ludger... sir?”

Rine saw him. So did Flora.

Ludger Cherish.

Floating in midair with levitation magic, he raised a hand like a conductor commanding an orchestra.

The beam of light that had struck the rooftop chimera exploded from his fingertips, multiplying and falling like a rainstorm of light.

“My god...”

Erendir couldn’t help but gasp aloud at the beautiful, awe-inspiring sight.

The radiant beams bent and curved midair, weaving like constellations and piercing the chimeras below.

Even if the light was magical in origin—a facsimile—it was still light.

Its speed was simply not something beasts spliced with animal traits could hope to evade.

KYAOOOO!

The chimeras began to fight back.

They aimed all their tail spines at Ludger, floating in the sky, and fired.

Countless black spines filled the air in an instant.

But Ludger’s response was simple.

With precise motion, he calmly raised his other hand.

At once, a vortex of mana swirled around him—rotating fiercely, forming a barrier.

The incoming spines were sucked into it, unable to pierce through. They bounced off weakly.

It was the same defensive technique Ludger had used against Grander—but this time, he hadn’t even needed <Ater Nocturnus>. He did it purely with raw mana.

And he didn’t stop there.

Now the wind rose.

The scattered spines caught in the swirling air began to form a giant current.

The chimeras’ own projectiles were caught and redirected.

Ludger immediately sent the captured spines flying back at them.

SHHHRAAAK!

The rain of barbs—strong enough to pierce barricades—now fell upon the chimeras themselves.

KEEAAAK!

Blood sprayed. Dozens of chimeras were impaled and fell in waves.

The citizens burst into wild cheers.

Just then, reinforcements arrived from afar, rushing into the square.

The chimeras, realizing they were outmatched, began to snarl and retreat.

Seeing this, Ludger deactivated his levitation magic and landed inside the barricade, where the civilians had gathered.

As the citizens, students, knights, and police stared at him in silence, Ludger finally spoke:

“Is everyone safe?”

* * *

In the central plaza of the capital, a large crowd had gathered.

A temporary evacuation shelter had been set up in response to the massive terrorist attack.

Inside the central command tent, key figures were discussing the current state of affairs.

“What’s the situation?”

“Civilian evacuations are complete. We’ve set up barricades along the chimeras’ major routes and have begun defensive operations.”

“Now that we’re fully responding, the chimeras aren’t charging in recklessly. It seems they have a command structure.”

“But reducing their numbers doesn’t seem to be making a dent. If this keeps up, it’ll just turn into a prolonged war of attrition.”

Following the Liberation Army’s attack and now this widespread chimera assault, the capital had descended into utter chaos overnight.

Thankfully, thanks to the efforts of mages, knights, police, and guards, the situation had stabilized—but the damage was catastrophic.

“The Liberation Army... Who would've thought they were making chimeras too...”

Lloyd, vice-captain of the Nightcrawler Knights, adjusted his glasses and muttered bitterly.

Across the room, Terrina sat with arms folded, silently observing.

On the other side, Veronica was receiving combat reports from her squad members.

Then—murmurs erupted outside the command tent.

Before anyone could ask what was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) happening, someone rushed in and shouted:

“H-His Imperial Majesty approaches!”