The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned-Chapter 280

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Chapter 280: War (4)

[Urgent announcement to all cadets. All remaining cadets on campus must immediately evacuate to the main auditorium. I repeat, all remaining cadets on campus must evacuate to the main auditorium immediately.]

The alarm lights flashed red.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

“H-How did the demons get in here?!”

“P-Please save me!!!”

The screams of cadets echoed throughout the school.

“Haaah.”

Hearing the terrified screams in his ears, Bishop Jordan, who led the vanguard in this war, let out an exhilarated sigh.

“There really is nothing more thrilling than the screams of kids.”

Watching the cadets scream and flee in panic, Bishop Jordan grinned widely.

When the Archbishop of Destruction declared war on the heroes, Jordan volunteered to lead the vanguard without hesitation.

Not out of any deep loyalty to Amon.

In fact, among the bishops, Jordan was known for having one of the weakest senses of loyalty.

The reason he stepped forward as the vanguard was simple.

“Haaah, haaah. Ugh, hehehe. I just can’t hold it in.”

Panting with excitement, Jordan wiped the drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Normally, as demons become more powerful, they learn to suppress the destructive urges caused by the Stigma of the Demon God.

But in Jordan’s case, it was the opposite.

A burning, soul-scorching urge to destroy.

He wanted nothing more than to grab one of the fleeing weaklings and thoroughly violate their body.

‘First, cut the legs so they can’t run. Then break the arms, and slowly slice open the belly to pull out the organs one by one.’

Ahhh—

Even imagining it made Jordan tremble with delight.

‘Not yet… not yet.’

Barely suppressing his growing urges, he sharply surveyed the area.

As the vanguard, his job wasn’t just to recklessly charge in and indulge in a bloody massacre.

‘It looks like they really had no idea we would attack.’

If they had expected war, the cadets would’ve been evacuated first.

The fact that over a hundred cadets were still in plain sight confirmed they had been caught completely off guard.

‘Surely the so-called ‘heroes’ wouldn’t use cadets as bait.’

Of course, he didn’t rule out the possibility.

Before the assault, he had dispatched subordinates to each nation to check on the major figures and factions.

Pope Marianne, the Holy Nation’s Sword Johann Basilio, the Falling Blossom Blade Khalid Han...

And most importantly, the Empress—Camellia Padsha.

He confirmed that all of them were still in their respective capitals before launching the attack.

‘That means there’s only one Master left inside the school.’

Lionel Ryu, the Thunder God.

‘Heh. One Master won’t be a problem.’

Of course, the school’s professors were also formidable fighters, but compared to the demonic forces Jordan had brought, they were insignificant.

‘All warp gates in Valhalla City have been sealed, so no reinforcements can arrive through them.’

He had already investigated and confirmed that there were no other warp gates within the school.

Warp gates can’t be created on a whim, so there were no unexpected variables.

‘Even the Empress would need time to get to the Hero Academy without a warp gate.’

In other words—

Right now, the Hero Academy was like a rat trapped in a cage.

“Well then.”

Jordan turned and looked at his troops.

His unit was made up of demons with especially strong destructive impulses.

Even among demons, they were known as the "Red Destruction" and were feared and shunned.

They panted in excitement, thrilled by the massacre to come.

There was no sign of fear or tension about war—only eager anticipation.

Jordan grinned in satisfaction and drew his weapon.

“It’s slaughter time.”

“WAAAAAH!”

With cheers, the demons charged at the fleeing cadets.

But professors stepped in to block their path.

“Buy time until the cadets are evacuated!”

“You filthy demons dare set foot in this sacred school?!”

A fierce clash broke out between the demons and the professors.

BOOM! KRRRRAAAANG!

As superhumans branded with the divine stigma fought, the earth itself screamed.

“Hahahaha!”

“Yes, this is it!”

“It’s been too long since a real battle!”

As expected from Jordan’s infamous vanguard, the “Red Destruction” demons rampaged, releasing devastating demonic energy.

The professors fought desperately against them, but—

“Guh! Kugh!”

“We can’t let them through—ugh!”

“D-Damn it!”

They were overwhelmed by the ferocious onslaught of the demons.

Though professors at the Hero Academy were among the top-tier heroes, they could not stop Jordan’s vanguard.

“Damn it! Where’s Professor Lucas?!”

“H-He’s near the main building….”

“Kh…!”

Professor Jane, in charge of the 3rd-year magic division, bit her lip anxiously.

Unless top-tier professors like Lucas, Jade, or Bianca arrived, it would be difficult to buy enough time for the cadets to escape.

As she hesitated, unsure whether to retreat—

“Yuratchaaa!”

With a familiar shout, a large cadet rushed into the battlefield.

“B-Berald?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I’m here to lend my strength!”

“You idiot, how the hell do you plan to help…?!”

He was a 3rd-year cadet who couldn’t cast proper magic aside from mana bullets—what could he possibly do against these powerful demons?

Just as Professor Jane reached out toward Berald, who was charging forward—

“O Earth, roar!”

Berald stomped the ground fiercely.

“Seismic Stooooooorm!”

RUMMMMMBLE!

The earth shook violently and cracked apart like glass struck by a hammer.

Hundreds of tons of earth surged like a massive tidal wave, crashing into the demons.

The vanguard of Jordan's army, which had been charging forward viciously, was swept away by the wave of soil and pushed backward.

“Heh, how about that? A spell I learned from the professor!”

Berald turned to Professor Jane and gave a big thumbs-up with a grin.

“…What the hell is this?”

‘I never taught you anything like that, you bastard.’

Professor Jane looked at the cracked earth with a bewildered expression.

There was no trace of mana from the ravaged ground.

In other words—

He had overturned the earth and created a wave of hundreds of tons of soil through pure physical power alone.

“How the hell…?”

“No need to strain yourself trying to understand.”

A small-framed woman passed by the frozen Professor Jane.

“You’re… Candidate Sophia, aren’t you?”

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“I’m not just a candidate anymore.”

Sophia gave a small smirk and aimed her staff toward the demons swept up in the debris.

“This place is dangerous. Please step back.”

“…Step back?”

‘Did a student (well, technically not a student anymore) just say that to a professor?’

Professor Jane stared at Sophia, dumbfounded.

“You’ll get caught up in it, you know?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Sophia began chanting an incantation.

And at that moment—

RUMMMMMMMMMBLE!!!

With a thunderous crash, everything around them shot into the air.

Street trees were ripped out by their roots and floated midair, and heavy rocks soared like balloons into the sky.

“What is this…?”

Professor Jane wasn’t unfamiliar with gravity magic.

But a gravity spell of this absurd magnitude—he had never seen anything like it in all his years of teaching.

‘This is magic from someone who just graduated?’

Impossible.

The spell's perfection and sheer power were on par with a magic master—a level only top-tier heroes could reach.

“What the hell is that…?”

“Aaaaagh!”

“Take cover! MOVE!!!”

Even their allies were shocked by the spell’s overwhelming power.

So how would the demons feel?

Like wild beasts, the demons had been rampaging—now they scattered in every direction, dodging the falling stones like deadly rain.

“What kind of disgraceful display is this?!”

Jordan roared at his fleeing subordinates.

He stretched his hand toward the raining stones.

CRACKLE!!!

A lightning bolt made of black fire blasted away the falling debris.

“Even if they’re skilled, they’re just two brats! Keep pushing forward!”

“Yes, sir!”

Spurred on by Bishop Jordan’s shout, the vanguard charged again toward Berald and Sophia.

Seeing this, the professors came to their senses and rejoined the battle.

The fight grew increasingly intense.

‘Damn it…’

Bishop Jordan scowled in frustration.

The resistance, which he had expected to crush easily, was fiercer than anticipated.

‘There’s no time to waste here.’

Leaving a portion of the vanguard behind, Bishop Jordan turned and headed toward the main school building.

This meant he couldn’t use retreating students as hostages or kill a few for shock value—

But it would get him to the main building faster and more safely.

‘They’re all gathering at the auditorium in the main building anyway.’

There was no rush.

Once all the heroes in the school were corralled into the main auditorium, the slaughter could begin in earnest.

So, as he detoured toward the main building with part of the vanguard—

“Hm?”

A silver-haired woman, her hair shining like moonlight, stood alone in their path.

“…A student?”

She was wearing a candidate’s uniform—though oddly, it was a male student’s uniform.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Hectar’s unit get beaten by candidates?’

He had laughed until his sides hurt when he heard the news—but didn’t chalk it up to Hectar’s stupidity alone.

Hectar was one of the few, like Jordan, who had received the “Ember of Destruction” from Amon.

If someone was strong enough to beat him, they weren’t just any candidate.

He had already identified those particularly dangerous ones:

Dale Han, warned against even by Lord Amon.

Saint Iris.

Camilla, heir to the Sword of the Holy Nation.

Maurice Jin, son of the Falling Blossom Blade.

And finally, Yuren Helios, heir to “The Sunblade” Reynald Helios.

But none of them had silver hair.

So this one must have just gotten lost while evacuating.

“I was just getting thirsty. You’ll do nicely for a bit of fun.”

With a twisted grin, Bishop Jordan slowly walked toward the silver-haired candidate.

* * *

The operation was simple.

Engage the demons in light skirmishes while slowly falling back, leading them toward the main auditorium.

Activate the Warp Gate to evacuate the candidates and summon reinforcements from allied nations.

It wasn’t a complex strategy.

“…So why aren’t they coming?”

Yet, for some reason, the vanguard wasn’t heading toward the main building at all.

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