Chapter 205 – Red Gate.

“That would be all of the groups. I should at least have an hour or two before the first one comes out.”

Said the teacher while wiping his monocle with a soft cloth. The blue void gate hummed quietly before him, and now he only needed to wait for the students to return. For a moment, his gaze shifted to the side, and he saw a shadow approaching. Even without looking, he instantly knew who it was. The steps were slow and heavy.

“Quinten…”

The head of Class B1 turned his head and immediately regretted it. The tone of the man who called out to him was not cheerful but mocking.

“Harold, why are you coming over here? Don’t you have something better to do, like chewing through the syllabus?”

“Ho ho, good one! But I just wanted to have a chat with the head teacher of Class B1. Is that too much to ask? Are you still upset that you did worse than me on the last assessment?”

Harold was a rather heavy man, his belly bulging even through the loose robe he wore. Compared to Quinten, it was clear that he cared little about his appearance. His cheeks were round, and crumbs clung to his clothes as if he had just finished eating.

“You are as unkempt as ever.”

The heavier teacher laughed at Quinten’s remark and didn’t seem to care about the taunt.

“Oh, don’t be like that, old friend. I just wanted to see how your promising students are doing. Word is, you’ve got that Rainstar girl in your class. She has become quite the topic among the faculty lately.”

Quinten gave a short sigh and turned his gaze back to the rift.

“You’re not getting anything out of me. You’ll see her at the interclass competition.”

It was clear what Harold wanted, and Quinten had no intention of giving it to him. Through the recent seating duel, he had made his assessment and would not reveal his students’ strengths. His rival, the head of Class B2, would gain no advantage from him.

“Have you figured it out? Well, not like it matters. You’ll lose just like you did befo…”

Right as Harold was about to continue babbling, something happened. The blue gate before them began to sizzle as bolts of black lightning crackled across its surface. Both teachers froze. The gentle hum that had come from the gate distorted into a piercing screech. The magic circles meant to stabilize it started to flicker and hiss violently.

“What in the world?”

Quinten muttered, stepping closer. His monocle gleamed as he activated an identification spell, but the reading that appeared made his heart skip a beat.

“Impossible. The gate has become corrupted. It is turning into a crimson gate. Quickly, we must stop it!”

“I’ll help!”

Even though Harold had been harsh toward his colleague, once the students were in danger, both teachers acted immediately. They drew their magical instruments. Quinten’s had a smaller, gem-encrusted wand, while Harold’s resembled a traditional wizard’s staff with an orb embedded between the wooden branches.

Both raised their staves in unison, their mana bursting so fiercely that the air distorted around them. The once stable chamber turned into a maelstrom of light as sigils burst to life beneath the void gate.

“We must reverse the flow. Get the students out before the corruption spreads.”

Harold said.

“I know.”

Quinten replied in an irritated tone. He thrust his wand forward. A dozen magic circles appeared around the gate, each filled with complex symbols meant to stabilize the dimensional flow. The black lightning reacted violently, lashing out like living tendrils and shattering one of the circles instantly.

Harold gritted his teeth and slammed his staff into the ground, channeling all his mana into the spell. Soon, other teachers rushed into the chamber to help. The spell was working, and one by one, students began flying out of the gate.

“Get the students to safety!”

Quinten shouted as students began escaping. The gate had not yet turned fully red as it remained a deep purple. In this state, it could still be salvaged. Within moments, the void gate began spitting out the people who had gone through it. Some tumbled across the floor, dazed but alive. Their familiars appeared beside them, disoriented but unharmed.

“Maintain the inversion. Do not let the gate close yet!”

Another teacher shouted as they joined the effort. The black lightning intensified. The gate continued to eject more students, but its color deepened into a dark crimson glow. Then, with a burst of energy so powerful that it shoved even the teachers backward, the gate transformed completely.

“It’s completely turned!”

Said Harold as he attempted to get from the ground. Around them lay multiple students, most of them dazed and confused.

“Did everyone make it out safely?”

Quinten, on the other hand, was more concerned about his students. His gaze swept across the entire chamber. Within seconds, he ran several calculations in his mind and realized that one group was missing.

“Astrella Fjord, Gwendolin Rainstar, and Syber Tygrys are unaccounted for. They are still inside the corrupt gate…”

He clenched his fist around his wand and tried casting another spell on the gate, but it did not react. It now glowed a deep crimson and could no longer be accessed from this side. He understood that clearly.

“This is bad…”

He whispered to himself, knowing well what this meant.

******

A low rumble echoed through the cavern. Dust drifted from the ceiling and scattered like ash while faint growls sounded from the shadows ahead. The soft blue glow that once illuminated the walls shifted and became a bright crimson.

“…That’s not supposed to happen!”

Astrella shouted as she turned toward the sound. Airy, her summon, fluttered closer to her, and her face showed the same worry that her summoner felt. Gwen stood beside her and tightened her grip on her staff, the only weapon she had besides the beings she could call forth. Syber, however, did not appear very alarmed and had yet to summon anything to protect them or himself.

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“Get behind me. I’ll take care of this.”

Rusty said as he raised his shield and lowered his halberd. The tunnel was narrow and not well suited for long weapons except for thrusting. By standing in the middle, he could block any monsters from slipping past him since one part of the passage was slightly narrower.

“W-why did the gate close? What’s happening?”

Gwen asked in a trembling voice. The gate they had entered through had vanished, leaving them with no way to escape.

“I read about this before. Did you see it turn red?”

“Red… you mean the gate became corrupted, but that means…”

Before the two girls could continue their conversation, three monsters burst from around the corner. The crimson light spilling from the walls reflected off their leathery skin, revealing shapes far more menacing than the goblins the students were used to fighting.

“Hobgoblins!”

Astrella shouted as the creatures revealed themselves. Though similar to their smaller kin, there were many differences. Each one was at least a head taller than a regular goblin, and their arms were longer than a human’s, ending in clawed hands that scraped against the stone floor as they moved. Their faces were a grotesque mix of human and beast, with flat noses, pointed ears, and yellow eyes that glowed faintly with malice.

The first hobgoblin roared, its sharp teeth glistening with saliva as it raised a crude iron cleaver. Both girls flinched at the sound, but Rusty did not move. He held his shield steady and waited for the monsters to come closer. The leading hobgoblin charged forward with surprising speed, its cleaver dragging along the ground and striking sparks.

“GUOgH!”

In less than a second, the monster’s head was split apart by Rusty’s quick thrust. Green blood splashed across the floor as the creature collapsed instantly. Even after seeing their companion cut down, the other two did not hesitate and charged straight at him. One leapt toward his shield while the other tried to grab his halberd before he could swing it.

Suddenly, his weapon became a blur. He unleashed several rapid thrusts that pierced through the monsters’ limbs and torsos. They had no coordination or strategy, only blind aggression. They reminded him of ordinary dungeon beasts as they fell to the ground and died by his hand.