The Sponsored Heroines Are Coming for Me

Above the Academy.

The whole world was black.

The monsters surrounding the academy resembled a swarm of ants.

A thin barrier stood, protecting the academy from them.

It was a barrier built by the Grand Mage who founded Lichten Academy, a barrier that had never once been breached in the academy’s history.

It was said to be strong enough to protect the academy even from the Great War, which occurred once every 500 years…

— Crack, Crackle!

Yet, before the endless tide of the Void, it was crumbling helplessly.

The surface of the barrier was covered in cracks.

— Kee-rik?

One of them inspected the barrier.

A pitch-black beak, black eyes, black hair.

It looked like a massive crow.

Pecking at the barrier, it tilted its head.

Simply ramming into it wouldn’t break it so easily.

It sensed that there was a core supporting this barrier.

Instinctively, it had found the barrier’s weakness.

— Flutter.

As the creature spread its wings, a powerful gust surged forth.

Its wingspan alone exceeded 10 meters.

In an instant, the center of the barrier unfolded before its eyes.

A clear weak point.

— Keeee-reeeek!

The creature let out a cry of ecstasy.

It smelled something.

A delicious scent.

Fresh and sweet.

It was this very scent that had drawn the Void creatures here.

Its eyes gleamed with madness.

It wanted to devour it.

Dark purple orbs began forming on its wings.

As they touched the barrier—

— Kwaaaarrrkk!

A grotesque sound rang out.

This was not mere impact or destruction.

The purple orbs distorted the space around the barrier.

And then, they began to absorb it.

— Crack, Crackle!

It was a type of force the barrier could not withstand.

Since it distorted space itself, it could ignore all physical laws.

Dimensional-space magic.

To human mages, such magic was called the “Magic of Dreams.”

But for the Void, it was an everyday occurrence.

Moreover, the weak points of a barrier, which humans had to meticulously analyze and calculate, were simply visible to some of the Void creatures.

— Shraaak!

The barrier collapsed.

Like a glass door shattering into dust, the fragments scattered.

The fine dust floated through the air like falling snow.

Of course, the Void had no use for such sentimentality.

The scent.

That delicious scent.

The fresh fragrance.

It inhaled deeply.

Unlike the lifeless Void, everything here was so vivid.

Especially, the pink-haired human standing below it.

— Keee-ruuuu!

Excitement surged within the creature.

In the Void, consuming something this fresh was nearly impossible.

Following its instincts, it swooped toward its prey.

Bite.

Sink its fangs into that freshness and chew.

It imagined its jaws closing over the delectable taste.

— Pshuoooo!

The wind tore through the air.

That was the last thing the Void perceived.

◆

A crimson sky.

A single arrow soared high.

The sky split in half.

It was as if a painter had stroked a brush dipped in green across the red sky.

The softly rising magic arrow soon lost its light.

A visual stillness settled in, as if foreshadowing something spectacular.

— Boom!

Like a ripple spreading from a raindrop hitting a calm surface, green waves began to expand through the crimson sky.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Enough time for everyone to lift their heads and look skyward.

“Ah—.”

A collective gasp escaped from many lips at once.

A brilliant green pattern stretched across the sky, like a grand palace made of leaves.

— Swooooosh

Was it the wind?

Countless leaves began to swirl.

Like snow falling from the heavens, the leaves rained down, but only onto the Void, leaving the academy untouched.

“Kiek?”

And the moment those leaves touched the ground—

— Fwoooosh!

Their colors shifted instantly.

Red like fallen leaves.

Like autumn leaves falling with the wind, crimson foliage covered the land where the Void existed.

Grass—The interaction of fire and nature elements.

The second phase.

Falling Fire.

Just as withered leaves fall when their life force fades, this was a combustion reaction that used the life energy of nature as fuel to amplify the destructive power of fire.

Increased fire attribute damage.

Expanded area of effect.

Ignored elemental resistance.

…

Flaming leaves filled the surroundings of the academy.

An abrupt arrival of autumn.

A miracle that no Grand Mage could easily achieve.

It burned like scarlet flames.

◆

This was a strategy that put everything the academy had on the line.

A gamble.

Silvia never enjoyed gambling, but she had no choice.

Even the Void monsters of the second phase alone possessed military power greater than an entire continent.

There was no option other than to gamble.

If they succeeded, they would achieve an impossible victory.

If they failed, complete annihilation awaited them.

“All enemies within a 15 km radius have been eliminated!”

The scout’s voice rang out.

“…Hah.”

A sigh escaped from Silvia’s lips.

More than half of the enemy forces had been wiped out in a single blow.

It was an unbelievable outcome.

The gamble had succeeded—no, it was an overwhelming victory.

Silvia stared blankly at the flickering flames surrounding the academy.

The destruction was truly immense.

A green palace.

Leaves fluttering.

The fiery falling foliage engulfing the world.

Even if she survived this despair, she doubted she would ever witness a spell as spectacular as this again.

Of course, the cost was severe.

Danya and Lina had collapsed from exhaustion.

The thirty elite magicians of the academy had completely drained their mana.

But—

“We destroyed more than half of the enemy forces.”

It was worth it.

The suffocating black swarm encircling the academy had thinned significantly.

Furthermore—

— Fwoooosh!

The seeds of fire that had been scattered continued to burn fiercely,

using the Void corpses as fuel.

A kind of fire barrier had formed.

‘We’ve gained more time.’

Silvia understood perfectly well that this battle was a fight against time.

Holy Constantine.

The Merchant Union.

The Northern Grand Duke.

They were all sending reinforcements.

And most of all—

Ian was out there.

The trembling Shadow Forest.

Something must have been happening within the Bloodstone Cult’s headquarters.

Silvia believed in Ian.

She believed that he would come to save them all.

That was why they had to endure.

They had shattered half of the enemy’s forces.

A ring of fire now surrounded the academy.

They had bought time.

Once their elite magicians recovered their mana, they could fight again.

They had managed to cling to a thin thread of hope.

But—

Their relief was short-lived.

— Swooooosh!

Rain began to fall.

In the distance, a red-haired Bloodstone Cultist floated in the air.

With a mere gesture of his hand, rain poured down.

— Flash!

Silvia hurriedly fired a massive beam of light.

A concentrated burst, powerful enough to not be ignored.

The cultist staggered, falling from the sky.

The rain stopped.

But—

It was enough to extinguish the flames.

— KIEEEEEEEH!

The remaining Void creatures charged in ferociously.

Their speed exceeded expectations.

The barrier had merely been slowing them down—not stopping them.

— Boom!

The defensive walls at the front lines collapsed.

— Crash!

The magitech traps were destroyed.

The Void surged forward, shattering the academy’s defenses and rushing toward the Student Council Hall, where everyone had taken refuge.

Some hid, desperately searching for a place to escape.

Some gave up resisting, simply waiting for death.

“W-We can’t hold on any longer!”

Despair was at their doorstep.

And then—

— Swoooosh!

Without warning, rain began to pour.

No, it wasn’t rain.

“…Blood?”

Everything except humans froze in place.

◆

Blood rain poured down.

“Impressive.”

I found myself muttering in admiration at the Blood Witch’s unfolding domain.

“But of course, not more impressive than you.”

Despite her words, a smile played at her lips.

“It was just an exclamation.”

“Even so, compliments please me.”

Was I even in a position to praise the Blood Witch?

Hmm. Objectively, maybe.

But looking at what she had just accomplished, I had to reconsider.

Every single Void was frozen in place.

“Did you stop only their time?”

— Crack!

Drops of monster blood splattered onto the Blood Witch’s cheek.

She laughed as she sliced through them.

“There is a technique within our cult known as ‘Restriction’.”

“I know. One of your assassins used it before.”

“Indeed. But I have set my restriction to apply only to the Void. In exchange, I have greatly expanded its range.”

Normally, restrictions come at the cost of limiting power.

But in this case, the restriction itself became an advantage.

Since it only affected the Void, humans could move freely within the rain of blood.

— Flash!

At that moment, a white light rose from the south.

“That’s divine power. Looks like the Holy Constantine’s reinforcements have arrived.”

It was probably the Saint.

Judging from the situation, she had likely reached Lichten but had been struggling to break through the Void horde.

— Uwaaaaaa!

A massive roar erupted from the east.

I wasn’t sure who, but they were on our side.

And from the north, a chilling cold wind swept in.

Most likely, it was Yerina.

Each force pushed forward, fighting their way through the frozen Void and the stronger ones that weren’t affected.

“We need to move as well.”

◆

Iris Lipenstein.

She blinked blankly, unable to process what was happening before her.

She had believed it was all over.

She had been certain that her homeland, the Principality of Lichten, was on the brink of destruction.

But then—

— Swoooosh!

It had begun with an unexpected rain of blood.

“Aria!”

“The Saint has arrived!”

From the south, the Saint, Aria.

“Emilia?”

From the west, Emilia Raymond leading a guild alliance and mercenaries.

“Yerina!”

From the north, the new Northern Grand Duchess, whose name alone inspired fear—Yerina Pierce.

And so, they all gathered.

But no one spoke.

Not yet.

Because the main character of this battle had not yet appeared.

— Step.

A footstep echoed.

Every gaze turned westward.

Where a colossal Void creature loomed, two figures walked forward fearlessly.

“Ian Blackangers!”

The protagonist had arrived.