Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 336 Mysterious Rescuers

"What should we do with all this stuff?!"

In the gray desert where the pseudo-world tree can be seen in the distance, Charlotte, who is constantly casting spells, shouts with a grim expression.

Compared to the beginning, the number of strange plants attacking them was no less than before. In fact, the strange plants that had been broken into third-tier forms by Charlotte's magic fell to the ground, and after the ice melted, they immediately took root in the ground and became brand new strange plants for the Trisolarans.

Moreover, even if one wanted to escape, one couldn't find a direction at a glance.

As the ground trembled more violently, it seemed as if waves were rolling in from all directions, with countless identical strange plants gathering from beneath the ground.

"Simply damaging the surface won't be effective; you need to damage the roots directly!"

In the center, the goddess of bathing, protected by the other two, quickly racked her brains and responded.

In such an emergency, even simple and straightforward instructions are more effective than saying nothing at all due to excessive concerns.

"The roots? How were the roots damaged!"

As Xia Luoluo was speaking, a thunderclap suddenly rang out.

Millie plunged the holy sword Karom, which she had conjured out of thin air, deep into the ground and drew a bolt of lightning from the sky to strike the ground below.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!"

Before the strange plant was injured, it was the Bathing Goddess, who was closer, who emitted a series of trembling sounds after being electrocuted.

"It seems to be working!"

Under Millie's attack, the strange plants that had been frantically attacking the three of them like mad dogs suddenly slowed down.

Seeing this, Xia Luoluo couldn't help but wonder, "Are all these strange plants from the same root?"

However, it was precisely because of the strange plants' slow speed that Charlotte, who lacked combat experience, became careless. In a moment of inattention, a vine that had not previously paid any attention to pierced her calf.

"Well!"

The excruciating pain that shot straight to her brain and the tingling sensation that spread throughout her body caused Xia Luoluo's vision to go black for a moment, and she didn't even have time to scream.

"Xia Luoluo!"

They discover that their companions, the Bathing Goddess and Millie, have been injured, and they want to go and rescue them.

Because, in that brief moment of vulnerability, the strange plants that had surrounded the three of them surged forward and threatened to engulf Xia Luoluo.

And it was at this critical moment that things turned out so badly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow streaked across the sky and landed around the three of them with a loud "boom".

For a moment, only Millie could see clearly what had happened.

What landed on the ground was a heavy sword. A huge, exaggeratedly large two-handed heavy sword, possibly even larger than she was now, at only ten years old.

The landing of the greatsword caused the surrounding sand to explode, and the aftershocks spread outwards in a ring.

Besides Millie, the Bathing Goddess and Charlotte were also knocked down by the aftershocks and almost buried in the endless sand.

This was just the beginning. A seemingly light figure landed on the hilt of the greatsword, which was stuck upside down in the ground. Instantly, as if the entire earth had been struck by a tremendous force, the battlefield began to collapse on a large scale.

At the same time, a ferocious roar, like that of a wild beast, came from beneath the ground.

Before the beast's terrifying howls could cease, the shadowy figure who had already joined the battle gripped the hilt of his two-handed greatsword with his left hand.

It was a woman, a woman with only her left arm, and she was wearing an extremely old gas mask.

Who exactly are you?

Millie, who was barely able to maintain her standing position amidst the sweeping movements of the one-armed woman, looked tense and serious as she tried to ask a question.

But her voice didn't reach the women at all.

The woman, who had already gripped the greatsword with one hand, used an exaggerated over-the-shoulder throw to forcefully lift up the object the greatsword had pierced from the ground and slam it violently to the ground.

It was as if the earth itself had been lifted up.

Amidst the swirling dust, accompanied by yet another beast-like roar, she forcefully pulled out a mountain-sized monster from beneath the ground and slammed it to the ground.

The monster was dark purple all over, with a surface like aged tree bark, and its overall shape resembled a fleshy tumor. Moreover, numerous tentacles extended from the surface of these tumors, the tips of which were the strange plants that had been attacking Millie and the other two.

The purple sarcoma, which does not resemble a mouth on the surface, constantly emits a heavy roar.

The woman with only one arm leaped high into the air and then stepped onto the purple tumor.

"Come up!"

Looking down, the one-armed woman commanded. Seeing Millie hesitate, she added, "Hurry up!"

At this moment, Millie was actually very conflicted.

After all, the one who seems to have come to their rescue is even less of a benevolent figure than those strange plants.

However, looking at his companions buried in the gray sand and dust, completely incapacitated, and even though the strange plants around them had mostly disappeared, similar things kept surging in from afar.

Finally, Millie gritted her teeth, carried the Bathing Goddess and Charlotte, and jumped onto the tumorous monster, joining the one-armed woman.

"You'd better shut up!"

Once Millie was on the "vehicle," the one-armed woman forcefully stomped on it. The tumorous monster instantly seemed to have its throat suddenly grabbed, and after a few strange noises, it went silent.

Then, the one-armed woman bent down.

She aimed her empty right arm at the monstrous tumor below.

next moment.
Suddenly, an arm grew out of the right arm of the one-armed woman.

No, those weren't arms; they were things similar to the strange plants from before—strands of dark green vines twisted together.

After the vine arm connected with the tumor-like monster, the monster, which had been struggling slightly, suddenly began to completely obey the one-armed woman's commands, just like a tamed pet.

It's unclear how this monster moves, or where its legs are hidden.

In short, the lumpy monster carrying four people quickly left a wide, deep trail embedded in the sand on the boundless gray desert, and broke through the encirclement to head towards the distant horizon.

As they sped along, the fleshy monster that Millie and the others were riding visibly began to dry up and shrink.

However, the one-armed woman controlling it paid no attention to such things and simply continued to drive the monster to safety.

After taking a few deep breaths, Xia Luoluo and the Bathing Goddess, who had been in a daze on the battlefield, gradually recovered.

"Are you alright, Xia Luoluo?"

From the moment her calf was pierced, Xia Luoluo suffered a series of serious injuries.

Now, several bright, bloody holes have appeared on her body, temporarily frozen by ice magic.

Xia Luoluo, who didn't even have the strength to answer, simply shook her head.

She didn't know either.
Although born in the western border region, Xia Luoluo had been well protected since childhood and had never really had a clear concept of what a battlefield was. But today, for the first time in her life, she clearly felt the fear of fighting to the death with monsters.

It had nothing to do with how much power she actually possessed. The moment she clashed with the alien monster that was trying to kill her, Charlotte felt a tremor that seemed to come from the depths of her soul.

Where exactly are we going?

Having already accepted that the goddess of the bath wouldn't talk to strangers, Millie breathed a sigh of relief and tried asking the one-armed woman.

The one-armed woman ignored her.

Thus, a particularly awkward period of time unfolded on the speeding, lumpy monster.

Fortunately, this period did not last too long.

At one point, the tumorous monster seemed to have completely exhausted itself, its movement slowing down more and more until it withered into a dirty, skin-like object and stopped moving altogether. Without even glancing at Millie and the other two behind her, the one-armed woman simply retracted her obviously mutated right arm, jumped off the tumorous monster, shouldered her heavy sword, and walked off in a certain direction in the gray desert.

After exchanging glances, the three girls realized they had no other options, so the two who were still able to move helped Xia Luoluo follow along.

On a desolate, almost silent gray desert, three girls wandered aimlessly, simply following the footprints left by a one-armed woman.
The one-armed woman stopped in her tracks.

She squatted on the empty ground, as if fiddling with something.

Then, with a slight rumbling sound, a rusty, dome-like structure slowly rose from the ground.

Only then did the one-armed woman turn around to check if the three girls were still following. After confirming this, she gestured with her chin towards the building's location.

Is this... letting them in?

The goddess of the bath continued to exchange glances with Millie.

If it weren't for the Golden Apple and Xia Luoluo's serious injury, she would never have accepted such a dubious "invitation."

but now.
Let's just keep following along for now.

Standing in front of the domed building, the goddess of the bath wondered where the door was.

Suddenly, a straight slit appeared on the exterior wall of the domed building directly in front of her. Then, accompanied by a clear and smooth mechanical sound, it parted to the sides, forming a doorway wide enough for three people to pass through at the same time.

"Eh?"

The goddess of the bath, who never expected to see such a modern and technologically advanced scene in the world of "Star Patterns," couldn't help but utter a sound of doubt.

She wanted to examine the structure of the door more closely. However, at the same time, she sensed a stern gaze from the one-armed woman beside them, peering through her gas mask.

He could only awkwardly walk into the bathing goddess room of the building. After walking along the long corridor for a while, he heard the voice of a one-armed woman following him in.

The one-armed woman paused for a moment, seemingly "closing the door." Soon after, accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground, the corridor through which the goddess of bathing and the others were walking slowly disappeared into the ground once again.

The goddess of bathing is getting more and more confused about what's going on in this snowy mountain area; question marks are flying everywhere.

Even when she first woke up in the fairy tale world, the goddess of bathing didn't find it so inexplicable.

You see, she now knows a lot more information than she did back then. Furthermore, she has a thorough understanding of the entire fairy tale world.

In the narrow passage, the moss on the walls emitted a faint glow, barely illuminating the way.

It's unclear when it started, but it's as if the goddess of bathing has lost her sense of smell. Feeling the dampness as if being chased by footsteps behind her, she tries to help Xia Luoluo pass through as quickly as possible.

Upon reaching the end of the passage, the three suddenly felt a sense of openness and expansiveness in the scenery before them.

Although not very strong, the light, which felt long-lost, illuminated the vast underground space.

In a space roughly the size of Earls Great Hall, a huge, irregularly shaped crystal hung upside down from the ceiling, emitting light. Outside the crystal, something resembling a glass lampshade enveloped it.

This space, which is mostly empty and almost devoid of anything else, is probably a plaza-like place.

Connecting to the plaza are numerous openings on the outer wall of this area, leading to unknown destinations.

Some of these openings are the passageways that the three people, including the Goddess of Bathing, walked through before, while others resemble living spaces.

The one-armed woman who followed the three from behind maintained an attitude of showing little interest in them throughout, silently passing by them and heading straight for a cave entrance not far away.

Unlike many other openings, the one-armed woman walked towards an opening with a wooden door that was clearly built later.

The one-armed woman, who had already stepped halfway inside the wooden door, paused for a moment after opening it, then turned to look at the three of them.

"Would you like to come to my house and sit down?"

"Did I disturb you?"

Soon after, three girls cautiously entered the home of the one-armed woman.

Her home was a simple wooden structure, built like a cave. Although the furnishings were rudimentary, it undoubtedly felt more civilized and lived-in compared to the endless gray desert outside.

"Just find somewhere to sit."

As the one-armed woman spoke, she began to remove the gas mask from her head with one hand.

The three girls, however, saw that there were no sofas or chairs in the room, and even if they wanted to sit down, they didn't know where to sit.

"What, is it because there's nowhere to sit? How amusing. Decades ago, there might have been quite a few people like you."

Without turning her head, the one-armed woman, who seemed to see through the thoughts of the three people at a glance, said this. Then, as if demonstrating, she took a straw cushion hanging on the wall, casually threw it on the ground, and sat down.

"That's strange, there are still 'newcomers' these days? I don't know where you guys came from."

As she spoke, the one-armed woman removed her gas mask.

She was a middle-aged woman who had almost shaved her head, leaving only a thin layer of hair.

Contrary to the imagined ferocity, the one-armed woman had gray hair and a face full of wrinkles, signs of aging, and fatigue.

"Even though I know it's impossible, I still can't help but meddle."

The woman's throat appeared to be injured, so even after removing her gas mask, her voice was very hoarse.

As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on Millie's face, and her words were tinged with a slight sigh.

"Um." "Hmm?"

Millie, noticing the middle-aged woman's unusual attention to her, was about to ask when the bath goddess beside her made a sound as if she had noticed something.

"Huh? Eh? Is it a coincidence? No, only when it comes to beautiful girls... You... you're 'Alan'?"

"!?"

The middle-aged woman, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground and had not looked directly at the bathing goddess, could not help but focus her gaze on her, her eyes widening in shock.

"Yalan?"

Just as Millie was puzzled by this name that seemed familiar yet also unfamiliar.

thump.
Suddenly, the bath goddess, who had been lively and energetic just a moment ago, collapsed to the ground, unconscious, like a kite with a broken string.

(End of this chapter)