Chapter 120: Gojo's Disciple

That’s the "Leader"...? Never seen one up close like this before. The big wolf’s on guard, watching warily, but the others don’t hesitate—they charge straight at me.

"Noah!"

"I’ve got you!"

I empty both revolvers wildly, aimless, but—

The bullets veer off course, tracking the wolves, then slam into them.

"Ghah!?!"

"Yeeaaargh!"

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, the wolves can’t dodge. The bullets burrow into their bodies and explode.

Magic-enhanced rounds. One after another, the wolves are blown apart. The "Leader" roars in fury and charges straight at me.

"Emily!"

Darkness spreads beneath my feet. In an instant, it swallows me whole and teleports me elsewhere. The "Leader" blinks, stunned, scanning the area, confused.

And then—

"Ghah!"

Tiny black spheres swarm around the "Leader." Emily’s innate skill, "Black Sun," split and scattered midair.

Touch one of those spheres, and your body’s torn apart by wind holes. That’s it—his movement’s sealed.

"Everyone, now!"

The dragon hovering above dives down, skimming the ground, and Arthur and the others leap off its back.

"Combined magic—Thunderflame!"

Sara’s spell hits multiple wolves, igniting them instantly.

"Victor, now!"

"Got it!"

Victor’s fire magic ignites Arthur’s sword, transforming it into a blazing blade. In an instant, the blade stretches nearly ten meters long, sweeping through the wolves like a scythe.

Lewis landed on the ground, focusing qi into his feet. One step forward—explosive acceleration—and he closed the distance to the wolves in an instant.

Lewis’s fist, wrapped in silver gauntlets, shattered a wolf’s skull with ease.

Leave the rest to everyone else—should be fine. Then…

I turn back toward the wolf’s Leader.

“Take down this one, and it’s over.”

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

What the hell are these kids? Tiny as they are, they’re as strong as proper Sanctum Knights.

“Man, I’m blown away. Didn’t know they were this powerful.”

“Carlo, you know ‘em?”

“Know ‘em? I’m the one who delivered Gojo’s student to England.”

These kids!? What the hell did Gojo teach these children?

“Anyway, we’ve gotta rush in and help!”

“Wait, Leo!”

Freyja suddenly called out.

“What?”

“Look… at that…”

I glance over. The girl with the staff is chanting, stretching her shadow toward Fenrir. From the shadow, countless black hands reach out, trying to grab the enemy.

Fenrir writhes, resisting, and leaps away from the spot.

As it moves, it brushes against the black spheres scattered around—blood erupts from every inch of its body.

The girl raises her staff. Above her, a massive black sphere appears, expanding slowly like a black hole, sucking in everything around it.

The sphere creeps closer to Fenrir. Fenrir digs its claws into the ground, desperately fighting to avoid being pulled in.

Then—suddenly—a gunshot rings out.

I turn. The boy who just escaped Fenrir is firing wildly at his own shadow.

Then, a bullet emerges from Fenrir’s shadow—exploding on impact, erupting in flames.

Fenrir, unable to hold on any longer, is swallowed whole by the sphere—vanishing without a sound, from this world entirely.

To think we struggled so hard against someone like that… and now they’re just… gone.

The wolves surrounding us are all taken down—by the Sanctuary Knights, the “Suzaku” members, and even the children. The remaining wolves flee.

“Never thought I’d be saved by kids….”

Karlo laughs, a dry smile on his face, at my words.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

“Thank you… really, thank you.”

“N-no, it’s… I mean…”

Being thanked by Leo—the guy I’ve looked up to since forever… I can’t even speak straight. I’m shaking.

“How did you even get here? You were supposed to be in England, right?”

“Yes, we were hiding in England, but then our shelter was attacked by a Dragon… we barely managed to fight back and get the others to safety.”

“Fought a Dragon right off the bat?”

“Mr. Gojo taught us how to fight, and a pair of twin prodigies who came with us in England made weapons for us to use. Without those, we never would’ve made it this far.”

“I see… I’m sorry. It was my mistake sending you to England. Forgive me.”

“Please… but… thanks to that, we found out our powers actually work against Dragons.”

Arthur, Sarah, and everyone else start gathering around. We’ve already decided what to do next.

“Leo-san, let us fight too. We want to help you all!”

Everyone else feels the same. We’ve trained hard to be useful to the Sanctuary Knights, and our Teacher taught us everything we know… so we’re not backing down now.

"No... even if it's true, that's... "

"Leo, wait a sec."

Leo and Carlo went over there and started talking about something.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

"Leo, we’re in a pinch—need every hand we can get. They’re solid, you saw their strength, right? Sure, the ones using dark magic are impressive, but there are others too—using rare skills like 'Combined Magic' or even 'Qigong Martial Arts.'"

I know that… but…

"And they flew here on flying dragons. Dragons are wild by nature—without a skill like Freyja’s to ride them, you can’t even mount one. If they’ve tamed them that well, that means their ‘monster tamer’ ability is top-tier."

"But it's too dangerous. What if something goes wrong?!"

If we keep going like this, humanity’s gonna go extinct—sooner or later. I think we can stop it… only now. And…

"What?"

"Those kids dream of joining the Knights of the Sanctuary..."

………So that’s it. I get it.

I'm heading toward the kids. Maybe these children are the hope Gojo left behind.

"I'm asking you... join the Sanctuar Knights officially. Fight with us, won't you?"

The kids’ faces lit up instantly.

Of course! I'm counting on you!

A kid joined our crew. But the place we're heading to? It's the most dangerous hell on Earth.

"Noah... you already know, right? Gojo is—"

The Teacher isn't dead, you know.

I was a little surprised by her completely unguarded reply.

That Teacher isn’t gonna die. We believe she’ll come back, so we’ll just keep pushing until then.

The other kids are nodding with smiles. Right… yeah. Without hope, you can’t move forward. Guess I’ll start believing too.

"Got it. I’m thinking of heading to Bangkok next. Can we ride that flying dragon too?"

"Yes, if Chloe’s nearby, about two or three of us can fit per dragon."

Then we can bring our main fighters along.

"Sorry to ask this, but I want to leave right away for Bangkok. The longer we wait, the more damage spreads worldwide. You all coming with me?"

"Of course we’re coming! What do you think?"

Everyone, including Carlo, looks at me like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

"Leader, what about you?"

I’d really like you to come… but…

"Of course, I’ll—"

"Wait, Leader!"

It was Liu, deputy commander of "Suzaku."

"Even if we defeat China’s Leader, the danger isn’t over. The Chinese government won’t allow you to leave the country."

"But when else are we supposed to fight?!"

"Remember when you went to destroy the UK? Monsters poured in from India. This time could be the same. We need you here."

"But…"

"Leader, stay here."

"Leo!"

"There are things only you can do. Leave the rest to us."

She hesitated all the way, but couldn’t bear to cause more trouble for Suzaku, who’d already helped us so much. Eventually, we convinced her to stay.

Everyone climbs onto the flying dragon, ready to go. It’s already starting to get dark… if we leave now, we’ll reach Bangkok just before dawn.

To be safe, we should hide during the day, gather intel, restore magic and stamina, and only move when night falls.

" Wang, I'm off. If I can destroy the black gem the Black Knight holds, I think the flood of monsters across the world might finally ease. I'll do my best to bring back good news."

" Be careful, Leo."

" Yeah, let's go!"

Each sky dragon spread its wings and launched into the sky, fading into the dusk.